nola lab rescue winter 2015 newsletter

NOLA Lab Rescue

Imagine being left at a shelter,pregnant, scared and alone.That’s the situation Phoebe

found herself in. Her humans did-n’t care enough to spay her andthen dumped her when theinevitable happened. Luckily forPhoebe and her pups, she wasable to join the NOLA LabRescue family. Within two weeksof arriving at her foster home,Phoebe gave birth. Fortunately agood friend, Erin Braybrook ofAll Star Bulldogges, not onlyloaned us everything we neededfor whelping and caring for a lit-ter, but she also left in the middleof her date on Friday night andstayed through Saturday to handlethe whelping. Trust me, this isNOT something I would everwant to do without the assistanceof someone with vast experience!

FINDING PERMANENT ADOPTIVE HOMES FOR HOMELESS LABS

www.nola labrescue .org Winter 2015

Friends

(Continued on page 7)

Why JoinNOLA?

Our mission is toprovide:

• Permanent adoptivehomes for unwanted,abandoned or abusedlabs

• Medical care and fosterhomes for rescued dogs

• Education to pet ownersregarding spaying/neu-tering and responsiblepet ownership

• Public information aboutirresponsible breedingpractices and animalabuse in an effort to endboth

Your MembershipSupports:

• Vaccination, sterilization,heartworm prevention,and veterinary servicesfor all dogs

• Heartworm treatment• Rescue of canine seniorswith high expenses

• Orthopedic surgery forrescued dogs in need

• Transportation of HWneg, fully vetted dogsfrom the overpopulatedSouth to pre-approvedfoster and forever homes

Phoebe’s shelter picture. “Can youhelp her? We can’t let her have pup-

pies at the shelter”

Sweet Geller - it was heartbreakingthat her time was so short

Introducing Monica - the first puppyborn on Friday, October 16

Phoebe and Erin Braybrook gettingcomfortable

Crating: if your dog is cratetrained, you can have them go intotheir crate while your guests areentering and exiting your home. Thisallows your dog to be safe and tocalm down before she greets herguests. Note that if your dog is notalready crate trained, forcing yourdog to go into the crate at this time isnot recommended. Your dog willassociate this with punishment. Dogsneed to be trained to use a crate.

Baby gates: you can use babygates to deny your dog access to thefront door. Once the front door issafely closed, your dog can now greether guests.

Another room: placing your dogin a separate room, with a door, whileyour guests are entering and exiting isalso a way to keep them from escap-ing. Once your guests have enteredyour dog can now greet her guestssafely.

NOLA News Winter 2015

During the holiday seasonmany of us are travelling andreceiving houseguests. It is

important to keep in mind that acci-dental escapes may happen. Visitorsentering your home may leave thedoor open, allowing your pet toescape on an adventure of their own.Your dog may get lost while visitingfriends in a new town or city.Microchipping your pet is so impor-tant, and allows your pet to be reunit-ed with you should they be lost. Themicrochip is inserted using a needle,into your dog and contains all of yourcontact information. Inserting themicrochip is painless. If your dogshould be lost, and found by caringneighbors and strangers, themicrochip will make it easy for themto contact you so you can be reunited.

You can prevent your dog frombounding out an open door while youinvite your guests into your home by

training your dog to wait at any opendoor before exiting. Training the“wait” command can take some time,so if you find yourself on the eve ofreceiving your guests, there are otherthings you can do to ensure your pet’ssafety. Some methods you can useare:

Umbilical: this is when youattach your dog’s leash to their collar,and then attach the leash around yourwaist. Your dog is now “tied” to youand cannot escape.

Getting Back Home for the Holidays

Looking for Love? Adopt!

Diamond

Lick

Andrea

Cooper

Falcor Twix

Winter 2015

Pack up your pooch and headto camp this summer!

If you’re looking for some funthings to do with your fur kid buthave no idea what he or shewould enjoy, then look no further.Dog Scouts of America is here.

They have about 40 troops in 22states, plus Canada and PuertoRico. You can attend sessionswith your local troop or attend aweek long camping adventure inMichigan. They offer 98 differ-ent badges that dogs can earnwith their humans help; back-packing, hiking, biking, obedi-

Page4

ence, canine painting, musicalcanine freestyle, agility, watersafety, kayaking, sign language,tracking, coursing, herding, dockdiving, and the list goes on.

DSA Mission & VisionTo improve the lives of dogs,

their own-ers, andsocietythroughhumaneeducation,positivetraining, and

community involvement.“One of our goals is

to keep dogs in lovinghomes and out of shel-ters. We know that ourmembers make a differ-ence by developing their trainingskills so they can set a positiveexample in their communities.

Theyembraceopportunitiesto educateothers andinspire morepeople tojoin us andlearn moreabout theirdog. Weknow thatsharing posi-tive ways oftraining and

problem-solving helps to keepdogs in homes as family mem-bers and out of shelters. And ourmembers do a LOT of communi-ty service work like fundraisingfor local pet shelters and rescues,providing pet oxygen masks tofire depts., participating in ‘read-ing to dogs’ programs, therapydog visits and much more!”

For more information visitDog Scouts of America’s website- http://dogscouts.org/base/

Dog Scouts of America

Because we care

Dr. Gary Levy

Dr. Erin Ribka

Dr. Clare Guichard

Dr. Matthew Levy

Dr. Marlowe Ward

www.lakeviewvet.com / 482-2173

We promise to pamper you and your pet with compassionate, uncompromised

veterinary care and joyful client service.

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Winter 2015 NOLA News

The Winner - Arlo!This handsome fellow is 8 monthsold and was rescued from a com-muter parking lot, where he wasfound in a box. What a lucky dayfor his mom Tish, who loves himdearly.

Best In ShowThe best photos of your dogs

This Issue:Ho Ho Ho! Santa Dog


Next issue: I love snow!Send responses & photos to [email protected]

Second Place

Third Place (tied)

Third Place (tied)


(Friends - continued from page 1)

Phoebe checking out Ross Proud momma Phoebe

One week old - time to introducethem by name

November 4 - line up and sleep

November 12 - Phoebe finds thelaundry basket to be the perfect

place to be near but not reachable

Nursing the first two while eat-ing the placenta

During the evening of October 17,the third puppy born, Geller, passed

away. Perhaps, if I had moreexperience, I could have saved her,but probably not. Phoebe was very

upset and refused to let me takeGeller from under the warming

lamp. I had to move Phoebe outsideand remove the puppy while she wasgone. It took a while before Phoebe

trusted me again.

November 8 - personalities arebeginning to show

By 1:30, all the puppies had beenborn - 7 beautiful puppies

Oct 26, mother and son bondingtime

November 5 - snacking and playing


November 14 - First time with gruel

November 17 - Inside, they arelearning to use grass for potty

breaks and the pen has to be movedso they can’t escape any more!

November 28 - Puppy piles at 6weeks old

They all rush over for mom’s kisses

Ross and Ursula - baby bitey face

November 26 - First time to the vetfor a health check and vaccines

Playing with their adventure box

November 29 - Monica during herone on one time with mom

November 15 - First time outside.We aren’t too sure about this!

First time in a crate too!

Ursula thinks that if she’s incrediblycute, I’ll pick her up. She’s right!

December 5 - John and Veronicacome to help socialize the puppies


Mom time!

December 6 - Chandler Bing wasthe first to climb

Ursula didn’t take long to gain con-fidence and climb and jump

Chandler Bing and Monica on thesod rolls

Phoebe getting some much deservedsleep

Busy, busy, busy!

Pottying outside - yay!

December 10 - Almost time to go totheir forever homes - they’ve grown

so much!

December 6 - More visitors, It’s soimportant to make sure they are

exposed to all kinds of people at thisage

Chandler Bing and Monica on thesod rolls

Back with mom who still insists onfeeding them

December 13- Four of the puppieshave gone to their new homes andPhoebe is relaxing. She can finallyget spayed and go through heart-

worm treatment and begin her newlife


Here's the hard truth - asbeautiful and special as thesepuppies are, they should neverhave been born. The world doesnot need more puppies born inshelters or in your backyardbecause millions of unwantedpets are dying in shelters everyyear.

Phoebe was too far along toabort the puppies - we believe itwould have been too hard on herand our decision turned out to be

the right one for both her and thepuppies. In that, we were lucky.The puppies turned out to behealthy, smart and sweet. Sooften, they have health issues dueto lack of nutrition or bad timingof vaccinating the moms.

I'm glad we were here forPhoebe and the Friends litter andI love each and every one ofthem. But please encourageeveryone you know to spay andneuter their pets. The positiveexperience for Phoebe and herbabies is the exception rather than

the usual circumstance forunwanted dogs. Phoebe was anamazing mom but I promised herthat she would never have to gothrough this again. She is lookingforward to having her own forev-er family and get to focus on thethings that she likes best - food,toys, frolicking, and her humanfriends and family.

Check out the link below for a fun video of the puppies playing when they were 6 weeks old. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfF-HK2LTiw

(Friends - continued from page 9)

babies, or a litter of puppies,THANK YOU. Without all of"U" there is no "US".

In bringing in the New Yearwe are looking for new volun-teers to help our rescue from Ato Z. If you have a few hours tospare daily, weekly or monthlywe would love to have you be apart of the wheel that keeps usmoving forward. We have a listof positions that need filling.You don't need experience, wewill teach you what needs to bedone. If you have any skills intaxes, grant writing or webdesign we could use yourexpertise. We need adoption,vet and foster coordinators toname a few of the positions thatare open.

We need volunteers to makephone calls since many of us

hold full-time jobs, families anddogs to take care of that makesit difficult to do even do thesimple things that need to getdone to get our fosters into theirforever homes. If you think youcan help us in any way pleasemessage us or email us and wewill give you the list of themany ways you can help. Ittakes a village and we need toexpand our borders so that wecan continue to grow as a res-cue organization and to helpmore dogs.

We wish you, your families,and your pet friends a veryhappy holiday and hope for aprosperous and healthy 2016.

~Kim

As 2015 comes to a closewe would like to thankall of NOLA'S Elves

for their hard work throughoutthe year. Without you wewouldn't be able to do what wedo, and that is SAVE LIVES.To our many fans who followus and share our posts, avail-able dogs, and auctions,THANK YOU.

To our supporters who helpin any way they can, from bid-ding on our auctions, sharingour page, or donating to aneedy dog, THANK YOU. Andto our volunteers who some-times drop everything to assistat a moment’s notice when adog is in need, THANK YOU.Lastly to our fosters who opentheir homes to a scared shelterdog, to a momma about to have

From the President

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfF-HK2LTiw


The holiday season is a joy-ful time for both humansand our pets. During this

festive time, it’s easy to over-look the impact that holidaychanges have on our pets. It’simportant to remember thatalong with new activities anddecorations come somepotential hazards for yourpet.

A few of the top hazardsfor your pet during the holi-days are: tinsel andChristmas tree ornaments,

holiday lighting and candles,food, and holiday plants.

Tinsel and Christmastree ornaments: Tinsel cantwist itself around your pet’sintestines and cause seriousharm, even death. If your pethas eaten tinsel, immediateveterinary care is needed.Glass, aluminum and paperornaments should be placedhigher up on the tree. Yourpet can chew and swallowthese fragile objects. Brokenpieces from sharp edges thatcan cut our pet’s mouth,throat and intestines; theycould also create a chokinghazard.

Holiday lighting and

candles: Holiday lights (e.g.icicle lights, netting and gar-land) can cause electricalshock if your pet chews onthe cords. Electrical shockscan cause tongue lacerationsand possible death. Checkyour holiday lights for signsof fraying or chewing anduse a grounded three-prongextension cord as a safetyprecaution. If you have can-dles on display, place them inhard-to-reach places. Pets canseriously burn themselvesand also can knock over can-dles creating a fire hazard.

Food: Festive eventsoften mean lots of edibletreats. Some of the most pop-ular holiday goodies, such aschocolate, fat trimmings,bones and nuts, can beextremely toxic or fatal toyour pets. You should keepthese treats out of your pet’sreach, and if any have beeningested immediately contactyour veterinarian.

Toxic Holiday Plants:Some holiday plants are poi-sonous, even deadly. As littleas a single leaf from any lilyvariety is lethal to cats.Others to avoid: Christmas

tree pine needles, Holly,Mistletoe and Poinsettias.Keep these plants out ofreach of your pets.

If you are traveling, con-sider obtaining emergency

contact information for a vet-erinarian at your destination.Having this information atyour fingertips (if needed)will help you obtain promptassistance in an emergency.Even if you are at home, con-tact your own vet for holidaycoverage information.

Families with new dogsand especially puppies needto be particularly vigilant todog proof the environmentand anticipate things likecounter surfing and tree tack-ling.

A Healthier Pet - Holiday Hazards

Training TipProper canine greeting is an

important training tool tohave in your arsenal. The

following article, written byRobin Sockness, Trainer, out-lines how to facilitate a propercanine greeting.

Three seconds is the maxi-mum amount of time an initialgreeting between two dogs onleash should last. “One potato,two potato, three and walkaway.” When you’re walkingaway after number three, giveeach dog a second or two to for-get about each other. Once bothdogs have been distracted, youcan bring them back for anothermeeting (assuming the first onewent well) for a longer duration.• Pay attention to both dogs! Ifthe initial greeting escalatesbefore“three”,walk awaysooner.*Rememberthat eye toeye greetings(direct eye toeye staredowns) are arecipe for disaster. If there is astare down going on, don’t allowthe dogs to meet. Appropriatedog to dog greeting should notbe nose to nose, but rather glanc-ing and looking away and moreof a side approach.• Watch the tails! If the tailsare stiff, tucked tightly or onlythe tip is wagging very fast(which means the dog isaroused) like a rattle snake, then

ALL dog greetings. Give themtheir three seconds, walk awayand if all goes well, take it fromthere!

Facilitating a proper caninegreeting will lay a foundation foryour dog to have healthy rela-tionships with other dogs. Thethree second rule gives your dog

the opportunity to know thatyou’ve got things under control,that s/he is safe and that buildstrust.

To read more positive rein-forcement training tips, andmuch more, please visithttp://www.mybestbuddydog-training.com/. Best Buddy DogTraining is located in Atlanta,Georgia.

Article written by RobinSockness

you need to end the greetingbefore the three seconds are up.A good tail wag for greetings issoft and loose, almost like thewhole back end of the dog iswagging.• Watch the heads! If one dogis positioning his head over thetop of the other dog’s head orshoulders, walk away before thethree seconds is up.• Watch the mouth! If thedogs’ jaws are tight and they arenot breathing, walk away beforethe three seconds is up.• Look for butt sniffing! It iscommon and good for dogs tosniff each other’s butts. I like tocall it “reading the pee mail”. Agood canine greeting involvesthe dogs walking in a circlesniffing for “pee mail”, with

looseandcurvybodies.Evenwith agoodinitialgreeting,the threesecond

rule still applies!• Loose leash! During thegreeting, keep the leash loose –tight leashes raise arousal in adog. When the three seconds isup, don’t jerk on the leash andpull your dog away, rather callyour dog away and keep thatleash loose!• The three second rule isimportant for the first greeting,and a very good practice for


You can make the difference! Donations can be made online via our website at http://www.nolalabrescue.org/Donations.html

Will you help?

NOLA Lab Rescue432 Evergreen DrDestrehan, LA

70047

Another year has gone byalong with our annualfundraising event in the

South. It was great to see our oldfriends and make many newfriends. We truly hope all of theparticipants had as much fun aswe did. The event was attendedby 117 people who enjoyed the

wonderful food, music, andsocializing. Speaking of socializ-ing, the winner of the costumecontest was Carey Shepherd whostole the hearts of everyone look-ing for her precious little lostpuppy.

Great fun was had bidding onthe 76 raffle items and 15 silentauction items that were generous-ly donated by our sponsors andcaring individuals. NOLA hasbeen able to pay off a big portionof our medical bills. A great bigthank you goes to our volunteersand individuals who have sup-ported us and continue to do so.And, of course, a special thankyou to our sponsors who makethis event possible.

Together we save lives.

nola lab rescue winter 2015 newsletter

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