BC Pug Rescue

PUG BC RESCUE NEEDS YOUR HELP!
Pug BC Rescue is always very busy taking care of the needs of pugs in distress and in transition to new homes.

We are shorthanded and need volunteers to help with long and short time fostering and rehabilitation of some of these pugs. We need contacts who will pick up pugs for us and deliver them to their destination.

We are always in need of donations to cover the medical care of these pugs.

If you can help, please only contact us at either of these emails: Branlee-Kennels@shaw.ca; miksas_hugga@shaw.ca

	Libby Libby came into rescue on Feb 2, 2004 She was approx. 3 year old. She was given up for "personal reasons" She had a severe luxated patella and would require surgery to fix ASAP. She had apparently been carrying her leg up under her belly for the last year as the previous owner did not do the surgery to correct the problem. She was adopted into an excellent home by a lady who already had a pug. She had the surgery to fix her leg and is now doing very well. Libby is the larger pug being held by the new owner, Zoe the pug is Libby's new best friend.
Maggie Maggie came into rescue on April 10th, 2004 She was adopted at birth and lived with the same person for 8 years. She was given up because the persons situation had changed and they felt they could no longer keep her. She was the saddest pug I had ever had is rescue. She had a lot of difficulty coping with the new enviroment and spent most of the day hiding under a kitchen chair. I treid to give her special attention and to make her feel welcome in her new temporary home. She started to come arround after about a week and would follow me everywhere, sleep next to my bed and occasionally bark when someone would come to the door. She loved men and children. She was adopted by a young man and his girlfriend. The girlfriend ran a daycare center out of their home, Maggie loved all the attention and was soon thriving. She had her teeth cleaned and before long she was like a new dog. Unfortunately Maggie's health took a turn for the worse and after 2 years of being in her new home surrounded by love and attention she has passed away from health complications.
	Willie Willie came into rescue on Aug 12, 2003. He was discovered by a man walking across a field behind a fruit stand in the middle of summer. The man picked the very ill, unconscious pug up and took him to the closest vet. Westbank Animal Hospital took the stray pug in and treated him for several weeks all the while trying to locate the pugs owners. After three weeks of no one coming forward to claim the pug the rescue was asked to come pick him up. Willie was very thin, missing and eye, had very few teeth, and had a problem walking due to weakness in his back legs. He was estimated to be about 4 years of age. He was not neutered. He was not what people would call an attractive pug but his personality was unbelievable. He was very affectionate, loving, friendly and playful. I honestly though I would never find a home for this poor pug. I was wrong he did find a great home where he lived out the rest of his short life. Eventually Willie went completely blind, started having seizures and walking in circles crying, it was decided he would be much better off with the other pugs at rainbow bridge. He had a wonderful 2 years in a loving home.
Spud Spud came into rescue on Sept 18th 2003 he had been picked up as a stray by the City of Vancouver Animal Control. He was found a home by the shelter but later returned by the new owners as they felt something was wrong with his breathing. The pound had their vet examine the elderly dog and it was determined that he was a healthy pug. Spud spent several days in the shelter and the staff could see he was not coping well in his new environment so they called BC pug rescue. When I went to go pick Spud up the staff at the shelter warned me in a joking manner he was so ugly that they named him SPUD for Super Pathetic Ugly Dog. I though he was adorable. He was adopted by a couple that were looking for an older dog to just lay around the house. They could not have described spuds any better. Spud lived out the remainder three years of his life with his new family but has since passed over to rainbow bridge.
	Simone Simone and Hercules came together but were adopted by separate people, neighbours so they get to see each other all the time.. Simone lives with another rescue named LULU ( not Lola like it says in the attachment ) Simone's owners were moving and gave her up. Simone has had several recent health scares and was thought she might have cancer. Her new owner prepared for the worse took her home and adorned her with love and attention. Miraculously she improved and is now back to her normal self, no cancer. It is believed now that she had a virus that almost took her life.
Frisco and Vegas inseparatable pair Came into rescue on May 17th 2004 Owner gave them up because he was working long hours and doing alot of traveling with his job. He had just recently been married and had a new baby, the wife was not particularly a dog person and since he was away so much the resoponsibility of the dogs would be on her. They felt the dogs would be better off in a new home. Frisco is 4 years old and has a hereditary skin condition called generalized demodex it causes his hair to fall out and skin to become irritated during flare ups. He also has an elongated pallet and tougue, his tongue swells in hot weather. He did have sugrery on his tongue but as you can see it was not very sucessful. Needless to say he has some difficuly eating and often drooles. Vegas was abused and neglected as a pup he had three homes before he was a year old. He had been in the same home the last 3 years until coming into rescue. He has ajusted well and is healthy and very active, demands attention and loves to go for walks.
	Simone & Gemma They came to rescue on May 2003 Simone a black 5 year old pug was a Russian import smuggled into the country as a wedding gift. He had a minor clef pallet but otherwise he appeared healthy. He did suffer from a terrible sinus infection while in rescue but that was treated with antibiotics and soon cleared up. Gemma was 5 years old and had just recently had eye surgery for a deep conreal ulcer. She also developed a skin infection from wearing a colar that kept her from scratching her eye after surgery. Gemma had blood in her urine from a bladder infection that required antibiotics and an x-rays to make sure she did not suffer from bladder stones. They were adopted together by a young man and his family who had the dogs for 3 years. The young man was moving out on his own and his parents did not want the dogs so as per our rescue adoption agreement he brought the dogs back to rescue. They have since beed adopted out together again in 2006 by another family and are ajusting well together in their new home. Both have not had any further heath complications since coming into rescue.
Spike rescued on July 31, 2004 Spike came into rescue after his owners gave custody of the pug over to All Critters Animal Hospital after he had an accident that resuted in a broken leg. The owners said the dog fell off the bed after being spooked by a curtain flying in the wind. The owners asked to have him put to sleep as they said they could not afford to have his leg fixed. The vet had the dog released into their care then contacted rescue to see if we would help the beautiful young pug. We immediately took spike into our own Vet and had the surgery done to correct the problem. During the operation is was discovered that the leg was broken in 5 places and the radial nerve severed making it immpossible to keep the leg. The decision was made to amputate Spike recovered quickly and did very well. He was the only one who thought he had nothing wrong with him. He was not going to let a little thing like a missing leg slow him down. He is one of the nicest most beautiful pug I have ever met.
Poohkey & Sammy Rescue These two came into Rescue on Sept 2004 after their elderly owner passed away . Poohkey was the mother of Sammy. Poohkey was thought to be about 8 years old and Sammy is about 4 . Poohkey suffered from chronic bladder infections that will require on going diagnoses and treatment. Sammy is blind from an un-diagnosed and un-treated eye condition. His blindness could have been prevented if his eye condition had been diagnosed earlier. He has regained some of his eye sight after taking steroids to reduce the scar tissue on his eyes. They are both lovely and affectionate pugs. ------------------------------------------- Letter from their new family "Thank you again for allowing us to adopt Poohkey and Sammy. I can't imagine life without them! Sammy is definitely my baby and Poohkey rules the roost. You won't believe how slim the old girl is getting. She has way more energy and can hop up on the couch without help!" ------------------------------------------- Hi Leanne and Sandra "Thought I would update you on Poohkey and Sammy's most recent Vet check with Dr. Barkasy. Poohkey now weighs 22.4 lbs, which is a nice reduction so far. Other than a slight ear irritations she is in good health. Sammy's eyes are improving. We will keep doing what we are doing. Maxidex and Oppitum ointments twice a day. They really are inseparable and have settled in very well. Except for the humping when they get all in a dither, they are wonderfully dogs. Sammy even scuddles while playing! For a semi-blind dog that is something to see! Anyways I thought you might like to know how we are doing." Kathleen
	George He came into rescue after his owner surrendered him to the rescue. He was only 12 weeks old when his owner began having complications with her pregnancy and was put on strict bed rest. Her husband worked away from home so she was unable to care for George on her own any longer. She decided to call rescue to see if we could find him a new home. George came to live at the rescue for a short time but was quickly adopted by a young family.
Brutus Brutus came from a backyard breeder. He was initially sold / traded to a man that did carpentry work in exchange for the work he had done on the breeders home. . When Brutus was about 6 months old he developed some movement problems and was thought to have Pug Dog Encephalitic. Luckily this was not the case, but he did have some serious problems moving all his 4 limbs in a co-ordinate way ( Ataxia). He could run better that he could walk but over all he was clumsy and would often crash into things or just fall over for no apparent reason. He also occasionally lost control of his bowels. When Brutus' owner could not keep him anymore and the breeder refused to take him back he was then given away to another family who had him for about 8 months. Eventually they also felt they could no longer provide the care he needed. This family had their own business and worked long hours they felt Brutus needed a home where someone would be around more. This family contacted rescue on Feb14th. 2006 and Brutus came to live at the rescue. He had quite the attitude for a dog who could barely walk, he thought he was something else, especially with the ladies! He had a sweet nature, loved to cuddle, and was full of life. He never let his disability slow him down. He was adopted into a new home on March 15th, 2006.
	Louie and Scooter Louie came in to rescue on Aug 8, 2006 after his owners could no longer provide care for him. Louie had a spinal cord injury and was paralysed in both rear legs. He was a young and very frustrated dog being only 4 years old and wanting to be very active. His owner said he had no fear and would jump from counter tops and window sills. This is often very true about pug that they have no fear of heights and are described by some as being like mountain goats. The owners were not sure exactly what caused Louie's injury we were told he just woke up one morning and could not walk. Louie needed a lot of work, he was not neutered, he is a big time barker and very hyper dog . If permitted he would run dragging his hind legs behind him until the skin was raw. He had no bowel or bladder control and had ulcers on his skin from the urine and dragging himself. Scooter was found abandoned on the road side in Kamloops area. He had already been paralysed for sometime. He was an older dog and a true gentleman. At first the SPCA were not going to allow his adopting saying he was not adoptable. His fate it seemed was to be put to sleep. Lucky for Scooter his new adopted owners were not about to give up on him and fought until the SPCA released the dog to the new owners. Out of concern for someone who may be missing Scooter the new adopted owners contacted the rescue to let us know if someone was missing a pug in the Kamlpoops area that they had rescued him and that he was in a good home. Rescue told the people about Louie and the people insisted on coming to Langley from Lac La Hache the next day to pick him up. A 14 hour drive round trip!! Now Louie and Scooter spend their days literally racing around the three acre yard they call home. They could not have been adopted by kinder, more big hearted people.
Murphy Murphy came into rescue on March 7, 2006 after his elderly owner was admitted to hospital. He had been placed in a kennel for a few weeks while his owner was unwell. Unfortunately his owner was not able to return home after being hospitalized therefore rescue was contacted. Murphy is a very large ( 30lbs) beautiful pug with very little leash training. He will also need some work on his manners. I don't think Murphy went out much so he would require socialization with other dogs. He was adopted on March 15, 2006.
	Casper Casper came into rescue on April 2, 2006. He was in terrible condition, he dragged his back legs from paralysis, had a horrible bladder infection and distended bladder, and was constipated from not being able to control his own bodily functions and had eye infections in both eyes. His urine was the color and cosistancey of mustart paste .When I took him to the vet the vet could not even pass a catheter through to the bladder to drain the urine. I had to milk his bladder several times a day just to relieve the pressure and try to get some of the urine to pass until the antibiotic could clear up the infection. I won;t even go into details about his bowels! Capser was very over wieght making his already wobbily legs even more difficult for him to get around. He dragged his back legs most of the time but occasionally you could see him try to move and even take the odd step. I had hopes he would be able to walk again..Casper stayed in rescue all summer improving every day. He tried so hard to push himself and keep up with the other dogs, soon he was running in the yard. No the most graceful run but he was running. Everyone who saw this dog was amazed by what he could do. When the people came to see Louie from Lac La Hache in Aug, they also fell in love with Casper ( he looked like their Scooter). After a few months with Louie they called and asked if they could adopt Casper as well. I was heart broken at the idea of letting my Casper go after months of rehab and the best pug kisses ever. I knew I had to let him go, and most of all I new he would have a great home, which really is what rescue is all about, finding great homes for pugs. ___________________________________________ Letter from Casper Hi Mum, Well, I have been here for 4 days now, and have nearly completely taken over the entire household. I sleep whenever I want, I go outside whenever the whim overtakes me, and the food situation is slowly improving. The foster parents do need a lot of re-training though. For instance, when I first arrived, I noticed that Scooter didn't have to get up off the couch when he wanted a drink. He just sits up and sticks out his cute little tongue, and they hand him bottled water, that is kept right there for that purpose. So just last night I sat up from my position at the other end of the couch, and tried the same thing. They didn't even notice at first!! So I gave a shrill little bark (just one), and they did deliver the water. But they were laughing so hard they almost spiled MY water on me. I am gaining some muscle in the back end. We go down to the lake several times a day, and then I also have to explore the wooded area. Apparently the more exercise I get, the more food I can have, so I am currently in marathon training. I have to drink a lot though, there are so many trees and bushes that need my attention, that I could get dehydrated. Louie is doing well too. He is quieter now that he gets so much exercise with his new wheel chair. When he builds up a bit more muscle in the back legs, I am supposed to try to teach him how I walk. Don't know how fast he will learn though, he is not as smart as I am. (is ANYONE?). Louie has his own position in the evenings, on the big armchair with dad. They seem to really get along, go figure eh? Well I think I will continue my nap, and then check out the kitchen again. I am supposed to let you know that the parents are picking up Louie's medical records on Tuesday, and will send them to you. Lots and Lots of kisses, Casper (they sometimes call me Caesar - why would they do that?) _________________________________ Hi there mum, I had a good sleep last night, and got woken up by Louie (of all people) at 6am. So went outside (in the frost) and did my thing and then laid by the fire place waiting rather patiently for breakfast. At long last (7:30), breakfast arrived, and 30 seconds later THAT was finished! Had another sleep by the fire and went out on the grass and leaves by the lake, its a big lake!! Had my picture taken, but step-mom is not sure how that turned out. All 5 of us were smiling, and moving and doing our best, so we shall see later today. Stepdad just called - he went out to play golf - and seems Louie's wheelchair is in, so we will have to endure more pictures tonight, when he gets home. All is good here, I am getting along splendidly with the brothers and sister, course I am so sweet, you would have expected that, right? I miss you lots, and always will. You saved my life and gave me a home when no-one else wanted to look after me. It takes a VERY special person to do that, and then to unselfishly let go, and make room for another little pug. Step-mum says that it is so easy to take a pug in and love him/her every day of its life, but only a very few people in the world are wise enough, and have enough love and sacrifice in them, to rescue little puggies, restore them to health and happiness, and then let them move on, and help another in need. I am sure lookin forward to supper, and in the meantime, I am helping with the computer in the den, along with Faith, Sam, and Scooter. Louie is out on the deck, and I go out to see him every so often to see what he is barking at, but so far I can't figure it out. Hope you will come and visit us soon, Love and LOTS of kisses, Casper
Smudge