Maggie's blog recently received two anonymous comments under our very first entry.
One comment came from someone who was there the night Maggie and the other dogs were seized. The other comment is from someone who is familiar with the legal proceedings against the operator of Maggie's puppy mill, J.C. Heiberg. Apparently she is doing some well deserved jail time! I'm thinking this jail time is a result of the separate misdomeaner guilty verdict for not providing proper shelter for an animal, but I do not know for sure. To read about her trial check out our entry on 8/24/08.
This is a great reminder for Steve and me that there are many, many people who helped and loved Maggie before we ever knew she existed. They literally saved her life. I can't help but wonder how these anonymous posters were and/or are specifically involved with this case. Are they volunteers? Lawyers? Concerned citizens? I would bet money that they have big hearts and love animals.
The blog has many advantages. Our friendship with Justin, Carla, and George is just one example. Another advantage is that we have the opportunity to publicly say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to every person who helped save Maggie and the other dogs. Ever since we adopted Maggie we've made a point to educate ourselves about puppy mills, and I know the work you're doing is not easy.
Since the posts are under our very first entry I have pasted them in below . . . because they are very worth reading.
- - - - - - - - -
Dear Maggie: I am glad to hear that you found such a wonderful home. I know you deserve to have such wonderful doggy "parents". You had a "ruff" start in life, but your future looks brighter.
I just wanted you to know that JC is being held in Jail for 60 days for her crime. I also can assure you that her operation has been shut down & will not be re-established. She is being monitored very closely by the Sheriff's Department and her Probation Agent.
Have a happy life, and be a good doggy!
- - - - - - - - -
SteveKat: Thank you for posting this website. I love to hear that these dogs are finding such wonderful homes. I was there the night they were seized by the Kenosha County Sheriff's Dept. I know many dogs did not get rescued because Fondulac failed to do their jobs. I am just glad that this puppy mill was shut down and that Kenosha County took extreme steps to keep her shut down. Please keep posting information on Maggie, because I love my dog as much as you do & happy to hear this one had a happy ending...or should I say a new beginning in life.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
1st Day of School
Today was Maggie's first day of "school" (a.k.a. doggy day care). She didn't play today, but was brave enough to spend all day in the big room with the active dogs.
Her mom wasn't so brave. I was a crying mess. Her little face in the window watching me leave broke my heart. The staff kept telling me to hold it together and be confident for her . . . I tried. They had to ask me to hand over her leash and then said, "It's time for you to go now." I felt so silly. I apologized when we picked her up tonight, but they assured me I wasn't the first.
Steve checked on Maggie via the daycare webcam, and I called during nap time (12-2p.m.) to get an update. Our friend Carla even got a progress report when she called to check on George.
Speaking of George, he was so sweet with Miss Maggie today. The staff said as soon as she arrived Maggie went to be with him, and when we picked her up George stopped playing to say good-bye. They're so cute!
The plan is for Maggie to go to day care every Monday, but while she's adjusting to that environment we may add in a second day for a few weeks.
Yesterday Maggie spent the day at her Grandma Lela's while Steve and I watched the Bears lose to the Bucs in OT. She did great with her treats and dinner, but wouldn't go to the bathroom until we had returned from the game.
We're hoping all these new experiences help expand her world and teach her that she is safe.
Re: teaching, Maggie is learning "stop". After her run-away accident this summer we started teaching her to "stop" each time we cross the street. Well, it has translated in the house, too. Sometimes Maggie gets confused between "upstairs" and the "basement" and in the past there was no stopping her once she was on her way. Now, if we say "stop" she will and we're able to re-direct her. No more frantic scrambling that scratches up the floors. It's almost as if her brain is settling down and allowing her to hear us.
Maggie also made big progress tonight - - we called for her to come sit by us and she walked over on her own! We didn't have to pick her up or use the leash!! It's another sign that she's finally settling in to her new home. It's hard to believe that Maggie's been with us for over 7 months now.
Now I just hope that when we pick Maggie up from day care next time that she comes running up to us with her tail wagging . . . or at least that it happens some day.
Her mom wasn't so brave. I was a crying mess. Her little face in the window watching me leave broke my heart. The staff kept telling me to hold it together and be confident for her . . . I tried. They had to ask me to hand over her leash and then said, "It's time for you to go now." I felt so silly. I apologized when we picked her up tonight, but they assured me I wasn't the first.
Steve checked on Maggie via the daycare webcam, and I called during nap time (12-2p.m.) to get an update. Our friend Carla even got a progress report when she called to check on George.
Speaking of George, he was so sweet with Miss Maggie today. The staff said as soon as she arrived Maggie went to be with him, and when we picked her up George stopped playing to say good-bye. They're so cute!
The plan is for Maggie to go to day care every Monday, but while she's adjusting to that environment we may add in a second day for a few weeks.
Yesterday Maggie spent the day at her Grandma Lela's while Steve and I watched the Bears lose to the Bucs in OT. She did great with her treats and dinner, but wouldn't go to the bathroom until we had returned from the game.
We're hoping all these new experiences help expand her world and teach her that she is safe.
Re: teaching, Maggie is learning "stop". After her run-away accident this summer we started teaching her to "stop" each time we cross the street. Well, it has translated in the house, too. Sometimes Maggie gets confused between "upstairs" and the "basement" and in the past there was no stopping her once she was on her way. Now, if we say "stop" she will and we're able to re-direct her. No more frantic scrambling that scratches up the floors. It's almost as if her brain is settling down and allowing her to hear us.
Maggie also made big progress tonight - - we called for her to come sit by us and she walked over on her own! We didn't have to pick her up or use the leash!! It's another sign that she's finally settling in to her new home. It's hard to believe that Maggie's been with us for over 7 months now.
Now I just hope that when we pick Maggie up from day care next time that she comes running up to us with her tail wagging . . . or at least that it happens some day.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Get Well Gift & New Fall Fashions
Maggie's recup-eration just got easier thanks to her Aunt Aimee. Today a package from Beantown landed on our doorstep with some yummy treats inside. You can see from the photo that they immediately peaked Maggie's interest,
and early tastings have been very positive. Thank you, Auntie Aimee!!Fall has arrived and Maggie has updated her look. She started this weekend with her new Chicago Bears collar and leash, and she has progressed to parting her hair down the middle. We don't know how she does this - and the photo doesn't really do it justice - but we promise that it looks like she's learned to part her hair. We've wondered what she does up in the bathroom all day, and now we know. As soon as she's well she's off to the groomer so we hope she's not overly attached to her new style.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Maggie, Bears, and Wookies
First, Maggie seems to be feeling better and we haven't heard her cough today. Thursday night and yesterday morning she was pretty despondent and sounded bad with her cough. So it seems the antibiotics are doing their job. Also her heart worm test came back negative, so that's good news.
Since football season has officially started, Maggie has now donned her Bears collar and leash. Her prediction for the season is 9-7, but that they'll still win the division. She also has a particular dislike for Green Bay, being in the northern wasteland of Wisconsin and all... When asked how she thought Aaron Rodgers would do, she just gave a quizzical look, like "Who is Aaron Rodgers?" - exactly.
Since she hasn't been groomed in a while (and now it's further postponed while she finishes up her quarantine period) we've had probably 4 or 5 people comment that she looks like Chewbacca, or more generally, a Wookie. So I couldn't resist... I think I see the resemblance.
Since football season has officially started, Maggie has now donned her Bears collar and leash. Her prediction for the season is 9-7, but that they'll still win the division. She also has a particular dislike for Green Bay, being in the northern wasteland of Wisconsin and all... When asked how she thought Aaron Rodgers would do, she just gave a quizzical look, like "Who is Aaron Rodgers?" - exactly.
Since she hasn't been groomed in a while (and now it's further postponed while she finishes up her quarantine period) we've had probably 4 or 5 people comment that she looks like Chewbacca, or more generally, a Wookie. So I couldn't resist... I think I see the resemblance.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Maggie is sick...
I left out some details from the end of our vacation until we had a chance to go to the vet and get some facts instead of just worrying about what may be wrong with Maggie. Here is some background and what we know now:
Late Sunday night, just before bed, Maggie coughed a few times. I've never heard her cough before, but we were sitting outside for a while and we figured she probably just got a little something like hair or grass stuck in her throat. There was also someone smoking nearby, so I thought maybe that bothered her.
Just after we got on the boat Monday afternoon she coughed a few times and sounded like she might vomit. We still weren't sure it was anything. I'd just lifted her up, so we thought I might have applied pressure to her throat. Plus when she sounded like she might vomit we were at sea so we thought maybe the motion was bothering her.
By Tuesday she'd coughed a few more times, never very long, but it had happened enough that we thought we'd better schedule an appointment for the vet. The canine flu has been going around, and if untreated and severe can be fatal, so we din't want to take any chances. The soonest they could get us in was this afternoon.
Around the time we made that appointment on Tuesday, Kat wrote Carla to let them know we'd better put off any playdates with George until we figured out what was wrong with her. That ended up unfolding a series of other events.
It turns out poor George started coughing on Saturday, and by Sunday they were at the emergency vet. Because of the flu problems, their vet did an x-ray. That x-ray showed possible fluid in the lungs and an enlarged heart. They started George on antibiotics and went back on Tuesday to get new x-rays which showed some improvement in the lungs, but again the enlarged heart. Taken by itself, they weren't sure if it was all related, or if the heart was a separate issue from the lungs/cough.
We heard all of this from Carla on Wednesday. We were worried about the cough and now possible heart problems was on our list of worries. The good news was that since they both were coughing it seemed likely that the cough was just something going around and not related to the heart. We're really glad that they let us know all of this so we were armed with this information for our appointment today. Since they came from the same environment, and possibly are genetically related, the heart was a concern for us - but I think really we thought we were just being paranoid and overly cautious.
In our appointment, they ran a test for heartworms, which we'll hear back about tomorrow. They weren't going to do an x-ray, but we relayed what we knew about George and they said they'd take 1 x-ray picture just to doublecheck and to put our minds at ease.
It turns out that they saw 'spots' or 'spiderwebs' in the x-rays of her lungs. I don't know if this is similar to the fluid described from George's x-rays. And, unfortunately, they also see abnormal enlargement in Maggie's heart too. They ended up doing another x-ray after seeing the enlargement in the first one to get a different angle on it, and got 2 other vets opinions on it to confirm it was enlarged. If there's any good news in this, it's that in both George and Maggie's cases, the vets didn't hear a heart murmur which would likely indicate the problem was in an advanced stage.
Maggie now is on two antibiotics - same as George. They're advising us to come back in 2 weeks to see if the cough is gone and get another x-ray to check her lungs. They don't think the cough is related to the heart problem and is likely a bacterial infection. The vet did point out that the enlargement was there, and noticeable, but was not major (as far as enlarged hearts go, I suppose). They advised us that after we clear up the lungs we can decide what to do about the heart. A next step would likely entail doing an EKG and ultrasound with a cardiologist to get an opinion on whether it requires treatment or is mild enough that it won't cause her long-term problems (Maggie is going to have to get a job now to pay for her medical bills).
We assume the cough for George and Maggie will likely clear up soon and it may have been a blessing in disguise to uncover the potential heart problems. Right now we're very happy that Carla and Justin found us, otherwise we wouldn't know about this at all, and it's going to be helpful to exchange notes on this as we all go forward.
We always knew Maggie had a big heart, but this wasn't exactly what we had in mind. Of course, we're hopeful and optimistic that it will all turn out OK for both Maggie and George. For now all we can do is wait and see.
Late Sunday night, just before bed, Maggie coughed a few times. I've never heard her cough before, but we were sitting outside for a while and we figured she probably just got a little something like hair or grass stuck in her throat. There was also someone smoking nearby, so I thought maybe that bothered her.
Just after we got on the boat Monday afternoon she coughed a few times and sounded like she might vomit. We still weren't sure it was anything. I'd just lifted her up, so we thought I might have applied pressure to her throat. Plus when she sounded like she might vomit we were at sea so we thought maybe the motion was bothering her.
By Tuesday she'd coughed a few more times, never very long, but it had happened enough that we thought we'd better schedule an appointment for the vet. The canine flu has been going around, and if untreated and severe can be fatal, so we din't want to take any chances. The soonest they could get us in was this afternoon.
Around the time we made that appointment on Tuesday, Kat wrote Carla to let them know we'd better put off any playdates with George until we figured out what was wrong with her. That ended up unfolding a series of other events.
It turns out poor George started coughing on Saturday, and by Sunday they were at the emergency vet. Because of the flu problems, their vet did an x-ray. That x-ray showed possible fluid in the lungs and an enlarged heart. They started George on antibiotics and went back on Tuesday to get new x-rays which showed some improvement in the lungs, but again the enlarged heart. Taken by itself, they weren't sure if it was all related, or if the heart was a separate issue from the lungs/cough.
We heard all of this from Carla on Wednesday. We were worried about the cough and now possible heart problems was on our list of worries. The good news was that since they both were coughing it seemed likely that the cough was just something going around and not related to the heart. We're really glad that they let us know all of this so we were armed with this information for our appointment today. Since they came from the same environment, and possibly are genetically related, the heart was a concern for us - but I think really we thought we were just being paranoid and overly cautious.
In our appointment, they ran a test for heartworms, which we'll hear back about tomorrow. They weren't going to do an x-ray, but we relayed what we knew about George and they said they'd take 1 x-ray picture just to doublecheck and to put our minds at ease.
It turns out that they saw 'spots' or 'spiderwebs' in the x-rays of her lungs. I don't know if this is similar to the fluid described from George's x-rays. And, unfortunately, they also see abnormal enlargement in Maggie's heart too. They ended up doing another x-ray after seeing the enlargement in the first one to get a different angle on it, and got 2 other vets opinions on it to confirm it was enlarged. If there's any good news in this, it's that in both George and Maggie's cases, the vets didn't hear a heart murmur which would likely indicate the problem was in an advanced stage.
Maggie now is on two antibiotics - same as George. They're advising us to come back in 2 weeks to see if the cough is gone and get another x-ray to check her lungs. They don't think the cough is related to the heart problem and is likely a bacterial infection. The vet did point out that the enlargement was there, and noticeable, but was not major (as far as enlarged hearts go, I suppose). They advised us that after we clear up the lungs we can decide what to do about the heart. A next step would likely entail doing an EKG and ultrasound with a cardiologist to get an opinion on whether it requires treatment or is mild enough that it won't cause her long-term problems (Maggie is going to have to get a job now to pay for her medical bills).
We assume the cough for George and Maggie will likely clear up soon and it may have been a blessing in disguise to uncover the potential heart problems. Right now we're very happy that Carla and Justin found us, otherwise we wouldn't know about this at all, and it's going to be helpful to exchange notes on this as we all go forward.
We always knew Maggie had a big heart, but this wasn't exactly what we had in mind. Of course, we're hopeful and optimistic that it will all turn out OK for both Maggie and George. For now all we can do is wait and see.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Our neighbors Phil & Ann invited us out on their boat today to go tubing, and were nice enough to invite Maggie as well. We figured she'd done so well all week, and in the spirit of continuing to introduce her to new adventures - why not?
They have a dog (he's still a pup), Marley, so they'd each have company and they've met each other in the hallways before. She seemed to like it. If we didn't know better we'd think she on boats all the time. She acted much like she was in the car, and having cool, calm and collect Marley around didn't hurt. Also, as you'll see the pictures, Maggie took a turn in Marley's life vest for a little swim...
So here are the pics, plus some shots from when we were at Grand Mere State Park earlier in the week.
"You're kidding, right?"
That's not an otter
Watch out Phelps - it could be Maggie in 2012
Maggie drying off with her mom
Kat & Maggie saying "Goodbye" to a great vacation...
They have a dog (he's still a pup), Marley, so they'd each have company and they've met each other in the hallways before. She seemed to like it. If we didn't know better we'd think she on boats all the time. She acted much like she was in the car, and having cool, calm and collect Marley around didn't hurt. Also, as you'll see the pictures, Maggie took a turn in Marley's life vest for a little swim...
So here are the pics, plus some shots from when we were at Grand Mere State Park earlier in the week.
Maggie & Marley - two happy boaters
"You're kidding, right?"
That's not an otter
Watch out Phelps - it could be Maggie in 2012 
Maggie drying off with her mom
Kat & Maggie saying "Goodbye" to a great vacation...These shots are from Thursday when we went to Grand Mere State Park:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)