About Jitterbug...
Jitterbug was the dog that found me. I was still grieving the loss of my beloved Rat Terrier that I had owned for nearly 18 years. While I was taking some time away to visit my family to help me through this difficult time, My Mother's neighbor sent a text to my mother that a stray had showed up on her doorstep. When she followed with a picture a few minutes later, I was shocked to see a dog of the same breed of my recently departed. I insisted that we go get her as they were discussing taking her to a shelter, and I just couldn't bare to see that happen.
I immediately contacted several rescues to see if a foster home could be found for her. The next morning we went to go get this little stray. When I walked up, she immediately ran over to me and practically jumped in my arms. We carried her over to the car and put her in a kennel. At the time she was infested with fleas, her back was infected, the hair was missing from her lower back, and she was hungry.
Once we had her back at my Mother's new place, we soon realized that she had worms. That day we started her on Heartgard to help kill off the worms. Two days later I had to return home and because of her condition and logistics issues, I couldn't take this little girl with me. On my return to my home, I began to call and e-mail every place I could to try and find a place for her. After being told we have no openings, or "we can take her but you'll have to treat or test..." for these first. I realized that the only way to save her was to take her in myself. I thought at the time that I wasn't ready for another dog yet, but she needed me more than I didn't need a dog. And my heart would not allow me to let her suffer this kind of life. I made arrangements with my mother to meet her half way of a two day drive, over 750 miles, to retrieve her.
When I picked her up, she was nervous, scared, and unsure of what was happening. When I got her home she was pretty well house trained and kennel trained. Upon letting her into my room, she immediately ran into the kennel I had prepared for her. She did have some behavioral issues and didn't know a single command. She turned out to be extremely intelligent learning how to sit in less than 24 hours.
Upon taking her to the vet, I found out that Jitterbug was in worse shape than I had realized. She had an infection on her back caused from biting at a flea infestation and an ear infection. And upon examining her the vet informed me that she was 4 to 5 weeks pregnant. A few days later I got a call from the vet telling me that her test results had come back and that she also had gairdia and heartworms. We immediately began treatment on the giardia in addition to the medicines she was on for her infections. It didn't take long to clear everything up except the heartworms. We began her on Heartgard to help prevent the heartworms from getting worse and from passing to the puppies.
We have continued to work on Jitterbug's training during her pregnancy. She quickly learned in addition to sit, lay down, stay, come, shake, and high five. We have also had progress on many of her behavoral issues and others are still a work in progress.
On May 9 at around 8pm in the evening Jitterbug went into labor and within 4 hours we had 5 adorable Terrier Mix puppies. I intend to keep Jitterbug with me. Despite her difficult life, she has been a delight for me to have. Just like all dogs, all she needed was someone to love and take care of her.
I immediately contacted several rescues to see if a foster home could be found for her. The next morning we went to go get this little stray. When I walked up, she immediately ran over to me and practically jumped in my arms. We carried her over to the car and put her in a kennel. At the time she was infested with fleas, her back was infected, the hair was missing from her lower back, and she was hungry.
Once we had her back at my Mother's new place, we soon realized that she had worms. That day we started her on Heartgard to help kill off the worms. Two days later I had to return home and because of her condition and logistics issues, I couldn't take this little girl with me. On my return to my home, I began to call and e-mail every place I could to try and find a place for her. After being told we have no openings, or "we can take her but you'll have to treat or test..." for these first. I realized that the only way to save her was to take her in myself. I thought at the time that I wasn't ready for another dog yet, but she needed me more than I didn't need a dog. And my heart would not allow me to let her suffer this kind of life. I made arrangements with my mother to meet her half way of a two day drive, over 750 miles, to retrieve her.
When I picked her up, she was nervous, scared, and unsure of what was happening. When I got her home she was pretty well house trained and kennel trained. Upon letting her into my room, she immediately ran into the kennel I had prepared for her. She did have some behavioral issues and didn't know a single command. She turned out to be extremely intelligent learning how to sit in less than 24 hours.
Upon taking her to the vet, I found out that Jitterbug was in worse shape than I had realized. She had an infection on her back caused from biting at a flea infestation and an ear infection. And upon examining her the vet informed me that she was 4 to 5 weeks pregnant. A few days later I got a call from the vet telling me that her test results had come back and that she also had gairdia and heartworms. We immediately began treatment on the giardia in addition to the medicines she was on for her infections. It didn't take long to clear everything up except the heartworms. We began her on Heartgard to help prevent the heartworms from getting worse and from passing to the puppies.
We have continued to work on Jitterbug's training during her pregnancy. She quickly learned in addition to sit, lay down, stay, come, shake, and high five. We have also had progress on many of her behavoral issues and others are still a work in progress.
On May 9 at around 8pm in the evening Jitterbug went into labor and within 4 hours we had 5 adorable Terrier Mix puppies. I intend to keep Jitterbug with me. Despite her difficult life, she has been a delight for me to have. Just like all dogs, all she needed was someone to love and take care of her.
