always be prepared

I recently bought a new car.  This is the first new car I have ever owned.  And it's little-- a Fiat.

Days after purchasing the car, we stumbled upon tiny, tragic Tank (Possum/Oliver/Dodger/Terrence/whathaveyou) and this obnoxious woman walking by on the sidewalk was insisting we have to take this dog because she couldn't take it. "Just pick it up and put it in your car!"

"Well, I just bought a new car," I said.

She acted appalled at me. "Your car?! Who cares! This dog is going to get hit by traffic."

She was rude. But she had a point. I mean, no, I didn't want a flea infestation in my car, possible ringworm spores or who-knows-what, potentially risking the health of my own dogs and me.  But this was a matter of life and death for this little guy.  Why she "couldn't" do anything is beyond me, but I could do something.

So I picked up the dog, wishing I had rubber gloves, and put it... in my trunk.  To be fair, my trunk is safe and significantly roomier than a crate, and while I felt like a criminal putting a dog in my trunk, it was the safest option for the 10 minute drive home, where I set up a safe place for him in the garage.

But the dilemma prompted me to think of the supplies I wished I'd had ready in my car.  So this week, I assembled a dog-helping kit for my car.

It needed to be small so it didn't take up much room in my tiny car, and I didn't want to spend a lot of money.  So I tried to use things I already had and inexpensive, multi-purpose, compact items.  So here it is.  Everything (except the blanket) fits inside of a Swiffer Wet Mop refill container.  Build your own with the following materials.

1. Plastic container -- I repurposed a Swiffer Wet Mop container with lid, but any container works.
2. Plastic poncho -- to serve as a tarp for protecting seats from wet feet and such.  I already had this collecting dust in a closet.
3. Sealed bag with a handful of treats -- for luring dogs out of dangerous situations.
4. Small can of dog food -- with a pop top lid (unless you also happen to store a can-opener in your car.) I spent about $1 on this.
5. Little bottle of water -- I bought a case and stored the rest in the basement. The entire case cost about $3.
   
6. Looping "animal control" leash -- for any sized dog, no collar required.  Goomers, kennels, and vet's offices often buy these in bulk. I asked my vet if I could buy one from them, and they gave it to me for free.  You can also find them for purchase online.
7. Spoon -- for mixing up food.
8. Rubber can lid -- in case you have leftover food.  I got a set of 2 at PetSmart for $3.99
9. Small plastic container -- stores extra plastic bags, collars, rubber gloves; serves as a water dish.  2 for $1 at Target.
10. Container lid -- to serve as a food dish. Came with the container.
11. 1 large and 1 small collar -- Goodwill happened to have a bunch of unused pet supplies one day, so I got these for less than $2 each.
12. Self-adhering bandage -- $3 from PetSmart
13. Sealed bag with 4 rubber gloves -- the supply that prompted this whole endeavor.

Not pictured: 
gauze/bandage -- for use with the self-adhering bandage (I have yet to purchase this or steal it from another first aid kit)
blanket -- to store in the trunk, along with the kit.

So, there it is.  Total cost to me: $14
(This includes some purchases that were not used in the kit, like the entire case of water bottles and container lids that came in a set of 2, but does not include the cost for things I already had on hand, like rubber gloves and the spoon.)
Total value, probably about $16 (plus the blanket)

It fits neatly in my tiny trunk, alongside a blanket.  I included an inventory list on the front so that I can replenish any supplies I end up using. (Because I'm a librarian. Cataloging is important to me.)  I didn't even mean to make everything blue, but I like that it turned out so visually cohesive.

And now I have emergency supplies, not only for my own dogs, but for dogs that I encounter on the street who need help.  I am not advocating approaching strange dogs, which can certainly put you in danger.  But if approached by a dog in need, being prepared for the situation can make it safer for everyone.  Since I seem to find myself in these situations lot lately, having some supplies on hand made sense.

Ta-da!

straydar

Straydar: n. (strā-dahr): The unintentional ability to spot stray or unaccompanied dogs or cats when driving, walking or during one's lunch hour at work, prompting the need to always have a leash and pet treats in the auto. This may also include the ability to have pets brought to one by others who are aware one has this ability. There is no cure once one becomes afflicted with "straydar".

urbandictionary.com

Apparently, that's a thing.  I know, because I seem to have come down with a classic case.  Examine the symptoms and history:

• I suspect I inherited the gene from my dad, who once found a litter of three puppies at the laundromat of our apartment complex when I was 4 or 5.  It was a Saturday morning, I was watching the Smurfs, and my dad walked in with a box of puppies.  I was giddy.  Of course, they ended up being taken "to the pound," but that's how it began.

• My own straydar seems to have lay dormant for most of my life, until I adopted Lucy, a lhasa apso from some friends when they could no longer care for her.  

• When her life ended sooner than it should have years later, my then-boyfriend purchased a puppy from a pet store, over my staunch objections to the likelihood that the puppy came from a puppymill.  Turns out, he was from a classic puppymill, but that's another story for another time.  Regardless, when then-boyfriend dumped me and ever so responsibly realized "wait, I can't take care of a dog!" I won custody.  That is how my beloved Truman came to be mine.

• Years later, I was living with my then-fiance (now husband, Bryan) and Truman, when a frightened little poodle-mix emerged from the woods across the street from our house.  Fate, along with a little human and animal intervention, saw to it that we took her in and cared for her, and eventually, she joined our family too.  Harriet's full story is here.

• I came to realize the full extent of my love for dogs, and my passion for helping them, so I became a volunteer at SICSA, a local organization that is just plain awesome.  

• One day my sister called me, having found a tiny Maltese wandering busy streets and getting honked at.  My sister was leaving town so dropped off the dog with me.  The dog was clearly someone's pet, well cared for, but without a collar and with an unregistered microchip.  But knowing where the dog was found, I used my super-librarian skills, mixed with a little facebook stalking prowess, and tracked down the owners.  They came to pick her up within less than 6 hours of her arrival.

• I fostered two amazing and adorable tiny puppies, Mo and BB, for three weeks.  No sooner had wonderful adoptive homes for them (just this past weekend) do we arrive at the present situation...

• Yesterday.

We were meeting friends for breakfast at a restaurant called Tank's near downtown.  It was raining, and as I pulled up, we saw a little Pomeranian hobbling down the street.  He approached people without fear, but as we got closer, could see he was severely matted and looked worse than Harriet had when we found her.  While Bryan & I were trying to decide what we could do, some awful woman entering Tank's started hounding us about what we were going to do, saying the dog was going to get hit by a car and we had better take her, and of course she couldn't take the dog, but demanded we do something now.  I had just gotten a new car and didn't have a blanket in it yet, so I put the dog in my trunk to avoid flea infestation.  (This sounds bad, but the dog seemed quite comfortable and safe.)  I drove it home, penned him in in the garage with blankets, water, and food, and headed back to breakfast.

He's still in the garage, and I think he's injured, and I've been trying all day to figure out how to get him the care he needs.  I'm still working on this, so I will continue the updates.

P.S. I'm calling him Tank.

UPDATE: After this post, I ended up changing the name of this blog, from "Help for Harriet" to "Straydar."

Harriet's story

On October 11, 2011, Bryan and I came home from work and, as we were getting out of the car, noticed a little dog sitting on the edge of the woods across the street from our house, watching us.  For a moment, I thought our own little gray dog, Truman, had gotten out, but on second glance I could see this was not our dog.

As I started to approach, she ran back into the woods, clearly not interested in being approached.  I had to leave to go to grad school class, but while I was gone, Bryan-- with the help of some neighbors and their German Shepherd-- heroically rounded up the terrified little dog and caught her.  She was affectionately called Harry, until it was discovered that she was a female, and then we started referring to her as Harriet.

Harriet was horribly matted and flea infested, with no tags or collar.  She seemed shaky and disoriented.  We kept her in our garage with some food and water.  Other neighbors donated some supplies: a dog bed, some food, a collar, a toy.  She was pretty exhausted and timid, but not exactly fearful.  She was gentle and didn't seem averse to being petted, although she seemed equally comfortable hiding in the corner of the garage.

The next morning, she escaped from the garage as we were leaving for work.  We left the door to the garage open in case she wanted to come back for shelter or food or water.  But, that was that.

...Except that when I came home for lunch, there was Harriet, sitting in the yard.  She again ran away when I approached, but again, some kind passers-by helped catch her and we put her back in the garage.  We made a vet appointment for that evening.

The vet discovered that, much to our surprise, she was overall quite healthy.  This little 10 pound dog was not emaciated, as you might expect from a stray dog in her situation.  She was very docile and never showed aggression to anyone caring for her.  Based on her muscles, eyes, and overall body condition, the vet guessed that she was about 5 years old, but that she had been living on her own for at least a month or two.

The biggest problems were a severe flea infestation (easily taken care of) and the condition of her teeth.  She had the teeth of a 20 year old dog.  They were rotting out.  An emergency grooming was scheduled to take care of her matted hair and the awful smell and the the fleas, but 3 of her teeth fell out during the grooming.  Poor Harriet seemed to have never had any dental care whatsoever, which was probably made worse by chewing on sticks and bones while she tried to survive in the woods, causing serious gum damage.  She was at serious risk of infection, which could pose fatal problems if left unattended.  It was estimated to cost between $1200-1500.

This was when I learned that there are not a lot of options for financial help for people who want to help a stray animal.  We were willing to give her up to a rescue organization, but we were also very willing to foster her, and since she was adjusting comfortably to our home, sending her away to a rescue organization felt a little cruel when we were perfectly willing to care for her.  The high cost of surgery would be a big strain for us, but we couldn't find low-cost vet options for care other than vaccines and spaying, and rescue organizations we called were (understandably) unwilling to provide funding assistance to people who weren't already approved foster-families.  Yet, the rescue organizations we found were all desperate for foster families, and her fate with them would be uncertain

Meanwhile, we learned Harriet had an intestinal parasite which required medication.  She continued to recover at our house, getting regular meds.  She was getting along well with our dog, and she made progress every day in becoming more comfortable with us.  At first she was completely unwilling to walk on a leash, but bit by bit, within a couple weeks she was able to walk around the block with us.

We ended up heading to another vet to get a second opinion (even though I adore my usual vet, this other one was a friend of a family member).  They gave us a much lower estimate-- $600-800.  As I began posting updates on Facebook and talking with friends and family about Harriet's situation, people began asking if they could donate to the Harriet fund.

Thus, I awkwardly created this site, to give people the opportunity to contribute to Harriet's immediate medical costs.  She is a sweet, affectionate little dog, and we have come to terms with the fact that she is now a beloved member of our family.  We can happily provide for Harriet's care in the long term; the typical costs of being responsible dog owners are familiar to us.  But the initial cost of finding a dog in the woods who has never been cared for responsibly and catching her up on shots, dewormings, spaying, and dental surgery is more than we were prepared for.  If you are the kind of person who likes to contribute money to things like this, we would graciously appreciate any help lightening the financial burden of our new, very sweet but needy little family member, we would be deeply grateful for your generosity.