FAITH - Have hope for Faith and her babies...

This update 10/26/09: We are in the process of finding Zoe a home (click here for Zoe's personal webpage), while all other pus have been adopted (I will make an updated with new puppy pics at a later date). Now it is time to concentrate on Faith and her needs: HW treatment & spay. More on that in a later update, so please stop back!

9/17: Faith's puppies are now displaying their own personalities at 6 weeks of age. Their doting foster mom has prepared a unique biography for each puppy - enjoy! .Zoe - Zoe is a very outgoing and playful girl. Zoe likes to pose for the camera as you can see in her pix she is full of personality. She has the most beautiful light fawn coat. She is always the first one to find a button or a string on your clothes to pull on. She is inquisitive and confident. She is also all into the love. She likes to be held and fussed over. Zoe weighed in today at 8.14 pounds. click here for Zoe's personal webpage ..Meg - ADOPTED. Now named Megan Elizabeth; She is a very sweet girl with a little shy side. Her new adoptive home is very skilled in socialization and will bring her out of her shell without difficulty. She sits back and waits until everyone has had a turn with mommy before asking for her share of loving. What a beautiful big girl she is. Meg weighed in today at 9.58 pounds. This is Megan Elizabeth with her new dad and in her new home... .Megan with her mommy and her canine brother, Thor. Soon, Meg's paws will be up there with Thor's! .Tia - ADOPTED; now named Scarlet. She is a wonderfully sweet and loving girl. She is very gentle with her paws and gives very soft kisses. She loves to be held on her back and get kisses and tickles on her belly. She had a rough start weighing only 9.8 oz. today weighing in at 7.80 pounds. She is now able to keep up with her sisters and brothers without feeling overwhelmed. Here is Scarlet on her way to and in her forever home... ... .Jed - Adopted and now known as Tungsten; he is a very handsome and laid back boy. He is going to be a gorgeous man. He has a big blocky head and the most adorable little white spot on his chin. He LOVES to be held. He also is a big fan of belly kisses. He very gently will nudge his way into the crowd to get mommy's attention and once he is picked up and being held he settles in for the duration. He needs a nurturing family. Jed weighed in today at 9.08 pounds. This is Lisa with Jed. SUPER MOM!!!!! ..Joy - Adopted and now named Lucy; is a very sweet laid back girl. She has an awesome personality. Joy is not overly bold and will sit back and wait for her turn to be held and get lovies. I would not label her shy at all she is just sure the attention will come her way soon so why get all stressed out over it. Joy is quite a kisser too! She has recently made the most gains in weight she weighed in today at 9.66 pounds. .Ava - ADOPTED & now named Suzie; is a little diva. She is very stocky and fit. She is going to be a strong girl. She is a bit forward when it comes to getting mommy's attention. She will leap up and throw her little body against all the others to be first. I call her "Jump Start" cause she looks like she is getting a jump start on everyone else. She likes to place her paws on your cheeks when she is giving you love and kisses. Ava weighed in today at 7.32 pounds. .Gus - Adopted and now named Augustus, Gus for short; is just plain awesome. He tends to be the pup that has the biggest voice. He will whine a little at times I loving refer to him as "Gusser the Fusser". He sings with my big dogs when they bark Gus puts his little nose in the air and howls. Gus loves to be held and rocked in the rocking chair. He is also the first one to tear up fresh newspaper in the pen so he does have an ornary streak. Gus is a very fun little boy. His personality overflowith. Gus weighed in today at 9.72 pounds. See Gus in his new home at this link: http://www5.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2459046014/a=114289626_114289626/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/ Here are a few group pics. Mommy is cleaning their playpen and all are waiting temporarily in the tub for a clean pen! .. .. And finally, here are a few pictures of Miss Faithie-Girl...She is doing great and recovering well from her mastitis and getting the nutrition she needs to build herself up. She has heartworm treatment and spay lying ahead. ..

We ARE accepting applications for Faith's puppies. Click here to access our application. ADOPTION FEE: $350.00 QUESTIONS REGARDING ADOPTION PROCEDURES AND/OR TERMS? - you can email Lisa at mastiffmom845@yahoo.com

9/13: Here are a few pics of a few of the pups at 5 weeks of age... . .

9/9: Here are a few pics of a few of the pups at 4 weeks of age... ..

UPDATE #3: August 30, 2009: Much has happened since the birth of Faith's puppies. Here is a good summary: Faith proved to be an excellent mother: nursing, cleaning, and stimulating her pups to eliminate as diligently as she could. We supplemented the pups' diet with sugared water and puppy formula, with special focus on pups that seemed to be struggling the most. All of the pups were named and they are Zoe, Meg, Gus, Jed, Tia, Ben, Mia, Ava, and Joy. We lost Ben :( . An interim visit to the vet revealed that Faith is Heartworm Positive. The remaining 8 pups checked out healthy, with Mia showing signs of poor developmental progress in her hind limbs. Faith's mammary glands, then, eventually appeared like they were developing mastitis and their discharge was not healthy-looking milk. She did develop mastitis and had to spend time in the ER and also be put on a strong antibiotic. This meant that the pups would have to be separated from her and hand-reared. Faith did not like being separated from her puppies and the pups fussed for mom as well so there was a period of adjustment, but Lisa and volunteers (mostly Lisa!!!!) worked around the clock and were very focused on making this work out for a positive outcome for Faith and her 8 pups. Faith is recovering nicely from the mastitis and eating like a champ, and the pups now in their own personal nursery, have been super troopers learning how to suckle full meals from baby bottles. They have recently been introduced to puppy gruel and took to that like it was something they had done all along. Pray for Mia - Mia has a neurological issue in her hind quarters. She was perhaps pressed in the womb in her hind area, so much that her limbs and lower bowels did not receive proper innervation. We took a bunch more videos so be sure to visit our youtube page. Moving on with our summary: Puppy weights were taken periodically. All pups lost weight initially, but then started to regain. Some regained slower than the others. Lisa and vols worked super hard at making sure all of the puppies were getting full meals right on schedule. Now they have quadrupled their weights and are continuing on this weight-gain/growth path! Jed is the largest of them all and Meg is the largest female. All of them are robust, even Mia. Mia's front legs are very strong, but her hind legs struggle to work, as well as bowel control. 9/5/09 - We say "goodbye baby Mia and may you forever rest in peace" as she crosses the rainbow bridge to join her brother Ben. Mia and Ben will be with all their living sisters and brothers in spirit. Faith has taken now to a collection of donated stuffed animals and her favorite one, which she carries around and tries to bury all the time, is the penguin. She is SUCH a good girl she is!!!! Watch more videos of Faith and Puppies at www.youtube.com/canisolida Messages to Faith or to the volunteers involved in fostering/helping Faith can be emailed to canisolida@yahoo.com The puppies will be ready to be adopted once October gets under way. If you would like to apply, you can access our application at this link. If you have any specific questions regarding the pups, please direct them to foster mom Lisa at mastiffmom845@yahoo.com. Canisolida Mastiffs Foster and Retirement Home, Inc. 330-823-6582 Here are the newest pictures.......... .... .... .... .... .... .... ..This is Lisa with Jed. SUPER MOM!!!!!

FIRST WRITING: August 2, 2009: Faith is a pregnant mastiff mix who was at a Georgia kill shelter scheduled to be put to sleep. We were able to get her transported to Ohio, where she will be fostered in our rescue. We do not have any history about Faith, just that she was a stray and had arrived at the shelter very swollen with puppies and with a pellet gun wound on her shoulder. Upon receiving Faith, we immediately found that on top of her pregnancy and injury, she was infested with fleas, is very underweight, and has kennel cough. We rushed Faith to our local veterinary emergency because it was the weekend, to have her appropriately examined and given medicine for the kennel cough. Through extensive research, one of our devoted volunteers found out that kennel cough in a momma dog with newborns greatly increases the rate of puppy mortality - because the sickness is highly contagious and the puppies will most certainly contract the illness. If it leads to secondary pneumonia, it is very difficult for a puppy to fight it off. PLEASE JOIN US IN HOPING FOR THE BEST OUTCOME - we are going to pour every effort we can into helping Faith deliver and raise a healthy litter. We will use this webpage to update Faith's status and pictures. Please share the page link so that more and more people can send thoughts and prayers to Faith and her puppies. Watch a video of Faith's puppies wiggling in her belly at www.youtube.com/canisolida Messages to Faith or to the volunteers involved in fostering/helping Faith can be emailed to canisolida@yahoo.com Canisolida Mastiffs Foster and Retirement Home, Inc. 330-823-6582

UPDATE #1 August 4, 2009: Faith has been seen by her regular vet now with her foster mommy, Lisa. Faith's veterinarian has found that Faith is HEARTWORM POSITIVE and she is afflicted with a case of intestinal camphlobacter! This poor woman, what more can she go through? Please consider a donation to help us in her treatment, plus spay, once she has weaned her litter and she is healthy enough. In addition, the vet feels that Faith will whelp in the next 12 to 36 hours and she estimates a litter of 6 to 8 pups. UPDATE #2 August 5/6, 2009: Happy Birth Day to Faith's puppies, 9 in all! There are 6 girls and 3 boys. Most of the pups are marked like Faith, while some vary in their coat patterns from momma Faith's fawn with black mask and ears. Faith is an EXCELLENT mother. Faith was a trooper through the labor process and allowed foster mommy to assist with the cleaning of her last 2 pups because she became very exhausted. It took around 5 hours in all for the deliver of all nine pups. She is resting well and all the puppies are vibrant and very healthy. Here are pictures of Faith and her absolutely gorgeous litter on DAY 1 of their lives... ............. ............ ............. .............

Faith is a pregnant mastiff mix who was at a Georgia kill shelter scheduled to be put to sleep. We were able to get her transported to Ohio, where she will be fostered in our rescue. We do not have any history about Faith, just that she was a stray and had arrived at the shelter very swollen with puppies and with a pellet gun wound on her shoulder. Upon receiving Faith, we immediately found that on top of her pregnancy and injury, she was infested with fleas, is very underweight, and has kennel cough. We rushed Faith to our local veterinary emergency because it was the weekend, to have her appropriately examined and given medicine for the kennel cough. Through extensive research, one of our devoted volunteers found out that kennel cough in a momma dog with newborns greatly increases the rate of puppy mortality - because the sickness is highly contagious and the puppies will most certainly contract the illness. If it leads to secondary pneumonia, it is very difficult for a puppy to fight it off. PLEASE JOIN US IN HOPING FOR THE BEST OUTCOME - we are going to pour every effort we can into helping Faith deliver and raise a healthy litter. We will use this webpage to update Faith's status and pictures. Please share the page link so that more and more people can send thoughts and prayers to Faith and her puppies. Watch a video of Faith's puppies wiggling in her belly at www.youtube.com/canisolida Messages to Faith or to the volunteers involved in fostering/helping Faith can be emailed to canisolida@yahoo.com Canisolida Mastiffs Foster and Retirement Home, Inc. 330-823-6582