Her foster is taking Nike for her follow-up vet visit next Tuesday.

As you can see, she's such a little thing. She sure looks lost on the bed!

Here's the latest update:

She's still doing well with the housebreaking. We're holding at about one accident a day that's not either outside or on a pee pad (and it's always when I'm on the phone). I've got her poo schedule pretty well figured out, so she hasn't pooed inside since Saturday.

I'm attaching two new pics of the cuteness. (The other side of her bed in the first pic is, of course, totally empty.)

Going Through Fire and Smoke to Rescue Pancho!

Today I had to battle smoke and fire to pick up a beautiful dog named Pancho (we've renamed her Princess) that we rescued from the Camarillo shelter. She was due to be killed.

I was driving on the 101 near Agoura Hills when I saw black smoke billowing across the freeway. And being a woman, I began to multi-task, and quite well, thank you very much.

I starting taping the fire while talking to Jane, Critters in Need's founder, on my hands-free cell phone. Jane was watching the fire on TV while I was driving through all the smoke.

And that's when Amanda (who got Princess out of the shelter and who is pictured here with her) called me. She didn't know about the fire yet.

Then we hung up and I switched back over to Jane. That explains my conversations that you hear on the video.

The brush fire, located by the freeway near Agoura Hills, started under suspicious circumstances. It even jumped the freeway.

The smoke covered the freeway and it was hard to see and breathe. The orange smoke filled my car, even after I turned my A/C off. Helicopters whirled overhead and dropped water on the fire.

Traffic slowed to a crawl.

Finally I passed the point of origin and saw the flames. And the KCAL 9 news truck. :-)

Princess and I had to go back to Orange County via PCH. Forget about getting back on the 101!

The fire, which burned within 50 feet of about five homes, was 80 percent contained Tuesday afternoon with the help of about 250 firefighters and six water-dropping helicopters.

Nike's World

Nike was able to go to her foster home on Friday. When we picked her up, we noticed how bright and alert she looked. She was all cute and wiggly, like a puppy should be!

Thanks to all of you for your caring thoughts and donations--and of course, the vets at Garden Grove Dog & Cat Hospital!

This was what the foster wrote about her on Sunday:

Nike is a total lap puppy --it may be the lab in her. Awfully hard to get stuff done, but even harder to say no to that face.

She's doing better with the puppy pads today. We're more hit than miss, which is good progress. And she even pooped outside today.

Her appetite is great. She's eating all her food, so hopefully we'll get some puppy pudge on her.

She's very even-keeled. When she's outside and other dogs are barking or the neighbors pull in behind the fence and honk their horn, she doesn't react at all.

The kitties are starting to venture out a little bit more.

Marleigh sat on the other side of the kitchen gate and watched Nike for a little while yesterday and then later, last night, George did the same. Izzie's still not sure that venturing farther than peeking around the corner from the living room is safe.

Nike's really great when she sees them, though. She just quietly sits down and wags her tail and waits for them. So I think things are going well!

Nike Update!

Yes, it looks like Nike will be going to her foster tomorrow.

We found a wonderful foster for Nike for 30 days. The foster has a cat so Nike will be surely socialized with kitties--which is always a good thing!

Since Nike will be shedding the parvo virus for two months, we will need another foster for the second month.

We are still in need of donations to cover Nike's vet bills. Please send donations to:

28206 Via Alfonse, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677.

Thank you ALL so much for your contributions and your prayers about this little girl. It's wonderful to know that there are so many caring people out there!

Good News!

Nike was given solid food yesterday and did well! She can go home today. However, we are in DESPERATE need of a foster which will accomplish three things: keep her safe, get the TLC she needs and stop the ever-climbing vet bill.

However, she cannot go to a home with dogs as she will be shedding the active virus for two months. I figure that a cat-person would be just the ticket to care for this little girl.

Nike will have to stay at the vet--at $85/day--until a foster can be found.

Please post on this blog if you can help!

Photos of Nike, the poor little pup that is fighting for her life! Please help her!

Help Us Save This Little Pup's Life!

PLEASE CROSS POST!

Nike is only five weeks old, yet she is fighting for her life. You see, this little puppy has a deadly disease--parvo.

Nike's owner sold her on the street on Wednesday for $5, like a sack of oranges. The couple that bought her did not take her to the vet, even though it was obvious that she was sick.

Kym, one of our volunteers, received a call from her dog sitter who had heard about the puppy and asked if she would help rescue the pup. He brought the dog to her Thursday evening.

When Kym saw how sick the puppy was, she immediately rushed it to the emergency vet. They tested the puppy out in the parking lot for parvo.

When they swabbed the poor little puppy's butt, Kym said that the dog let out a horrible scream. It was awful.

The test was positive.

Kym was given the option to put the puppy down, but she refused, even though she knew that emergency treatment would be expensive. She had held this little girl against her chest and looked into her eyes and knew she had to do everything humanely possible to save this sweet little pup.

And Critters in Need backed her decision 100 percent.

Friday morning, Kym took the puppy (now named Nike) to my personal vets at Garden Grove Dog and Cat Hospital. Dr. Hess said that Nike had a chance of pulling through, but that she would have to stay in the hospital for at least seven days. She is hooked up to an IV.

Dr. Hess called me on Saturday morning with an update: Nike was bright and alert, with no diarrhea or vomiting. He was cautiously optimistic as a dog with parvo also can go quickly downhill.

Today, Dr. Hess called me and said that Nike was depressed, which meant that she wasn't feeling as well as she had the day before. However, there is still no diarrhea or vomiting, so that's a good sign. He's hoping to be able to get her onto food in a couple of days, but that may be too early.

Critters in Need Pet Rescue is committed to saving this brave little girl, but we need your help! Vet bills will be at least $900--it will most likely be more than that. We already have spent $550 to date.

Any donation will be of tremendous help. No donation is too small. $5, $10 or $25, it will all add up.

Donations for Nike can be sent to:

Critters in Need Pet Rescue
28206 Via Alfonse
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

Don't forget to specify that your donations are for Nike.

Please forward this blog to friends and family. It would also be greatly appreciated if you also would download the attached flyer that I created for Nike and post wherever possible.

Thank you all so much for all of your help. With your donations and prayers, we can save Nike's life!

Critters in Need Pet Rescue--what we do.

Critters in Need Pet Rescue is a non-profit volunteer organization based in Orange County, Calif. We are dedicated to saving the lives of abandoned dogs and finding them loving homes.

We have over 30 dogs available for adoption right now. We have both purebred and mixed breed dogs, small and large.

The photo is of our dog of the week, Jasper, a lovely cocker spaniel mix that we rescued from a high-kill shelter on the day he was due to be euthanized.

We also have dogs that need fosters, such as Gunner and Roxy, Star and Rusty. Please take a look at them on our website:

CrittersRescueOnline.org

Critters in Need Pet Rescue is always in need of volunteers and donations. Please contact us at Dogs@CrittersRescue.com if you wish to help.

One of our recent fosters wrote up a very lovely account of how fostering (and later adopting) Kona from us changed her life. In fact, she is currently fostering Jasper in the hopes that he will be added to their family.

Please click here to read her story.

Come visit our dogs at PetSmart, located on the northwest corner of Jamboree and Barranca in Tustin, on Saturday afternoons. Please click here for details.