In early January, DT6 was contacted by two Good Samaritans who had been feeding this dog daily and wanted to take him in, so we came out to investigate. It didn’t look good. The dog had a very wide open space and knew it well. Traps didn’t seem to work, and we had nowhere to secure panels. He was also very skittish, so he didn’t come within 100 feet of any of the people who were feeding him. As you can see from his photos, MANY people were feeding him.

We knew that it was up to our Good Samaritan Sherry to capture this dog, since she had the capacity to spend the time it would take to win over this dog’s trust. When we met, Sherry was putting food and water in some dishes through an opening in the fence, but had not tried to get close. We counseled her on ways to build trust: talking to the dog in a soothing voice, sitting flat on the ground while averting her eyes so that she did not assume a threatening body position, not extending her hands to the dog and not making any sudden movements. We asked her not to crouch in front of the dog (attack position) or smile wide (baring teeth). Many small suggestions, but ones that would help her in her mission.

In the first week, Sherry made significant progress! Luke, as she calls him, was starting to come closer and closer and was starting to eat in front of her (a sign of trust). Then Sherry began bringing him high value toys – tennis balls and stuffies – that she had slept with to get her scent on them. At first he did not know what to do with the toys.Then he started picking them up and taking them into the woods where he slept. She kept talking to him, making sure he knew her voice.

In the coming weeks, Luke would start running towards the fence when he saw Sherry’s car approach. Then she gradually started to approach Luke, while still maintaining a non-threatening position, never staring him in the eyes, making brief eye contact and blinking rapidly, then looking away. Luke started to come within a few feet of her – a huge improvement from her starting point.

We felt we should try a trap to see if Luke would be more amenable to it if Sherry brought it. He was very curious and looked all around it, but Luke is a big boy and seemed to need to crouch down to get in. After a few hours, we removed the trap and let Luke calm down, and left Sherry there with him so Luke would know everything was OK. A few hours later we received an excited text that Luke had taken food from her hand through the fence!

On Wednesday, February 20, we got some great news – Luke came up to Sherry and stood still while she slowly approached with her hand and allowed her to pet him! We decided to try that Friday to lure him into a pen, but Sherry actually went out one additional time on her own and was able to get Luke on a leash. After a few minutes of uncertainty, he hopped right into her car!

Sherry’s first stop was to her vet’s office, where he spent the night to decompress. We later got some bad news – Luke is heartworm positive and had tapeworms and hookworms. Sherry is committed to getting Luke well, but heartworm treatment is very costly and we would love to support her since she’s come this far.

This rescue would not have been possible without this Good Samaritan’s patience and dedication. DT6 can only be in so many places in a given week, and the more help we get from the community, the more animals that will be saved.

The neighbors told us that Honcho’s owner went to the hospital for 3 months and when he came back, his home had been ransacked. He could no longer live there and he had to leave. Unfortunately, he left his dog. The neighbors were feeding her, but they thought it best that she get a new home.

On February 24, Honcho was caught and is now in a loving foster home. Thank you so much to fosters Eva and Les for opening up your home to a former street dog!

Ivy and her six puppies were rescued in early January when the pups were just one week old. They were destined to go to a city shelter until DT6 was able to find fosters. Ellen and her sweet daughter Ava have had Ivy and the 6 puppies for a while now and the pups are healthy and happy.

FOSTER or Forever HOMES are needed for the puppies – we hope to find 2 or 3 new foster homes for them. (It’s hard to keep 6 growing, rowdy puppies in one home!) DT6 provides the vetting and any medication the pups may need; you provide the safe, loving home! Email us at info@duckteam6.org.

Or, better yet, you can adopt one of these little nuggets of love! Email info@duckteam6.org or you can fill out an adoption application at www.duckteam6.org.

Hope to hear from you soon! thanks,

Ochoa Photography – you can see more of Angelica’s photography work here: http://www.ochoaphotography.com/

Daisy is all worn out from partying at the BlackFinn Fundraiser

Daisy and her 7 puppies were rescued from underneath a church in South Dallas. Daisy caught the attention of one of our rescuers when she was so friendly and came right up to be petted, but when the team came by later that week to check on her and her puppies, we found that she had been attacked by another dog and was in bad shape. We usually need to have a foster home lined up before we can go rescue a dog from the streets, but Daisy was hurt and her puppies were hungry.

Mama’s Den where she had her pups

Puppies under the house. You can see Daisy’s blood from her attack.

Daisy spent several weeks in boarding but now her she is healthy and her puppies are ready to be adopted!

Miss Skyler is a very dignified lady, despite her rough start in life.

This is Skyler.  She’s a Duck Team 6 dog who is looking for her Forever Home. You can see she’s a cute girl, who likes the stylin’ life. Well, really, stylin’ or not, she really wants a home all of her own.  Skyler gets along with other dogs and is a bit shy, but is open to new people and is ready for love.

If you’d like to meet Skyler, contact info@duckteam6.org or foster@duckteam6.org.

Rail Dogs on November 18, 2012

There is an injured red, female dog named Maggie who barely has any fur and is limping really badly so she is one of our top priorities. We had not seen her or the rest of her pack in several days but were relieved as we found them today in a new location. Poor Maggie is not putting any weight on her front right leg at all. Turns out her friend Sadie is also in urgent need of rescue as we’re pretty sure she is in heat, ugh! They are with 3 male dogs and the boys can get in some pretty awful fights over the girls so we are hoping we can get her off the streets asap as we don’t need any more homeless puppies!

Maggie – Needs Foster ASAP

Please email foster@duckteam6.org if you have room on your couch for Maggie or Sadie, thanks!

Anne and her family were recently rescued from under a church when she was approximately 2 weeks old.

Gracie was found in the same neighborhood as Esme, Esme’s puppies and Austin. Gracie is “Austin’s” momma, the dog we recently rescued with the injured leg in S. Dallas. We typically don’t rescue a dog off the streets unless we have a foster lined up but Gracie was an exception as she’s such a special girl. There are a lot of stray dogs in the area and Gracie was in heat so we picked her up in order to get her spayed right away so we wouldn’t have to go rescue more puppies from the streets.

She has now been spayed, vaccinated and microchipped. She is a very happy-go-lucky girl who loves every person she meets! Keep in mind she was living near a group of really nice homeless people who have been looking after the stray dogs so we think that’s how she’s so well-socialized. She is also housetrained and is extremely loyal and cuddly. I had her for two nights and she never left my side. I took her to Pet Supplies Plus, Blackfinn and Starbucks and she did just great with everyone she met-she doesn’t seem to know a stranger as she was eager to greet everyone with a tail wag and kiss.

Unfortunately my house is already maxed out so for now she is in boarding (Dallas area) which is absolutely killing us as we know how much she loves people. Gracie needs a foster, rescue, or forever home! Can you help? Please share her album with your friends and email info@duckteam6.org thanks!