About Newf Friends

Newf Friends Newfoundland Dog Rescue is a volunteer run, foster home based rescue group for Newfoundland Dogs in need in Ontario, Canada.
We place Newfs into carefully screened homes in Ontario and surrounding provinces and states.
Established in 2008.

Follow us on Facebook for daily updates
www.facebook.com/NewfFriends/
Also find us on
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/newffriends/
Twitter @NewfFriends

Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page for general information about our program and our adoption policies and procedures.



Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Still in need of Artists

We only need a few more artists to fill the calendar, so please cross post to any artist friends who you think may be interested.
We're working on an exciting Newf Rescue fundraising project for 2011 featuring the work of artists who have depicted Newfs in their work. This can be pencil sketches, watercolour, oil, stained glass, needlepoint, etc.
For 2011, rather than having a calendar of photographs we have decided to offer something a bit different......we are creating a calendar of Fine Art Images of Newfs, then holding an auction to auction off the original pieces that the artists have donated. This auction will be held at our huge newf gathering in Bancroft on September 18, 2010. To reach the largest audience we will likely be also allowing live voting via the web so that our Newf Friends worldwide can participate. This calendar is going to be truly unique -- a collection of images created in different media -- truly one of a kind!
So far, we have confirmed several Newf loving artists who are happy to participate in this fundraiser, and we are now looking for your help in finding a few more to help us complete this calendar.
12 artists will have their donated piece of art as the large feature image for the month, and will have their bio and contact info featured on that page. They will also be featured on our rescue site.
We have extended our confirmation and submission date, we just need a couple more artists to sign up -- we would like to have our list of participating artists confirmed by November 30, 2009 with donated art submitted by March 15, 2010. Artists can use either one of their existing pieces, or create a new work for this project. Once pieces are received, they will be photographed to be included in the calendar, then kept aside until the auction date of Sept 18.
If you are interested in participating in the fundraiser please contact us at newf.friends@gmail.com Please cross post to other Newf loving artists who may be interested in being a part of this endeavour. If response is really strong, we may end up incorporating all of the images into a book as well.....but first step is our calendar!
We look forward to hearing from you!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Updates

George, the senior Newf/Golden mix is still searching for a family to call his own. This sweet old boy wants nothing more than someone to love him, hug him and pet his belly. He'd be a great addition to a quieter, slower paced household. George is such a good boy, and has so much love to give! We hope that his perfect family comes along soon! Visit our available dogs listings to learn more about this sweet boy!

Barley, the brown Newf is doing great in foster care. There have been many excellent families applying to adopt him and he will be placed very soon! Lucky boy! All of the wonderful families that are being considered for Barley will be added to our waiting list and as new Newfs come into our program we will have perfect homes ready and waiting for the right match for them.

Ella, the Newf/Dane mix puppy continues to improve and is healthy enough now to proceed with amputation of her stump. THANK YOU to all of the people who have shown their support for sweet Ella, your donations are greatly appreciated. Ella's surgery is scheduled for Friday, October 23 and will be performed by an orthopedic specialist who works closely with Ella's vet.

Edited October 23: Ella's surgery has been postponed. She became very ill this week (possibly a reaction to her vaccines) and although she has recovered and seems fine, we have opted to put her surgery off for a few weeks to ensure she is fully recovered.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Ella Needs Your Help!


Donations are needed to help us move forward with Ella's amputation!

Ella, the Newf-Great Dane mix, had her 3 week check-up today.

She has gained another 4 lbs this past week and now weighs 11.7 lbs and is doing very well. Her stump continues to heal and the open area on the end is reducing in size. She is strong, bright, playful and a cheeky little lady! She has come a long way from the weak, anemic, sick puppy that we rescued just a few weeks ago.


Her vet feels that we need to proceed with the amputation of her stump very soon because Ella continues trying to use the stump and this is resulting in her injuring it.

Overall, Ella is strong enough now to tolerate the amputation, however, we are still holding off because her Urinary Tract Infection is still present.



The good news is that the Struvite Crystals are now gone, but she does still have an infection. Given how compromised her health was when she came to us, it is not surprising that she is taking longer to heal, and her vet feels that she may require 6 weeks of antibiotics to clear the infection.

Ella is on a higher dose of antibiotics again, and we will make a decision about when to amputate in the next week or so.

Several applications have come in for Ella's adoption -- she is not yet "formally" posted for adoption, but interested parties are free to submit their application, with the understanding that we will hold the applications and will not be following up on these applications until closer to the time when Ella can be placed.

Ella will not be placed into an adoptive home until her infection is gone, and she has recovered from her amputation and been vaccinated.

Ella's veterinary care costs a significant amount of money, and we are so very appreciative for the donations that have come in for Ella's care. Thank you to all of you who have offered your assistance, every dollar helps. If you have not yet made a donation, please consider doing so now, as her upcoming amputation will result in a significant vet bill. Donations can be made online through HART's Canada Gives button (link to the right) -- in the comment section, specify that the dollars are to be allocated to the Newf Friend's Fund for Ella's care.


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Ella, week 2

Click the image to see it in larger size


Ella had her first follow-up vet visit on Saturday, Oct 3.

Good news is she has more than doubled in size. She's 7.6 lbs now, and her body condition is much improved. The vet was very impressed with how active, bright and playful she is. Her heart rate is improved, no longer racing. She's just "better" overall.

Her stump is much less infected and is healing well -- the vet was pleased with how much better it is, she was not expecting that much improvement. The swelling really has gone down tremendously, and the sore on the end has reduced in size greatly, with healthy tissue closing up over it.

We talked about the possibility of a prosthetic limb and have ruled it out due to the condition of the stump. It just won't work since there are no bones there that are salvageable to attach it to. Ella's best bet is amputation at the shoulder. Now that the swelling has reduced she was able to assess the deformity of the bones better and believes the amputation will be a simple one, without having to take any of the shoulder bone out -- this is good news.

Now the bad news. Her UTI has improved, but is not gone. Red and white cells are better than the last sample, however she now has loads of struvite crystals, due to battling infections for weeks. This puts her at a very high risk of bladder stones. Since e-coli is the suspected culprit the vet is concerned that it may be resistant to the antibiotics -- Ella is so small the vet does not want to use a catheter to get a sample so this has not been confirmed, but e-coli is 95% likely given her history at the BYB and how filthy she was when we rescued her. The big problem with a resistant strain of e-coli is that the other antibiotics that are appropriate for this infection are not safe to administer to a young, growing puppy like Ella -- apparently they damage cartilage. So we are in a bit of a pickle. We are trying another course of the Clavamox, increased dose again due to her growth, and will see if things improve.

She is still too sick to be vaccinated so that is on hold for a while. We didn't do more blood-work, since it's almost guaranteed her protein levels are still off due to the infection. We will do blood-work once her UTI is clear, then if all is well, we will go ahead with amputation. The vet hopes to be able to proceed with surgery within a month -- just have to get her healthy and strong before then.
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