蜜桃视频

This article originally appeared in the award-winning AKC Family Dog magazine.

Her name is Soleil, French for sun. The 10-week-old Pharaoh Hound showed up at an AKC rally trial in New Jersey, during the summer. She looked like an ordinary pup鈥攆ull of energy, sass, and curiosity鈥攁s she nestled in the arms of her owner, Lizbeth Molloy.

From her appearance, you would never guess that she had taken a journey of thousands of miles鈥攃oast to coast twice鈥攖o get here. Along the way, she was aided by dozens of people who dropped everything and spared no expense to save her life.

Some trial participants knew of the extraordinary circumstances that brought Soleil and Molloy together.

鈥淚s this one of the rescues?鈥� a friend asked. Molloy smiled and nodded as the sleek chestnut-colored creature in her arms squirmed, chomped on her wrist, and tried to escape over her shoulder.

Craigslist Mystery

It all started in late June when Hannah Pemberton, a member of the Pharaoh Hound Club of America (PHCA) rescue committee, noticed an odd social media post. It concerned a Craigslist ad for a pair of 7-month-old Pharaoh Hound pups. These dogs are very rare, and their breeders are a tightknit community. It was unlikely a new litter could have fallen so far under their radar.

Pemberton emailed and was told that it wasn鈥檛 two pups needing homes, but six.

Without delay, Dominic Carota, who has been showing and breeding Pharaoh Hounds for 30 years, coordinated with Pemberton and then contacted the seller to learn more.

He discovered that the owner had once been involved in dog shows but a mental health crisis forced him to give it up. When it became clear the man couldn鈥檛 care for his dogs, his family jumped in.

The owner鈥檚 sister then revealed to Carota that it wasn鈥檛 one litter, but three鈥�22 pups鈥攁nd the parents, one male and two females.

鈥淲e were in shock. We鈥檝e never had more than three rescues a year,鈥� says Theresa Harper, PHCA vice president and member of the rescue committee. The rescue had limited funds. A strain like this could break it.

鈥淲e were all kind of terrified,鈥� she says.

Taking Charge

鈥淚 was like, oh my God,鈥� Carota told FD of his reaction during his phone conversation with the dogs鈥� caretaker. But he kept his cool when he spoke to the woman.

鈥淲e鈥檙e here to help you,鈥� Carota told her. 鈥淲hat can we do?鈥� She said her family could no longer manage the dogs.

It was the July 4th weekend. Carota, a member of the AKC Board of Directors, was in New York, about a thousand miles from the South Carolina location. But he wasted no time and jumped into his Sprinter, a van large enough for a passel of puppies, and headed south. Five other club members met him there.

The caretakers signed over the dogs, and the rescue group quickly moved to a nearby park for intake and assessment.

Now What?

The youngest pups鈥�4 to 5 weeks old鈥攚ere in horrible condition鈥攎alnourished nearly to starvation, bellies swollen with worms, and covered in their own feces.

鈥淗ad we been another week or two later, they would not have survived,鈥� Carota says. Club members rushed in to do whatever they could. Darci Kunard, for example, a member of the PHCA board and rescue committee, flew in from Denver. She then rented a car and drove back to Colorado, four pups in tow. Harper later traveled from California to Kunard鈥檚 home and picked up two.

Carota reached out to an old friend, Stacy Threlfall, a top professional handler who has guided Carota鈥檚 show Pharaohs to victory for a quarter of a century. With her husband, Evan, also a leading handler, she runs a boarding kennel for show dogs in North Carolina. Carota called her from New York before he started the trip, explained the situation, and asked if she would foster. She agreed.

Three days later, he showed up with a bunch of sick puppies. Threlfall took 12 of the young ones and two adults. Carota took the third adult鈥攁 female with severe eye problems requiring intensive daily treatment鈥攂ack to New York with him.

鈥淭hey were the size of Chihuahuas,鈥� she recalls. The pups were about three pounds, less than half of what they should have weighed at that age. Food passed through them because of worms and Giardia infections. What they didn鈥檛 throw up came out the other end in diarrhea. Their bones were clearly visible.

鈥淒ominic would call me every morning and go, 鈥極K, so how many did we lose?鈥� 鈥�
Threlfall says. Day after day she gave him the happy news that they were all holding on.

Threlfall, a second-generation dog fancier, had never dealt with so many sick pups before. But she drew on decades of experience, specifically saving runts. 鈥淵ou try to do everything you can,鈥� she says.

Veterinary care had to start immediately, even though the dogs were too frail to visit a clinic. The vets told her to bring in stool samples so they could begin treating the digestive parasites. Miraculously, after weeks of medication and incremental increases in meal size, the pups started gaining weight, strength, and vitality. Within three weeks, it looked like they would all survive.

Operation Pharaohs

Now, the PHCA had another challenge, finding suitable homes for 25 hounds. Luckily, Harper鈥檚 career skills were a perfect match for this job. As senior director of operations for a firm that produces analytical and robotic equipment for pharmaceutical companies, she possesses tremendous organizational abilities, detail orientation, and a knack for spreadsheets.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I do for a living, is coordinate stuff,鈥� she says. Harper, with the aid of the PHCA rescue committee, had to plan fundraising strategies, identify short-term fosters, find permanent homes, and arrange transport.

The PHCA turned to social media to raise funds to cover the enormous veterinary bills. For the first time, the club set up a rescue page on Facebook. With so few rescues in the past, such outreach had never been needed.

鈥淚 was stunned at how many people donated for these puppies,鈥� says Harper. Many long-term PHCA members donated up to $1,000 each. Other breed clubs, such as the Ibizan Hound Club of America, also sent in donations. All told, the club raised $22,000 from individuals. Then, they received a $23,000 AKC rescue grant.

The older pups were farmed out immediately to experienced fosters within the club. Growing up, they had little human contact. It was imperative that they start a crash course in being a pet.

Then, the club again turned to social media, posting a plea for fosters and potential owners. PHCA recording secretary Annie Hammer created an electronic form of the application that circulated around the web. Other breed clubs pitched in to spread the word. PHCA soon had 65 applications to foster or adopt.

鈥淚 created an Excel template where I summarized the information from those applications into one spreadsheet,鈥� Harper says. Candidates with previous Pharaoh Hound or sighthound experience went to the top of the list. The rescue committee met weekly to review.

鈥淲e wanted to make sure they knew what they were getting into,鈥� Harper says. Cute as they are, Pharaoh Hound puppies are a handful. 鈥淏y the time they have teeth, we just call them velociraptors.鈥�

For a month, the rescue committee vetted homes, interviewed candidates, checked references, and worked through transportation logistics.

Boys Will Be Trainers

While the home search was underway, foster families concentrated on the important tasks of socialization and training. The pups were no longer sick, but they had issues that could undermine placement. They were accustomed to using their crates to potty and sleeping in the mess.

These pups had not learned a basic lesson鈥攖o use separate areas to eat, sleep, play, and relieve themselves, says Threlfall. Usually, the mother teaches them. But in this case, she was malnourished and fighting for her own life, so that step was skipped. Potty boot camp quickly fixed that problem.

The other major issue: Some of them avoided contact with people. For this, Threlfall brought in her socialization special forces team鈥攈er sons, William, 8, and Kenneth, 9. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when the fun started,鈥� she says.

Every day after school, the boys put down their Nintendos and played for hours with the pups. If one started to wander away from the kids, Threlfall would bring the puppy back and offer a treat for settling down.

It wasn鈥檛 long before the pups had absorbed two lessons that would make them welcome in new homes鈥攖hat it鈥檚 important to be clean and that people are the greatest things on earth.

They were ready for their next chapter. Threlfall started preparing folders for each pup with health records, a picture, and a number for identification. That didn鈥檛 sit well with William.

鈥淭hey can鈥檛 just be numbers, Mom,鈥� he said. So he gave them funny names, like Onion, Garlic, Asparagus, Corn, Dragon-fruit, and Kale, to send them off with a smile to their new lives.

Exercise Finished

In California, Harper was becoming attached to one pup鈥攁 girl named Pepper. She was worried about finding the 鈥渞ight鈥� home until two East Coast friends saw videos of Pepper playing during training classes. Separately, they told Harper the puppy would be a good fit with one of their friends, Lizbeth Molloy.

Coincidentally, Molloy, a professional trainer specializing in dogs with quirks and who previously owned Pharaoh Hounds, had sent in an application to foster.

A dedicated dog sport competitor, Molloy had seen a video of Pepper at a Barn Hunt class, the pup鈥檚 first time going after a rat in a quarry box.

Ten days later, Molloy and Pepper, now named Soleil, were on a flight from California to New York City. Impressed by her energy and enthusiasm, Molloy decided she had to have this dog.

鈥淪he looked just like a happy little ray of sunshine,鈥� Molloy says, adding, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to do all the things with her.鈥�

By the end of July, all the puppies鈥攊ncluding Onion, the skinniest and sickest one鈥攚ere thriving in new homes. Two of the adults had spots waiting for them. In many cases, PHCA arranged transport鈥攖hrough relays, hired drivers, or just by getting in the car and taking the dogs where they needed to go.

鈥淭his was a success,鈥� Carota says, 鈥渂ecause dog people came together from all over the country to make this happen.鈥�