sponsor a snowflake!

I want to take a minute here to promote this, partly because it's for a great rescue and partly because it was my idea and I'm the one who is designing the page!
For as little as $10, you can dedicate one of our gorgeous snowflakes to your pets, friends or family members! The donations go entirely to supporting our low cost spay/neuter programs and for helping the at-risk dogs and cats in Northwest Ohio find great new homes!

Sponsor a Snowflake

On our virtual adoption page, for $25 you can "adopt" a dog or cat for someone too. You can even name the pet or we'll name them for you. What a great gift idea! (I do this page, too!) :)


Virtual Adoptions

new Planned Pethood website!

This is how I've been spending most of my time over the past few months. We had the website professionally designed with a software program that the volunteers can use to create and maintain the pages. As it turned out, being an art major years ago finally paid off (LOL) and I designed many of the pages on here. It was a lot of fun and we're all very excited by the final product!

Planned Pethood

More cute pictures

I have to post these. I was getting pictures for the (coming soon!!!) new Planned Pethood website.

This is Cody, our grouchy old man rescue dog, meeting Calypso the Jack Russell terrier mix puppy. Remind me to blog about Cody next.



Calypso and Emory, the stray kitten who never left (and who thinks he's a dog.)


And last but not least, one where my daughter, who ends up helping with most of the pictures around here, isn't chopped off.
(Emory is the sweetest kitten, really. He's not as demonic as he looks in these pictures!)

November Dogs

On any given day, I think "I'm going to blog about this!" and before I know it, another week has gone by, and then another. Sometimes just keeping up with the dogs is as much as I can manage. Keeping track of the dogs is another story entirely. Every year I start a list, and usually I lose track before the year is out on that project too.

(This year's list ends on June 20, with the 90th dog. I don't know how many more since then. I'll have to figure it out when I get time. That's a lot of dogs. I take some credit, sure, but most of it goes to the rescues who save them. Planned Pethood has taken most of them but other rescues have helped many times as well. Everyone plays a part.)

I try to get pictures of the dogs I pick up, before they're on their way to somewhere else. Here are the dogs from November.

How Many Dogs Do You Have? Julio

When we first started fostering, my son informed us that chihuahuas were his favorite dogs. I've never been a little dog person, so he had to deal with some abuse over that, but we let him foster an occasional chihuahua as they came along.

Julio originally came from the pound I get dogs from, over four years ago. Back then I was still naming dogs after every friend I've ever had, as well as every friend's dog I could think of, and so Julio got his name from someone I knew a long time ago.

We all enjoyed having him here. My son always took "his" fosters for walks and they slept in his room. Julio was soon adopted by an older woman. When we did the adoption she managed to leave with him before my kids got the chance to say goodbye. I think I was more heartbroken over that small omission than my son was, but we all agreed, he was a very nice dog. For a chihuahua.

Fast forward a few months and we find out that Julio is being returned. Apparently he is door dashing, and taking off on romps through the neighborhood, with his senior citizen owner running behind. His return to our home was a joyful reunion for all. We joked he kept taking off so he could come back, since my kids didn't get the chance to say goodbye.

My kids have always been pretty stoic about the dogs that come and go here. They understand the idea of fostering is saving more dogs and if we kept them, then we wouldn't be able to continue to help. Still, I couldn't make my son give that little dog up twice, and so I told him we would adopt Julio.

I have to admit, I love that dog. He's all chihuahua. When we go on walks in the park, he always has to play tough guy, barking and snarling at whoever crosses our path. He knows better. I say "Julio, knock it off!" and he gives one more little snarl, just to let them know he could take 'em if he had to. It's embarassing; everyone laughs. When I pick him up outside, he growls and then I growl back and then he gives me a kiss. He has to sleep under the covers.

We didn't have any problems with him trying to run away from here, except twice a few months ago, when he escaped from the yard. The first time, the gate wasn't shut all the way and he squeezed his body through and took off, with us in hot pursuit. We ran through a couple of neighbors' yards and then across the road, and then something must have clicked with him because he stopped and let us get him. On the way home, I lectured him in no uncertain terms about trucks and little dogs and how sad we would be if something happened to him. A few days later, he shoved his fat little body through again. This time he made it as far as the neighbor's driveway when I yelled JULIO and he stopped in his tracks and sheepishly came back. I do believe that part about missing him hit home!

With as many dogs as he's helped save over the years, it's only fair that my son have a dog of his own, and Julio is a great dog. I can't imagine what it would be like here without him. And I think I'll always have a chihuahua. Just for my son, of course!

Good Week/ Bad Week

It really makes up for a lot of bad weeks and a lot of left behind dogs when a couple of "ordinary" dogs like these 2 get out of the pound and get another chance. I can't even imagine what rescue was like before widespread use of the internet but a whole lot of dogs are saved now because of email networking, as well as increased adoptions from websites like petfinder and others.

That these 2 dogs are alive is an example of all of that in action. I sent an email out to one of many rescue mailing lists, asking for help on their behalf. Dozens of emails like mine make the rounds every day and are passed on from person to person, rescue to rescue, in the hopes somehow it will find its way to the person who can help. From there, someone else might donate money or act as a contact, and then once the details are squared away, a few more people step up to help transport them to where they need to go. Before the week is over 2 dogs who were within hours of being put down because no one wanted them and they had nowhere to go are on their way to becoming someone's much loved pets, either again or for the first time in their lives.

The bad part of the week is Haven is still missing. Tuesday and Wednesday I had a dozen calls from people who spotted her in the same general location. On Thursday, my daughter and I took 2 dogs out and combed the area for hours, and never caught even a glimpse of her or got a single call. Today a couple of people called because they saw her again. I can't stand it. It's impossible not to worry about her almost constantly. I can't stand the thought she could die out there simply because we weren't able to get her in time. I've gone from confused and dismayed over the lack of assistance from the county dog wardens to out and out angry. I'm not sure what is going on, but next week it's going to change. She has been out there long enough and I have done what I can. She needs to come home now, and I will do whatever it takes to get the help I need for that to happen.

Lost Dog

I love my dogs of course, but I don't consider them to be my kids or the same as my own children. I didn't give birth to them. I can't hold actual conversations with them. I don't wonder who they'll be or how they'll turn out as adults. I realize I will most likely outlive all of them. Still I do worry when I send one of my fosters off to a new home, in much the same way I feel when I send my kids off to a new situation: I hope they will be happy and well cared for.

I don't think losing a dog is comparable to losing a child. I can't imagine a worse hell on earth than a missing child. I'm finding out though, a missing dog isn't easy either. Haven escaped on her "trial run" adoption. Long story short, she's been loose in Marblehead for a week now. We went last Sunday and looked for her and put up signs. We didn't hear anything for a week, then over the weekend got a few calls from people who saw her, so I went back out today and walked around for almost 3 hours. And didn't see her at all.

Marblehead's a really small town and she seems to be staying in the same general location. Still you can only walk up and down and around and through people's yards and look along the lake and under bushes and in abandoned garages so many times over and over until it's clear you're going to drive home again without her. I don't know how long she can stay out there like this. I'm sure she can get water and some food. I can't imagine how scared she must be. I don't know what will happen. I'm an hour and a half's drive away so even if I could leave as soon as someone calls, she's going to be gone. And I can't keep driving out there. All I can do is hope she lets someone else catch her.

I've said it before--even when it wasn't actually about me personally--that it's so unfair that the people who do everything they can to find their dog and get it safely back home so oftentimes never see him or her again. And then the pounds are full of dogs with owners who never put up a sign or ran an ad or gave the dog a second thought once it left the yard....

How many dogs do you have? Haven

I'm planning on making this a regular feature, to highlight some of my own dogs and some of my fosters. Haven probably wouldn't have gone first but as it turns out, she's in a trial run in a possible adoptive home, and like any over-protective mom, I can't help but worry about how she's doing.

Haven was confiscated by the courts for abuse. Dogs aren't held in high esteem in the county I work with the most. It's not at all unusual for a dog to spend its whole life chained outside, or left in a tiny kennel run with a dilapidated dog house. And so I have to assume that if the police and then the courts intervened, Haven's life was quite wretched even by their standards.

I love this picture because she looks so fierce but she isn't really. Her mom was a Rottweiler and it looks like she has some kind of shepherd too, perhaps Aussie. I chose her name because I thought it was pretty and fits a dog from her background. After I discovered Haven Kimmel's books, I was kinda pleased I already had a dog named after her. It's not like Molly, where every 6th dog has my name.

After months in our home, Haven has settled into our routine just fine. She has never had a problem with any of the other dogs, doesn't get into any trouble (well, unless you're a cat or a rat, which is another whole story.) She is so submissive and so grateful to be treated kindly that if we even look at her, she wags her tail so hard that half her body wags along too. Still it's not easy being Haven. She is afraid of everything. For the first years of her life, what little experience she had was frightening. Now the most important thing we can do is have patience and give her time. With dogs like Haven, sooner or later someone will come along who sees something special and who is willing to take on the job of teaching them to enjoy the life dogs were meant to have.

They all really do find their place, if they're given enough time for that to happen. Sometimes it takes a few tries before it finally works out. People will say they understand the effort it will take and then change their minds within days of living with a dog who bolts at the slightest movement or has to be left on a leash and nearly pulled back into the house after going outside. I suppose in a way it sounds cruel to put a dog through these kinds of changes, knowing how very frightened she will be. The alternative however is worse, and for a dog who just desperately wants to be loved, how can you not give them every possible chance towards that outcome?

The couple who would like to adopt Haven had an abused dog before. He had to be out to sleep recently and when they were ready again for another dog, they chose Haven. They spent some time with her first, and worked towards winning her over. Yesterday I met them again and put her in their car to go home, hopefully to stay. She was so scared. It really is heartbreaking, to have to hand her over like that, knowing she doesn't understand. It has to be this way though because I cannot keep them all. And she deserves her own special home where she is cherished. Now all I can do is hold my breath and wait to see how it turns out. More to come soon.

I need to get rid of my dog!

Aside from all of the dogs that end up on borrowed time at the dog pounds around here, and the non-stop requests from people hoping someone will take their dog, responsible rescue always takes their adopted dogs back, for any reason.

There are legitimate reasons for having to give up a beloved pet. Most of those reasons are also used by people who just want to get rid of their dog but are hoping to seem like better people than they are. Take allergies, for example. I had one foster dog years ago whose family tried everything for over a year after one of the children developed allergies. They were heartbroken when they finally had to accept nothing was working, and he had to be returned. Their dog was exceptionally nice, obviously much loved and well cared for. Contrast that to one application I received from a family who answered the question: Have you ever given a dog away? with: Yes we had to give our last dog to the Humane Society because of my wife's allergies. We would like to adopt this dog because we realized she wasn't allergic to the dog after all. Um, what?! That's the story. She started having allergy symptoms so the FIRST thing they did was to get rid of their dog! But it's OK now! After the dog left and she was still sneezing she went to a doctor and found out she wasn't really allergic to him at all! And they couldn't understand why I wouldn't adopt to them.

Foreclosure and the economy are taking a toll on pets, too. It's understandable that if you're losing your home, sadly enough you might have to give up your dog, too. Still would you wait until say, 48 hours before you're out the door to look around and realize the dog needs somewhere to go? OK! We have all the dishes and knick knacks packed away and friends are coming with a truck on Monday. Cousin Mary is taking the couch and the dining room table, and OH NO! What are we going to do with Buddy?! Because those last minute calls happen all the time.

Death or serious illness are oftentimes genuine reasons for having to give up a dog. Those situations can be so sad, as if there weren't enough loss for everyone to deal with, the dog needs to go to a new home as well. Still, my all-time favorite dog return story was a woman who needed to return her dog because she was battling a life-threatening round of cancer. In those situations of course our hearts go out to the owners and the dog. Her dog was an older mixed breed, uneasy in new situations and with strangers, and so she was in foster care for a long time. Many months later we got an email from her owner. It explained who she was, and that she had finished up treatments and was doing much better. She'd been keeping an eye on the website and was sad to see Sadie was still not adopted. She was sure though we would be able to find a good home for her soon, because she's such a great dog. THEN she asked if it would be OK if she adopted one of the puppies we had available at that time. Her husband had never really bonded with Sadie but they really miss having a dog and so they think it would be better to just start over with someone new. Just imagine the look on my face when I read that one. So, your dog is still without a forever home and you know how much she has been struggling with the change but you come to us again to get a new dog?

It's sometimes a real struggle to avoid becoming jaded about the people we deal with to help the dogs we love.

Still I've found one happy ending or a thanks so much for our wonderful dog email makes up for a whole lot. More on those stories soon.

Look at this handsome guy!

Here's another of the throwaway dogs I see at the pound. 2 years old, an all but perfect dog. He's housetrained, gets along great with other dogs, needs some manners reinforcement but has had basic training. The story is his owner had to move back home to care for her ailing mother and didn't have room where they live to keep him. (I can't count how many times I've heard that story. Maybe once in a while it's really true.) And I can't find a rescue with room to take him. If a dog like this can't get in, what chance does a mere shepherd MIX have?

No good deed goes unpunished

OK before we get to the actual topic, I need to explain where I live. It's a rural area on the edge of a small town. Lots are at least an acre and wooded. I have lived here for 20 years and have been involved in dog rescue (and owned multiple dogs) for 5. Within the last 2 years I have acquired new neighbors on both sides. I'll freely admit I am not an especially social person and I did not make any attempt to get to know them. They're both younger families with younger kids, and even if I were a get-together-for-coffee-with-the-neighbors type, I can't imagine what we would have in common.

I'll also say for as many dogs as I have, I do try to be considerate. I do not leave my dogs outside when we're not here. I do bring any barking dogs into the house as soon as I notice they're barking. Still, dogs bark. That's just the fact of the matter. They bark outside if they see something they believe I need to know about. They bark inside when we come home or if someone comes to the door. Anyone who does rescue knows what that is like. (On the phone we all hang up when we get to the door. "I'm home now, gotta go, dogs will be barking in a minute.")

So this evening, one of my neighbors came over to inform me he has had it with my dogs. He has called the cops several times so they can hear them barking. According to him, the neighbors on the other side have had it too. With a wave of a hand, he implied perhaps the whole road has had it, maybe the whole county, who knows. He paid a lot of money for his house. Apparently at this time there is nothing they can do, so he has a friend on council and they are going to put through a new noise ordinance that addresses barking dogs. I have no idea why he felt the need to give me this heads up, although I suspect it was so I would know why it came about and who was behind it.

So basically, I'm fucked. This is a small town and I am nobody so I am going to get nowhere trying to fight this. If I somehow succeed in one aspect, they will come after me from another. It's not like dog rescue is a valued venture anyhow. If it were, that would suggest people value dogs, and judging by how many dogs we need to save, that's obviously not the case, right? I can look at it from every angle, and it's pretty clear my only options are going to be getting rid of my dogs or moving. Even if I cut back on the dogs I have here (and that would necessitate putting several of them to sleep because they are not adoptable) the dogs I own bark. They're dogs. I don't know how to keep dogs from barking entirely. The bottom line is this is what I do. I rescue dogs. Perhaps it is hell to live next to me. I can think of many many other situations that will be just as bad if not worse. And I suspect this man will be aggravated at any one of those as well. (And I'm spiteful enough to hope whoever does end up living here next is every bit as annoying as I am now.) That doesn't change what we're dealing with now.

I really don't mind moving. I was planning to before the real estate market took a dive. Still right now I am in no way at all able to or prepared to, and the logistics of how that will occur are beyond me at this time. I guess all I can do now is wait and see what happens next. I dunno how much time I'll have before the ax falls, or how drastically they'll push this. I do know that this is my life now and a few disgruntled neighbors will not change that. We'll find a way through this and it will work out for the better in the end.

What was I saying about labs?

I picked up a couple of dogs this week, a beagle and a mixed breed puppy. There are 2 more older lab-mix puppies there (1 pictured here) I should be able to find someone to take before it's too late.
There's also a couple of adult lab mixes, maybe more since I was there a few days ago. Nice dogs, really, just nothing special, and so they don't have a chance unless by some miracle someone calls to claim them. One big guy has every strike against him. Big but not so big he'd get interest in the way the extra large dogs do. He'a almost all lab but with long hound dog ears, so he misses out on being a big-headed purebred lab. And he's older, not ancient but 5 or 6, which is usually more years than most people want to take on. It's not his fault at all that he'll most likely end up dead. It's just the reality of the situation. There's too many dogs just like him crammed into every pound everywhere. Sometimes I'll try, send out a bunch of emails, go the extra mile. It rarely works out, rescues can't create room when there's none available. And sometimes I'm just tired. I don't want to go back and see any of them again. It's best if I just put them out of my mind, and move onto whoever will be taking that kennel next week.

Top 10 Most Popular Dog Breeds

2007 Most Popular Dogs in the U.S.
1. Labrador Retriever
2. Yorkshire Terrier
3. German Shepherd Dog
4. Golden Retriever
5. Beagle
6. Boxer
7. Dachshund
8. Poodle
9. Shih Tzu
10. Bulldog
AKC dog registration statistics

It comes as no surprise to anyone in rescue that Labrador Retrievers are invaribly the most popular purebred registered with the AKC. From that starting point, imagine most of those dogs sold or handed out with no oversight whatsoever, and from there begin multiplying proportionately with all the other breeds they end up mixed with, and just try to imagine how many lab-looking dogs end up competing with each other for a shot at life.

Don't take my word on it. Check petfinder. 18,000 lab listings, twice as many as the nearest competitor, pit bull terriers. And that's not counting those listed separately as black, yellow or chocolate labs.

Around here anyhow, labs and beagles (6,800 on petfinder) seem to reign over any of the other breeds I see dumped in pounds. And not all of them get out either. In the rural pounds I go to, I'm sure some of them are lost or abandoned hunting dogs. They also both have reputations as "good family dogs" which may or may not be true, depending on what you want from a dog for your family. I just about bet at least half of unwanted dogs out there end up that way because their original owners acquired them for all the wrong reasons without bothering to put the least amount of effort into learning what that breed is like and whether it is even close to being a good fit for their family situation.

Take for example the number of border collies (4,600), Australian Cattle Dogs (2,900) and Australian Shepherds (3,300) on petfinder, way out of proportion to their popularity rankings (54,64,33.) Yes, the straight numbers can be misleading--not all of these dogs end up registered and many of those listed on petfinder are mixes--but the main reason is these are NOT breeds that adapt well to just any home but that sure doesn't stop a whole lot of people from getting them. "They're so pretty!" As someone who likes and usually fosters a herding dog or two, if I had a dollar for every UNqualified applicant I've had who insisted they should still be allowed to adopt these dogs, well, I'd have at least a tank of gas and a bag of dog food.

Continuing down the list, it doesn't seem like the smaller breeds show up nearly as often. They're certainly still out there, in this area dachshunds and yorkies more than shih tzus or poodles, but my guess is more often than with the big dogs, someone offers to take them before they end up at the pound. So instead they just get bumped from home to home!

Quite honestly even with these smaller breeds, when I do happen across them, there is usually foster space more readily available and they are also adopted more quickly. That's not to excuse irresponsible breeding or owners, or to suggest they aren't put down elsewhere but I'd much rather walk into a pound with a few yorkies or poodles than a bunch of yodeling beagles or bouncy labs. At least the odds are higher I won't be the last friendly face they see.

Boxers and Goldens fall into a category of their own. There's still way too many of them for even purebred rescues to keep up with but for me anyhow I can usually find a place for them and they do seem to be adopted easily. Again, they aren't safe from euthanasia, and sometimes I'm holding my breath up until the last minute, too. I don't see too many German Shepherd Dogs but they're definitely out there and not getting a better shot at it than the labs and beagles. And the only dog more common than a lab mix is a "shepherd mix."

I have only seen one bulldog, and that was a "hold" from a turnpike accident who was of course claimed. I'm not sure why. Cost has something to do with it but even when the stupid "doodles" were going for $1000, they'd still trickle into pounds. Sooner or later, bulldogs will start showing up too. Terrible as it perhaps sounds, I can't wait! Going to that pound week in and week out believe me it's fun to run into a high demand dog or rarer breed. I love bulldogs.

Obviously I think it's freaking nuts to go anywhere for a dog besides responsible rescue. Still if you HAVE to have a purebred puppy, PLEASE at least find a responsible breeder. Responsible breeders will make sure you are a good home for their puppies. They will at the very least ONLY adopt with a strict spay/neuter contract and they will also ALWAYS take their dogs back if for some reason they can't stay in their original homes. It does matter. Yeah I know, not everyone is into this cause or concerned about the bigger picture, and why shouldn't they just go ahead and buy that puppy wherever it's most convenient for them? My only response to that is to quote St. Francis of Assisi:

If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.

cloning dogs

Yes, I know 5 puppies or even 300 dogs a year won't make a big difference one way or another when it comes to pet overpopulation. I also recognize my disgust over this one litter of puppies labels me as the rescue zealot I really am. I just see this as the absolute epitome of selfishness. I want my dog back and rest of you be damned!

Of course this woman attempts to absolve her conscience by donating 2 of the puppies as service dogs, apparently under the delusional belief that her dog was more special than any other could ever be! Even better, the puppies are pitbulls because that's a breed where supply can't meet demand! Oh wait...

Lots of people choose to adopt right after they've lost a beloved pet. Sometimes they pick the same breed or a mix who looks like their first dog. And lots of times when they find the right dog, they're very happy with their new companion. Still, if they truly believe they can get their dog back, they will be disappointed when the second dog falls short. This woman will find out--she can clone their physical attributes but she cannot create the same dog.

I recognize cloning on some level or another is here to stay. I don't even care that this woman spent a pile of cash on this venture. It's her money. The fact is though, her dog died. She loved him, of course she's grieving, but emotionally stable people find some way to move on. I can't help but think of all the ways she could have honored his memory without looking like someone with more money than sense.

Pitbull Cloned in Commerical First

Update: OMG now it comes out she sold her house to pay for this litter!? I rest my case.

A roomful of puppies

"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face." Bernard Williams

I can't sleep at night when there's baby puppies at the pound. It's not the worst place on earth for puppies to be but the thought of them sleeping on cold stainless steel or concrete floors in kennel runs, divided up from each other, just makes me sad.

This week someone dropped off six 5 week old Weimaraner mix puppies (and now for the first time in my life, I can actually spell "Weimaraner.") I saw them there yesterday and went back and got them today. They'll just have to stay here for a week or so until we can make room for them somewhere else. How hard can it be? Well, here's how you take care of a roomful of puppies.

Get a bucket, a mop, a stack of newspapers, garbage bags and a gallon of bleach. Then an hour later, get more newspapers, more bleach, and most likely a new mop soon too. Puppies are messy!! Still they seem to get the hang of using the area with the newspapers before too long. And they're puppies! They bite on your ankles with their little sharp teeth and make little grunting puppy noises when you pick them up. They run and wrestle each other, then suddenly collapse for a nap right where they're standing. And don't forget puppy breath and little puppy kisses! There's not much that competes with the fun of playing with a litter of puppies!

My kids love having them here too. I let them choose their names. We have Ruthie,
Rigby,
Rover,
Rufus,
Rusty
and Rocket.
Did you see, Rocket has a white star on his chest!


They'll be available for adoption in about 3 weeks.

Christian the Lion

I don't spend much time on youtube and I spend even less time reading all the heart-warming stories that make their way through email. With this one though, I sent it to everyone I know. Of course they'd all seen it days ago and never sent it to me so thanks a lot! I'm posting it here on the off chance I'm not the only person who hadn't seen it already, and also because I think it's so awesome I want it on my blog. I swear I cry every time I see it.



According to snopes this story is from 1969. The older man in the background near the end is George Adamson of Born Free fame.

I've got a whole bunch more to say about animals and emotions but that's going to have to wait for another day. What I will say now is I see this same sort of thing happen all the time with the dogs. There's way more going on with these animals than just obeying a "sit!" command because you happen to have a treat. And we miss out when we attempt to reduce them to nothing more than that.

One day's haul: more dogs

Yesterday I was set to pick up 3 dogs from "my" pound. The night before, I got an email from the dog warden, said he had 2 golden mix puppies and another terrier. So I contacted the intake coordinator for the rescue I work with the most, she worked a few more miracles and we found space for those too.

So my 9 year old and I head off to the pound in my pitiful dog-mangled Saturn wagon. In the far back goes the big female yellow lab who has been there close to 2 weeks already. We thought she had been claimed, someone called and was looking for a female yellow lab, lost around the same time and in the same general area but it wasn't their dog. With her I put the new little male terrier. Mixing up dogs who don't know each other isn't something I do if I can avoid it. So far, knock on wood, I have yet to have to deal with a dog fight at 60 MPH on a country road, but in this case they both seemed pretty friendly and it was a chance I had to take.



Then I bring out the puppies, and drop those in my daughter's lap. Everyone in this family lives and breathes dogs (and dog fur) but she is my most loyal helper. For all the dogs and puppies she meets, she falls in love with every one of them. Next comes the little Jack Russell terrier who is sweet as can be, so she gets tossed in the backseat too. And we're off!




As if the car loading isn't enough, I have to bring them here first for a few hours. That means unloading all 5 dogs and stashing them in various crates outside in the shade (adult dogs) or inside my house (puppies.) I live in a rural area but I do have neighbors, who I'm sure wonder sometimes why I have crates of dogs sitting outside but so far anyhow, I've managed to get them back in the car before the dog warden's ever showed up.

This is a busier week than most but all of these are super nice dogs who will be adopted in no time. All someone else's rubbish. I'm about as unlikely a hero as anyone can be but these dogs really have no one else, and to them I'm a lifeline. When you wonder why I do what I do, it's for each and every one of these wonderful dogs, to give them another chance.

2 stray cats and a stray bunny

For a couple of weeks, we had a little light yellow kitten hanging around. First, he would sneak out of the woods, and run back when we'd see him. We started leaving food out and he gradually worked his way to our shed, then to hiding underneath the cars. Some mornings he'd be outside when we walked out the front door, and he would tear alongside the house when he saw us, hiding behind the hostas. From there, we'd lose him, and eventually figured out he was pushing his way into the crawl space via one of the vents in the side of the house. From there, he was following the pipes back and forth so we couldn't catch him.

(The cat rescue people are always on the look-out for good homes for "barn cats," cats that have been fixed and given shots, but are too feral to be pets. Who knew I could offer up my own house for "crawl space cats.")

The way my house is set-up, at the far end we have a room that is used as an office, and it's the (dog free) room where most of my own cats hang out. One night, my daughter said she thought she saw a cat run down into the heat duct. I checked and all our cats were accounted for. The lightweight plastic vent cover was shoved aside a bit but that didn't seem like anything too concerning. I did have the passing thought that I hoped there wasn't a mouse coming into my house, scurrying by my fat cats to eat out of their food bowls, a la Garfield.

A few days later we picked up a live trap, in the hopes of catching the kitten to get him fixed and see if he could be tame enough to be adopted out. That very same evening, after the trap was set up with food, my daughter came running up to me and said the KITTEN was coming into the office via the heat vent! I snuck in very quietly and sure enough, there he was, crouched behind a desk near the vent. As soon as he saw me he took off again. I got a can of food and hid while he poked his head up and then back down, hungry enough to want the food but not quite willing to take the risk. Finally, he couldn't resist the smell of the food, and when he ran into the room, I slammed the cover back on the vent and we had him. Come on, now I have strays coming into my house?! Where will it end??

(I can't wait to go under the house with a flashlight to find the gap in the ductwork he used as his entryway.)


As it turns out, he's a very nice kitten. He was apparently raised around people before he found himself alone and hungry in our woods. He's been fixed and vetted and I'm sure will be adopted soon. We named him Sherwood: from the bright forest.



A day later, I get a call from my 20 year old. She starts off explaining it's my fault she "turned out like this," which is somewhat concerning because it could mean anything. She finally gets around to telling me what she needs. Someone came to the door at her dad's with a tiny kitten he'd found in the road by their house. She told him it wasn't theirs but she could find someone to take it. Since the dogs at her dad's, and her dad himself, are anti-cat, that someone was me. She said she named it Stella, which became Emory when we realized Stella is most likely a boy. He is a wild boy and just beautiful. The flash washed out some of his color in this picture. In person he is so dark brown he is nearly black. He's too tiny still to be vetted so for now he's hanging out here until he grows a bit.


As sad and somewhat insane as I become at times, trying to make a small difference in the lives of abandoned dogs, I would completely lose my mind if I were to try to tackle the problem of unwanted cats. There are tens of thousands of stray cats in this county alone, and we have a really amazing spay and neuter network. For every five litters of kittens that are saved, ten more "free kitten" signs pop up, and those kittens are handed out like kewpie dolls, too often then abandoned too, having more litters no one wants. During the worst of the kitten season, kittens are euthanized almost every day at the area's "open door" shelter. I cannot imagine anything worse than coming to work to kill kittens. I have nothing but respect for the people who care enough to keep battling the problem, one tiny kitten at a time. PLEASE spay or neuter every cat you have, or come across, or know about. It's the only solution.

Another day or so after Emory came here to live, I walked across the road at work, and there between 2 pastures was a bunny! My next thought after "Aww, look! A bunny!" was "Wait, wild bunnies aren't black with floppy ears!" "Come here, little bunny!" And the bunny came hop hop hopping over to me and let me pick him up. Alrighty! Now I have a bunny, too?! My boss had no idea where it came from and she had the same "what am I going to do with a bunny?!" reaction I was having, when she decided to check with the neighbors on the off chance it was theirs. As it turned out, it was. He had escaped from his pen a few days before. Even though we both had qualms about returning such a small defenseless animal to people who were so haphazard with his care, he went back home again. While I was holding him, I couldn't help but think I do have a rabbit cage here, and I did clean the basement not too long ago and so, how bad could it be?

If you're ever considering getting a bunny as a pet, or a rat, or a bird, or a gerbil, or a snake, or a horse, or just about anything else you can come up with, odds are good you can find whatever you might want in rescue. If people can own it, people will get tired of it and decide it's someone else's problem.

And another thing, if you think getting decent pictures of dogs and puppies can be challenging, just try getting pictures of cats! I had 40 that were a black blur before I got one where you could even see Emory at all!

Ultimate Air Dogs

We had a 2 day rescue adoption event this weekend, to coincide with the Purina Ultimate Air Dogs show. It's a "dock jumping" exhibition and competition, and it's a lot of fun! You can try your own dogs out at it too, for a donation. Some of the entry fees were donated to Planned Pethood and they also asked for extra donations from the spectators today, which were generously matched by Andersons General Store where the 2 day event was held. The weather was a bit hot yesterday but perfect today. Lots of great dogs were out and about, and the rescue dogs got a lot of interest as well.

Most of the "rookies" weren't too happy to leap off the "dock" like that. There's a lot of stopping dead in their tracks going on, like this chocolate lab, who tried to lean over as far as he could, and when that didn't work, said "Hey we can just hang out here, ok, Dad?"

I loved this husky. It took her forever to jump in and then when she did, she swam to the wrong side of the tank. Her owner pointing which way to go didn't help any. "Come on! Just get me out of here!"


Today I took my aussie, Winter. I figured she had better than average odds of pulling it off. She loves water and is obsessed with tennis balls. She jumped in twice the first round but stopped at the edge and refused to budge the second time, even though she really really wanted that tennis ball! In fact as soon as I gave up, she ran back down the platform and back up the "exit" ramp to go after it that way. Not nearly as funny as the dog who jumped from the platform over to the ramp and went down it to the water, smart dog!

Here's how it's supposed to be done!

Noah

First I thought I would be picking up an Australian Shepherd, the dog warden said "seemed a little quiet." A few days later they decided he was "most likely" deaf. Deaf is challenging but not insurmountable. When I finally made it over there and walked back to his kennel, he was sprawled out with his back to the walkway. He didn't notice me walking up, so I shook the door, which got his attention. As soon as he sat up and turned around, it was clear he's old. When I checked his teeth, I could maybe say 8 but my more accurate guess is around 10. Old is even more challenging than deaf much less old and deaf but there is no way I can leave this dog in the pound to die.

I wish I could convince everyone to take a chance on an old rescue dog. He is so gentle and sweet-natured. He just wants to be by my side whenever possible, and is happy to have a bed to sleep on. His hearing loss doesn't seem to effect him all that much. He does respond to hand clapping so we do OK with eye contact, hand clapping and me leading him to where he needs to go. I'm not sure yet where he will go. We will work that out soon. In the meantime we're the lucky ones to have him sharing our life for however long he is here.

Some dogs

Since this is a blog about dogs, how about if I post some! Here's a random selection of some of the (cutest) dogs I've picked up in the last couple of months. It's funny, more than once before I started going out there, I'd heard this pound gets nothing but "labs and hounds," so it wasn't worth bothering with....

All I knew was I was getting a westie mix puppy, so since I didn't know if it would be male or female, I named it Stevie. You have to figure if we're getting a young puppy from one of the breeders out there, there's something wrong with it, or they'd just sell it. Stevie came in loaded with worms and fleas and was in such bad shape he had to go immediately to the vet. He never even made the website from there but was adopted by someone in the vet's office. Second photo was sent in by his new owner, enjoying the good life! Tell the truth, you said AWWWWW!!


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I LOVE this puppy! Every time I would see him at an event I would rush over, grab him up, and say "oh! I love this puppy!" He was on the website for one of the pounds here for 2 weeks! It was a lousy picture but still! A little white puppy? I thought for sure he was adoped, but nope. Nikki named him Popcorn.


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There are always too many beagles at the pounds, and a whole lot of them don't get another chance. They're probably the most over-represented "Top 10" breed left in kill pounds. My guess is it's partly because they wander off so easily and then aren't claimed, and partly because they appeal to people initially as small cute dogs but they aren't automatically a good choice for all families. This little gal is Vera.

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Dayzee (so she came with that name, don't blame me!) was an owner sign-off, sounded like some guy got a dog for his kids but since they're only there for an occasional weekend and he works a lot, she was just left in a crate most of the time. You can imagine how much interest she got!

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Trix is another breeder reject. We knew when we got her she had a small hernia that would need to be repaired when she was spayed. As it turned out, she apparently also had an infection and will need to spend some extra time getting healthy before she can be adopted. She's another one who hasn't even made it to the website and is already spoken for!


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I've grown to love pugs! No offense to other breeds but pugs and boxers have the most personality, I swear! Maybe it's all the snorting and grunting sounds they make because they all seem to actually talk to you. This little guy went to pug rescue. I deal with a lot of breed rescues. Some are great, others I will never call again. Pug rescue said yes and had arrangements made almost as fast as I sent the first email. They lucked out too. He's a great dog!

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You'd think after all this time and as many dogs as I've seen, I'd learn, but I really thought someone would claim this one. A purebred 5 month old sheltie puppy?! But nope. This is Rookie.


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More to come.

Blogging Slacker!

Wow, I knew it had been a while since I'd been here but almost 3 months? It is truly unfair that time goes faster the older we get. I am completely convinced that by the time I'm (God willing) in my 80s, I'll wake up from one day to the next, and a year will have gone by.

So much for my original "good blogger!" vows of updating this every few days. I can't blame it all on the dogs, although they certainly are time-consuming. Last week was about typical. I made 3 trips to the pound in 4 days and then met the dog warden halfway a 4th time to return a dog someone decided to adopt after I had him here. And in between, I had 2 extra new dogs to work into the routine, and all of my usual dogs and fosters to deal with. And don't underestimate all the time and effort required to keep everyone in this house from being suffocated in black dog fur.

It does seem like this blogging thing has to become a habit. It's not like I'm ever that far away from my computer monitor when I'm home. And it's not like I'm generally at any loss for words. So let's try this again.

Dogs Gone By/Bear

This week the rescue story that made the AP rounds was about the challenges of adopting out Big Black Dogs. It's great people are becoming educated about rescue, and the reality is the large black mixed breed dogs are the hardest to adopt out, and in many many many cases don't get another chance at all.

It's funny now to look back on how naive I was when I met Bear. He'd been a street dog for as long as anyone could remember, in a part of town where dogs running loose is commonplace. He was well known and well liked and so someone took him in and contacted us in the hopes of giving him a better life. I went over to meet him and he seemed like a nice enough dog to me, so I agreed to foster him until he could find an adoptive home. Not only was Bear a BIG BLACK DOG, he was also a chow mix. Of the breeds people tend to be leery of, I'd say chows are pretty near the top. AND not only was he an all black, large-sized chow mix, he wasn't especially pretty either. What did I know? It seemed to me he was a nice dog and if that was enough for me, it would be enough for someone else too!

As it turned out, Bear had heartworm so he stayed here throughout his treatments and recovery. And then he stayed and stayed and stayed some more. It was looking like perhaps I had made a mistake in taking him on. That fall was the first local "Dog Days of September" festival, a whole day of dog fun. Almost all the area rescues had their dogs there. One man spent literally the whole day meeting dozens of dogs, carefully weighing which one would be the right choice for him. He came back to Bear over and over, and finally Bear became his dog. A year later they stopped to say hi. Bear acknowledged me with a hello, but he never took his adoring eyes off the man who chose him.

Aussies!

We all have "our" breeds and for me, while I love a lot of different dogs, the breed I believe is absolutely perfect are Australian Shepherds. I mean, c'mon! They're beautiful, smart, energetic, and have enough of an attitude to be challenging. They're a great size, not too small, not too big, and don't require a lot of grooming to look nice. I started off with Winter when she came in as an "extra" on transport one December day. She was a fluffy gray puppy with gray eyes and it was love at first sight for me!

She was so much fun I said someday I'd get another. That someday came the next 4th of July. 4th of July seems to be the worst weekend of the year for rescue dogs. Some probably run from fear of all the commotion and are never claimed. Others are probably dumped off by people who don't want to pay the cost of boarding when they head out of town. Either way, the pound is invariably packed after the holiday. About 4 years ago, among all of the others, there was a small, young tri-colored aussie sitting nicely in his kennel, wagging his docked tail as sweet as could be. How could I resist?? Since then, Banjo has been my most loyal companion, the dog who would literally do anything at all for me. At 40 lbs, he's the one who I am sure would do whatever it took to protect me or this house.

Since then, there's an occasional aussie at the pound I go to, but it doesn't seem to be a breed that shows up a lot of the time. So, what are the odds that not one but two of the prettiest aussies I have seen show up at the same time AND go unclaimed by anyone?! Look who I picked up today!! I cannot get over how gorgeous these dogs are! They're young too, and sweet natured. Goes to show, really, that ANY dog can end up on death row. Yeah these 2 will get another chance, but don't believe for one minute that is always the case.

I'm calling the blue merle "Blue" for now, because it amuses me. As it happens, a friend of mine lost one of her blue merles not too long ago, so he will go to a great home with her.

And this is Ruby. Right now, we're not sure if she'll be available for adoption......or not. :)