Saturday, July 31, 2010

Just Another Day...

Its been a pretty busy day, I met up with a breeder to get a poodle she wanted to surrender because the dog was too scared and then I met up with the foster mom so she could get this little darling home and make her comfortable. This little poodle is gorgeous, still fairly young and it appears she has never been bred, maybe because she was defined as being to big for the breed but who knows. She is very frightened but hopefully soon she will realize that the worst is over and now she can relax and enjoy the good life, with never ending love and food! Now she will never have to worry about the mess of having and caring for babies.

I told you in my last blog that I got a new foster named Piper, well there is a close up of her, isn't she just beautiful? She is having a rough recovery from her spay surgery, but has improved as of this evening, even though I still haven't got her to eat anything. One thing I can tell you about this girl is she was definitely someone's loved pet at one time, she LOVES to cuddle and always offers her belly to you. She also appears to be housebroken, its still a little early for me to make that my final decision but so far no accidents and she seems to understand what outside means and goes to the door. I am already falling in love with her, that is a real problem with me fostering these doxie's, I tend to fall hard and quick.

I also had to pick up the last of Payla's adoption goodies to go home with her tomorrow. She had a bath and trim today so she smells and looks her best for her new mommy and daddy. I am for sure going to miss this little ray of sunshine, she can always put a smile on my face, no matter what kind of day I've had.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Take a Deep Breath

This week has been CRAZY and that's putting it lightly! Since my amazing adoption of the year on Monday, I haven't been able to take a deep breath. Seriously its been non stop, since Monday I have received and responded to well over 800 emails, 50 plus phone calls and ran out a tank of gas. To rescues that probably is not a busy week, but I'm not a rescue, I am just a "rescue person" what ever that means. Throw a bad cold and painful neck and shoulders in the mix and well its been almost unbearable. Today I went out to JCAC and pulled the 2 doxie's for senior dog, they are at the vets tonight and will get all their vetting tomorrow morning. One of the doxie's is coming here, I am just so excited to be fostering another doxie, they are my passion. She is gorgeous and I can guarantee she won't be around for long! I will be sharing pictures of her on my next blog, I have decided to name her Piper. The male is going to one of our other doxie loving fosters, right now she has named him Saburo, he is a red standard and quite the hunk!



I also pulled a chocolate lab (pictured over there) for a lab rescue over here in Illinois, sweet little female that will make some family very happy. She had what we think are really bad allergies, her eye's are all swollen and red, poor girl, she'll get the treatment she needs now.

Monday, July 26, 2010

On a High


I was not going to blog tonight because I am so tired but yet I can't sleep, still on a high because Marco was adopted today! I really still can't believe it, I could not have asked for more for him. The adopter is a single woman, still working but close to retirement, no men or children in the home AND the only other dog is a small 9 year old female named Winnie. She also has a cat but a very dog savvy cat. Its only the best for her babies, which of course I LOVE! I told her the good, the bad and the ugly about Marco Polo which she understood and still wanted to adopt him. Now I no longer have to worry so much about Marco, I will still worry but at least I know he is being loved right now, that I am sure about! In our conversations the adopter said she has taken many of her family members pets when they become unable to care for them because of being put in a assisted living facility etc, 1 in particular struck me, it was a Chihuahua that you practically couldn't touch or he would bite you. She said I just excepted it but knew I could never let him be killed because his human couldn't care for him anymore. That's when I KNEW for sure this was the right home for Marco Polo, she accepts the animals for what they are, and knows they aren't perfect. Marco is far from perfect, but he still has love to give and can still make a great companion for the right person.

I being the worried mom had to call already to check on Marco. He is doing great, him and his new canine sister were already running and playing with each other, in fact Diana told me she went to the bathroom and when she opened the door there sat the cat (Tuna), Winnie and Marco all in a row like ducks, just patiently waiting for her to come out. I can't even put into words how much this adoption has meant to me, I think it was meant to be and am very thankful! So happy tails to my little Marco Polo and I pray he has sweet dreams and a wonderful life!!!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Crazy


Last night we had a Crazy Bowl event that benefited Senior Dog, it was a lot of fun just working it and it seemed everyone that bowled had a great time! I think we did fairly well, and the attendance was more than we expected which was awesome! There were some amazing raffle baskets , and some big 50/50 pots to be won. All this to help with our huge vet bills, so we can continue to care for the dogs we have and to save more dogs that need our help. I also have a funny video of our fearless leader hopping down the lane, it should show up on St. Louis Senior Dogs facebook page soon! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/St-Louis-Senior-Dog-Project/135908396438428?ref=ts

Tomorrow I am taking Marco Polo on a
home visit/ play date with a potential adopter and her 9 y/o female Chorkie. I am hoping my crazy boy behaves himself, it would be so wonderful to see him get placed in a forever home without men and children around. Since I worked the Crazy Bowl last night, this was the first time Marco had to spend hours alone with my husband, I attached a leash on him so my husband could more easily catch him. Well things went OK, the first trip outside was a bit of a fight but no one got bit, which is a success! He would not potty for my husband while I was gone so by the time I got home he was busting at the seams to go out. I'm happy to report they both survived without any battle scars.

Friday, July 23, 2010

The Hardest Decision


There have been a lot of people lately asking me about heartworm positive dogs and the treatment process. I had a heartworm positive foster dog last year, even though he has gone from this world, he is still in my heart. Wally was dumped at JCAC by his owners, because at 8 years old they claimed he barked to much. That's him on the right when he was at JCAC. When he was pulled we found out he had heartworms, this was a new experience for me but I knew I wanted to save him. He was very skinny and his hair reminded me of a brillo pad. He had his initial treatment and a few days later started spitting up worms, me being naive about the whole heartworm treatment thought it was the heartworms, well it wasn't he was so infested with round worms he was spitting them up. We got him treated for the round worms and he had to stay on crate rest for 30 days because of the heartworm treatment, the only time he really ever got out of the crate was for leashed potty breaks every few hours. He finally got off of crate rest, and he was able to start living like a dog should. After waiting the 3 months he went in to get tested again for heartworms and make sure they were gone, well they weren't in fact he was STILL a strong positive so basically the treatment didn't work at all. This apparently is a very rare thing, but unfortunately it happened to Wally. We had to redo all the treatment again, including the crate rest. After getting off the 30 day crate rest, something changed in Wally, he was not the same dog.

Wally used to be a big clown, and what a lot of people would call not the sharpest pencil in the box, but he was a lover, and could make you laugh on a dime by his goofy antics. To the left is a picture of him after he had been with us for awhile, his hair was so soft and he gained 5lbs. Wally started having bad behavior problems. Anytime I would correct him he would bite at me, after he bit me a time or 2, I took him to a behaviorist with the help of the rescue. The behaviorist told me basically that I had babied him too much and that he thinks he's in charge and he gave me tips on what I could do to take control back. We worked on this for a couple weeks, but still seen behavior issue's, one day he went to run out the door and I put my hand down to stop him at his chest and he lost it, he attacked my hand and would not let go, I had to pry my hand out of his mouth. That was the day I knew I could never place him in a home. The decision had to be made, it was one of the hardest decisions I have ever been a part of, it broke my heart, and changed my prospective on rescue forever. My biggest fear was that he would be tortured by some cruel person in this world if he was ever adopted out and acted this way. I cried for weeks after he passed and I wasn't sure I could ever foster again and I am convinced that the behavior issues was because of the 2 heartworm treatments and all the crate rest he had. I miss that goofy dog, and I miss my naive prospective on rescue, its easier to get through everyday thinking rescue is always such a wonderful thing but in reality its not all glory in fact there are a lot of days I don't want to do it anymore, but then I sit back and see all these wonderful animals being tortured and killed, they need a voice and a chance. I know in my mind I done the right thing for Wally, but my heart still hurts for this boy, why did his life have to be this way?

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Starting A New Chapter

Today I went out to JCAC to check out some doxie's that came in. Both are very cute and friendly, and if they aren't claimed or adopted we should be pulling them next week. I will be taking the female, she has a beautiful brindle coat and is scared but being locked up in that noisy, stinky place who wouldn't be scared?? The other doxie is a beautiful male standard, you don't see standards much anymore but I think they are the healthier of the doxie breed. Both may have been breeder dogs, the female looks like she has had a litter or 2 and the male is unaltered. So hopefully next week they will start a new chapter of their life.

Payla will be starting her new chapter on August 1st, that's when we are finalizing her adoption and she gets to go to her new forever home. I am happy for her, she is luckier than most, she doesn't have a lot of mental scars from her life in a puppymill and she is young, she didn't have to spend most of her life there either. I think she looks pretty happy being a loved pet, don't you? She is flourishing into a beautiful loving companion, and I can't wait to see her start that new chapter, I know it will be better than the first one.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

More Room PLEASE

Right now I am stuck in limbo, Payla is still here waiting for her new mom and dad to come back from Texas and I need to take another dog, I just don't have room. Everyone has their personal limit they can handle at one time, my limit is 6, I had 7 for a couple weeks not long ago and thought I was going out of my mind so I have to stick with 6. Right now there are so many great dogs at JCAC its so hard to stick to my limit. There is a beautiful English Pointer, pictured on the left and I have also heard there are 2 doxie's there. I would prefer to take a smaller dog or should I say Marco would prefer I did but look at this girls face, I can't bear the thought of her not making it out of there!

Speaking of being out of room, we need MORE fosters! If you have ever thought about fostering, please consider it. It can be very rewarding but you must love the animals and understand that none of them are perfect, but none of us humans are either. Seriously we are these babies only hope at a second chance, look at this girls face and tell her she doesn't deserve that second chance.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Bad Girls!!

Hazel and Cashew broke out of the yard, so I went for the run of my life. I let them outside to do their evening business and seen them chasing a rabbit in the yard, I monitored the situation till the rabbit made it safely out of the yard and the dogs seemed to be calming down so I went inside. BIG MISTAKE! I heard Isabelle at the door barking her head off, so I knew something was wrong, she always tells on the girls when they get out of the yard because she is too fat to fit under the fence or between the gate. I realized the gate was locked and had to run back inside to get the key, I found Cashew at the end of the block sniffing up someones back yard, so I leashed her and went on the hunt for Hazel. I found her the opposite direction in someone's front yard, Hazel is not easy to catch, her nose hits the ground and she hears nothing. While she chased someone's cat into a back yard I was chasing her, I didn't want her to get out of my sight. Well 4 blocks, and many falls later, I caught her. I ran through mud, fell down hills all to keep this little booger safe. It didn't help I had flip flops on. The picture above is after their fun adventure, they are happy and me not so much, after they were home and safe the anger set in, the anger comes from how scared I was that one or both were going to get hit by a car or chewed up by another dog. They obviously thought it was funny, they couldn't quit wagging their tails at me once at home.

Monday, July 19, 2010

No Worries

I got a email today from one of the Senior Dog fosters that a adopter of mine came into Petco this weekend. They adopted my foster Soclo now Snowcone back in February of this year. I have been very worried about him because I had emailed the adopters a few different times recently just to check on the boy and have never heard back from them, apparently their internet has been down for some time. I was so worried in fact I was considering going by their house to check on him. He is doing well, and they say he is the best dog and they love him to pieces. All my fosters are special but there are some that take a piece of your heart with them, Soclo was one of them. He was one of the most gentle dogs I have ever met, and to think how close he came to leaving this world is what keeps me going everyday to save as many of these babies as possible. That is how he got the name Soclo, because he was so close to euthanasia. He was in JCAC for a long time, waiting to be saved, we finally got a facility in Quincy to agree to take him, then he would have gone to a rescue in Chicago. I picked this boy up from JCAC with plans on him staying here for a few days then driving him to Quincy, well I couldn't do it, he was too perfect. So St. Louis Senior Dog Project agreed to take him into rescue and I would foster him. The family that adopted him are perfect, he has his own 8 year old little girl to love and play with. Soclo is a perfect example of the wonderful animals that end up in the shelter, most of them have nothing wrong with them, they just had bad humans that didn't keep them safe or dumped them.

I like to keep in touch with all my foster dogs family's, I think its my duty to make sure the dogs are in the best possible home and that if that ever changes I need to be there for these innocent babies.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

"Its OK"

Right now I have 4 dogs attached to me, you see my Duncan has been afraid of thunder storms since he was about 4 yrs old, while we were gone one day lightening hit our TV and that was that, he trembles and vomits now when a thunder storm rolls through. We have him on a medication to help him stay calm. Marco came to me scared of storms but Izzy and Hazel have recently began to show fear also. I think they are all feeding off of one another, so when a storms rolls through, I have to make sure all 4 are able to crawl on me. I find myself doing what I know I am not suppose to do, telling them "Its OK babies", I can't help it, I just want to comfort them and make that fear go away. Its been worse lately with the 4th of July holiday, I can't say I blame them, loud bangs scare me too! I am attempting to go to a adoption event today with Marco but I am not sure that I'm going to be able to make it out the door, they don't make it easy to leave.

Yesterday's weather was a far cry from today's. I actually took a day away from the dogs (shh don't tell anyone) and enjoyed some boating with the family. I did manage to get a few tweets and emails sent out. Of course I didn't totally get away from all dogs, my brother and soon to be sister in law brought their Beagle baby with them. That's him over there on the left. This was his first boating trip and I think he thoroughly enjoyed himself. However I don't think he enjoyed us making him get in the water from time to time to make sure he stayed cool (pic of that below). I found myself then telling him "Its OK", I know better then to comfort fear, I guess its the motherly instincts in me.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Never Too Old

I have been trying and trying to get a really good picture of Marco Polo, one that really shows his personality and adorable ears. I think I finally got it! He has the cutest ears I have ever seen, when you talk to him in a really girly shrill voice they really perk up and his eye's just sparkle. I wish more people understood how great these older pets are! They are never to old to give or accept love, they don't chew the house up, and they still greet you at the door like you are the best thing since the hot dog. Please give a older pet a chance, you will be a better person because of it! Take a look at all the wonderful available babies through the St. Louis Senior Dog Project http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/olderbetter.html St. Louis Senior Dog Project is having a big adoption weekend, both Saturday and Sunday at Kirkwood Petco

I have run out of resources to help the babies at JCAC, all the rescues are full, and no one is pulling. I am now being forced to use our social networks to get the word out about these kids. I hope something helps, anything. Today I started using Twitter to tweet about the needy animals in the state of Missouri for Last Chance Pets, I will mainly be focusing on the ones at JCAC. You can follow @LastChanceMO. Twitter is a real learning curve for me, but I've always heard your never to old to learn new things, boy do I hope this is true.

Becky

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Problems, Problems, Problems.......

Isabelle was having problems with her back legs yesterday and it scared the daylights out of me. The reality is she is a Dachshund, she is STILL slightly overweight and she jumps around like a monkey but it doesn't make it any easier to think of her having a back injury. She has been on a diet now for over six months and I can only see a slight difference in her appearance. I cried most of the day yesterday thinking that we would have to make that dreaded trip to the vet to get a x-ray to then start on our journey of dealing with a back injury but the anti-inflammatory medication must be helping, today you can't tell there was a problem. I am trying to restrict her activity but if you knew my Izzy you would know that is almost impossible.

I took Marco Polo to the vet today because his teeth were already looking bad and he just had a dental done in March. Marco has a pretty progressive gum disease which will require some high maintenance to keep his mouth healthy. So we need to develop a plan for Marco that works.

I love the Dachshund breed but they are certainly not for the faint hearted. My girls find the absolute stinkiest, grossest things to roll in. Their favorite, dead, ripe worms. If it used to be alive and stinks to high heaven then it gets rolled on and hey even sometimes they eat it after wards YUCK!!! It is nothing for me to have to bath the 3 of them once a day, and yes I have even had to do it twice a day. Today was one of those days, I had to bath the 3 of them not because they were due for a bath but because they found "perfume" in the yard. Oh well what else do I have to do :) ???

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Chance at Happiness

I got an email from a rescue that I had transport to just the other week. The rescue is in Texico, IL just past Mount Vernon, IL. The founder of the rescue was so happy she had saved this darling girl now named Amber. She said Amber was a awesome, gentle girl, that appeared to be housebroken and knows several commands. She gives hugs on command also. Makes me wonder why no one ever come to look for this girl? She sat in JCAC for weeks and was very close to euthanasia. This is a picture of Amber, isn't she just beautiful? Amber is one of the many that have ended up in a shelter or animal control facility, but she is one of the few that has made it out. Now she will have a chance at true happiness, hopefully for the rest of her life and never has to end up back in a shelter.

JCAC is overflowing with puppies, these babies lives just started and they deserve their chance at happiness also. To start your life out being in a animal control facility just doesn't seem fair. Of course there is nothing fair about any animal ending up at a shelter.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Leaps and Bounds

For the first time Marco jumped up in the chair with my husband, its a big break through for this little guy that is so haunted by his past. I am convinced that he thought my husband had food, but none the less, he still jumped up there, which is a first. I keep wishing this little man would find that perfect home, he really has so much love to give, its certainly not his fault that he has so many demons. In this picture he is napping with his collection of toys, I love the way his tongue peeks out when he is sleeping really hard. The tough part with Marco is he is very deceiving at adoption events, he can appear to be very social but once you get him alone, one on one, things change. For the first 3 days he was here he ran like he thought I was out to kill him, I had to leave a leash on him at all times if I wanted any chance of catching him. I would assume that anywhere new he goes, he would react the same way. Its hard to make people understand the fear that some of these little puppymill guys have. Marco worries me a lot, wondering if those perfect people will ever be able to find him.

Payla on the other hand, loves everyone. She has made some leaps and bounds also, today potty training has finally started to sink in. She has started using the puppy pad, and is going outside to do her business, no accidents in the wrong place. She still has a long ways to go, but I was very impressed with her today, and it always makes me feel proud. I took a video today of this happy go lucky girl, playing outside and just enjoying being a loved dog. She is sure to make her new mom and dad very happy!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Going Through the Motions.

Tragically one of our fosters was killed in a auto accident yesterday on her way home from a adoption event. A beautiful woman that I had only met a couple times but she was always so inviting to talk to. Her twin sister also fosters for our group. Today us fosters went through the motions of taking our fosters to the adoption event, but this tragedy laid heavy on all our hearts. Many prayers to the family and friends.

Tonight I will be going through the motions of getting my plea email together to send out to rescues in hopes some of them can help the dogs at JCAC. Right now, things are tough, it seems all the rescues are full. It doesn't look good for the babies that there right now, but we have to try, we have a great bunch of volunteers at JCAC, but we could always use more. If you just want to go out a time or 2 a week and walk some dogs, give them some love and biscuits or if you want to help transport a animal to rescue. We could really use the help. If you want to learn more about the volunteer program or fill out a application please go to:
http://www.jeffcomo.org/VolunteerOpportunities.aspx?nodeID=AnimalControl

Some days I just need to cuddle with my doggies, it tends to be very therapeutic for me. I mean how could you not feel a little better after cuddling with this? (Isabelle after a morning romp in the yard) So if your feeling down, grab your pooch/pooches and snuggle up, I bet you will feel better soon.


Becky

Friday, July 9, 2010

Remembering.....

This week there was some discussions in the Senior Dog group about chickens, we have a few fosters in the group that have farms. It made me remember when I was younger, we had chickens. One day my dad went out and bought a bunch of little chicks and told me I could pick one out to be my own. I can remember sitting next to the box looking at all these chicks, in reality there was probably only 25 chicks but when your a child everything is dramatized by 10, so to me it looked like hundreds. I carefully picked up each little chick, looked it over carefully till I found the one I wanted to call my own. I will never forget my grandpa (papa) saying, "Out of all those chicks, I think you picked the ugliest one". I told him he might be ugly now but you watch Papa he will be the prettiest one when he gets bigger. I named him Sylvester, he was a Rhode Island Red rooster, and what do you know that chicken was the prettiest out of all of them! Sylvester was a pet to me, he was with me practically all day everyday. Seriously that bird would sit on my lap and loved to be petted, he would follow me everywhere and when I would go inside he would get up on the railing of the deck and peek in the window looking for me. I truly loved that bird! He certainly had his problems, when he walked he would always step on his own toes and at times would trip himself. Crazy bird.

Today has been a rough day, some volunteers worked very hard to get a dog out of JCAC that had a broken jaw and while in surgery the dog past away. Some days its almost to sad to carry on, I am not only sad for this innocent creature but sad for all the others that didn't and won't make it out. I still remember all those that didn't make it out, their faces haunt me sometimes.

Becky

Thursday, July 8, 2010

The good and the bad

Today didn't go by without bad news, there were many adoptable dogs put to sleep today at JCAC. In my mind I know that they can't all be saved but in my heart I know these creatures were put on this earth for a purpose, to be loving companions to us, humans, but ironically us, humans, are the ones that cause this tragedy and loss of life. These are the days I feel like a failure, these are the days I hold my precious pups tight and thank god they are with me. Until we can convince people that spay and neuter is the answer to population control, this will not change. All we can do now is work for the ones that are still there, and pray a angel comes to save them. We did get good news though, Lowe's is donating many supplies and workers to help improve JCAC. This is much needed improvements and I want to thank the person that mentioned JCAC to Lowe's and suggested that maybe Lowe's charity could help JCAC.

Tomorrow I have to take one of my fosters to have her sutures removed from her spay surgery. This poor girl had a rough time with surgery, I believe she has a allergy to anesthesia but she is doing well now and back to her playful self. Payla is just over a year old, Havanese and a puppymill survivor. Thanks to St. Louis Senior Dog Project I think she made it out without too many mental scars caused by puppymill practices but not without physical scars. The group was told that Payla's mother chewed most of her back foot off at birth but she is thriving and learning to use that foot when on soft surfaces. She already has a new adoptive family but we are waiting till they get back from Texas to complete the adoption. This is a picture of Payla to the left, I just love this picture, she looks like she is having a good laugh and we all need a good laugh sometimes.

My other foster is Marco Polo, I know, its a funny name. He is also a puppymill survivor. Marco the Chihuahua was not so lucky, he definitely has mental scars from the puppymill but spending 6 yrs as a breeder who can blame him? This boy is so scared of men, I think he would rather run through a wall then come close to them. He has been with us now for over a month and still has not come around totally to my husband. I think my husband is offended by that, but with my imagination, I have dreamed up the reason he is like this, the mill he came from was ran by a man, and probably the only interaction he had with that man was to be picked up by the scruff and thrown in another cage to mate. I can only guess what has caused this fear in him, and I don't think I would really want to know the truth. I love this dog, fears and all.

I usually have at least one big dog foster, but Marco restricts what I can take in, he does not like bigger dogs but by miracle he has come around to Duncan. All dogs love my Duncan, he is so laid back but can play with the best of them even at 9 yrs old. Speaking of Duncan, I dug up a few old puppy pics of him, this is him on the left, learning to sit. Below is just cute picture of him, he used to fall asleep in my shoes to be sure I would not leave with out him knowing. He is just a dedicated companion, and I just don't know what my life would be like with out him.


Wednesday, July 7, 2010

To get started.....

Just to start my blog out, I thought I could give you a insight to what my life entails on a day to day basis. My husband and I have 4 dogs of our own. Duncan (seen below) was our first love.

He was a rescue puppy we got when he was 8 weeks old, his litter was left on the side of the highway in a cold, wet box to die. He is now 9 years old, and the most perfect dog ever, well in our opinion anyways. Later I'll dig up some old pics of him when he was a baby, they are too cute for words.
Now on to the rest of the crew.
Isabelle (pictured on the left) was our next love, she came into our lives when Duncan was 4 yrs old and I was going through being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and although she was a lot of work, I think she was the reason I kept going. She is a Silver Dapple long haired Dachshund. She is our high maintenance child, always wants something, whether it be a bone or going for a car ride but we love her just the same.




Then came Hazel (to the left in black and white photo) and Cashew(below) , my 2 nut babies :) they are both long haired Red Dapple Dachshunds. They have been just a pure blessing, Hazel is our lover, she loves everyone and everything and Cashew is just chucked full of personality and is very particular of who she keeps company with from humans to animals.


















We also have 3 cats, they live on a separate level of the house because they are too old to put up with all the doggie ruckus. We actually only had 2 cats originally but then my parents decided to retire and travel, so my childhood cat came here to live out the rest of her days, without the hassle of traveling. Their names are Simba, Zues aka Lumpy, and Missy. All good kitties that enjoy not having to deal with the dogs :)

I began my crusade to save dogs the day I ran across a ad on craigslist. The ad was looking for a foster to take in a dog from Jefferson County Animal Control before he was put to sleep. I responded to the ad and was told that dog was safe but there were many more at this facility that could use a foster home. Hence my crazy life began, don't get me wrong I wouldn't have it any other way but some days are better than others and usually the good days out way the bad. I got my first foster from this facility, a wonderful 8+ year old german shepherd mix I originally named Sasha but then much to my surprise found out she was a he :) and his name changed to Tug. You see Tug was very overweight and very hairy (probably had some chow chow in him) so after a day or so of watching him hike his leg in the back yard I realized he might be a boy. Tug was long ago placed in a loving home in Columbia, MO but I still miss that boy, he was such a pleasure to have around.


Since Tug there has been many fosters come and go in our home, some I thought I could never let go of but once their new home come along I realized I was just being selfish and they would have a much better life without the ciaos my house is most of the time. Right now I have 2 fosters, more about them later.

My days consist of answering emails, fielding phone calls, begging rescues to take dogs from JCAC (Jefferson County Animal Control) and transporting dogs to rescues. Plus keeping my crew happy here. Speaking of phone calls, just got a call from Adel one of the volunteers at JCAC, we have to start a heavy plea to rescues, there are several innocent animals to be put to sleep tomorrow and we just have to get some out! I also got a call today from a man wanting to locate a dog that I had transported recently to a rescue in Texico, IL , he was interested in adopting. I hope that works out, if not I am confident this dog will find a wonderful home.

Till next time, give your furry friends a BIG hug and kiss.

Becky