Happy New Year!

Wanted: Forever Homes for Pound Puppies

Did you know that black dogs and cats are the last to get adopted?  They are also the most euthanized. 

Here's a picture of the typical pound puppy:

She's black, weighing in at over 55 pounds, part Labrador Retriever or German Shephard, and may have a white spot on her chest.  Regardless of where you live, your local shelter has one, or two, or five dogs who look just like this cutie.  She's currently boarding at the Missoula Animal Shelter and would MUCH rather live with you.

My dog, Delaney, could pass for her birth-brother.  So will my next pound-puppy.

Click here to visit the dogs and cats waiting for forever homes at the Missoula Animal Shelter.

Merry Christmas!

New Kitties Available for Adoption

Check out some of the kitties available for adoption at Animeals in Missoula.

I can personally attest to the wonderful animals who are waiting for a new forever home.  See the picture below?  Grace, the orange tabby, USED to live at Animeals, but she decided hanging out at our house with Max, the kitty we adopted from the Missoula Animal Shelter, was a better deal.

If you don't have room for a kitty in your house, please consider making a Christmas contribution. 

Meow!

Carola's dog, Trillian

My new companion, Trillian, came from the county animal shelter. She was thin as a rake, bad skin and coat, worms, fleas, the lot. And scared of everything, especially getting in the car. A guy from the shelter had to help me get her in to take her home. Now she's beautiful and confident and so affectionate. Luckily, as we live in Oregon, she loves being dried off. This morning she kept going out in the rain, then coming to show me she was wet so I'd towel her. In the end, I had to close the dog door!

Carola Dunn

Caroladunn@juno.com

http://caroladunn.weebly.com/

How Does He Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways...

My pound puppy, Delaney, required minor surgery yesterday.  He's doing fine and was a trooper throughout the ordeal.

Me--I'm another story.  I can handle emergencies, catastophes, and traumas with aplomb.  Take the spraying blood from his paw, for example.  Not a problem.  I sprinted to the bathroom for that styptic stuff we always have on hand, packed his paw with about half a pound of the stuff and, voila, the bleeding stopped.  I mopped up the mess and promptly fell to pieces.

But this story isn't about me, it's about Delaney.  It all began 10 years ago...

His mother was a black lab/pointer mix - weighing in about 45 pounds.  The local animal shelter where I used to live in Masschusetts found her wanderng the streets, in heat, with WAY too may male dogs chasing after her.  Near as we can tell, three of her paramours impregnated her and she wound up giving birth to (OK, she whelped) a dozen little black puppies:  1 female and 11 males.

A 12 year-old volunteer at the shelter (her name was Nicole) conned her mother into not only fostering Daisy during her pregnancy, but adopting the female in the litter.  That left me at the top of the list for choosing my male pick of the litter.  (My son was dating the daughter of the city's health inspector, so I found out about the puppies before they were born!)

To make a long story short, I first saw Delaney when he was six weeks old and bouncing around in a human child's play pen with his litter mates.  I held each one of the 11 little boys and picked him:  he was not aggressive (I had an 8 month-old granddaughter to consider) and he wasn't overly timid.  He liked me (cuddled right into me when I picked him up and when I put him on the floor and called him, he came running).  Besides, he had a big white spot on his chest in the same place that my cat did.

Two weeks later (8 weeks after the day he was born), I had a new best friend.

How does he love me?  Here are only a few of the ways:

1. He's always happy to see me when I come home - no matter where I've been, how long I've been gone, and even if there's evidence I've been cheating (other dog hairs on my clothing)
2. Once the puppy breath disappeared, he's never licked me on the face.  We had a little chat, I told him how grown-up dog breath is not quite as enchanting as puppy-breath, and he took it in stride--unlike a human friend would have done.
3. I ask him to do something and he's thrilled to comply; whether it's fetching his bone for a little play time or slurping up the piece of onion off the floor.  He's always happy to oblige.
4. He's sensitive:  he keeps this thoughts about my weight and lack of exercise to himself.  If I decide I don't feel up to a long walk, he's content with a stroll around the yard or the half-mile jaunt down the driveway and back.  Doesn't matter where we go, or how far, so long as it's him and me, he's on-board.
5. When I'm sad or unhappy, he just knows.  He doesn't tell me to shut up when I go on and on (or worse, repeat myself), he doesn't try to fix my problem for me, and he doesn't tell me what I should do.  He simply lays his head on my lap, looks up at me with those beautiful brown eyes, and shows me how much he loves me.

I could go on, but then this blog post would get much too long.

How does YOUR pound-puppy love you?  Tell me, and we'll count the ways.  But they have to be different from mine or our numbers won't be accurate.

Adventures of Madeline - Buster the "Big Black Dog"

Madeline currently lives with 5 ADOPTED DOGS!  Yay, Madeline!  Here's what she has to say about Buster:

Buster was at a boarding place in Tehachapi, CA that took care of shelter dogs. We boarded our cat there while moving from Washington to the California desert.

On our way to pick up Miss Kitty, they hadn't found a home for the "big black dog" who was trying to chew through his kennel bars. Naja's buddy Lido (a big antisocial Kuvasz) had just passed from a heart attack at age ten, so we took Buster with us to our new desert life. He's around six.

[We'll be hearing more about Naja in another of Madeline's adventures...and we'll learn how Buster and Naja appear in Madeline's book, UNCLE SI'S SECRET.]

Do Cats and Dogs Get Along?

From the time we began watching Tom and Jerry on TV, we believed cats and dogs were enemies.  Sometimes, that's the case.  Other times, it's not.

Dusty, who passed away earlier this year at age 14, loved to torment Delaney, a lab/pointer mix with a very sweet temperament.  When I brought Delaney home at age 8 weeks, he weighed 10 pounds, half of what Dusty weighed.  "The Boys," as I called them, used to wrestle and play and, once Delaney got bigger than Dusty, he never got too rough.  Dusty, on the other hand, being a typical cat, could be real nasty.  Probably because of the "little guy" syndrome.  He'd ambush Delaney from time to time, nipping Delaney's legs and running.  But, with a lab's disposition, Delaney simply tolerated Mr. Kitty's hijinx.

Fate got its revenge on Dusty in the form of Charlotte.  Charlotte is our German Shepherd/Golden Retriever mix and she LOVES kitties.  Same scoop with her when we brought her home from the animal shelter:  10 pounds versus Dusty's 20 pounds.  She wasn't as intimidated by Dusty as Delaney was and, as she got older, enjoyed walking up to Dusty and giving him a big kiss.  He, of course, really hated all the gloppy, dog drool and would immediately bathe himself after each display of affection.

Charlotte gives kisses to Grace, who still hasn't gotten used to all the noisy affection.  We're working on that.

More later...

Do you have any cat/dog stories to share?  We'd love to hear them.

Laurie's cat, Webster

Webster is one of those special critters who needs a Mommy with a really big heart – and he found it with Laurie. His Daddy adopted him at 4 weeks old, and after 5 years together could no longer care for him. He spent quite a long time searching for the right home for Webster. Because “Webby” is shy and prefers not to be around other animals and lots of people, his Daddy knew that his forever home had to meet certain criteria. Extra special kudos to Webster’s old Daddy and his new Mommy, and to everyone else who adopts a hard-to-place animal or one with special needs.

Because of all the love and attention lavished on him by both families (and all the time and patience given when needed), Webster handled his second cross-country move with barely a hiccup. He’s also making new people-friends much faster than he used to.

P.S. Webby is my grandkitty and I’m proud to have him as a member of the family.

Update from Grace

Let me tell you, my new forever home is crazy!

First of all, there's that stupid dog, Charlotte.  She's got this long, black nose that she's always poking under the couch where I sleep.  All she wants to do is kiss me--yuck!  I liked it better when she chased me.  (Mom took this picture with her cell phone when I was on the run--it's blurry because I was moving so fast!)

Then there's this big white thing in one of the rooms.  Dad calls it a Sammy-bird.  It talks, talks, talks, all the time.  It does say, "Hi, Mom," which my new mom really likes, so maybe I shouldn't be so worried.

The black dog, Delaney, pretty much leaves me alone, so he's cool.  And the black cat, Max, is okay too.  Sometimes he chases me, and I think he's playing, but sometimes it's scary cuz he's so much bigger than me.  My new dad got on the scale with me on Sunday and told my mom that I weigh 4 pounds; they said Max weighs 14 pounds.  Last night, when I was snuggled in bed between them (isn't that the best spot in the house?), my mom said I'm a chow-hound and I probably gained some weight.

I gave them a big surprise this morning.  Instead of sleeping under the couch in the living room last night, I slept under their bed!  It shocked the heck out of Charlotte, too, when she stuck her nose under the bedspread and I bopped her on the nose.  (Then again, maybe it was my growl that scared her.  She always backs off when I grow1.)

All in all, things are pretty good.  Can't wait for Mom to come home so I can sit with her on the couch.

Sandy, Bridget's dog

Sandy is a very lovable dog.  She is a Husky/Lab mix that can become slightly overexcited at some points but I couldn't live without her all the same. She was eight months old when we adopted her on St. Patrick's Day, three days after my birthday.  She is incredibly good with children, no matter what they do. She has never bitten anything but bugs and a mouse (which I think is incredibly helpful).   I love Sandy and, again, could not live without her. I hope everyone else loves their pets as much as I love Sandy.

[Note from Blog Hostess: This article was written and submitted by Bridget, a 10 year-old who lives in Rhode Island. I made two spelling corrections and rephrased one sentence for clarity; otherwise, her note appears exactly as she submitted it.]

TUCKER: Edith Azzopardi's most recently adopted pet

I've known Edie Azzopardi my entire life.  She's surrounded herself with animals since childhood, when her orange tabby, Morris, permitted her to dress him up in doll's clothing and parade him around the neighborhood in her doll carriage.  She and her family have adopted dogs, cats, and--if memory serves me correctly--things like guinea pigs and reptiles.  Oh, and Puff, the ring-necked turtle dove.  Edie's husband, Ed, brought Puff home on his shoulder one day from Rockaway Beach.  Puff lived for years and years, at least 20, I'm thinking.  (Edie, correct me if my memory is wrong.)  Thanks to the Azzopardi family for rescuing Tucker and all their other animals, including Patches, the dog. 

Grace and Two Buddies from AniMeals

Here's a picture of our new kitty, Grace, along with two of her former roommates.  We adopted her from AniMeals yesterday.  For those of you who received the New Baby e-mail from me, you'll be happy to know she's decided to quit hiding in the basement.  Instead, she's lying under a table in the living room.

She gets along fine with Max, our black male cat, and pretty much ignores Delaney, the black lab mix.  She does NOT like Charlotte, however, which seems to be a common occurrence among animals and people alike.  [Sigh]  Charlotte (who is pictured below) is a sweet but VERY exuberant German Shepherd/Golden Retriever mix.  Grace goes into growl mode whenever Charlotte gets near.  (At least she's stopped running and Charlotte has stopped chasing!)

So, our numbers have evened out:  two humans, two dogs, and two cats.  The critters are evenly divided male/female (as are the humans) and by color:  two black and two marmalade.  Say a prayer that Charlotte backs off and allows Grace some room to settle in.  More later...

Welcome to - Forever Friends

I have always loved animals and, looking back on all the pets who've shared my home, the most loving and memorable are those I rescued either from either homelessness or illness.  Not that pedigreed animals purchased from breeders aren't wonderful and loving--but most of them are promised loving homes.  The throwaway ones, the ones who follow me around like a shadow (pound-puppy Charlotte), or who climb into my lap each evening for a snuggle (rescued Rottie Tyson), or who obey my every command (pound-puppy Delaney) have special places in my heart because they weren't really throw-aways and they're infinitely grateful that I had the insight to recognize their wonderfulness when other people could not.

So many animals are tossed away - especially kitties - because of issues stemming from the people who own them rather than from their own personalities or innate qualities.

This blog is dedicated to the following:

• The animals, themselves
• The heroes who save them
• Tips and advice from professionals and experienced pet owners
• Pleas for help from those struggling with pet challenges
• Our FFs (the forever friends who live with us now)
• Our BFFs (the forever friends who will always live in our memories)

We welcome your contributions to this blog and hope you'll help us spread the word about all the animals--especially dogs and cats--who need their own FFs and forever homes.  Visit the WOOF!  WOOF! section on the right sidebar to learn about how to make your contribution to the blog.

(My BFFs - Top left:  our pound-puppy, the late Tyson; adopted from an animal control shelter in Rhode Island after a teenager abandoned the 1 1/2 year old guy in an apartment.  Middle right:  the late Patience - not a pound puppy, but a girl with several medical issues.  Bottom left:  the late Dusty, adopted from a shelter in Massachusetts at 4 weeks old.)