Dog sarcasm - my weekend with Noir and Casey

This weekend was the Elting family reunion in Atlanta. The Eltings are a huge family with history dating back in America to the 1670's when their progenitor, Jan Eltinge, arrived in America from Holland. He settled in Kingston, NY and this family populated nearby towns and counties along the Hudson River. A 300 year old stone house in New Paltz, NY bears the name "Bevier-Elting House" because though it was built in 1698 by a French Huguenot named Bevier, the Elting family purchased it in the 1740's and kept it in its original condition until 1960 when it was donated to the Huguenot Historical Society and became a museum.

Eventually the children of children of children moved out west, settling families along the way. Illinois, Iowa, Oregon, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland. They fought in the Revolution, the War of 1812, The Civil War, World Wars I and II, and every war since. Eltings everywhere.

Jim is the family genealogist, and he labored long hours for 5 years and finally published the genealogy a few years ago. It chronicled over 60,000 Elting descendants. Way too many Eltings for one planet, in my opinion!

But I digress, I wanted to talk about my dogs...


I elected to stay at home cand take care of our two dogs, Noir (the black cattle dog/lab mix) and Casey (the brown boxer/lab/shepherd mix). Poor girls! They were bored spitless. You see, Jim takes them for a walk every 2-3 hours. (He's retired). We have a fenced back yard, so I walked them once each day and put them in the yard a lot. Jim is constantly giving them more food that they should have. I gave them what the vet said they should have. Jim gives them milk bones several times a day. I gave them a Frosty Paws treat today. No milk bones.

Poor neglected doggies. They laid on the floor in my office while I worked on my computer yesterday. They pretended to be interested and supportive, but I knew they were really asleep. Dog sarcasm.

Casey was especially sad. Noir is my dog, Casey became very attached to Jim. She hates it when he's not home. Friday night and last night when it was time to go to bed, I found Casey hanging out in Jim's office. In the morning she ran back in there, I think expecting to see him. Poor thing. I did cheer her up for a few minutes when I fed them. Casey loves her chow!

Finally at 5 PM Jim rolled in from Atlanta. I thought Casey was going to turn inside out she was so excited. When she's really happy to see someone, she does this wiggle and smiles with her teeth out. She looks like a burgler face. Too cute. Tonight they were in heaven. Three walks. Good grief. Even Noir, who usually hangs out in my office till bedtime, is in there on the bed curled up with Casey and Jim.

Actually, she's on MY side of the bed. When I eventually go to bed and tell her to move, she'll stretch out her legs, stick out her tongue, and point her tail so she takes up more room. Yep, dog sarcasm.

Improvements in diabetic dog's health using Nussentials’ PET RESTORE! and MORE!

We rescued a diabetic dog that was very sick, ill nourished and weak because of improper insulin treatment and had developed cataracts in both his eyes and was almost blind.

We put the dog on a strict diabetic diet supplementing his food with a scoop of Nussentials' MORE and almost a capful of PET RESTORE in his morning and late afternoon feedings.

The change has been amazing. In the space of several months, the dog has regained his energy level, jumping up on furniture, developed attitude and filled out to a strong, muscular Chihuahua and his coat has become darker with more luster. We believe he has regained some of his vision in his left eye (seems almost clear), can see peripherally as he is able to see other dogs in a distance and no longer walks into walls or furniture. And it gives him the confidence to jump up onto couches and in and out of vehicles and back down without fear of the unknown.

His sugar level was 466 when we adopted him and now it is back to normal at 186. The products along with his diet have contributed immensely to his present health and even the vet is surprised at the remarkable recovery of an animal that was slated to be put down.

Steven T.
Boca Raton, FL

Normie: Another rescue success

Dreams do come true!
Late last year, two stray dogs were rescued in Rock Hill, SC. The son of a friend of mine saw people throwing rocks at them and took them home. They were a mess. Wormy and with really bad demodex (a non-contagious form of mange) and skin infections, one vet suggested they were "just normal dogs, nothing special" and should probably be put down. But we saw the light of life in their eyes and didn't give up on them. We named them Rocky (cause he had rocks thrown at him) and Normie (because he was just a normal dog).

Through widespread email crossposting we received generous donations for their medical expenses, totalling about $5,000. We told their story in their blog, http://rockyandnormie.blogspot.com/. Below are before and after photos of Normie.

Yesterday, Normie was adopted to a loving furever home.

Normie wants to send his gratitude and love to all the people that helped him on his journey to better health and a loving family, especially Darryl, who saved him, and most of all his loving foster moms, Sandy Goularte, Cindy Starkey, and Alex Wilson. I am proud to say these women are friends of mine. And I am proud to be Rocky and Normie's Godmother.
Normie also hopes that sometime soon his brother Rocky will be able to find the same happiness he has.

Normie before	Normie after

It is stories like these that make me so committed to rescue. I believe that for every dog there is a loving home. Unfortunately, many of these matches never happen and thousands of dogs end up euthanized in gas chambers or other horrible ways every day, or consigned to lives of cruelty or neglect.

SPAY OR NEUTER YOUR PETS! ***** DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER ANIMALS DIE! *****

Saying Goodbye to Tippi

Today is a sad day for me. It's a happy event for a rescuer - I have matched a homeless animal, in this case, Tippi the Border Collie puppy, with a loving forever home. They have 4 kids, a fenced in yard, and a 1 year old border collie who longed to have a playmate.

But the reality is that I fell in love with Tippi, a cute little stinker with a ton of personality. Jim fell in love with her too, as did our two 6 year old dogs, Noir the Cattle Dog/Lab mix and Casey, a Boxer/Lab mix. We were so proud of our girls for accepting Tippi into the pack, teaching her the ropes, and playing with her. We were especially proud of Casey, who is usually not real friendly to dogs except Noir.

Tippi came to us on May 3rd, 2008, exactly 25 years after I adopted my puppy Floyd in Buffalo, NY. Floyd was a spitfire, just like Tippi. I think Floyd guided Tippi to me from her home at the Rainbow Bridge.

A woman had picked this 10 week old puppy up running along the road, caked in mud and briars, heading toward a busy highway. She cleaned her up then drove her through the neighborhoods in the area trying to find her home. No one recognized her, but when she talked to my next door neighbor Helen, she told her to talk to me because I work in rescue.
We took her in, cared for her, trained her, vetted her, and inevitably fell in love with her. So tonight I miss her, wish I could still cuddle her soft fur against my cheek and tell her once more that I love her. But I will have to send my thoughts long distance, as she is with her new family now. I hope she is a brave little girl and not scared at night to be in a new place. I know that soon her memories of Jim and I and Casey and Noir will fade, replaced by the excitement of 4 kids and a 1 year old border collie named Dakota. I know they will love her and care for her just like I did.

She was my first foster. Now I have room in my home for the next puppy that needs a temporary harbour. I will always have room in my heart for these little ones. But tonight my heart breaks for my little Tippi.