A home for Izzy

Finally after months of searching for her love match, Izzy (formerly known as Smoochie) has landed in the perfect home with a couple that loves her and 2 kitty cats that are tolerating her... and in time will probably love having her around.

Izzy is a sweet little girl, loves to play, loves other dogs once she gets to know them, and is a regular cuddle bug. She's going to have a great life with her new family and we couldn't be happier for her!

Meanwhile, at home Karma is still at loose ends without her little buddy. We're keeping her busy with chasing tennis balls, playing hide and seek with her toys, and taking walks with her and Casey.

And who knows... another little foster puppy might not be far away!

Little Levi

Just after Christmas a neighbor called. Friends of hers were visiting from Georgia, where they had rescued some chihuahua mix puppies. All were adopted out except one, which they had intended to keep. Over the holidays they realized that was not practical, so my neighbor offered to try to help. Would we help her help this puppy? Of course.

When her guests left for home, they left the puppy with my neighbor and she fostered him for a week. She named him Levi. We visited to get some photos. He's a little guy, seems to be mostly chihuahua.

When we took over the fostering duties, we listed him on Petfinder and took him to a PetSmart adoption event. He was everyone's favorite, several families wanted to adopt him, but we decided on a nice family that has young daughters anxious to give our little guy all the love and attention he could ever want.

While he was with us he had a blast playing with Aunt Casey. And here he is in his new home, looking out the door at the snow. He's probably wondering if he can go out and play!

Mari and I cried our eyes out

Our usual transport wasn't running this Saturday, and Mari and I decided not to pick up on another one. Instead on Friday we ran two local transports.
It started when an urgent plea and a picture of a border collie came from our friend at theYork County shelter. "Please save this sweet girl, she's out of time!" I love border collies, and my friend that owns Camp Bark does too. I wrote her and told her if she could foster her I would transport her.

Since Mari and I never like to do just simple things, we picked up on another urgent need to pull some dogs from the Gaston County shelter and move them to Huntersville.

We headed out early and on the way to York, my friend from Camp Bark called. "There's a chihuahua there that's terrified. Just bring her." Then the group that needed us to pull from Gaston called and said York has a rat terrier, can we bring it too. So instead of pulling a border collie at York, we also had a chihuahua and a rat terrier.

From York, SC we returned to Waxhaw, NC and dropped off Heidi the Chihuahua and Rita the Border Collie.

We dropped the two passengers at Camp Bark, then stopped at Mari's house to let Buddy and Foxy, her dog and foster dog out. Buddy's an old guy and has to go out every 4 hours. Then we stopped for a quick lunch, and headed to Dallas, NC to the Gaston County shelter.

Gaston is known as a high-kill shelter, not friendly to rescues. We felt it the minute we got there, like they were not happy that we were pulling dogs. The place is so sad. We had to go into the horrible shelter to pull the dogs. The first one was a terrified chihuahua that snapped and snarled and had a sign on his cage "Biter! Not adoptable". The shelter worker wouldn't go in to get it, he was too afraid of the dog, so Mari and I did. He put up a real fight, but once we got him into the crate he settled down.

Next we pulled another rat terrier, then a dalmation mix. No struggle there. Next we got a chocolate lab. I didn't have enough crates so we tethered him in the back. It was horrible there, to see all the dogs that looked at us as though to plead, "Take me too!" Old dogs, puppies, dogs that looked like they'd never had a bath or had spent their life at the end of a chain, dogs that looked like they'd been fought. It was heart wrenching and at times Mari and I looked at each other and sobbed.

We were loaded and started to drive away and Mari started crying. There was another chocolate lab that had been dumped there by it's owner... a mother and pup that were found tied to the gate a few mornings before. I turned around and went back in and got her. We made room for her behind the passenger seat. All she wanted was to put her head between us and nuzzle our elbows. Such a beautiful sweet lab/ basset mix.

The car was packed. Crates were crammed in on top of other crates. We had bungee cords criss-crossing, holding them in place. Finally we left. I never want to go back there again. The images are etched into my brain and my heart.

Once underway, the first chocolate lab that was tethered in the back started to heave. And poop. All over everything, including the dog that was crated next to him. Oh, did I mention I was driving Jim's Toyota Highlander? Yep. What a mess. We couldn't open the windows all the way, either, because in the course of being sick he had slipped out of his slip lead tether and was trying to climb over crates to get to the front, spreading the mess around even more.

It was a stressful, sickening ride, in an hour we had gotten lost twice, but finally arrived at Great Dane rescue in Huntersville, NC. The farm worker held up a remote and opened the big iron gates. He motioned us to follow him back to the kennels. One by one he carefully unloaded the animals, and they seemed calm and ready to follow him. Even the "biting killer chihuahua" that had put up such a fit was suddenly sitting in his lap kissing his cheek. This guy had to be the second coming of the dog whisperer! He was constantly followed by a chihuahua mix named Ricky, that trotted behind him.

He was great, helped us clean ot the car, clean out the crates, and disposed of all the blankets and towels that were too disgusting to keep.

At 4PM we were back home, cloroxing crates and cleaning the inside of the car so you couldn't tell what a mess had been made!

Alas, I have no pictures of the Gaston dogs. But the dogs we transported from there will long be remembered. And the ones we left behind we will remember with our tears. By now they have all been killed.

It is not merely an offhand choice to make whether to spay and neuter your pets. It is a mandate from the heart that has seen shelters like this and know that irresponsible breeding causes an exploding pet population and more of these animals being killed merely because they were alive and no one would take them in. It's sickeing.

Many times I have heard people defend breeding dogs, saying,"I want my child to witness the miracle of birth". My answer is, "Then they should also see the horror of those same animals dying in a gas chamber." Because that's where most of them will end up. But mine are pure breeds, you say? 40% of the dogs killed in shelters are pure bred. Too expensive? Let me tell you where the low and no-cost spay neuter clinics are.

Can you tell I'm angry? Damn right. Come visit a shelter in the Carolinas some time and see why.

A toothless poodle, a tripod chihuahua, and more!

Today's animal rescue transport moved 37 dogs to freedom. Our passengers were Rhett, a 60+ pounds golden retriever/great pyrnees mix, Darling, a hound mix and her 10 - 2 week old puppies, a senior poodle named Flicker (photo at right), and a senior chihuahua named Little Man.
Flicker and Little Man rode on our laps and were comfy and snoozing in no time. Flicker had just had the rest of his teeth removed last week, so his tongue stuck out in a persistent Bronx cheer. He looked just like a little old man with a toothless grin. So sweet and loving, also nothing but skin and bones. I'm glad we don't know their whole stories, it would probably make us crazy.

Little Man, the 9 year old, 3 pound, three-legged chi, rode in my lap. He supposedly was picked up by animal control in a rural South Carolina county hanging around with a few stray pit bulls. His owner must have been contacted, because we were told that he was a puppy mill puppy and his mother had bit his front leg off when he was a puppy. He also had a damaged eye, but apparently has a lot of spunk for this littlle 3 pound guy to keep up with a few pit bulls, with only 3 legs.

Mari and I amuse ourselves on these rides sometimes by having conversations as though it were the dogs talking.

Little Man: "Stand back, poodle, I'll kick your ass! Where's my pit crew?"
Flicker: "mumble, mumble, mumble, drool"
Rhett: "BARK! BARK! BARKBARK!!"
Darling: "Shut up! If you wake up my babies you're in BIG trouble, mister!"

What can I say? I guess we're just a couple of crazy old ladies. We decided in a few years when gas prices are prohibitive, we'll be driving mopeds up I-85 pulling wagons of Shih Tzus wearing helmets and goggles! Transports continue!

We also decided we have never done anything in our lives so meaningful and rewarding.

Mari and Flicker

Edie and Little Man


Rhett

A chihuahua under the seat... Oh MY!

Saturday was another big transport day. More dogs than usual, we helped transport 30 dogs from Greenville, SC to rescues and adoptive homes in several points north.

One of the drivers who met us in Spartanburg, SC had several dogs crated in the back of her SUV, and she also had an 85 pound yellow lab named Beau tethered in the back, and a 10 pound chihuahua untethered on the front seat. Keep in mind that at the shelter, they don't let the dogs out to relieve themselves if they're going on a transport, they just load them up and send them off. Well, part way to Spartanburg, Beau's tether came undone and he was frantic to go to the bathroom! He jumped over the front seat and all you-know-what broke loose. What a mess! Meanwhile, the frightened chihuahua that had been sitting there dove for cover when it saw this huge lab coming at her and ended up hiding under the front seat.

The chi stayed right there, too, snarling and snapping at any attempt to get her out. Fortunately this driver was taking the next leg to Charlotte, NC also, which bought some more time. Once in Charlotte, everyone tried to get the dog out from under the seat. We couldn't get the seat off, and that dog was not budging! Here it is, 95 degrees out and muggy, and dogs and drivers are waiting in the parking lot before the transport could continue on.

Finally, the last driver showed up and through some magic was able to coax the scared chihuahua out. Kudos to the new dog whisperer!!

We were an hour late, but when we got to the next stop in Salisbury, NC, the drivers there were waiting, and thank goodness they were experienced transporters. Dogs were walked and watered, and in 10 minutes all were loaded and on their way.

I want to comment on one of the passengers in our car. He was a 4 month old German Shepherd puppy named "Flame". He had a huge burn down the middle of his back. In spite of his name, it didn't look like a burn from a fire, rather it looked more like an acid burn. It was raw and oozing, and yet he was a sweet and trusting boy. Whoever did this, or let it happen to him, should be strung up by the most tender part of their anatomy.

In transport, we see the worst of humankind, and the very best of animals. I'll take the animals any day. Transport isn't glamorous work. Yesterday it was hot, hard, sticky, smelly, and dirty work.

I can't think of a better way to spend my Saturdays.

"Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves,
defend those who cannot defend themselves,
and plead the cause of those in need."
- Proverbs 31:8-9

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