Day 50/365 - 2010

It's Furry Friday over on Flickr so I thought I would take a snap of my little Sparkles. I often wonder how he started out his life and why he wound up on the streets scrounging for his meals. He certainly has good reason not to trust people after all we were the ones that put him out there. Was he not pretty enough, was he to small, was he personality not to your liking, why..... Well I am glad he found us and we became a happy little family. I did not want another dog but the universe said different and the universe is usually right.

Day 35/365 - 2010

Meet Sparky aka “Sparkles” Sparky is 2 years old and a Miniature Schnauzer Mix (Mutt).

Well last but not least is Sparky. I met Sparky in December of 2008. He was brought in as a stray, he was pretty much a feral dog, a throw away nobody wanted. He was great with other animals but since he had never had any interaction with humans he just did not like us at all. It took me 6 weeks of just going and sitting in the kennel with him, doing nothing other then reading a book, playing with his kennel mates until he finally started to come around to sniff me. Well once that happened I was able to lasso him and start taking him out to walk with me. The more we went out together the more he trusted me, 3 weeks after that I was actually able to pick him up without a fuss. Once he trusts you he trusts you. Well in February I was told he was not getting any better, he was still snapping at people and did not want to communicate so he would probably be put down soon. Well I knew different and I was not going to give up on this guy.

At the time my beagle Skippy was pretty sick and I wanted to bring Sparky home to foster him but Skippy came first at the time. I did not want his last days to be traumatized by a new addition, we had had Cody for just a few months and that was enough for poor Skip. So John kindly offered to foster him; so now we needed to get him used to John and very quickly. So John worked with him for 2 weeks but still no interest, but he needed to get out so we figured if he only had John to care for him he would have no choice but to bond to him and I was right they soon became fast friends. I actually took Cory and Sophie with me as I did not want Sparky bonding with them before he bonded with John. Well two weeks later I lost Skippy, that was two dogs in 4 months I had lost and again my heart was broken. Skippy was one in a million he made me laugh everyday of his life, you could never be mad or sad when Skip was around. Anyway in his honor I decided I would foster dogs instead of adopting, so I took Sparky back to try and work with him so he could find a good home. Well he did with me as I could not give him up, I became a foster failure.

He still does not trust easily it takes him a while before he lets you into his heart. But once he does you have a friend for life. He comes running from where ever he is in the house when I say who is going to give me a kiss, he loves to get big hugs and loves to go for big long walks with the pack. He too is a hunter so poor squirrels do not have a chance at my house. He is a little character, a rascal is what I call him as he always gets Presley or Cody to do something bad so they can take the blame and he can smell like a rose :)

Day 34/365 - 2010

Meet Buffalo Bill “Cody”, Cody will be 2 years old this April and is a Beagle!

Well when I lost my Beagle Lily, at the age of 18 ½ years I told John I could never have another Beagle as no other dog would ever live up to her. Well I have to tell you my heart was so broken when I lost her, I could not imagine my life without this beautiful creature in it especially since she graced me with it for so long. And Skippy her partner was also heart broken I started losing him as well on the day she died.

Just for the heck of it one day at work I opened up the Beagle Rescue page and was going through it and saw this happy face puppy named Ollie. Well my fingers just automatically started typing a letter to the rescue asking if he was available and I got a letter back the next day saying yes and off to Sacramento we went to meet this little guy.

Cody was surrendered to a local shelter at the age of 9 weeks, the owners had only had him for a week. I was told it was because the owners were in the military and they were deployed to Iraq, but why would you even think of adopting a dog if you knew you were going to be deployed….. I figured it was because he was a Beagle and they can be a bit of a handful. Well when I met Cody that proved to be true! He lived in a Foster Home with 4 other dogs and two lively young boys, all of which had a lot of energy. When I picked him up he tried to bite me. His Foster Mom said they had inquiries as he was as cute as can be but when they came to meet Cody they just did not click his energy was just to high. Well it had been a long time since I had a puppy in the house, Presley was the closest thing she was 1 when I got her the year before. But we took Cody out to meet with everyone and he seemed to like the whole gang so I said yes I would take him and off we went.

He is a handful I have to tell you, a typical Beagle and a typical young boy. He loves to speed around the house when the urge hits him and then just spins and spins. He has calmed down quite a bit since I first met him and loves people now, the only reason he did not let me pick him up when we first met is he had a bad flea infection and it hurt him so once I cleared that up he was just fine I have never had a problem with him with people or dogs. He loves to howl especially when he see a squirrel, which sets Presley off and then I get stereo howling! He is a sweet boy and loves to play with just about anything so I have to mind where I put anything down, his most recent acquisition were my house keys, I looked and looked for them for days and blamed John for misplacing them when one day out comes Cody from his kennel with the keys!

Did he replace Lily, no, but there was a new open spot in my heart which he soon filled :)

Day 33/365 - 2010

Meet Sophie aka “Snow Pea” Sophie is 3 years old and a Chihuahua Terrier Mix

We were celebrating Cory’s 1^st year with us and we took the gang for a walk around the neighborhood. All of a sudden this little dog ran past us and toward an open field. There were some people outside that asked us did we know who that dog belongs to she has been hanging around for a few days now. So the poor little thing was running around in the street and I was afraid she would get run over by a car, so the chase began. John took the rest of the crew back to the house and I started to track her, and she was a fast one that is for sure. We tracked her for 5 blocks and finally we cornered her in someone’s yard. The owner of the house where Sophie was hiding came out to see what the heck these crazy people were doing in his yard so we explained and he let us in so we could try and nab Sophie. We found her huddled behind a big garbage can and I think she just gave up and let me go over and pick her up. She was tiny, flea ridden and very very hungry. We walked around the neighborhood with her for a while asking people if they knew who she belonged to, and no one knew. We took her to the local emergency Vet to see if she had a micro ID chip in her and nothing. They however were kind enough to give us flea medicine for her as the fleas were just jumping off of her. So we took her home and gave her a flea bath, several times, gave her to plates of food which she happily ate and put her to bed for the night in one of our kennels.

Now outside there was great curiosity, all the dogs came sniffing around the door trying to see who is this new creature mom and dad have brought home. That night I tried to talk John into keeping her and he said no, no, no. We have enough dogs we do not need another tomorrow we take her to the shelter. So morning came and I went and got her, I had named her Sophie by then, this time she happily came out of the kennel and cuddled on my lap. So the time came and off we went to the shelter to turn her in. John assured me the shelter was a no kill shelter and she would be fine someone would come and adopt her. So we filled out the paperwork and they pretty much had to pry her out of my arms, as we were completing the paperwork one of the shelter volunteers happened to mention that Sophie would be transferred to animal control in the morning as the shelter only accepted dogs from a specific area, well animal control is a kill shelter and they would only keep her 10 and if she was not adopted or claimed in that time she would be put down. So the tears started flowing and John looked at me and said we want her back please. So since we had just signed the paperwork they tore it up and told us that we could keep her but if someone came looking for her we had to give her back, which was fine. However, if within 10 days no one came then we could either keep her or return her to the shelter. Well no one came and we did not return her to the shelter.

John said this is not the dog he would have chosen for him self (remember he wanted a German Short Hair Pointer) but this is the dog that was chosen for him, and now he cannot imagine life with out little Sophie. She has a sweet happy personality, and when she sees someone she loves her two little front feet start tapping like crazy until you pick her up.

Sophie loves to lay in the sun, play tug of war with old socks and wrestle with the boys, (she always wins).

We are all so glad Sophie found us :)

Day 32/365 - 2010

Meet Cory. Cory is 3 years old and is a Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie).

John had been looking for a dog of his own and he had his heart set on a German Shorthair Pointer, he had grown up with these dogs as a young lad and loved them. Well we were starting our shift at the Humane Society and we went around to all the kennels so I could see who needed a website picture. I went by to say hello to this little terrier “Angus” that I had been working with and that day he had a companion, Cory. John and I both looked at each other and could not believe that this dog was up for adoption, she was a stray and no one ever came to claim her. We took her out for a web photo and John kept mentioning what a good dog she was, so I told him you know you want a doga nd you seem to really like this one, if you feel like you connected with her then you better grab her now as I know she won’t last the day. So by the end of the photoshoot, John was in love and we welcomed Cory into the family.

At first it was a bit tricky with her, she did not get on with other dogs that well. At the time I had Skippy, Lily and Presley. Now Skip and Lily were 17 years old and even when they were young they would never hurt a fly but she attacked both of them and almost put Lily’s eye out. Then she decided to see how she would fare with Presley, well Presley is a very sweet dog and she took Cory’s snapping for a long while, but then one day she just said “Sister you have gone to far” and the next thing I knew she had Cory on her back and I had to pull Presley off. Well needless to say Cory knew her place in the pack was not number 1 and from then on she started to assimilate into the family. Sometimes it just takes time and patience, something a lot of people that adopt don’t have and that is why so many dogs are returned to the shelters. It is a slow process and takes a great deal of commitment.

Cory is another “A” student, as a matter of fact she aced her training class and came out #1. She is now a docile sweet dog. It is lucky we live on the west coast, as Cory hates snow, skis, snowboards, etc. We don’t know why but she starts barking like crazy when anyone walks by with skis or snowboards. Snow I can understand, the poor little girl has these teeny tiny legs and a big body so when she walks in the snow she sinks right in and all we see is this little ball of fluff sunken in the snow.

Well that is it about Cory other then we call her our Supermodel as it is really hard to get a bad photo of this pretty girl.

Day 31/365 - 2010

Meet Presley. Presley is 4 years old and a Black and Tan Coonhound

I had to use the old squirrel in the tree ploy to get her to sit still and pose for me so if you are wondering what she is looking at....... She could do this for hours by the way so if I want her to stay quiet for a while I keep telling her to look for Mr. Squirrel.

I got Presley 3 years ago, I first saw her as I was ending my shift at the kennel and went to say goodbye to all the dogs. She had just been put in the kennel and put up for adoption, she was huddled in the back of the kennel shaking like a leaf. I went in and she buried her head in the corner so I talked to her for a while and then leashed her and took her out for the whole walk she had her tail between her legs. She reminded me of my little Beagle Lily when I first met her. When I went home I just kept thinking about her but I figured she is so pretty someone will surely adopt her today. I went back Monday for a training class we do with the shelter dogs and as it turned out the Behavior Manager was sick and the class was canceled, so I thought I would take a look to see if she was still there and sure enough she was. I happened to have my two beagles Skippy and Lily with me and I brought them in to see what they thought, well everyone fell in love and she came home with us that night.

As soon as I got her home she knew she was home. She is the smartest dog I have ever trained she picks up anything I teach her within minutes. In the morning she jumps on my bed everyday around 5 a.m. and lays on her back and wants to be petted. When I get home at night she jumps on her hind legs and gives me a big bear hug.

She is my best girlfriend:)

Day 30/365 - 2010

Volunteering at a shelter people always ask do I have any dogs of my own. Well as a matter of fact, yes I do. So I thought I would take the time to introduce you to my posse. It will take the whole week as there are 6 members to it, actually 7 Hermie the cat but she is a very elusive little girl that found us and only comes in when she wants, but I don’t give up easy if you don’t see her this week you will see her one of these days.

Let’s start with the little old lady of the group. Meet Sydney, she is now 13 years old and is a Belgian Sheep Dog. I first spotted and fell in love with this girl 11 years ago, I was looking for a dog for my mom and went to the shelter to look at another dog who wound up being adopted. So a friend that had come with me was wandering around the shelter and spotted Sydney and ran over and said come see there is a bigger version of Andy here (Andy was my sweet boy at the time). So she looked really sweet and we pulled her paperwork and asked to see her. As soon as she met me, she gave me her paw and she and I just sat and held hands through the whole interview, I later read in her write up that all the shelter volunteers noticed this about her; she would always give you her paw and just hold hands with you for as long as you like. I thought then and there this is the dog for my mom, you see my mom had lost my brother, dad and grandfather all within a 5 year period, I had moved out and she did not know how to be alone and was falling into a depression, so I figured this dog with the happy face and lovely demeanor would help her get through this tuff time. I was right, they have been best buddies for 11 years now and I do believe my mom would do anything for her.

Being a sheepdog Sydney does love to roam, even now with her back legs starting to give way on her as soon as I walk in the door she runs for her leash so I can take her for a walk. We did have one big adventure with Sydney, about 4 years ago she got out of the house and just ran. I was at work and my mom called me in a panic so I drove over there and we drove around for the whole afternoon and could not find her, John even drove down and he looked and looked and nothing. We even drove to the local shelter to see if she had been picked up, nothing. The next day I left work again in the afternoon (I had this really great boss at the time who understood BTW), and my Mom and I walked the streets looking for her and still nothing and I just kept praying someone tell me what to do. As we were walking we met two ladies and I showed them a photo of Sydney and one of the ladies said make posters this is how I found my dog, so the next day I came back with posters, well as we were hanging the posters this Latin man came up to me to say, you should make your posters in different languages as remember you live in a multi-lingual neighborhood, so that night I Googled up a translator and made posters in Spanish, Chinese and Tagalo. I had my friends who spoke each language tweek the posters for me the next day for grammer and we went and hung them around the neighborhood. Well it had been a whole week now and no sign of Sydney, my mom was broken hearted, the next day John and I had tickets to see the Lion King so we were not going to go looking but my friend called and said her brother told her we should place posters at the local Farmers Market, so I told John and we decided we would go for an hour and place our posters and then come home, so we took my little beagles (Skippy and Lily) and started hanging posters. So as we started to leave I just saw a spot and said to John let me hang this one last poster, it happen to be in Chinese and as I was hanging it I noticed a woman looking over my shoulder and then going up to read it and as I turned to leave she grabbed my hand and started pointing over toward the freeway and pretty much pushing John and I in that direction (she could not speak English and I could not speak Chinese so it was pretty much hand signals). Anyway John got in the car with Skip and Lil and I went on foot, as I was turning a corner I get a call from John, I figured he had been waiting for me and was wondering where the heck I was, but on the other end he was crying saying I have her, and I could not believe my ears and I started crying like a baby too. He said just as he was crossing pulling up to this intersection she just stepped out like she was waiting for him, at first she did not want to get in the car but then Skippy and Lilly peaked out to see what was going on and she saw them and hopped right in. Had we not found her that day, she would have crossed over to the other side of the Freeway toward the Farmers Market and gotten into a whole other section of the city and we would never have found her, or worse yet could have gotten hit by a car crossing the freeway. I truly believe God was watching us that week and sending people to give us these messages, as I had never lost an animal before and honestly had no clue what to do, miracles happen all the time, it’s just we never stop long enough to realize what we have just experienced.

Well Sydney and my mom are both little old ladies now. Sydney’s back legs are going, she can’t see well anymore but she still has that smiling face and will hold your hand all day if you ask her :)

Day 25/365 -2010

Sonny and Cher, 4 weeks ago I could not even come within 5 feet of these two and now I can stick the camera in their face without a blink! On their way to happy homes, lets keep our fingers crossed.