Dipper Three Years Later

Dipper was my foster some three years ago. He was a puppy mill dog in terrible state. We had to have most of his teeth removed, had splayed paws, was given to me with his chain embedded in his neck, was sickly and very, very timid. For the first three months my dogs cared for him more than I; he was so scared of people.

Jean Seader, an senior citizen outside Philly adopted Dipper as a true Angel...taking all his problems that still remained unsorted....

She worked hard and soon he was enjoying walking on a harness, sleeping with her cat, and playing with a rubber chicken.

Mrs. Seader has been generous to donate to us in the past, long after she adopted.

I received a card from her this week showing Dipper on Santa's lap. He is doing well but Mrs. Seader still doesn't like the name I gave him.....She says everyone understands now when they come over he will go hide in his room until they leave.

Dipper is from one of our Lancaster Kennels run by Mennonites. There he had no name.

-- Contributed by Kelly


Mrs. Seader with Dipper

NJ Craigslist Ad

Reply to: see below
Date: 2008-12-29, 10:19AM EST


Must rehome due to new addtion to family “After two long years of being on a waiting list for an agility dog, we have been notified by the breeder that, at long last, our number has come up and

…WE ARE HAVING A PUPPY!!!

We must get rid of our children IMMEDIATELY because we just know how time consuming our new little puppy is going to be and it just wouldn’t be fair to the children. Since our little puppy will be arriving on Monday we MUST place the children this weekend! They are described as:

One male - His name is Tommy, Caucasian (English/Irish mix), light blonde hair, blue eyes. Four years old. Excellent disposition. He doesn’t bite. Temperament tested. Does have problems with peeing directly in the toilet. Has had Chicken Pox and is current on all shots. Tonsils have already been removed. Tommy eats everything, is very clean, house trained & gets along well with others. Does not run with scissors
and with a little training he should be able to read soon.

One female - Her name is Lexie, Caucasian (English/Irish mix), strawberry blonde hair, green eyes quite freckled. Two years old. Can be surly at times. Non-biter, thumb sucker. Has been temperament tested but needs a little attitude adjusting occasionally. She is current on all shots, tonsils out, and is very healthy & can be affectionate. Gets along well with other little girls & little boys but does not like to share her toys and therefore would do best in a one child household. She is a very quick learner and is currently working on her house training - shouldn’t take long at all.

We really do LOVE our children so much and want to do what’s right for them; that is why we contacted a rescue group. But we simply can no longer keep them. Also, we are afraid that they may hurt our new puppy. I hope you understand that ours is a UNIQUE situation and we have a real emergency here!!! They MUST be placed in rescue by Sunday night at the latest or we will be forced to drop them off at the orphanage or along some dark, country road. Our priority now has to be our new puppy.”

Bea Goes Home!

Bea, or Miss Bea McGee as we called her, went to her forever home today. What a way to start out the new year! She is going to live out on Long Island. I was hoping her new mom would bring their other Boston with to meet Bea but she did not. Anyways, I think Bea will be happy and spoiled in her new home. She came a long way in the 6 weeks she was with us. Most of the credit should go to our Bostons Cleveland and Penny and our Pits Hooch and Pebbles. They taught Bea so much in so little time, more than we ever could have. It was great having Bea and we will miss her but she will have a great life in her new home!

--Lisa

Update: I received a text message last night from Bea's new owner. She said that Bea spent the whole night playing with her new Boston friend Cody. After they were done playing they both passed out on the sofa snoring away! I am calling her tonight to see how everything is going so i should have more updates!

I Am Your Dog

I am your dog, and I have a little something I'd like to whisper in your ear.
I know that you humans lead busy lives.
Some have to work, some have children to raise.
It always seems like you are running here and there, often much too fast,
often never noticing the truly grand things in life.
Look down at me now, while you sit there at your computer.
See the way my dark brown eyes look at yours?
They are slightly cloudy now.
That comes with age.
The gray hairs are beginning to ring my soft muzzle.

You smile at me; I see love in your eyes.
What do you see in mine?
Do you see a spirit?
A soul inside, who loves you as no other could in the world?
A spirit that would forgive all trespasses of prior wrong doing for the just a simple moment of your time?
That is all I ask.
To slow down, if even for a few minutes to be with me.
So many times you have been saddened by the words you read on that screen, of others of my kind, passing.
Sometimes we die young and oh so quickly, sometimes so suddenly it wrenches your heart out of your throat.
Sometimes, we age so slowly before your eyes that you may not even seem to know until the very end, when we look at you with grizzled muzzles and cataract clouded eyes.
Still the love is always there, even when we must take that long sleep, to run free in a distant land.

I may not be here tomorrow;
I may not be here next week.
Someday you will shed the water from your eyes, that humans have when deep grief fills
their souls, and you will be angry at yourself that you did not have just 'One more day' with me.
Because I love you so, your sorrow touches my spirit and grieves me.
We have NOW, together.
So come, sit down here next to me on the floor, and look deep into my eyes.
What do you see?
If you look hard and deep enough we will talk, you and I, heart to heart.
Come to me not as 'alpha' or as 'trainer' or even 'Mom or Dad', come to me as a
living soul and stroke my fur and let us look deep into one another's eyes, and talk.

I may tell you something about the fun of chasing a tennis ball, or I may tell
you something profound about myself, or even life in general.
You decided to have me in your life because you wanted a soul to share such things with.
Someone very different from you, and here I am.
I am a dog, but I am alive.
I feel emotion, I feel physical senses, and I can revel in the differences of our spirits and souls.
I do not think of you as a 'Dog on two feet'.
I know what you are.
You are human, in all your quirkiness, and I love you still.

Now come sit with me, on the floor.
Enter my world, and let time slow down if only for 15 minutes.
Look deep into my eyes, and whisper to my ears.
Speak with your heart, with your joy and I will know your true self.
We may not have tomorrow, and life is oh so very short.

Love, (on behalf of canines everywhere)

--contributed by Debbie Philpott

From a Foster Mom

Isn't it worth everything to see those little eyes look up at you and melt your heart because you know she is trusting you with her life? She's allowing you to show her love, comfort and peace far from what she had to endure in the past. She's safe. I hope we can do more for all the others out there that need rescue.

--Donna

Her Name Will Be Daphne

Well I finally had a chance to meet Jodi and bring home my beautiful new mill survivor. My husband and I are having a hard time agreeing on a name for her, but I am going to call her Daphne. She is definitely not a full Boston though as she is all black with some white on her chest. She looks like the sweetest little thing. When we brought her home, she finally settled in, and was roaming my kitchen. She has been out of her crate sniffing around for the past hour, and she even ate! She shows much interest in my dogs as she was sniffing them through the baby gate. She is very skittish and scared, but I have a crate with a bed and a blanket over it for her to go in and out of for her comfort. She seems very comfortable in there as she is laying in there now. She makes eye contact with me and will even sniff my hand before I go to pet her. She definitely seems curious...poor thing just breaks my heart. I have her first vet appointment scheduled for tomorrow evening so hopefully things will be okay there. She looks in good shape. Her fur is nice and thick, but her nails need a good trim and her posterior teeth are not the greatest. I will let you know more when I do. For now, I will let her get some much needed rest and hopefully she will be more at home soon. I will post pics soon.

--Tiffany

Cheevers Home for Christmas

Just got a great picture of Cheevers and his new mom and dog siblings.
He is doing great in his new home, and apparently he is running the
place. lol. His piture is in the Cheevers photo book. Thanks!

--Donna

Little Addie

Hi all! I just got home from dropping little Addie off with her new family, Cathy Alexis and Alexis Keegan. They were just the sweetest!!! They were showing me the cards they send out every holiday (even Valentine's Day) with their Petey all dressed up. Addie really turned it on when she needed to because she was actually letting them pet her and she just kept following around Petey. Petey was a little unsure but I’m sure he will warm up to her and they will be fast friends. She actually jumped into their car when we were going to leave so it seems she knew where she was going. I have attached pictures of the family with their new little girl and her brother Petey (Addie looks stunned but there was a lot going on).

I really hope it all works out for her and Petey does his job as a big brother. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this little mill girl will live the rest of her life the way she should have for the last five years.

Now it's off to give the little mill girl who will be going with Tiffany a much needed bath!!!

--Jodi

Hope's Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone,

A long standing family tradition is opening one gift on Christmas Eve. Of
course I've always let my dogs do the same. Check out the pictures of
Hope opening one of her gifts. Actually she was spoiled because she got
the fleece bone seen in the pics with her last week. She did well for
never seeing a present let alone unwrapping one. She loved the paper,
the ball scared the daylights out of her when it squeaked. If I could
have recorded her reaction I would of won one of those funniest video
contests! I cracked up by how she flew off the couch like a flash!
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all!
Lara in NJ

The Lilly Chronicles - Part 1

Note: Lilly was recently rescued by Tammy from a life at a puppy mill. Here's Tammy's story about Lilly:

I am going to try to give weekly (blog) updates on Lilly, our recently rescued mill mama. I think it will be interesting to the group on her progress. One of the reasons I think I will do this is because Lilly is not quite like the other mill dogs we have fostered. She is somewhat different.

And although she has similar characteristics, there are some noticeable differences.

Mill Dog...no name

Day one.
Met Jodi to pick up Mill dog. The dog smells from all the urine that is stuck on her fur.

We arrive home.
Holli (my Daughter) immediately decides on a name. Lilly has been chosen.
As soon as my daughter speaks the name..Lilly's ears perk up and looks directly at Holli. We have a crate for her..but it seems like this is torment for her
so we get rid of that and bring up a Gorilla cage. More room and with a big fluffy blanket..Lilly looks at us like...WOW!
She eats and drinks. She looks at all the dogs roaming around the living room. Not sure what to make of them.
Trying to get her to go out...
Now she is very very scared. Huddles in the corner of cage and shakes. She takes to my Husband who crawls in the cage at her level.

Once outside, very hard to get her to come to us and to come in. My husband has had to chase after her and catch her.

Everyone goes to bed.
Lilly sleeps all night long...but wait...she barks..what a cute
little voice. My Husband got up to let the others out in the middle of the night
and she barked at him..cool.
After assuring her its okay, she goes back to sleep.
Next update soon..

--Tammy

Hope, Boomer and Mom Mom say Thank You!

For all those who have so generously helped with the medical care of Hope, Boomer and MomMom:

Malorie - Christmas Miracle

The poor pup didn't seem to have a chance. She had been at the shelter for too long, and her end date was near. What was even worse, she was pregnant. The shelter posted a last ditch ad for help for her.


The Ad:

"PREGNANT BOSTON TERRIER. NEEDS RESCUE! - has until Thursday at 5:00 -
Dec. 18

Subject: ID A015855 Boston Terrier

Hello everyone, this little girl needs to get out of the shelter and into a rescue. She is pregnant and could deliver anytime. She is a sweet girl, very playful. She needs to be out of the shelter by Thursday, Dec. 18 at 5."



But somebody was reading: Heather and her family. Here is Heather's update:

Hi guys!!! I got this little baby girl today at 5 pm. She is the sweetest girl! They are not the best of pics as she is a wiggle worm...hehehe. She is making herself at home...we've had a bath, ate, went for walks, and she has found her own comfy bed to curl up in. I have named her Malorie. Malorie loves love! She will come up to me and pat me arm with her paw and wait till I pet her. She also LOVES to be in my lap. I sa down on the computer and she came right over and jumped in my lap...she is sound asleep there now. :)

Heather, Parker, Sally, and Malorie (foster baby)

Marking Up My Winter Wonderland

Sing it to the tune of Winter Wonderland!

Dog tags ring, are you listenin'?
In the lane, snow is glistenin'.
It's yellow, NOT white - I've been there tonight,
Marking up my winter wonderland.

Smell that tree? That's my fragrance.
It's a sign for wand'ring vagrants;
"Avoid where I pee, it's MY pro-per-ty!
Marked up as my winter wonderland."

In the meadow Dad will build a snowman,
following the classical design.
Then I'll lift my leg and let it go Man,
So all the world will know it's
mine-mine-mine!

Straight from me to the fencepost,
flows my natural incense boast;
"Stay off of my TURF, this small piece of earth,
I mark it as my winter wonderland.

-- Contributed by Tammy