Sirius and Sandy

We got Sirius Black as a 5-month-old puppy. My dad found him on the side of a road in Arkansas and kept him for my son. We had no fence, so Sirius was inside or at doggy daycare. When we moved, we knew he would need company in our fenced yard or he would go find some.

The doggy daycare, Funnybones in Atlanta, was fostering Sandy. They had found her running across their parking lot, dragging a rope, with her collar dug into her neck. She was skin and bones. They took care of her for a couple of months before sending out an email seeking a home for her. I asked whether Sandy and Sirius got along. "Oh, yes," I was told. "They play together all the time. Sandy will wrestle as long as Sirius wants to." So she came to our new home with us when we moved.

It took Sirius a while to get used to sharing his family. It took Sandy a lot longer to stop eating everything in sight, including frogs. Now, as you can see, they are best friends.

Carrie
Tifton, GA

Our little Four Leaf Clover

We adopted Clover 2 years ago after I saw her on Petfinder. We had just lost our 13 year old Jack Russell to cancer a couple of months prior and our house was so empty. We knew we wanted a rescue and we knew we wanted a Jack Russell, but Clover is more human than anything else. After reading her story of how she was found in a dumpster with her brother after spending days in freezing temperatures and being brought back to health really touched our hearts. We knew she was a tough little girl. The minute we brought her home, we knew she was special. She loves her toys, she dances on her hind legs when she wants something or gets excited and she loves to snuggle. She loves to run and play with her friends at her daycare Gypsy Paws. We are so blessed to have such a loving creature in our home, she deserves all the love in the world.


Ashleigh
Gainesville, GA

My best friends

Living in the Dominican Republic since 25 years, found many homeless dogs & cats, still have 17 dogs ( from 4 months to 14 years of age) and 2 cats ( 13 y) over 700 birds.. Here are many street dogs or dogs left behind when people leave again. People just forget they need a home.

I do all I can to help my little friends, not always easy, but I LOVE THEM and they love me!

Snack time is their favorite, then destroy the garden, but they are happy - so am I.

"Bacardi" I found with my daughter Cassandra on Bacardi Island, close to Samana in 2006, she was almost dead, no fur, just bones, my brothers son said: she is the ugliest dog he ever saw...there I knew I have to take her home also cause nobody else would, even I was in a bad financial time. Today Bacardi is a beautiful lady and loves to fetch stones.

Karla, a golden retriever mix, I found on X-mas eve, someone left her in the street for back problems, today she is 14 - we share our back problems since then. She is one of my best dogs.

In Nov. 09 I found 3 female puppies in a tree trunk, in june 2010 a mother with her 3 pups - almost starved to death in an abandoned house. Today they are healthy and happy. My most favorite was Max, 1st. one I saved from being drowned, he later was together with Karla. Max was ALWAYS with me, specially in bad times I had. He had 8 pups with Karla, 6 I kept, 3 are still with me 13 1/2 by now. Max died with 16! God do I miss him...but one day we meet on the Rainbow bridge.

Andrea Thumeyer
Sosua, Dominican Republic

Reprinted from Dog Crazy Newsletter www.petplace.com Feb 13, 2010

Dear Dr. Jon,

I have a black lab named Destiny. I found him lying in the weeds along a four-lane highway. Someone had hit him & left him to die. I normally would not have looked where he was lying as that is where I turn on to the highway and I am usually watching the traffic coming from around the curve and down the hill behind me in my rear-view mirror. But for some reason, (I call it destiny), I happened to look in the ditch & saw his black head above the weeds.

A friend and I rolled him onto a blanket, carried him up out of the ditch, put him in my Jeep and took him to my vet. He never growled, whined or tried to bite. He spent 10 days at the vet and it cost me $1000, so I decided at that cost I'd best keep him!

He had to have his left hind leg amputated at the hip. He had lost over half of his blood into the tissue around that hip, he was malnourished, dehydrated, full of worms and fleas, and his other hip was out of the socket. That hip would not stay in place, but the vet said he would eventually learn to walk on it and he has. It is a very awkward gait, but he doesn't seem to notice as he rips and tears through the house playing with his Cocker brother or our 5 cats.

I also have 2 female Labs outside and just lost my 15-year-old Lab-Bassett mix that I'd had since she was a puppy. All of our pets were strays or otherwise unwanted animals that we have taken in and they are the joys of our lives. Anyway, this was a long story, but now you know why his name is 'Destiny' ... I was meant to be his new Mommy.

Thanks,
Joetta Snellin

Bubba (Formerly Korleone) the Pomeranian

It's tough enough when you have to put your beloved dog up for adoption, but I can only imagine how much the pain must be compounded when you are left wondering whether or not the next home your pet landed in is as loving as the one he left behind. Well, I was so happy to know that my blog helped one person rest at ease when she found the pet she had to give up, living with a loving family and doing very well.

It all started when I received this comment to a post dated November 3, 2009 titled "Bubba the Pomeranian"…

Omg!! That is my baby korleone!! I miss him so much but I had to give him up because he was very aggressive toward my new baby :( if u ever get this message send me an email and I will foward you pictures of him. I am so glad he found a wonderful home, it broke my heart to leave him there since he was always home with me.

As it turns out, Bubba (formerly Korleone) is now living with Brett and Danielle in Los Angeles.

Apparently Marjorie was a bit concerned about the fate of her Pomeranian. As she explained…

"I was worried for awhile since when I gave him up they said he would need to be trained again correctly since I apparently spoiled him too much and he was king of the household. I just thought he would be too hard to place since he was not into kids. Nice to know he found a wonderful family."

I was curious to know how Marjorie managed to locate the post.

"I was just googling "bubba the pomeranian" since I knew they renamed him Bubba which is odd because that is what my boyfriend calls me all the time. Attached are a few pictures I had saved on this computer."

I promised Marjorie I would post her pictures of the lucky Pomeranian who beat the odds and is now enjoying life in his forever home.

The original post can be found at http://butdogsrpeople2.blogspot.com/search?q=bubba



Frago

Hello Everyone,

I am sending an update on my buddy Frago. Poor Frago must have some lingering memories of the hell where he had to forge for himself, get hit with stones, and dodge bullets. We had a large storm with wind, thunder, lightening and heavy rain. When frago heard some of the initial loud thunder claps, he ran into a corner, huddled up, shaking, and crying. I got down on all fours and slowly approached him, laid down with him, then after about a half hour, I walked him back to the bedroom, telling him how much of a good boy he is. He climbed into the bed pulling himself tightly to me and licked my face up again. Being a combat veteran myself, I know what was in Frago's mind. He just needed a little time to be ensured he was safe and knew I would risk my life to keep him safe.

When I came home from Viet Nam, 3 July,1967-'69, I was a mangled up twenty-year-old, going on ninety a mental and physical wreck, trying to put some sense into what the heck had happend in my life. I am still trying to make sense of what I have seen and my participation in that nightmare. My first night home was laced with heavy thunder storms, complete with thunder and lightening. My mom came into the room and found me huddled under my bed crying. She walked out and shut the door. After all, they went through WWII, they were tough. Frago knows he can count on me, he feels the love, and enjoys the special food and treats I bought him. We have totally bonded, suffer PTSD together and give comfort to each other. The Lord introduced us with our shared experiences, very beautiful.

James G. Violante
Parkertown, NJ

Friends from death row

Bronx, then 18 months old, was on the euth list for Denton county in Jan 09 when a volunteer posted his story to a local pet rescue list. I'd always wanted a rottweiler, and I wanted a dog that was good with cats, so I took one of my cats in a carrier to visit with him. He sniffed the carrier and went to see what the dogs were doing. He was already 18 months old, so we had many adventures in the first few months, but he has done well. My grandchildren determined I needed a kitten, my cats were too old, in October 2009. So we went to the Fort Worth pound on half price kitten day. Which does mean 2 for the price of one if you have small children with you. Alex adopted Bronx shortly after he arrived, he shares Bronx's food and his nap space on the love seat.

Alice
Fort Worth, TX