Champ and Buddy

We lost our female Lab, Shadow (a rescue), on April 22, 2007, and it devastated us. She wasn't quite 5 years old when we found out she had a mass on her spleen. Surgery was successful, but she went into shock two days later and we could not save her. There was a huge hole in each of our hearts and my husband and I decided that we needed to rescue another dog. Bill found a Lab rescue in Kentucky, near where he was working, and we looked at several pictures online of big yellow boys that we were interested in. I was afraid another black Lab would remind us too much of Shadow and we would make too many comparisons.

After we got there and met many wonderful dogs, this scrawny little black pup just stole my heart. We adopted Buddy on the spot, exactly two weeks after we lost Shadow. As a 6-month-old pup, he was a handful, but he learned quickly and was eager to please. Five months later, we started fostering another Lab for a Michigan rescue, a yellow male named Champ. We ended up adopting Champ because he was such a sweet boy and he got along so well with Buddy. We could not be more pleased with the two boys. Rescues are the best pets!

Jackie Harter
Belleville, MI

A most heartwarming story!

Meet Molly...

She's a grey speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Hurricane Katrina hit southern Louisiana . She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled.  While there, she was attacked by a dog and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected, and her vet went to LSU for help, but LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes.

But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind.  He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her.  She protected her injured leg.  She constantly shifted her weight and didn't overload her good leg.
She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.  Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee, and a temporary artificial limb was built.  Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.

'This was the right horse and the right owner,' Moore insists.  Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain.  She made it obvious she understood that she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore , is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.

Molly's story turns into a parable for life in Post-Katrina Louisiana ......

The little pony gained weight, and her mane finally felt a comb.  A human prosthesis designer built her a leg. The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports.  And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too. And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca.

'It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a three-legged horse,' she laughs.  Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay, the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people, and she had a good time doing it.

'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life, Moore said. She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others.' Barca concluded, 'She's not back to normal, but she's going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol for New Orleans itself.'

This is Molly's most recent prosthesis.

 
The bottom photo shows the ground surface that she stands on, which has a smiley face embossed in it. Wherever Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind.

Thanks to Terry Marran for sharing this upbeat story with me!

Signs You Share Your Life With a Dog

We all know it – if you share your life with a dog, you have a special connection with your fur family member, and people without pets may not fully comprehend it.

On the other hand, our doggie devotion seems perfectly normal to other dog owners, and it’s probably why we instantly relate to one another when we meet for the first time (and share photos of our dogs taken on our cell phone cameras).

This shared doggie insider knowledge is clearly apparent in a fabulous and recent blog post, “Signs you may be living with dogs,” from Peter Chianca on his blog, The Longest Tail. What started as a single list of signs any dog devotee would recognize has grown exponentially with reader submitted additions, and it’s a must-read for any dog lover.

Below are Woof’s favorites from Peter’s initial list and top picks from his readers' additions. Since it was hard to choose just some to share here, do visit the link to The Longest Tail blog below, and feel free to add your own ‘signs’ there or in Comments section below. Many thanks to Peter Chianca for permission to share these fun lists with you!

You May Be Living With Dogs If: 

• There’s nose art on all the windows.
• You add a paw to all of the cards you send to family and friends.
• You have a huge collection of tennis balls, but there are no rackets to be found anywhere.
• It sounds like Harpo Marx is in your living room.
• There’s lots of snoring in your bed and it isn’t your fiancé.
• You are always greeted warmly at the front door by someone who missed you terribly, is ridiculously excited that you are home and is COMPLETELY starving.
• You’re walking around with dog food in your coat pocket.
• You’re walking around with plastic bags in your other coat pocket.
• You often wear a fur coat and yet have never purchased one.
• Stuffed animals living in your house have extremely short life expectancies.
• At Christmastime, there are stockings for “Santa Paws” to fill.
• You know the names of all the dogs in the neighborhood, but not the owners’ names.
• Leashes and collars are considered “fashion accessories.”
• You always feel like you are the greatest, most wonderful person in the entire world.
• You call your kids by your dog’s name and they respond.
• You have bones lying around every room in your house.
• You know exactly how to clean up shoes that have stepped in poop.
• Somebody in your family is getting more hugs and kisses than you are.
• There are dog beds in every room.
• You spell out words like beach and car.
• You are never alone when sitting in a chair or on the couch.
• No crumbs or other food bits last long on the kitchen floor.
• There are more pictures of your dogs around the house than any other photographs.
• And, last and most importantly...you are loved uncondiotionally and completely 

Reprinted from The Woof Report

Search: Tsunami dog rescued from sea

One more survivor in Japan has been rescued.

The Japanese coast guard on Friday rescued a dog floating in the debris off the coast of Kesennuma, northern Japan. It's unclear if the canine, which was scrambling on the roof of a house that had been washed away, had been at sea for the entire three weeks since the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The rescue did not come easy. After coast guard rescuers descended from a helicopter onto the house, the dog retreated under the roof and disappeared. The rescuers were unable to lure the dog out but according to NTV, the canine was eventually pulled to safety by a coast guard boat that relieved the helicopter, which was running low on fuel.

The rescue came as Japanese and U.S. military ships and helicopters trolled Japan's tsunami-ravaged coastline looking for bodies. It was part of an all-out three-day search that could be the last chance to find those swept out to sea nearly three weeks ago.
Watch the rescue video - click here