MONDAY JUNE 19 2000 - Jake goes to the clinic to have our vet check out neuter incision
At 8:00 a.m. this morning Jake and I arrived at our local (18 miles away) clinic to have the doctor look at Jake's incision. Jake is our newest new arrival. His rescuer had been boarding Jake at a veterinary clinic in Dallas for the past two weeks, because our quarantine kennels were both occupied at the time of his rescue in Dallas, and during his stay at the Dallas clinic Jake was neutered. Sometime before his arrival at our Happy Home for Strays Jake chewed out the stitches from the incision, and I was taking him to our vet this morning to see if he needed to be "restitched," although the incision looked pretty well healed before we left the shelter (Straydog).
"Jake is fine" Dr.
Stephen said, and no restitching was necessary. We had all
been wondering just what type of mix-breed dog this sweet fellow
was, and Dr. S said that Jake is Shepherd/Rottweiler/"Something
Oriental" mix. He is
about 10 months old, weighs 65 pounds and is extremely strong!
Jake is a loving, friendly, affectionate, very bouncy, playful
fellow.
Received a call from Emily's new "mom"
Emily's "mom," Joan, called to update us on how Emily was doing--which is just great! No more potty accidents in the house, and Emily has begun eating more--as long as Joan feeds Emily out of her hand. I suggested Joan try a different type of food bowl for Emily. Sometimes it can be the bowl they don't like instead of the food. This happened once before with Teddy Bear. He won't eat out of a stainless steel or a plastic bowl, but he will eat out of a glass bowl. Joan said Emily's new bowl would probably have to be made of "crystal" for this new little queen of the house!
Little Emily thinks she's the boss of the household now and has made herself right at home. She's decided she prefers to sleep with her mom and dad at night, and snuggles up with them at bedtime. (This makes all of us at Straydog very happy!)
Opie dog, Emily's new companion, a big, 85-pound, beautiful Boxer, sleeps on the floor beside them. Emily and Opie get along beautifully. Joan said that they are so cute and funny to watch as they play and chase each other around the house. Emily's mom and dad are very happy with Emily. They found a perfect new companion for themselves as well as a great companion for Opie, and Emily has certainly found her perfect home.
Another 15-minute rain storm hits us hard at 4:40 p.m.
During the late afternoon part of afternoon dog rounds Tammy and I noticed dark clouds in the distance moving our way, so we decided we'd better get the evening medications given to the dogs needing them, before the storm hit. Tammy started preparing the pills while I took Binks out to the play yard, hoping he'd be able to get at least part of his turn at playtime in before returning to his kennel for the night.
A few minutes later the downpour hit us hard. I rushed Binks back to his kennel and then went in the house to wait out the storm with Tammy. It rained so hard we couldn't see the kennels just a few feet from our door!
Fifteen minutes later the downpour
stopped, and we went out to survey the damage. There was major
wash-away of sand in most of the kennels. Tammy and I gave the
evening medications to the fellows needing them, and then I sent
Tammy home because it looked as if another storm was headed our
way. I spent the next two hours going from kennel to kennel filling
the "emergency" holes and then placed a phone call to
Randy to ask him to
come in tomorrow (Tuesday, his day off) to do the rest of the
major wash-away repair job.
TUESDAY JUNE 20 2000 - Max and Molly to the clinic
I made an appointment for Molly
and Max to go to clinic this a.m.
Molly especially for the fatty tumor on her tummy, and they both
need vaccinations. I think the tumor is just a harmless fatty
mass, but it's best to have it looked at. (Later I had to cancel
the appointment due to lack of time. Will reschedule.)
Appointment for Bobby
Bobby will be going to have his bad knee looked at again at the Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center (DVSC) next Monday, June 26 at eight in the morning. Bob probably will need another surgery on his knee. We'll find out.
Randy works his day off
Randy came in today to rebuild the kennel sandy areas washed away during yesterday's bad storm.
We're one kennel short
We will need one more big kennel if some of these newest arrivals are not adopted this coming weekend. Binks and Jake have taken up residency in our two small quarantine kennels because those were the only kennels available.
Jake is enjoying his stay at Straydog
New arrival, Jake, loves the swimming pool in the park! He takes the toys in the pool with him. Jake is a really sweet dog, about 10 months old Dr. S estimated, and Jake is a Shepherd/Rottweiler/"Something Oriental"/mix, Dr. S. said. Also Jake loves to chase grasshoppers, which he'll have plenty of opportunity to do as the grasshopper population is practically doubling every day.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 21 2000 - Dog rescue wagon gets new tire
On my way to Gun Barrel City this morning to do errands (luckily no dogs in the car) I started noticing a thumping sound, and the car began pulling to the right. I went to my regular car-fix-it shop and the mechanic found a bulge on the inside of the right front tire. I then had to drive to tire store to have a new tire put on (paid for out of Bill's checkbook). By the time that was taken care of, I didn't have any time to do the errands I had gone to town to do except for dropping some papers off at our shelter accountant's office.
New dogs, Jake and Binks, becoming accustomed to routine
New dogs, Jake and Binks are settling in nicely. They have learned the feeding and playtime schedule and look forward to both!
Planning Saturday's adoption day
We're planning the upcoming Saturday adoption day, but nothing's settled yet. So far we have enough volunteers to help us transport, care for and bring back at least five dogs: Binks, Jake, Blackie Husky and Spunky.
THURSDAY JUNE 22 2000 - Blind Dog Stevie and his seeing-eye buddy Pete go to clinic
This morning Randy and I took Stevie and Pete to the vets for their yearly checkup and vaccinations. It takes two of us when we take Steve (along with his buddy, Pete), because one person needs to be "hands on" with Stevie to comfort him the whole time, since Stevie frightens easily being in new places and hearing new sounds, especially sudden new sounds. This was Stevie's first ride in the car in at least a year.
On the ride to the clinic we put Pete in the tarp-covered back of the wagon (Pete always gets sick), and Randy and Steve got into the second seat while I drove. Steve loved the half-hour drive to the clinic. He sat beside (or on) Randy and would nuzzle up against Randy's beard and paw at Randy's chest in a playful manner and most of the time lay across Rand's lap. This was great fun and quality attention time for this precious blind fellow!
Little Pete did real good too--on the way to the clinic.
All went very well, actually much better than when we had taken Steve last year for his vaccinations. I'd asked all the vet technicians to talk to Stevie as they came up to him. As long as Steve hears people talking as they approach him, he is not frightened. I pet Stevie and Randy stood close to him while Dr. S examined Steve, and even though I could tell Stevie was not at ease, he was less frightened than I had expected him to be.
Examination over, vaccinations given for another year and Steve was done. Then it was Pete's turn, and everything also went well.
Now both fellows are all set for another year and home we came. Pete only threw up two times on the way home--as was expected.
A woman calls pleading with us to take "Sadie"
At about 4:00 p.m. a
young woman called sounding terribly upset
because of a stray dog needing a home.
Actually I had talked with this young woman before (several weeks ago) when she called asking if we could help her with the two stray dogs she was still trying to find homes for. The stories of what these little dogs had gone through before she rescued them was heartbreaking and I won't go into detail.
One was an Australian Shepherd,
and I gave the young woman the name of the Aussie Rescue, because
I had felt certain they could help her with that dog. The other
dog, she said, is a cute, little Cocker mix female, which the
young woman had now named "Sadie." A friend had
been keeping the dog while she tried to find it a home, but the
friend could no longer help out. Because our shelter is full,
I told the woman the name of another no-kill shelter for
Sadie, but then I said that if she couldn't place the
dogs with these shelters to call me back.
Now she was calling to say that the Aussie Rescue did take the little Aussie, but that she could not find a home for Sadie, the other dog. She had tried the other no-kill shelter, and they said they would take Sadie in a week. But when she went back after a week with Sadie, they refused to take the little dog.
The young woman's voice broke as she told me of being turned away from the shelter and of her teary ride home with Sadie who had had such a terrible beginning to her little life already and now had no place to go. The little dog, she said, had curled up on her lap in the car and kept looking up at her with those beautiful, trusting brown eyes, and she just didn't want to destroy the trust that Sadie now had in her. It was so heartbreaking and she just didn't know what to do.
Here's the plan for Sadie:
We are full, BUT Sadie is a girl doggie, and we do have a few nice male dogs who have no companion: Jake, Binks and Spunks.
The young woman agreed to take
Sadie to a vet in Dallas to have
her spayed and vaccinated. The woman will then keep Sadie for
a week at another friend's house while Sadie rests up from the
surgery. Then Sadie will
join our Happy Home for Strays. She will have three handsome,
nice (neutered) male dogs to choose a kennel companion from. Sadie
also sounds like a cute little dog who will easily be adopted
by a loving family. So that is all set. Now little Sadie will
be well cared for and loved as are all the other dogs at our Happy
Home for Strays.
Here's something a friend emailed me:
People just do not realize what horrible things can happen to their dogs when they let their dogs run loose--or worse, abandon their dogs. Other than being hit by a car and killed, the dogs can be hit by a car and lie in pain and suffer horribly and possibly not ever be seen by anyone or ever receive help. Dogs and cats can starve, and be attacked by other animals. Out here in the country folks who don't want a stray dog hanging around will just put the dog in their truck and go "dump" the dog somewhere else forcing the helpless animal to continue to fend for itself.
SATURDAY JUNE 24 2000 - Another Adoption Day at Petsmart
4:00 a.m. - Plans are set for today. John Pippin, M.D. (aka Big Dog) will be coming in his van to take three dogs, and Ginnie and I will be taking two dogs in the back of my station wagon. Binks will go in the medium size kennel (which just barely fits) in the second seat of the wagon with me beside him. We hope to be at the Petsmart at Preston and Alpha by 11:00. Susan Devers will be there getting things ready for us, and Arlene and Bob Clayton are to arrive at 11:00 to doggie-sit with us for the day and then help bring any unadopted dogs home. These are all such wonderful people to spend their Saturday helping us try to find good homes for the dogs.
We'll report later as to how the doggie adoption day went.
7:00 p.m. - None adopted, but one young couple was interested in Jake, and another couple was interested in Blackie Husky. The couples may call us about the dogs, or perhaps come to see the dogs again next Saturday.
During the afternoon I had a wonderful surprise visit from Daisy! She and I have been corresponding for years and it was great to finally meet her. Daisy spent a lot of time with Spunky, she thinks he is a beautiful dog.
It was a very slow afternoon, so we left a little after four and had all the doggies settled back in their kennels here by six o'clock.
SUNDAY JUNE 25 2000 - Tammy calls in sick after deciding she wants weekends off
To the dogs the weekends are the same as the week days, the holidays are the same as the non-holidays, which means we have to have kennel help coverage every day. Tammy knows this and several weeks ago requested weekend work. But now suddenly she wants weekends off, which schedule change cannot be worked out immediately as it affects the rest of the crew. (Each crew member works five days and has a different set of days off.) I, of course, will have to cover her shift along with all my other work. Let's hope Tammy shows up tomorrow!
As always, complete financial records are available upon request.
Dog food, veterinary expenses and kennel crew wages have been running over $2,000 per week, and we are quite often literally paying this week's expenses with this week's donations. We, Pat and Bill Arnold, receive no remuneration whatsoever for any work we do for our no-kill shelter, which includes managing it. (Bill pays all our bills and living expenses from his salary from his regular job in Dallas.)
We continue to thank those who continue to write us such encouraging letters and e-mail messages letting us know that you believe in what we are doing at Straydog (our Happy Home for Strays) as we continue to provide a decent life (as long as may be necessary) for each of our now 47 rescued dogs!
Please take a look at some of our newsletters (click on links below) and see the original article in The Dallas Morning News --on the Internet at "dallasnews.com/archives" (search for Pat Arnold on March 13, 1997).
We rely on donations to keep our shelter going. If you believe in us and in what we are doing, please help us with a tax-deductible contribution to Straydog Inc. at the following address:
Straydog Inc.
P.O. Box 1465, Gun Barrel City,
TX 75147
STRAYDOG - THE ARNOLD FAMILY'S HAPPY HOME FOR STRAYS
We are a 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Non-Profit Corporation, which means your contributions are tax deductible.
