Excerpts from Pat's Daily Dog Log:

MONDAY JULY 24 2000 - Stevie & Pete's future "dad" to visit

Stevie and Pete's new "dad," Mike, called to say he's coming to visit his "kids" tomorrow morning.

I'm sure we've mentioned the very kind hearted couple who want to adopt our precious blind dog, Stevie, and Stevie's companion, little Pete. Since it takes Steve a while to get used to new people, we all know that Mike and Ann will need to come and visit Stevie a lot so that Stevie will feel comfortable with them and get to know them well. We'll all be happy to see Mike tomorrow.

TUESDAY JULY 25 2000 - Mike comes to visit his "kids"

I spent a half an hour trying to brush Stevie and little Pete all pretty for when their new dad came to visit them. (This is not an easy thing to do!) Mike arrived about 10:00 and Stevie first greeted him with his normal "this is someone new" bark, while little Pete danced happily at the fence, in anticipation of the cookie treat he knew would be coming.

It always takes a lot of time for Steve to accept new people to be near him, and because Stevie is blind he is often frightened if new people go into his kennel before he has knows them well. We wanted this visit to go smoothly for Mike and Stevie, so we leashed "the kids" up and walked them to the big play yard for this visit with Mike.

Stevie did pretty well accepting a new person on only the second visit, and he soon calmed down and was taking doggie treats eagerly from Mike. Mike and I casually walked around the play yard as Stevie and Pete strolled around too, so Stevie could get used to the sound of Mike's voice, and Mike leashed Stevie and walked with him by his side, just so Stevie could get the feel of Mike being near him. It was a good visit.

After about 40 minutes Mike said goodbye to Stevie and Pete. He will be back in a week to visit the fellows again.

WEDNESDAY JULY 26 2000 - Juan takes Trixie fishing!

Juan, one of our newest employees, has made instant friends with Trixie, the beautiful three-year-old Rottweiler. Juan likes all the dogs here, and he has taken a special interest in Trixie and asked if he could take her fishing at a small nearby lake this afternoon, his day off. We thought that was a great idea. It would be so wonderful for Trixie (who is a single dog alone in a kennel) to "get out" and socialize a little, and Juan has a wonderful way with dogs, so we knew Trixie would be in great hands for the afternoon.

At 1:30 p.m. this sunny afternoon, Juan drove up to Trixie's kennel and got Trixie's new blue harness and leash, which we had gotten especially for her first "fishing trip." She already was wearing her pretty blue collar with tag attached.

Juan harnessed her up and with Trixie's health records tucked in his pocket and her water bowl in hand, he and Trix were off for a fun afternoon--to return by 5:00 p.m., Trixie's curfew time.

4:15 p.m. Trixie comes back from her fun outing with Juan

I was out caring for the dogs when Juan pulled up to Trixie's kennel a little earlier than I had expected them. "She had so much fun she wore me out!" Juan laughed as they got out of his car. They really had a great time. Juan's whole family was at the park so Trixie got to meet everyone, and they all think she is a wonderful dog! Trixie went swimming and had a great time playing with Juan's three-year-old son. (No fish were caught.)

THURSDAY JULY 27 2000 - Tony jumps the fence at his new home!

We didn't hear about this jump of Tony's till the following day, Friday.

FRIDAY JULY 28 2000 - I talked with Tony's "mom" about the jumping problem

This was really terrible news. Tony has been at his new home for two weeks now and all was going beautifully. Tony loves the children and mom and dad and his new companion dog, Einstein, and the big fenced yard to play in. Tony had made no move to jump their fence until yesterday, the mom said. He jumped it three times, and now the family is in a panic about what to do to break him of this new habit so they can feel comfortable that he won't jump again. They really want to make this adoption work because they all love Tony so very, very much.

I gave them the number of a very good professional pet trainer in Dallas, and the "mom" said she would call. Hopefully this pet trainer will be able to help. We are all hoping so.

Binks is a jumper too! His kennel gets a top!

Randy just had to put a top on Bink's large kennel. This sweet fellow proved to us just a few days ago that he can jump a six-foot-high fence too, just to go visiting his doggie neighbors close by his kennel. Binks is too happy here to run away, but he would sure cause a huge commotion running around the kennel grounds "visiting" everyone!

Today Randy finished the "topping" of Bink's kennel, so now we don't have to worry about this fellow.

SATURDAY JULY 29 2000 - Another Adoption Day

The dogs love to go to the adoption day in Dallas! Just about a half an hour before departure time we harness the dogs who will be going, and when the volunteer doggie vans arrive, the "traveling dogs" are eagerly waiting at their gates, tails wagging in anticipation of a fun outing of petting and hugging and doggie treats. As soon as the dog-car crates (travel kennels) are placed in the vans (and/or cars), we leash up the dogs and take them to their "rides," and they happily jump into the crates. Then we're off for the hour-and-fifteen-minute drive to the Petsmart at Preston and Alpha Roads in Dallas.

Today we arrived at Petsmart at 10:30 a.m. and left for the long drive home about 3:45 p.m., arriving home a little after five o'clock. No doggies were adopted today, BUT a wonderful mom and two adorable children fell in love with Tommy and Blackie Husky (aka Blackie Blue Eyes). Now the family needs to talk to the dad.

You can see from the photos at the top of the page just how lovable Tommy and Blackie are with children. They love kids, and all the hugs and attention.

A special THANKS to RANDY, who puts in a long, 13-hour day on our Saturday Adoption Days as he manages things at our Happy Home for Strays while we are in Dallas.

If any of you would like to volunteer your dog-caring services to help us out on our Saturday Petsmart Adoption Days, we'd love to hear from you. Please call me if you are able to help. Thank you. Pat (903) 479-3497

We continue to thank all of you for you financial and moral support, which has made it possible for us to save the lives of these wonderful dogs, give them the care they need and adopt them into good, loving homes.

Year after year after year we Americans spend more money killing surplus dogs and cats than it would cost us to put an end to the overpopulation problem of companion animals in one fell swoop by way of a massive spay and neuter campaign. In fact, with adequate funding we, as a society, could achieve companion animal population control before the next reproductive cycle is upon us.

The war on unplanned dog and cat pregnancies can end almost immediately if WE collectively decide to make it end!

Proposed Plan of Action:

• FIRST: We must educate the millions and millions of Americans who are still unaware that there IS an overpopulation problem. With newspaper, radio and television ads we must immediately bombard the unaware portion of the public, and we must keep up a massive media campaign until we finally DO make everyone aware of how dire the situation is and how simple the solution can and will be.

 

• SECOND: Once everyone has been made aware of the overpopulation problem, we must, as a society, perhaps for just a limited period of time (possibly no longer than the length of one reproductive cycle in dogs and cats) make available free spaying or neutering for any dog or cat taken to any of the (yet-to-be-established) program veterinary clinics throughout the country.

 

• THIRD: With a drastic reduction in puppy and kitten births, the population of animal shelters will diminish rapidly. A solid plan must then be implemented to maintain the population of dogs and cats at a low enough level to ensure no more surplus, no more killing.