Excerpts from Pat's Daily Dog Log . . .

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 11 2000 Vet bill reaches a whopping $3,000.42

Geesh! Dorothy, the receptionist at Lakeside Animal Clinic, gave me her usual happy smile this morning as she handed me the invoice for Cindy's care, which showed the balance we owe the clinic: $3,000.42!

I guess it's really not surprising when you figure how many dogs we've rescued and have given medical attention to, along with the spaying and neutering and vaccinations.

Recently we had to take Raven, Champ, Buster, Pixie and Dixie into the clinic for various treatments.

One week ago we rescued Duke, who's still at the clinic being treated for heartworms and mange, and the same day we rescued Cindy, who had her new arrivals' checkup and will be spayed soon.

Cindy comes "home" from her clinic stay

Juan (who has been with our Happy Home for Strays for two months now) went with me this early morning to pick up Cindy from the clinic, where she had been staying since last Friday. She had had her new arrivals' checkup and vaccinations and will be spayed in two weeks. Juan and I were going to take Cindy to the spot where Juan had found her to see if Cindy would lead us to her pups (if the pups were there). As horrible as this sounds (and is) we figured that someone had dumped Cindy in this area without her pups. But we didn't want to take the chance of leaving the pups behind if they were there, and even though Juan and Randy had searched for the pups already, we had to give it one more try with Cindy, the mother, along for the search.

No pups are found

With Cindy on a leash Juan and I walked the grassy, partially wooded meadow looking for puppies. Cindy showed absolutely no interest in puppy hunting. She just wanted to take a slow, leisurely walk. When she led us across a slimy, mossy, goopy wet area towards the brush near a pond we thought that this might be the place where her pups were hidden, although she was not in any hurry to get there. Juan and I were slipping and sliding in the goopy, slime trying to keep our balance as we followed her along. But Cindy didn't go toward the brush as we had expected. Instead she headed to the water in the pond for a drink.

We walked around with Cindy for quite a while. She was certainly enjoying her sniffy walk, and she went potty a few times but when we realized that she was definitely not looking for any puppies, we decided to leave. At least we'd given it our all and now felt they just were not there.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 13 2000 The Rottie pups are rescued again!

8:20 a.m. - I was in a big hurry to get to town today to see our accountant (to pick up our monthly financial statements and to pay the payroll taxes at the bank), and I was just going out the door when the phone rang. It was Dorothy from our clinic, who said that a man had just called from Dallas saying he had found two big Rottweilers with our clinic tags on them. Dorothy said they were Buddy and Betsy, Trixie's pups! This is the second time these pups have gotten loose and have then luckily been found by nice people. (See the July 10, 2000 entry of our May - August newsletter.)

The fact that Buddy and Betsy had gotten out of their yard a second time was extremely unsettling to me.

I immediately called the finder of Buddy and Betsy. He was a very nice gentleman who said that while jogging with his dog last evening, these two very big Rottie pups suddenly were there jogging along with them! The man and his furry companion jogged for two miles with Buddy and Betsy staying by their side.

When the "foursome" reached the man's home, he said that the two Rottweilers looked very hungry and thirsty and were not about to leave his side. He noticed the tags on their collars (Thank heaven their tags were on!), and he figured the dogs had gotten out of their yard and had strayed from home. He fed the big pups and gave them water and put them in his yard for the night to keep them safe. Then the first thing this morning he called our clinic attempting to find the Rotties' owner, and the clinic, of course, called us.

Buddy and Betsy are coming home to Straydog

From what I've been able to find out, the owner of Buddy and Betsy travels a lot, and the dogs are left outside alone for weeks at a time, with an employee of the owner stopping by (hopefully daily) to feed the dogs. To us this is not proper care for the dogs. They have now escaped from their fenced yard two times (at least two times that we are aware of), and it's just plain sheer luck that they did not get hit by a car or fall into the hands of someone who might treat them worse. Therefore, Straydog is now reclaiming these dogs, Buddy and Betsy, as authorized by clauses six and 11 of the adoption contract.

8:40 a.m. - I paged John "Big Dog" Pippin, M.D. (our wonderful Straydog volunteer), who helps us out so much on our doggie adoption days. (Have you ever paged a medical doctor at his office, to ask him to go retrieve two rescued dogs--on a weekday, no less?!) But Dr. Pippin called me right back. I'm sure he figured that for me to have paged him so early in the morning it had to be a Straydog emergency. I told him the story of Buddy and Betsy and asked him if there was any way that he could get the pups and take them to his vet for "safe keeping" till we could get them this Saturday. He told me not to worry, he would take care of it.

10:00 a.m. - I was waiting nervously to hear from Dr. Pippin (aka "Big Dog") when his vet clinic called me saying that Buddy and Betsy were now in their care and appeared to be okay. What a huge relief! Dr. Pippin will bring them to our pet adoption day this coming Saturday, and we will bring them to our Happy Home for Strays once again. I've already made an appointment with our vet for this Monday to have them checked. I can hardly wait to see these big pups again.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 14 2000 It's always something! Black Lab Cindy is a fence jumper

Little Miss Cindy decided she'd try to jump her fence this morning as Randy and I were out prioritizing the projects needing to be done for the day, and we noticed her just in the nick of time as she was standing on top of her shelter wiggling her little behind in the "fixing to jump" position.

This determined what the first project of the morning would be: We had to have Cindy switch kennels with Happy and Rover quick!

Happy and Rover had recently been moved to Danny Boy's kennel when Danny Boy became another of our house dogs because of his fear of thunder storms, fireworks and gunshots. Because Danny has a skin disorder, we had attached a shade cloth securely to the top of his kennel to protect his skin from the strong rays of the sun. This shade cloth would keep Cindy from being able to jump out of that kennel, so we had to switch Cindy to Happy and Rover's kennel, at least temporarily.

Happy is grumpy about the move

Poor Happy! She was so happy to have been moved to Danny's kennel because it is close to our house and close to more "action," and when we moved her back to her "old" kennel, further on down the line, she became very grumpy and grouchy. She is one of several dogs who show many facial expressions, and when she is not happy, she will let us know! I explained to her that the move would be temporary and that as soon as we could get a top on Cindy's kennel, they would switch places again. Happy just gave me a cold stare and went to sulk in the corner of her shelter. I came into the house and placed the order for the "topping" fence sections right away. They hopefully will be delivered tonight.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 15 2000 Oh, No! Another sad story of a little stray dog

The circumstances of my hearing about this little stray dog make it seem like it was meant to be.

My plans this morning were to go to town to get the dog supplies at Wal-Mart, then I'd go to the post office and then to the accountant, then the bank and then home. This was the plan.

Well, I started out okay. I went shopping at Wal-Mart for dog supplies and then I went to the post office, the accountant and the bank, but then, instead of coming on home, I decided I'd go back past Wal-Mart to our clinic to get the heartworm preventive pills (Sentinel), since it soon will be time to give this medicine to the dogs. It was this sudden change of plans at the very last minute that caused me to hear about another little stray needing help.

When I arrived at the clinic, I noticed a woman walk in right behind me. I went up to the counter to give either of the two receptionists my heartworm pill order: six boxes of Sentinel for all the many dogs who weigh 50 to 100 pounds and 3 boxes of Sentinel for the fellas weighing 25 to 50 pounds. No sooner had I finished speaking than the woman behind me, nearly in tears, began asking Dorothy if she knew of anyone who rescued dogs. I said nothing as she continued:

The story of "Sara"

The woman had been driving somewhere yesterday evening when she noticed that the driver side door of a truck ahead of her opened up, and the next thing the woman saw was a little dog being thrown out of the truck. The truck quickly sped off. The little dog managed to get up from the rough tumble it had taken onto the road and began running after the truck. (This was so heartbreaking to hear!) The woman then sped up trying to get the truck's license plate number, but the truck was long gone by the time she reached the little Shepherd mix.

The woman said she already had three big dogs and had no place for this small Shepherd mix, which she was sure her dogs would not get along with, so she had to take it to a friend, who was only able to keep the dog for the night and would be taking the dog to the pound right now, if the woman could not find a home for it.

She had been up all night, worrying about the little dog and praying she'd be able to find a safe place to take her. The thought of what the little Shepherd had already gone through just broke her heart, and she just couldn't bear to take the dog to an animal shelter where they are "given" only a few days. All of us in the clinic office were near tears at the end of this story.

Needless to say "Sara" is now at the clinic. When I told the woman I would take the little dog, she was so grateful and went to get the pooch right away, hoping that her friend still had her.

Sara has her checkup and appears to be okay

Sara is a skinny, small Shepherd mix weighing 32 pounds. "Her heartworm test is negative," said Dr. Stephen when he came back into the examining room where Sara and I were waiting. This is always music to my ears! Her thorough examination shows that she does have whip worms and ear mites, for which she is being treated, and she's covered with fleas, which Dr. Stephen would quickly take care of, and she had her necessary vaccinations.

Other than being malnourished and a bit skittish (sudden movements frighten her) she appears to be okay. Since they were going to be able to spay her this coming Monday morning, I left her at the clinic. The doctor assured me Sara would be fed a good meal now, and I knew she would be well cared for until I picked her up next Tuesday. I walked out of the clinic with the heartworm pills--which I had almost not stopped for.

Cindy gets her kennel "topped"

By the time I arrived home from the morning in town, Randy had put the new chain link fence-section top on Cindy's kennel and had switched Happy and Rover and Cindy back to where they were supposed to be. Happy was a happy dog once again, and little Miss Cindy's fence jumping abilities were no longer something we had to worry about.

Mike Nicholson, Stevie and Pete's new dad, calls

6:20 p.m. - "How are my boys?" was the first question Mike asked. He and his wife, Ann, had been very busy moving into their new house and had also spent much time "Stevie-proofing" their patio for Steve (who was born blind) and Stevie's seeing-eye buddy,Pete. They had also built a special, very large dog run for "the kids."

Mike and Ann are very sympathetic to Stevie's needs and are preparing their house (as well as these areas outside their house) for the dogs. Steve and Pete will be house pets but will need a secure, safe outside area too.

Now that their new mom and dad are ready for Stevie and Pete, Bill and I will take them this coming Sunday for their first visit to their new home. We all decided on having "the boys" visit this first time in order to help Steve become familiar in his new surroundings before we take him on his final move to be with his wonderful new parents. Little Pete should have no trouble adjusting.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 9 2000 Raven is adopted, and the Rottie pups, Buddy and Betsy, come back home!

As we were setting up for our adoption day at Petsmart this morning, Raven's new family came in to see her. This was the day for Raven, the beautiful Black Lab, to go to her new home. If all went well with Raven and the male dog the family already had, Raven would have a wonderful new mom and dad, and an adorable four year old little boy to play with, as well as a new doggie companion, Jesse.

While we finished getting things set up at Petsmart and the dogs settled with their doggie-sitters for the day, the family spent time with Raven. She loved all the hugs and petting and the walk around the store while the mom and dad and little boy shopped for her. Soon we were ready to make the home visit with the family.

Consuelo and I made the home visit with Raven, and all went beautifully. Raven is very gentle and affectionate with the little boy, and she loves her whole new family. She and her doggie companion became friends right away! They had a fun time playfully chasing each other around the yard and jumping in and out of the big three foot deep play pool. (Why do I forget the camera on these occasions!)

It is such a wonderful feeling to know how happy the dogs are going to be as house pets with their wonderful new families.

John (Dr. Pippin) brings the Rottie pups, Buddy and Betsy, to Petsmart

After Raven's adoption I was really anxious to get back to Petsmart to see Buddy and Betsy. John was going to pick them up from the vet clinic he takes his dogs to and bring them to us at Petsmart, and the Rotties would be coming home with us.

I couldn't believe it when I saw them. These beautiful "little puppies" were so big now. When they had been adopted three months ago, they were just big puppies. Now, just these three months later (and at eight months of age) these dogs were huge!

What a happy reunion we had! Thank goodness they still had their sweet, loving personalities. And it was so easy to see how attached Betsy still was to her big brother, Buddy. Betsy would not leave his side during the afternoon at the store and wouldn't even go outside for her fresh air and potty walk unless Buddy was right beside her. She was very, very close to him as a young pup too.

I feel really bad for the two dogs that their adoption did not turned out to be as wonderful as it had first appeared to be. I know that circumstances change in peoples' lives, and I won't go into this any further. Buddy and his little sister, Betsy, were safe with us now and at that moment I felt I would never let them go out of our lives ever again.

By 5:00 p.m. we were home for the day and Randy and Juan helped to get the dogs settled in their kennels. Randy had the Buddy/Betsy kennel all prepared for them, and he had also been looking forward to seeing these "little pups" once again.

The pups seemed to remember this Happy Home on the hill, and after a nice sniffy walk around their kennel, lots more loving from all of us and a good dinner, they stretched out, side by side, for an early evening snooze after their very busy day. We could tell that they were happy.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 17 2000 Trixie sees her puppies for the first time in several months

Trixie is the mother of Buddy and Betsy, and this morning she met the pups for the first time since they had been adopted several months ago.

Trixie's kennel is at one side of the big play yard and Buddy and Betsy's kennel is directly opposite on the other side, so today when Trixie was at the park during her playtime period, we (verbally) led her over to Buddy and Betsy's side.

Right away Trixie seemed to know who they were. Her ears went back and she ...

stood up on the fence and began crying to them. We're pretty sure she recognized them, but they didn't pay much attention to her. We'll walk them together on leashes when we get some time and will report on the reunion. (See earlier report on Trixie's aggressiveness on page 44 of the January - May print newsletter.)

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

We continue to thank all of you for your 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 many of them into good, loving homes.

A note from Bill ...

Print newsletter was mailed Tuesday 9/5/00.

If you didn't receive our print newsletter, please send us your name and address and we'll send you a free copy.

Rather than ask you to search back thru old editions of this webpage to find the newsletter photos "blown up and in color" (as we promised), I'm going to load the newsletter on this site. I'll hopefully get to that chore tomorrow or the next day. ... Here's the first page already: Front Cover of most recent edition of our print newsletter.