Excerpts from Pat's Daily Dog Log . . .

SUNDAY EVENING SEPTEMBER 24 2000 Jack Jones, long time Straydog friend and contributor, calls to say Hi

This was a nice surprise call from Mr. Jones (Jack, who was the original rescuer of Jack, the Black Lab, see the September 5, 1999 Sunday Update). Mr. Jones is the very nice elderly gentleman living in Dallas, whom I've been corresponding with for years. We've had several telephone conversations during this time, and I recognized his quiet voice immediately. He was calling to say hello, and he mentioned that he was recovering from a fall he had taken several months ago. We're glad to hear he is improving and wish him a rapid recovery.

About 6:30 p.m. we get a call from the Rottie Pups former owner: He wants his dogs back

In a way this call sort of surprised us. It was just September 13 that we had to set up the "re-rescue" of these Rottie pups for a second time in less than three months. The Rottie pups had been found wandering around, and we had not heard from the owner until now.

In a way, I guess, we were pleased to hear from the owner (who had been out of town), who said that he and his family wanted Buddy and Betsy back. We were also, however, very concerned about the dogs' welfare, wondering why the owners hadn't solved the problem of the dogs digging out!

We were a little uneasy about returning the dogs this second time, and I explained how important it is to make sure the dogs' yard is secure. It only takes an instant for any dog who is roaming free to get hit by a car, which would be horrible. Also since Buddy and Betsy are Rottweilers, they could easily get into the "wrong hands" and be trained to be fierce watchdogs or worse. I certainly hope he understood why we are so concerned about all of the dogs we have adopted out. Allowing dogs to dig out of their yards is not to be taken lightly!

The owner said the family really wanted Buddy and Betsy back and that he would solve the digging-out problem.

This was a difficult decision for us to make, but he seemed sincere so we decided to return Buddy and Betsy to their family. The dad will be coming tomorrow to pick up the big pups.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 25 2000 Duke comes home

Duke (the Black Lab mix) has been at our clinic these last two weeks (since the day I rescued him from the highway) being treated for his health problems--sarcoptic mange and heartworms. Now after the beginning treatments for both his health problems he is able to come home. Duke needs to stay quiet for the next six weeks, while he recovers from the heartworm treatments, and then he should be fine.

Duke and Cindy become kennel companions

We had high hopes that Black Lab Cindy and Black Lab Duke, would become friends easily so they could be kennel companions. Their introduction to each other went beautifully. They like each other a lot so they are residing now in a kennel together.

Buddy and Betsy's dad came to take them home

After the big pups were reunited with their dad, I gave him the medication that Betsy was taking for the blood disorder we had found out she had, and I explained to him again about the importance of making sure the yard for Buddy and Betsy is secure. We did not want the pups to dig out AGAIN!

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 26 2000 Stray dog Rusty

This morning I got the call about "Rusty." The woman who had found the big, golden-colored Chow said he had a badly wounded foot, which looked like a gunshot wound. For the last three days she had cared for the big, gentle old dog, giving him food and shelter, covering him as he slept at night on her porch, and she had tried to treat the infected wound on his foot. She could not find the dog's owner or anyone else who would give him a home. Now the woman was hoping we could take Rusty in and care for him and give him the medical attention he needed for his wounded foot. She said he was such a sweet, trusting, lovable big dog that she hated not to be able to help him. We agreed, of course, to take the fellow, whom we named Rusty, and the woman said she would take Rusty to our clinic this morning.

The doctor called us later saying that they had taken care of the gunshot wound in his foot, but that Rusty, who was an older dog, also had other serious health problems. They would do all that they could to help him.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 27 2000 Another trip to the clinic

Some days are just not so good. My plans were to go to the clinic early this morning to pick up Duke, the Black Lab mix (whom I'd found along the highway a few weeks ago), who had now been treated for sarcoptic mange and also the beginning treatment for heartworms and a bladder infection. I also went to pick up Cindy, the Black Lab who had just been spayed. I was also planning to bring new dog, Rusty, home if his health had improved enough.

Having the van now (which Bill is donating to Straydog) is great for trips like this. We have plenty of room for five traveling crates in the van.

Oh, no! On my way to the clinic a little Manchester Terrier mix pup runs out of the woods and straight toward the road

I had been driving for about five minutes when as I neared a wooded area alongside the highway, a small puppy suddenly darted from the woods and came running toward the road in front of the car. I swerved the van just in time to miss hitting the pup, and then pulled over quickly to make sure the tiny dog wasn't hurt. The pup was okay, just very scared. Both the pup and I were a bit shaken up over the near accident, and I scooped up the skinny little black poppy and held her close to me for a few minutes to try to calm her.

Little puppy "Terri" goes to the clinic too!

"Well, little Puppy Terri," I said to her, snuggling her in my arms, "we're off to the clinic for your checkup." She was sure a lucky little pup!

We're thinking that because the wooded area where the pup was found is part of a nearby state park, someone must have dumped the little pup at the park. As always we will check the newspapers to see if anyone has reported the pup missing. There are no houses near this long stretch of the highway.

Sad news about Rusty: he died during the night

This beautiful big old Chow just had too much going against him, the doctor said. Rusty had died from complications due to a combination of many of his health problems. There was nothing more they could possibly have done for him.

This was very sad news. Even though I had never seen Rusty, the woman who found him had told me all about him, and I felt just as close to Rusty as I have felt to all the fellas we have rescued in the past. Many of the dogs here have come to our Happy Home for Strays with terribly sad beginnings to their precious little lives, but until now their stories have all ended happily.

Rusty deserved a much better life than he had, but we believe his soul is in very caring hands now.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 28 2000 Rottie pups, back with their adoptive family in Dallas, dig out AGAIN! Luckily they still had our tags on them, and we spend most of the day orchestrating their third and LAST RESCUE!

It suffices to say that the precious dogs are safe in a foster home in Dallas, and we have a lawyer working on the legalities of reclaiming the dogs. We'll tell you the entire story later.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 30 2000 Doggie Adoption Day, no fellas adopted

Lots of visitors, lots of petting, lots of, "We wish we had room for one of these beautiful dogs," but it still added up to another long, hard day of loading up the dogs, traveling, unloading, spending four hours inside PETsMART, reloading the van and traveling back home again.

It's not really very difficult to figure out why dog adoptions are so slow: Animal Control nationwide is euthanizing several hundred thousand surplus, unwanted, abandoned, homeless dogs EVERY MONTH.

The situation is very discouraging. The population of our no-kill shelter continues to grow, and our expenses continue to rise.

Again Bill and I have never received even one penny of remuneration from Straydog Inc., and we continue to be the biggest contributors to Straydog Inc., both in terms of the time we volunteer running our Happy Home for Strays and in terms of our financial contributions. And this is not going to change in the near future. We just need more help--especially with fund raising.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 28 2000 Pete and Stevie (the blind fella) visit their new home again. They love it! They even took a nice little nap today on Mike and Ann's cool kitchen floor.

The visit today with Mike and Ann's "boys" went just beautifully. It began here with Steve and Pete becoming very happy and excited when they realized that they were being leashed for the walk to the car for the trip to visit their new home. They were jumping around so much it was difficult to get their leashes on! They must have known where they were going.

The visit went great. Steve and Pete were very happy to see Ann and Mike, and Pete, once off the leash, really enjoyed walking around loose, probably due to having been car sick twice during the trip to Dallas. Stevie enjoyed leading Ann and Mike around "his and Pete's" yard, and he appeared to remember pretty well where everything was.

After the nice sniffy outside walk for the boys, Mike and Ann took them indoors to check out the inside of their new home. Stevie sensed that the grandma was sitting in a chair at the far side of the living room, and he carefully made his way over to meet her, with Mike holding Steve's leash to guide him so Stevie wouldn't bump into any furniture. Grandma held out her hands to Steve to welcome him. She is very soft spoken and Steve was immediately drawn to her.

Then we went into the kitchen. Pete, of course, made himself right at home, trotting along checking everything out, and Stevie was very relaxed as he made himself right at home too. He walked around very slowly with Mike or Ann at his side holding his leash to keep the "bumps" gentle as he checked out the counter cupboards and figured out where all the corners of things were while he investigated his new surroundings. He guided himself around so well it was as if he had radar letting him know where everything was.

After a while as we were standing in the kitchen talking, Pete and Stevie lay down on the cool, tiled kitchen floor for a little snooze. How relaxed they both were! This is such a wonderful home for "the boys"!

Hopefully the doggie fence, which will divide of the pool area from the patio (to keep Stevie from falling into the pool) will be finished this week. The plan is to pack up Pete and Stevie's doggie bones and toys and move the fellas to their new home this coming Sunday. We couldn't be happier for them.

At the end of a busy day, Juan and Lisa adopt little Pixie

This should be a very happy reunion. Juan and Lisa (members of our kennel team) wanted to adopt Pixie Pup. They had recently adopted Buster and Dixie and now Pixie will be living again with her siblings. This will be wonderful for Pixie.

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 ...