EXCERPTS FROM PAT ARNOLD'S DAILY DOG LOG - First published on www.straydog.org 04/15/2001
MONDAY APRIL 9 2001 Contributions begin coming in, lifting Straydog out of the Panic Zone
THANK YOU very much, contributors, for helping our Happy Home for Strays through another very difficult time financially. We greatly appreciate your financial (and moral) support to our shelter and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your help. Your many furry friends thank you too!
TUESDAY APRIL 10 2001 A Pomeranian named Jo Jo comes to our Happy Home
This morning I went to our clinic to pick up Jo Jo. I hadn't seen this little fellow yet because the person who had rescued him had taken him directly to our clinic for us last Friday. (See the initial story on Jo Jo in the April 6 entry.) Now the little dog has had his "new arrival" checkup and is vaccinated and neutered and is ready to come to our Happy Home. I was curious to see what he actually looked like and to find out what type of personality he had.
We take in many dogs "sight unseen." When people call us telling us of a desperate situation they're in with a stray they've found and that there is no one to care for the animal, it doesn't matter to us whether the dog is "cute" or not, and it makes no difference to us whether the dog or pup is sick or wounded or if he is a pup or an older dog. If there's any way we can make room, we always try to take in the homeless fellow.
Sometimes we've been really surprised after hearing the description of a rescued dog and then actually seeing the dog for the first time.
From the description we got of Danny Boy, for example, we expected him to be a 20-pound fluffy puppy. The "fluffy" part was correct, but he was five years old and weighed in at a whopping 85 pounds!
And Jake was another surprise, also taken in sight unseen. I expected him to be a furry mixture of gray and white Akita mix, and he turned out to be a big, gentle, Rottie-mix, street-wise fellow with short hair, a blend of brown and black.
Jo Jo is adorable
By 9:30 I was at our clinic and met Jo Jo for the first time, and he turned out to look just like the dog the person had described to me, except he was half the size. He is adorable! A tiny, 13-pound bundle of black fluff, and apparently very healthy. It will be very easy to find this little pooch a wonderful home.
FRIDAY APRIL 13 2001 Jo Jo Is Adopted!
The story about cute little Pomeranian Jo Jo in last week's website update brought calls from several people who were interested in adopting this little dog. One of the calls came from a long-time contributor to our shelter named David, whom I had already met in person at one of our Saturday Adoption Days, and I considered him to be a good friend after years of correspondence by mail. David was very interested in adopting Jo Jo to become a house pet and companion dog for his little dog, Kelli. David had planned to meet us at Petsmart tomorrow, Saturday, to bring his little dog to meet Jo Jo, but because thunderstorms are in the forecast for tomorrow, he asked if he could come to our shelter to see Jo Jo today.
Jo Jo and Kelli get along great and Jo Jo goes home with his new dad and doggie friend!
The introduction of Jo Jo and Kelli turned out great! The two little dogs got along just fine, and David and his friend fell in love with this little black ball of fur instantly. They stayed for quite a while to give the dogs time to get to know each other, and then Jo Jo was on his way to his new home, with his new dad and little doggie friend. What a spoiled little fellow he will be, which makes us very happy.
We have no pictures of Jo Jo since he was adopted so quickly!
SATURDAY APRIL 14 2000 Preparing for Adoption Day when we get the Emergency call to "Please take Big Boy!"
It was close to 8:30 this morning while we were hurrying to load up the van to get ready for our Adoption Day in Dallas when the phone rang. It was just plain luck that I was in the house, and what a shocker this call was!
The gentleman calling was the person who had contacted us over a week ago to see if we could take in a stray he had been feeding for several years. (See the second half of last Thursday's entry and last Sunday's entry in last week's website update.)
This "pair" of stray dogs had been living by an abandoned warehouse, and they were just two of the strays that this man and a friend of his had been feeding for several years. It took the gentleman a year and a half to befriend the dogs so that they would come to him and let him finally pet them.
Recently Animal Control had caught the female (Big Girl) and had taken her to the pound where the man found her and rescued her to save her life. The man took Big Girl home. This is when the man called us about possibly taking the male dog (Big Boy), whom he'd had to leave at the abandoned warehouse, because he did not think Big Boy would get along with his house dog. The man wanted us to take Big Boy. We suggested that the man try to take in Big Boy too so that these long-time friends could remain together. The man said he would try this and would be in touch with us.
Now the man was calling to say that he had rescued Big Boy on Friday, had taken the dog to his vet for vaccinations and a checkup and then was looking forward to the trip home for the happy reunion between Big Boy and Big Girl. He said he was totally shocked at the outcome of this reunion.
What he'd thought would be a wonderful reunion between the two dogs was a near tragedy. Big Boy was thrilled to see his companion once again, but as soon as Big Girl caught the first glimpse of Big Boy, she tried to attack him, and she remained so aggressive toward Big Boy that the couple finally had to separate the dogs. They were heartbroken that this reunion had not worked out. Now they were praying that we would take Big Boy. The only thing we can do at this point is to have the couple bring Big Boy to our vet this morning since we will be in Dallas for Saturday Adoption Day.
A while later we heard from our clinic that the man and his wife had brought Big Boy in and that they had left in tears. I'll be picking up Big Boy Monday morning.
Adoption Day
No adoptions, but Cookie may be adopted by a couple who will have to think about it for a week.
Our Special Adoption Day Helper, John Pippin, M.D., went to Gina's house to pick her up this morning. Sadly the family who had adopted Gina to love and care for for the rest of her life hardly even said goodbye to the precious big puppy. John brought her to Petsmart, after stopping by his house to see how Gina might get along with his dogs. At the end of our adoption day, John decided to foster care Gina at his house for at least a week to see how it goes.
SUNDAY APRIL 15 2000 George goes to his new home with Shannon
Finally George goes to his new home with his new "mom," Shannon, one of our Straydog employees, who along with her husband, John, have been preparing for this event for a week. They even had a new six-foot fence constructed around their property to replace the existing four-foot fence because George is a jumper. Now they are ready for their new dog. They've already introduced George to their older dog, Trixie, a bouncy, new playmate for George, and the two dogs get along beautifully.
At five o'clock this afternoon Shannon called to say that all is just great! George is a happy house pet now!
More photos from this past week ...
Randy summerizes a shelter during this chilly morning.
After removing the front shelter doors Randy drags them to the barn to store them till fall.
Happy doesn't look so happy in this photo, but she and Rover are delighted to be in a new kennel closer to the house.
Rover
Angel and Big Pup sniffing the same spot in the Park
Angel and Pup studying the same bug in the pool
George in the back seat of Shannon's car on his way to his new home with Shannon