*New Photos:
*The 3 formerly starving and mangy pups come home
*More of the 3 formerly starving and mangy pups
Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log
SUNDAY JANUARY 5 2003
We've recently heard from some of the parents of our adopted dogs
During yesterday's adoption day the dad who adopted Boxer Kalli stopped at the Petsmart store (at Parker and Central in Plano, Texas) to visit with our group there, and the dad told Guy all about how well Kalli is doing with the family. She has adjusted beautifully with their cats and two other dogs, and she is a super smart dog!
Then today we heard from the family who adopted two of Freckles pups, Little Lucy and Louie and they sent a photo too. The pups are Beautiful and Bill will to put their picture on below.
Little Blind Puppy Chubs and his little sister, Cassie, are just fine, happy little puppies, who eat and eat and eat, which keeps me busy, busy, busy!
Two of Blind Mommy Freckles' pups, Lucy and Louie, are doing fine at their new home
Email from Lucy and Louie's new family:
Hi,
I am Michelle, and my family and I adopted Louie and Lucy. Nothing
is wrong. I just thought I would give you an update on the two
pups. They are doing wonderful. They have really become a part
of our family. We bought them a large dog bed for both of them
to sleep on, and we have them sleeping in my room. I kept my promise
about them being house dogs. We have discovered that Lucy likes
to pick fights with Louie. Oh, and, by the way, we decided to
keep their original names. Lucy from the very beginning was very
good to respond to her name, but Louie wasn't, and we were wondering
if there was something wrong with his hearing, but it turns out
that he was just being stubborn. Our vet, Dr. Tabone, says that
he senses stubbornest from Louie. The last two times they've gone
to see him, they'll jump up on him and give him kisses, and he
just lets them. I can tell that they love their doctor.
Lucy, by the way, has green eyes still, but Louie's eyes look
like they have turned a little brown. The two pups really haven't
grown too much bigger lately. I've included a recent photo of
them, though, so you can see how much they have grown since we
brought them home. My family and I are really glad we got Louie
too.
I can't imagine them without each other. House training hasn't
been too bad, though we are going to put them in an obedience
training class this month. Also they are going to be spayed and
neutered next week. Our vet just loves them both, and they took
their shots really well the last two times we took them in. They
are both so sweet, and we really love them. We got them
some toys and teething chews for Christmas, but they won't share.
It's really funny watching them play. They'll both ignore the
other chew toy and the teething chew because each wants what the
other already has. Though we have been able to get them to eat
and drink out of separate bowls now, they love to fight over toys,
and they have learned how to pull toys out of their toy box, which
we just got them, and it's in the shape of a dog bone. But more
than anything they love sleeping on our beds.
Louie likes my bed more than anyone else's. He'll just be sleeping,
and Lucy will come over and bite him on the ear. But while Lucy
is asleep, Louie licks her ear. My sister and I have a theory
about that: We think that Louie used to pick on Lucy when she
was a runt, and now that she's bigger, she's paying him back.
You can't tell that she was the runt, because she's taller than
he is. I don't think that they are going to get much bigger than
what you see in the pictures, because I haven't noticed any growth
for a while. But if they do grow bigger, it's not a problem.
We have taken them for car rides to my aunt's to pick up my sister,
and while Louie seems to love it, Lucy doesn't seem to care for
it.
Well, I just wanted to let
you know how they are doing. As you can see from the picture I'm
sending, they are growing up. I had a hard time getting them to
stay in one spot for long [for the emailed photo], though we already
have quite a few pictures of them. I can't imagine what your job
must be like. To care for puppies and then have to give them away.
I don't think I could do it. But I hope that it helps to know
that Louie and Lucy are loved, well cared for, seeing their doctor
regularly and they are in a good home.
Sincerely and thank you,
Michelle
Yesterday
...
Straydog UPDATE posted SATURDAY 1/4/03 at ~9:30 p.m. CT
Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log
SATURDAY JANUARY 4 2002
AND tiny Blind Puppy Chubs has a kennel companion now, his tiny sister, Cassie!
This has been a wonderful day, all day!
Little Chub's sister, Cassie, came to be reunited with Little Blind Chubs to become his seeing-eye buddy for life.
Little Chubs is just four weeks old now, and because this special little puppy was born blind, he really needs a little puppy just his size and age to become his forever playmate and seeing-eye buddy, and who would be more perfect for this than one of his litter mates?
I wanted Chubs to have a puppy friend just his size and age so he would have someone to play with now at this stage of his life. It's been sad to see Chubs in his house kennel all by himself and watch him as he sometimes "paws" in the air at a make-believe "something" trying to play by himself, and then to see him "pounce" at whatever is in his tiny mind making him want to play, but then to not have the "thing" pounce back or respond in any way. Then the little tyke would go lie on his blanket and go to sleep. We put a ticking windup clock beneath the blankets of Chub's bed to comfort to him when he slept, but he really needed a soft, warm puppy to snuggle up with.
I've been carrying Chubs around with me often throughout the day, and cuddling him, but he needs a puppy companion.
We tried putting bigger pup, Melinda, in with Chubs for short periods of time during the day, but Chubs thought she was his mommy, and Melinda (a baby herself) didn't understand this little fellow and wanted to go outside and play with the "big guys," her sister, Bonnie, and brother, Blake. So, with Chubs being as young as he is right now Melinda wasn't a very good match for him.
Chub's little sister, Cassie, comes to be with her blind brother
We didn't want Chubs to grow up without a forever friend, and he needs someone to be with him starting now as a baby, so I called the couple who had taken Chubs to the clinic last week to surrender him to possible euthanasia if the clinic couldn't find him a home, which is where I met them and how I found out about Chubs. During my call to them today, I inquired about the possibility of having one of his siblings be Chubs' seeing-eye buddy, and the couple agreed to let us have one of Chubs' sisters. (When they are old enough for adoption, they will, of course, have to be adopted together because it is very difficult to find a companion for a blind adult dog.)
Within two hours Chub's little Black Lab sister, Cassie, had joined her brother, and this is the most wonderful thing we could ever have done for Chubs. He is so happy now! His whole demeanor has changed, and Cassie is very happy to be with her blind brother. When I first put Cassie in the kennel with Chubs, she waddled right over to play with him, and when she first touched his face, his little tail began wagging happily. It was such a beautiful sight to see how happy Chubs was. He would follow his sister around by smell, sound and touch and would bite her tail and legs, and she would turn and bite his nose. Now when he pounces at "something," he is aiming, as best he can, at his sister, and he tumbles her over as they begin to play. And it's his sister's face that he touches as he paws at her, and she returns the playful antics of her brother by pawing at his face too.
I spent most of the rest of the afternoon making more mushy puppy food, feeding the pups, changing puppy papers, and watching them as they clumsily played with each other. Now when Chubs goes to sleep, he is usually sleeping on top of or right beside his sister. This is perfect for him.
ADOPTION DAY REPORT : Black Lab mix Millie is Adopted!
This was exciting news! Millie was one of six dogs who went to Dallas for our Saturday Adoption Day today, and Guy called early afternoon with an update to say a wonderful lady had come in to see the dogs during the afternoon, and she had fallen in love with Millie. Millie showered her soon-to-be new mom with affection too, and Guy and the other volunteers there knew this would be a wonderful home for Millie. We'll be keeping Millie here this week and will take her to her new home next Saturday. What a lucky day for Millie!
*Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log
LAST WEEK:
*Photo Pages
LAST WEEK:
(1) Doodle Bug, the parking lot stray
(2) 9-year-old "Pup" at the vet clinic + 3 starving pups in their kennel at the clinic
(3) Blind Puppy Chubs, a Chocolate Lab
(4) Chubs gets his first meal at Straydog
(5) Chubs meets Puppy Melinda.
(6) Chubs thinks Melinda is his mommy
(7) Chubs gets a bottle feeding
(8) Barbara Sucher and daughter and friends visit
(9) The 3 formerly starving and mangy pups come home
(10) More of the 3 formerly starving and mangy pups
WEEK BEFORE LAST:
(1) Krissy meets Candy; PLUS Tina with Millie on rainy day
*MPEG Video #1 of rainy, cold day at Straydog
*MPEG Video #2 of rainy, cold day at Straydog
(2) Melissa's new home and family (CHRISTMAS MORNING)
(3) Melissa's new home and family, CONTINUED
(4) Melissa's new home and family, CONTINUED
(5) Frosty's first outing off leash in her doggie-door kennel
(6) First photos of the rescue of the starving puppies
(7) More photos of the rescue + Freckles and Leo sit in the sun
*Our Dogs for Adoption - Volunteer Shannon's page
*Our Dogs for Adoption listed on Petfinder.org
*Our Mission & How We Got Started
*"Goodbye, Danny Boy." - An example of the only acceptable use of euthanasia
Special-needs
dogs (including puppies) raise vet bill!
If you would like to help with the vet expenses, you may send your tax deductible donations directly to:
Morton Small Animal Clinic
1404 E. Tyler Street
Athens, Tx. 75751
and please make a note on your check that the donation is for Straydog Inc. so they'll be sure to apply your donation to our Straydog account. (Or you may send a donation directly to Straydog Inc., P.O. Box 1465, Gun Barrel City, Texas 75147.)
As always we thank you, very, very much, for your help.
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