Straydog, our Happy Home for Strays
(The hexagon is the "Big Play Yard," which we usually refer to as "the park")

     Straydog is a "lifeboat" for rescued dogs. A vacant spot in a kennel is an empty seat in our "lifeboat," so please, if you're interested in adopting a dog, see our "Dogs for Adoption" links below, or call to inquire about dogs you may have seen recent photos of but who may not yet be included in our "Dogs for Adoption" links. And please continue to support us. We will continue to row this "lifeboat" to shore, dropping off rescued dogs into the arms of good adopters, and we will continue to fill the space left vacant by each adopted dog with another desperate homeless dog for as long as we can hold on (financially). We believe that our example (and the example of all other no-kill shelters) must be publicized in order to wake people up and make them aware of the necessity to SPAY and NEUTER their pets so that homeless dog-rescue "lifeboats" will no longer be necessary. (Ditto for cats!)

Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log

SUNDAY APRIL 6 2003

"Spring Cleaning" of kennels is just getting started

      The weather has been so beautiful and warm recently that we began the "Spring Cleaning" of the dog kennels a little early this year, putting some of the doggie swimming pools in the kennels for the fellas who love to play in the water on hot, sunny days.

      Next will be the major cleaning job of all the dogs' shelters, taking off the big front panels of the shelters (with little doggie doors in them), which we put on every fall to enclose the entire shelter in preparation for winter weather. In the spring after taking the front panels off the shelters we pull out the hay-filled dog houses, remove the hay and scrub the dog houses all nice and clean. Usually during "spring cleaning," the last thing we do is to put the doggie swimming pools in the kennels, but we're doing that project first this year since we have so many water-loving dogs and pups here now.

Lab Puppies Cassie and her brother, Blind Chubs, love to play in their newly installed swimming pool! What a mess Bill the camera man got himself into!

      Blind Puppy Chubs and his little sister, Cassie, love to play in the water. During their playtime in the big play yard they play in the play yard pool so much that we decided they needed a pool in their kennel now. What a fun time they had!

Chubs prepares for an "attack" coming imminently from his sister, Cassie, which photo we missed because we snapped this one just a split second before the "attack" came.

      Bill and I were watching the pups splashing around in their new pool, and they were so cute as they jumped in and out of the water, then ran around their kennel (picking up sandy dirt) and jumped back in the pool again. The original sparkling clean water quickly turned almost as "chocolate" as Blind Chocolate Lab Chubs.

Bill, the camera man, gets "mauled" by Chubs and Cassie

      Bill, the camera man, quickly got the camera and went outside to take pictures of the siblings splashing around, and Bill ended up a goopy mess with wet sandy paw prints all over him! [During his "mauling" Bill handed me the camera.]

During this photo shoot of Chubs and Cassie in their new pool Bill, the camera man, got "mauled" and muddy.

 

Nikki (still very fearful of everything) goes to the big play yard on leash

      Three of us try to quell Nikki's fears during her outing in the park. Every day she seems a little less anxious, but it's going to take a long time to get this beautiful young dog back to normal after God only knows what horrific experiences she must have gone through.

Straydog UPDATE posted SATURDAY 4/5/03 at ~8:37 p.m. CT

Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log

SATURDAY APRIL 5 2003

Little Puppy Corky and Aussie Pup Tina are adopted!

      These two adorable pups were adopted (by separate families) this morning early into our Adoption Day at PetsMart on Central at Parker in Plano, Texas, and the pups are now happily settled in their new homes.

Tina has a new dog friend and five cats to play with!

      Guy took Tina to her new home and reported that Tina will be so happy! She has a nice, older, Golden Retriever buddy to play with and five cats! All the animals got along beautifully together, and Tina, being the smart little pup that she is, had the doggie-door figured out in no time at all!

Corky has a little boy to play with!

      Susan Devers took Corky to his new home, and now Corky has also become a pampered little house pet and has a little boy to play with!

Again we thank all our Saturday Adoption Day Volunteers!

      We'd like to thank all our dog-sitting volunteers for helping to make it possible for these adoptions to take place.

*Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log

LAST WEEK:

SUNDAY March 30 2003:

* Julie's much better;

* Snowflake is having difficulty getting around [PHOTO: Bill carries Snowflake];

* Snowy "snags" a grub!

* Blind Dog Freckles is going for eye surgery tomorrow.

MONDAY March 31 2003:

* Jesse-Bear's sister, Lucy, is ALMOST rescued;

* Mama Dog Laura and her son, Jesse, become more and more accustomed to their new home;

* Blind Dog Freckles is doing fine after eye surgery.

TUESDAY April 1 2003:

* Blind Freckles came home after surgery and son, Leo, has to move out [PHOTOS];

* New arrival, Nikki, may be adopted soon [PHOTO];

* Emails come asking about Snowflake's health [PHOTO].

WEDNESDAY April 2 2003:

* Blind Puppy Chubs and his sister play in the park pool [PHOTOS];

* Leo doesn't like being separated from his mother, so back in with Freckles goes Leo;

* Nikki's becoming a little less timid;

* Jesse-Bear still won't go to the park with his mom;

THURSDAY April 3 2003:

* Goodbye, Snowflake [PHOTOS]

FRIDAY April 4 2003:

*Rosie's 1st outing in the park [PHOTOS];

*Two more rescue attempts of remaining golf course stray fail;

 

 

 

WEEK BEFORE LAST:

SUNDAY March 23 2003:

* List of vet stuff to do tomorrow;

* New mother dog, Rosie, and her eight little puppies are doing beautifully;

* Fence-board divider used to give Rosie a break.

MONDAY March 24 2003:

* Big trip to the vet clinic;

* Leo has recovered from swallowing piece of toy;

* Stuffy toys removed from most kennels;

*Jesse-Bear came to me for petting!

TUESDAY March 25 2003:

* Puppy Rex is very sick, and it could be parvo virus;

* Rex and his sister, Star (also looking sick), go to the vet clinic;

* Parvo test is negative;

* Rex stays in house kennel;

* By mid-afternoon Rex is feeling a little better;

* In the evening Rex starts howling for his family;

* Sister Star is brought in to keep Rex company;

* Disinfectant City

WEDNESDAY March 26 2003:

* Nikki appears sickly and scared to death;

* Nikki is much more standoffish than Jesse;

* Puppy Rex is better today;

THURSDAY March 27 2003:

* Another rescue mission is planned for the remaining dog of the Tenison Golf Course Family of Strays;

* Newsletter is "hot off the press;

* Newest arrival, Kimberly, is sick and is rushed to the doctor;

* Later Kimberly seems okay.

FRIDAY March 28 2003:

* Puppy Kimmy is doing much better today;

* Every spare moment goes to working on mailing of newsletter;

* Nina (long-time contributor) donates a riding lawn mower.

SATURDAY March 29 2003:

* Diabetic Julie got sick and went to the doctor where he did blood work, which did not show a kidney problem, which is what the vet was expecting;

* Julie perked up later;

* Puppy Terry ADOPTED at Adoption Day;

* Terry's sister Tina gets a new kennel mate, Puppy Kimberly.

 

 

 

THREE WEEKS AGO:

SUNDAY March 16 2003:

* Mother Lab and 8 tiny pups coming tomorrow;

* We are full and running low on funds, but...

* Pam Mitchell visits;

* Davey doesn't look well today.

MONDAY March 17 2003:

* Mother dog and eight puppies are here;

* Rosie is a very good mom;

* Davey is doing okay today!

* Snowflake is on the mend too!

* Alice has her first heartworm treatment.

TUESDAY March 18 2003:

* Pat's email down;

* Short rainstorm gets everyone wet;

* Old Davey seems happier and stronger today;

* Rosie and her eight pups have tremendous appetites.

WEDNESDAY March 19 2003:

* Goodbye, Davey;

* Our veterinarian helped Davey (whose colon cancer finally overtook his will to live) go peacefully to sleep forever.

THURSDAY March 20 2003:

* Pit Bull female caught in bait trap at Tenison Gulf Course;

* Straydog to the rescue;

* "Nikki" went straight from the pound in Dallas to our vet clinic in Athens;

* Several strikes against Nikki;

* Sally and Alice to go on home visit Friday;

* Mama Laura goes to the Big Play Yard for the first time [PHOTOS];

*Jesse says, "No! I don't want to go to the park! [PHOTOS]"

FRIDAY March 21 2003:

* Recent arrivals, Sally and Alice, are adopted! [PHOTOS]

* A very unexpected event occurred on the way home from the home visit resulting in the adoption--we found another stray puppy;

* Before we left the clinic, we went to see Nikki in her clinic kennel;

* More trouble hits us--Leo is sick;

* A couple of hours later Guy returned with Puppy Kimberly.

SATURDAY March 22 2003:

* No adoptions today, but a tentative adoption is set for next Saturday;

* Guy calls reporting he'd stopped at Alice and Sally's new house to drop off medicines, and they were on the couch with the dad;

* Pam Mitchell calls with sad news about Papa Dog (of the Tenison Golf Course family of strays;

* Papa Dog dies in Pam's arms;

* Mama Dog Laura and son, Jesse-Bear, are here and are doing fine;

* "Rainbow Bridge."

 

PREVIOUS WEEKS

*Photo Pages and Videos

 

WEEK BEFORE LAST:

*Photos of Kimberly and Tina's introduction and first playtime (3/29/03)

*MPEG Video: Kimberly and Tina tussle during their introduction (3/29/03)

[Most photos are now embedded in the daily Dog Log files.]

 

THREE WEEKS AGO:

(1) Davey (and Heather) in the park on Sunday, March 16, 2003

*MPEG Video: Davey plays dog ball in the Big Play Yard Monday (3/17/03)

(2) Cassie and Blind Chocolate Chubs stretched out asleep in their kennel

(3) Jesse-Bear plays in his kennel pool with a baseball cap

*MPEG Video of Jesse playing in his kennel pool with a baseball cap

(4) Pam Mitchell visits Mama Dog Laura and Jesse-Bear (3/16/03)

(5) Rosie and her eight pups (3/17/03)

(6) Rosie and her eight pups, continued (3/17/03)

(7) Rosie and her eight pups, continued (3/17/03)

(8) Rosie and her eight pups, continued (3/17/03)

(9) Tiny bunny rabbit found near kennels (3/18/03)

(10) Boomer and Heather meet in the park and get along well (3/21/03)

PREVIOUS WEEKS

*SUNDAY UPDATES: Headlines Linking to the Last 186 Consecutive Sunday Updates of our Straydog website, which is also updated nightly before ~11:00 Central Time U.S.A.

*Adoption Day Saturday, April 12 - PetsMart on Central at Parker in Plano, Texas

*Our Dogs for Adoption - Volunteer Shannon's page

*Our Dogs for Adoption listed on Petfinder.org, kept up to date by volunteer and member of our Board of Directors, Susan Southerland, Esq.

*Our Mission & How We Got Started

*"Goodbye, Danny Boy." - An example of the only acceptable use of euthanasia

*DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE

  If you would like to help with our ever-growing vet bill, donations can be sent directly to:

A Note from Bill ...

      We want to thank those who have already donated to Straydog after receiving (via regular U.S. mail) our April 2003 Newsletter. For those of you who are not on our mailing list (which we would be glad to add you to if you would like to receive hard copy in the future) we provide the following links:

*Click here to go to the HTML version of our April 2003 Newsletter

*Click here for the PDF version of our April 2003 Newsletter
(from which link you or any printing company or copy center can print copies. Please print or have printed a bunch of copies and distribute them to your dog-loving acquaintances. All you do is call Sir Speedy or Kinkos or any other copy center and say please print me x-number of copies of what's on this link: "*Click here for the PDF version of our April 2003 Newsletter" on the www.Straydog.org homepage and have them deliver the newsletters to you so that you can distribute them, please, to your dog-loving acquaintances.)

*Click here for continuation of our homepage with no changes to the continuation in several weeks