Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log
SUNDAY JANUARY 18 2004
Erin's report on Saturday Adoption Day at PetsMart in Plano
Gidget, a dog rescued by our employee, Susan, who is currently fostering the dog
A very nice, very senior couple came into PetsMart and fell in love with a little stray dog named Gidget whom our employee Susan H. rescued and has been fostering because we don't have room to take in the dog. Gidget has just been spayed and is ready to go to a new home. The couple could only afford to pay one fifth of our adoption donation, and they didn't know what they would do if the dog needed any further vet care. The wife had just had a stroke and seems to be recovering very well and needs a pet for therapy. (She is pictured in the wheelchair.) Their previous dog died in October--just getting sick all at once, they said. I thought that Dad would be fine with the lower adoption donation in this case, and volunteers also offered to chip in in order to cover the adoption donation. But I said that we should probably put our heads together and figure out how we could cover further vet care for the couple. (And what about dog food? ... I guess they were affording that with their previous dog.) Then the old man said he needed to think about this because he would have to be the one to take the dog on all its walks, because his wife no longer is able to walk well. Let us think about this, he said with a concerned smile.
What do older folks do when they need and want a pet but can't afford it financially or possibly aren't up to the responsibilities? We've heard that the SPCA is giving pets to seniors. Maybe we should talk to them in order to get some ideas from them about what programs they offer.
A young couple also wanted Gidget. They have a little infant boy who really wanted to grasp Gidget's hair. Gidget has been very friendly with Susan's children, who are six, seven and nine years old. The little dog looked a little nervous when the infant bobbled his arms and hands towards the dog, as Grandma was holding the baby close to the dog. Perhaps they need a slower introduction, I suggested, quite apprehensive that the grandmother was putting both the pup and the infant in a precarious position.
After 20 minutes or so of ooohing and ahhhing over this pup and talking to us about Gidget, the couple said that they needed to think about it because every moment that the infant and the dog were together would need to be monitored so the baby didn't accidentally get a nip in the face. "Just because Gidget gets along fine with my kids, who are a lot older, doesn't mean she will never nip or bite an infant," Susan said.
Duke & Cindy and Jack & Jill receive consideration for adoption
Next Duke and Cindy's potential mom and one daughter came in the store. Duke had to be in a crate because he is a barker and isn't friendly toward other dogs (except Cindy). The mom and daughter liked Cindy and Duke, but they are still trying to figure out what would be best for their family. The mom is a stay-at-home mom, and they have no other pets, having had two older cats who had died some time ago. The two teenage daughters have never had a dog, but their parents have. I showed the mom and her 14-year-old daughter Jack and Jill's pictures, and told them about our longer process for adopting these special dogs. To adopt Jack and Jill will require a few visits to the shelter and more home visits than usual in order to make sure the dogs (and the people) are comfortable. They will be thinking about the Jack and Jill possibility, and we'll be talking more this week. When I told the mom that she would probably need to leave the furniture always in the same place, she laughed and said that she was a 'minimalist' anyway, so that wouldn't be a problem. Jana (Chubs and Cassie's mom) told me about a message board dealing with blind dogs on the Internet. Jana will have to tell us the Internet address, and we'll send the mom this URL and more info about the pups.
Rescue of two pups on the road near Straydog
A neighbor called Juana at about 2:30 Saturday afternoon saying that two pups (most probably dumped) were at the side of the road about four miles from Straydog. Juana sent caregiver/kennel team member Tina to check out the situation, and Tina came upon the two pups sleeping on the shoulder of the road. She brought the two pups to Straydog, where Juana and Tina bathed the pups, who were covered with fleas and are losing a lot of hair probably due to mange. We're keeping them in a small cage-kennel in the kitchen of the hospital trailer and will take them to our vet clinic Monday morning for their new arrivals checkup.
They're a couple of cuties (as all pups are), and we'll get some good photos of them if the sun ever comes out today.
Visitors bring and donate some fencing to Straydog
Many thanks to Holly and her father, Danny Elms, who came for a visit Saturday and graciously donated some fencing, which we can certainly use. Holly and Danny were very impressed with our shelter as they were given the grand tour.
Yesterday
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www.Straydog.org UPDATE posted SATURDAY 1/17/04 at 9:30 a.m. ct usa
Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log
SATURDAY JANUARY 17 2004
We're praying for at least one adoption today
With the unexpected addition of Macy to our no-kill shelter, our "lifeboat" is so overloaded we're "taking on water." We've either got to adopt out one dog or build another kennel, which will cost more than $600.
The following is the roster of dogs attending Adoption Day today:
Photos and bios of the first five of the above dogs can be found on Petfinder.org:
Email from Susan Southerland, who not only volunteers as a member of our Board of Directors, but also volunteers to update our pages on Petfinder.org
Dear Bill and Erin,
A little bit of encouraging news for you! In reviewing our
Petfinder statistics over the past few months, I found that "hits"
on our dogs have gone up from approximately 600 per week to around
2500 per week!! We are getting the word out, and I know
it will eventually pay off with more adoptions!
I've been adding dogs to our Petfinder site, and we're up to 64
listed dogs. I've been concentrating on the
older dogs--our "super seniors." I've been going
through each Straydog update back to the very first computer updates
(in 1999), through which method I've been able to get each listed
pet's "story." I'm about 85% done reading and
collecting info this way.
I'd like to know the exact number of dogs at Straydog so I can
figure out who still needs to be added. If there are 73-75 dogs
up for adoption, I still need to add 9-11 dogs. I know of
at least five dogs that I'll be adding in the next week or so:
Little Boomer, Bear II, Sunny, Ol' Pup, and Misty.
Remind yourselves EVERY DAY what a wonderful, wonderful job you're
doing!!
You're in my thoughts every day,
Susan