Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log
SATURDAY MARCH 20 2004 - First Day of Spring
NOON UPDATE:
Saturday Adoption Day has been underway for an hour; no reports yet
I'm at my dad's getting ready to take Dad to lunch, which my older brother, Pete, and I do every Saturday. When my younger brother, Tom, who lives in New York, is in town, he joins us, which is about five or six times a year now, as Tom comes to visit more and more often as Dad gets older and older. (Dad was 95 on January 2nd.)
After lunch today Pete and I are going to drive Dad to PetsMart in Plano to pay a visit to our Adoption Day dogs and crew. We'll try to get some photos and put them on this evening's update as part of our Adoption Day Results Report.
An email from a long-time friend and supporter of Straydog, Ron Gilbert
Pat and Ron used to correspond frequently, and about five years ago Ron dropped in on us unexpectedly to pay us a visit, and to be sure we were for real--WE PASSED THE TEST! Through the years Ron has given us a lot of good advise. He was instrumental in getting us a $5,000 grant from the Storer Foundation in 2002, and it was Ron who suggested we include a plea on this website for people to remember us in their wills. It's so good to hear from you again, Ron!
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 18:49:01 EST
Bill:
The emphasis you put on the care you give sick and injured dogs in your reports is the way to go. You touch everyone's heartstrings with such stories. Also, you seem to have made progress in your media connections and that's so important. Keep your hand out, reminding people that their donations are what make your work possible. Hope my friend Jim Storer is still contributing. He's the biggest dog lover on the planet.
Best.
Ron Gilbert
Thelma and Louise have a long queue of potential adopters
These two balls of black fur will be ready for adoption after they're cured of the mange, which is still visible on their hairless feet and toes and tails.
After the mange is gone, they must finish their series of puppy shots before they are even taken out of their quarantine kennel where they're still living with their mother, Jasmine. Because of the parvovirus scare we had with Holly and Grace, we are being even more careful with these pups than usual.
One thing that used to dumbfound (and at times anger) Pat (which I don't think she ever wrote about and maybe I shouldn't write about it now) was that so many people could have so much more interest in certain dogs (like these two very cute Chow/Akita mix puppies) than in the other 78 dogs at our shelter, each and every one of whom is just as cute and sweet as these pups or any other pups or dogs. One would-be Thelma and Louise adopter is prepared to drive hundreds of miles to pick up the pups if we will just let him have them. I would like to have said to the man, "Please go down to your local kill shelter and adopt the dog who's next in line to be euthanized. With so much interest in Thelma and Louise, they are sure to find a great forever home. Their future is secure. That poor dog who's next in line on death row will be gone forever in just a few hours." Instead I was nice and polite and said I'd put the man's name on the growing list of potential Thelma and Louise adopters.
FIVE P.M. UPDATE POSTED THIS EVENING AT 7:00
Erin's Adoption Day Report:
This morning's home visit went well, and Puppy William was officially adopted!
Ten-year-old Hunter Peirce was very excited to meet Puppy William. His little brother spent some time learning how to give Puppy William some doggie cookies. The whole family was enthralled with William, including Slash, their eight-year-old Rottweiler! Our home visit went very well.
Puppy William was a little nervous around Slash at first, but before long the puppy was jumping on the big old dog and making Slash chase him! Slash hasn't run in two months, his guardians said happily. Puppy William had fun in Slash's water bowl. (Erin's photos to come.) The Peirce family will send pictures and give us updates on William's future antics!
Now we have to find a place for two more dogs!
A lady named Ann, who has been in touch with us before about her dire situation after losing her job, is living with her mother at a place that doesn't allow dogs. Ann has been boarding her dogs for the last couple of months, but now she's run out of money to pay for the boarding, so she was hoping to find them a temporary home. Ann brought the two dogs along to our Adoption Day, but no one wanted to adopt or foster either of them. Since Benny was adopted two weeks ago, Macy (Benny's former kennel mate) has been very unhappy living alone. One of Ann's dogs, a white fella with pretty red ears named Baxter, got along fine with Macy at our Adoption Day session, so we told Ann we could try Baxter in Macy's kennel with Macy. Straydog employee and Adoption Day Driver, Susan, said she would foster Sam, the red chow mix, till the lady can get back on her feet again. Ann tearfully said goodbye to her beloved doggies and was so thankful that we were able to help today. Usually we cannot do this, but it just happened that the dogs (Baxter and Macy) got along and that Susan, after adopting out those two pugs, Jimbo and Sassy, had another (temporary) spot in her home. We wish Ann all the best in finding work and a new home as soon as possible so she can take her dogs back.
No other potential homes found for the other dogs today.
Later back at Straydog (reported by Bill)
Although they had met and had seemed to get along at Adoption Day, Macy and Baxter's re-introduction here at Straydog didn't work. We walked them around and around on leash, but we were now on Macy's territory rather than the neutral territory at PetsMart, and here the two dogs acted like mortal enemies as we tried to get them close together for a sniffing introduction. Now what do we do?!
Caregiver John comes to the rescue!
Our employee, John, offered to foster Baxter at his place until the woman can reclaim him. So at almost seven o'clock John's taking Baxter home and Susan's taking Sam home. We'll report on how this fostering goes later.