Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log
SUNDAY APRIL 18 2004
This afternoon Juana took the call about Rocky from Dr. Reeves
Rocky's not much better, although he did walk from his clinic kennel to the examination room table today before Dr. Reeves had to pick him up to put Rocky on the table. The doctor thinks it must be some sort of auto-immune disease. Things still don't look too good for the old fella. We'll get another report tomorrow morning.
Erin's Saturday Adoption Day Report ...
Jordan was adopted and will go to his new home next Saturday
A family (without a mom) came in and fell in love with Jordan immediately. The man and his five young children (from age nine on down) live in a medium-size house near Petsmart in Plano, and they had been looking for a dog for the last three weeks. Melissa and I did a home visit, and the father was disappointed that his fence people hadn't come to finish his new fence as they had promised. The fence people did show up while we were there doing the home visit, but the dad didn't trust that they would finish the fence by Monday, when he has to go back to work, so he wanted us to keep Jordan for him until next Saturday. He paid the adoption fee/donation, bought Jordan's dog food, and will be at Petsmart first thing next Saturday to adopt Jordan officially. The dad kept saying that they would promise Jordan a lot of love and they would provide a very good home for the Lab. It was easy to see that these folks are a very close and loving family.
We wish that this wonderful family also had room and time and the finances to also adopt Jordan's longtime kennel mate, Baby Girl, but with the five children Jordan will be enough.
The father will be constructing a shade board for his backyard since there are no trees, and he will buy a little kiddie swimming pool. Right now the dad is thinking Jordan will be okay outside while he is away at work, at least until Jordan is house-trained.
I wish that we could buy this family the $79 obedience training lessons, the $15 potty training lessons, and an $89 (or larger) crate, but we really don't know if Jordan will need these things. The father has had dogs before, and Jordan is pretty smart, and was very calm and seemed very happy to be in the family's home, rubbing up to the father and the children like an old friend.
Macy's got a good shot at being adopted next Saturday
There is a home visit scheduled for Macy next week too, so we'll report on that after it happens. This family was first interested in either Holly or Grace, but Holly and Grace were a little mean to the woman's big Yellow Lab mix. Macy, on the other hand, was very friendly and let the large fellow play with her. We haven't tried the two dogs on the Lab's territory, but they seemed to be compatible. We'll continue the interview/home-visit process with this family next week.
Sue Knudsen's Straydog Garage Sale was a success!
The garage sale was very busy and successful! A report on the numbers still to come.
Emailed updates on Sam & Baxter and Abby & Willow
Email from Joyce, who's fostering Ann's dogs (see our recent newsletter and/or our March 20, 2004 Straydog Update for the beginning of the Sam & Baxter story)
From: Joyce
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 21:14:19 EDT
Subject: Sam and
Baxter
To: straydog@straydog.org
Hi Bill:
Renate said all of you kind folks at Straydog were asking about Ann Story's dogs, Baxter and Sam. They're doing fine. We took them to the vet for heartworm checkups and everything was okay. They are now on preventative and don't seem to mind taking it at all. They love to eat and seem to consider the pill just another snack.
Baxter pulled his blanket out of his dog house the other day, and he and Sam took a snooze on it in the sunshine. They like to bark at the flocks of birds that come in to feed at the bird feeder and chase my cats as they run along the fence outside the dog kennels. My dog seems to like Sam and Baxter, and they play chase up and down the dog runs.
Unfortunately that wasn't enough for curious Baxter, and he managed to bend the fence panels and get into my dog's run. I almost had a heart attack! My dog is a 100-pound German Shepherd who is very territorial!
The good news is that Baxter and my Shepherd just sized each other up, liked what they saw and started playing. All was well except that Sam felt left out and began barking. (That's when I discovered the situation.) I put Baxter back with Sam, repaired the fence and they all resumed playing by chasing each other back and forth along the fence.
Ann's dogs seem to like me, and Renate thinks it's because I remind them of Ann a little. Their kennels are lined with shade trees on one side and I plan to put small kiddie pools in each side for the dogs to wade in when it gets hot. They seem happy, but I know they will be glad to be back with their "Mom" when the time comes.
I left the dogs just a few minutes ago as they were gobbling up supper. They both have (or had) chew bones. Baxter is still working on his, but Sam's has disappeared. (I think he ate it!) ... Joyce
Emails forwarded to us by Billy Lawson about Abby and Willow (see our April 5, 2004 Straydog Update for the beginning of the Abby and Willow story)
From: Clawson04@aol.com
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 19:22:06 EDT
Subject: Fwd: Abby
& Willow Update
To: straydog@straydog.org
BILL,
HERE IS THE LATEST ON ABBY & WILLOW.
THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HELP,
BILLY LAWSON
Forwarded Message
From: "Claudia Sprowso"
<csprowso@swbell.net>
To: "Jennifer Lucas" <cdlucas@comcast.net>, "Bill
Lawson" <clawson04@aol.com>
Subject: Abby &
Willow Update
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 22:27:56 -0500
Sorry I haven't e-mailed
sooner, but I have been SOOO busy.
Went by to visit Abby and Willow today, and Abby is up and moving
around a little more. She was coughing some yesterday, so the
vet has decided we're going to start the heartworm treatments
sooner than originally planned. The first treatment will be administered
on Monday and the second will be 24 hours later on Tuesday. Willow
will get her treatments at the same time, so we will be boarding
them at the vet's again. Attached are photos taken this weekend
at their foster home. Abby was only able to stand for a few minutes
before becoming exhausted.
I did get receipts prepared and mailed out for the contributions
that we've already received. I felt like it was important to get
them sent as soon as possible since all the wonderful people who
donated were SO QUICK to send us financial help when we asked
for it! I don't know what we would have done without their generosity.
By the time we get Abby and Willow finished with all the treatments
and ready for adoption, we may have to spend close to $800, and
that's with a generous rescue discount from Kindness Small Animal
Hospital!!! It's actually a fantastic bargain when we consider
it's for TWO dogs. I'm hoping my guesstimate is high because to
date, that is the amount of donations we've received!!!
It's heartwarming that Abby and Willow have been recipient to
such generosity, particularly because Straydog has been so helpful
in spreading the word about these two homeless dogs when their
own coffers are so dangerously wanting. This is a serious concern
to me and I plan to do what I can to spread the word through our
e-mail network and pray that it helps!!!
Later emails forwarded by Billy Lawson updating us on Abby and Willow
BILL,
HERE IS THE LATEST ON ABBY & WILLOW.
BILLY LAWSON
-----Original Message-----
*From:* Claudia Sprowso [mailto:csprowso@swbell.net]
*Sent:* Thursday, April 15, 2004 9:56 AM
*To:* Amy Jones (who is currently fostering Abby and Willow)
*Subject:* Abby and
Willow
Amy,
I will try to talk to the vet and find out about the level of activity allowed for Willow after the heartworm treatment. Leaving them at Kindness Small Animal Hospital another day won't do the trick, unfortunately. They have to be quiet for six weeks after the treatment.
How do you feel about crating Willow when she's in the house with Kylie? I think I can get a crate with no problem. I don't think she needs to be in it when she and Kylie are separated, so life really won't be too tough for her, and she doesn't need to be in the crate when they're in the kitchen at night either.
I don't think I need their bowls, but leashes and food would be helpful.
I'm going to get them some vitamins to start taking when they get back next week. They aren't cheap, but I think they will be very beneficial.
Will it be helpful if I plan to pick them up Tuesday evening and bring them back? I'm thinking you probably don't want to have to leave work any earlier than necessary. Let me know.
Claudia
----- Original Message -----
*From:* Jones, Amy <mailto:AJones@RegencyCenters.com>
*To:* Claudia Sprowso <mailto:csprowso@swbell.net>
*Sent:* Thursday, April 15, 2004 11:39 AM
*Subject:* RE: A&W
Claudia,
I don't know if I can get Willow into a crate. I can barely get her into the kitchen at bed time. We need to figure out Plan B as I can't keep them for another six weeks. Has there been any interest from anyone on your end? I'm still working on my end, but while there has been some interest, no one has come by to meet them. I can keep them until the end of April, but my schedule for May is hectic to say the least.
Amy
Subject: Abby and Willow
From: "Claudia Sprowso" <csprowso@swbell.net>
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 12:06:30 -0500
To: "Jones, Amy" <AJones@RegencyCenters.com> and
others
Everyone,
Please read Amy's e-mail (in red) above.
We need all the help we can get now to either get these girls adopted or at least find someone to take up fostering as soon as possible. I've attached recent photos. They're VERY good dogs and would make a wonderful pair for someone. It is important that they be kept together, I think. I know I'm only asking for the impossible. If anyone would like to know more about them, they can call me at 972-380-4811 Home, or 972-365-4811 cell.
THANKS!
We at Straydog are trying to figure out how we could make kennel space for Abby and Willow if no other home or foster home can be found
Bringing the two girls here would be very difficult right now, but hopefully, with adoptions, things will open up here and contributions will keep coming in.