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.

     Thanks very much to those who have printed out even just one copy of the above three pieces of our newsletter and have passed the newsletter on to (or mailed it to) a potential Straydog supporter. If you can, please print out two or three copies (or five or 10 copies) and distribute them to potential supporters. If all 300 of our daily readers printed out and distributed just one copy, Straydog would be exposed to 300 new people. If all 300 of you printed out and distributed 10 copies, we would reach 3,000 new people!

First email from a reader who printed out and mailed out copies of our newsletter

     Thanks a lot to longtime supporters Deana and Jim Hanson, who followed my suggestion to make copies of and mail out to friends the PDF files of our newsletter--with color photos too!

     It probably won't happen anytime soon, but the technology is here to do away with mass printing and mass mailing altogether. It's already possible to read and print out entire books on the Internet.

     We encourage others to do what Deana and Jim have done:

Bill,

We printed newsletters, and Jim put them in the mail today. Good luck! Please let us hear from you if your shelter runs short on anything. We'll try and help.

Happy Easter,

Deana and Jim

     If you have a big enough list of people to pass out (or mail out) our newsletter to, you can simply call your local copy center (a Kinko's, for example) and tell them to go to this website (www.Straydog.org) and print out as many copies as you want of the three PDF files via the above three links. Then you can have the copy shop deliver the copies to you or you can go pick them up and do your own mailing of our three-piece newsletter. (And please never worry about the copyrights to our website materials. We want as many people as possible to make copies and distribute them!)

     Special thanks to those who have called in and/or emailed in credit/debit card donations. All we have to have is:

(1) the credit card number,

(2) the name on the card,

(3) the expiration date, and

(4) the billing address.

     It is really simple, and we don't pay a very high fee for this Internet credit card service. After I go to the credit card service website, I type in my organization name and password, and once in their site, I plug in the information the contributor has given to me, and the Internet credit card people transfer the donation instantaneously into Straydog's bank account, which is Straydog's operating fund, which is Straydog's only fund. Thanks to everyone who is helping us!

Previous Daily Updates

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS OF PREVIOUS UPDATES

(Click on any day below to see the update of that day)

CURRENT WEEK

SUNDAY April 11 2004:

* No adoptions yesterday; no word on the pending adoptions from last week [PHOTOS];

* All of the newsletters are ready to mail;

* We were very sorry to hear that the dog Chantal was trying to rescue was picked up by Dallas Animal Control and killed before Chantal could rescue the poor fella;

* Billy Lawson and Claudia Sprowso update us on Abby and Willow;

* The rescue and rehabilitation of Abby and Willow are truly going well so far.

MONDAY April 12 2004:

* Ginger kills a rabbit in the middle of the night;

* Over the years Pat and I grew to hate violence of any kind;

* Thelma & Louise and their mother, Jasmine, go to the park for the first time yesterday [PHOTOS & VIDEOS];

* First email from a reader who printed out and mailed out copies of our newsletter.

TUESDAY April 13 2004:

* Big Helen Fort became an Easter Bunny [PHOTO];

* The temperatures are to drop into the 30s tonight!

* All dogs are doing fine today.

WEDNESDAY April 14 2003:

* Remember Arthur? (Click on links below that go to Pat's original Dog Log entries about Arthur, whose name is now Sammy);

* Flash! at 12:30 p.m. - We found the records and documentation about how to change the contact information for Arthur's (Sammy's) microchip.

THURSDAY April 15 2004:

* Happy Birthday, Jed! [PHOTO]

* An email from Larry, who adopted Jed eight months ago;

* Rocky's about 13 also, and he's sick again [PHOTO].

FRIDAY April 16 2004:

* Rocky was very unsteady on his feet last evening and will go to the vet ASAP today

SATURDAY April 17 2004:

* Rocky's prognosis isn't good;

* EVENING UPDATE: Rocky's doing better.

 

 

LAST WEEK

SUNDAY April 4 2004:

* No adoptions yesterday but several potential adoptions pending [PHOTOS];

* Garage sale scheduled for the 17th is shaping up;

* Kroger and Tom Thumb shopping "share cards";

* Prince is staying in one of our hospital kennels and is doing okay.

MONDAY April 5 2004:

* Billy Lawson, a long-time friend and supporter of Straydog, calls with another rescue;

* Here's Billy Lawson's email [PHOTOS];

* Let's get these dogs medical attention at a vet clinic and board them till we can find a spot for them;

* Prince is at the clinic for his surgery.

TUESDAY April 6 2004:

* Billy Lawson's two rescues are safe and are recovering their health at Kindness Animal Hospital in Garland (address below);

* An earlier email from a contributor to Billy Lawson's new rescues;

* Raining and chilly this Tuesday morning [PHOTOS];

* Prince came through his surgery and is ready to come home.

WEDNESDAY April 7 2004:

* A van load of dogs and pups went to see Dr. Reeves yesterday [PHOTOS TO COME];

* No further updates yet from Billy Lawson;

* The printed newsletters and envelopes are ready to pick up.

THURSDAY April 8 2004:

* Update on Abby and Willow emailed from Billy Lawson;

* An email from Chantal about another stray needing help;

* Bill's response to Chantal;

* A short time later Chantal reported that Animal Control had picked up the dog and euthanized him before Chantal could rescue him;

* Prince is doing fine in his hospital kennel;

* Gayle, Ojay's mom, suggests we feature the older dogs on this website to try to find them homes;

* The printed materials for the mailing have been picked up.

FRIDAY April 9 2004:

* Until every piece is in the mail, I'll be stuffing, sealing, labeling and affixing stamps;

* Saturday Adoption Day as usual.

SATURDAY April 10 2004:

* We're posting early again today because I'm the designated van driver for our Adoption Day at PetsMart in Plano, and the van leaves here at nine a.m. [PHOTOS OF THE ROSTER];

* Thanks to Volunteer Ofelia Gipson 600 of the 2500 pieces made it to the post office by closing last evening.

 

 

PREVIOUS WEEKS (TABLE OF CONTENTS of Previous Updates)

     Thanks so much to all of our contributors! We couldn't keep this operation going without you. Pat always said you all would continue to support us, and you have. And we at Straydog continue to rescue, care for and adopt out homeless dogs exactly the way Pat would have wanted. Thank you so much for your continuing support! ... Bill Arnold