"ALL stray dogs to lucky dogs ... NOW!"

w w w . S t r a y d o g. o r g U p d a t e
POSTED SEVEN DAYS A WEEK AT FIVE P.M.. CENTRAL TIME U.S.A
Straydog Inc., The Arnold Family's Happy Home for Strays, a No-Kill Dog Shelter
A TEXAS NONPROFIT CORPORATION * With 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Status from the IRS * DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE
P.O. Box 1465, Gun Barrel City, Texas 75147 * (903) 479-3497 * EMAIL: straydog147@yahoo.com

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

WEDNESDAY August 24 2005

I called Michael Recio, our overnight man, at five o'clock this morning and everything's okay at Straydog.

I'm getting ready to go visit my dad (at 7 a.m.) at Heritage Manor, a skilled nursing facility in Plano, Texas.

5:00 P.M. UPDATE

Scruffy, Manchas & Skynard go to park

Juana reports ...

     Finally after several weeks since we took in Scruffy and Manchas, they are free of any worms and out of quarantine, and that means that they can go on regular walks to the park and they did, which I took several good photos of. Randy Harris bleached the barn kennel, where they've been staying, very well, and while it dries we put them after their park walk in the fenced yard of my trailer out front. They both enjoyed being in the park for the first time . After Scruffy got groomed a couple days ago, we saw some kind of scares (not sores) on his skin. Probably he had mange or something in the past. I asked Randy to please write him down in our list of doggies that get flax oil. Other than that they are both good to go to Adoption Day on Saturday. I'm pretty sure they will find their forever home very quickly as both are very sweet and good doggies. (I'm hoping anyway.)

Manchas and Scruffy on their way to the park for the first time.

Click here for more photos of Manchas & Scruffy's first visit to the park.

     Not only were Manchas and Scruffy free to go to the park today, but also Skynard got to leave his small little kennel and go to the park. He didn't have any kind of worms, but we still wormed him and kept him in quarantine for a while to be on the safe side. We moved his kennel to a new grassy spot next to where it was so Randy could bleach the ground under where it had been. Skynard also enjoyed very much going to the park. He sniffed, he ran, and he had a lot of fun. We had a little trouble trying to get him back on a leash, but when I called him, he came to me. He's my little friend.

Skynard waiting for his first trip to the park.

Click here for more photos of Skynard's first visit to the park.

 

 

Email from Jeannie's new dad

Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 13:12

From: Tom Shrout

Subject: Jeannie

To: straydog147@yahoo.com

Erin / Juana,
 
I probably won't send anymore mail unless something really unusual happens, but I just have to tell you about Jeannie and my first 24 hours.
 
I told you how good she was on the two-hour trip home. She lay quietly, but was always awake. I left her to roam free throughout the house, but she spent the entire afternoon lying in the middle of the den, again fully awake and alert. I fixed her dinner at six, and she didn't show much interest until I left the room, and then she ate it right down. I took her out to do her business in the back yard and she peed, but that was it. When I brought her back in she seemed interested in exploring while she was still on her leash, so I let her lead me thru most of the house at her speed. When done, I took off the leash and she lay right back down in the den.

Sometime during the next few hours she moved to the dining room, just thru the door that goes into the kitchen. She definitely prefers the carpeted floor to the tile.(???) Whatever suits her is fine with me.  
 
I took her out again at about nine and nothing, so I half expected a mess in the morning or a wake up in the middle of the night.
 
When I turned off all the lights and headed for bed, she was asleep right there in the dining room. I woke up about 45 minutes after turning in and she was asleep just inside the bedroom door about five feet from the head of the bed, on the floor. She spent almost the entire night there, as I woke up two or three times, but just before six she moved down nearer the foot of the bed.
 
We got up at seven, and I put on the coffee and took her outside. Nothing!! I thought I just had to trust her, so I brought her in, fixed her breakfast, and set it down like I had done the previous evening and left the porch. When I got to the kitchen she was right behind me, hadn't touched her food. She just kept looking up at me. I put her leash on, took her back out and she did her business, and the six foot leash is not a problem. We came back in and she ate most of her food, but she did not clean the bowl like the night before.
 
We had a 9 A.M. appointment for a bath at Petsmart, and she hesitated for a moment when I asked her to get in the truck, but I leaned in as far as I could and called her and sort of whistled and she climbed right in. She behaved perfectly, she seems to almost ignore other dogs, and the groomer said she was a good girl while they worked on her. The groomer said to have Jeannie's ears looked at (nothing serious) and I know you said something about that, so I will do that pretty quick.
 
When we left Petsmart, she jumped right into the truck and she is right at this moment sleeping on the far side of my bed, against the wall.
 
I just can't tell you how pleased I am to have this dog. She is just a delight! Thank you both for all that you do, and all those who help you. I feel almost blessed to have so coincidentally found such a good dog. I will always wonder why she had not previously been adopted. I imagine the fact that she is not in perfect health and not a puppy had a lot to do with it. I consider myself fortunate to have her. She will have a good home here.
 
Thanks again,
 
Tom Shrout

Jeannie meets Tom in Jeannie and Jimmy's kennel (with Tina)

 

And thanks to you, Tom, for adopting this wonderful dog

Jeannie came to us in December of 2003 along with Ojay and Little Mackey, all three of whom had to be surrendered to us by the son of their mom, who had been taken ill and could no longer care for the dogs. You mention that you "will always wonder why [Jeannie] had not previously been adopted." We often wonder why all of our rescues haven't been adopted, as they are all great dogs. But once again the numbers explain why: If the kill shelters are putting to death 15,000 dogs and cats per day in this country alone, it's not hard to figure out why so many really great and wonderful dogs don't ever get adopted from the no-kill shelters.

As I've said before on several occasions, if I'm ever looking to adopt a dog, I will go to the nearest kill shelter and take the next one in line for the gas chamber, sight unseen, because I know he or she will be a great and wonderful dog just like all the others who have been fortunate to be born.

Thanks again, Tom, for adopting Jeannie! May y'all have a great life together!

Sincerely,

Bill Arnold

My dad had a good first night

     Dad was glad to see me at seven o'c lock, but he fell back to sleep and dozed on and off most of the morning. But he's calm, no longer angry and has pretty much accepted the situation he's in, and I think he will try hard to get better and hopefully come back home some day soon.