Our
Dream: All Stray Dogs
to
Lucky Dogs _______ Excerpts from

Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log
Written in the evening after tucking all the dogs in for the night at our
HAPPY HOME FOR STRAYS

Our no-kill shelter is funded solely by our and your contributions to
Straydog Inc., a 1997 Texas Nonprofit Corporation with 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Status
(from the Internal Revenue Service - TAX ID #: 75-2756374)
via the ARNOLD STRAY DOG FUND, P.O. Box 1465, Gun Barrel City, Texas 75147
INTERNET ADDRESS: www.straydog.orgE-MAIL: straydog@straydog.org
ADOPTION LINE: 903-479-3497

March 16 - May 31, 1999

Rescued for 77 days, but slipping again We are extremely grateful for your help. We went from a very scary situation--a near zero balance in our Straydog account--to having enough funds to cover the expenses of running our Happy Home for Strays for the past two and a half months with a remaining balance of $1,341.97 at May 31, not a lot when our average expenses are about $1,300 per week, but at least we're afloat! As I sit here in the front room of our little office typing this introduction to my Dog Log excerpts, I am occasionally interrupted by Sandy, the big, loveable Shepherd/Bull Terrier mix, who is now in the large recovery kennel inside this office, resting comfortably after his knee surgery for a cruciate ligament tear of the knee of his right hind leg. This is the very same type of knee surgery that Puppy underwent last year. Sandy had his surgery April 27 at the Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center, and the same wonderful doctors who had cared of Puppy last year, took care of Sandy this time. Thank you Drs. McDonald and Wilkens and thanks to Dr. Cynthia Florek, who brought Sandy out to us with final instructions before we brought him home from the clinic. (See photos of Sandy and Dr. Florek on page 13.) Because DVSC believes in us and what we are doing, they discounted Sandy's operation to their cost. Again, thanks to all our contributors for making all this possible. God bless you all, Pat Arnold

2nd HALF OF MARCH 1999

FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 1999 - ABBY joins our Happy Home for Strays [Pix #1]

Abby, our very newest arrival (mentioned briefly in our last newsletter) is the year-old Australian Shepherd mix who was rescued by a friend of animals in our area.

We don't often know about the background of the dogs we take in, but we do know about Abby. Abby was not a stray; she was not abandoned; she was not homeless. She had spent the first year of her life chained to a stake in the middle of an unshaded back yard with no dog house, and her chain was just eight inches long! Her inhuman "owners" were glad to give her up when the friend of animals who had called us went (accompanied by a policeman) to rescue Abby. Now Abby is here with us, where she will be safe and loved for the rest of her life or until she's adopted into a good home belonging to real, loving, human beings.

Many wonderful people wrote in asking about Abby and sent donations ear-marked especially for her, so here is Abby's Story:

ABBY'S STORY

When the policeman and the nice lady came to visit me,
I was afraid at first, but soon found out they came to set me free.

And I've just come to a wonderful place, like I have never known;
I'm in a nice big kennel now, where I am free to roam.
There is no heavy, short (eight-inch) chain holding me to a stake,
Which had confined me to a life that I had learned to hate.

I have cool water to drink now, all night and all day,
And a big doggie swimming pool, to splash in and play.
I love all of this water, because I used to have none,
I drink and drink and splash and play, and it is so much fun!

There's shade in this nice kennel where I've found a cool spot,
The chain I used to have to wear held me in the sun
where it was always hot.

Now I get lots of good food, two times every day,
The other people sometimes gave me chicken bones
if they remembered to throw them my way.

Danny Boy is my buddy now, and he shares this kennel with me,
We play together all day long, and are as happy as can be!
And when the evening comes, and it is time to rest,
We curl up together, my head near Danny's chest.

It is so wonderful to be free.

I have lots of good, new feelings now, which I had never known:
The feeling of what it's like to be loved and petted and played with
and to have a Happy Home.

I don't know why the other people treated me so bad,
I just know that I am very happy now, and will never again be sad.

[Pix #3 and Pix #4]

Abby's first day at our Happy Home for Strays

This was to be an exciting day for all of us, especially Abby since she would now begin to live a new, happy life. Early this morning I brought Abby home from the clinic, where she had been taken after being rescued. I had been to the clinic to visit her several times during her stay there, so she knew me well and was happy to be with me. She's a little bit timid right now and certainly must have been wondering where I was taking her.

Randy had been here taking care of all the other dogs, and as soon as Abby and I arrived home, I took Abby into the big (fenced-in) play yard, and Randy came to join us. We were wondering just how she would react, now being free to walk around and to run after having been chained her whole life (the chain being so short it gave her barely enough room to go to the bathroom in one spot and lie down in another).

When I slipped the soft leash from around her neck, she looked up at me for a second, as if in disbelief, then turned and took off running. Around and around and around the big play yard she ran, as fast as she could go. I think this would be as close to flying as a dog could get! It was so beautiful to see. For about 15 minutes Abby ran, taking just a few moments every once in a while to come barreling over to jump up on Randy and me, just to let us know how happy she was. Then she'd take off again running at full speed.

[#5 and #6]

Finally it was time to introduce Abby to her prospective kennel companion, big, gentle Danny Boy. We were hoping so much that this would work out and that these two would make a perfect match, because Danny needed a kennel companion and now Abby would need a companion too.

Randy brought Danny Boy to the big play yard to meet Abby, and they became instant friends the second they met each other. After a few minutes of their sniffy greeting the two of them were off running around together. What a relief! It was wonderful seeing Abby so happy, and Danny Boy was very happy too. He was having such a fun time running and playfully tussling with his new friend.

[#7 and #8]

Now that we knew Danny and Abby were going to get along fine, we took them to Danny's kennel, which would now be Abby's new home too, and we stayed with them while Danny showed Abby around. She checked out their shelter, and the two dog houses inside the shelter (seeming to favor Danny Boy's house), and then she spotted their big drinking water bucket (which is about two feet high and two feet wide) full of cool, clean water--and in she jumped! And this is where she spent most of the rest of the day--standing in their drinking water bucket, taking a big drink, jumping out for a fast run around their kennel and then jumping back in the water again. She kept this up all afternoon. Abby had been deprived of water and the freedom to move around for the entire first year of her life, and now she was making up for it.

Even though the weather is often still very cool in March and the fellas all still have the hay in their houses to help keep them warm on chilly days and nights, we figured we'd better put one of the summer "swimming pools" in the kennel for Abby and fill it with water for her, so we wouldn't have to keep refilling their drinking water bucket all day long!

Abby loved this big pool of water! She jumped in and soon figured out how to make a big wave of water by grabbing with her teeth the side of the pool that she was facing and pulling that side of the pool back toward herself (which had to be extremely heavy), thus making a huge wave of water that spilled over the sides of the now bent-in-half pool. This, of course, also emptied the pool, so Abby went back to jumping in the water bucket again, and we ended up refilling them both all day long.

[#11 and #12]

At the end of this evening, after tucking all the fellas in for the night, I took my usual one last look around at them all as the darkness slowly slipped upon us. The evening is always such a nice time. It's quiet. The dogs have had a fun-filled day and are content and happy. Some are quietly playing with their buddies, some are happily chewing on their toys and others are sitting looking out at the hay field watching Star Cat as he dances around chasing bugs in the tall grass. And we can always hear Little Pete's playful, low growly sounds as he and his best buddy, Stevie (the precious blind fellow) quietly tussle around their kennel.

Tonight the only two dogs who were sound asleep at this time of the early evening were Abby and Danny Boy. Abby had spent the whole day discovering what it was like to be free from a chain only eight inches in length. She'd been running and "swimming" all day long. She was just plain tired out from all of her fun on this first day of her happy, new life. And Danny Boy, who is thrilled to have Abby as his kennel companion, was tired out from playing with her all day. I had no film in the camera so I sketched a picture of them as they lay close to each other, nose to nose, with their paws resting on each other, as if they were holding hands. How happy they both are!

[#15 and #16]

[SKETCH #1]

APRIL 1999

THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1999 - Spring Cleaning Begins!

With the weather becoming warmer now Randy and Pete have begun the humongous job of the spring cleaning of all the dog kennels, cleaning out their hay-filled doggie houses and shelters, completing one kennel at a time. This is one major job for sure! First, off come the big, heavy doggie doors which cover the entire front of the shelters to protect the dogs during cold, rainy winter weather. Then out from the shelters come the 44 hay-filled dog houses, and the hay is removed, bagged and hauled away.

[#17 and #18]

After they wash and scrub the houses clean and set them out in the sun to dry, Randy and Pete hose out the insides of the shelters. Then they put the clean houses back into the shady, airy shelters, and finally they bring out the doggie "swimming pools" from winter storage and place one in each kennel for another summer of splashing around fun.

[#19 and #20]

[#21 and #22]

This whole spring cleaning process is quite a job, and takes a few weeks to complete (and is not one of the most fun things to do around here). We are all very glad when it's done and everything is so nice and clean and ready for a long hot summer. THANK YOU, Randy and Pete!