Jack Russells EVERYWHERE

There are a BUNCH for JRT's in need right now. There are a bunch of dogs in need right now. It is crazy, I hate when this happens. I am full to the brim with dogs and I have to say NO to dogs who are slated to die. No sorry can't help this dog or that dog. That is a horrible feeling... "I am sorry you have to die." UGH! SICK!

What am I supposed to do though? I am not going to be any help to anyone if I have too many dogs, can't afford their vet care and I am all stressed out. Totally sucks.

I don't really have time but maybe I do need to do another adoption event. I mean I did get 3 dogs adopted on Saturday and I have a lady who went home completed an application and is coming over Saturday for one of the puppies. She is a great home. So, that is good but it is so much work to get everything together and it takes up the entire day.

I dunno... I wish, I wish for more homes......

Heartworm strikes again

Holy cow can you believe 4th time this year I have a dog with heartworm. I have only had 1 heartworm positive dog in the over 500 dogs I have taken in since I started in December 2005 and now all of a sudden I have had 4 dogs this year with heartworm and 2 of them have cancer so there is absolutely NOTHING I can do about it. Because their owners are lazy sacks of shit they now have a death sentence.

In both of the heartworm positive dogs with cancer could have EASILY been saved if NUMBER 1 they were fixed. BOTH dogs that have cancer would have NEVER EVER EVER gotten cancer if they were fixed. Both dogs had their cancer start in their reproductive organs and then it spread. And actually I had Sasha with mammary cancer just a few months ago but I was able to save her because it did not spread and because she didn't have heartworm.

OMG people make me so angry.

So now I have to find someone to take in a dog with major cancer and heartworms. The dog could live a week, a month, a year or 10 years who knows. He is totally not adoptable but there is not a chance I am going to put him to sleep but now I need to find hospice care for him.

Poor little guy because some asshole didn't neuter him or give him heartworm prevention which is a HUGE $5.00 per month the dog will die. REAL NICE!

Choosing who dies

How the heck am I supposed to decide what 3 dogs can come into my rescue? How can you expect a person to know of at least 10 JRTs in need and get email after email after email of different mix breed dogs that need help and expect that person to choose? How is that fair?

I have 3 open spots in my kennels.. ONLY 3 open spots and I have to choose who lives and how dies. How the heck is that fair, right, possible, etc.

So tonight I sit down and look at all my email requests for URGENT help and decide who is really urgent (meaning knowing the pound and knowing how quickly they kill), who has been there the longest and who has the best chance of being adopted from the shelter and who really needs my help.

I have choose 2 so far and I have one spot left so now I have to decide between the owner surrender that was taken to the pound and dumped b/c the wife no longer wants a dog or the older female who is in a southern Ohio shelter that doesn't stand a chance of getting out?
Who lives? Who dies?

Why does anyone have to die?

I keep thinking of sweet Jimmy who I rescued a few weeks ago. He is such a sweet dog and was adopted last Saturday. I only had that dog for 2 weeks and I just feel in love with him. He NO DOUBT would have died in the shelter. The thought makes me sick!

Not too bad

This weekend wasn't too bad. I had 3 adoptions. GREAT HOMES TOO so I am really excited about that. I have someone coming for Reggie on Sunday. I have someone interested in Ava just waiting to hear back from them and I have a few applications on the puppies. I need to print out all the applications on the puppies, go through them and select the best possible matches for each puppy. It is always so hard to choose homes for puppies. I hate turning people down because I know how much they want the puppy but when someone who lives in a "small apt." wants an Aussie / JRT mix I know it isn't a good match!!

Looks like I am getting in a few dogs this week. UGH! Just what I needed. LOL! Things should start to slow down on the dogs coming in. July is always crazy b/c so many dogs run off b/c of fireworks.

September is the next big month. That is when kids go back to school and the families decide that having a dog while the kids are in school is too much like work so the dump it.

I wish the people that dump their dogs would know / see what their dogs go through after they are dumped. I have a dog right now that was returned to the rescue after 2 years. The dog was perfectly normal when it left. Now he is fat and I am mean like I fear for his health fat and he is scared of the world. He SCREAMS like a pig when you pick him up, he rolls over and pees on himself when you try to put a leash on him. Poor dog.

I sent him to a foster home that is home more and can give him more attention then I can so I am hoping he comes around. I can't put him up for adoption acting the way he does or being that fat.

I just wish people looked at animals as having feelings and not like a new purse that they can throw away when they are done using it.

Well then again people treat each other poorly so why should I expect them to treat animals nicely.

Here is to hoping for some good adoptions this coming up week. There are always more dogs to save!

THANK YOU!

To those who support me.. you know who you are b/c I receive email and updates all the time.

THANK YOU!

Not only do I do this b/c I can't stand the thought of a dog dieing needless because life is so precious and should be treated as such. I do this because of YOU

You keep me motivate and inspired every day. Honestly in my mind I do what I do b/c it needs to be done. You are the true hero!

Happy Birthday to me

This weekend is my birthday so for my birthday I am asking for everyone to cross their paws so that some dogs get adopted this weekend.

I am going to have nearly 30 dogs at my house over the weekend. So, much for doing anything for my birthday.

Come Sunday night many will be in foster homes BUT Friday and Saturday night I am pretty much going to want to jump off a bridge. LOL!

Then Monday 2 dogs will go for the week to get all their vet care done so that will be nice and Reggie gets adopted a week from Sunday.

Oh geez... it will be ok right? LOL

Anyone want to come over this weekend and help me take care of dogs???

UPDATE

Well first of all there are JRT's falling from the sky...... hello overwhelmed I have NOT missed you.. LOL!

I wanted to share with you the response from the lady that is interested in Reggie. I feel so much better about her response to my many "why did you have puppies question" Here is her email

Yes, we did have her breed only once, we had several people who knew her ask if we did ever let her have pups they would be interested. She had 6 puppies and they were taken to the vet for tail docks and to be checked over along with Crickets after birth checkup.
The pups were 8 weeks old or older when they left our place. The owner of the male took one, two friends of ours each took one, the family we got Cricket from took one, by word of mouth a lady in Jamestown (not far from us) picked one, and the last one went to a nice couple with two kids. Everyone was told that they were responsible for their pups shots and vet care and needed to do that asap.
It was so hard to give them up, what a joy they all were. I once considered being a dog breeder as a side adventure, but since the world is so full of homeless dogs I feel otherwise now and encourage adoption to anyone who asks me if we will have more pups or is looking for a dog.
I appreciate your concern for finding quality homes for your rescue cases. I assure you Reggie will have the best of care, lots of room to play and a life full of love.

Talk to you later.

How great is that. Makes me feel so much better. I realize it is sad that 6 puppies were brought into this world but you know what not everyone knows EVERYTHING and the fact that she has educated her self / I have helped educate her is the best outcome. How else are we supposed to stop this over population issue if we don't educate.

Unlike the grumpy lady who yelled at me for me denying her application because her male wasn't fixed this women has taken the steps to "fix" the problem and is now educated in the reason why spay/ neuter is so important.

I received this today and thought it was funny so need to share!

Part 2 of 2 (the not nice email)

My email to her:

Thank you so much for your interest in Heidi. She is going to make someone a special dog. Unfortunately at this time I can not approve your application due to the fact that one of your dogs is not fixed. I was surprised to read this after seeing you had lost so many to cancer. An unaltered dog has much higher risk of cancer then those who are fixed.

If you decided to have your dog fixed please contact us again. You sound like a great home and I know Tammy (Heidi's foster mom) and you had a good conversation.

Why Spay or Neuter?

• If you think that just having one or two litters won't hurt anybody, this fact should change your mind: according to the Humane Society of the United States, 10,000 babies are born in the U.S. on any given day. On that same day, however, 70,000 puppies and kittens are born. Match those two statistics up, and you'll see that there will never be enough homes for all the animals born in this country unless we all take responsibility for spaying and neutering our pets. Change begins with YOU! Spay or neuter your pet!
• Spayed/neutered pets live longer, healthier lives
• Spaying your female pet greatly reduces the risk of breast cancer and completely eliminates the threat of uterine and ovarian cancer.
• Neutering your male pet prevents testicular cancer and prostate problems, and helps him avoid serious health problems like hernias and perianal tumors.
• Males neutered at a young age are far less likely to develop dominance or aggression-related behavior problems, including possession and food guarding, territory marking (lifting his leg on everything in sight), aggression toward other dogs, and "humping" inappropriate objects.
• Neutering your male pet relieves him of the constant urge to go out in search of a female in heat. Ridding him of his urge to roam could very well save his life, and save you from a terrible broken heart.
• Spaying your dog or cat eliminates her heat cycle and the mess that goes with it. Also, females in heat often cry and howl incessantly, develop nervous behavior, and attract every unaltered male dog in the neighborhood to your yard!
• Altered animals are generally more docile and easier to train
• In the span of seven years, an unspayed cat and her offspring can produce 370,000 kittens!
• In the span of six years, an unspayed dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies!

her email back to me:

I have taken a few days to really think this over, and I need let you know I am really

concerned about all the dogs on your site ever getting a good home. When you turn someone

like myself down something is really wrong with the program.

It is really to bad you did not approve my application because of something that will not effect

Heidi in any way. Heidi is altered, and XXXX is in no way a threat to her! He is not altered

because we showed him a time or two, and as you know they can not be altered. I have had

him on cancer walks several times, and he loves every dog an person he meets. It seems to

me your rules are cut and dry, and life just isn't that way. you can control the altering on

pups you rescue, "which is great" but not in every home. All dogs you place will be altered,

and if the home they go to has unaltered pet that dose not make them a threat to the rescued

dog.

Another small tid bit for thought All my pets I lost were altered. Cancer is genetics , altered or not

they will still get it thanks to poor breeding practices. They breed for the almighty $ not health.

You turned down the best home Heidi could possibly have. No body treats or takes better care

of their dogs than we do. They get the best of everything bar none. I don't know anyone who has

made as many trips to Columbus to take their beloved pet to Ohio State Vet for special care.

most never would consider it. How about it would you ? I have been there so many times I lost

count. May be you need to ask for more refs, and really call them. Anyone who knows me knows

how crazy I am about my kids.

If you want to see some well ajusted, happy pups visit my web site XXXX.com

For the sake of heidi, and others like her needing a good home and lots of love I hope you look

a little farther than your application before turning down more good people.

my response to her:

Every dog that I place is ONLY placed in a home with altered pets. Cats and Dogs!

I understand show dogs are not altered but this was never mentioned in your application. Also, if you only showed him 1 or 2 times then why hasn't he been altered since you are not showing him any more?

I NEVER said you were a bad pet owner. I am sure you are a good pet owner however "accidents" happen and that is why it is so important for dogs to be fixed. I did not call your personal reference because I am not going to waste their time talking to them when I know I can't approve your applications because your dog is not fixed.

Please don't be concerned about the dogs in my rescue they are extremely healthy and happy. I have placed over 500 dogs since Jan 2006 and being a small rescue with little funds that is a big number of dogs.

If you choose to alter your dog feel free to contact us again but I am sorry it is (outside of medical reasons verified by a vet or an active show dog) very cut and dry.

Part 1 of 2 (What should I do? Looking for advice)

I received an application on Reggie. Cute little sweet Reggie. Seemed like a good application.
Mom, Dad, one kid in high school and one in college. 30 acre farm w/ horses and has lived there 25 years. Currently owns a JRT female WHO IS NOT SPAYED. UGH! My heart sank. Darn it.

I emailed them back and told them:


Hi XXXX -

I am sorry at this time I am unable to approve your application because your current dog is not fixed. You are taking some serious risks not having a female fixed. Females who have not been fixed have higher risks of breast cancer. Attached is a few pictures of Sasha.. she was thrown out of a car by her owner b/c they couldn't afford the surgery to remove the tumor. A good person took her in but also couldn't afford the surgery and contacted me. I am happy to say that Sasha is happy, healthy and SPAYED in her forever home. We got to the cancer just in time... any longer and she would have been dead.

If you decide to spay our female please feel free to reach back out to us. And for more reasons why spaying / neutering is so important check out the following

Why Spay or Neuter?

• If you think that just having one or two litters won't hurt anybody, this fact should change your mind: according to the Humane Society of the United States, 10,000 babies are born in the U.S. on any given day. On that same day, however, 70,000 puppies and kittens are born. Match those two statistics up, and you'll see that there will never be enough homes for all the animals born in this country unless we all take responsibility for spaying and neutering our pets. Change begins with YOU! Spay or neuter your pet!
  
  
• Spayed/neutered pets live longer, healthier lives
  
  
• Spaying your female pet greatly reduces the risk of breast cancer and completely eliminates the threat of uterine and ovarian cancer.
  
  
• Neutering your male pet prevents testicular cancer and prostate problems, and helps him avoid serious health problems like hernias and perianal tumors.
  
  
• Males neutered at a young age are far less likely to develop dominance or aggression-related behavior problems, including possession and food guarding, territory marking (lifting his leg on everything in sight), aggression toward other dogs, and "humping" inappropriate objects.
  
  
• Neutering your male pet relieves him of the constant urge to go out in search of a female in heat. Ridding him of his urge to roam could very well save his life, and save you from a terrible broken heart.
  
  
• Spaying your dog or cat eliminates her heat cycle and the mess that goes with it. Also, females in heat often cry and howl incessantly, develop nervous behavior, and attract every unaltered male dog in the neighborhood to your yard!
  
  
• Altered animals are generally more docile and easier to train
  
  
• In the span of seven years, an unspayed cat and her offspring can produce 370,000 kittens!
  
  
• In the span of six years, an unspayed dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies!

She followed back up with me saying she had made an appointment with her vet to have her dog fixed on July 28th. Oh good, I was able to educate someone! YAY!

I spoke to her on the phone too and she seemed like a very nice women.

I called her vet office today and almost started on cry. I told the vet office who I was and why I was calling. She asked me the name of the client and I told her. She said that the women's dog was up to date on shots and had a littler of puppies Feb 2009. I said in a disappointing voice "Oh really" and sighed. The women on the phone said "is there something wrong with that?" I told her yes there was. People shouldn't be breeding.

The women at the vet office said there is nothing wrong with being a reputable breeder. I said reputable? Does she show her dog? "Well no" the vet office women said. I said "Then she shouldn't be breeding. There are 4 million dogs that die every year b/c there are too many dogs in this world." She said if people don't breed their pure breed dogs how are people supposed to get pure breed dogs? I said "Oh really, I have 30 pure breed dogs in my rescue right now." She said well we will never see eye to on this then. "What else did you want" she said in a nasty tone.

I was so flustered I couldn't even talk. I can't believe that someone who works at a vet office is so STUPID! I am sorry but STUPID is the only word I can describe her as... I am seriously thinking of writing a letter to the vet. I just can't believe that someone can be that un educated.

Anyway so I emailed the women and asked her:

Was this her first litter?
How many puppies did she have?
Why was she breed?
Do you know who has the puppies?
Were they vet checked? Given shots? Spayed / Neutered before they were sold/given away?

Waiting to see her answers.....

So, my question is. What do you think of this situation? Should I allow her to adopt? Do you think it was a one time, got talked into it, made a mistake will never to it again type of thing?

I mean we all make mistakes and / or don't know what we are doing is not a good idea....the fact that she is going to have her female spayed to me is a good sign that she understands the importance. Maybe by educating her and explaining the importance she will educate other people... maybe she can educate the HORRIBLE women at her vet office.. LOL!!

The funny thing is last week I had another women apply for a dog and her male wasn't fixed. I gave her the same information about the importance of spaying and neutering. But her email back was very mean. I will post another blog with the email chain.. very odd.....

Sometimes dog rescue SUCKS!

It is always a happy world when you place a dog in a home and the family for years tells you how much they love the dog. But if you stop and think about it the way that dog got to that family SUCKS! Someone along the line DUMPED the dog and it was moments away from dieing and I took it in. In was scared, confused and given a new name b/c of course I have no idea what it's name was.

It is taken to a strange smelling place (my farm) and put in a large fenced area with 10 other dogs... kinda like a doggie park. It is so confused. It is then poked (given shots), stuff shoved down it's throat (wormer) and wet stuff dripped on it's neck (frontline). The poor dog is then taken and put in a large kennel with 1 - 2 other dogs.

For the next 2 days more stuff shoved down it's throat (wormer is given 3 days in a row). Then day 4 given a bath and then about 5 days later taken to the vet to be fixed, rabies, heartworm test, health exam, etc.

Really if you stop and think about it the first 10 days of a dog in rescue is very traumatic.

Then once everything has been done and the dog is just starting to settle in to farm living it is picked up by a nice speaking women who takes the dog home to foster it. The dog is again confused for a few days but happy to be sleeping on a couch / bed / lap.

Then after it starts to settle thinking this is home, it is adopted. And is forced to settle in a new home and 9 times out of 10 gets a new name.

LUCKLY! That home lasts for ever and after about 2 years the dog doesn't even remember (we hope) all it went through to get there.

THEN you have the dog that after 2 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years even 4 years is returned because.........

...family is moving
...illness of the human
...illness of the dog
...just decides that having a dog isn't fun any more
...got a new dog and doesn't want this dog any more
...some lame excuse

Now don't get me wrong I have had dogs returned for legitimate reasons but that only happens about 10% of the time.

I guess I am just feeling down b/c I hate when dogs are returned and I hate putting dogs to sleep and I HATE THE PEOPLE that dump the dogs in the first place making what I do (dog rescue) necessary.

Just last night Gloria had to put to sleep a dog, Caesar. Caesar had seizures and was on medication. His family of 5 years took him to the pound and dropped him off with his medication saying they couldn't afford to take care of him any more.

OMG you should have put the dog to sleep then. What this poor dog went through from the time he was dumped at the shelter to the time Gloria put him down last night at the EMERGENCY clinic.. that was a bill of $192.00.. would have been much nicer to him.

This poor dog on the medication acted so strange. The best way to describe it was like a person on speed. He was nervous, jumpy and "watchful," almost parinod.

To make a long story short we figured out what type of seizures he has... they are called cluster seizures. What that means is they have seizure after seizure after seizure and never really comes out of it. He was so out of it that Gloria couldn't get the medicine down his throat. He acted like he didn't even know who she was and the day before he JUMPED into her arms and was licking her face and was SO HAPPY!

When Gloria did get the medicine down his throat he would have a seizure and throw up, poop, pee and then thrash around in it... it was horrible she said, the worse thing she has ever witnessed a dog going through and the worse part was there was ABSOLUTELY nothing she could do to help him. :-(

His seizures seemed to get worse and worse as yesterday went on and by 8pm last night they were so bad that he was acting out aggressively and biting at his cage door and getting his teeth stuck on the wire door. He was making him self bloody thrashing around in the cage. She couldn't take it any more and rushed him to the emergency vet and had him put to sleep.

Yesterday between Gloria and I we spoke to 3 different vets about his seizures and all the different symptoms he was having. And then last night when the emergency clinic vet was looking at him she said that his eyes were moving up and down and that is a sign of a brain tumor. His pupils were dilated different sizes which is also a sign. Dogs who just have regular seizures not caused by a brain tumor their eyes move side to side.

This entire experience SUCKED and I feel horrible for Gloria having to deal with this but we did learn a lot from it.

I told Gloria I want to call the people that dumped Caesar and screaming at them... I know it won't do any good and I won't really do it but I am so upset I really want to. I want to tell them they are horrible people for dumping their dog and how much he suffered since they dumped him and SHAME ON YOU!

Dog rescue just sucks sometimes!

I found a dog

I can't tell you how many emails I receive a week about someone finding a dog. Don't get me wrong I am happy that the person who is emailing me was kind enough to take the dog off the streets but at the same time it frustrates me. Here is why...

Just because a dog is wondering the streets doesn't ALWAYS mean that the dog doesn't have anyone who loves him /her or cares about him / her. Shit happens, that is life and they are a dog and sometimes they get loose / lost.

My sister Toni had a Collie when she was in high school just graduated. SHE LOVED THAT DOG! She still talks about that dog. Well my dad had a stupid beagle who got off her tie out and ran into the field howling and barking at something. My sisters dog followed, beagle came back, the Collie didn't.

One 4th of July I was at my father's cabin in PA. My Aussie who went EVERYWHERE with me and NEVER left my side was there with me too. He had been there a million times so he knew the area. We locked him in the cabin just like we did many times before and were letting off fireworks in the back yard. He for some reason decided to jump out of the screen door and when we came in the cabin he was GONE. I searched up and down the road which was a dead end street all night calling for him. Important to note "DEAD END STREET"

My dad knows most if not all the people in the other cabins on the road.. there aren't that many passed us because we are one of the last ones with electricity. Anyway, the next day I went to the police station, called the county shelter, called local vets and made fliers. Went cabin to cabin asking if anyone had seen him. I carried and to this day (even though he passed away in 2006) carry a picture of him in my car and wallet so my fliers were complete with a picture!

I then made posters and started hanging them up on the dead end rd.

The next day I was sitting the front yard hoping and praying he would come back. A car drove down the dead end road. No more then 5 minutes later my dog come trotting down the road and in the yard like "HI MOM! Where have you been?" He wasn't dirty, he wasn't hungry, he wasn't tired....

15 minutes later that same car went driving back by.

Now mind you Max had tags on him but obviously these people ignored these tags or figured b/c they were long distance numbers that they wouldn't bother to call. You can't tell me for one minute that someone didn't have him. I know they did and that just makes me so mad!

If you are going to pick up a found dog at the least take it to the pound so the owner can find him!

So, yesterday which makes me write this blog I received an email from a women who found a JRT puppy. She already had 2 dogs and couldn't possibly keep him. She wanted me to take him into rescue. I explained to her that I legally can't take in a found dog so she would need to contact the dog pound I would take the dog from there once the legal amount of time was up.

3 OPEN BUSINESS DAYS for strays w/ no tags

14 OPEN BUSINESS DAYS for strays w/ county dog license.

I told her how if I take in a found dog and the owner is looking for the dog I can legally get in trouble if the owner pressed chargers or they could sue me.

Her reply back to me was "I am sorry to hear that your part of Ohio is that way. Where I am from people try to help each other."

OMG REALLY LADY!

Cincinnati a rescue women took in a found dog, placed it up for adoption, the owner were looking for it and found out she had it up for adoption. The women adopted it out before the owner contacted her and the owners sued her winning a huge law suit. The women lost her house over it because she had to fight everything in court and it cost her so much and then she lost.

Toledo a women is hauled away in handcuffs FROM WORK and lost her job because of it! She had taken in a found dog into rescue, the owners found out and pressed charges saying she stole the dog!

Holmes County a women was sentenced to 1 year jail time after picking up a dieing sick dog off the side of the road. She brought the heartworm positive, flea infested, malnourished dog back to health and found it a GREAT HOME! The back yard breeder who the dog escaped from pressed FELONY charges on the women. Felony b/c the dog was valued over $500. The women went to JAIL 1 month into her sentence gave birth to her baby girl.

Ok, the Holmes County one.. I would have done the same thing BUT SERIOUSLY! You can and will get in trouble for taking in a found dog. Sometimes yes a found dog is legitimately unwanted but how are you to know that? If a family is looking for their dog they are not going to know to come to your house and knock on your door. The dog pound is honestly the best way to re unite a dog with his family.

Here is another example written by someone who for 3 weeks searched EVERYWHERE looking for their dog.............

I never thought I would have to post “Lost Dog” fliers but just in case we took all the precautionary measures. Our Australian Cattle Dog mix and Yellow Lab were micro chipped, they had tags with all our info on her and most important, we always keep an eye on them when letting them outside to do their business.

Over a month ago we were giving the two dogs a bath when they took off after a squirrel. They ran into the woods behind our house and kept running. We ran behind them, called for them and looked for them for hours, but they were nowhere to be found. We left the back door to our basement open a crack incase they came home at night, during the day we drove around looking and calling for them. Two nights after they ran away, our Lab was in the house when we woke up. She came through the back door of the basement.

Our Cattle Dog mix was still nowhere to be found. It had been three days and we were really starting to get worried. The thoughts of what if were terrible and hard to ignore. I called shelters three counties deep and I sent a flier to every vet office and rescue within fifty miles. Three weeks went by without any leads.

We were starting to give up hope and fear for the worst when I got a message from a local vet who got a lost dog in who fit the description of our dog. I called back right away and they described the dog to me; cattle dog mix, check, female, check, about ten years old, check, blind, wait….what?

Panic immediately set in, what could have happened to her that she would be blind? Did a car hit her? Was she in pain? Our dog, our loving, sweet dog that I grew up with!

The vet continued and explained that it was a chronic condition, not something that would have happened over a two week time period. After more interrogating questions on my end and finding out the dog did not have a microchip, we confirmed that the lost dog was not our lost dog.

I was even more broken hearted after I hung up the phone. I was at work at the time and I could feel my bones sink deep into my chair. I had very little hope at this point but I still refused to give up. So I called all the shelters again and looked online at their dog lists, I was determined to find her.

It had been a month, and still nothing. At work, I heard a story of a woman whose dog ran away. She found the dog a week later dead in a field. The story brought me to tears; I couldn’t bear to think that my dog, my friend, my companion of ten years could have the same fate. I just couldn’t get those thoughts out of my head. If someone found her, they should have turned her into the county shelter. All I could think was that she was dead.

After five and a half weeks of worry and thirty-nine days of lost and found newspaper ads, we got a phone call from a family who had our dog. They saw one of our fliers at a local store. They found her a week after she went missing.

We worried for five weeks! Five weeks of bad dreams, terrible thoughts, sadness and lonely nights! I am grateful for the family that had her but I am also very bitter that they didn’t turn her into the county shelter when they found her. It is state law that found dogs must be either taken to the shelter or advertised in the newspaper as FOUND. If our dog was taken to the shelter when she was found, that would have been a month less of worry and stress.

I am ecstatic that we have our girl home but at the same time I am making it a priority to inform those who are unaware that it is THE LAW that you must take a found dog to the pound!

If you have found a dog please consider the dog’s family. They are more than likely looking for the dog.

You are worried that the dog will be euthanized so you refuse to turn the dog into the county shelter; the dog has three days for it’s owner to find them then they are legally up for adoption. If you fell quickly in love with the dog, adopt them when they come available.

If you are still not convinced and you would like to keep the dog in your care until the owner if found, put an ad in the paper and hang found dog fliers. It is ILLEGAL to keep a dog without trying to find it’s family first.

The point to this blog post is

DO NOT KEEP FOUND DOGS!!!

If you find a dog, take it to the pound and if you are SO worried about it then go back when the dog would be available to the public and buy it back. Then worry about how to find it a home.

Back from vacation

Well it was nice to get away. Of course every chance I got I was on the computer checking on what dogs needed help and checking out applications as they came in.

Carter went for a trail while I was gone and was officially adopted yesterday. Graycee was adopted yesterday and Daisy was being "baby sat" and her baby sitter adopted her yesterday AND Romeo's baby sitter adopted him.

That leaves me with Rudy (who isn't posted yet), Denny (who I have an application on him that I got on vacation that I love), Eddie (who is still going through treatment), Brutus, Darla, Tootie, Lucky and Ceasar. That isn't too bad. Eddie, Rudy and Darla are the only ones at my house.. and Darla was in a foster home till the day I got back.

I got back at 4pm on Saturday and had arranged a HUGE transport of 6 dogs to arrive around 4:30 :-)

WOW was that an adventure. I am seriously out of my mind.. I should see a therapist.. LOL!

So, the transporter April was on her way with 6 JRT's that she had picked up from Kathy who picked them up on Friday in Columbus... confused yet? Anyway, April is almost to my house when she spots a black lab mix running down the middle of a major rd. Of course as would any animal lover she stops and the dog has tags YAY! She calls me, I call the dog pound and get the address, phone number, name of the owner and the dogs name. April goes to the person's house. No one is home, there is a leash but no water in sight. She tries calling, no answer. She leaves a message and tells them to call me. She heads to my house now with 6 JRT's and a black lab.

The owner of the black lab did call and come get their dog.

Now for the JRT's. We unloaded them 1 by 1 and put them on a tight out so they could potty in the grass and I could get the kennels ready. Now remember I have been home all of a 1/2 hour when the dogs showed up. I unload the 4-wheelers, helped my husband park the trailer, took all our stuff in the house... Of course while doing all this Eddie and Denny who were both in the fenced area where Sam had put them when I got home got out of the fence. UGH! And right at 4:30 my sister, her mother in law and her niece all show up at the farm to see the animals. Her niece is in town for a few weeks. She lives in Michigan.

SO! We unload the JRT's and get the kennels ready. Petey my dog.. bad dog... had spent the week at my best friends house. He was VERY happy to be home but I think he got use to being an only dog. Poor Ava goes walking by Petey on a leash. She is smelling the ground and walked up to Petey and started smelling him. Petey growled.. Petey always growls. I am not sure what happened after that but Ava ended up with 3 stitches in her neck! THANKS PETEY! Bad dog..

Poor Ava is now scared out of her mind.. well she was already shy so that didn't help. I put her in a crate, call my vet who is NOT open but left a message for the vet on call. In the mean time we take another dog out, Q of the create and walk him over to the tie out. Kathy who kept him over night and transported him from Columbus said use caution he seems tense and could bite. When you have been dealing with dogs as long as Kathy and I have been you know when you have a biter even before they bite.. at least 80% of the time you can tell.

Sam took Gilbert out the crate in the car and walked him to a tie out near Q. Q attacked Gilbert. Luckily I was right there and I ran over and REMOVED Q from Gilbert. Poor Gilbert was like what the hell dude! Sam scooped him up quickly and realized his ear was bleeding. And ears bleed A LOT. She took him towards the house to get a cold compress for his ear.

I had removed Q from Gilbert and said NO just raising my voice and pointing at him. It was like something out of the movies. He LUNGED at me, teeth baring, growling like he was possessed. I jumped back and he was tied so the tie out jerked him back so he didn't bite me THANK GOD! Seriously if I wouldn't have jumped back he would have gotten me in the stomach that is how high he was lunging. He stood at the end of the tie out with it totally tight chomping and growling at me for at least a good minute. No one could get near him for at least 15 minutes. You know how dogs pull on a leash so they are running but almost in place... yea that is what this dog was doing but he was trying to eat me.

We all just left him alone. Not like we could get near him.

So, the vet finally called back and I told him about Ava and he was the office so he said come on in. I told him I had a second dog that needed to be put to sleep. He said yea, that is fine bring him in too.

I took a crate walked over to Q with the crate between me and him. This was nearly 20 minutes later so he had calmed down... I set the crate on the ground and he walked into it and stuck his head out. I unhooked the tie out and shut the door doing all this VERY cautiously.

That dog scared me! I mean I have NEVER had a dog go after me like that NEVER! Not like that anyway.

April took both Ava and Q to the vet and all was taken care of.

Ava is at April's now being fostered and has 6 stitches. Poor dog.

After all that craziness, I got everyone else put away and settled in for the night. Then I mowed my front pasture where I let the dogs out. I mowed 2 tennis balls and my ball launcher :-( I am so upset about my ball launcher.. I LOVE THAT THING. I wish I knew who left it out there.. grr.

That was it for Saturday............... ON TO SUNDAY!

Sunday I let the dogs out around 11am to play in the fence, filled up their baby pool and they played all day till about 4pm. 3 dogs were adopted and I got in a mom and 7 puppies :-) JRT / Aussie Mix puppies. Who thought that was a good idea.. LOL! My two favorite breeds mixed together... man it is going to be hard to let them ALL GO.

I will be sure to get pictures up ASAP so stay tuned.

WOW!

Last night was a good night. Busy but good...

Mercedes adoption was finalized.

Wyatt got a GREAT HOME! Poor guys face looks horrible but I told her all about it before she came over so she was fully informed.

Nikki got adopted but the cutest family. Oh you should have seen this little girl. She was so cute... she was 15months old and so little and just happy happy happy. Too cute

Daisy went on a trial / baby sitting adventure. They are going to keep her until I get back from vacation and then let me know if they want to keep her. How can you not want to? She is a GREAT DOG!

Good but busy night!

It puts me in the BEST mood when dogs find homes.