Enough said....

New arrivals

We have had 6 new arrivals plus Minnie... 2 pictures are missing... this week.

So excited to have them in the rescue and know they are safe.

Oh and I ordered 50 microchips NO dog will leave the rescue without a chip. Realizing that even though Minnie's chip would have taken her back to the women that adopted her from me, at least she wouldn't have stayed very long at the pound. Poor baby was there a WEEK!!

Puppy Party!

The Puppy Party went really well last weekend. I can't believe how many people came. AMAZING! The rescue was able to raise some much needed funds as well.

Here is a video of the Party

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy72AmsSMY

I still have more pictures to download so hopefully I will get those up soon.

That is my dog

On Monday after the 5th annual Puppy Party I took a vacation day from work so I could recover. I woke up and immediately grabbed my computer. I had to see what pictures had been down loaded, try to get through all the emails I had received and send out a few quick emails. As I was on the computer I thought to myself, we have had a good number of adoptions and I would really like to help a few more dogs before the weather gets bad and I am limited in the number I can take in.

I go to the Lorain County Dog Pound website. Since that is my local shelter I figured I would see what was there that needed help and what I had room for. As I was scrolling down the endless list of dogs this cute little JRT face popped up. OMG THAT IS MY DOG! I know it is.

I couldn't remember her name right away but I knew it was her. I went to my pictures of all my placed rescue dogs and started looking in the 2008 file, nope not there so I looked at the 2009 file. YEP there she was, Minnie a JRT I placed in 2009. I quickly went to my data base to look up the owner. We will call her Sarah. I emailed Sarah right away:

Hi Sarah -

Do you have Minnie? I am only asking b/c there is a dog at my local shelter that LOOKS JUST LIKE HER! Just making sure she is ok.

Thanks,
Amy

Now keep in mind my dog pound is closed on Monday's and according to the website she is going up for adoption on Tuesday morning. It also stated that she was picked up as a stray about 20 minutes west of my house. Sarah lives 15 minutes East of my house. She was picked up on the Tuesday before. So the poor baby had been there a week.

I immediately called my dog warden on his cell phone. I told him, you have my dog. I adopted that dog out in 2009. I KNOW that is her. He was on vacation but said that the dog would not go up for adoption on Tuesday or be euthanized. That I just needed to come pick her up on Tuesday morning. Ok, perfect!

I then received an email back from Sarah.

Amy,
It's not Minnie, but she must be cute!

I didn't believe her. I don't know why I didn't believe her but I didn't. I thought I won't believe her until I have the dog in my possession and I can know it isn't Minnie.

I emailed her back:

OH MY! IT LOOKS JUST LIKE HER! Well I am going to get her tomorrow.

Since I had to work on Tuesday and the pound doesn't open till 10am. I had my mom go get her for me.

On Tuesday morning I received this email from Sarah:

Amy,
I became curious about the dog you saw at the shelter. I must admit Minnie has actually been living with an older gentleman,a street away from me. He was a customer where I work, which is several hundred feet from both of our homes.
.Until I started school I saw them regularly and she stays with me when he takes trips and I would walk her when the light were on in his house when I walked Rudy in the evenings. The last I saw them was about a month ago, he said he was going to Boston in Sept. to his daughters wedding but didn't need me to keep Minnie because he was taking her with him. Just spoke to him on the phone. He said he didn't want to tell me but Minnie was hit by a car in front of his house 2 wks ago! Didn't want to believe this, looked up pet finders and saw a dog that looks just like Minnie in cage #29. Not sure what to believe. Amy, I know I should have talked to you first but it seemed like the perfect solution, and we were all very happy to be able to have her in our lives. He was lonely and had lots of time to spend with her. I felt so bad leaving her in her cage for hours. I made him promise if he couldn't keep her for any reason I needed to know and that I would contact you.
I hope it is Minnie that you pick up today. Broke my heart when he told me she died. I can only imagine he was too embarrassed to tell me he could no longer take care of her.

This was my response:

WOW Sarah. At the moment I am speechless and really dissapointed. I need some time to think about what has happened. With that said can you please confirm if the area where the dog was found, is the area where Minnie was living?

Now let me add a little more uncertainty to this story. I am at work, so I can't verify for sure if this is Minnie or not. I had a HUGE feeling it was but I couldn't confirm until I got home. AND Sarah has another dog she adopted from me in 2007.

I finished out my day at work and went home. YEP! That is my dog! That is my Minnie.

I emailed Sarah and asked her to call me. We talked on the phone for about 20 minutes. She stated that Minnie went to go live with the old man in the winter of 2010. My question is how long has she NOT been with the old man? Apparently the old man is in Boston for his daughters wedding and Sarah will not have the chance to speak with him again until he gets back. I really want to know how long she has been missing, why the old man said she was hit by a car and how she made it 45 minutes away from where the old man / Sarah lives..

She was clean, well taken care of but how the heck was she picked up as a stray IN ANOTHER COUNTY and almost to the next county over from that?

Sarah said she made the old man promise he would tell her if he could no longer are for Minnie and I stopped her and said "Sarah you promised me and signed a legally binding contract and yet you didn't follow through on your promise or tell me the truth so why would you expect him to?"

When I got home yesterday all I wanted to do was huge poor Minnie and wish she could talk to me. Tell me where she has been and for how long and how did she get there. I wanted to cry because I had failed her.

I took her out of a shelter and adopted her out to someone I thought I could trust and I check in at least once a year to make sure everyone is doing ok and I always remind people if you need anything or you need to return the dog I am here for you / for the dog and will take back the dog if that is really what is in the best interest of everyone.

I don't understand how this could have happened. Then I start playing all the what if's through my head.
What if I wouldn't have checked the website on Monday. Where would she be now?
What if the county over picked her up instead of my county b/c she was right on the boarder?
What if someone found her and kept her?
What if she really was hit by a car?
What if I emailed or called Sarah and said "how are the dogs" she replied back Minnie was hit by a car and is dead and MONTHS later I see a dog that looks just like her in the shelter. But I am full and can't take that dog in but don't even think it is Minnie b/c well I was told she is dead?
What if she was picked up by a dog pound, killed for space and thrown in a dumpster like they do with the bodies?
Did I really save her or just give her the worse 2.5 years of her life?
What is going through her mind right now?
Does she know she is safe now?
Does she trust me?
Will I fail her again?

Getting Ready

This Sunday is the 5th Annual Puppy Party. OMG 5 years, I have been doing this event for 5 years. HOLY COW! I can still remember the first one, it rained. LOL

This year I am so excited, we have so many wonderful volunteers and foster homes. We have AMAZING adopters some of which have turned into foster homes or adopters. I feel blessed to have so many amazing people surrounding me. This year has definetly been 2011 suck fest, personally and for the rescue but as I have always been told when you are going through hell run as fast as you can b/c at the end of it good things to come.

I might be jinxing my self but I feel good things to come.

Hoping that soon the "stolen" dog issue will be taken care of... I haven't really thought about it much since I found out about all the lies that were being circulated... why lie? It gets you know where but in lots of trouble and when you get older (meaning not in school) you can end up with heavy lawyer fees, jail time, losing your job, ya know really bad things that can really hurt you. Mr. Crazy is still crazy as ever but the funny thing is everyone he complains to knows he is crazy. LOL!

Things are going good on the personal front too. Things are changing and that is a good thing... will explain more as time goes on.

I am really looking forward to the rest of this week and for the Puppy Party to come. It is going to be great!

We found Bea last Friday, the dog that had been missing since Aug 16th. And honestly that was like the turning point for me. Friday I mean.. good things.

I had someone say something to me that really meant a lot to me on Thursday night. She said "You are always doing nice things for everyone, you deserves someone doing something nice for you." That just made me feel good, I do nice things for people b/c it is the right thing to do. Someone had posted on Facebook today that "helping people or animals makes her feel like she has a purpose in this world. It is hard enough getting through life, we can't do it alone"

DEAD ON! That is what I always say "I feel like I need to have a purpose, that everyone was put on this world to have a purpose." Regardless of what that purpose is I truly believe it, you just have to find yours and run with it.

I don't want to take her to the pound.

THEN DON'T!

UGH! I hate nothing more then being threatened. Nothing makes me more mad then reading a big long email about how awesome of a dog you have but you are moving, new job, baby, etc and need to find the dog a new home and if you can't the dog is going to the dog pound.

WHY???!!!!! Does every (well close to every) email end with "I don't want to have to take her to the pound" "If she isn't gone by XXX date I will have to drop her off at the pound"

OMG PEOPLE! Do not try to make me feel like shit b/c you can't own up to your responsibilities.

That just seriously makes me so mad.

What do they think they are going to accomplish by saying that? Do they think oh those rescue people are all crazy and will NEVER let a dog go to the shelter... hahaha want to bet?!

Ok, so I do hold back the fact I want to choke the crap out of the people who say that to me and I write them back with advice and let them know that a shelter is a not a place for a dog and why.

I pray to God they listen.

It is all about the dog

It is hard to try to figure out what is going to be the best home for a dog. A lot of it is just getting to know the dog and going with your gut. Trust me telling someone that they can't adopt a dog isn't a fun thing to do. I don't want to disappoint anyone but too many times I have let the adoption go through and found out in the end I was right.

I have the most amazing dog right now. I LOVE HIM! And this young lady sent in an application for him. Honestly she would probably make a great pet owner. Her family has two dogs now and take great care of them, their vet gave them a good reference. However, I don't think this dog is a good match for the ones she already has. She emailed me 3 times in the course of a few hours last night and then had her mom send in an application. I almost want to say, your reaction is part of my gut feeling... your not mature enough to handle the responsibility of a dog who has special needs.

Well hopefully my last email to her "mom" will help her understand. If I had another dog that would be a good match for them I would be happy to adopt to them. I just don't feel this particular dog is a good match and I am not going to let my dogs just go to whoever. They need to be happy. End of discussion.

Learning to say NO

That is number one the hardest thing about rescue. "NO"

Why? Because no means DEATH!

I am not being dramatic, it is the truth. If I am sick, stressed out, overwhelmed, busy, have things going on where I can't take in dogs in need that means DEATH to those dogs and I have to live with that FOREVER!

As a Rescuer (dog, cat, horse, etc). THERE ARE NO BREAKS! There are no holidays, there are no vacation, there is nothing called ME TIME. As a rescuer you might go on vacation but you are never far from a phone or your email b/c what if someone (meaning animal) needs you? If you aren't there for them they will die.

I believe 100% there is nothing more stressful then being in rescue... Ok maybe a emergency room nurse but at least patients can talk to you and tell you what happened and the end result isn't I saved his life but he was aggressive and the decision was made to humanely euthanize.

I work a 50 hour work week and just want to go home and take a nap, make dinner, go to the grocery store, etc. WELL TOO BAD! You have dogs to feed, walk, clean up after, give attention to. Dogs that NO ONE ELSE WANTED that some jerk face dumped and made your problem. You have the flu and you can't get out of bed. TOO BAD you have to you have dogs to take care of. You hurt your leg and are on crutches, doctor's orders you must stay in bed with your leg elevated. TOO BAD you have dogs to take care of.

Do you know how much money I spend on people taking care of dogs, rescue dogs not even my own dogs when I can't. UGH! My car could be paid off by now. LOL!

It is hard to learn to say NO I can't take that super cute dog in this week because you know that you are probably there last resort but you have to remember that you can't help anyone if you are stressed out, overwhelmed, not feeling well, etc. It is hard to learn to have that balance. VERY HARD!
And IT SUCKS MAJORLY!

To all the dogs I said no to this week, I am sorry.

Do people REALLY listen?

I am starting to wonder if I am wasting my time telling people things. Seriously! And I am not talking about just in dog rescue at work too. I am a recruiter... not a head hunter but an internal corporate recruiter. My company needs a position filled and I find the person to fill it. We have a packet of information that goes out to a candidate when we hire them, there is a letter with that packet of information that tells them exactly what they need to do... what to do with the paper work (complete it and bring with you on your first day), come in at 8:30am, ask for XXX manager, return the letter signed stating you are accepting the position by XXX date. Yet I still get the questions "what do I do with the paper work" "what time do I come in" "who do I ask for" Rude or not I always tell them "all this information is in your letter."

The same thing happens in dog rescue, I go over all the important points of the adoption contract, I walk everyone through EVERY piece of paper in the folder I give them with the dog, I explain what vaccinations the dog has had and when they will need to be repeated, I explain the heartgard and frontline EVERYTHING! I even have a sheet of paper that says "INFO TO KNOW" this explains that we worm the dogs, the importance of frontline, the importance of heartgard (even include a pamphlet on heartgard), explains the shots what they are for and when they have to be repeated, explains the spay/neuter surgery..... EVERYTHING!

Yet I still get calls "My dog has flees. I thought you put flee stuff on him when we adopted him" I explain "Yes, sir I did but it has to be applied every month!"

OMG!!!! Are you freaking kidding me.

Or I tell people "when you get home treat her like a puppy, don't give her free run of the house, don't trust her. she doesn't know where she is, this isn't home yet and won't be for at least 30 days. Yes, she is housebroken but she may still have accidents until she knows where the door is and what your routine is."

I get a phone call the next day "We got home and let her run the house to see everything and she pooped in the kitchen when we weren't in there."

OH DID SHE REALLY! NO WAY. aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I honestly want to say "You are a F-ing idiot. I told you not to do that!!!" But I don't... I re-explain everything I told them the day before....

UGH! Do people ever grow up? Do they ever listen? I am tired of explaining the same thing over and over again to adults.

As I am writing this I am thinking of all the dogs that are purchased from a pet store or money grubbing assholes.. sorry I mean breeder (the bad ones). I am thinking they don't tell the people anything about the dog, they just take money and send on their way. they don't check on the dog, they don't even care what happens when it leaves their possession. Those poor dogs....Oh wait, then I remember... I END UP WITH THEM!