Chesney and the Underdog Jog

Hannah wanted to share her dog Chesney with the Rescue Dog Blog, but there's more to her story than this beautiful dog.  Like many younger siblings, when Hannah was growing up she idolized her older sister and her sister’s best friend Amy.

  Hannah’s childhood memories revolve around the times she spent with her sister and her friends. 

Amy made a particular impact on Hannah because of her dedication to rescuing dogs. 

She fostered, adopted, and raised awareness. When Amy (pictured below) passed away unexpectedly in December of 2012 the whole community was bereft. To honor her, they organized a 5K called the Underdog Jog last June. 

This event was so successful they will now be doing it annually!  What a beautiful idea to honor a beautiful person. For more pictures click on the link above. You can also follow their Facebook page. 

Hannah has done more than help organize the 5K, however. 

Last June she brought home Chesney, a puppy she adopted from Georgia. 

Not long after Chez came home she hurt her shoulder very badly and was unable to walk for 8 weeks! 

During that time Hannah carried her outside to use the bathroom, stayed close by her side, and even fed her from her hand. 

On Oct 1 Chez began to walk again and she has been on the road to recovery ever since. 

Just look at how big she's gotten as she approaches one year.

This picture, below, makes me laugh every time I look at it. That is some serious stink-eye Chez is giving! 

You can follow Chesney on Instagram @fullofsparkle. I know she's going to have a wonderful life with Hannah as Amy watches over them. 

Many thanks to Hannah for honoring Amy's memory by adopting, organizing the Underdog Jog, and sharing this story with us!

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Mr. Wilson Makes It Home

So, this may sound a bit strange coming from a blog writer but. . . I don't "follow" a lot of blogs. I mean, I read a lot of them, I just don't officially subscribe or follow them. However I want to share one I recently found, and just started following today. The name of the blog is Mr. Wilson Makes It Home. You can click on the title to be taken directly to the blog. The subject matter is a beautiful and  very content schnoodle who has been living in his furever home for about one year now. 

His dad, who maintains the blog, has written a book of the same title due to be published later this year. The posts are clever and thoughtful. He covers the day they waited in a parking lot for Mr. Wilson to arrive in Connecticut from Arkansas via Alpha Dog Transport.  He shares pictures of the things Mr. Wilson enjoys doing now in Rhode Island, including his trips to the beach. And he adds various other insights from his life into his postings. 

Take a minute to check out Michael's blog about Mr. Wilson. You'll enjoy another point of view about all the reasons why we need to always be advocating for saving those pets in need of saving. Adopt-don't shop! 

PS. Check out this rare moment of tranquility and peaceful coexistence between Wiley and Jenny. She jumped on the back of the chair, and he played it cool!

 It gave her the courage to get a little closer. You can see his eyes widen in this picture when he realizes she's heading towards him.  

Then they went nose to nose, and after a few moments Jenny calmly jumped down and Wiley returned to napping. It was a beautiful thing. 

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Feel-Good Friday: Dogs are People too!?!

If you're a regular reader of the blog, I bet you don't need any proof that dogs can sense our emotions. We have featured many stories here of people who say it is their dog that rescued them and not the other way around, and I am one of them. You can read Wiley's story via the tab on the top of the page, but there have been many other times that I can sense Wiley trying to hone in on someone's pain or sadness and comfort them. In fact were he not so neurotic himself, and thus in need of reassurance quite often, I think he would be a stupendous therapy dog. He is by far one of the most sensitive animals I've ever known. 

One of my favorite pics, taken by Amy while we were chatting on FaceTime. Wiley was trying to get in on the conversation. 

However, although we may not need evidence or proof about a dog's ability to read our emotions, there was a new study published in Current Biology that offers some. Researchers were able to train 11 dogs to sit still long enough to perform an MRI on their brains. They played around 200 recordings of sounds dogs and humans typically make, including crying, whining, and barking. Well-the barking was probably limited to just the dogs. I don't think they had any humans barking. 

Wiley with Jenny's bowl.

Now, if you want a very technical description you can click here to the original CBS news story.  If you want a very thoughtful analysis of findings such as these, read Gregory Berns's article here.   I'll break it down for you as such: the areas of the brain that responded to the voice sounds were the same in dogs as they are in humans! Not only that, but the amount of brain response varied based on whether the sound was happy or sad.   Uh-huh. Yep. We are not surprised are we readers?

It doesn't matter why our dogs know how to make us feel better, and it doesn't matter how they know how to make us feel better. The fact is, most responsible dog "owners" feel that synergy from their pets, and know there is a mutual benefit to the relationship that is difficult to even quantify. Nonetheless, this kind of research is important, because I believe it supports the absolute axiom that animals need to be treated with respect and protected from abuse. If dogs can feel our emotions and respond to them, how on earth do we justify such deplorable situations as dog-fighting, puppy mills, and of course abuse and neglect?   If scientific evidence will help convince lawmakers to get on board in protecting those who need protection, then I am all in favor of it. 

Wiley is hiding his head behind my shoulder because he doesn't like car rides.

And speaking of laws to protect animals, three cheers for Chicago for passing an ordinance that all pets sold within the city's pet stores will have to come from rescues or shelters from now on. No more propping up the puppy mill pipeline.  There are other major cities, such as Los Angeles, that have this law in place. However, Chicago is the first mid-west city to do so. This is important because there are a lot of puppy mills located in the mid-west. You can read more about the ordinance here.

He fell asleep sitting up watching me eat dinner.


I picked the collection of pictures you see here because I feel they showcase Wiley's distinct personality quite well. Dogs are not interchangeable. They are not replaceable either. Not only are they a part of our household, they are a part of our family, responsive and supportive and in many cases necessary. We didn't need any proof, but we'll take it for sure!

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Happy Fasnacht Day!

It's Fasnacht Day here in Pennsylvania Dutch country. Some of you may know good and well exactly what I'm talking about. . . DONUTS!  Wait, let me back up. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the austere Lenten season. While many Catholic cultures get ready for Lent with a Mardi Gras celebration that may last for days, also known as Carnivale, in truth Mardi Gras translates from French to Fat Tuesday. 

During Mardi Gras people may celebrate by wearing masks, partying, and trying to turn society upside down. 

However for the Pennsylvania German (aka Pennsylvania Dutch) settlers of this region, the time period before Lent, in this case just Tuesday, has always been a day to indulge in all the goodies one might have to abstain from during Lent itself. For previous generations that meant using up all their lard and sugar, and so they spent the day making delicious deep-fried pastries similar to donuts. 

True PA Dutch folk will tell you there's a difference between a fasnacht and a donut from a traditional type of donut chain store. Fasnachts have a thick dough, often do not have a hole in the center, and are only dressed with sugar, powdered sugar, or glaze. 

 (Suzette Wenger/Staff file photo) courtesy of Lancaster Online

And they are incredible. I remember as a pre-teen going to my "Y-Teens" meetings after school to make fasnachts the week of Ash Wednesday. It was always a favorite among my friends and me because all we had to do was wait for them to get cool enough to eat without burning our mouths. The only thing better than a fasnacht is a warm fasnacht.  

 Obviously Wiley thoroughly enjoyed both donuts I got him for the occasion.  I cannot tell you how hard it was to get him to sit without eating the blue donut. And the white one never stood a chance. BOL. 

As you can see, they aren't real donuts, just doggie treats decorated like donuts. In this picture, I realize he is blurry, but that spider-webby thing coming from his mouth is actually drool. I was snapping pictures and I saw the drool drip down. I later realized that it looked pretty funky with the light shining through it.

 Anyway that's pretty much the same way I respond to fasnachts as well.  I hope all my readers get to indulge a bit today even if they don't share the beliefs of the season. Most cultures have times of celebration paired with times of sacrifice. Practiced together they help us appreciate all the blessings we have. 

Happy Fasnacht Day!

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Abby the Mutt

I see so many dogs on Instagram who just make me fall in love with their faces. 

I would gladly feature all their stories if they shared them with me.

 

 However, today's dog, Abby, really captured my attention with her face because she reminded me of Wiley. 

The fluffy ears and the white patch on her chest sort of make her look like Wiley's black sister. 

Although Abby's body hair is shorter than Wiley's, that's because her family keeps it cut short.

Anyway, Abby had a rough start in life. Her original family bought her for $800, having been told she was a "mini black golden retriever." OH MY LORD! We still have so much educating to do. WHY OH WHY would anyone spend $800 on a mutt without doing any research!?! Who are these people who have the kind of money to afford that? If they had looked into it they would have found out there is no such thing as a mini black golden retriever.  Sighhhhhh.

I hate to say it, but these clueless people just got worse and worse as owners. They allowed their three children to sit on Abby, punch her, kick her, and scare her with fire. Luckily Abby's new mom, Mina Rae, visited the family once and saw this mistreatment. She told her mom, and her mom wound up going to the family to drop some heavy hints that she was in the market for a dog to make her daughter Mina Rae feel safe. 

   

That was Abby's lucky day, although it may not have seemed like it at first when she had to get a bath. The above picture was the first one taken of her when she came to Mina Rae's house, right after the bath. That was the day she came home to live with the rest of the pack of dogs in the family, including her brother Sparks, although she is Mina Rae's special girl.

 

When they brought her home they truly realized how afraid of everything she was, not to mention she had mange. Poor Abby.

Now Abby is happy and thriving. She is slowly learning to trust little children. They are still working on men and children who are much taller than her. Abby is taking classes to learn obedience and agility. 

 She loves to be outside and is very sight-oriented.  She also relies on her hearing, but Mina Rae says it doesn't seem like her sense of smell does much for her. 

Hmm. Her loves of the outdoors and her sight orientation, combined with her good looks, make her seem like there's Border Collie in there somewhere. That could explain her similarity to Wiley as well.

We are so happy that Abby has found a safe and loving family. We are sure she will continue to live the sweet life, and we look forward to watching her as she grows.  You can follow Abby on Instagram @abbythemutt.  Thanks to Abby's mom for sharing her story with us!

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