Abby (and Lilly)

Some of you will definitely remember Lilly.

 She was a precious little puppy when we first met her, then we saw a play-date she had with Leroy, and the pictures continue to come as she has grown a bit over the past few months.  

 

 She was a year old in September. 

When Mark and Janelle adopted Lilly, they did more than one good deed that day. 

Not only did they spare Lilly from the pound, but as Mark's parents, Charles and Peggy, watched all the joy and success Mark and Janelle had with their rescue dog, they were inspired to get one for themselves.

That's when Abby came into their lives last April. She was at the Hillside SCPA for just two weeks when they brought her home. How does such a pretty pup with a pug pedigree wind up in a shelter? Well lots of people would assume she must be naughty or aggressive or something but nope-the owner was just moving somewhere new with a no-pets policy.  Sigh. . . well their loss was clearly Charles and Peggy's gain. 

Abby loves her new home, especially sitting by the window watching for all living things outside. She takes long afternoon naps,  chases her tennis ball, and has a special signature howl.  Sounds like a dream life!  

 

She and Lilly enjoy playing together.  Mark says they seem to be having an informal contest over who can drink and spill their water the fastest. 

Not only do they wrestle, but they also like to take turns running down the steps, then back up again, immediately, as quickly as possible. BOL.  hmmmm. Mark is a professional personal trainer. Is that where they got the idea to do the stairs workouts? Don't be bringing your work home Mark!

Isn't it great to see the life Abby and Lilly have?  They've found their way into loving homes and a lifetime of happiness. 

Share their story with your friends on Facebook and Twitter and share your story with us. Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com.

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Rosie

Today we have Rosie!  Although Rosie is about 1 1/2 now, Kaylee's family has had her since she was a puppy. That means we get some puppy pictures with this post!

 

 Yay for puppy pictures!  I like when we can include stories of puppies because it debunks the myth that rescue pets are all older and that if someone wants a puppy they need to go through a breeder. That's a bunch of bologna! 

Rosie is a pit bull mix, and she and her brothers survived an October snowstorm in 2011 living in a cardboard box with their mom. :(

 She came to Hillside SPCA with her mom and siblings in early November. Kaylee and her family saw a picture online of Rosie's mom chained to a tree, ribs protruding, when Hillside rescued her. 

When they went to the shelter when the puppies were ready for adoption, Rosie was the one they knew they needed. She had scars all over her face and back, and her paw was chewed up.

 

 When she came home with them they were thrilled to see she got along well with their other two dogs, Brandi and Bruin.  Rosie was now officially a part of the family!

Today Rosie is a serious face-licker.  Another one of her favorite pastimes is chewing rocks and sticks.  

 

Maybe she is part goat! haha. In any case Kaylee, her sister Megan, and the rest of her family love Rosie, and Rosie loves them.

Thank you Kaylee for sharing Rosie's story!  And please thank your Dad for rescuing Rosie too. Who else has a rescue story they want to share? Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com.

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Uncle Cujoe

This is Cujoe (right) and Gracie (left).  Wiley's Uncle Cujoe and Aunt Gracie in fact. We've featured them before on the blog. My parents adopted Cujoe from the Hillside SPCA, the same shelter Wiley came from. 

Cujoe was found running through a cemetery near the shelter.   They believed he might have been dumped by a puppy mill. 

Most of Cujoe's day consists of this:

He finds my mom and plants himself securely beside her. If she is going to be busy for awhile he'll lie in one of his many beds or curl up on the chair with Gracie and/0r my dad.

Poor Cujoe has had a rough week.  He had surgery on Monday to remove a few lumps found on his gums, and 13 of his teeth. Awww poor pup. : /  Look, in the picture below he was posing for us, showing the need for the upcoming surgery.

When I spoke to my parents they said he was pretty out of it for about 24 hours after the surgery, but by mid-day Tuesday he was figuring out how to eat with his cone on, and was stealing food from his sister's dish.

Will you keep Cujoe in your thoughts and prayers this week? We need a speedy recovery so he can get back to living the good life and enjoying the way my parents spoil him. In the meantime, this is what he has to say about wearing the cone of shame:

Send your rescue stories to the blog please!  Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com

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Feel-Good Friday: Coco

We are having a quickie for Feel-Good Friday. Interpret that how you will, but all I'm trying to do is tell you a happy little story about Coco.

Many of you will remember the terrible and deadly tornado outbreak that devastated Alabama in April of 2011.  Like so many natural disasters, many pets were displaced during this tragedy.  A Facebook group was set-up to help reunite owners with these poor lost pets.

A few days ago I saw a picture pop up in my Facebook newsfeed from a friend who works at the Hillside SPCA.  Hillside puts a tag on all their adopted pets identifying them with a serial number and Hillside's phone number. The adopters must sign a contract promising to keep that tag on their pet at all times. 

This friend had posted Coco on her Facebook timeline, asking her friends if anyone knew Coco's owner.  It turns out that Coco was found just a few days ago by the Cherokee County Humane Society, who contacted Hillside when they saw her tag. Hillside looked her up and found her owner's name and phone number, but when they called the number it was disconnected.  Someone from the shelter remembered he was a trucker who drove a Pennsylvania-Alabama route.

Oh man.  All that hard work and record keeping and poor Coco was still without a family?

NOPE. 

People reached out. People posted on message boards online specifically for truck drivers, trying to contact Coco's adopter.  A worker from the shelter, Tricia, drove past the address they had for him here in Pennsylvania to see if anyone was home.  

People. . . .this is Feel-Good Friday!  Of course it has a happy ending. Coco lived with a friend of the trucker's in Alabama, and she has been reunited with her owner!  I don't know all the details, but I do know there were a lot of people trying to help Coco get home, and she did, and that's one less lonely and stray dog. Hooray for Hillside SPCA tags!

Here's a lovely little thought to help you enjoy your weekend:

Thanks for checking in. It's not too late to submit a picture of your pet for The Great Outdoors! Plus, we always accept rescue stories anytime you have one you'd like to share. You can email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com

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Sunday's Gratitude: Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all our readers!  

Whether you celebrate Easter as the resurrection day of Jesus, or in the secular tradition of eggs and bunnies, or not at all, Easter still symbolizes the coming of SPRING for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. 

 

Here on the blog it's an EGGcellent (<-- sorry, I just felt I had to) excuse to make Wiley wear bunny ears as we celebrate all God's creatures, great and small. 

Since I have connections, I am able to share some AVAILABLE bunnies and other little critters. These animals are all at the Hillside SPCA in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.  Clicking on any of their pictures will take you to the Hillside's website.

Meet Juliette

Look at Stormy's hair!

This is Carmine.

 

This is McKinley.

Godly the guinea pig

Mr. Bunny

Polly Gee, Kester, and Mr. Funk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Wizard.

Chuck, a deaf guinea pig.

Magic the bunny.

As I said above, these animals are all currently available.  Unfortunately there will likely be more all too soon, as it is very popular to buy small pets around this time of year, rabbits being the obvious choice. Many people do not realize the time commitment and level of care required for these animals, and wind up dumping them at a shelter. Special thanks to Sarah, who volunteers at Hillside SPCA and is also Lilith's mom, for sharing these pictures with the blog.

Now, I have two more pictures to share. The first one is Wiley sitting up while wearing his bunny ears, and it is just too cute.  It's hard to tell he's sitting up because I wasn't prepared to take the picture and didn't have it framed right. Sorry.

 

The next picture. . .well. . .brace yourselves.  You might want to even cover your eyes.  Wiley really misunderstood what I meant when I told him to pose like a bunny. He went right for the centerfold pose!  He's so immodest. 

Shame on him. 

Thanks for making time for us! Hope you are having/have had a lovely weekend. Happy Easter. Now get out there and take some pictures of your pets outside for the Great Outdoors Photo Share!

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Sunday's Gratitude: Overlooked Adoptables

 By the time we brought Wiley home, he had already been adopted and returned twice in his two weeks at the shelter.  When he was put on Petfinder.org, he already had many stipulations: no children, no other dogs, no cats. Right away the number of homes who would welcome him was shrinking rapidly. Add to that the fact that he was considered an adult, and a larger breed, and his odds weren't very good.

That's her tongue, btw, in the center blending in with her bandana.

 
 Mercifully, Hillside SPCA is a no-kill shelter. Wiley could have stayed there forever if he needed to. Someday I'll fill you in on his whole story, but today's focus is the reward that comes from taking in an overlooked adoptable.  It's not something everyone can do. I do not judge people for passing on these potential pets because if the circumstances are not just right then taking in a pet like this won't work. However, if you think there's a chance for one of these dogs to work in your household, the pay-off is unimaginable. 

Based on a survey of shelters conducted by Petfinder, these are the most-reported qualities that make it difficult to adopt out a animal:

• advanced age
• medical issues
• breed prejudice (Pit Bulls being the most obvious example)
• shy pets/pets with socialization issues
• pets who won't get along with other pets
• large size
• color: black

I'll bet none of those surprised you except maybe the last one.  Did you ever hear about the Black Dog Syndrome?  Its proof is merely anecdotal, but the next time you go to a shelter look around. Black dogs get adopted less frequently. Theories as to why vary, and if you're interested in learning more you can check out an article the Today Show shared here.

The next time you feel a tug on your heartstrings to adopt a pet (ADOPT, not buy-if you feel the urge to buy, take a nap until it passes), consider if any of these animals would work in your household. Just this week alone we heard about Davey, who was too hyper for most folks to take a chance on, and Jesse, who is a lovable sweetheart who would have been passed on for both his allergy issues and color. Now he's a low-maintenance member of the family.  

 I cannot stress enough how much Wiley has changed for the better since he's come to our house.  Rosco would probably still been languishing at Hillside SPCA if Katie and Matt hadn't had hearts called on to take in the cast-offs. He's a large older male Pit Bull!  And HE'S PAWESOME!

 This is a Facebook page Hillside started for their Overlooked Adoptables. 

It's a great idea and I'd like to support them in their endeavor.  The gorgeous dog whose pretty face is splashed all over this post is Fanny. I met Fanny when two Hillside SPCA volunteers, Alex and Sarah, brought her into the school where I teach for a presentation. She is soooo sweet. 

 Here she is licking the skin off Luke's face, and I got plenty of wet kisses from her too. She adored everyone and acted like she had been coming to school her whole life. She was calm and casual and cute!  So why the heck doesn't she have a furever home!?! Here is a link to Fanny's Petfinder post.  You know I don't often share available pets because most of my readers have a houseful already! But ever since I met this girl she's been on my mind and heart so please pass her along if you think she'd be a good match for someone.

Wiley and I just had to share our thoughts on this topic. As I've said above, not everyone, even the biggest animal lover, has the right circumstances to take in an overlooked adoptable. I feel very strongly that it's not my place to tell people what kinds of animals to adopt; it's too personal of a decision. However, I feel like the chance we took on Wiley has repaid me in ways I never thought possible, so I can't pass on the chance to go "Rah Rah!" for these pets.

Now, we are still accepting your sleeping pet photos, and we always want your rescue stories. Have a wonderful week and check in often!

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Source:
Becker, Dr. K. "Will These Pets Ever Find Homes?" Healthy Pets.  1 Feb. 2012. web. 8 March 2013