Freckles

Hi there! This is Freckles. Freckles is a part of Sylvia's family, which includes Coco and Candy.  Sylvia and her husband were perfectly happy with their foursome, but Freckles was destined for their household too.

In 2007, an elderly woman rescued Freckles from a puppy mill as a gift for her ailing husband Jimmy.  Jimmy was a friend and client of Sylvia's and her husband, and he had just lost his 17 year old Cocker Spaniel, Bella. 

 

 His wife thought Freckles might lift his spirits, but unfortunately Jimmy passed away before Freckles could be of any real help or comfort.

In fact Freckles, at six months old, actually became a bit of a problem, as his owner was too busy to deal with him and he was left to his own devices to wander the home and the yard. He became protective of the house and barked at Sylvia's husband whenever he was there. Of course, eventually they certainly put aside their differences, as you can see below.

Freckles's owner asked Sylvia and her husband if they could dogsit Freckles for a little while so she could tend to funeral arrangements and deal with everything.  

Coco and Candy wanted NO PART of a new puppy in the house, until Candy realized Freckles had come with TOYS! 

Eventually Coco relented as well, although she took on the motherly role, putting Freckles in his place (which she still does), and always being the boss, second in command only to Sylvia and her husband.

Time went by and the pack settled in; by the time Freckles's original owner approached Sylvia and her husband and asked them to keep him they had already made a place for them in their home and hearts.

Freckles took to Sylvia right away, and would even jump the fence to chase after her when she left for work. 

He is also Sylvia's therapy dog. He is especially perceptive to her depression and anxiety. He actually sleeps right around her head.  This way he can wake her when she is having an anxiety attack in her sleep.

He is always by her side, and when she is too depressed to get out of bed he brings her husband to her side. And apparently he's always sticking his tongue out!

Freckles, you are precious.  You have helped Sylvia more than you will ever know, and she freely acknowledges, as most rescue pet owners do, that the dog rescues the owner just as much or more than the other way around.

Thank you Sylvia, for sharing Freckles's story.  Readers, I have so many cute pictures of Freckles and his sisters that I can't even fit them all here. I will save them for a bonus post. Woohoo!

In the meantime keep spreading the word about the blog, and share your own rescue story too! Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com 

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Akira

 This is Akira, a Great Dane/Bull Arab mix.  She lives with Jenna . . . guess where? 

 In the Land Down Under. . . Australia!

 Isn't the internet an amazing tool for bringing like-minded people together?

 

 Look at Akira's puppy picture above.  Is it any wonder Jenna fell in love with her and rescued her from the RSPCA in Australia when she was just 8 weeks old? And now she is a great big lovable and loving "mega sook." Those are Jenna's words to describe her. She says she would go without food and water if it meant getting love and attention. Below she is in her typical position, right next to Mom.

 Akira has a sister, Meko, and believe me we will get to her later, but Jenna tells us they both love car rides, camping, and going to the beach.

 Akira is now 3 1/2 years old and living the good life with her furever family. Can you imagine trying to tell that face, below, that she can't have what she wants?

The next time we talk about Jenna's house, we will get to Meko. She's a whole other animal, just like any of our own pets and the way we know their personalities vary so much.

Do you have a rescue story to share? We would love to feature your pet. Plus, don't forget we are still taking submissions for the Great Outdoors photo share.  All pets are welcome, even if they aren't rescue pets. The only criteria is that they are enjoying something outside.  Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com

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Sunday's Grab-bag

This is our look of apology. Yesterday we sat through 22 innings of baseball. Kutztown usually plays a double-header on Saturday conference games, and each game is 7 innings. The first game went into extra innings and didn't end until the 14th inning. The second game also went into an 8th inning. And guess what? We lost both.     grrrr.   arrrrggghhh.   ugh.    

Anyway, I just did not have time to put anything together for today's blog. Sorry! I highly recommend reading Thursday's post if you haven't yet. It's upbeat and positive and has lots of cute pictures of Wiley. Click on the photo below to get to the story.

 Tomorrow I promise a new story.  Thanks for your patience. Keep your rescue stories coming too!  Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com

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What did you miss? 4/29-5/3

 

Ruby is the absolute doll we started with on Monday. She is still a puppy so we are hoping we can keep tabs on her as she grows up. On Tuesday I shared some more reader-submitted pictures of their pets in the Great Outdoors.  I've been enjoying all the pictures you have been sending. Keep them coming. On Wednesday, by special request, I shared Floyd and his siblings. Floyd has gone to the Rainbow Bridge but his mom still has a house full of fur and love.  Wiley has been slowly working through his anxiety and neuroses, and Thursday's post was a chance for me to share his progress with you. I'm so proud of my fuzzy boy. Finally, on Feel-Good Friday I gave you a story with a happy ending for Coco, who once was lost but now is found. 

Spread the word:  we need rescue stories! 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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Wiley's Island Adventure

 In our small town we have a place known simply as "The Island."  We live right along the Schuylkill River, and the island is, as you might expect, a separate piece of land connected by a bridge. 
 

The river isn't too wide here so the island is easily accessed, and in fact is the location of a recreational park. 

There is a sports complex for soccer, baseball, and softball, and the community holds big events there like a 4th of July celebration with fireworks.

 Wiley, of course, is terrified of the entire thing. I took him there often last summer when there was no one else around, particularly right down to the river, and while he wasn't afraid of the river per se, he just didn't like the wide open spaces and newness, no matter how many times we went. 

However, given his recent tolerance of the baseball game, thanks largely to us making a conscious effort at socializing him and the efficacy of the Gentle Leader, we decided to give The Island another try last Sunday.  I thought it would be a nice tie-in to the Great Outdoors theme we've been running.

 Hubs and I walked him there early in the afternoon, hoping we would have the place to ourselves. There were a few other people around, include some fishermen and people hiking the path, but there were no other dogs, which was a good thing.

As you can tell from the pictures, Wiley was remarkably calm (for Wiley). You can see that his body language was much more relaxed as he took everything in.

I would even go so far as to say there were times when he was downright enjoying himself. Look at him playing here!

And he definitely had the last laugh when he jumped and leaned all over my husband and me after he got out of the river. We had lots of muddy paw prints.

 Not to mention he picked up half the island in his big fluffy tail.

Wiley still has many fears to conquer, and our next goal is to take him there with one of his fur pals. By one of his fur pals I mean my friends' dogs, of whom Wiley is frightened and from whom he hides behind my legs. Keep your paws crossed that his next big adventure goes as well as this one did!

Do you have a rescue story to share?  Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com and we'll talk details.

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Floyd, Lyle, and Eli

 Today's story is a special request. Katie has asked that we share her pets today, May 1st, as it is Floyd's birthday. Floyd went to the Rainbow Bridge last December, but Katie still shares her home with Lyle and Eli. We are glad to share animals here even if they have passed. I've shared some of my previous pets and have shared some other dogs too.  The point of the Rescue Dog Blog is to raise awareness about the beautiful dogs waiting for homes and the way these pets have enhanced our lives. Although Katie only had Floyd for a little over a year, she wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

 
Katie moved to New Orleans from Michigan in 2011, and before long she found herself missing her parents' dog. She began looking through Petfinder and that's where she saw Floyd, whom she was in love with from the time she saw his listing. 

She brought him home in September, and before long she discovered he didn't think he was a dog, he thought he was a boy. He liked to be held on her hip. He went in the shopping cart at PetSmart, sitting up like a baby. He loved wearing clothes! Katie took him on car rides and together they sat and watched the traffic go by. Floyd had it really good. Katie thought maybe there was one little thing missing. . . company for him while she was at school and work.

That's where Lyle the Maltese comes in. At first when Katie took Floyd and visited other dogs, Floyd sat protectively on her lap and barked at any dog who got too close to his mommy. Katie persisted and Lyle was the dog who needed Katie and Floyd the most. He was trying to live as a stray in the zoo. He was underweight and had terrible allergies. The rescue group and Katie worked together and nursed Lyle back to health.  He and Floyd were buddies, relying on each other during storms especially. 

Floyd continued to be a little ham, and Katie even entered him in a costume contest that was part of a benefit for a local dog rescue. Here he is in his tiger costume!  He won third place, and he even sat up at the end, begging Katie to be picked up. I'd like to see what the 1st and 2nd place dogs looked like because I can't picture anything cuter than this!

Sadly, not long after the contest Katie found out Floyd had cancer. She took him to a few different veterinarians including a specialist, but in the end at the doctors' advice she decided it was best to just make Floyd comfortable and wait until it was time.  Those of us who have been through it will recognize it as one of the most difficult experiences imaginable, and the kind of thing that seems impossible.  But Katie knew when it was time, and on Dec. 3 of 2012 she took Floyd to the veterinarian's for the last time. She gave him the ultimate comfort of her arms while she said goodbye. 

Well I don't know about you but I sure am crying now. However, that's not the end of Katie's story. She still had Lyle and he still needed her as much as he ever had. In fact, he needed her more because he was so distraught about Floyd. She knew she couldn't replace Floyd, but she also wanted to honor his memory and help Lyle by finding another rescue dog who needed them. So, six weeks after Floyd crossed the Rainbow Bridge she and Lyle drove to Lake Charles, LA and met Eli, a fun and loving mini-poodle who really loves car rides.

 
It helped Lyle and Katie heal, but nothing can replace the dogs we lose. Katie wanted to share this Last Will and Testament:

A Dog's Last Will & Testament:

To a poor and lonely stray, I give my happy home; my bowl and cozy bed, soft pillow and all my toys; the
lap, which I loved so much; the hand that stroked my fur; and the sweet voice that spoke my name.

I will to the sad, scared shelter dog the place I had in my human's loving heart, of which there seemed
no bounds.

So, when I die, please do not say, "I will never have a pet again, for the loss and pain is more than I can
stand."

Instead, go find an unloved dog, one whose life has held no joy or hope, and give my place to him.

This is the only thing I can give....
The love I left behind.

Author Unknown.

Happy Birthday Floyd!

All rescue dog stories are welcomed here. Share yours by emailing me at pabibliophile@gmail.com

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