Saturday's Dog: Handsome Hank

It's that time again, friends. Time to ooh and ahh over a lovely dog in need of a home. (And to Tweet and Facebook said dog around to your friends and family. ;)

Today I'd like to introduce you to:

Handsome Hank!

Hello.

Photo courtesy NEARR.

Handsome Hank came to North East All Retriever Rescue when his family no longer had time for him. He's okay with that though because now he gets to meet more people and have lots of fun with his new foster family and their dogs.

His foster family says he's a great dog. Loves everyone, gets along with everybody. Kids, dogs, even cats! He's just a typical happy Lab ready to go whenever you are.

Hank is 7 and a half years old so he's at that perfect Labby age where they're starting to mellow but still very playful. The foster family is working on his leash-skills (I swear Labs pull better than Huskies sometimes) but he's over all the other puppy hi-jinks Labs are known for.

So maybe you can help find Hank a home? He's available for adoption in the New England area. You can read his complete profile on the NEARR website where you can also learn about our policies and procedures for adopting a dog. If you don't have room for him yourself, please consider tweeting his story or sharing it on your Facebook wall. While Hank is having a grand old time at his foster home, he'd surely like to find one of his very own.

I'm waiting for you...

Photo courtesy of NEARR

Free Beer!!!

Author's note: Please check the bottom of this post for updates. Thank you all SO MUCH for sharing this story. (7/25/2012)

When I was in bands, we used to joke that the best way to get people to come see a show was to name the band "Free Beer!!!" The idea being that when the club announced who was playing that weekend, the sign outside would read: "Tonight: Free beer!!!" and people would be lined up down the street trying to get in.

Hence, the name of today's post.

And the real reason I've gathered you all here today, the reason I cheated to try and get your attention is a dog named Hardway.

Hardway is an 8-year old American Eskimo/Samoyed mix(?) in need of a new home - soon. Hardway showed up in my inbox a few days ago (not literally) through a friend who is trying to help his former mom find a new home for him.

I'm going to hand the blog over to Hardway's former mom for a bit so she can tell his story.

---

Photo courtesy Sally Hale.

"Robert and I were living together in March 2005 when we got the call about Hardway. They said there was a "small" Eskie at the shelter in Florence, KY. We drove up there and it turned out that this dog was not exactly small. I think he weighed about 45 pounds when we got him.

He was about 1 year old and had been chained to a tree all of his life. The chain was so embedded in the fur around his neck, that the girls at the shelter had to cut his hair to get the chain off him. I was sitting in a chair and he walked up to me, laid his chin on my lap, and looked at me with those big brown Eskie eyes. It was love at first sight.

We got all the paperwork done, put him in the backseat, and headed for home... That's when we found out how stubborn and hard-headed he was. Once he got in the front seat, there was no way he was going back into the back seat of the car. Robert said, "He sure does learn things the hard way, doesn't he?" A name was born for the biggest Eskie I've ever seen. His name has been Hardway ever since that day.

We got him home and gave him a bath to remove the coal dust. He sure looked a lot better once he was clean, except for the short hair around his neck... He put on some weight the first few months we had him and he now weighs in at around 55 pounds...

Photo courtesy of Sally Hale.

When Robert and I split up, Hardway and Jake went with Robert... Jake passed away from cancer in late June 2011. I thought Robert's heart was going to break. I think Robert would have laid on Jake's grave and died of sorrow if it hadn't been for Hardway.

Now Robert is unable to continue taking care of Hardway. I'm unable to take custody of him because the apartments I live in have a two dog limit... It has fallen upon me to find a place for Hardway.

Hardway comes with food, toys, and two more doses of Advantage. He comes with a big heart and plenty of love to share. He's been given so much love the last 7+ years that it overflows.

Please, does someone have a place for the most beautiful, loving, friendly dog I have ever known and loved? He is my baby, has overcome heartworms, fleas, and the loss of his Daddy. This is breaking his Mommy's heart, but has to be done. Please consider adding him to your home."

---

Cute little guy, isn't he? He has some health issues (allergic to fleas, sore hips when carrying too much extra weight) but is an otherwise happy, healthy, friendly dog just down on his luck. Hardway is located in Tennessee but transport arrangements will be made if at all possible.

So folks, does anyone out there have room in their heart and home for Hardway? Do you, or someone you know, work with a spitz or all breed rescue group? Please leave a comment below and I'll make sure Hardway's momma gets the news.

Otherwise, maybe you have time today to post Hardway's story to your Facebook wall or Tweet it out to your followers? I know his mom would be very grateful, as would I.

And, as always, thank you for listening.

Updated (7/25/2012): Thank you so much friends, for getting Hardway's story out there. I understand from the comments below and from Hardway's former owner that there is interest in offering him a home. I will let everyone know what happens when I hear.

Updated (7/26/2012): Hardway has a home!!! Now we just have to figure out how to get him there. He will be traveling from Kingsport, TN to Las Vegas, NV if you or anyone you know can take a leg. You can check the route map here: Bring Hardway home! Thanks. Oh, and please, feel free to cross post widely!

Saturday's Dog: Bruno

Photo property of North East All Retriever Rescue.

Part of me thinks all I should have to do is post this photo and people will be scrambling over each other in their bid to adopt beautiful Bruno. Part of me knows that's not how it works. So allow me instead, to introduce you to this affectionate, mellow senior softie, Bruno, the black Lab.

Bruno is 9-years old and looking for his new forever family. He's currently living in foster care through North East All Retriever Rescue and you can read his whole profile on their website.

He used to live with a family that had five children so he's really good with them. He's also very good with other dogs but cats, not so much. He's a bit of a couch potato and maybe a little bit velcro (I think that's part of the breed standard for Labs. ;) And come on, he's gorgeous, isn't he?

So, if you find yourself in need of a couch companion, hop on over to NEARR's website and tell them you just can't live without this big, beautiful boy. Or if there's no room at your inn these days, just click one of those social media buttons down at the bottom of the page and help Bruno out by getting his info in front of more people. The more people who see him, the sooner he finds his once and future forever home.

Thanks! And have a wonderful weekend.

Save a Sato Reunion 2009

In my last post, I mentioned the Sato Reunion we attended back in 2009. What a fabulous idea and I wish everyone whoever adopted a dog or cat had the opportunity to meet their pet's rescuer. It just made it so real to me and it was shortly after meeting Nilsa that I made the decision to get more involved with rescue as a sort of "pay it forward" gesture in her honor.

But the day wasn't all mush and sentiment - it was also a boatload of fun. There was a musician playing Puerto Rico- and dog-themed music (Pup Fan of I Still Want More Puppies would have loved his musical modifications to tilt every song dog-wards). There were a variety of contests from best cuddler to waggiest-tail, fund-raising raffles and a grill station serving up everything from plain old hot dogs to Puerto Rican sausages. And of course, there were plenty of vendors on hand to demo their pupper-wares (tons of treats were tossed to tempted tummies!)

Wicked Local covered the event. Check out their great photo gallery.

In the meantime, here are a few of pictures from the event:

There's nothing cuter than a girl and her (very patient) dog.

They say everyone has a doppelganger.

Check out the pup in the back. I want to know what he sees that I don't.

Just another lovely little Sato.

Being this cute is hard work.

Winner of the "Best Kissy-face" contest.

Bella played with this darling dog for a good while.

That's one sleepy puppy.

Be sure to come back Wednesday for pictures of Bella's rather unique approach to dealing with the heat and festivities of the day.

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Pittie Post Day: Challenging ourselves

One day early in our life with Bella, within the first couple of weeks of getting her, Jan and I took her to a local trail where she could get some exercise and maybe meet some dogs in a safe, controlled way. Lots of dogs and their owners walk here and most have their dogs under voice control if not on a leash outright. But it's a wooded trail that winds and twists and you can't always see what's around the corner.

Part way into our walk, we came to a corner that had a big, bounding dog running around it. A big, bounding Pitbull. Off-leash. No collar. And no owners in sight. Heading straight towards us.

And we with our scared-y dog - presently straining at the end of the leash behind me and just a blink away from getting out of her collar to escape the big, bounding dog. And I admit it, we spooked.

Both Jan and I reacted immediately and strongly out of fear of this dog potentially hurting our pup. While I scurried to gather Bella up in my arms, Jan stood between us and the approaching dog, arms spread to appear as big as possible and yelled a warning to the dog to stop.

To our utter amazement and eternal gratitude, she did.

Finally, her owners came around the corner and introductions were made. She was a beautiful blue and white American Pit Bull Terrier a few years old. She had excellent dog greeting skills and I was truly embarrassed at our own little ruffian's bad manners when she snipped at the greeting. In true Pittie fashion, the beautiful stranger just snuffed and walked away not interested in playing with the snarky little pup any more.

You're probably wondering why I'm telling you this now.

Well, today is Corbin's, of "Oh Corbin" fame, third birthday and for his birthday gift, he has asked folks here in Blogville to say a little something about Pitbulls.

When I first heard about Corbin's birthday wish, I mulled over a bunch of different ways to approach the topic. I could write about the many bully breed dogs we met when we used to visit the Tufts Farm Field or at different dog-centered events we attend. I could recall how I used to jump at the chance to walk the bully breeds at my local shelter because they were always the sweetest, cuddliest creatures in the kennel. Or maybe I should write about the horrid and inhumane breed-specific legislation popping up all over the country? I could talk about how breed stereotypes are hurting beautiful dogs like Ed who sit waiting in shelters for someone to look beyond appearance and recognize them for the beautiful souls they are.

But when I thought about that one unexpected encounter we had in our history with Bella, I couldn't get out of my head how we reacted without thinking. How, even though we knew better, our feelings were still influenced by the non-stop media barrage that paints these dogs as dangerous and inherently vicious. Yes, we can try and excuse our feelings by saying the dog was off-leash, had no collar and no owners in sight. But let's be honest, would we really have reacted the same way had the approaching dog been a Golden Retriever?

And therein lies the problem.

If it's hard even as dog-lovers for Jan and I to let go of the fear being instilled in us by this insidious media campaign against Pitbulls, what can we expect of the average person or worse, those who are afraid of or dislike all dogs to begin with? And how do we reach those folks to overcome the media myth?

Campaigns like this one Corbin is running and the many Facebook groups and blogs that have formed to present a positive pit bull image are a great start. Even better are the meet-up groups like the Chicago-based SociaBulls and Vancouver's HugABull that get the dogs out in front of people and give them a chance to interact with the community. We need to do anything and everything we can to get these beautiful dogs, real animals, real family members, out in front of people so they can interact with them and see for themselves they are not the monsters the media is trying to make them out to be.

Because once you've actually put a face to the name, it becomes harder to devalue the individual soul you're talking about 'eliminating'. And it becomes easier to discount what the media is selling. And when you know these dogs, when you look into their eyes, it becomes impossible to imagine a world without them.

Happy birthday, Corbin!
We truly hope one day you and all your brethren will be allowed to live in peace again.

Saturday's Dog: Nessie, the Chocolate Couch-Potato

Photos courtesy North East All Retriever Rescue (NEARR)

There seems to be a run on Chocolate Labs entering our rescue lately. I don't know why because they're all lovely, sweet and cuddly-bugs. And 7-year-old Nessie is the cuddliest of them all.

Nessie came to NEARR from a local Humane Society where they just loved her too much to let her sit in a kennel all day long. She loves her people, is good with children but doesn't much care for other dogs and dislikes cats.

Nessie is a REAL couch potato for a Lab - walk her once a day, throw her a ball or let her go for the occasional swim and you will have a happy girl will to sit by your side at days end. (She will also "keep your yard free of anything that moves, which includes skunks", so beware.)

She's allergic to wheat and fleas so you might have to get inventive about treats but since she doesn't like to exercise, maybe she should be eating carrots, not cookies, anyway. (In fact, Nessie would make a great partner for anyone interested in participating in the "K-9 Kamp Challenge" going on over at Kol's Notes right now!)

Learn more about Nessie in her profile over on the NEARR website.

Do you have room in your heart for this big, lovable girl? Or maybe you could tweet or share her story so the family we know is looking for her can find her even faster? Nessie and I thank you for helping her get to her forever home.

Saturday's Dog: Chance

"Take a Chance on me!"

So North East All Retriever Rescue up here in Massachusetts got word that that handsome and friendly fella was languishing away in foster care all the way down in Texas and, even though it's quite a bit out of our usual territory (ha! understatement of the year), we think he's so sweet and friendly that we agreed to help him find his forever home. Transport is included so don't let the fact that he might not be close by deter you!

Chance is a beautiful, unique-looking dog - check out those blue eyes! He's also friendly with people as well as other dogs and, get this - (relatively) low energy! A Lab mix that's low energy? Who knew?

You can find all the details, as well as a way to contact his foster mom to learn more about him over at the NEARR website.

And if you don't have room in your life to take a Chance right now, please tweet or share his story with your followers and friends. I can't say it enough: social media saves lives. Thanks so much!

Come on, you know you want to!

Saturday's Dog - Chocolate Lab Casey

Being involved in rescue, you hear a lot of horror stories that make you wonder how people can be so cruel to their animals. Believe me, I've seen surrender applications come through my email that make you wonder if you couldn't find a way to drop the human off at the shelter instead of the dog.

This is not one of those times.

This is one of those times that reminds me we're all in this together and our world is facing hard challenges. This is one of those times that makes me happy to know there are rescue groups out there to help ease the landing for some old friends whose human-folk did everything they could but just couldn't make it work.

Allow me to introduce you to Casey.

Photo courtesy North East All Retriever Rescue.

Casey is almost 12 years old and has found himself homeless because his family just couldn't make ends meet any more. They did the best thing they could for him: they found a rescue group where Casey will live in a foster home with a caring foster family until his new forever family comes along.

At 12 years old, Casey would have had a difficult time had he just been dropped off at the county shelter. Now, thanks to North East All Retriever Rescue (NEARR), not only will they make sure he's in a good foster home, but they will ensure his new forever family provides regular updates about him so his previous family can sleep at night knowing he's loved and in the best possible home (if not theirs).

This old boy is mellow and sweet and so ready to share the couch with you. You can view his entire profile on the NEARR website.

And if you don't happen to have room in your life right now for a big lovable lug, maybe you could push one of those buttons waaaaaayyy down there and share his story so someone who does have room can find him?

Thanks!

Saturday's dog: Laini, the Basenji

Would you look at this pretty dog?

Laini is a 6-year old, female Basenji available for adoption in Arizona through Basenji Rescue and Transport. She's good with cats and kids. She's good with big dogs but has reportedly been snarky with small dogs. (She, like most Basenjis, apparently doesn't realize she is one.)

If you (or someone you know) have always wanted a Basenji but were afraid of the demands the breed may put upon you, Laini just might be your girl. She's described as well-mannered and of mild temperament. A true cuddle bug, she likes to lie with her head on your lap and sleep "under the covers with her human". (Can you even stand it?)

Adopting through BRAT, "adopters receive a dog that has been spayed or neutered..., fully vaccinated and tested for heartworm and strip-tested for Fanconi (negative unless otherwise noted), and temperament evaluated. In addition, BRAT provides free lifetime post-adoption counseling to help deal with behavioral issues. Finally, we provide a free lifetime identification tag connected to our "lost dog" toll free number." Pretty impressive support system there, yes?

If you're interested in adopting Laini, hop over to the B.R.A.T. website for more information about her.

Saturday's dog - Lekoda adopted!

A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of introducing everyone to the lovely Lekoda available for adoption through North East All Retriever Rescue.

Today it's even more of a privilege to tell you that she has been adopted! Her new forever family brought her to her new forever home a few weeks ago and I'm happy to report, she is doing great in her new climes.

I think one of the best policies NEARR has in place is the requirement that adopting families provide periodic updates throughout the life of an adopted dog. This allows those of us who have fallen in love with the dogs in our care the ability to watch them thrive in their new homes. It's my favorite part of volunteering with this organization. You can read those stories on NEARR's Happy Tails page.

Congratulations, Lekoda! Have fun in your new life.

And thank you to everyone who shared her story helping her new family find their new beautiful family member. :)

Saturday's dog: Who wants a Cookie?

Look at that face! So eager to please.

Meet Cookie

Cookie is a sweet, 6-year-old Beagle boy who for some reason keeps getting overlooked at the shelter. Available through Buddy Dog Humane Society in Sudbury, MA, he would make a wonderful addition to an active home.

Cookie loves to go for walks, loves running and playing fetch and, as you can see, absolutely LOVES his belly rubs. Mostly, he just wants a home of his own where he can stay close to his family - he's a real love bug and so cute, too.

Maybe it's because he's had a few too many cookies while at the shelter that he gets overlooked but Cookie is still a vigorous and active boy. He just needs someone to play with him to help him shed those few extra pounds. Wouldn't seeing this boy smile when he gets to run and play be reward enough to get the whole family off the couch and running about? :)

If you want to help spread the word about this lovable guy, I've made it easy for you: just click this --> or this --> . And thanks.

Wordless Wednesday 27 - The faces of rescue

Today's pictures all courtesy of Patricia Nadan, a volunteer with Paws to the Rescue animal rescue transport team. South Carolina to Maine, this journey occurs every week rescuing dogs (and cats) from high kill shelters to safe havens.

These are the faces of animal rescue:

Saturday's Dog - Coco, the chocolate Lab

Click through to view her profile over on the NEARR website.

Check out today's beautiful entry for Saturday's Dog, Coco. Isn't she lovely?

Somehow this beautiful 5-year-old girl found herself abandoned at the shelter because she wasn't "good with the small children who lived with" her. Coco is currently in foster care and is available for adoption through North East All Retriever Rescue where they have found she's not bad with "dog-savvy", older children.

Coco has some degenerative joint disease that likely causes her some pain but weight loss seems to be helping with that. She's a cuddle bug and, like most Labs, prefers to be with her people. She's not recommended for homes with cats or little dogs.

So, as always, here's where you come in: just click on either of these buttons and you, too, can bring attention to this lovely dog who just needs a home and family that will love her loads.

Thanks.

Saturday's dog: Princess the Lab/Doxie mix

So today's little cutie comes to us from Forever Dachshund Rescue. I got to meet her last week when she hitched a ride with me on her way from a high-kill shelter in North Carolina to a foster home in Rhode Island by way of northern Massachusetts. (Say what huh? Ah well, okay, it happens...)

Allow me to introduce you to Princess, a Doxie/Lab mix who really looks like a Lab on 4 inch legs. She was a sweet and perfect passenger snuggling in immediately to the crate as if she understood it was bringing her to a new life.

Princess is 5 years old, very active, good with kids and dogs (and maybe cats...) She's a real cuddle bug but likes to be left alone in her crate or while under the influence of a particularly good toy.

You can view her whole profile on the rescue's web site. And you can help her find her forever home faster by sending her story out to your Facebook friends and Twitter tweeps.

Sorry about the quality of the pictures. My leg of the transport comes at the end of a very long day for these dogs and I don't want to stress them out too much with a full on photo session. 

Saturday's Dog: Celebrating the wins

When my friend, Cindy, and I got together at the end of December to photograph some of the dogs available for adoption at Buddy Dog Humane Society, we got in 11 sessions - 11 dogs. Between then and now, 5 of those dogs have been adopted! At this rate, we have a better batting average for adoptions of the dogs we haven't featured here. ;)

Today, I'd like to take a moment to celebrate the wins, the dogs who found their forever homes, the ones who keep hope alive, the ones who prove there are families out there looking for dogs as wonderful as these. I'm just thrilled to have had the opportunity to spend a day playing with them.

So kick back, put your feet up and enjoy the awesomeness of happy dogs.

Bauer

Sam

Annie

Josie

Boomer

Happy tails, pups! May all your days be as much fun as this one was.

Saturday's dog: Althea

What is is about a picture of dog with ball that can raise a smile to the face of any viewer?

Meet Althea.

Althea is a 3-year-old Shepherd mix available for adoption at Buddy Dog Humane Society in Sudbury, MA. She is full of energy, friendly and affectionate. She would do well in an active home that can keep her well exercised and mentally stimulated. (Read: She's smart!)

So once again, here's my weekly plea to ask you to help get Althea's story out there so that active family who's looking for her can finally find her. You can just click here to tweet her story or here to post her to your Facebook stream.

As always, thank you.

Saturday's Dog: Sasha

Look at that face!

You might think by looking at her, that Sasha would spend about fifteen minutes in a shelter before someone came along and scooped up this charming young dog (still less than a year old). In fact, she has already spent a few months there and her puppyhood is slipping away.

She's a sweet, somewhat shy Miniature Pinscher mix who looks a bit like a teeny, tiny Chocolate Lab. She has spirit and spunk to spare and doesn't appear to be nervous around other dogs. She was shy around me (our first meeting) but not with Cindy whom she knows. She's a funny, very playful puppy and, like all puppies, will need some assistance in becoming a confident, grown-up dog. An adult household would be best because she's both small and a bit 'intense'.

Don't you just want to throw that ball for her?

Sasha is available at Buddy Dog Humane Society in Sudbury, MA.

Saturday's Dog: Tatiana

My friend, Cindy, canine massage therapist extraordinaire, and I recently spent some time at Buddy Dog Humane Society in Sudbury, MA playing with and photographing some of the dogs there available for adoption. The idea is to feature different dogs here each week in the hope of getting them in front of more people - one of which might just be looking for this dog to add to their family.

Today's dog is: Tatiana!

Isn't she cute!?!

Tatiana is a very shy, 9 year old Sato who has been at Buddy Dog for about 4 years. She's so shy in fact, this was the second time I tried to photograph her. The first time, whenever I picked up the camera, she turned her head and hid. A little wiser on our more recent visit, I set up a blind of sheets and took pictures of her while she played with Cindy, paying "no attention to the 'man' behind the curtain".

Tatiana was adopted out once before but she came back even more traumatized by the experience than she was in the shelter. In fact, she's not unhappy at the shelter - she's not terribly bothered by other dogs and she doesn't get a lot of attention from the public, which is just fine by her.

When I first arrived yesterday, she had her face tucked into her blankets and her back to any visitors who might want to befriend her. This, as you can imagine, makes it unlikely people will stop to inquire about her.

Oh but they should. She's playful and sweet to those she knows and is comfortable with - she was giving Cindy kisses before she even got the leash on. She just needs to get her head out of her blankets so the right person(s) can find her.

She will need a gentle, patient owner, one who is familiar with shy dogs and ready to give Tata the space she needs to adjust to a new environment. She would not do well in a noisy, busy home and I would not recommend children in the home of any extremely shy dog.

It's also likely that, due to her first bad adoption experience, Buddy Dog would rather she continue to live with them as the shelter mascot than be put in the wrong home again.

But every dog deserves their own home with their own people who love them above all comers. And Tatiana is no exception.

If you want to help that special person find this special dog, please consider tweeting her information or posting her to your Facebook profile.

You never know who might be looking for a dog just like Tatiana.

Oops, the Great Oz has been discovered.