Recap of November
What a month to be thankful for – a big grant, a wheelchair for Kennedy, a productive Fall Vol Day and, most of all, more adoptions!
Gettin’ Dogly
It’s hard not to be thankful when November starts off with a huge win. Octavia’s mom, Cathy Carelson, stumbled across this new thing in late October called Dogly. It was a smartphone app that allowed users to upload photos of their dogs and share with others for “Loves.” Those loves could be banked as votes towards helping the rescue of your choice win a grant. We thought we would all pile in for fun and see what we could do. After all, we had struggled so many times to win the state Shelter Challenge before we finally succeeded in September. It was worth a shot.
And what a shot it was! We blew the contest out of the water with an insane amount of “loves” in a one-week timeframe and took home a $1,000 grant! Suffice to say, we were reeling to be able to help the dogs, just by doing something with our own dogs that we enjoyed.
Although we aren’t eligible to win the now-monthly prize again until January, we continue to enjoy the app daily, uploading “creative” photos for a shot to win the weekly creative contest and racking up the “loves” for the year-end grant next November. If you aren’t playing yet, we invite you to join the group. It’s free, easy and fun!
Kennedy Rocks … and Rolls
Perhaps the biggest thing to be thankful for in November was the outpouring of support and love for Kennedy. This precious boy was diagnosed with degenerative arthritis of the spine earlier in the year. It was obvious his condition was worsening by the week, and rescue was no place for him to be. He needed some TLC and, quite ironically, a yard where we could run, play and be the Jack he was born to be.
After having been such a great bridge between rescue and Hannah earlier in the year, Pam and Bonnie decided they were going to do it again. They took him home in early November and, with some financial help from a couple of his sponsors (Kim and Sally), took him for another consultation, laser treatments and medications. Everyone agreed that, despite his so-called handicap, this boy was very healthy overwise, not in pain and wanted to play ball … darnit! How could he do that when his little back legs just couldn’t keep up with his front ones? He needed wheels!
We set up an online fundraiser to help raise money for his wheelchair and, once again, you came through within days! We even raised enough to help cover the costs of additional laser treatments and a dental (he had six bad teeth that needed to be extracted).
These days? He’s loving his chair and gets to go for rides in the stroller with his foster pack when the journey is too long to use his chair.
Fall Vol Day
Fall brings with it cooler days at the rescue. Albeit the dogs sleep inside in a heated kennel at night, we like to take them outside whenever possible during the day, so they can get some sunshine and exercise. To do this, the kennels must all be wrapped in windproof plastic with raisable entrances to protect them from the winds And, to do that, we hosted our second annual Fall Vol Day on Nov. 15. What can we say, four varieties of chili can be quite the motivator!
This Fall Vol Day was extra-special, though. Why? While volunteers were scurrying around the grounds to put up plastic and secure the area, two meet and greets were taking place in the background. Joey was meeting his new sister Zoe and family-to-be. We knew that adorable, little guy wasn’t going to last long and he didn’t; barely two weeks. Unfortunately, he has since returned to rescue after discovering that he doesn’t do well around children. We’ll have more information soon.
Meanwhile, after waiting almost a year and sending his big brother Bert off north to get adopted, Ernie was about to meet the new loves of his life. Having seen Ernie’s story on Susie’s Senior Dogs Facebook page, the Ganterts drove up from Florida to meet him and it was instant adoration, especially between Ernie and his little human, Erin. We were all in tears as this special man said goodbye to us to pursue his new life.
Chad Stays Home
We had all been “waiting for it” for months when the official adoption word was released in November. Chad had been living with “Team Schwutke” and his foster sister, Isis, for several months. He had some fear issues, especially around men, so our dog whisperer and photographer, Kevin and Elisa, had been working with him to overcome these, so he would be more adoptable. Dad taught him to trust, but Mom? She fell head over heels for this charming boy and announced on Nov. 4 that he wasn’t going anywhere.We can now enjoy seeing his handsome self frequently on his sisters’ Facebook page.
