Thursday, April 28, 2011

Where's Juju?

The other night, as I was working at my desk, I realized it had become quiet. The clanging of Juju's collar tag as he amused himself with his toys was no more. The other dogs had long been asleep.

I decided I should check up on Juju to make sure he wasn't doing anything he shouldn't. I last heard him in the family room but when I checked the couch and his crate, he wasn't there. So I checked his other spots in the front room--the chaise, Boomer's crate by my desk, Popeye's bed, Phoebe's crate by the door. No Juju.

Did he go to another part of the house? I looked in the hallway, thinking he might have made himself comfortable on the pile of clothes on the floor. Nope. The other rooms were closed but maybe he went in one and locked himself in. But he wasn't in any of those places either.

Well, Juju's a tiny dog and he camoflauges easily, so maybe I just overlooked him. Back I went to the front room, looking carefully behind the stuffed animals on the chaise. Back I went to the family room, looking closely at the blankets on the couches, which are the same color as he is. Still, no Juju. Back I went to through the hallway, and then I heard the little clang of his collar coming from the family room. I went back to that room and there he was. I knew he had to have been in there, but I could've sworn I checked carefully.

This exact thing happened the next morning. When I couldn't find him, knowing he was around somewhere in the house and most likely in the family room, I got frustrated. Where could Juju be?

I had been hoping to quietly catch him at his hiding place, but I finally got too fed up and just cried out his name. Lo and behold, I began to hear the soft clanging of his tag. It was indeed emanating from the family room, which is where I still figured he must be. In fact, it seemed like the sound was coming from his empty crate.



Juju had been picked up as a stray. He was skin and bones (and still is) and his nails were like talons, so he must have been a stray for quite a while. I wonder if he used to burrow like this while living in the open.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

In Memory of Revista


Posted on Facebook 4/20/2011:

MAJOR SENIOR ALERT! 17 1/2 Years old!!! DUMPED by Owners in a High Kill Shelter!!! (CARSON)
Blind, deaf, arthritic, old baby. :( Senior girl deserves to be on a nice warm doggie bed...not hard cement!

Her name is REVISTA! 17 1/2 Year old GSD Mix--already Spayed!
Dumped by her owners on 4/20!

This touched a lot of people, but one woman named Wendi stepped up. The following were updates posted by this kind woman:

4/21 @ 9:06 PM: This breaks my heart. I can't imagine?! I am in Los Angeles and can "pull her" if needed and help how I can please advise.

4/22 @ 8:41 AM: I am going to get her today around 1:00pm PLEASE advise shelter to hold her. Do you have a 501C3 that we can use??

4/22 @ 9:45 AM: Shelter knows I'm coming at 1pm to rescue! Giving her vaccinations now!

4/22 @ 1:27 PM: She is out and smiling! On way to vet.

4/22 @ 4:00 PM:
Very sad day. Unfortunately she was a very sick girl with a very bad internal infection. She would not have survived surgery and was in pain. I walked her in the grass, she sniffed and smiled...the vet came out to the grass, I held her cute little face in my hands, twirled her ears and held her tight. I had two wonderful friends there who were petting her also. She went peacefully without fear. Her last moments were surrounded with kindness and love....I'm pretty sad right now but know it was right thing to do. She is at peace.


I am in tears for the passing of Revista. For the fact that she had to know even a second of fear and uncertainty and discomfort after her owners dumped her at the shelter. And I am in tears for the compassion a woman named Wendi showed this dog. And for her loss. Wendi's act of kindness, especially in the face of the knowledge that Revista would not have much time left in this life (though it came as a shock to learn just how little she had), allowed a sweet dog to breathe her last breath shrouded in love.

** To help with Revista's medical costs, you can send a donation to Wendi at
puppylovela(at)aol.com through Paypal. Please note Revista.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Meet Juju Bee

Like pitbulls, we suspect chihuahuas also get a bad wrap in their own way. The few hooah-hooahs that have stayed with us have been delightful and not at all the yappy, extremely hyper misbehaved dogs their breed may often be stereotyped as.

Juju Bee, our latest rescue from Lake County Animal Shelter, is a doll, as you can see from this video.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

New Foster Sneak Peek

Here's a little sneak peek of our latest foster. More to come. . . .

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Meet Brodie

A couple of weeks ago, after receiving another email from Lake County Animal Control about dogs scheduled to be euthanized due to lack of space, we (and when I say "we", I really mean "Robin," Fosterer Extraordinaire) offered to take any dog who was good with dogs and cats, since Robin has both.

Generally, when we make this kind of open offer, we get pits, pit mixes, nondescript black dogs, older dogs, or dogs with some quality that makes them harder to adopt--always wonderful, lovable dogs, just bearing an appearance that most adopters aren't looking for. And those are exactly the kinds of dogs we try to help -- the ones that are overlooked.

It speaks volumes about the desperate number of unwanted pets lingering in overcrowded shelters that the dog Lake County gave to us this time was this fellow:




Eventually dubbed Brodie, he is currently a 5-month old, 35lb fox hound or coon hound mix. A happy-go-lucky boy.

Brodie, along with an SUV full of other rescued dogs, traveled from Lake County to Marin to Oakland, where I picked him up and eventually got him to Sacramento. I say "eventually" because somewhere along the way between Fairfield and Sacramento, my phone hit my GPS and redirected me back home to Antioch without me realizing it until I hit Martinez. So what was supposed to be a 2.5 hour ride in traffic between Oakland and Sacramento became a 3.5 hour ride in traffic.



Good thing Brodie was great in the car and spent most of the ride napping. My back was almost killing me by the time we got to Robin's place, but Brodie was rearing to go.













Brodie is your typical lovable puppy. Mischievous, good natured, and a total lap dog. He was just neutered and will hopefully find his perfect home soon.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

A Weekend with Max

Max stayed with us Saturday and part of Sunday. Crazy Lady has done a great job with controlling many of his bad habits and he turned out to be less troublesome than I expected. He was a delight to have over.

Pics here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1715188165485&set=a.1715186205436.2078119.1411640354&theater