Rescue juice #101

We have something in TLC I would like to write about today... Being a rescuer is a tough gig, even on a good day... But periodically things happen that are like a shot of adrenaline, an injection of nitro or has to be like riding a rocket ship to the moon in a fantasy, ya know?... I call it 'rescue juice' and with an occasional 'shot' of it, it gives you the motivation to keep trucking away at doing rescue - through the bad times, the losses, the heartbreak... 

I started the numbering system at 101 'cause I KNOW there are many, many incidences of this in the almost past 5 years... And as with 'Linda Logic' at its finest, I'll eventually fill in all of the gaps... ...

Last week, Camarillo had a VERY pregnant Doxie come in and when contacted, I said we would take her in... I did not know where the world I was going to put her 'cause we fosters and the rescue shop are pretty full right now... But as a lady friend of mine tells me, "There is always room at the table if someone is hungry" so if there is a dog in need, we will figure it out... 

Early in 2012 when TLC first took over the location in the Simi Valley Town Center, we were blessed to have a very nice lady come in one day and ask if we needed volunteers... 

Carolyn not only continued to volunteer, but she took on the task of organizing our volunteer program and start up the dog walker program... Eventually, when her husband was out of town on business, she'd come in more frequently and we'd see her just about every day... 

Carolyn took on numerous 'hard case' fosters for TLC and was also part of the small team that did 'round-the-clock' care for a small 3.5 pounder that was adopted, returned to us (close to death) and we struggled for 41 days to bring him back to good health... We lost E.T. but the bond that Carolyn had with TLC became one that had no boundaries or limits... 

Late in 2012, her husband's company moved them to Flagstaff, they sold their house and moved to Arizona... But Carolyn continued to stay in touch with us and an active, if long distance, volunteer with TLC...  And as I was scrambling to find a foster for this pregnant Doxie, I took a great leap of faith and asked Carolyn if she'd be willing to take this on... 

You see?... Carolyn is a retired registered nurse and a person whose heart is as big as Texas when it comes to our rescues... She's adopted three of the TLC saves and I couldn't ask for a better nurse for our dear, sweet Emma!  

I was over the moon when Carolyn let us know that she and her husband (Larry) were driving in on Friday to pick up Emma and then leaving Sunday to return home... I watched the weather all day Friday, fearful about the nastiness of it and knowing they were on an 8-hour 'guardian angel' drive in from Arizona through it all...

And then I started praying that Emma HELD ONTO THOSE puppies until Monday (tomorrow!)... (smile)...  And this is one VERY pregnant momma!... Already a low rider, it does not make much difference if she is standing up or sitting down... ♥

Friday night, many of the TLCers met together at SoupPlantation and had dinner together after a tour of the shop by Carolyn and Larry... We are SO organic at the rescue shop, things change all the time and there had been a LOT of changes in the past year!... 

Carolyn was pleased at our progress, and that makes me feel very proud of Team TLC... With the day-to-day grind of running the rescue shop, we volunteers sometimes forget where we were 'way back when' and how far we have come in a very short amount of time!

So this morning, VERY EARLY, Emma, Carolyn and Larry began their long drive back to Arizona to have the puppies, be spoiled and loved beyond belief!  Thankfully, one of our Super TLCers (Arissa) was there to gather things up and help Carolyn get Emma situated for the long drive...

Once the puppies are 8 weeks old, Carolyn and Larry will bring all back, we'll get them speutered, chipped, etc. and then they will go up for adoption... 

As I type, Emma is still enroute with Carolyn and Larry, but I just had to finally get off my lazy butt and start the 'Rescue Juice' series now... As things on end up on my 'to do' list, they get pushed aside for the 'gotta do NOW' things... This has been a long term goal of mine - to start sharing what we rescuers really do behind the scenes to save these dogs' lives... It takes beyond a community to save one dog's life and at TLC, I am so very, VERY fortunate to have found some of the best volunteers EVER!

Stay tuned for updates about Emma and her travels here on the blog!

As Always,
Linda

P.S. You can always keep up with all the goings on at TLC by using the label system we have going on.  Below this post you will see Emma's name - just have to click on it... Or if you want to follow other dogs, or read specific topics like 'hard cases' click on that topic in the cloud to the right.