OK, I call "Uncle"...

Our sweet Alfie can be found getting along with other small dogs, but he certainly enjoys playing with some of the foster puppies... He has a ton of patience with them for some reason... 

After a wild game today of "kill the duck" and having stuffing all over the place, "Uncle" Alfie and several of the pups crawled into a small spot to take their afternoon nap... 

The stuffed duck was a goner, but their foster mom reports it took her at least 30 minutes to clean it all up... And as a small wad of the stuffing is in the right corner of the photo, she missed some!

Eventually even Uncle Alfie succumbed to a nap... After all, running around after these young whipper snappers can wear an uncle out eventually!

Precious moments...

Sometimes the moments we catch as a foster mom are just too cute not to share... Our Tommy asleep, using another pup as a pillow...

Another update - this one is from Gus' furmom!

Fudge - just in time for Christmas!

Our dear sweet Fudge found his furever home on Saturday.  WTG, Fudge! What a cutie pig this guy is!


From his new furever mom:

Fudge is now all settled in his new home with his brothers and sisters; he was a little nervous at first with all the barking about a new kid in the house.

Everybody is now acquainted with each other and he is now just one of the guys.  You are right, he does not bark………………….I like that.

I put a sweater on him but did not seem to like it, maybe it’s not what he is used to.  Did you put any sweaters on him?

Also, all 5 of my other dogs went to the groomer today and tomorrow I’ll be putting Advantage Plus on them.  When is the last time Fudge took a bath and is he wearing any flea repellent?

Last, thank you so much for taking such good care of Fudge; he will bring lots of joy into is furever home and he will be spoiled rotten by us.

Best,
Elena

Update on Zeus (now named "Alex")

Zeus as in pretty sad shape when we found him in a high kill shelter in June of this year.  The majority of his pretty Maltese coat was gone and his skin showed through in various shades of light pink to deep hurtful red.

He worried his foster mom all the time, as she tried to discover the culprit for his massive loss of hair. Eventually we figured out he was allergic to fleas - it took just one flea for him to start chewing through his coat and causing top level skin tissue damage.  And you knew from looking at him, Zeus must be in pure misery and pain once it started!  It would no sooner clear up -- then it would start all over again.

We just got an update from Zeus furmom - he is now named "Alex"...

"I just wanted to share this picture of Alex with you.  Alex likes to lie under the Christmas tree.  I think he loves the tree's skirt and branches over head.  When I came home the other day, he had the skirt in the middle of the room. The skirt was rolled in a ball and he was lying on top of it!  He is such a "love bug".  I think I may need to put him on a diet though; he just loves to eat!  I will bring him by to see you over the holidays!  His coat has gotten very long, but I still find him licking his front legs at times."

And Alex now looks divine as the angelic angel we knew was there all along!  He just needed lots of TLC and a great furmom like Jill to adopt him!

First step for NO-KILL in Ventura County

These are the times I am so very proud of the humane community... The first real step towards 'NO KILL' has occurred here in Ventura County with the opening of SPARC - Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center.

On November 18th, Santa Paula city council considered a partnership with a nonprofit organization (SPARC) to create the first no-kill facility in Ventura County (news article here from the Santa Paula Times).

And on December 9th, the following article appeared in the Santa Paula Times:

Men and dogs...

One of the biggest hurdles we have to overcome in rehabilitating rescue dogs is their fear of men.  Not all rescue dogs have this fear, but were I to make a list of the items we work on the hardest, I would say this is at the top of our list (and then potty training, canine manners, etc.).

The majority of the humans in dog rescue are women.  Dunno why that is, but I am sure Freud followers could explain it to us intellectually.  I just know that is it, and not why.  And I believe most of us rescuers 'drag' our hubbies into our passion (some totally unwilling to be a part of the experience).

So when we find our husbands, partners, BFFs, etc. willing, it is like icing on the cake of life for us.  I 'assign' certain saves to my husband, Paul, from the moment I get the dog out of the shelter.  I will bathe them, feed them, take care of them --- but I don't cuddle, work with them, give them treats or goodies, etc.  Everything GOOD to GREAT in their lives will come from Paul, and that is the only way I have found we can begin the process of overcoming a fear of men.

I myself am blessed (and I know it) - once Paul realized only HE could do what WE were attempting, he jumped into it head first and has done some very good saves.  Dogs that would hide in a corner or slink away from the very sight of him eventually ended up spending their evenings in his lap watching TV until they found their furever home.

It doesn't happen overnight, and I wonder if that is why some male counterparts of rescue families get irritated over the passion.  There is no instant gratification to be had, for it takes time to establish that trust and a dog to overcome the fear.

Maybe part of this generation's downfall is that we all grew up watching Lassie on TV.  She was ALWAYS the best of the best, and we all wanted a dog like Timmy had, ya know?  At least what we saw on TV as we laid on our bellies in front of it, engrossed in the weekly adventures of Lassie and her family.  So in our heads now, we see "dog" and 'think' Lassie.  Sadly, it does not always work out that way.


TLC is very lucky in that most of our husbands support what we do, and many actively engage in rehabilitating hard cases, or adding 'added value' with extra socialization of dogs... some even work as hard as we women do to create an adoptable dog from one that was destined to be euthanized because they were not perfect - or a Lassie.


One such great guy is Rob, DeAnna's husband.  Rob, like Paul, goes out of his way to work harder on the dogs that have men-fear based issues.  I can't say if Rob got to the realization like Paul did --- that only HE can affect this change, but Rob certainly has had some major success stories already.


As you can see from a recent photo, football watching does have its perks - lots of belly warmers, lap warmers, companions to pick from, huh?

And rescue is not just for women, guys.  In TLC, we have three men that come every weekend, foster dogs and work just as hard as we women do!  Joe Sr. and Joseph (father and son team) along with Gherry (who is currently fostering our two blind puppies - Peanut and Butter) are all valued members of the TLC volunteer team.  



We could not do this without all of the volunteers and fosters in TLC - men and women alike - so allow me to say thank you to those who support what we do!


As always, 
Linda


P.S. For more on the topic of rescue dogs and the fear of men:

• Conquering your dog's fear of men
• Why dogs are more afraid of men - there's a study involving points of light in the gait of men versus women (could be why sitting down is a critical aspect of the rehabilitation being done by men in TLC also)
• Adopting a shelter dog
• Puppy socialization tips - briefly discusses this fear and how to overcome it (pdf file)

This free book guides you through the first seven days of Adopting a Shelter Dog. With seven simple lessons, the book helps you ease the transition from shelter life to home life for you and your pup. You can download your copy here.