April's Volunteer of the Month at TLC

This is probably one of the hardest things I have to do each month for we have SO many GREAT volunteers at TLC... There are some we seldom see at the rescue shop but work LONG hours from their homes, doing TLC magic... And then we have others (we call them the 'young guns') who work just as many LONG hours at the rescue shop... TLC volunteers lead with their heart and step up with their commitment and dedication to saving dogs...  It is a tough decision to make each month - trust me!

And so... (drum roll here)...
Congratulations to Arissa - 
April's Volunteer of the Month!

I met Arissa shortly after we took over the rescue shop in January of 2012... She was a VERY quiet and VERY shy dog walker... I think she barely said ten words to me the first month I knew her... Big Joe took Arissa under his wing and loved her like one of his own... 

Arissa is like a sponge, soaking up everything around her in the environment... She has tremendous work ethic for one so young and the energy of nitro in a race car... I remember turning around one day, totally exhausted and Arissa is still 'a blowin and a goin'... I couldn't believe I had run out of steam and she was still as fresh as a daisy (until I remembered that I am almost three times her age!)... 

But it is not just hard work that makes Arissa so special - it is her attention to detail and follow through - critical in what we do in the rescue and the rescue shop... 

More than once, Arissa has 'taken her work home with her' and is currently fostering an old timer with her family... She has also taken on bottle babies, nursing them through scary times and into great health... Arissa is currently our Training Coordinator and gets new volunteers up to speed on what we do... And recently she took on a new project we call 'Microchip Mondays' where we do low cost microchipping in the hopes more dogs get chipped and quickly found if ever lost...

Arissa has learned so much in her almost two and half years with us at TLC and she approaches every new challenge with gusto... I have often said that this is the next generation of No-Kill in our county and if I know Arissa, she will continue to be out there on the front line, making a positive change in the number of pets being saved for years to come.

CONGRATULATIONS, ARISSA!  And thank you for being such an important part of TLC!

Linda, Director

The 'Big Bucks'

A few weeks ago I was driving through a fast food joint and the gal at the window taking my money gave me a second look and said, "I know you... you work at the rescue shop in the mall"... To which I replied, "Well, I don't work there.  I am a volunteer, but yes, you've probably seen me there... I'm the Director."...

Expecting the next 'usual' question or comment ("I have a dog I am trying to get rid of" ~or~ "What kind of dogs do you have?  I'm looking for a...."), I was absolutely 'gobsmacked' as my British friend would say!.... The response to my statement?

"What do you do with all that money you make?"

HUH??? Double HUH, as a matter of fact... 

First of all, I don't make a salary - in fact, none of the five members of the TLC Board of Directors make a salary... And what donations we do get (and NEVER enough) go directly towards saving dogs' lives, providing for their care, keeping the electricity on at the rescue shop ($1200 to $1800 a month), cleaning supplies, etc... This doesn't even include the enormous vet bills we incur because TLC does NOT walk away from the hard cases... 

But perceptions are reality for the general public... And I have begun to think we should create an album of the hard cases we have taken in and gotten healthy, then found furever homes for...  We don't kill or ignore the older, sickly or behaviorially undersocialized dogs that end up on kill lists because the general public won't adopt them or other rescues pass them by... 

Four days ago, we took on Alfee, a very sweet and nice Lhasa who is about 10 years old...  Lhasas have an average lifespan of about 15 years but many have lived on to be 20 years or older... So to put this in perspective to a human, at 25 pounds, Alfee is about 35 years old in human terms... 

Originally adopted as a pup from Ventura County Animal Services in 2005, he was surrendered back to them in March of 2014... 

We do not know the circumstances surrounding his surrender, but I can only believe the owner must have loved them deeply because Alfee is VERY well socialized - likes everyone and is good with everyone - humans, kids, other dogs, etc...

The only thing I can fault the previous owner for is that Alfee was matted, matted, matted... sigh...

Maybe the owner fell on hard times because Alfee has not seen a vet in 2-3 years... And I want to believe that the owner just could not afford to have the tumor on his lower jaw removed... 

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But when I learned of Alfee being back at Camarillo with this medical issue, I could not just ignore him and pass him over... This is just NOT what we do at TLC... We will never get out of the 'red' at TLC and into the 'black', but what do you do?  Leave a great, friendly dog with a lot of living left to do just die because of a human's circumstances and/or decisions?... That's just not 'doing the next best right thing'... 

So, Alfee came to TLC and then onto our vet for an evaluation... His blood work came back PERFECT and he is in great health according to our vet...

Now to raise the money to get this tumor removed and sent off for evaluation... We have a foster willing to take care of Alfee as he recovers for two weeks after surgery... And we are sure he will cause someone to fall deeply in love with him - he is already as sweet as honey butter, so can you imagine what he will be like once he can eat properly and is not longer in pain?

If you'd like to donate to Alfee's surgery, you can do so at our donations page online... If you'd like to say some prayers for him, the surgery will be done on Tuesday (March 26th) if everything goes as planned...  

So, I say to the lady slinging burgers, "THIS is where the big bucks go!"

Update on Emma!

Emma arrived safely (and still VERY pregnant) in Arizona with her guardian angels, Larry and Carolyn... Here she is, scouting out the backyard already!

 

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.

Volunteer of the month - Congratulations, Shallan!

It gives me great pleasure to announce TLC's March "Volunteer of the Month"... ::drum roll:: ..... Shallan Carnahan!

I have had the honor to know Shallan for over two years now and working side by side with her, I feel humbled by the depth of compassion and dedication she possesses... In fact, Shallan is the inspiration for TLC's Mission Statement:  "We will do whatever it takes within our resources to save the life of a dog unless it is illegal or immoral".

Shallan literally saved TLC when we took over the rescue shop location in January of 2012... Had it not been in her heart to stay with us, teach us and grow with us, TLC would not be where it is today... Big Joe, Joseph and I didn't even know how to turn on the air conditioner and Shallan proved to be an invaluable resource with answers to every question we asked... Previously Pets Hope, all of the other employees decided to quit - Shallan was the only one who stayed and believed in the dream of having a full blown rescue shop that existed solely to save dogs' lives off of the kill lists in local shelters... 

Shallan is a young lady after my own heart... She's a born animal advocate who also believes that no healthy adoptable animal should die... 

In addition, the depth of her animal husbandry skills is limitless... If I don't have firsthand experience with something, she does... 

And work ethic?... I have yet to ask Shallan to help on something that she hasn't immediately said 'Yes' and can be counted to be there through the tough times as well as the day-to-day routines when needed... Seldom do you find a young lady of this age with so much 'old age wisdom and mindset' - every day working side by side with her is refreshing and rejuvenating to one's rescuing soul... 

So, dear Shallan, thank you VERY much for being a part of Team TLC - we and all of the lives we have saved with you are grateful and appreciative you are a part of our lives!

Congratulations!
Linda
 

Update on Layla... Surgery photos

Sweet Layla had her bladder stone surgery yesterday and under the careful and highly experienced hands of Dr. Amsel, it went very well... Thank-you, Dr. Amsel!  You're one in a million and we at TLC just love the amount of compassion and dedication you have for these rescued furbabies!  ♥

Elizabeth was kind enough to pop in throughout the surgery and take photos for me... I saw the stone yesterday afternoon when I came to pick Layla up and having held this little girl in my arms, it was even more shocking to see the bladder stone in person... It is about the size of a business card with the edges rounded off... 

 Probably weighs half a pound and Layla weighs about 7 pounds... Poor baby!


 

Sleepin' with the dawgs...

Not to bore you too much with details of my personal life but I have a lot of back issues and don't sleep very well... Haven't for years, as a matter of fact... Too many hours in one position, and 'Brumhilda' (as I call my blasted back) will wake me up and 'talk' to me in a manner that I don't care for... "OUCHIE" does not describe it either...  And for those with back problems, I know you can relate...

At my house, my 'alpha' is Peanut (or 'PeanniePeannie' as she is known)...

By sleeping with me I gave (and give) her alpha status in the canine pack language... She just turned 16 years old, and other than her midnight 'I gotta go' tendency, she still acts like a puppy.... 

About 2-3 years ago,  she stopped going down the doggie steps and outside to do her widdlin at night...

After numerous (and many) tries to change this behavior, I realized it was old age creeping up and had no medical basis... So.... Rather than wake up with that 'OH NO' wet feeling, I moved Peanut moved to a crate for sleeping at night... It is at bed level and right aside of my bed,... She retains her alpha status but there are no accidents in my bed...

This was right around the time my doctor starting going on and on about allowing my dog to sleep with me... If you have problems sleeping at night, it is one of the first things they ask you... "Do you have a dog and does it sleep with you?  If so, you need to stop doing this and you'll sleep better."

The doctors give you a whole, long laundry list of things to do in a routine to sleep better at night and although I have put almost all of them into practice, I still don't sleep much better (overall)... 

I've sorta/kinda resigned myself to climbing into bed at 9PM, falling asleep around 10PM and waking back up around 2-3AM... Usually I get up and get to my computer, knock out a few hours of hard work and when I eventually get sleepy (if I do), I'll try and catch the other 2-3 hours of sleep I feel I am missing... It is a very weird schedule, but I have learned to work around Ms. Brumhilda if I want to get through each day now...

For about 18 months or so, my husband and I slept without any dogs in bed and two things became evident to me - 1) I don't sleep any better without a dog in my bed and 2) I don't like sleeping without a dog in my bed...

My husband is a late night TV watcher who can't sleep with the TV on, and I am not a TV watcher, but like the TV on for the white noise to sleep...

Otherwise, even small noises wake me up and then I get to lay there, staring at the ceiling and thinking or listening to the fan go 'whirl, whirl, whirlwhirl, whirl, whirl, whirlwhirl' while he snores (and not in unison with the fan)...

Not quite a year ago, one of my fosters developed a strong attachment to me and I resisted it for several months... After all, Momma is a Boxer/Pitty and I am not a fan of big dogs the older I get - I just don't have the strength to hold onto them in training modes...

But one of the major positive aspects of adopting a rescued dog is they all have this 'attitude for gratitude' somehow... I have always described it as they know just how BAD life can be, so when they get a good one, they appreciate it MUCH more, ya know?

Eventually Momma was more determined to become a Nelson than I was about resisting her unlimited devotion to me... When I finally agreed to adopt her outright, she was going to have a job and work for her keep...

I started training Momma around the last part of March in 2013 and by the end of May, she had her CGC certification done... 

Momma now is an ambassador of her breed and will basically lick to you death if given half a chance... It helps when you are trying to show kids at the rescue shop that not all big dogs are to be feared... Momma has done a LOT of good in the past year and brought much awareness to the statement, "It is NOT the breed, but the owner"...

I had trained Momma to sleep in her bed on the floor alongside my side of the bed and she was great about it... That lasted only a few months until my husband invited her into our bed one night when he retired early and wanted to pet her... 

After that, Momma would sit up with her head plopped down on the side of the bed, JUST STARING at me with those big dark almond colored eyes --- pleading to be allowed to come up into bed... I'm a tough broad but I can only take so much of that behavior and caved in... And almost immediately I realized just how much I missed having one of my dogs sleep with me...

With PeaniePeanie, I would pet her belly and she'd fall asleep curled into my belly as we both drifted off to sleep... It was almost like counting sheep at night for me... 

But with Momma?... She's FAR too big to curl into anything!... She developed an affinity to stretching out along my back, so we'd end up back-to-back as we both drifted off to sleep... It is like a giant heating pad and while I still don't sleep 'well', I fall to sleep easier and stay asleep more readily now... Make sense?

A few months back, Momma developed a new behavior in bed at night... At first, she'd get up with me on the 2-3AM stirrings and follow me into the office... Didn't take her long to realize when she did that, she left a nice warm bed and eventually I'd come back to either find her or crawl back into bed...  "So why bother?" she must have said to herself, ya know?

Now, if I get that 2nd shot at a full night's sleep, Momma stands up, waits for me to crawl into bed and get readjusted with the sleep body pillow, my neck pillows and my covers... She continues to stand there, staring at me, until I lift up the edge of my covers and invite her in underneath them!

Momma may only weigh 65 pounds, but she can dive in underneath the covers with the brute force of a Blue Whale!... Once underneath, she puts her paws over the sleep body pillow and now lays her head upon MY pillow! 

OMG!

At first, I wasn't keen at all about this new development and we had a few discussions about this... I didn't want her breathing into my face nor any of these slobbery kisses in the middle of the night either... Plus she snores (like my husband does) and between her, him and the fan, it was next to impossible to get back to sleep!

Eventually we adjusted like anyone does who loves a rescued dog... 

As long as there is no washing of my face at night and she's not snoring in my face afterwards, I can adjust and she's happy as a clam to be under the covers and sharing the warmth in those wee hours of the morning... 

They don't happen every day, but when they do?... They are precious to experience and bring about warm fuzzies about what I do as a rescuer...

Recently, I started fostering a small 3 pound Chihuahua that has a hard time holding onto her weight and eating like a normal dog... She, unlike any other dog I have ever fostered or seen, has taken to sleeping on Momma during the day like a pillow...

Deva has learned to balance herself on Momma's back and while I can find no other reason than the warmth, Momma doesn't even lift her head when Deva climbs on... 

It is the oddest thing, but I guess Momma spreads 'good sleep' wherever she goes?

So what's the moral of this story?  

For those of you who have already rescued a shelter dog, you already know... 

But for those you who have not (yet), there are many, MANY extra blessings that come with an adoption - beyond just knowing that you have saved this dog's life... Seldom have I found a rescued dog to have any habits I could not correct and the majority of them arrived in a shelter situation through NO fault of their own... They are not 'broken' or 'defective'... In fact, most of the rescued dogs I know, have met or have loved are BETTER than any puppymill puppy or purebred puppy/adult I have come across... 

And I also know that for every small bit of love I give a rescued dog, they give it back to me a hundred times or more... For sure, I love sleepin' with my Momma every night and she has enriched my life tremendously... 

So the next time someone gasps in shock when they hear you 'sleep with the dog', ask them how many times they have woken up with someone they'd rather have NOT slept with... ... I'm sure that will quieten down the negative look and comments!

As Always,
Linda  ♥