The year ended as busy as it started with big changes, an adoption for someone who really needed it, the arrival of a couple of darling bookends … and the loss of a little one who we will always remember. Thank you to everyone for helping us through this wild ride of ups and downs. Let’s hope for a positive 2013.

Volunteer Day

The month licked off with a super-busy volunteer day at the ranch. All hands were on deck to weatherize the kennels, work on the inside kennel runs, teach some of the dogs agility, clean kennels and enjoy some chili and adoption stories. We made some major strides in creating an indoor safe haven for some of our special-needs “house” dogs in the indoor kennel. We hope to complete the attached outdoor runs soon, so the dogs will have indoor/outdoor access.

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Thank you to everyone who showed up and worked so hard – and to some of you who show up and work hard like this every weekend.

Our next volunteer day is tentatively scheduled for the spring. We’ll keep you posted.

Hartley Heals

What would a monthly update be like without another major vet bill? After months (years before arriving here) of wrestling with ongoing ear infections, Hartley finally got some relief with an extensive ear canal surgery in mid-December. He is still recovering (and has definitely not enjoyed the inconvenience), but once he is over this, he will hopefully never suffer again.

Eli’s Holiday Wish List

We asked Eli to re-review his Amazon Wish List for the rescues and update it. He did and we have been promoting it. We have received a few goodies from the list. Thank you. If you would live outside of Georgia, would like to donate something to the dogs they need and know it will go directly to the rescue, this is the way to do it. Check out the list and see what fits your budget. Every little thing helps.

Operation Maggie

Maggie began showing signs of kennel “frustration” a few weeks after her arrival at the ranch in July. It had risen to a point where she had began to chew on the bars and had cried so much, she was straining her trachea. We had to get her out of the kennel and into a foster home until her forever family showed up. Meanwhile, the perfect forever mom in Oklahoma found her. This one really hit close to home and, within days, we had put together a transport to get her there. She is loving her new life, rocking in the chair with Mom and exploring every inch of her acreage. No more tears for this little girl.

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Katie and Gracie arrived

Katie and Gracie finally arrived at our rescue. They had been all over the rescue boards after both their mother and father died within a few months of one another. Their family could not keep them and was desperate to get them together and into a loving home. They had been in foster care with Linda for several weeks because we didn’t have any space for them. They finally arrived in mid-December and we absolutely love them. We are absolutely going to love sending them to their forever home even more. They have had a few inquiries; we’ll keep you posted.

Abigail

Christmas Eve brought us a round of heartbreak. It has always been a difficult night as Jimmy, our co-founder, passed away on Christmas Eve in 2008. This year, one of his favorite rescues, Abigail, decided she wanted to join him and left us that afternoon. She had not shown any signs of cancer until the end. When we discovered how far it had spread, we quickly let her go. We are still healing and will be for some time. Thank you to everyone for the outpouring of sympathy and kind words.

September was a month that truly tested our patience and will to go on. Had it not been for the introduction of some new (amazing!) volunteers, we could not have gotten through it.

Heartbreak Hotel

Two heartbreaking cases of neglect, Chloe and Pippa arrived in September … even though we were once again full. After countless vet visits and surgeries, Chloe is still struggling. She has not gained weight as we had hoped. She remains feisty, but we may have to reassess her situation soon. Despite some lung damage from heartworms, Pippa sailed through her treatments and has is now being spoiled rotten in her foster home.

Little Lola

No one will forget sweet Lola’s photos … and challenges. She was pulled by another rescue and fostered by the Mitcham family. No one could understand how this adorable little girl was left at the shelter … until the truth came to light. She was blind. And unsocialized. An anxious.

Thanks to the dedication and commitment from her foster family, Lola graduated from the pint size class at Jabula Dog Academy in November! She still has a lot to learn, but this is a huge step forward for this special-needs girl who has been through and overcome so much already.

Her family has also become a priceless addition to our volunteer group. They are always out at the ranch, taking care of dogs, delivering hay, making repairs and helping in any way they can. Their passion and involvement has been priceless.

Rocket’s Assessment

Rocket, one of our two fear-aggressive boys, left the ranch for the day to meet Lisa Matthews of Pawsitive Practice. She gave him a complementary evaluation – and a complimentary one. He can someday be adoptable with the correct training. We tried to make that happen, but missed the classes because of bigger emergencies. On a good note, he has had exposure to a lot more volunteers since then and has learned to trust a lot easier. Thanks again to Lisa for her help and to all of the volunteers who have worked with him.

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Campaigns for the Jacks

We kicked off a couple more campaigns in September, including Get Yer ‘Backs, Jacks and the Belk ticket sale. We are still avidly seeking donations from small businesses as we are planning a big auction and several events next year. Learn more.

Ginger’s Big Adventure

Ginger was also breaking our hearts. She arrived happy and spry, but started to show signs of kennel depression after a few weeks. We were thrilled beyond words when a woman named Bonnie reached out to us from Ohio and wanted to adopt her. You know what’s coming now: How on earth could we get her there without a transport system? Thanks to the power of Facebook, a couple of doggone good Samaritans, Kasey and Kimberly, stepped up and made the long but amazing trip.

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August was definitely the dog days of summer with us scrambling to adopt out the influx we had just encountered. In the midst, we kicked off Eli’s Wish List, received some much-needed help and took in yet another precious dog who was down on his luck.

Campaign Trail

We kicked off several new promotions, including our Seniors for Seniors program, Eli’s Amazon With List and Pawlee’s  “Treat yours. Help others.”

Through a Dog’s Ear also sent us a collection of 15 CD sets to help calm the dogs. This has really proven effective for some of our more anxious dogs, and we have been thrilled to give them to adoptive parents. If you adopted a dog from us and did not receive one but would like one, please let us know.

We also put out a call to all adoptive parents for video and photos for our promotional video. Stay tuned, we’re in the final phases of creating that and will be debuting it soon!

A Little Help

A much-needed grant arrived from the Petco Foundation. The funds helped assist us with multiple vet bills incurred during our larger-than-normal intake numbers this year. We were not sure how we were going to get through the summer, so the timing was priceless. It came and went to the vet quickly, of course, but we were thankful beyond words for the help.

Hartley’s Road to Recovery Begins

Our favorite old man Hartley arrived at the end of August. His shelter photo, which featured him sporting some Freddy Krueger claws and looking nothing short of pitiful, had exploded on the rescue boards. He had hundreds of people rallying to save him and let him know what love means.

After the massive intake in July, we were definitely in no position to take on another dog, much less a senior with special needs. Alas, the outpouring of love and pledges for him was overwhelming and once he arrived from the kill shelter in Warner Robbins and smiled, it was all over. He was one of ours.

This sweetheart has suffered a lot of neglect in his life and is still recovering. He just had ear canal surgery last week. Once he is through this current challenge, we hope his suffering will end, once and for all. Despite his trials, he has been a beacon of sunshine at our rescue and, when he is ready, he is going to make someone an amazing dog.

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July was explosive. There is just no other way to say it. Our numbers exploded and one of our favorite firecrackers, Mars, finally got his forever home.

Mission for Mars

Mars came to us an absolute mess a few years ago … but a gorgeous one. Even with facial scars from skin allergies, he was a beyond-handsome Parson Russell whom no one could take their eyes off of … especially one of our volunteers, who fell head over heels for him but couldn’t take him home. 😉

In June, we received an email from a man named Gary Siverts about Mars that just up-ended our worlds. There was no doubt it: This was Mars’ forever family. The problem? They lived across the country in Missouri. Once again, we do not have any kind of transport system in place and had to rely on volunteers to make it happen.

It eventually became a very successful “Mission for Mars” and it one of our favorite memories of the year. We still receive timely updates and photos of Mars in his new home and you can bank on seeing a post dedicated just to him in the coming days.

More Festival Fun

Furever Fit in Johns Creek had their grand opening and invited us to attend. We had a great time meeting everyone and hanging out for the day. Best of all, three of our babies were adopted! Chip went home with the Moore family and Jocelyn, one of Susie’s puppies, went home with the Ramsey family.

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So. Many. Dogs.

The most explosive part of the month (year!)? The arrival of eight dogs within a week: Tessa, Maggie, Ginger, Ringo, Tasha, Sasha, Linus and Opal. We had never received such an intake at once (or even within a year!) and it was a little overwhelming for such a small rescue. We are just now recovering, but happy to report that almost everyone from that group has found their forever home.

Ringo moved to foster care and was adopted by the Lester family in October.

Sasha was scooped up in mere seconds and renamed Pippa, while her daughter, Tasha, patiently waited until October to find her doting parents.

Opal was snatched up by the Golder family in September and recently came back to visit us.

Linus took a trip up north, snapped at someone in fear … and then made a trip back down South. He is now loving life with his “forever foster” home.

Ginger and Maggie had a much harder time waiting … but we’ll read about those success stories in the coming months! 😉

Tessa is the only one left out of the bunch. Despite her silly ways, she is adorable and we  are very surprised she is still with us … but have no doubts we’ll be sharing her success story soon.

Gilbert arrived at the ranch from a South Carolina shelter in October 2011 with a big ole wiggly tail and a huge heart … which, unfortunately, was plagued with heartworms. He was also dealing with the aftermath of a bad neuter. He had been on the redline list when his photo ended up in our email box. One look at that adorable face, and we couldn’t fathom the thought of this precious boy leaving this world. We could just tell he had so much love to give.

More than one of our volunteers wanted to take him home permanently, but were not in the position to do so. So, for several months, all the ladies here both dreamed about and dreaded the day this precious boy would find his forever home and leave us.

That day came in March when his parents, Allen and Amy, met him. He was still dealing with heartworms after a slow-kill process didn’t work, but they didn’t care. They had been through the process with their former dog and they knew how to deal with it. They were smitten and so was he.

He has since gone on to conquer heartworms and is living the life in Marietta.

Here’s an update and photos from Mom:

“Gilbert loves sitting on his porch, watching all the neighbors while sunning himself.  He is very active and has his favorite dog park where he has meet many new four-legged fiends.  He is such a lovely boy, and a major bed hog.  He is loved very much. He is a ray of sunshine.  Truly!!!!”

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Spring was in the air. We spent most of our days at the rescue, enjoying the fresh air (and pollen) and “de-winterizing” all the kennels. We did devote one weekend to a great fundraiser.

SweetWater Fest

We took a gamble by participating in SweetWater Fest, a “non-dog” special event – and what a great payoff! Even though dogs weren’t allowed in the park this year, plenty of people with plenty of smartphones had plenty of photos of their dogs to share. We kicked off our cabin raffle and actually made a dent in our vet bill … for the month, at least. We can’t wait to for next year’s festival. See you there!

March both came in and left like a lamb … and, for the first (and hopefully last) time ever, we lost one of  our precious flock. There was plenty happening behind the scenes, of course …

In Memory of Rhonda

On March 28, we suffered a loss of one of our rescues that we will never forget. Rhonda was one of our lifers because she had Cushing’s Disease. She thrived with us for several years, and we gave her the best care possible, but in the end, she let us know when she was finished with the fight and we respected her decision.

We have never lost a rescue while they lived with us, and she will never be forgotten. We miss you and your hugs, sweetheart.

Thank you so much to Susan for sponsoring her during her time of need.

Social Media’ites

We launched our Pinterest page and allegedly set a trend for several other rescues to follow. Have you seen it yet? If not, be sure to check it out and follow us. Our Facebook page also hit 500 followers. The magic of the Internet–both through our website and social media–has been monumental in getting our word out and finding homes (and awesome volunteers/sponsors) for our small rescue.

 

 

We first saw Susie and her six puppies on the rescue boards. They were in a high-kill shelter and scheduled to be put down. We couldn’t fathom the reality, but were out of room at the time and there was no way we could handle raising puppies. One our volunteers/fosters, Terri, took the whole group in and raised the babies to adoption. Delilah decided she would stay with mom. 😉

When Susie was ready to let her babies go, she came to see us. She had anxiety issues, liver problems, bad teeth from poor nutrition and buckshot pellets lodged under her skin from where some not-so-nice people shot at her … and that’s just naming a few of her issues. It was going to take a lot of work and funds to help her become the dog she deserved to be.

Once again, the Roose family stepped up to take one of our down-and-out rescues to the next level … and then some. They had done an amazing job with Pumpkin, who was our success story of 2011, and we knew Susie was destined to a life in horse-carriage heaven.

Here’s the latest photos and an update from the Roose Family:

Hello to all our friends at the Rescue and Momma Donna,

There is so much to tell you about how Pumpkin and Susie have grown over this past year. We have seen some real highs and lows, but we continue to move forward in our training. We prove that rescues, no matter how bad their background, are not damaged goods.

Pumpkin is doing well. She was doing advanced level agility over the summer and was set to show in the fall until mommy dislocated her knee, so she has to practice in the back yard for a while. We hope to restart real training after February. We have not stopped working on her other issues, and she is a solid citizen at the dog park. Her heart condition has remained stable this year, so we are set to go! We are proof special needs dogs can go on to become great pets.

Susie has been doing great. She graduated from basic obedience and has been doing beginner agility. She is able to do four elements without a leash. We have been working on her people issues. She no longer runs when a stranger approaches or cowers at every loud noise.  Her liver is working much better, and she eats like a horse. Lately, she has been doing much better at the dog park by engaging in play with other dogs, small children, and the elderly. My how we have grown!

Both Pumpkin and Susie are still rolling in the carriage every Saturday with big brother, Bubbles the Horse. They love their long rides in the sunshine. It took a while for them to figure out who gets to ride ‘shotgun’. Pumpkin gets to ride in the seat with mom.

Have a Merry Christmas,
The Roose Family

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