She was terrified when she arrived at the kill shelter in spring. She was scared of everyone who worked there, so they labeled her for “rescue only.” She just happened to be there when we came to pick up another dog … and we fell in love with her.
Saying goodbye is never easy … Some rescues say that, but we truly mean it – and have the tear stains to prove it. We are small but mighty and we grow to love each and every one of our silly Terriers.
Tessa arrived with a huge intake of dogs last summer. She was small, adorable and full-bred … and we thought she would go quickly. Slowly but surely, every one of her co-arrivals was adopted and she was ultimately left alone. Why? She had these silly little blemishes on her face and body. They turned out to be nothing but little cosmetic annoyances; warts caused by the papilloma virus with no threat except to affect her overall beauty. Nothing cancerous, thank dog!
Canine Commitment in New Hampshire had no problem with this, though. One of our volunteers has known one of their volunteers for decades and knew that they instill the same beliefs and the love of dog that we do. They are an amazing group with an even more amazing reputation for finding forever homes for dogs from the south … and providing them with just-as-amazing foster homes until they find their permanent one.
After some delays, our sweet girl left the ranch this morning destined for greatness. We dressed her up (she loves her hoodies/sweaters) and drove her to meet the Ruff Riders Transport with a blankie and food. (We hear it’s cold up there.) With tears in our eyes, we said goodbye and she is now on her way to her foster home, where we will enjoy all the comforts of a real home and family until her forever one is found.
We will keep you posted on her progress. We know we have plenty of supporters up north. If you are interested in giving her a forever home, please contact us and we will make sure to connect you with Canine Commitment and the adoption process.
Good luck, Tessa! We will miss your sunbathing smile, but know you are going to wonderful things. We’ll stop crying soon … we promise.
We are thrilled to announce that Katie and Gracie have arrived at their new home in Michigan. What an amazing group effort it was to make this transport happen for two special girls who have been through so much.
So many thank you’s are in order …
And, of course, we want to thank Deb Zarish beyond words for adopting these sweethearts. We knew that it was going to be challenging to place the girls. Even the most savvy JRT lover isn’t up for the adopting two at a time, much less older girls. Many people won’t even look twice at a dog over 3 years old. None of this meant anything to her. She was more than ready to give the girls a wonderful second chance. We knew after talking with her that they were getting a great home … and her friends backed that up in emails, testifying what an amazing person she is and a great life they will have. What a wonderful group of JRT lovers up there!
Here are the photos from the journey we posted to Facebook as it happened. Enjoy!
We have a great opportunity to place Gracie and Katie into an amazing acreage home with lots of room to play and a very experienced JRT mom, who is also a vet and who has worked with other rescues. The only problem? She is located near Ann Arbor, Mich., and we do not have a transport system from Atlanta. She is working on transport for the northern leg, but we will need help for the southern leg and beyond.
If you are located anywhere along the route from Atlanta to Ann Arbor and would like to help for any portion of the trip, please email us at jrtadoptions@gmail.com. We are still in the early stages of planning, but want to secure as many options as possible.
One way or another, we’ll make this happen. What a great life this would be for the girls! They are not liking rescue life, and we can’t wait to get them into a wonderful home again.
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Little Miss Maggie Mae arrived at our rescue in July 2012. A big ole powder puff, she was happy and sprite and ready for a second chance in life. She came from the shelter as a surrender, and we didn’t have much of a back story on her. It was, however, obvious she had been someone’s baby as she loved to be held and wanted desperately to be with people. She was so darn adorable and sweet that none of us imagined she would be with us for long.
Sadly, months passed and Maggie was still at the ranch. She is an older gal of 5 or 6 and fairly mellow. Most people looking for that kind of dog aren’t looking for a Jack Russell. Not saying Jacks can’t be tame, too, but … well, we all know. 😉 She needed someone who was going to be home a lot; to hold her and play with her and keep her company. She needed the perfect senior.
As much of a home as we try to make it here for these guys and girls, some dogs simply do not adapt to kennel life. We have been fortunate that it hasn’t happened very often, but like Ginger before her, Maggie was an exception. She cried so much to get out of her kennel and with people that she strained her trachea and she was starting to obsessively lick. Worst of all, she was beginning to chew on the bars and hurt her little teeth. We had to get her into a home, temporary or permanent, immediately and a couple of our amazing volunteers, who already have five dogs of their own, stepped up to foster her this week.
Meanwhile … 800 miles away in Oklahoma, that aforementioned “perfect senior” was about to appear. She had just lost her rescue of five years, was understandably heartbroken and needed a new baby to love. It was a darn good thing, then, that her daughter is one of our volunteers and knew just the perfect dog. The wheels were in motion to connect these two.
It took a team of volunteers and family working furiously for a few days to make it happen: Cara and Donna rushed to get her to the vet for a final check and get her ready to go. Kim picked up the precious cargo on Thursday and took her for a complimentary beauty treatment at WAG-A-LOT Decatur. (Thank you, guys!) After a night of playing with a pack of Jacks and Doxies (including one of our former rescues, Maxie), she was westbound to Tupelo, Miss., with Sally first thing Friday morning to meet her big brother, Stephen. Another eight hours and roadside site-seeing, she arrived at her new home and met her forever mom, Betty, last night. And this morning? The two of them are playing in their backyard together.
We will all miss our little Maggie, but it warms our hearts beyond words to know she is going to spend her days relaxing in her sunroom, watching squirrels and chasing birds on an acreage in the country. That may sound too good to be true, but it’s the absolute truth. How do I know? Maggie is now my baby sister. 🙂
Thank you to everyone who made this happen for this little girl and my mother. I don’t usually get personal in these posts as none of this about me, but this one was personal … and it meant the world to my family and me. I am so proud to be part of such a wonderful group.
Ginger arrived at our rescue in July with a group of Jack Russells who had all been pulled from Gwinnett County. She was short, sweet and smiling and we all fell in love with her immediately. She loved us, too, but she did not love the kennel lifestyle. It was obvious she had been someone’s lapdog and, through no fault of her own, had somehow ended up being abandoned. As the weeks passed, her smile faded and she began to spend most of her time in her doghouse, moping. She only lit up when it came time to play with people.
Ginger began looking sad a few weeks after her arrival. The rescue world was not for her.
We were desperately trying to find a foster home or, better yet, a forever home for this girl. Her disposition was sweet and cuddly, but the vet guessed she was around 8-10 years old and, well, we all know how these beautiful seniors often get overlooked in favor of the young ones. So, imagine our surprise when we received an email from Bonnie Brehm in Ohio. She saw Ginger on RescueMe.org and thought she would be the perfect fit for her family. She had just lost her 16-year-old Jack Russell and her Russell’s 14-year-old son was lonely. Ginger was the perfect low-key “little sister.”
Everything sounded great, but one obstacle remained: She was in Ohio; we are in Georgia. Gas prices are through the roof right now, and our funds are focused primarily on vet care and food instead of transport. How would we get her there? We put a shout out on our Facebook page for help with transport and within hours, we received a response from some great samaritans in Georgia. They said they would be more than willing to transport her for part or even all of the journey.
And this past Friday, that’s exactly what they did.
On Thursday night, our dedicated volunteer Kim Davis picked Ginger up from rescue and took her home for a good scrubbing and a sleep over. They were up bright and early the next morning for the hand-off to Kasey Perritt and Kimberly Rooney, the awesome women who volunteered to drive her. Ten hours and several rounds of vomiting (Ginger is lapdog, not a car dog), they arrived at Ginger’s new home and delivered her to Bonnie, her JRT brother and three cats(!).
Here are the photos that chronicle her venture up north.
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We cannot thank Kasey and Kimberly enough for stepping up and volunteering to do this with their own vehicle, funds and time off. We could not have done this without you! You have made a world of difference in the life of a wonderful rescue dog.
Ginger arrived at our rescue in July with a group of Jack Russells who had all been pulled from Gwinnett County. She was short, sweet and smiling and we all fell in love with her immediately. She loved us, too, but she did not love the kennel lifestyle. It was obvious she had been someone’s lapdog and, through no fault of her own, had somehow ended up being abandoned. As the weeks passed, her smile faded and she began to spend most of her time in her doghouse, moping. She only lit up when it came time to play with people.
Ginger began looking sad a few weeks after her arrival. The rescue world was not for her.
We were desperately trying to find a foster home or, better yet, a forever home for this girl. Her disposition was sweet and cuddly, but the vet guessed she was around 8-10 years old and, well, we all know how these beautiful seniors often get overlooked in favor of the young ones. So, imagine our surprise when we received an email from Bonnie Brehm in Ohio. She saw Ginger on RescueMe.org and thought she would be the perfect fit for her family. She had just lost her 16-year-old Jack Russell and her Russell’s 14-year-old son was lonely. Ginger was the perfect low-key “little sister.”
Everything sounded great, but one obstacle remained: She was in Ohio; we are in Georgia. Gas prices are through the roof right now, and our funds are focused primarily on vet care and food instead of transport. How would we get her there? We put a shout out on our Facebook page for help with transport and within hours, we received a response from some great samaritans in Georgia. They said they would be more than willing to transport her for part or even all of the journey.
And this past Friday, that’s exactly what they did.
On Thursday night, our dedicated volunteer Kim Davis picked Ginger up from rescue and took her home for a good scrubbing and a sleep over. They were up bright and early the next morning for the hand-off to Kasey Perritt and Kimberly Rooney, the awesome women who volunteered to drive her. Ten hours and several rounds of vomiting (Ginger is lapdog, not a car dog), they arrived at Ginger’s new home and delivered her to Bonnie, her JRT brother and three cats(!).
Here are the photos that chronicle her venture up north.
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We cannot thank Kasey and Kimberly enough for stepping up and volunteering to do this with their own vehicle, funds and time off. We could not have done this without you! You have made a world of difference in the life of a wonderful rescue dog.
We received an email about Tessa and Westin, two beautiful JRTs about 5 years old, needing a new home in early January. It was the same week when we began working with Flashpoint to move all of the dogs after the fire, and we were already at capacity. As much as we would have loved to have taken these cuties and found them a new home, we simply didn’t have room or resources. Fortunately, they were currently living with a good family who was taking good care of them between homes.
So … we networked online and, within no time, a couple in Texas stepped up with open arms to take both of them together. That left only one obstacle: How best to get them there? Funds and time were limited for everyone involved. As mentioned in our previous post, we are a small, independent rescue and don’t have an official transport system. We knew Westin already had some anxiety issues and we didn’t want to put additional strain on him to fly him there.
So … we networked online and found some points-of-contact to weave the handoffs together. It took a couple of weeks of scheduling, but the duo finally made their trek from Atlanta to Texas this past Saturday.
They left Georgia with a couple of our poop-scoopin’ volunteers in the wee hours of the morning; jumped on board with a big-hearted, wonderful volunteer near the Louisiana/Mississippi state line who saw our Facebook post for help; and then met their new parents in Shreveport before heading back to Texas. They were well-behaved, wonderful traveling companions for everyone, but never were they (and we!) happier than when they realized they had hit the “Jack”pot: A home with a yard, endless tennis ball throws and welcoming laps. Woo-hoo!
Thanks to everyone involved, including Kelly Hamilton and family for providing the re-home opportunity for them, Anna Papadimitriou for being our much-needed go-between and, of course, to Quentin and Susan Mims for giving them a loving, forever home. Thanks also to the Mims, Sally Hall and Kim Davis for the donations to help pay for gas.
Here are some photos from their little trek across the Southern states:
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Transportation hasn’t been a big issue for us as most of our rescues and adoptions have taken place in Georgia. As you may know, though, Georgia has very loose laws when it comes to pet ownership, so we are finding ourselves with more rescues than adopting parties. Never has this been more prevalent than the recent attempts at helping to re-home all of the fire survivors at Flashpoint Kennels.
That being said, there have been several people around the country who have expressed an interest in adopting some of the dogs in other areas of the country. They have asked about our “transport process” and, as a small mom-sans-pop operation, we don’t actually have one. We’re hoping to change that with your help.
That, of course, will take volunteers. There are some flight options we have been looking into and hope to take advantage of; however, we are well aware of the stress that flight travel can put on some dogs and a few of our rescues are already sensitive or dealing with health issues. That’s when constant human contact and ground transportation become crucial.
We are honored to have friends of the website and social networking sites from all over the United States. If you would like to participate in a possible transport, please don’t hesitate to contact us and let us know where you live and how far you can travel in east/west or north/south directions from Atlanta, Ga. We may never have to call upon you … but we may very well contact you within a week! You never know … It would just be wonderful to have some names on file, should a transport become necessary.