Charlie is looking for his forever home and then there is Superdog!

Charlie is looking for his forever home

Our guest blogger this week is Jack Parker, engineer, blogger, and renaissance man!

  When I was ten years old, I had a dog who had a secret identity – he was Superdog! He had kept this secret carefully, but one day his superpowers were inadvertently displayed for all to see.

By day, he was a mild-mannered Peekapoo named Snoopy- a loving, intelligent, energetic dog. We had acquired him from some friends in El Paso, Texas where, apparently, there was never a recorded case of thunder anytime in his life; because he was terrified of it. The routine thunderstorms in Huntsville turned him into a howling blob of jelly. The only cure for thunder was for one of us to touch him. Constantly. It was best if we just gave up on the “no dogs on the couch” rule and let him sit in our laps.  When it wasn't thundering, though, he was as cheerful and patient as they come.

His favorite game was to wait until someone opened the front door and then run as fast as the wind to the next door neighbor's backyard to play with Charlie, a dog of uncertain breed. Snoopy loved this game, and would laugh the whole time he was running to see his friend because he knew we couldn't catch him before he got next door. His superpowers were revealed as a result of this game.

One day, I opened the front door and he ran out. I ran after him with more than usual urgency. I called his name and yelled for him to stop. He laughed at me, like he always did. Nothing could stop him, and he knew it! I ran after him as fast as I could; but he was too fast. Just as I rounded the corner of the house, he reached the neighbor's yard and showed off his superpowers. He could fly! His front feet stopped moving forward. His back feet, and the whole back of his body, lifted off the ground. Then his whole body started to fly. He must have stopped flying when he saw me, because he crashed unceremoniously to the ground about a second later.

The neighbor had put up a chain link fence that he didn't see, and he hit it nose-first at full speed. Fences are dog kryptonite.

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Art by Idiehl

             

Charlie was rescued from Animal Services because his previous owners decided he was too expensive to feed.  Sadly, they had not educated themselves well on exactly how much to feed, and so were overfeeding him and it resulted in Charlie being very very overweight.  He had difficulty moving in the shelter and was just so large that he needed what a rescue could give him - time to recover and get healthy before being adopted!  Charlie weighed a whopping 134lbs when he came out of the shelter.  His foster mom estimates he should be about 90 lbs so that means he was 45 lbs overweight.  He is a big boy, tall and with a beautiful head and (potential) build.  He was still massively overweight at 134 lbs.  He has been on limited intake of food and has begun a gradual excersize program, going from 1.5 miles of walking to 4 miles in a months time.  He has fun dogs in this foster home that also keep him busy (and burning calories).  In his first month he lost nearly 15 lbs.  His foster mom continues to monitor his intake and gradually increase what he can do.  He's responding beautifully, already showing signs of being more comfortable and finding it easier to move.

But enough about his weight!  Charlie is a great guy and will be available when he loses about another 20 lbs.  (so that we know what food/exercise ratio he should be on to lose that last 10 or 15 lbs in his new home).  He is house broken, cat and dog friendly, and just an easy going guy.  He is all lab in the friendly goofy way that makes labs labs.  His new home must agree to keep him on the right amount of food and keep him physically active!  As he loses weight he is getting more and more active and he wants to stay that way.  He loves walks and chasing tennis balls and just hanging around.  He would love to have a dog buddy in his new home.  He gets along well with both big and small dogs but needs a medium large dog to play with!  He is great with all people including kids.  You must agree to understand he peels the felt off tennis balls and will need a continual supply and that he will also grind soft toys in half (because apparently they feel like floss)

You can follow Charlie on Facebook

If you would like to contribute a story to the FOR blog, please mail the contents along with an image or two to blog@forrescue.net.

 At the end of 2014 individuals who submitted content for the FOR blog will be entered in a drawing for a free pet portrait

Bear- a gentle soul and Chance needs a second chance on life!

Chance needs a second chance!

Our guest blogger is Heather Haney, an engineer, dog-lover, and part of a therapy team with Bear

I would like to say I picked Bear but in all actuality Bear picked me! :)  A co-worker had advertised their two dogs had a litter of puppies.  After seeing the pictures & the fact that they lived in Athns, I decided to go see these puppies (all the while knowing I would come home with one of them).  I met all the puppies, sat down & played with them.  Some of them played with each other and some just wondered around.  While watching them this cute, little fur ball crawled right up in my lap.  It was LOVE at first sight!  Bear became mine when he was 5 weeks old.  I knew there was something special about Bear right from the beginning.  He was super smart (practically house trained himself) and he picked up on commands really fast.  Bear went everywhere with me.  Because of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) at work I learned about Therapy Partners, a non-profit located in Huntsville.  I knew Bear was special and that I needed to share him with everyone else.  Bear brought me so much happiness and joy that it just wouldn’t be fair to keep all that to myself. 

Bear 

I saw how happy Bear made little children and how much they enjoyed getting to meet him and pet him.  One little girl even gave Bear her prized necklace (Bear still has it). :)  So after completing our training at Kind Hearts Behavior Center (it’s part of Therapy Partners) and passing our test with Therapy Partners, we went on to become a certified Pet Partners therapy team.  I can’t imagine a better way to spend our days together than bringing happiness and joy to those around us.  Bear and I are a part of the Partners Achieving Literacy (PAL) Program.  We visit a local elementary school where we read to 2^nd graders who need a little extra TLC with their reading.  Bear loves visiting with the children plus all the school workers.  He gets so excited when he knows it’s our day to go read.  When you have a four-legged furry friend as special as Bear you can’t keep all that love to yourself, you have to share it.  Bear and I have a special bond.  My life changed for the better the day I met Bear and on our journey together I hope we have helped to make life a little better for those we come in contact with.   

Chance is a hound mix, less than two years old, and looks like a very old dog. We found him on the back row of Scottsboro’s Animal Shelter – terribly thin, raging yeast infection, and with advanced demodex and sarcoptic mange. He was weak and could barely raise his head. 

The shelter staff had done all they could to help him but Chance was going to need a lot of medical help to survive. The first vet to see him shook his head and asked if we were sure we wanted to put our resources into him. YES, we did!

Chance moved into his new foster home on last Monday and is being cared for lovingly but has continued to decline.  We checked him into the veterinary hospital for intravenous fluids, antibiotics, and close observation later in the week.

Please keep him in your thoughts.  He needs the very best of care right now and his meds need to be monitored closely.

Your contribution will help and will go directly to Chance’s medical bills. When we saw him, we knew very few rescue groups or adopters would choose to take him out of the shelter. He needed FOR and we’re going to give him every chance possible.

Thank you for reading and caring about the sweet animals in our program. Without you, we absolutely could not continue this work   

 If you would like to meet him email info@FORrescue.net

To help with Chance's medical expenses

If you would like to contribute a story to the FOR blog, please mail the contents along with an image or two to blog@forrescue.net.

 At the end of 2014 individuals who submitted content for the FOR blog will be entered in a drawing for a free pet portrait.