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.