Average Mutt?

Nate is a dog that you might look at, but then you'd probably look away. He is your average mutt in looks. Kinda tall, very long legs, nice markings, but nothing special. Well, that is what I thought and didn't realise the 'dog within.'

This is Nate

Not only does he look good, but look what he started offering me to get a treat during our photo shoot. I had no idea he could do all this!

Here is the basic 'sit'.

Here is his 'shake a paw', still didn't shock me.


Then, OK, the 'lay down', kinda a natural progression after the sit and shake a paw. But I was intrigued by this time.

Now the shocker!!! He went from a lay down into a perfectly executed 'roll over'!!

Who knew?!! Nate was turned into a local shelter by a lady who claimed to have found him, but it was later discovered that she actually owned him, but wouldn't tell the bylaw officer what he had done or what changed in her circumstances to make Nate homeless. She obviously worked very hard with Nate to teach him all these tricks. He is also wonderful to walk with, doesn't really pull and will happily lope beside you for as long as you want to walk.

Nate isn't really great at meeting new dogs, he is only about 10 months old and kind of 'rushes' new dogs. Some think its fun and take it as a playful gesture, other dogs thing he is way too pushy and that he needs a good growl. Either way, he's happy. He is also great in his crate. He doesn't complain to go in, you just need to say 'Crate', and he'll walk right in and get comfortable for the night.

Because he is a still a puppy, he does love to play. He will carry his treasures around the house for hours to make sure that everyone has seen what he found and gives them a quick game of tug to let us attempt to steal it away from him. We always let him win the prize and he is always so happy, he trots right back to the dog bed and holds the toy until someone new arrives for him to show it to.

(In case you were wondering what the wooden square shaped thing in the background of the pictures is - thats my son's 'ant corral'! He puts fallen crab apples in there to feed the ants)

Swift

And now for the other new girl in town..... please meet Swift.

Swift is a heeler cross and is approximatley 9 months old. She was taken in when her owners were no longer able to care for her.

Her foster mom says she is a great dog who gets along well with other dogs and does not seem to mind the cats. She is doing great in the housetraining and kennel training department.

She is an active girl who would love to go to a home where she could be someone's running partner or better yet a flyball or agility dog.

Challenges

I never really decided to start a dog rescue here in Lethbridge. I was volunteering for the local cat rescue, PAW, when another gal from that group asked me if I'd want to start a dog group. Being allergic to cats and pregnant at that same time, made fostering cats a challenge for sure, so I jumped at the dog part of the rescue. I remember the day so clearly nearing the end of March in 2002 when I met Camille at the animal shelter and we took out our very first three dogs that were supposed to die that day. Running only on adreneline, certainly not on funds!, we continued and managed to adopt out a bunch of dogs that first year.

I remember checking myself into the hospital to deliver my daughter Rayna and after she was born, I checked my house messages. There were 18 calls about people wanting to surrender their dogs, or adopt one of ours, all those messages in the time it took me to deliver a baby!!

Time went on, dogs came into my house and went out shortly after. Camille left the group too after a while. Then, Amanda came on board with me, we only had one other foster home at that time, thanks Bernice for sticking with us for the past 7 years now! Amanda and I worked our butts off together for four years, building alot of what you currently see of PDCR, including the name, blog and website. (Amanda manned the phone while I delivered my son Jackson in 2005) We did alot of driving around, alot of picking dogs up, alot of supply drop offs to our many foster homes. We dealt with hundreds of dogs in those four years, each making a very big impact on our lives. With hundreds of dogs comes untold challenges. How to keep them healthy, clean, .... alive. Where to put them? How to pay for the bills? Then the biggest challenge for me personally, Amanda moved on from the group.

Last night, as happens every couple of months depending how busy we are, I was feeling totally overwhelmed at the challenges that the group and the dogs face every day.

I am 'in charge' of the dogs that come into the group, which means a large part of my job is taking phone calls from people who don't want their dog anymore, or from families that are devestated by new found dog allergies and have to part with their dog. I can't even express the amount of controll that goes into my day to not snap at everyone that calls with every stupid excuse in the book to dump their dog, then the emotions that go into the phone calls of the familes that are upset of giving their dog up, or the families who had a death in the family and due to circumstances, no one is willing to take the dog. The local county bylaw officers and other rescue groups also email me and phone me each day with news of a new stray that is in 'jail' or an email from another group that have a new dog, but don't have the room to take it in. Stress is an understatement! Having to say no to some dogs due to full foster homes, or begging a bylaw officer to hold off on a 'kill day' is a horrible thing to do......and I do this on a regular basis.

So, anyway, last night I went to the Happy Tails part of the blog as I don't look on there very often. As I scanned thru the stories, my eyes filled with tears as it seems like our dogs come at the right time is seems for so many people. The background on alot of the adoptions are never made public obviously, but knowing that a certain lady was dealing with the sudden death of her husband, and how her new dog proved to be a great comfort for her and her children, I can't even describe how happy I am for that family.

One family had recently lost their young son to cancer, there are the tears again!, and its the dog that I didn't have room for and brought in anyway, that has become a trully valued 'fuzzy brother' to their other son.

Then, the stories from the dogs perspectives: Louie was an unwanted. Now, he is in video doing his dance routines with his new mom in the sport of Freestyle.

Its too much people!! I cry, but laugh and feel immense pride in what we do. Then, today, I recieved the following email. I don't know these people but what a nice thing to say. I read it and felt better about the challenges that the group faces and the dogs face everyday, and I know that everything has always worked out, why won't it continue as long as we as a group are doing it for the dogs. Bring on the challenges, we are getting used to them!

Hello!

You are wonderful people!

I live in Regina where there is not one no kill shelter. I have tried volunteering at the Regina shelter. I found my heart shredded too many times and cannot bring myself to volunteer there.

You are a group who share the beliefs I hold. What can I do to help you? I will happily send you what small donation I can. Is there anything else that I can do?

Sincerely,

Ingrid

Hear that PDCR team? We are wonderful people!!



Thanks so much Ingrid for your message, it came at the right time.

A True Gem

We would like everyone to meet one of the new girls in town.... this is Pearl.



Pearl's owner passed away and some kind neighbours took care of her until she came to stay with us.

Her foster mom has nothing but good things to say about her....

"Pearl has been such a wonderful girl since she got here. I think I have maybe heard her bark 3 times since she got here 2 weeks ago. She gets along wonderfully with our Great Dane, loves to play. She would probably drowned our children in kisses if she got the chance!! She is soooo eager to please and LOVES to be loved and petted.

When we go on our walks (or I should say my runs) She doesn't go very far off leash. And when I call her she comes back instantly and sits right in front of you. She sits and lays down on command. When we are coming back from the morning run I have the 2 dogs walk beside me off leash and she does VERY well. We are still needing to work on jumping up. But she's just so darn excited!!! She hasn't had any accidents indoors.

I can, without a doubt, honestly say she is the BEST foster dog I've had. She is so pleasurable to be around. If I didn't already have a dog she would honestly be the dog I'd want!! Somebody is going to be VERY lucky to have her and I'm gonna hate to see her go!!!"

If you are interested in Pearl please send us your application, a good girl like this will not be around for too long!

Happy

Casey is a very happy puppy!

Casey isn't sitting in a shelter anymore wondering "Why?" Instead, he got to join PDCR and went into a great foster home where he is learning to be a good puppy. Casey just turned 5 months old on the 17th. He is as hyper as any puppy his age would be and nothing more should be expected!! He is excitable and playful, but also very lovable and really wants to please his people. This boy won't last long, look at his cute ears! He was really hyper when he came out of the shelter, so he got to go play at the doggy daycare, Paws on the Run, where he burned alot of energy and got this great picture taken. Thanks POTR for that.

Casey is up to date on his vaccines and is getting neutered next week.

Bob

This handsome dude is Bob a 2 year old Bichon Shihtzu cross.....whom you may remember from earlier this year...


He was returned to us by his owners as they were having some troubles in the housetraining department. We are happy to say that with a few adjustments to his feeding schedule, some kennel training and lots of love and praise from his foster home he has not had any problems. Here is what his foster home had to say about him....


Bob is a wonderful dog! There is absolutely nothing wrong with him. He has never messes in the house and is very loving and sweet. He is ready for immediate adoption and the sooner the better because we love him! He does love attention and just loves my husband. He gets along with all the other dogs, all of them!

So Bob is ready and waiting for your emails......

A Picture Only!!

I just had to share this picture with all of you. This sweet little puppy's name is Jersey.

JERSEY IS ADOPTED!!!

She was taken into a Lethbridge clinic by a couple who thought she had parvo. The test was negative, but then the owners couldn't be found! What?!! Yes, she was left at the clinic. So, the clinic called us to see about finding Jersey a new home. It didn't take long as you can all imagine. A very nice young couple with a 2 year old Rotti X named Sierra came and met Jersey and thought she would make a good sister for Sierra. The weekend went great, everyone got along, and the adoption was finalized this evening!

This post makes me think of a few great dogs that got adopted before even hitting the big screen! Some of the owners have commented that they wish they saw them on the site. So, I will be going thru my emails and pictures to find the unforgotten, forgotten pups that should have their 15 minutes of fame.

Request for Help

We have once again been asked to help out at the Blood Tribe Spay/Neuter Clinic to be held next weekend. Lots of effort goes into making sure that all goes well during this kind of weekend where we are hoping to spay/neuter at least 70 dogs and 40 cats. Alot of supplies are also needed and the organizers of the clinic have sent out a request for the following supplies:

Large Crates - hard sided or wire

Bedding - anything from sheets, towel, pillowcases, and old comforters

We at PDCR would also like ask for help too.

We are in desperate need of foster homes. We try to encourage people to volunteer for this all the time, but rarely have any response. Fostering is so much fun, and relatively easy! We have about 5 full time foster homes and about 5 part timers. We would love to give some of the full timers a break :) as lots have been going full time for over a year, or more.



With this spay/neuter clinic coming up, there is a whole bunch of dogs that aren't ever claimed by their owners at the end of the weekend and then all the volunteers have to scramble to find groups to take the dogs. PDCR would love to help again with some of these dogs and help get them new homes. Last time, we ended up taking in the Flower Pups, Skip and Reese, all beautiful, highly adoptable puppies.


If we are able to round up a few good people that are willing to foster, we would be able to take in a few more dogs every couple of months and give those dogs a chance too.

If you are interested in fostering, or know someone that would be, please, get them to email us so that we can explain the process to them and get them set up. www.prairiedogcaninerescue@hotmail.com

Thanks.

Returns

The team at PDCR does so much to screen potential applicants. We know it can be frustrating to fill out the seemingly endless paper application, return for visits several times, ensure all family members two and four legged are on board, check references, talk to your landlords. And while it can seem more painful then a tax audit, please know this is why we do it. While we encourage and ensure our dogs are returned if they can no longer be cared for, we strive to prevent it in the first place. It is heartbreaking for us, but more importantly for the dog. Being shuffled from one house to the next after they are just getting comfortable cannot be a good feeling.

It is our policy to provide help to you even after you have adopted a dog from us. All of us being dog people have our own little tricks of the trade so to speak that we can offer as suggestions to help with a variety of obstacles you may encounter with your new dog. And if we may not have a suggestion to help you, we most certainly will do our best to find out more information or steer you to the proper contacts to help you.

We encourage people who have adopted dogs from us and are experiencing some problems to send us an email or give us a phone call to talk about the problem you are having, to see if there are any suggestions we can offer to you. More often than not we find out about issues on the heels of the dog being returned. We want the adoption of your new dog to be a rewarding experience, sure they are a few speed bumps along the way but these will occur whether you got adopted the dog from us, the pet store, animal shelter or breeder. The difference is we are here to help, that is what we do, we not only help the dogs but also the new owners willing to share their lives with these dogs.

Kitty?

KITTY HAS BEEN ADOPTED!!!

Yes that is a kitty and yes I know we are a dog rescue but.... we are also animal lovers too and every so often we come across a cat looking for a home.

This sweet girl was found as a stray and a nice lady has been taking care of her in hopes her owners came to claim her but no one has come. Not much is known about her as she is a stray, but she is approximately 2 years old and very affectionate. Just like the dogs in our system her adoption fee would include her spay and vaccinations up to date.

So Miss Kitty is eagerly awaiting your emails in hopes of a new home before the fall season hits us....

Have A Heart

A very kind and creative lady in Calgary named Julie, has offered to give us a way of making a little money for the dogs. She makes art with stained glass and is left with lots of left over glass. She has managed to melt these bits together and make beautiful heart charms. She has sent us 30 hearts to sell and all the profits get to stay with the PDCR dogs.

I personally have mine on my keychain and have even let my adopted dog, Ivy, wear one on her collar. A few wear them as pendants, or have them hanging from their rear view mirrors.

(She doesn't actually wear it on a gold chain! It jst showed better for the picture)

There are so many colors to choose from, different beads and added designs. They will be available to see and buy at the Dog Park days, the first Tuesday of every month. We are also looking for local businesses that wouldn't mind having a little display of them in there shops to sell for us. If you are able to put them up in your place of business please call us at: 403-795-2599 and we will make those arrangements. The awesome staff at Pet Parade have already offered to have some on their front counter. Thanks alot guys!

Just Arrived!

Snap wants to show off her legs, they just arrived!

'Legs' is actually her nickname at her foster home.

She is beautiful, graceful and quite the diva!

Snap is now about 4 months old and still looking for her forever home. Her foster mom is very proud of this beautiful girl. Snap is housetrained (98%), crate trained, plays rough with the other dogs in the house, attempts to play rough with the cats....and is all around a good puppy.

Snap isn't your typicall cuddly kissy puppy. She is a Greyhound and very typical of the breed. Lots of research would be needed by a potential home for Snap as Greyhounds are a specific breed, not the breed for everyone, and she has very specific needs. Long distance joggers need not apply as greyhounds aren't long distance anything! She needs quicks play times with lots of fetching, then a chaise to recline on for the remainder of the day.