Nicole Bodem - Contributing for the Greater Good

Nicole Bodem‘s volunteer experience is impressive. She has taught conversational English to people new to the U.S., volunteered at orphanages in India, and started a lung cancer walk in honor of her mother-in-law.” For me, personal growth comes from contributing to the greater good,” says Nicole. “I’ve truly become a better person through volunteering”.  A lifelong passion for animals led Nicole to seek out a volunteer opportunity at SDR. Her first experience was being a foster guardian for a miniature poodle named “Ty.” “The same name as my son,” she laughs. “It was a fun few months in my house!”

Her next foster, Cody, stole her heart. Her family ended up adopting the dappled Doxie after meeting him at a foster event. Cody’s entry into the family was not problem-free. Cody had experienced a harsh life in a Missouri puppy mill, but once he had a clean bill of health his unique being” began to shine through. “Cody is so loving and loyal. During the day he is best buds with me (I work from home) and at night you can find him sleeping nose to nose with my husband. He has the typical Doxie traits he is very strong-willed and stubborn at times, refuses to go outside if it is raining, windy or too cold as deemed by him etc. but these are also the things we love so much about him. It’s hard to look into his eyes and think about how awful the first 5 years of his life were.  I hope Cody knows he is safe now and will be spoiled and loved to pieces for the rest of his life.”

Though Nicole’s volunteer duties have shifted to other areas, she and her family still make time for SDR. She stresses that volunteering doesn’t need to involve a lot of time. "Even if you have 1 hour a month, that 1 hour can change the life of a dog forever. There are so many volunteer activities that require zero commitment: Donate proceeds from your garage sale, knit/crochet something we can sell at a fundraiser, donate a bag of dog food, or just help spread awareness about the importance of adoption.”

We agree, Nicole! Thank you and Cody for helping SDR in so many ways.

Aegina

My wife and I had been considering adding another dog to our family. We already had Molly, our 8 yr old cocker who we got as a puppy. After reading and hearing of all the dogs needing adoption from programs on the Animal Channel, we decided to look into adoption.
I started cruising all the dog rescue sites and found it pretty exhausting trying to decide where to adopt, what to adopt, how to adopt and so forth. A short time before this we had been visiting a shop in Red Wing where the proprietor had her dog with her in the store and this is the first time we saw a Papillion. My wife immediately fell for the breed. I started looking for Papillion's to adopt. The first search I did brought me to Aegina and SDR.
She looked so cute and her markings were so beautiful. We emailed SDR and got set up for a home visit right away. By coincidence, Aegina's foster mom worked with my wife so Aegina was already in our city. When she arrived, her foster mom told us about Aegina being a rescue from 8 years in a puppy mill and she was starting to house train and re-socialize her. I'm not sure we fully understood what we were getting into. We liked her looks, she got along with Molly and we just figured she would come around and become a family member (a pet). Besides, we knew how to house train a dog…………..
She came to her forever home! It hasn't been the same in our house since…..LOL
Anyone who has taken in a mill survivor will know exactly what we were facing. I'm almost positive it should be a firm rule that there already be a resident dog when getting a mill dog. I won't bore you with all the details of house training, but our resident dog was instrumental in helping. I'll just say it took a while and a lot of hit and miss trials but she is fully house trained now and allowed the run of the house 24 hrs a day.
One and a half years later, she still isn't the pet we thought we would have, but she is our little girl and we couldn't think of being without her. She isn't a lap dog or doesn't seek a lot of attention. Although sometimes she feels the need for petting (for a minute) and wants to be on your lap when its storming but for the most part, just being by you in the same room is enough for her. That's OK though with us. We know she's now in a safe place, a loving place and she will be as happy as she can be for the rest of her days. She has developed a personality and we get a kick out of her.
She loves walks and is great on a leash. She roams all over the yard now after accepting that stepping in grass is not all that bad. Her favorite time of the day is bedtime. She gets up on the bed, makes a nest in her own blanket and settles in for the night. In fact, I think she tolerates us more than we her. We not only adopted her, she adopted us.
I'm not sure we would have adopted Aegina if someone had told us she wouldn't be the PET we were looking for, but I do know we would do it again. The satisfaction we get from seeing her get as far as she has and the feeling we get, knowing we have given her a good safe home is more than we ever expected.

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Transport - A Commitment To Rescue

 

In simple terms, transportation can be thought of as taking something from one place to another, but the volunteers that transport Small Dog Rescue’s precious cargo know that it’s so much more than that. Dogs are connected with people at adoption events, which can lead to them finding a forever home, and the dog also may need transportation to that forever home. So until a teleporter is invented, the dogs rely on volunteers to physically take them places. Volunteers like Barb Stiles and Jennifer Schultz who have taken the dogs to local events, on longer trips out of state, and places in between.



According to Barb, a typical transport involves taking one to four dogs to adoption events. Dogs are also taken to potential adopters’ homes for a visit to assess compatibility. Dogs are also moved from shelters to foster homes which can involve multiple transfers from trucks, trailers, and/or cars.



Other things that are included in the transport process are the paperwork and vet records that must be exchanged, stops for potty breaks and allowing the dogs to stretch their legs for a bit, and also checking on the dogs. Dogs being transported are kept in kennel crates for their safety during the trip, so breaks made along the way are a necessity for their comfort, especially since many of the dogs are taken long distances to get where they need to be. Most dogs handle the trip well, typically taking a snooze for most of it, but once in a while some dogs, just like people, are sensitive to the movement of the car and may get a little uneasy. To make the trip a little more bearable, Jennifer has a special CD with music made specifically to calm the dogs down. “But on the trip, I couldn’t find that CD, so I ended up finding a light rock radio station, and that worked! It was an adventure!”



Transporting is an essential part of any committed rescue organization because it opens up opportunities for both dogs and adopters, increasing chances of finding homes where both the family and the dog live happily ever after.



If you would like to help with transports, you may be interested to know that SDR provides crates for the dogs during the transport. You can also deduct mileage on your taxes. If you'd like to help but can't drive, there may be a gas fund to help out those who are driving.

For more information or to let SDR know you can help, contact info@smalldogsminnesota.org.