Love at first sight is real

I fostered and adopted absque now biscuit. She is a doll and fits in with our two others

Danny is a gorgeous, handsome ruby Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who was rescued in late Spring of 2009. He had been ‘selected’ as a breeder cull, no longer useful to a puppy mill in Nebraska. With a mouthful of decayed teeth and a growth on an eyelid, he was vetted in South Dakota. He was neutered and the teeth (except one molar) and eyelid growth were removed. After a short time in a foster home, we met Danny at an Adoption Event sponsored by Small Dog Rescue. We chose the very shy and fearful fellow to join our senior family (two and four-legged) along with our Great Pyrenees, D’Artagnon and two Cavaliers, Marina and Michael and one cat, Tucker.

Now, in Danny’s own words:

I was very shy and scared, but my presumed 10 years in the puppy mill as a breeder precluded any inhibitions over marking any territory in or out of my new home. Soon after I was adopted, my family was excited to foster two more rescued Cavalier girls. I turned up the heat. I peed on furniture, the other dogs’ bowls, their toys and a dog or two. Anything was fair game.

My new mom was happy to have the foster sisters. I had other ideas. With my breeding background, my behavior of marking was in full swing! Plenty of vinegar, paper towels, and doggie odor remover was utilized! My family has a doggie door to the yard. I used that regularly with the others, but the old behavior was very ingrained. If I was caught in the act in the house, my family scooped me up and took me outside to the designated potty spot. After the foster girls were adopted into their new homes, I had less of a need to keep up that job. With all the action, my mom forgot to be thankful I did not have the need to mount any of the others! I still squirt here and there once in a while. I am more content to keep the outside spots freshened up on our daily walks. My mom thinks the exercise is very helpful in venting that energy. Oh yeah, we have no carpeting in the house. Perfect!

At first I was afraid of human hands reaching to touch me. I would splat myself to the ground, trying to look unavailable to whatever doom may be coming. My family learned to approach me by squatting to my level and chucking me under my chin with gentle words. I didn’t find that as intimidating. My dad is a kisser of the family dogs. I have taken a time to think that is an acceptable gesture. I am learning he is just lovin’ on me.

Doorways remain a reason to stand back. I wait for reassurance that the door is not an unexpected weapon in my face. I accompany my family on Pet Therapy outings and trips to the pet store. It is a bit scary sometimes when kids run up to pet me. I try to slide behind Michael or Marina to be sure I am safe. Then I join in to be petted or especially get a treat from the cashier at the checkout.

I want to eat anything Michael and Marina eat. My mom cuts up fruits and vegetables for me because of my toothless mouth. I eat regular dog kibble with water on it. My tongue stays in my mouth unless I am sleeping.

I sleep in the family bed with everyone except D’Artagnon. He remains on the floor on a rug. Sometimes if I am alone in a room, I will ask for someone to join me. In my hoarse voice, “Woof! Woof!” I call for companionship. I will repeat myself as many times as it takes to get attention. I love company and especially enjoy being with Michael. We help D’Artagnon keep the neighborhood safe by barking briefly at passers by. We have very low windows in our home so we have a great view. Our favorite is to have our parents sitting on the couch or the laying on the bed with all of us. Beyond food, side by side is the best.

How can we say, “Thanks?” My family and I say, “Bless you, SDR!”

With love,

Danny

Jack now Jackie

So I am techno slow, so I have no picture of Jackie. Jackie came to us as a Foster in October. She was our first foster. She is a pickle, likes to run and some other issues. I wasn't sure she would fit, we don't have a fenced yard but we have made it work. She has run a couple of times, thanks to Erin for coming to my house at 5am one morning to look for her in the dark. :) She has only run away a couple of times in the past few months. Little stinker, ends up back at our doorstep when she wants, and looks at me like "aren't you going to open the door" . Jackie has had a rough life but not as bad as many dogs. Surrendered a couple of times to SDR before she came to us. She is a good dog, but had some very undog savy families and a beagle is not a breed for the unsavy. She is a love bug and sleeps under the covers in my arms. She was on several home visits, did some trial overnights, and actually got adopted and then re-returned to us over the last 5 months. So over
the past 5 months she has been in and out of our home. Everyone else had problems with her but she would come back to us and do fine. Everyone who brought her back said as soon as she got close to our home, she would get crazy happy. Well we even had a dog behavior person come to our house to try to see if we could make her "more adoptable". This gal was amazing and gave us some tips and we are taking Jackie to her class starting this week. So after some coaxing and some deep prayer, it was obvious that Jackie kept coming back to us, because she had already picked her forever home and just like a beagle was bound and determined to make it so. Our good friend calls our house Club Med for dogs, so no surprise she wants to stay. We adopted her! I now run her while I ride my bike to burn some of her energy, even in the snow. Pray that we can reign in her desire to run a bit, my heart can't take it.

Agape

I adopted Agape on 9-11-09, my name is Debbie Mason -2-15-10
Agape is so adorable and such a loving little girl, she has brought alot of joy and love to me and
my 12yr old chiuacha, Ive only had her 5 mos but she is doing well ,loves to go outside and plays all the time. One of her favorite things to do is play dress up, she loves wearing clothes.
Im so thankful for small dog rescue and all they do If it wasnt for all the care and love they
have for rescuing these puppy mill survivors we wouldnt all be together. I totally appreciate them and all they stand for. Thank you. Everyone I meet and know wants to take Agape home, I
tell everyone to go to the smalldog rescue web site and adopt a survivor.
Agape also had a wonderful foster home and all the people who took care of her during the rescue all were and important part in how she is doing today,and everyone alse thank you everyone,We are so happy. Ilove her so much!
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Onyx Athena Scholl

I first heard about Small Dog Rescue on the news where Mini Mite was the featured dog. I grew up with small dogs, but have not have the chance to have my own dog for 10 years due to living in an apartment. I finally purchased my first home last fall. After settling in, I realized something was missing, a dog!!! I quickly volunteered to be a foster with SDR. My first assignment was Aegina, a puppy mill papillion. Just as I was starting to form a bond with Aegina, she was adopted (by my coworker no less!) Next came Onyx, I've never had a dog bond to me so fast and only me, the first night together, she slept right under my arm. I had heard she had separation anxiety and could become destruction when left alone, so I chose to kennel her during the work day. I came home and she had moved her kennel completely around my kitchen island and down two steps into my living room, I imagine she was running in it like a hamster wheel. The next day, she was allowed free reign of t
he house and I have had no issues with her destroying anything at all. It was about after a week of having Onyx that I knew I would not be able to give her up, she was mine!!! She was the cheese to my macaroni, the ketchup to my fry. She's my mirror image, we both love to nap and eat snacks. Anyway I adopted her and she has been an aboslute joy!!!! Check out our new family pictures.

Randy - He almost didn't make it to SDR!

We've been a foster home with Small Dog Rescue of MN for almost four years. Two years ago, we were scheduled to foster Randy, a small chihuahua-corgi mix. He was coming on transport from Green Bay, WI. We were told the staff at the Green Bay Humane Society feel in love with him and knew they had to get him out of the shelter before he was euthanized.

We called him our little fox-dog as he looked like a furry little fox. He immediately fell in love with my husband but he didn't trust any other men. Hoping to find out more about him, I called the Green Bay Humane Society and spoke with Nicole. She was so excited to hear Randy was doing OK. She said he was so sweet with the ladies but had not passed his temperment test. He especially hated men in uniform. She said a woman dropped him off and said "it's time for my kids to stop torturing him". So, we knew he had a hard start in life.

Shortly after this conversation, my husband and I decided Randy had adopted us and this was his forever home. We enrolled him in beginning obedience training and he really blossomed. His confidence increased. It took well over a year for him to stop peeing if we said his name too loudly or if he thought he was in trouble.

He loves going for car rides and thinks it's fun to play "boss of the cats".

We love him so much and are so grateful to Small Dog Rescue of MN for bringing him into our lives!

Happy Tail

Photos that go with RUBY.