Adoption Success Stories – Page 5

MIA’S DOG TREATS: FIGHT & FLIGHT

My dogs are both very sweet and very playful, with a lot of energy. The similarities end there…Someone already mentioned on this blog that you don’t get the dog you want; you get the dog you need, and that is true! Sass turned out to be the opposite from the type of dogs I grew up with: he was very timid as a pup and took time to warm up. He also did not show much affection, so I was convinced after a while that he did not like me much. I was thinking that he would be a great therapy dog as he got older, because he looks like a stuffed animal, and kids love him. Once he turned a year old, his energy level increased dramatically, and it became obvious that therapy work was not his forte. I can picture the IV’s flying….. Agility is his favorite thing!If he gets scared of something, he runs in the opposite direction. Hence the term “flight”.

As crazy as he can be, he is also the opposite. I have travelled with him and left him alone in the hotel room, and he just sleeps calmly in his bed. He can be tied outside a cafe or store and shows no signs of anxiety. I have learned a lot from him, and I now understand his small gestures and how he does show affection. Every morning he comes outside to sit next to me when I drink my coffee. He leans toward my leg and we sit there together for a while. That’s his way of saying “I like you”.It has become clear that he is much more poodle than labrador, which is very funny to me, since I expected the opposite. I’m as far away as you can get from being a poodle person, and I don’t have ANY previous experience with that breed.

Then came Princess. She, on the other hand, looks a lot more confident, but that is not the case. She gets nervous and anxious if exposed to situations she is not used to. She shows TONS of affection, and her favorite moment is when I lie down next to her on her dog bed for some cuddle time!

The second week of having her, we took a trip to the dog beach. That was a nightmare and the very first time I saw her behave like a lunatic. Sass loves the water and was happily running around off leash. Princess, on leash, was attacking the water. I was flying after her, trying to calm her down, and was completely confused about this outburst of hers. […]

LORI’S CORNER: Super Adoption was a Super Saturday!

On Saturday, we brought out a lot of dogs that we had rescued from a kennel that was closing. The owner of the kennel had asked for help in placing close to 100 dogs before they had to move all the dogs to some not so terrific places. Sandy organized the volunteers to come out to Petco where we had every breed except pit bulls this past Saturday. Many of the 40 + dogs that we have rescued from this facility have been placed in breed rescues, in foster homes and a few in forever homes. We still have lots of dogs that need foster and forever homes including one special old shepherd who is about 12 years old. I want to thank the Amanda Foundation, Best Friends and the Heigl Foundation for helping Downtown Dog Rescue taking some of these dogs out of an over crowded situation. There still is a lot more work to do. The dogs that we did get out are all so grateful to be on the road to their forever homes! What a great team we had on Saturday, evaluating, transporting, bathing, and showing the dogs at Petco. A special thank you to everyone who showed up to foster a dog so that no dog had to go back to the kennel.

Beautiful Cassie who still needs a home

“Trouble” never game me one minute of trouble!
He is now in his forever home in Santa Monica.

Happy puppy and new family!

LORI’S CORNER: Clancy

Check out Clancy the day he passed his CGC test, thoroughly tired and happy ! AMAZING, a 13 year old rescued fighting dog could lead a pack of dogs and be a Canine Good Citizen.

From the 2009 DOWNTOWN DOG RESCUE CALENDAR

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CLICK ON PAGE LINKS TO READ TEXT

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To see more beautiful photographs of Clancy by Grace Chon,

please visit her blog:
SHINE PET PHOTOS BLOG

FRIDAY SHOUT OUTS – Giving Thanks!

Here are our DDR Shout Outs for January 29, 2010:

Thanks so much to the AMANDA FOUNDATION for helping us get lots of dogs spayed and neutered at a very low cost. They have also helped us maximize our donation dollars when they treat our injured or sick dogs and the dog that belong to dog owners in our Operation Safety Net Program. They have brought out their spay/neuter mobile to two of our past events:

THANK YOU AMANDA FOUNDATION!
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Every Saturday, it’s a fun party when DDR volunteers congregate and be part time handlers for the dogs we want to show for adoption. They are part of the DDR crew that we can count on to help Sandy, our Volunteer & Adoption Coordinator manage the different personalities, barking pitch and poo/pee duty at Petco every weekend. THANK YOU SO MUCH! DDR can’t do the adoptions without you!

Feature for the week: EFFIE CHANG

1) How long have you been doing the weekly adoption events at PETCO?

I think I started last year around June.

2) Is there a DDR dog that has been adopted that you still think about?

There’s actually quite a few. Sherman – his face is just unforgettable. Charlie – very sweet. China – very sweet also. Nike and Baby – these 2 siblings are the best. Mini/Cookie – I had her for 2 weeks but because of opposition from my Dad, I was unable to keep her. But she is in good hands; I know Rosalie will take good care of her. And to be honest, I think of all of them, and hope that they are happy and well taken care of in their new homes.

3) How did you hear about DDR?

Through my therapist.

4) How many pets do you have?

I had a Sheltie and a Siamese, both passed away of old age. At present, […]

WHERE ARE THEY NOW DDR Dog Alum Spotlight : RUDY!

The family that Rudy lived with had to deal with their home being in foreclosure,
when they moved, they didn’t take him, tied him in the yard and left him there

RUDYDOG by Bethany Winters

Rudy with his new family!

Edie lived with our family for eleven long years. When we were told that she had extensive lung cancer, and would have to be put down the next day, to say that we were devastated would be an understatement. We walked around in a daze for weeks – two to be exact – until it dawned on us that the only way our family was going to recover from this loss, would be to adopt another dog.

I sat down to write a letter to online adoption services. Edie was a rescue, and a pit-mix, and although age, size, color and breed didn’t really matter to us, what did matter was demeanor; we have two little boys ages 3 and 5, as well as a thirteen year old cat. I included this in my letter, along with the fact that I could not, under any circumstances adopt an aggressive dog. The responses were few and far between, and the ones that I did receive told me that they didn’t ‘know’ their dogs well enough to say how they would behave with young children.

I then received a response from DDR, telling me to call Lori, which I did straight away. She told me that there was a dog I should meet…his name was Rudy. Rudy’s family’s home was in foreclosure, and when they were unable to take him upon moving, they tied him up in the yard and left him there. He waited…and waited, but they never returned. Lori received a picture of Rudy waiting in front of his house and went to get Rudy that same day.

We piled in the car and went to DDR. Rudy was big – and mellow. In retrospect I think he was just indifferent to people (besides Lori) for fear […]

FRIDAY SHOUT OUTS – Giving Thanks!

We here at DDR realize that without sponsors, volunteers, friends, good Samaritans, fans, fosters, dog trainers, adopter alums and good hearts – doing the work that we do, to help both dogs and people, would be nearly…impossible

So, every Friday, we want to take the opportunity to thank everyone involved who make it all…possible!

Of course, we want to do this with the help of our DDR dogs, (in the spirit of THANKING) adopted in the last few months!

Here are our DDR Shout Outs for January 22, 2010:

REX (now MAX!) wants to recognize CATHERINE JAGOS from Major Paws LA , Pussy & Pooch , D Pet Hotels andThe Urban Pet for including us in their recent SANTA PAWS Drive 2009! Major Paws was created to help local shelters as well as to help make Downtown Los Angeles and the surrounding area a little more dog and pet friendly. And they have! Thank you Catherine for helping raise money for us, we love all the new items you purchased through the drive – YAY Pussy & Pooch, D Pet Hotels & Urban Pet!!!!

Big ups to MAJOR! Catherine’s fur son. Major is the project’s namesake! Major is also a rescue from the LA shelter system!

Pussy & Pooch Pethouse and Pawbar
564 South Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Pussy & Pooch is located at the Sante Fe Lofts in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles.

1041 N. Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038

7515 Beverly Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90036

SABRINA wants to recognize MS. MARY MONAHAN and the ANIMAL CARETAKERS OF ROOM 14 at the Jefferson Elementary School for the generous Holiday Food & Supplies Drive they held for the homeless cats, dogs […]

MIA’S DOG TREATS: Adopting Princess

When my labradoodle, Sass, was one year old, it become very obvious that he was the type of dog who needs the company of another canine. I started my search on Petfinder, looking for a dog a little bigger in size. I’m what people would call a “big dog” person, and Sass ended up a small/medium dog once he was done growing. Since he needed a best friend, I thought it would be great idea to go find a dog who was a little bigger, and that way, both of us would be happy!

I found a couple of dogs that I wanted to meet and got a call from DDR quickly after filling out an application. It turned out that the dog I was interested in was already adopted, but I was advised to come down and meet some of the other dogs in their kennel. So I stuck Sass in the car and headed downtown. The first sight of Maya was an instant realization that I had to rethink my big dog plan. She would have crushed Sass….I swear, there is no lab in Sass. They sent me a poodle, and under all the fur is a skinny little guy with chicken legs!

Lori went to get another dog to show me; this one was also big, but very shy, and again, I said “No.” Lori sat down at a table (with her thinking cap on) and suddenly said, “I have this little dog that you might like.” My heart sank ….I still wanted a big dog. I will never forget the first sight of Princess running towards me in the alley. She has something comical about her look, with her wide chest and big smile. Sass played with her for almost an hour, and they had the best time. I told Lori I wanted to think about it and went home, stubborn…still thinking about a big dog…

Later that day, I got a call from another rescue group about a young, black German Shepherd I had requested about. I looked over at Sass and paused for a second before I said, “Thank you for calling back, but we met a great match this morning.” At that moment, it became very obvious to me that the most important thing was to adopt a dog that would be the perfect match for Sass, and I also knew that very same dog would be the perfect dog for me.

Welcome little Princess!

WHERE ARE THEY NOW DDR Dog Alum Spotlight : EMMA!

EMMA by Jennifer State

Emma was discovered by a good Samaritan named Patricia who found her collapsed on her yard. She was skin and bones, lacking hair, and fresh from giving birth to a litter which was never found. She was clearly a dog with a rough past, used for breeding and probably spent her life on a chain.

Thankfully Patricia took her in, got her healthy and worked with Lori at Downtown Dog Rescue to find her a new home. That lucky home was mine, and I adopted her in September of 2008. Emma has brought so much to my life. We get out and do things together, whether it’s obedience class, a day at the dog beach, or attending dog-friendly church service, she’s given me the opportunity to get out and do so many new things and meet a lot of great people along the way. Dogs just bring joy to your life, and Emma has done exactly that.

But even more than the joy she has brought me, I am especially grateful for the boost she’s given my parents. I took her with me this past summer to visit my parents in Washington, and they absolutely adored her. My mom and dad have been coping with recent medical/aging issues (mom has Alzheimer’s and dad suddenly lost his eyesight recently), so they were struggling and pretty down-in-the-dumps, but having Emma around was such a tonic for both of them!

She got my mom out of her shell as we would take neighborhood walks, mom was so excited to show off her “grand-dog” to the neighbors.

And dad loved the comfort and companionship she brought him; I often heard him just whispering to Emma, telling her what a good dog she was and thanking her for being there. Emma would hop into bed and snuggle up against my dad when he took naps, they were quite a pair.

Like Cesar Millan says, ‘You don’t get the dog you want, you get the dog you need’, Emma was the […]

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