Axl, Lita, and Bono

4-28-10
Got these 3 cuties from the shelter today as well. Normally, we would leave puppies at the shelter as long as possible because they have a high chance of being adopted there, but for many reasons we decided to pull these 3 right away.

They are lab/chihuahua mix. Yeah. Think that one through.
They are SO cute, but shaped SO funny, LOL.

They are absolutely adorable, and they love to play with the other dogs.
We are really enjoying having them here. :)

5-6-2010
These 3 darling pups went to HWAC today! I'm sure that they'll be placed into wonderful homes very very quickly.

Aspen

4-28-10

We got Aspen from the shelter today.
We don't have room, we don't have space, she might be a pit mix so she might not be able to go to HWAC, but she was one of those dogs that I couldn't turn my back on.

We knew that the end of this week was clean out time at the shelter and that we needed to take out any of the dogs that we could.

Aspen wasn't on our list.

But I had a little break down as we were leaving the shelter, knowing that if we walked away from her, that her time was up.

After we left, Lorraine called the shelter and asked if they would hold on to Aspen for another day till we could get back up there. They agreed, and Wade went and got her for me this afternoon when we got back from Panaca. I didn't know he was going to go get her, and I cried when he brought her home.

Yes, our house is full. Yes, we are overflowing. But... Aspen gets to live. She gets to find that perfect family who is waiting for her. She gets to be happy, she gets to know what love feels like.

So it's a little crazy here right now. So it's a bit noisy. It's a little crowded.
Yep. My house is full. But so is my heart.

5-8-2010
Aspen is on a sleepover! YAY!
Keep your fingers crossed. I think that this will be a great home for her. :) When I called to see how everything was going, they said that she was in the backyard playing with their daughter. :)

5-9-10
Aspen is adopted! This is such a great family for her! I'm so happy that she's got a happy ending to her rocky start!

Kaylee

4-15-10

Kaylee was an owner release to us, She's a 7 month old chocolate lab, and she is so freaking adorable.
She absolutely LOVES Diesel, and gets along really well with all the other dogs here. She was a bit intimidated at first, but after 5 minutes with the crowd, she was running and playing.

She has got the sweetest personality, and loves to be pet. She will sit right next to me and look up at me with those gorgeous eyes, and just love me. *sigh*

She was a hit at our adoption event in Mesquite this weekend, and we had several people interested in her, but none of them were a fit. She deserves a great home, and we'll make sure that she gets it!

4-24-10

Kaylee got adopted! She got adopted at the weekend event while I was out of town, so I didn't get to say goodbye to her. :( That's ok. Wade said that she went to a really great family, with a couple kids that she really really liked. I'm happy for her! I'll miss my sweet girl.

Higgins

4-15-10

Higgins was pulled from the St George shelter several weeks ago with another pup, Eliza, to try and keep them safe from a Parvo outbreak.
Both pups went to Lorraine's house, and sadly, they both did contract Parvo, despite our efforts to keep them from it.
Eliza was in the hospital for days, and eventually was able to come home, and Higgins pulled through with Lorraine's constant care and attention.
He is back to his normal devious self now, and just as active as ever. LOL!

Higgins has bounced to a few different foster homes before he ended up here. He is very high energy, and very vocal. LOL. We have a few younger high energy dogs here right now as well, so we figured he'd do well here with other dogs to play with.

So far, he is doing great, and he's SO sweet. Yes, he is active, and loud, and bubble-invasive. But I just love him. LOL.

5-6-2010
Higgins got accepted at HWAC!

Fernando

4-10-10

Wade adn I drove to the Cedar shelter to get Fernando the day that he was supposed to be euthanized. He went to a different foster home, and has been there for several weeks. She has been great with him, and he is a different dog than the one that we left with her. He was scared, shy, nervous. Now he is confident, happy, and affectionate.

He is a sweet boy, with a great heart and a gorgeous face.

We brought him here because his foster mom is ready to have her baby any day now, so we needed to lighten her workload. :)

4-17-10

Fernando got adopted at our event in Mesquite today! He is adopted by the folks who adopted CJs sister. (We had CJ, aka Calamity Jane, and her sister Annie Oakly aka Sadie, several months ago).
They were looking for a buddy for Sadie, and they loved Fernando!
They took him for an overnighter, and we will go finalize everything today if the night went well. :)
Oh I hope I hope! This would be a great home for him!

4-18-10
YES! Finalized everything today! Fernando is officially adopted! YAY!

Diesel

March 24, 2010

Wade went and picked up Diesel from the Washington Shelter while Lorraine and I were still in California. We had been down several times to see him, and we were waiting to see if he was going to get adopted there, as they said there was quite a bit of interest in him.

When we first saw him, we thought he was a pitbull puppy.
Turns out that he's full grown, about a year old, and a mix of bulldog/pot bellied pig. LOL.

He is an adorable little guy, with the CUTEST face, and a fantastic personality. He is an absolute hoot. He's pretty laid back, but he knows how to play hard too. He get along so great with the other dogs here.


After having Diesel for a couple weeks, we have had a lot of people interested in him, and he even got adopted for a week! They returned him because he didn't fit in with their family like they had hoped. That's ok.. the perfect fit is out there for him, I know it. :)

5-6-2010

Diesel got accepted at HWAC! He was adopted almost immediately too!

Aimee

3-20-2010 to 4-10-2101

Aimee was one of our fosters from a few months ago. You might remember her with her sister Bonnie. :)

We got her back after an unfortunate incident with her adopter. Without going into too many details, lets just say that the girl's situation changed, and Aimee's well being was jeopardized, so we took her back.

She was skinny and scared when we went and got her. But oh so sweet, like she always was.

We took her into the vet for a once over, just to check out a few things. She was walking funny, and we asked the vet about that.
Well, a couple X-rays later, we were told that she had a broken pelvis. It was caused by 'severe trauma' and had happened a couple months ago. She'd been living with it, unfixed, and it was healing badly, causing Aimee a lot of pain.

What could we do? It had to be repaired.

The Vet kept her there, and did surgery the very next morning. They cut off the ball of her hip joint. (OW!)

They kept her for a couple days, then we were able to bring her home. She was doing SO great. Such a happy girl, in high spirits. She was a joy.

After being home a couple days, Bonnie's family came to visit. Seeing the 2 sisters together again was truly wonderful. I admit to crying a little. ;)

That following weekend, we had a presentation to do in a Vegas school, accepting some food donations that they had gathered for us, and doing a little talk on animal rescue. They told us that we could bring a dog with us, and we decided to take Aimee. We thought that we could raise awareness of animal abuse as well. :)

We couldn't have picked a better dog to go with us. She was AMAZING with those kids. I was so impressed with her behavior and how she reacted to all the activity and love from those kids. The kids really responded to her, and were touched by her story. I hope that it's something that they remember for the rest of their lives.

After our presentation, we went to Bonnie's house, to drop off Aimee where she would be staying for a long weekend with her sister. :) She loved being with Bonnie, and was having a great time with the kids too.

We left her there on Thursday.

On Saturday, Bonnie's family asked if they could adopt Aimee. :) There was much cheering on this end of the phone. We are all SO happy that Aimee gets to spend the rest of her days with a loving family and with her sister. :)
Thank you to Miles and Amy and their wonderful kids, for loving these 2 girls. :)

100 FOSTERS!

4-9-2010

Wow. Is it even possible? We have had 100 foster dogs come into our home.
Some of them for a day, some of them for months.
One of them is here forever. ;)

Every single one of them has touched our hearts in ways that are indescribable. The emotion involved with fostering these dogs is amazing. To bring them to our home, and love them... there are no words.

Looking back over the last year or so, I see a trail of laughter and tears. I see a yard that is dog-friendly, but not so pretty anymore. I see a couch that is always full of happy, sleeping dogs, and falling apart at the seams. (and missing part of a cushion, thank you Dezi).

I see tables and chairs with chewed corners.

I see carpet that needs to be replaced, I see painted walls that need to be retouched. I see dirty windows, smeared by dog noses as they look outside.
I see shelves devoid of any decoration from dog-height down.
I see a living room scattered with chew toys, ropes and dog bones.

I see a kitchen that desperately needs to be swept, the corners full of those little balls of dog hair that seem to collect there daily.

But there is more to see....

I also see the peaceful face of Luna as she sleeps, knowing that she is home forever.

I see my children, learning about unconditional love, and volunteering their time to help those who cannot help themselves.

I see many many dogs now in forever homes, being loved and cared for like they deserve. Many of them who were rescued from the shelters on their last day. Death Row refugees.

These dogs fill my home, yes. But they fill my heart too. I am a better person because of them. THEY have rescued ME.

Bailey

4-1-2010

Bailey came from the Iron Co shelter, and had been staying in Apple Valley for a couple weeks.

We brought her home and I just love her! She has such a sweet loving personality, and craves attention. She learns quickly, and is incredibly smart.
She is doing great here, playing with the other dogs, and just having fun.
She gets a bit jealous if I'm loving on her and another dog comes by to get some love too. LOL.

What a face... look at those eyes!

4-8-2010
Bailey went to HWAC, and got accepted there! Yay! I have no doubt that she'll be placed in a home quickly!

Banjo went home!

4-1-10

BANJO went home tonight! He was SO happy to see J! It's been a long time coming for this special boy, and he deserves the kind of love that he is going to get with his new family. I am so so happy for him!

Banjo was so focused on J, and making sure that he was going home with him, that he didn't want to have anything to do with saying goodbye to us, LOL.

J promised he'd bring him back by in the next couple days so we could say bye properly. :)

YAY for BANJO!

LUNA IS ADOPTED!!!!!

3-29-10

It's official.


Luna is home. For good. And I couldn't be happier. *grin* *tears*

Everyone say hi to the newest member of the Freitas Family. :)

Lots and Lots of DOGS!

3-25-10

Wow, it's been a whirlwind few weeks! We've had so many fosters come and go that I haven't had time to write about them. Some only stay for a few hours, some for a couple days, and some we've kept for a bit.
I'm going to put them all in one post to catch up. :)

RUDY:
We got Rudy when his owner went to prison. We didn't have any room for him here when we first got him, so he went to Apple Valley. While he was there, he was attacked by one of Animal Control's dogs, and had to be rushed to the vet. He was in pretty bad shape, and ended up staying there for several days. When he was ok to come home, we brought him here to heal.

Unfortunately, the fight made him skittish and bad around the other dogs. We kept him secluded for about a week and tried working with him, but nothing worked, so when Washington shelter offered to work with him for us, we took him there. They have been working with him, and he's doing great!

Update, 4-7-2101: RUDY GOT ADOPTED!



TRIXIE:
Trixie was only here for a day until she went to a different foster home. She was a hoot! Such a sweet pretty girl! She was adopted almost immediately.



MAX:
Max and Annie were owner released together a few weeks ago. Annie got adopted and we didn't want to leave Max along at Apple Valley, so he came here. :) He is a GREAT little dog, with a super personality. He is loving and sweet, and gets along great with the other dogs. So I can overlook the fact that he's an ugly little bugger. LOL!

4-1-10 UPDATE: Max is being fostered in a different home. I miss him! He is a neat little dog!

4-10-10
MAX GOT ADOPTED! WOO HOO! He went to a wonderful family where he will be spoiled beyond belief!




SUKI:
Suki was returned to us by her owners because they didn't have the time to exercise her like they had promised when they adopted her. She is looking great, and is SO sweet. We'll only have her for a bit longer until we can find her another foster home.

Update 3-27-2101: Suki is being fostered at Mandy's house for awhile now. She is doing great there, and gets along really well with their dogs! It's a good place for her to be, she gets LOTS of exercise, building up those muscles!

4-10-10

Suki got adopted! YAY! It's a great fit for her, and they are willing to work with her, knowing that she has a lot of energy, and needs a lot of attention. I'm SO happy for her!



DEZI:

Dezi was a rescue from the Washington shelter. She had been there for about 6 months, and we kept passing her by because she was a very active, big black dog. We thought that she would be hard to get adopted, and we really didn't have a foster home for her. But the Washington shelter took Rudy for us when we had no place else to put him, and so we took Dezi.
We brought her here, and she was just amazing. Great personality, gorgeous girl. She loved everyone and everything.
She got adopted at our very first event that we had. I think we only had her for about 4 days. What an AWESOME dog.

Update 3-27-2101
Dezi was returned to us after less than a week. She wasn't working out for them, and it was better for all involved if she come back. No problem at all! Love this girl.
She has been doing GREAT here, and loves everyone and everything.
Yes, she is highly active, but that adds to her charm!

4-8-2010
Dezi was accepted at HWAC!
YAY!!!



BRENNA:

Brena was only here for a couple days until she went to her new foster home. She was a cute little thing, with the most adorable little shape. She was one of the pups we got from St George Shelter a few weeks ago, and she'd been at AV with her sister and a few of the other dogs.
She went to her new foster home, and then was adopted within a few days. Such a sweet girl!



GANDHI:
Gandhi was only here for an overnighter before our HWAC run. We got him from the St George shelter. He'd been there for quite some time, and they held on to him for as long as they could for us because we had no place to put him. He was AWESOME with the other dogs, and such a GREAT dog. I fell in love with his big gentle personality.
He was accepted at HWAC.



GUIDO:
Little Guido was a stray in our area who we finally caught. We kept him here overnight, then we took him to the shelter for the required 3 days to make sure that no one was looking for him. When no one came to claim him, we went and got him out, and he went to HWAC with us. He was accepted there as well!



AIMEE:
We got Aimee back. She is our little white pitbull, Bonnie's sister. She was not living in a great situation, and we found out that she had been abused. I"m so glad that we got her back when we did.
She just went through surgery to repair a broken pelvis, and is doing GREAT. She is so so so sweet.
The folks who adopted Bonnie may be interested in adopting her as well once she is healed.

Update 4-1-2101
Aimee is getting her own post. HERE




DIESEL:
Just got Diesel today when we got back from HWAC. He came from the shelter. I think he's half Bulldog, half Gremlin, LOL! He's about a year old, but looks like a chunky little puppy/pig. He's adorable, and a HOOT.

Update: Diesel is getting his own post HERE



I think that's all that I've missed writing about. Though there have been a few puppies here for hours at a time, Phoenix, Eliza, and Higgins. (Higgins came back as a foster, click his name for his entry!)
None have them have stayed long enough for me to really know much about them, or to get photos of them though.

I think Max and Diesel may be here for a while, so I may make them their own entries. Aimee will get a continued story added on to hers.

Tinker

3-8-10

Tink came to us an owner release today.
He is gorgeous, and so well behaved. He's only 6 months old, and has a great personality.
He gets along well with the other dogs here, and is having fun with all the excitement, though he'd rather lie next to Wade than go outside and play. LOL.

He's not as hyper as some border collies we've had here, and is super smart.
He learned the dog door right away.
He knows basic commands already, as well as shake and roll over. When he does 'down', he does it with such intensity! LOL.

He's a doll, and I don't think we'll have any issues getting him adopted quickly.

3-21-10

Tinker is adopted! WOO HOO!
He went to a GREAT family, perfect home for a fantastic little border collie! His new name is Ben. :)

UPDATES!

3-2-10

It's been a whirlwind the last few weeks. Lots of fosters coming and going!

Reba and Renee were accepted at HWAC, and have been placed in homes already!

Serra's adoption was finalized yesterday! We got to see her when we went to finish up the paperwork, and it was so awesome to see her! She is happy, and they really love her. She even went on an off leash mountain biking excursion and did GREAT!

Mosey got adopted yesterday as well! His new family lives in Canada most of the year.
They are great people, and he will have a great life with them.

Kirby is still here, and still going through yucky stuff. Once his foot healed up, he got a really horrid ear infection that has taken a few trips to the vet to try and get under control. He stays in high spirits though. What an awesome dog.

We had Phoenix the little pit puppy here for the afternoon before he went to his new foster home to be with Jersey, our other little pittie puppy.
He is SUCH a doll, and fun to have here even if only for a couple hours.

Banjo, Dakota, Luna, Wally, and Kirby are all doing well together. Dakota isn't quite housebroken yet... still working on that.
Wally has been a challenge, but a good one. He is such a great dog.


A note and photo from Mosey's new family:

Thanks very much for your help in saving and then adopting Moses to us.
We had a great drive back yesterday; he is an excellent traveler.
This morning we did a hike; he did really well, no fatigue or foot pad problems.

Mosey is a great dog to train already. He is also a huge hit wherever we go.

We will update with photos as we return home on March 25.

Thanks again for your great work!
I thought you might like a photo of our hike above Palm Springs today.


And we got to see Bonnie today! She and her dad were driving through Vegas and he called to let us know so that we could meet up and get some much needed Bonnie love.
It was SO awesome!!
She is such a happy little girl, and I couldn't stop smiling when we saw her!