Beautiful a Rescue - DFW Pug Rescue

From DFW Pug http://dallaspugrescue.blogspot.com/

Why donations, volunteers, fostering and adopting matter. BEAUTIFUL.

Below is an excerpt from the DFW Pug Rescue blog.  As a foster volunteer for this group I can tell you everyone is dedicated. I have two hospices foster now.  This little girl is an example of the good work the rescue does. Beautiful is also an example of a brave and loving girl. Her cherished and loved pet parent died. The story has a happy ending, Beautiful has a new family to love her.



Beautiful was found in the home of her owner after he had passed away. Her eyes were in such bad shape, they both had to be removed.  All of a sudden her life was turned dark and upside down - did she let this dampen her spirit? 
No! Beautiful has found comfort in the new humans around her and she always has her tail wagging. 

Strange Animal Group Names

Where do these names come from? I just wanted to share some unusual animal names. Some make sense but others are baffling.

 

 1.       Apes or Chimpanzees – A Shrewdness

2.       Bats – A Colony though some sources say A Cauldron

3.       Cats – A Clowder or A Pounce

4.       Dogs – A Pack

5.       Donkeys/Asses – A Pace

6.       Ferrets – A Business

7.       Hippos – A Bloat

8.       Giraffes – A Tower

9.       Jaguars – A Shadow

10.   Lemurs – A Conspiracy

11.   Otters – A Romp

12.   Porcupines – A Prickle

13.   Squirrels – A Scurry

There are HERDS: Buffalo, Cattle, Deer, Elephants, Seals, Sheep, Whales.

Buffalo can also be called a Gang along with Elk and Turkeys. Strange pairing.

Quails and Swans can be called a Covey as a Deer can be a herd or covey.

And finally it should come as no surprise that Cockroaches are called An Intrusion.

Smiling for the Camera

I adopted Cleveland from a rescue group. I had gone to get dog food at the pet store and so many happy, excited dogs except my boy.  He was scared of the noise, shy and huddled in the back of his cage.  I visited with him and took him home that day.

I always take my time naming my family members.  If they already have a name they know and respond to I won't change the name.  Cleveland had been a stray and the rescue group had saved him from  euthanasia (killing due to over crowding) from a city shelter.

Cleveland suffered from separation anxiety and it took almost a year for him to become confident. He had thyroid and liver problems. And he got pretty fat - more to love. 

Cleveland would always smile for the camera. He let me put visors and hats on him and would sit a pose with a smile. I wish I still had the picture of him wearing a Hawaiian shirt and visor. Sadly my computer with my treasured photos (and better photos than these) is gone and so are most of my pictures of the dogs.

If I took my boy's collar off he would jump up and whine for me to put it back on. I believe he thought this was a token of being a member of the family.

Not all of my dogs will pose, Jax runs when he sees the camera and I haven't a clue why. But Cleveland always posed and was the only one that smiled, always. 

Cleveland and Tansy

Do your dogs smile? Doesn't it make your heart happy?

 

In Memory of Sophie

In memory of my sweet Sophie.

One year ago yesterday I had to take Sophie to the vet and let her go. Having to say goodbye to your loved one is always torturous and painful. I am crying as I write this post. I miss my Sophie.


Sophie came to me through DFW Pug Rescue.  I volunteered several years ago to be a foster. I am glad to care for dogs that have special needs. I will foster the hospice dogs so they can have someone love them, care for them and won't be alone in their final days.

Fostering hospice dogs is both wonderful and painful. It is a pleasure to have these dogs in my life. To be able to love and be loved by them. They have been abandoned and deserve better. The pain of losing your cherished family member is the most difficult thing you can go through. But I foster anyway because these dogs are all worthy of love and compassion and care.

Sophie was what we call a 'foster failure'. Sometimes rescue groups must make difficult decisions concerning where money is best spent.  So I adopted Sophie. 

Sophie had so many challenges. She was missing an eye, she had a club foot and luxating patellas. She didn't have any teeth and shortly after she came to my home she had to had eye flap surgery for an eye ulcer. 

Sophie was a trooper. She was joyful and loving. When she got excited she would spin in circles because her club foot acted like a paddle. Through all these challenges she was sweet, loving, accepting and carried on.  Sophie didn't think she was a hospice dog or a special needs dog. She was with me for almost three years. 

Then Sophie started limping, keeping weight off her one good leg.  I looked for stickers and bites, she didn't respond to me feeling her leg.  So off to the vet. After exams and an x-ray he said she had a fracture at her shoulder joint.  Next we went to a surgery specialist.

The specialist did not have good news.  Sophie had a cancer in her lungs and bones. This was inoperable. Her pain was increasing at a fast rate.  So I took Sophie home with pain pills and kept her as comfortable as possible. 

It is difficult to make the choice that 'now' is the time to let the dog die, euthanasia. I knew I had to let Soph go when she would take her cheese covered pain pill. I put it in her mouth a said please.  I could see her struggle to swallow for me. Still being the wonderful girl.  



I wish my dogs could tell me, "I'm ready now, please let me go." But the burden is mine as their caregiver. They are my family and my responsibility. 

In memory of Sophie, I started this blog to share the joys of animals, the emotional life of animals and to bring light to animal rights and causes.


And To Honor Sophie and all the dogs I have loved and lost.