Savingdogs-Saving the chickens

[deb4o]

Welcome Savindogs,

I don't know if you realize it or not, but you have not only been a blessing in lots of animals lives, but also in the lives of the people who lovingly adopted all those wonderful animals.

Even if at the moment you can not actively be involved in your groups saving and rehomeing efforts, your spirit for this work burns bright, and Iam sure is tresured by all around you. Hang in there. concerning your health.

 

[hwillm1977]

I'm looking forward to hearing more stories of your dog rescues... I'm really just starting out on the whole foster, rescue, adoption thing but I can see that it could easily be how I would love to spend every day

 

[savingdogs]

Just starting out? Well my first foster dog was a collie/shep mix that was a good ol' boy, his mom had to go into a nursing home suddenly so he needed somewhere to go. Big hairy guy.
Unfortunately he had this weird habit of humping....the ground. My kids were quite young at the time and it was embarassing. Birds and the bees had to come up. We tried to train him to stop but he was....rather fond of it. My husband was SURE no one would ever want him. But he got adopted.

My longest term foster (besides those we kept) was one of two and a half years. He was a starved, and I mean starved pit bull. He had been crated so much he had literally chewed off most of the skin off his legs. He was quite unsocialized and it took about a year of training before he was really ready for anyone to adopt, but it took another year and a half to find a home because by that time he was an older dog. But he finally got adopted and his owner loved him very, very much until he died a few years later.

My shortest term was an hour. I had a person ready and waiting for a nice puppy and I had someone who literally saw a dog being thrown from a window of a car and brought it to me. An hour after I got her she was adopted (the finder had gotten her spayed for me).

We do spay and neuter everything we can get our hands on.

Cats, well, they are by default. I used to run adoption events in local Petco and PetSmarts. One cat we fostered was when someone was literally chasing my car with a kitty carrier. Would I please take this kitten? Found it in the trash and her husband was allergic. I also had an event one time and at the end when I was cleaning up, there was an extra box. Guess what was in it? Four (unhealthy) kittens.

I placed a couple dogs as service dogs, placed a border collie as a ball retrieval dog at a golf course, a dog as a companion to a truck driver, several dogs to protect people while jogging or in their homes, but most of them were just average pets.

Perhaps my best story was Ranger, a golden retriever/sheltie mix. He came from an elderly lady who had to go into nursing care and her family could not take her five large dogs. When I heard my group had taken in five dogs from one house, I went over and selected one, Ranger. He was about six at the time and was a real nice dog, the kind who was just an easy boy to have around. A family applied for a puppy I had, but I suggested Ranger to them because he would be such a good first dog for their family.
One of the volunteers in the group at this time was my friend a lady named Michele (quite a bit younger than myself). She was a great volunteer and said something inspired her to help our particular group but never shared what. I was doing the newsletter for them and she was the volunteer coordinator.
Every year at Christmas I'd get a card from Ranger's family for several years running (I think four or five). Then one year nothing. So I dug up their e-mail address and sent a note, how was Ranger?
I received back a beautiful and heartfelt note, describing how Ranger had made them into "dog people" and taught them how to have a dog. But he had passed to cancer. How I had been so correct to suggest him to them and how perfect he was in every way, how complete a dog made their life. They had already found a young dog to begin again.
I put the note in my newsletter to share with all the volunteers and was very surprised to hear from Michele. It turned out that her grandma was the person who gave up the five dogs. This was years later and while on her deathbed, Michele was able to share with her Grandma the story of what happened to Ranger.
But as I've said, there have been 330 dogs, so I have lots of stories if people are interested in rescue stories.
I just started a "what have you rescued today?" thread because I found so many folks interested in that aspect of my life, it has been quite interesting already, my kindred rescuers!

 

[savingdogs]

Well I guess it is time for an update here.
We are getting ducks!
We had been thinking of doing this later in the spring, but we had chosen muscovys and heard about this new ban, so that has bumped up our timeline a little.
Nothing like a deadline to get my hubby working on a project......

We ate muscovy duck once at a restaurant and thought it was ambrosia. We also ate "Peking Duck" at restaurants a couple times and I (frankly) spit it out. So when we figured out why that one restaurant had such good duck, our breed was all chosen. We have been wanting to raise more protein around here and have also been wanting more amusing entertainment. Now the challenge will be finding some.

We already think the chickens and goats are pretty funny. I guess we need a lot of cheering up. Our finances and health have been pretty bad and depressing, but our growing "farmyard" had been a source of pleasure and lots of belly laughs.

We think the chickens are paying for themselves at this point. They are laying about a dozen a day. We ended up with lots of customers by giving away a first dozen (usually to someone we like and see alot of) and then saying the next one is 3.00, 2.50 if you return a carton.

We do need to sell quite a few, because we have the 18 chickens. But eventually we can feed the ducks from the same bag so they will not really cost much more.

I'm also making my homemade laundry soap today and keeping "Trouble" working at his home schooling. Right now they have him reading the Diary of Anne Frank.

 

[Dace]

I am sure you will love ducks! They are real messy, but real characters too!

 

[savingdogs]

Well we ordered 15 today from J.M. Hatchery back east. Poor babies will have to fly awfully far, but they do overnight shipping so its just one day. They will show up hungry!

My boys were excited until I told them we plan to EAT them......they declare they will not eat them. I say all the more for us!

My husband said he had to call several times to get through. I guess a lot of people want their scovies now before the ban goes into effect.

The way I look at it, buying 15 from the Mennonites and having a receipt means we can have 15 muscovies despite the ban. Since they are grandfathered in.....anyone with thoughts on this just chime right in (I am following the thread about this.)

 

[Dace]

I have no idea but YAY on the duckies!

 

[savingdogs]

In reading some other journals, I realize I should have started this way:
01. Name? Arin
02. Gender? Female
03. Disneyworld or Disneyland? I used to live near Disneyland! I would be disappointed by the crowds, I think so I would pick Disney world.
04. What is your favorite color? green or lavender
05. What is your favorite kind of gum? Cinnamon
06. How much do you weigh? 141
07. How tall are you? 5 ft 2
08. Can you swim? like a fish, I'm from California
09. Do you like to swim? In fresh water especially
10. Living arrangement? Married
11. What's on your mouse pad? blank table, but I should have a dog one
12. Favorite board game? Dogopoly
13. Favorite magazine?Sunset
14. Favorite Actor? Probably Tom Hanks
15. Favorite Actress? Reese Witherspoon
16. Do you have an accent? no, unless you think "west coast" is an accent
17. Favorite smells? Foods when I'm hungry!
18. Least favorite smells? vomit
19. Favorite sound? I can't really hear anymore, so the sounds that make it through are pretty much all precious.
20. Do you prefer pools or oceans? Love the ocean, but would rather swim in a pool.
21. Do you watch Buffy The Vampire Slayer? No
22. Pencil or pen? Pencil
23. Who's better - boys or girls? To raise? I have raised both, my second son was the hardest.
24. Would you like to own a motorcycle? No way Jose.
25. Do you sing in the shower? Sure (cracks the windows)
26. Who's the best looking Disney character? ? The beast after he turns into a prince?
27. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? Shower!
28. How many rings before you answer the phone? I let someone else answer, I'm pretty much deaf.
29. How do you want to die? Something painless
30. Have you ever called a 900 number? why?
31. Gold or silver? Love my silver jewelry.
32. Would you ever go bungee-jumping? No way.
33. Do you like dressing up? On occasion but not normally.
34. Would you rather be short or tall? I'm short and sometimes would like to be an inch or two taller to reach things other people put up high because THEY can reach it.
35. Do you enjoy reading? Very much
36. What book are you reading now? Just finished Sarah Palin's Going Rogue.
37. Favorite books? I love my Sunset Garden Book, my Joy of Cooking and Dorland's Medical Dictionary, as well as a huge Atlas we have. Other than that, my favorite novels are the Jean Auel Clan of the Cave Bear series and just about anything Heinlein. I also like some historical romance genre such as the Outlander, Through a Glass Darkly, etc.
38. What was the last movie you saw? Not much for movies out, have to watch closed captioned at home these days.
39. Favorite movies? Shallow Hal. The Earthling. Jerimiah Johnson. Overboard. Ghost. Going South. The Wedding Singer.
40. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? No, I have three or four large dogs in the bed with me and my hubby most nights.
41. What is your sign? Libra
42. What are your personality traits? I used to talk alot. Now I'm kind of a sad person, getting used to late onset deafness and not being able to communicate well. I do have alot of patience, perseverance and compassion.
43. What's your biggest fear? Things happening to my loved ones, the kids and grandchild especially.
44. Would you ever have cosmetic surgery? Only to fix something that needed fixing (i.e., replacement of a breast after mastectomy, etc.)
45. Future child's name? Won't be having more kids at age 50 but I do have lots of pets/foster dogs that need names all the time.
46. Favorite foods? BLT sandwiches. Fried chicken. Salmon.
47. Chocolate or vanilla? Do people actually pick vanilla?
48. Do you like to drive fast? Only when safe.
49. Storms - cool or scary? Cool if I don't have to drive anywhere. Otherwise scary as heck...I live up on a mountaintop.
50. Do you like to dance? Not anymore.
51. Do you do drugs? Only the ones prescribed by my doctor.
52. Do you smoke? no
53. What do you think of people who smoke? Not for me to decide for them.
54. Do you drink? No, it aggravates my health condition. Sometimes I have a little nice red or white wine or a beer. Once in a very great while I'll have a Long Island Ice tea.
55. Favorite drink? Caffeine free Diet Dr. Pepper.
56. Do you think men and women could ever be just friends without wanting each other? yes, but sometimes one of them won't really feel that way.
57. Do you eat the stems of broccoli? I've heard it gives you gas! No
58. If you could have any job you wanted, what would it be? Running my own no-kill humane society.
59. What's your "type"? Animal lover, casual.
60. Do you bite your nails? No
61. Any siblings? One of each, both are awesome. I'm the "baby".
62. What movies have you cried in? Any movie designed to make people cry, I can be counted on.
63. Do you believe in God? Yes, but I'm not churchy.
64. Did you ever cry over a guy/girl? Who hasn't?
65. Have you ever stolen anything? Not since I grew up.
66. Do you procrastinate? Some things.
67. Do you believe in fate? yes
68. Who's your favorite Sesame Street character? Animal!! Do I have to have a favorite?
69. Do you organize your CD's? They are in one pile. lol
70. What is your favorite kind of music? I'm eclectic, but since I've lost my hearing I only like to listen to stuff I'm familiar with, real loud. Mostly I "remember" the songs but can "remember" along sort of.
71. What are your favorite bands/artists? I used to love The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Fleetwood Mac, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, lots of 70-current artists. I really miss music.
72. What was the last CD you got? Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway.
73. MTV or VH1? Don't have cable.
74. Who do you admire the most? A dog rescuer friend of mine I guess.
75. Internet Boyfriends and Girlfriends? No, I have a real man at home.
76. Are you single? married 28 years (still can't believe it)
77. Favorite TV show? Lately Three and a Half Men
78. Blondes, Brunettes, or Redheads? Are you talking about me? My hair has been all three of these colors just this year.
79. Glasses or contacts? I just have reading glasses.
80. What color are your eyes? green
81. What is your natural hair color? Now? mousy brown and gray
82. But what color is it now? Trying to die it back to my youthful days when my hair was more dark strawberry blond.
83. Have you ever been in love? yes
84. Any pets? Six dogs (border collie/aussie, karelian bear dog/heeler, golden retriever PB, rhodesian ridgeback PB, rhodesian ridgeback/pit bull, boxer/pit bull, and currently two foster dogs, a lab/heeler and another mix like mine, a boxer/pit. Then there are three cats, one orange male and two "cow" kitties, a male and a female. We have three baby dairy goats, nubian/ng crosses, two females and a male, who are adolescents. Then there are our 18 chickens, One rooster, the rest hens. And we have 15 baby muscovy ducklings coming in the mail next week.
85. Good, decent, or poor grades? when I was in school, great.
86. Is the glass half empty or half full? Currently, I feel like I'm drinking the last of the glass.
87. Do you type with your fingers on the right keys? Yes, I used to be a medical transcriptionist and type in a blurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
88. What's under your bed? Dirt!
89. What is your favorite number? 444
90. Favorite sport to watch? Horse racing.

So was that informative?

Really the most interesting thing about our family is our animal loving nature. We are living in the wilderness, surrounded by recovering forest (area was logged 15 years ago). We are city people from Lost Angeles (no typo) 12 years ago, and finally "downsized" to our 5 acres in the country.
Our commute is long and the house is COLD by the time we get home and heat it with the wood stove, but at least we have room for our many animals. We have two sons still at home and their main activities are helping with the animals, and we are "computer nerds", pretty much all of us. We have three computers in the house and usually we are arguing who doesn't get to use one!
We spend a lot of time on our animals and the chores surrounding them, and don't get out much (except online....).

Thanks for listening!

 

[savingdogs]

So one of our foster dogs got adopted today, Zoe. She is a little lab/heeler girl, about seven or eight months old. Her family never let her in the house and she was just in the backyard all the time and she was starved for attention and not housetrained. We have her 90 percent housetrained now and that made her a lot more adoptable. She is pretty high energy though so I hope the new family is ready for that. They are having us keep her until Easter week so they can devote the whole week to settling her in when the kids are home and the mom is taking the week off. That sounded pretty cool to my hubby. He attends the adoption events while I'm at work actually.

We have a new foster too, we are calling him Mocha Latte. He is boxer mixed with something, maybe AmStaff. That is how we are listing him. His owners took him to the pound for "humping their female dog" despite being an intact male of one and a half or so. He was at the humane society six weeks before our group pulled him out. He is real scared of everything especially loud voices (our house is long and narrow so we yell down the hall at each other). Poor guy must have had a hard time before. We have already gotten him neutered but he didn't try to hump anything here.....
He can be found at our website mustlovedogsnw.com

I got our room all cleared out for the ducklings, I can't wait for next week!

 

[hwillm1977]

I couldn't find Mocha Latte in the available dogs, but I LOVE Slider... He's gorgeous and so sweet looking. I really like the smaller pit bulls, mine are 60 and 85 pounds and I'd love to have a smaller dog than my great big bed hogs (not that the bed hogs are going anywhere though... lol )