HappyEndings

Happy Endings!

I 'm Watson (Swiftwater Watson). Mom likes to call me Wat-dog. She feeds me so I come to anything she calls me! I am a very attractive smooth, black & tan, mini-Dachshund dog, The girls pant when I walk by! Tattooed, chipped and altered, Mom left no bells and whistles undone. I wonder if it is because I am constantly digging tunnels outside? I like naps and playing with my best friend Holmes. I like oranges and tangerines as well as raw carrots and apples and am equally happy snuggling or curled up in a ball with Holmes. I like "walkies" and playing and guarding the yard. And water...I love water and I beg to play with the hose and whine and cry when Mom says I can't have it or she puts it up. It feels so good splashing around in it and it keeps your ears nice and cool. And sometimes Mom gives us little cubes of it that are very cold and hard and they taste so good and they are fun to play with too! Mom is looking for a "forever" home who will take both myself and my pal Holmes. We are best friends and Mom does NOT want us parted. Which is good because I would feel very sad if I didn't have Holmes to play and sleep with! She is hoping to place us in a home with lots of children to play with us. I hope she finds one soon! Watson now lives in Durham.

I am Holmes (Swiftwater Sherlock Holmes) unless I am caught with my paw in the snack treat jar. Then I am Sherlock (or if I am really in trouble: Sherlock Holmes). I am an incredibly handsome smooth , red, mini-Dachshund dog. Mom (for some reason I have yet to figure out!) decided I needed to be "altered". Now that's a cute little saying isn't it? She thought I would avoid teasing by being tattooed and chipped as well. I like to snuggle and sleep in warm places with my pal Watson. I have no favorite snack treat...though dirt is tasty. I enjoy saving rocks from being forever buried and napping. I also like to gut squeaky toys, shred blankies and have my toe nails sanded...and napping. I am NOT water friendly thank you very much. If God wanted me to like water he would have made me a dolphin! You cannot nap while you are in the water. I love to go on walks and smell new things... my buddy Watson and I eat together and sleep together and play together. We also like to play with the girls and watch Mom through the deck windows. And napping. I am very good at napping. I am very smart and I am always finding ways of getting out and running in the woods. It is so much fun to smell the smells and track the deer and the bunnies...Holmes ( Todd) now lives in VA.

"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person."
-- Andrew A. Rooney

I am Persimmon Tree Roxanne (Roxie). I will be 3 years on Feb. 6th. I am related to Pookie. I am a white & brown Jack Russell Terrier. I am a stocky girl. I have a ton of energy and attitude. I love everyone (because they love me!) I am very agile (graceful). I have no fear of water nor heights. I love to get as high as I possibly can so I can be the mistress of all I survey. I will jump wide spaces to get where I want to be. Now I am in a brand new home and there are only a couple other things which live there besides my new people. I will take care and guard all of them and be careful with the other critters here! Yeah! My new family adore me and think I am special...I get lots of love and attention. This is the life! Thank you Mom! For letting me go to this very special new home!

I am Ryan! I was born on October 30th and I have just been placed in my forever home with lots of friends. My new Mom is Kathy. She just moved here from San Antonio. She loves me right along with my new "adopted" Mom Lady...a BIG retriever and an old cocker. My real mom and new mom are good friends and both are happy with where I am now! I also have 2 little Chihuahuas and a Pom to play with so it is almost like I have never left my first home.

"I care not for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the
better for it."
-- Abraham Lincoln

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not
bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man."
-- Mark Twain

I am Missy. I am very smart. I have only been here a few months but I like it here! I have nice warm sweaters for my old bones and very soft blankets to snuggle in. The other dogs leave me alone here and I have all the food I want! Mom says I need fattening up because I weigh a lot less than I am suppose to. I have been to the vet several times now. All my shots are up to date so I will not get sick. My teeth have been cleaned and the pesky loose ones I kept pawing at are gone now. They even did x-rays to see if there was something that could be done for my hips, but there wasn't. That's ok though because I can't remember a time I haven't walked like this! Mom and the vet says I have something called luxating patellas...but it happened a very long time ago and now parts of my bones and joints have fused and they cannot fix them. That's ok though. I am use to it and it isn't painful. My new Mom says I will need extra special care because I am an extra special dog! I am smart and I love to cuddle and to talk to you. I would be a wonderful close friend and have a lot of love still to give. May I share it with you?

Missy has been fostered with Mari for the last couple of months. After trying unsuccessfully to place her in a home because she had bonded to Mari completely, she has now become a permanent member of Mari & Joe's home along with Gizzy! When I took Gizzy over last night for his "sleep over" she greeted me at the door all fluffy with her little bandana...playing the hostess...THIS is my home. This is my living room and hall. THIS is my den and my GIANT DOG Digger...my kitchen is over here and THIS is my Dad, Joe...it is nice to see you again. Thanks for dropping by. Bye-bye now! Perfect!

Hi! My name is Gizzy...at first I was called Chance because it was a chance meeting at the shelter which saved my life. I have been called a couple other things as well...Gizmo is also my name...we are "trying them on" right now. When I am extra special Mom calls me her little "Honey Boy"...I am still not sure where I am since I have never been around people all than much. However, I have a nice warm bed of my own and a room of my own for now and all the good food I can eat...and I am so hungry. Sometimes I just sit and sniff my food! I have heart worms. I am only 3.4 pounds right now and there are some hard decisions to make. The initial tests came out a lot better than expected. I eat well. Right now I only have about a 50-50 chance...but there is only one end without it. I get baby aspirin right now and I am trying to gain some weight. I had my treatment 3 weeks ago. So far I am doing well. My only problem is Mom is keeping me in a very small area so I cannot run around as much as I want. And I am feeling very frisky too. I have gained almost 1/2 pound! I am still very shy, but mom finds me napping between her pillows or under the covers on her heating pad..

Gizzy update! After his month check up after his heartworm treatment my "Little Manly Man Boy" has moved to his new home with Mari and Joe! While he still has a long road ahead of him he will have the best of care and a loving family to continue his treatment. He went to visit last night and Mari told me this morning in an e-mail...

You tricky girl you!! Gizzy could not be cuter. I held him all night, on the sofa and in bed. It will take him some time to get used to that. We put his crate in the Sun room this morning so he can go in and out and feel comfortable. He is Precious. I forgot how you found out about him, I can't believe someone would be so mean to a little tiny precious. Is there anything I need to do besides start him on heartworm pills? I have Sentinel. I am going to buy a chicken today and cook that good fiber chicken soup for them. Have you tried it yet?? I need to put a little weight on the baby. He definitely needs his teeth brushed, I have liver tooth paste. I don't think any baby is going to be smaller or cuter. How accustomed is he to Gizzy? I am thinking about Taco? Joe said he looks like "mini me" to Dinger. Did you think Missy looked good. She is so precious!!

Well...needless to say...I am extremely happy with the placement of BOTH these pups! "Mini Me" is loving his new home and has done great on his heartworm treatment. Missy is her happy, bossy self and all is right with their little doggie worlds! AND they are close enough for visits!

Ways of coping ... remember to concentrate on the "one" not the "all."

***********************
THE STARFISH - When One Person Can Make a Difference (Author Unknown)

I awoke early, as I often did, just before sunrise, to walk by the ocean's
edge and greet the new day. As I moved through the morning dawn, I focused on a faint, far away motion. I saw a youth, bending and reaching and flailing arms, dancing on the beach, no doubt in celebration of the perfect day soon to begin. As I approached, I realized that the youth was not dancing to the bay, but rather bending to sift through the debris left by the night's tide, stopping now and then to pick up starfish and then standing, to heave it back into the sea.

I asked the youth the purpose of the effort. "The tide has washed the
starfish onto the beach and they cannot return to the sea by themselves,"
the youth replied. "When the sun rises, they will die, unless I throw them back into the sea."

As the youth explained, I surveyed the vast expanse of beach, stretching in both directions beyond eyesight. Starfish littered the shore in numbers
beyond calculation. The hopelessness of the youth's plan became clear to me and I countered, "But there are more starfish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you cannot expect to make a
difference."

The youth paused briefly to consider my words, bent to pick up a starfish
and threw it as far as possible. Turning to me he simply said, "I made a difference to that ONE."

******************************

When I first read this story, I was struck by the message. I realized that
this story underscores the reason why many of us continue to try and make a difference. It is a perfect example of how one person can make a difference.

We need people who can keep trying, despite the odds, to make a difference - if only in one animal's life. The rewards are realized by recognizing that every so often, we really do make a difference, a life is turned around and that starfish becomes a star.

Those of us who work in rescue have a hopeless task in many ways. Some critics, may think we "cannot expect to make a difference." Yet optimism must prevail, otherwise you cannot work in this field. We keep throwing back the starfish, time and again, realizing that some may wash up to the shore and need to be tossed back into the ocean again. The rewards are realized by recognizing the individual accomplishments - that one special needs dog placed, the smile on the child's face when she meets her new furry best friend, the abused dog who has learned to love again ... We cannot save them all, but we do make a difference when we save just one.

Perhaps each of us recognizes a time in our own lives, when we were washed ashore and some kind soul tossed us back into the ocean again, so we could continue. Because many of us have experienced being the "Starfish" is the reason we can find the strength to continue throwing back the other starfish washed ashore. Every so often, we really do make a difference, a life is turned around and that starfish becomes a star. Remember always the ones that were saved, not the ones we have been unable to help.

Sasha is about 5 years old and belonged to a fellow rescue person who had to quit her job here and move to take care of her Mother (who is allergic to cats!). She didn't want to take Sasha to the shelter but had no one to take her. I told her I would see she was placed in a good home. Sasha update! Sasha's previous Mom has moved and settled in and she has asked that Sasha come and join her in her new home. I am delighted it has worked out for her to go!

I am Bubba! My new Mom gave me the name because she says I am a tough boy! You can read my "rescue story" on "Critter's Rescue Stories" page. This page is named after my brother Critter who went to the Bridge shortly after we were saved.

My foster mom says I have an excellent and loving disposition...especially after all we have been through. I don't know about that. I do know I am very happy. I have been to the vet and have all my shots so I will not get sick. All the ticks that were covering me from head to toe are gone and I don't itch now. I am clean, clean, clean! It is a wonderful feeling to be clean! My hair is growing back. I have all the food I can eat. Why shouldn't I be happy?

I have been "fixed"...well I sure don't feel fixed let me tell you! Here I was, minding my own business, catching rays on the deck without a worry in the world. Next thing I know I am walking funny and stiff legged! I went to see Phil, my Doctor. I like going there. Sure sometimes he sticks me, but he is a good guy and he thinks I am a good boy. He tells me so! I can NOT imagine what I did to be violated in such a way!

All my shots are finished now and I am ready to go to either a good foster home or a wonderful forever home. Mommy calls me her little monkey boy but "Dad" thinks I make way too much noise when I talk and I am ugly because I have no hair. Mom thinks I am special and tells me that there is someone out there who will think I am special and will take me home and love me and watch me become beautiful when my hair grows back in...and Mom wouldn't tell me a story.

Bubba was recently placed with a loving Mom in MA!

Josie is my name. I am a very happy dog. I am about 40 pounds of furry love looking for a home! I am fully vetted and am spayed as well. I am very loving and extremely well mannered. I am about 4 years old now. I was first saved from the flooding of Hurricane Floyd a few years ago. People thought I had dachshund blood in me. I guess because I am long and low to the ground maybe? Actually I am more of a corgi mixed with hound of some type.

I lived in foster care in VA for a while and then came back to NC where I lived with a family for a year or so and I even had my own young human boy to play with! Something happened in the family however and part of the family left and part stayed and I could not be kept any longer. There was already another, older dog who had been there longer than I had.

So now I am here with my new foster mom. I have lot of other dogs to play with. Mandy and I are best buddies. I have a big yard to play in with them and I have everything a happy dog like me could want. Except...sometimes Mom sees me staring at all the little human boys playing ball out in the cul de sac in front of the house and she knows how much I want to be out there with them. I will sit and watch them as long as they play and my tail will wag. Mom doesn't have any small humans and she knows I really miss my boy. Josie update: She was adopted by one of my neighbors.

A Message from Max:
Author: J. D. Ellis 2001

My name is Max and I have a little something I'd like to whisper in your ear. I know that you humans lead busy lives. Some have to work, some have children to raise. It always seems like you are running here and there, often much too fast, often never noticing the truly grand things in life.

Look down at me now, while you sit there at your computer. See the way my dark brown eyes look at yours? They are slightly cloudy now, that comes with age. The gray hairs are beginning to ring my soft muzzle. You smile at me, I see love in your eyes. What do you see in mine? Do you see a spirit,
a soul inside who loves you as no other could in the world? A spirit that would forgive all trespasses of prior wrong doing for just a simple moment of your time? That is all I ask. To slow down if even for a few minutes to be with me.

So many times you have been saddened by the words you
read on that screen, of others of my kind, passing. Sometimes we die young and oh so quickly, sometimes so suddenly it wrenches your heart out of your throat. Sometimes we age so slowly before your eyes that you do not even seem to know,
until the very end, when we look at you with grizzled
muzzles and cataract clouded eyes. Still the love is always there, even when we take that long sleep, to run free in distant lands.

I may not be here tomorrow. I may not be here next week. Someday you will shed the waters from your eyes, that humans have when deep grief fills their soul, and you will be angry at yourself that you did not have just "one more day" with me.

Because I love you so, your sorrow touches my spirit and grieves me. We have now, together. So come, sit down here next to me on the floor. And look deep into my eyes. What do you see? If you look hard and deep enough we will talk, you and I, heart to heart. Come to me not as "alpha" or as a
"trainer" or even a "Mom or Dad", come to me as a living soul and stroke my fur and let us look deep into one another's eyes, and talk. I may tell you something about the fun of chasing a tennis ball, or I may tell you something profound about myself, or even life in general. You decided to have me in your life (I hope) because you wanted a soul to share just such things with.

Someone very different from you, and here I am. I am a
dog, but I am alive. I feel emotion, I feel physical senses, and I can revel in the differences of our spirits and souls. I do not think of you as a "Dog on two feet"---I know what you are. You are human, in all your quirkiness, and I love you still.

Now, come sit with me, on the floor. Enter my world,
and let time slow down if even for only 15 minutes. Look deep in my eyes, and whisper to my ears. Speak with your heart, with your joy and I will know your true self.

We may not have tomorrow, and life is oh so very short.

Love,
Max (on behalf of all canines everywhere)

Author: J. D. Ellis 2001

Hi! I am Sparkle! I was found wandering along a rural road in SC along with 2 other juveniles like me. A lady picked us up and kept us outside in a pen with a house. She didn't want us to come inside but she did feed and water us. She called the shelter who came and picked us up. The other 2 found homes quickly but I was very pregnant and so I went into rescue. A nice lady from NC drove all the way to Florence to get me! I was very dirty and hungry and VERY uncomfortable. There had been x-rays of my tummy taken and I have five very large (for me) puppies.

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving I went into the vet and when I came out I was very sleepy and sore. I went to sleep and slept until the next day. When I woke up I didn't have puppies! I could hear them though and let the lady know I wanted my babies!

Because I had been so hungry and weak I didn't have any milk for the puppies and the lady fed them for me every 2 hours...but they were just two weak and after just a few days they started to die. The lady was very upset and cried a lot. I tried to explain to her and lick her and tell her it was ok and I was there...all of my babies went to the bridge. But I am here and I am healthy and happy and warm and have all I can eat.

Great News! Sparkle has been placed with a loving family and will be leaving over the weekend. Thank you so much to everyone who sent in applications for this girl!

ANIMAL RESCUER'S CREED

I'll never bring about world peace.
I won't single-handedly save the rain forest.
I'm not a brain surgeon and I'll never transplant an
organ to save a life.
I don't have the ear of a powerful politician or world
power.
I can't end world hunger.
I'm not a celebrity, and God knows I'm not glamorous!
I'm not looked up to by millions around the world.
Very few people even recognize my name.
I'll never win the Nobel prize or end global warming.
There are a lot of things that I'll never do or
become.
But today I helped place an animal!
It was a small, scared, bundle of flesh and fur that
was dumped at a
shelter, or on the streets by unfeeling people who
didn't care what happened
to it, but yet who were responsible for it having
existence in the first
place.
I helped find it a loving home.
It now has contentment and an abundance of love, and a
warm place to sleep and plenty to eat.
Two little girls have a warm and playful new friend
who will give them
unending affection and teach them about responsibility
and love.
A wife and mother has a new free spirit to cuddle,
nurture and care for
A husband and father has a furry friend to sit in his
lap at the end of a
hard day of work and help him relax and enjoy life and
a sense of
satisfaction, that when he is gone all day at work,
that there is a gentle
spirit in his home keeping watch over his family.
No, I'm not a rocket scientist. But today, I made a
difference!
And I'll do it tomorrow, too, if given a chance.

-Author Unknown-

Hi! I am Tiny. I was found wandering by the side of the road in SC. A kind lady picked me up and took me to a shelter. I was soon taken from that place into a home and cleaned and fed. Then this nice lady Donna called my New foster mom up and asked if she could take me and help me find a home since her space was short. I was altered and checked for heart worms (Whew! I didn't have any!!!) and other internal parasites. Had all my shots (OUCH!) and had my teeth cleaned (Yuck!) and am now a new dog!Tiny was placed over the holidays with his foster homes family!

This is Becky. She is an elder poodle who was owned by a lady for 12 years. The woman had to go into a nursing home and Rebecca was fated to die. She is partially blind but she has the heart of a youngster. She was being fostered in SC by a good friend in rescue until I could make room for her. Then, a mature lady was looking for just such a companion to share her life and little Becky now has a brand new Mom to love and keep warm and happy! Thanks to Donna for fostering this lady and to her new Mom as well!

Updated 01-11-04