Sunday, May 10, 2009

New Beginnings Sunday


Shoshana Edwards'
tale of the little lady who lights up her life:


I never thought I would be a dog person, even though I have always loved dogs. We always had cats. However, recently both of our cats died within a month of each other, and for the first time in my life I found myself without an animal in the house.

The call came in the early evening about three weeks ago. Would we be willing to take Bailey. She is a dachshund who had been given to a friend of ours by a rescue organization. She had proven too much for our friend, who is extremely mobility limited and has a very tiny income.


When Bailey first came into our lives she was listless, had difficulty moving, and cried out in pain or fear whenever someone tried to pick her up. As soon as we could we took her to the vet, where we learned that she had serious dental problems. Surgery and a huge bill later, she was without 17 of her teeth, and abscesses had been removed.


Already, three weeks later, Bailey is running, jumping, leaping and loving life. Not only does she not yelp at being lifted; she wants up all the time. She has totally bonded with us and appears to have many years left of happy play. Now we are looking for a second dachshund to give her a lifetime friend -- a rescue, of course.





New Beginnings Sunday is a weekly series featuring the story of a rescued pet and the ways in which the life of the animal and person has changed. This series will run through the end of 2009 in conjunction with Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit’s fundraising efforts for Bernie Berlin’s animal shelter, “A Place to Bark.”

**If you have a story that you would like to share, please email it along with a picture or two of your pet to BreakingTraditions@earthlink.net

Sunday, May 3, 2009

New Beginnings Sunday


Johnni Mae Schell's rescue tale of the lovely Lucy Lou:


My husband and I moved to Hardin County, Tennessee in 2007. I have been amazed at how many stray dogs there are in this area. Some of them in fact do have a home and are 'cared for' and fed - but their owners just let them roam free.

We have 3 jack russells - I just love this breed! On one of my walks last summer with my smallest jack, Skittles, I saw a broken coat jack russell standing in the front yard of an empty house. I spoke to her with a friendly voice and she RAN to me - then followed us home, no more than 3 feet from my side at any time.

She was full of fleas and ticks so we dosed her with Frontline and let her spend the night on the back porch. By this time we had named her Lucy Lou.

The following day I scouted the neighborhood for an owner - but no luck I am happy to say. We could easily tell by how she reacted to any quick motion that she had been abused and smacked around.

We took her to our vet - got her vaccinated and medicine for ear mites. The vet figured she was about a year old and in good health otherwise.

Unfortunately we could not keep her. We found that owning 3 jacks is not a lot more work than 2 - but for some reason, adding that 4th jack, the work load suddenly quadruples. And Lucy Lou was becoming possessive of me - pushing the others out.

But this story has a happy ending - by posting notices about her in town, we did find her a home where she is loved and cared for as a member of the family.




New Beginnings Sunday is a weekly series featuring the story of a rescued pet and the ways in which the life of the animal and person has changed. This series will run through the end of 2009 in conjunction with Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit’s fundraising efforts for Bernie Berlin’s animal shelter, “A Place to Bark.”

**If you have a story that you would like to share, please email it along with a picture or two of your pet to BreakingTraditions@earthlink.net