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Saturday, September 17, 2011

Hijacked blog....

Hi, it's Kelley...I "borrowed" the blog from Abbey and Bode to tell you more about me!



I have been living with Abbey and Bode for quite awhile. I am only 1, so I am still getting out of my "toddler" phase. I love, love, love to play!! Let's cuddle, wrestle, tug, and more!

There is a human kid my age at his house and we have so much fun together. I would love to go to a family that has more of those!



I don't know how to share a lot of my past and don't really want to as I have so much future in me now! I was rescued by Brooke's Legacy Animal Rescue. The shelter I was at had me on this list, which I have now learned meant I was going to die, and the wonderful people at Brooke's came to save me! They  brought me back to Naples and found out I had these very bad bugs inside of me and that something was wrong with my front paw. I went right to the wonderful vet at Mission Hills Veterinary Clinic and they started by "bug" treatment. It was not a fun thing to go through and it took a lot of work to get all those bugs out! For 30 days I was not allowed to do very much (no walks, no playing, etc) because the bugs could attack my heart (they were heartworms) and then I could die. They checked my leg while I was there and learned that it was an injury I got a VERY long time ago. It doesn't bother me very much. I can still run, jump, and play; I just rest it when I can!

I came to this house two weeks into my 30 days of no play and began to learn the ropes! Abbey and Bode are working dogs. I didn't even know this was possible. I worked really hard to learn as much as I could because I wasn't allowed to play with them, so I would just watch. I showed Tara that I already knew some things. My previous owner didn't take care of me but taught me to sit, stay, and shake.



Since then, I have been working on my manners and learning to "work" too! This therapy thing is pretty need, but I get tired fast from the energy in the room.

I am a guard dog and will let you know if anyone is near your house that should not be there. I have a lot of loyalty to whoever loves me!

I don't like to share my food with other dogs, but if you are human, you can take it. Tara is working with me on this, but I just LOVE food!

Spread the word that I really want to find my forever family! I have been at this house for a long time. Don't get me wrong, it is great here, but it is not mine!  My foster sister got adopted last week, so I hope my time is coming soon!

Ok, Abbey just caught me typing on here so I better go! Spread the word about me! Oh and I will be at some place called the Shell Factory tomorrow to meet new people for Wienerfest! Hope I am not the biggest dog there!

With Love~~Kelley


Thursday, September 15, 2011

Teaching them young...

There is so much hype about dogs and kids, especially  babies, but you can teach them (human kids) how to interact with us so there are less "bad things" that could happen. We know not all dogs are like us, however it is possible to learn the signs and protect everyone!

Our humans went out of town without us last weekend....we can't fly on airplanes...and we heard them talking about some of the dogs they met. Our human brother has learned how to properly approach a dog and was praised by dog owners for knowing just how to greet a new dog.

He is not even two, but knows that not all dogs are as wonderful as we are :). I think the fact that we have so many foster dogs that come in and out of the house helps, as he has to learn how to greet them and learn their behaviors as they learn (most of them for the first time) what a toddler is.

With me, he knows I get more nervous when he is around me if I am tired or hungry, but Bode loves him being around all the time. Tara has taught him that he must ask or have her ask before he approaches a dog and can get close enough to pet (or as he says pat).

He always puts his hand out, palm up, where the dog can sniff it and if the dog shies away, he doesn't approach. He always approaches  from the side and Tara keeps an eye on calming signals (stress signals) the dog may give off.

It is important to learn how to greet dogs properly and teach children---this is a part of every counseling series we offer, as we are not allowed in a session without the children first learning to interact with us!

Learning calming signals is also very important!

Let me know if you have any questions!

Abbey

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Today we remember...

There was a lot of anxiety felt today and we really didn't understand why. You see our human family went out of town for the weekend, so we got to stay with our grandparents. We could tell there was a lot of emotion going on with everyone around us, but we didn't quite understand why.

We now know that today is the 10 year anniversary of something horrible happening in our country. We weren't alive, but we can sense the emotion that, even 10 years later, all the humans that were alive felt.

We decided to do some research see what we could learn about other dogs that were involved in the rescue efforts and found the following links to share with you:

The resiliency of the rescue dogs is shown int his article: http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=19754

Dog therapy used at "Ground Zero" (see, it's not a new concept at all!): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903285704576560843680243976.html

Kinsey's experience: http://www.founddogs.com/view_story.php?sid=9

Take time to read these articles as they show another view of help some working dogs provided to those in the depths of this horrible event!

We are breathing easier as Tara and the rest of the family flew safely home today and we are all snuggled up together for bed. Their flight was delayed, but that was all! We had no problem waiting an extra hour for them, we are just so happy they made it home safely!



With love,

Abbey and Bode

Monday, September 5, 2011

We keep hearing clients, our family, and others talking about September 11, 2011. We weren't born yet, so we did not personally experience this horrific event, however we have recently come across a story of a fellow canine who was involved in helping many people. Check out her story!

The Unsung "heros" of September 11th