Consider fostering a dog over the summer?

There are a lot of reasons for you to consider fostering one of my homeless friends over the summer ... most important is that you are helping save a life!! Okay, if that's not enough, how about the following reasons:

• If you already have a dog, or two, they can be a great playmate for your existing furry friend(s).
• If you have a dog who isn't the best walking/running buddy for whatever reason, you could foster a dog and have your foster dog be motivation for you to get back into shape. Just imagine yourself walking around the lake with a dog like Max (he's the cutie on the right ... he was rescued by my hero Karen of Red Lake Rosie's Rescue, where I came from). There you are walking this cute dog wearing a bright orange bandana that says "Adopt Me" and people are stopping you to pet Max and you have a great story to tell them ... maybe you even help in finding Max a home! And btw, I hear from my Human who met Max earlier this week and just fell in love with him that Max walks like an angel ... in fact, he likes to prance AND he doesn't pull!
• You're single and wanting a way to meet other single men or women ... well, let me tell you pals ... a dog is the quickest way to get people hovering around you and talking to you. We're magnets .... and once you tell a prospective date that you are fostering and helping abandoned, abused and neglected dogs find forever homes .... you will seal the deal. Of course, you take the risk of your prospective date falling in love with your foster dog and not you! Hey, but that's a risk worth taking!

Check out the Pet Haven foster a dog blog for more info and photos on a few of my friends needing a foster.

There are a million reasons for you to foster. For my Human I know she thinks she's the lucky one ... well, I have to admit, I think i'm the lucky one. I was abandoned with a litter of 8 pups, had heartworm, survived a gun shot wound, no front teeth because I was scavenging for food and ground my teeth down to my gums, had lymes ... I was not a happy camper. The photo below is my glamour shot from when my Human first met me back in October, 2008 up at Red Lake Rosie's :)


Well ... look at me now (and thanks to Photographers Guild for taking this photo!). If my happy face, svelte figure (i'm down from 68 pounds to a solid 56 pounds), and what you could do for one of my friends isn't enough, then I don't know what to say anymore!! :)

My pal Sadie is on the run!

Update: Sadie's adventures came to an end on Monday, 4/27. Read more about it on the Pet Haven dog blog. Okay ... Sadie ... no more escaping for a while, okay??

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It's been over a week now that my friend Sadie, a basset/husky mix, has been missing. She was adopted through Pet Haven on Saturday, 4/18 then the next morning she snuck out of her adoptive home. My pal has a history of being an escape artist ... she's sneaky.

She's had several sightings. Her last couple sightings were: On Wednesday, 4/22 she was seen at the Minnehaha Falls Park by the Deer Pen Area. Her last sighting was Saturday night, 4/25, around E 38th Street and 41st Ave S in the Longfellow area (that's the area where she first escaped!). Sadie is friendly but very shy. For having short, stubby legs she sure can get around.

Please, please help us find my friend Sadie. Before I was rescued by Karen of Red Lake Rosie's Rescue up north I had to wander around like Sadie and scavenge for food. It's hard work and no fun. It's so much nicer to lounge on the couch.

We are offering a reward for anyone that helps us bring Sadie back home. Help us find her. If you have any information or see her please call Cindy at 612-695-3593 or Laura at 612-296-9911.

Click on the image below for a large view of a flyer that you can print and post around!

Guilty ... from whose perspective?

So my Humans left this afternoon for a few hours. They rushed out of here after playing a game of Scrabble! I could tell something was up and my brother Mister wasn't very happy (Human's note: we went to catch a 5 pm movie, "The Soloist ... which by the way was a great movie!). Most of the time my Human acts really calm, cool and collected when she leaves -- like nothing is happening. I think that keeps Mister calm.

Well, not today!

So .... we had a lovely surprise for our Humans when they came home..... you will never know what really happened in the house :) Our Humans will never know. At first they were blaming poor Mister .... what if it was Mister that knocked the wooden cat off the window ledge and I chewed it? Or maybe it was Missy? (yes, sweet innocent perfect Missy!) Or maybe I even did it? I really do like to chew even though I don't have any front teeth. Well, my Humans weren't too happy walking into the living room .... my one Human screamed something about "My blackberry!! They chewed my blackberry!" I could've sworn I heard her say something about her work sending her a new one, so why does she need this one. Besides one should never leave anything out that one isn't willing to lose ... yes, that's the motto at the Black dog, black hole house of mischief.

They haven's fed us dinner yet .... I think they're contemplating whether we deserve dinner. Personally, I think they're the crazy ones. They should've taken us for a walk. It's not our fault. They left the TV on to a really silly show and we were bored. What's a dog to do when we get bored???

My brother Mister and I are tired now ... we're going to snuggle back up together on our red couch. He makes a great pillow.

My pal Riley got adopted!

I posted an entry on April 11th about my friend Riley. We had so much fun that day with the bunny ears that Riley's foster mom brought with her... it was photo shoot time. Those bunny ears must've work, because my pal has been officially adopted!

It's truly an incredible day when a dog like Riley who comes with a major (and I mean MAJOR) case of separation anxiety finds a perfect match and that truly special person who is willing to work with him no matter what ... he had that with his foster mom Laura who refused to give up on this boy who first came into Pet Haven's foster program over a year ago rescued from an impound in New Brighton.

Well ... I am so happy to say that Riley has been adopted by a special person who works as a fire fighter and a community risk reduction officer. Riley gets to go with her to work every day and works by her side as a therapy dog for at-risk youth and folks coming out of prison.....

Thank you Laura and thank you Casidy (his new mom!) for believing in my pal!

We will miss you ....

We will miss you Elaine. Our world has lost an incredibly beautiful, creative, gentle, generous, loving soul .... and as your spirit left your body early yesterday morning, the heavens were singing joyously as they welcomed you.

You have touched so many hearts and so many lives.

We love you Elaine and we will carry you in our hearts.

Till we meet again ... my friend.

Peace and quiet coming to an end ...

Well ... this week my Human has been in San Diego for work. I'm excited she's coming home tomorrow and I know she's really happy to be coming home too. She's going to head straight to the hospital to see her friend Elaine and I know that will mean a lot to her.

This week it's been calm around the house with just Missy. My crazy brother Mister has been hanging out at our friend Laura's house. I think Missy is ready for him to come home though because she keeps trying to get me to chase her around the yard. Doesn't she know that all I want to do is sleep ... crazy girl!!!

When Mister comes home I know that Missy is going to drive him crazy. You should see them just tear around our small yard. Me ... i'm the smart one of the household. I just lay at the top of the steps and watch them run around like lunatics. Conservation of energy .... didn't anyone have that conversation with them?? oh well ... maybe some day they'll learn. In the meantime, i'll nap ....

I'm so happy my Human is coming home tomorrow. It's been a rough week for her so i'm going to snuggle with her on the couch ....

When death arrives at your doorstep

My Human has been very sad since she found out last night that a very good friend of her's has only a week, maybe two at most to live. She's sad because she's in San Diego for business and won't be home till Friday and hopes she has a chance to say goodbye.

I never had a chance to meet her friend Elaine. I've just heard about her. I've heard how brave she is, how loving, thoughtful, creative, compassionate and generous she is. Even as she's going through chemo and as cancer spreads throughout her body, she appreciates all she has, loves life, loves her partner, loves her friends, and relishes walks in nature and watching birds. I tell my Human that death isn't something to fear. I think her friend Elaine gets it. I think most of the time my Human gets it. Right now it's just hard for her because she's consumed with regrets ... regrets of not being a better friend to Elaine, not doing this, not doing that ...

I keep telling my Human that her friend Elaine knows she loves her. For my Human's sake I hope she has a chance to say goodbye to Elaine and that her friend makes it till Friday. If not, I hope she knows that spirits have no physical boundaries and that she can say goodbye to Elaine from a hotel room in San Diego to a hospital room in Minnesota.

I told my Human i'd put a picture up of Elaine on my blog and ask for your thoughts and prayers, for Elaine and her family. Even though i've never met her, I feel like i've met her. Her kind, loving nature radiates even from just a photo ...

It's hard to embrace death when it arrives at your doorstep. It's hard to embrace pain. Elaine embraced her cancer and the pain, and to the very end I believe she is embracing death. And in doing so, she embraced life.

Elaine has and will continue to live as a bright star in the hearts of all those lucky enough to have been blessed by her presence.

Happy Easter ...

So today my friend Riley and I got to hang out together while there was a big presentation going on at my Human's studio. I'm sure my Human will be writing about it soon on her blog so you'll have to wait for her to write about it. For now, Riley and I just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Easter. Riley's foster mom brought along these cute bunny ears. My pal Riley wasn't too excited about putting them on.

I give him credit for being such a good sport. I know it doesn't look like i was enjoying myself but I actually enjoyed having those crazy ears on! If you haven't noticed .... a lot of my personality is in my ears. My ears can express a LOT of different emotions!

I need your help .... okay, WE need your help! Riley is a swell, mellow kinda dude and I really like him a lot ... and we really need to find him someone special who's willing to put up with the fact that Riley doesn't like to be left alone. My brother Mister is like that too. Me ... well, I'm an independent, free-spirited kinda pup so I don't mind being left alone. I can understand where Riley is coming from though. He just needs that special someone who works from home, or can take him to work, or can be a part of community of loving Humans who can care for him. He came into Pet Haven's foster program about a year ago -- found wondering the streets of New Brighton and was picked up by animal control. I lucked out because I was rescued by Karen of Red Lake Rosie's Rescue. Now I have a place to call home. I just wish my pal Riley did too! If you're that special someone you should read his bio.

If you want to learn more about this mellow dude email dogs@pethavenmn.org.

And have a Happy Easter!

love,
ahnung & riley

Soaking up the rays

I don't know about you ... but I am LOVING this spring weather. The other day I got to spend hours out in the backyard. I really wanted to take a nice long nap but there's this squirrel next door to us that keeps taunting us so my nap time was interrupted by squirrel patrol time. We also have this bunny next door to us that insists on making his home in the bush right on the other side of our fence. He thinks he's cool stuff. Missy's barking and Mister's scratching on the fence doesn't even phase the bunny anymore. Some mornings before the sun is even up my Human has to come outside and chase the bunny away because my crazy sister Missy won't stop barking. I heard my Human mumble something about neighbors not being happy about barking dogs at 6 in the morning.

Humans worry so much about what other Humans think. I think the dogs way is much better. If we don't like you, we let you know. If we're scared we let you know. If we like you, you'll get lots of slobbers. If we don't like being left alone .. YES, we'll let you know we're not happy and chew everything in sight so you get the message loud and clear! :)

It's a good thing i've had a chance to rest up these past couple days. This morning I had a spa treatment ... a bath, brush and my nails trimmed. Jenny at Pampered Pooch did a wonderful job! She uses this really cool brush and I feel like i'm getting a massage. So now I smell good and my coat is soft. I'm part of a big training event tomorrow and I get to share my story and tell all these people how special I am and how I get to work with these really cool kids at The Lab. Now that i'm all groomed I can give and get lots of hugs and no one can say I stink! Of course, I never think I do but i've come to learn that Humans have different standards ... oh well ... i'll concede to them for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is going to be a gorgeous spring day .... i'll be soaking up the rays -- hope you will too!

Later,
ahnung

Setting the record straight!

I hear from my Human that there's been this crazy petition that's been circulating online spreading lots of wrong information .... it's about 14 dogs taken from this woman's house in St. Paul. The petition claims that the Animal Humane Society and St. Paul Animal Control are going to kill these dogs. My Human has confirmed with the Animal Humane Society that this is absolutely NOT true. You can read more about it on the Minneapolis Pet Rescue Examiner site ... my friend Jen now writes for them and I'm really excited about it :) Congrats Jen!

I don't know if i'll ever understand why Humans sometimes act the way they do ... wouldn't it be much easier if all these Humans who claim to love us furry creatures so much work together? Do they really think that the Humans who work at the AHS and St. Paul AC want to euthanize any of us? Now don't get me wrong ... I really appreciate all the compassion Humans show for us (editor's note: dogs and cats) .... but you know what, I think Humans can do so much more for us if more compassion and understanding is shown for each other as well ... my humble two cents, actually, my humble two kibbles for what it's worth ...

I know my Human is working on starting a coalition here in Minnesota with other groups. They're just kicking it off but they even have a name! --- Minnesota Partnership for Animal Welfare (www.mnpaw.org). If you want to learn more about it you can join them for an informational session on May 9th at Noon. Check out the MnPAW link for more info.

okay ... back to sleep ... i'll go back to dreaming of a day when we can all get along and we can all work together ;-)