Elvis

I went to Petsmart to bring home two kittens I'd met a few weeks before. They stood up in their cage when I tapped on the glass and batted at my fingers. I went through the habitat door and around the corner, and there were the kittens I came for, looking out, wondering where I was.

In the NEXT cage, a pair of furry arms shot out through the grid, paws reaching for me, and a little black nose right above them, and I heard the tiniest mewing sound. Holly, I said, Can I see that cat? It was Elvis, and when I took him, he snuggled right under my neck and started to purr. Ooooh, she said, you might have to take home three cats today! No, I said, just this one. I was smitten with this kitten!

Elvis fit perfectly in our home. We have two dachshunds and Elvis firmly believes that they are his pets. They play together every day, and watching their antics is better than TV. Hide and seek is their favorite game and it is hilarious to see two of them working together to find the third who is laying quietly somewhere, grinning. Elvis will lay over the dogs and groom them, lick lick licking, until one of them falls asleep. They share the window wonderfully and if he sneaks out the door to enjoy the back yard, one of the dogs will go out and herd him back inside. A curious cat, he will get stuck inside a closet or in the basement, and the dogs will come and find us to rescue him.

Thank you to whoever found him, and kept him safe until he could come to our home!

File #1 Winter Dance 052.jpg exceeds the maximum file size. Error: 1.

Love is being a Foster for a dog in need!

We have 3 dogs in our family - Beau, a great pyreneese; Ava, a collie-mix and Rusty, a chihuahua. All are rescue dogs. I became interested in fostering when we met Beau at his foster home several years ago. The interest became reality last year when an email asking for help was forwarded to me. Since that time, I have fostered over 30 puppies. It is so much fun to see all the different puppy personalities and especially rewarding when they get adopted into their forever homes. The puppies work on crate and house training, basic obedience and walking on a leash while in our home. Lisa Williams

Fostering is Wonderful!

First and foremost – I am helping a dog/puppy find a permanent home. I am always amazed at how loving they can be when you know that people haven't always been good to them. I enjoy seeing a puppy be fascinated by such simple things as a bird fly off or seeing themselves in a mirror for the first time. It seems that every puppy I get needs to learn how to go up and down stairs. Something so simply that we take for granted. I enjoy meeting the new owners on adoption day and seeing their reaction to their new pet and how quickly they seem to fall in love. I also like the challenge of working with a dog that maybe doesn't have the best house manners and getting them started down the road to being a "good" family member. I know that I am giving this dog a better chance of having a happy life if they have good manners. I am lucky that I have a very good mentor in my Giant Schnauzer. She is a good influence on my fosters. I have had several foster dogs/puppies that I woul
d have liked to keep if I had the resources but yet I know that they went to good homes! There are a lot of GREAT dogs out there. Lori Happel

File #0 LoriHappel.jpg exceeds the maximum file size. Error: 1.

Update on Shiloh!

Hi Tammy! It's been awhile and I was just browsing the Perfect Paws website again to look at Shiloh's rescue page and her puppy pictures. Hard to believe it's been almost three years (next month) since I adopted my little best friend! She is doing so well, she has brought so much joy to my life....I cannot say enough to everyone how much this dog has enriched my life. I'm always thankful for what you are doing with the dog rescues as your work was the sole way Shiloh found her way into my life.

We are still living in Portland, Oregon and Shiloh is pretty much the dog of the city. She owns it! She is the favorite at our dog park, on our hikes in the Columbia River Gorge and when I bring her to the coast. Haha!! When I travel for work, Shiloh goes to dog camp!! Anytime I leave her there and come pick her up, the owners want to steal her from me! Shiloh even comes out to the bars sometimes!! If you can believe it, Portland is such a dog friendly city there are several pubs that are dog friendling, including a chain with several in the city called Lucky Labrador...you can bring your dog out with you!!

So I just thought you'd like an update, and I'm attaching a couple updated pictures of my little girl. Thanks again for all you do!!

Jeffrey Sgro

Colt doing great!

Just wanted to say thanks for sending Colt's paperwork. We're working on his ILP paperwork right now! I did call through to his previous vet with his old owner and got his records there sent over too. I don't think he'll be getting updated vaccines for a while, as it did appear that he had his full puppy series and then had the repeated vaccines when he came into rescue. I have been giving him some homeopathic things to help clear that, although we're having icky ears right now. I wonder if reaction to vaccine ramped up the aggression you were seeing from him. That is one of the symptoms sometimes seen.

Other than the fact that Colt is suffering from some separation anxiety (so the owner leaving exercise will be hard for him) Colt is almost ready to earn a CGC. We started his beginner obedience class a few weeks ago, and for the most part he looks like the star of the class. I am still having him lunge at other dogs occasionally, but he is responding well to a combination of positive and negative training for that. If he's dumb enough to try lunging, he gets hung up for it, but I watch him really close and most of the time, he's now opting to redirect to the really awesome treats instead of continuing a hard stare at the other dog. He's training with freeze-dried liver and absolutely adores it!

I also wanted to tell you that we took him Trick-or-Treating with Kaitlyn and he did so well! The area we went doesn't have alot of sidewalks, so much of the time we were walking right at road-side. Colt never lunged at vehicles, including some older boys out on skateboards. He even was steady after it got dark. Kids and costumes and lots of people didn't phase him a bit. I took my Banshee dog along too (walked both of them myself) and I think he was a little better behaved than she was! As time goes on, we're seeing fewer and fewer of his problem behaviors. He's really turning into a big sweet loveable dum-dum! I really think with some maturity, he'll be able to do therapy work. He'd be nice for hospitals and nursing homes since he's so stinking tall- he'll be able to reach up to beds easily while standing flat-footed.

Here are a couple of pictures (we haven't actually taken any video of him yet- we'll have to video his CGC test!). Colt decided while I had the flu that snuggling was an amazing activity. He'll be a fun bed buddy when he grows out of the "everything I see must go in my mouth" stage!
Thanks again-
Kerry Greer

Belle adoption update!

Belle wanted to say "Hi!"  She has been doing great.  After the peeing in the house was out of her system (lasted a couple days) she has been wonderful!  She is polar opposite of our last dog.  Belle is so well behaved and responds to "NO" so well.  So is picking up on some more "tricks".  We haven't let her off the tie out yet but I know she is just waiting for the day when she can run like mad and chase all the squirrels!  Belle has been great with Cooper and is so tolerant and relaxed.  The only weird thing is.....she doesn't want to play with toys or chew on bones yet.  I'm guessing this may come as she is gets more comfortable.  She has settled into laying around and taking long naps on the couch so I think that is a good sign!  Anyway, as I get a few more cute pictures I will forward them your way! 
Stacy

Peaches update!

I thought I'd give you an update on Peaches.  I know it is less than 24 hours.

We can't tell you how lucky we feel to have her.  She is absolutely a great fit for our family.  She hasn't whined, maybe a little in the car off and on for 5 minutes!!!  She got to the house and just seemed like she knew she was home for good.  Tucker took her around the house and showed her around and are instant playmates.  Tucker has been trying to offer her his food, and she is not taking it!  I only have to tell her No once or twice and she doesn't do it again (like jump on the couch or play in my garden or ask for excessive petting)

Here is the other amazing story.  We took her for a walk and put two leashes on her.  One for Tucker to hold and one for me to hold.  When she knew Tucker was holding the leash she wasn't trying to pull or walk fast or sniff.

She has fit in so well, my husband asked me last night where the dog was.  And she was laying just off to the side of his feet.

I also wanted to write you and just Thank You and let you know how Thankful we are to Christy and her family.  Christy drove up to Auburn to meet us, and brought her girls.  Her girls played with my son while I looked at the dog.  Christy went out of her way to make this easy for us.  It is clear Christy and her family took great care and loved this dog to help her through her transition to a forever family.

I included a photo of Tucker and Peaches, he is so happy.  His face lit up again this morning when Peaches went into his room and greeted him after he woke up.

Again, thank you.  We feel so lucky to have her.