These first couple of pictures would never tell Axel’s story. I am still amazed how sweet and loving this boy is considering what he has been through. We got a call. A man was working on his farm when a dog just pretty much showed up and collapsed at his feet. The dog, extremely emaciated, but even worse, had a huge open wound on his leg.

I met the man at our vet’s clinic, saw the wound and grabbed Axel and carried him in for treatment. What happened next was new to me. An actual piece of bone from the open wound fell out of this baby’s leg.

The wound, which could possibly be where someone shot this sweet boy, was terrible, not fresh, and Axel had done his best to keep it clean. He sat calmly on the exam table as we surveyed the damage to his leg, found a place on the other leg, and worried about what would be next.

It was amazing how this boy’s tail just kept wagging through it all. It was determined that there was nerve damage, and an older wound, all we could do was to amputate the leg.  Axel was admitted to our vet’s clinic and surgery began the next day.

Axel came through the surgery with flying colors, getting neutered too whilst under. He is adjusting very well to a tripod and is moving well. He has gained weight and is back to becoming a healthy boy. He loves other dogs and people! He will make a great new family member. We hope someone will love and care for him and make him forget his rocky start in life.

Axel is approximately 8 months old, a lab mix, a complete love bug, and just wants to be with his people. We are so happy we were able to help Axel survive a horrible injury and now flourish to become someone’s best friend.

On December 6th we received a very disturbing call. A sweet senior girl, who had at one point been a part of a family, had been tied outside and left to fend for herself. We heard that she was not doing well so we asked for a picture. We got a photo of her lying in the yard, with every rib in her body showing.

As soon as we saw her, we knew she had to have help. One of our awesome Army volunteers went to pick her up. She immediately started sending pictures on her way to our vet’s office. Meanwhile, a couple of us were out picking up another dog in need. We had no idea we would end up with two, much less one in the condition poor sweet Molly was in.

Once Molly was at our vet’s office, we got the call about her condition. Our vet put her body score at 9 with 10 being the worst possible. She was extremely dehydrated, infection from who knows where at this point, gook coming out of her eyes, nose, and anywhere else it could. Our vet was not very optimistic about her chances, but he knows us well. During the conversation, we were like start the fluids, antibiotics, bloodwork, whatever she needs to have a fighting chance to survive.   Molly was admitted into their ER care and everything possible was started to help her fight.

Our first visit with Molly and you can tell she has a long road to recovery. Not only due to being extremely emaciated, but the infection. She also had some eye issues. It was discovered that she had pyometra, which opened a new issue. She needed surgery immediately but was she able and strong enough to withstand the surgery? Molly was improving each day, but we were petrified she may not make it through surgery.

Molly began to want to go outside for short walks, she loved the food we were bringing her to get her appetite back, and soon she was ready for her surgery. Molly came through it like the champ she is, and also got the growth off her eye at the same time.  Several days later her new foster mom went to meet her as it was getting close to the time for her to go to a home to recover.

These are the last two pictures before Molly left our vets clinic and went to her foster home. Since Molly has been in her foster home, she has blossomed into such a wonderful girl. She absolutely loves the couch!

Her first days at her foster home, she started to fit in well from the start. Molly is great with other dogs, house trained and just loves to be with you. A month later and she has gained 20 plus pounds and is looking very healthy.

Molly’s eye is also beginning to come back. We are unsure if her eye will be completely normal, but the cloudiness is slowly going away. We are hopeful that she will return to normal too. This girl is one more fighter. She literally was at death’s door, a few more hours without help and she would have died, but Molly has so much more to give. Molly is a wonderful, loving girl who now deserves a special family to love and care for her. We are so very happy we were able to help with Molly’s journey back to good health, love and care.

Our girl loves her couch poses and you can see what a huge difference a month has had on her. We love you, Molly!

 

We desperately need all our supporters to go to the link at the end of this article and vote. #mygivingstory could help Clifford’s Army Rescue win some much-needed funds to help us continue with our mission to assist even more of the sick, the abused, the neglected, the injured, the terrified and the abandoned animals in and around our area.

Our goal is to be able to construct our own facility. With our own facility, we could have space for animals when fosters are full,  rotating them to fosters as they become available hence saving more lives. We could have space to help our rescue partners.  We could have space for those in need of emotional help, training, quarantine areas for the sick and the young. We could truly help so many many more.

If you would be so kind to click the link below and it will pull up #mygivingstory which is called ‘Innocent Eyes’.  A voting box will come up for you to click. You may vote daily one time a day. Please help us to help them… your vote could help us win some much-needed funds.

We are the only voice they have.. we are rescue.

https://binkd.co/xyDYV

Once again Santa is coming! He and his reindeer will land on November 21st for our annual Santa pics and holiday bake sale.   This is a great time to get a photo of your family, be it two or four legged, and/or both.   We will be offering printing on site, and emailing files ( we are hoping to email the files on site too, if at all possible)

We will of course have some of the best homemade baked goods in the county as we have the best supporters who always bake up some delicious desserts, breads, snacks, and much more.

Not only great homemade goodies, but $5.00 printed on site pics of you, your two and/or four legged kids, or anyone you want in the pictures. We will email the file to you for $10.

More details to come and a few surprises to be announced so mark those calendars now!

Please let us know if you are able to volunteer or would like to donate baked goods for the sale.

 

 

 

funraiser golf tournament at deer brook golf tournament

The info for our 2nd! Annual Fundraising Golf Tournament will be added as we gather the details.

Notes from Deb on our First Annual Golf Tournament:

Want to restore your faith in humanity? It may not seem like the most likely place but the golf course will do it for you. Many people battled not only the golf ball and the course, but the cold weather, sometimes wind, sometimes sprinkling of rain, to play in the 1st Annual Clifford’s Army Rescue Charity Tournament.

Many contributed back to the rescue, many bought tickets for chances to win prizes, bid on silent auction items, played their hearts out and because of them, we can continue to grow and help more animals in need.

We also want to thank all the sponsors who without them, this would not be possible. From Gold to bronze, to donations for the auction, we so appreciate all of you.

The hole sponsors were awesome too… two cars parked at different holes, two 10K holes, and a chance at two golf carts.. and there was prize money!!! What a tournament.

Special thanks to Barbara McKay, who came up and launched the tournament for us and who is always there for Cliffords Army Rescue. We are so appreciative of her support and I am so glad to have met her 8 plus years ago and call her friend.. She is truly a rock star for the animals and for so many more.

And what can we say about Lisa Revels Jaynes and Deer Brook Golf Course? The best of the best, the most awesome people ever… we are so thankful and we love you to the moon and back for all your compassion and help for those with no voice.

Below is the info from our FIRST ANNUAL Golf Tournament Event to give you an idea.

THE DETAILS
4 Man Captain Choice with a shotgun start. Tee Time 12 PM.

NET 1st PLACE – $1000 2nd PLACE – $500
GROSS 1st PLACE – $1000 2nd PLACE – $500

Must have a verifiable handicap for Net Prizes. Net Score is based off team handicap.
All play from white tees – 60 and above may play from senior tees

HOLE SPONSORS
100 – 499 BRONZE
500 – 999 SILVER
1000 & UP – GOLD

For Registration, contact Derrick Dellinger (704) 482-4653
For More Information, contact Lisa Jaynes (704) 297-8637

 

2nd Annual Golf Tournament INFO:

Sponsors: Hole and Gold

WOW!!! HOW GOOD IS YOUR GAME???? Major thanks to McKinney Insurance LLC for sponsoring a $10,000.00 prize for a Hole-in-One on #14!
HUGE THANKS TO CRM Insurance Services for sponsoring a $10,000.00 Prize for a Hole-in-One on #6 Can you do it?
Thank you Renaldo Honda for sponsoring hole 12… and all your golfers, make a Hole-in-One, and win a Honda Civic!!!
E-Z Go -make a Hole-in-One and win a Golf Cart!

Sponsors: Gold

Norris Merchandise While you may think of them for your archery needs, furniture, hunting, etc… do you know they have some of the most awesome women’s clothes ever…. great buys and they give back to our community and support our animals in need! Big thanks to them for being a major gold sponsor of our golf tournament!

Sponsors: Silver

Broad River Hemp Co.- one of our great silver sponsors! And where we got our third party certified CBD oil for Falco, a Great Swiss Mountain Dog who was battling seizures….worked perfectly and he is no longer on prescribed drugs.

Silver hole sponsor, Just In Time Plumbing! Wow! we have an ADA Toilet with installaton.. $505 value.!!!! You can bid on this at our silent auction held during the tournament. ( More info below)
We have an ammo box full of products and a $300 gift certificate from Jack’s Pawn & Gun! Wow! got to bid on this.. might need a new addition to the arsonal ! Thanks so much! ( see photo)

Update!

Jack’s Pawn & Gun graciously donated the Ammo box full of great items and a $300 gift certificate which y’all already know but here is the awesome update! If you are the highest bidder on the gift certificate, you can use it as is … or instead you can choose 500 rounds of 9mm FMJ ammo !!! Most of us carrying adults know just how hard it is to find ammo these days…. this is nothing short of amazing.( age restrictions apply )

Sponsors: Bronze

Hord Insurance Services is also one of our hole sponsors! Have we told you how excited we are that Hord Insurance not only offers all the normal services, but pet insurance too! Check them out!
Many thanks to Witherspoon Insurance Agency for being a Bronze Hole sponsor ! We so appreciate your support!
Thank you so very much Homestead Landscaping and Feed Company for being a bronze hole sponsor in our tournament. We so appreciate your support!
Many thanks to Arthur Services for bronze hole sponsorship at our golf tournament and your continued sponsorship helping those with no voice. We are so appreciative!
Thank you Hord’s Container Service for being a bronze sponsor in our Charity Golf Tournament.. we so appreciate the support!
We cannot say thank you enough for HSI Land Clearing being a bronze sponsor at our Charity Golf Tournament!
Huge thanks to our County Commissioner Johnny Hutchins for being a bronze sponsor and supporting the animals in need in our county!
The Pankcake House – Thank you so much for supporting our efforts in saving lives!
Susan Haskell –
Kozi Italian Kitchen, Shelby – Donated 4- $50 Gift Cards!

AUCTION RULES:

Auction items will have a starting bid posted on the bidding card with item.
Bids can be written down from 10am – 6pm.
All bids stop at 6pm, prompt.
All bids must be made in person.
Please place name, phone number and time of bid on card.
Highest bid at 6pm wins.

You do not need to be present to win.

Items in Silent Auction

Huge thanks to Arnold’s Jewelry and Gift Gallery for the awesome donations ( Swiss Army knife, gorgeous mug and coaster set)

Major thanks Uptown Sweets & Treats Shelby, N.C.   for the great gift certificate!

Toscanos Bistro contributed a gift certificate and we so appreciate their support. If you have not been there to eat yet, you are missing out. Something for everyone!

Much thanks to Pheiffer Cafe for their gift certificate! We so appreciate your support!
Many thanks to the Shelby Cafe! We also have a gift certificate from this wonderful traditional Cafe in uptown Shelby.
Huge thank you to Affinity Salon & Spa for the gift certificate for a facial ( $50 value) to go in our silent auction! We are getting so excited, this is awesome to go in one of the gift baskets you can bid on!
We will have some of Baker Buffalo Creek‘s awesome wine on our silent auction table.. we cannot wait!
Silver hole sponsor, Just In Time Plumbing! Wow! we have an ADA Toilet with installaton.. $505 value.!!!! You can bid on this at our silent auction held during the tournament. ( see photo)
Veronet Vineyards Wine & a Gift Certificate.. thank you guys so much for the donation for our auction.. and please check out this beautiful vineyard.. right here in Cleveland County! ( see photo)
We have an ammo box full of products and a $300 gift certificate from Jack’s Pawn & Gun! Wow! got to bid on this.. might need a new addition to the arsonal ! Thanks so much! ( see photo)

Update!

Jack’s Pawn & Gun graciously donated the Ammo box full of great items and a $300 gift certificate which y’all already know but here is the awesome update! If you are the highest bidder on the gift certificate, you can use it as is … or instead you can choose 500 rounds of 9mm FMJ ammo !!! Most of us carrying adults know just how hard it is to find ammo these days…. this is nothing short of amazing.( age restrictions apply )
Kozi Italian Kitchen, Shelby – Donated 4- $50 Gift Cards!
Jane’s Grooming – Gift Certificate for Nail Trim
Shear Country Salon – Gift Certificate for Men’s Haircut
Associated Brands – 2 Bottles of Wine
Adams Distributing – Bud Light Panther Mirror & Golf Bag
Carolina Premium – 2 Miller Beer Chairs / Umbrella / Cooler / Red Apple Ale Sign
Patterson Springs Pawn – Vizio Smart TV 32″
Roy and Lisa – 2020 Silver Dollar and a Tennis Bracelet
Oliver’s Hardware – Clock
Poppy & Co – 2- $25 Gift Certificates
Stephanie Marsh Seybold – Pony Tail Palm
Ron Philbeck Pottery – 2 Mugs
Jan Whisnant – Snake Plant
Nicole Smith – 4 Etched Wine Glasses, Masks
C.A.R.E. – Name Brand Purses
Lots more to add… stay tuned!!
Clifford’s Army Rescue (C.A.R.E.) is a all volunteer non profit animal rescue who takes in the abandoned, the sick, the injured, and the elderly.

 

When I first got involved in rescue, I had no clue what I was even trying to do. There is not a magic class one takes when they decide this is their passion. There is no written handbook as to this is how you do it. Thankfully, some really great people who were involved in rescue before me, and who we had become partners with trying to save lives, were more than willing to share their wealth of knowledge with me. I tried and continue to try to soak all the information they share up like a sponge. It has been invaluable to myself and Cliffords. They were and continue to be true rescuers, dedicated to the cause, and willing to help others who share the same passion to succeed. As it should be, the more rescues doing the right things, succeeding saving lives, the less that die, scared and alone.

I have also been very fortunate to have a couple of friends I met through rescue who have shared their wealth of knowledge on behaviors, training, positive reinforcements, with me. While I am by no means any sort of trainer, I have learned so much from these people. It has helped me to work with feral, frightened, injured animals (as many of you know, feral and frightened are the ones I am drawn to), it has helped me to follow my passion to save them all. While I realize that is a huge feat to try to accomplish, I do not want an animal to die simply because they were frightened or injured.

I think there are two thoughts with rescues on the verbiage, “we cannot save them all”.   One thought is what I personally consider “old school”, in that if you can’t save them all, don’t spend money on the severely sick or injured, but instead let those go, and help those who have a much higher rate of survival and adoption. Another thought, which is also how I feel and our rescue’s belief, is that all lives truly do matter and unless an animal is suffering irremediably, we should try our best to save him/her. Why should we decide to end a life that may be saved? One could argue funds, but again do we place money over life? I certainly hope not. So we try whether it’s a senior hospice animal, an injured animal requiring special surgery, whether they can see or not, have broken bones, heartworm positive, what is wrong is irrelevant, if it can be fixed, then we are going to do our best to fix it.

So our saying is, “that does not mean we cannot try”, in response to “you cannot save them all”.  Is it a hard mission? Yes, it is.  We sometimes lose a life when trying to save them, we sometimes give it all we have and they still don’t make it. It’s hard, it heartbreaking but at the end of the day we know we did all we could do.

The rewards of seeing one of these precious angels healing and then finding his/her forever home balances out all the tears we shed over those who do not make it. That does not mean the ones who we lost do not matter, it just means it keeps us balanced and able to continue on our mission of saving lives.  We do our best to save as many as we can and it takes a lot of blood, sweat, tears, fosters, volunteers, and funds. We are truly thankful for those who have helped because, without all of you, we could not do what we do.  There have been times we have taken in dogs without a committed foster, or without the funds, we may need, but it always works out.  The funds come in, the foster steps up, whatever the need, it seems to happen. I still remember Kaleb’s estimate on his surgery, how I gulped when I heard 7 to 8 thousand just for the surgery, not counting all his other needs.  I still remember one officer asking me what was I going to do, and my answer was to raise the funds. We did thanks to some awesome contributors and fundraisers. My personal belief is that the Good Lord above is watching over his creatures, and he is making sure they get the chance they all so deserve. It seems to always work out and there has to be some divine intervention for it to do so.

We currently do have a lot of animals in our care, whether in foster homes or rescue boarding and we still want to be able to help even more. There is such a need not only in our county, in our state, and beyond. There is a need for stronger laws against abusers and even stronger laws on providing proper care. Even with all the ones we take in, we are constantly getting phone calls, text messages, to help even more.

We also want to educate the youth. We already do mock adoptions at our events, teaching the children about vet care when they adopt a stuffed animal from us. We have puzzles, coloring books etc. with education about how to take care of your pets. We want to do more.  We need to help our youth learn compassion for our four-legged friends.

And back to my first paragraph, talking about rescue being my passion. I do not know when I finally realized this was my passion. Even though I have always had animals in my life. Always picked them up off the side of the road, gotten ringworm from kittens sat out in the road, almost picked up baby skunks, and yes, I move turtles to the other side of the road, facing the same direction they were headed.  I was never quite where I needed to be until rescue came my way. I have learned great restraint to be able to save lives.  There have been times I really have wanted to go off on someone, to physically hurt someone ( when you see starving pups consuming a dead pup to survive) but rescue has given me the strength to save those in need, to get them to safety and to medical attention, and control myself.  (one has to slow down and think about how to get the animals safe, not go on gut reactions and it is truly hard). But we involved in rescue do it for them, not us. Some days we do not feel like we can do enough, but we continue to strive to do more and more.

We will soon be embarking on a plan of action to help more, but for this to happen we need your help. We need you to foster, volunteer, share our posts, donate if you are able to do so, pray for the animals and to pray for us to have the strength to continue.  So please say those prayers for those with no voice, and ask the Lord to guide us down our next path, so that we may be able to save even more lives.

Stay tuned… more to come on C.A.R.E.’s next chapter … and remember it costs nothing to be kind to one another and to the animals.

Until they all have a home…. we will rescue.

 

 

 

My thoughts, all lives matter and all lives deserve the chance to have the life that was intended for them.  Clifford’s Army Rescue has been around for about 8 plus years now.  We have pulled some dogs with many different issues but we took the responsibility to take care of them and that is what we do.

One of the first long timers we had was Noble. Noble came to us on his last day he would have lived at the local county shelter.  A gorgeous boy, who went into foster,  where he did not fair very well.  He had a bit of a prey drive and got a chicken and a cat.  He was deemed by the foster as aggressive toward others and he went into rescue boarding where he stayed for about a year.  He then came to my house, where he was taken care of, loved as much as I had time for, which was not near what he deserved , my house was full at the time, but he still flourished.   By year two, Noble had no interest that we would approve to adopt him.  Are we picky? Well define that, a dog that came out of who knows what type of living environment. Yes, we are picky.  We do an application, we do an interview, we do a home visit, vet and reference checks.  We discuss any and all issues the dog may have to make sure the home and family are a good fit.   Around the two and a half year mark, Noble and myself along with a friend and their dog were taking walks on the trails and I was trying to figure out just how to get this boy a home, he so deserved it.

Out of the blue came the application.  It was perfect.  The couple came and met Noble.  Love at first sight.  Noble hung in there waiting for his forever home through foster, boarding, foster, and hit the jack pot!   His mom tucks him in every night.  His dad takes him hiking.  He loves other dogs, kids, everyone ( well except the chickens, they are kept separate )  Yes they even have chickens and worked it out for Noble not to be able to get to the chickens.   He is loved beyond compare and lives such a wonderful life.  Was it worth the wait?  Yes!  You can look at the photos, you can see the love!  Noble( who now has another name) is so so very happy and he has many years to enjoy himself with his human parents.

Next there is Harlow.  Harlow was at the local county shelter, demodex mange, secondary infections, and so anxious he was chasing his tail and actually bit a piece off.   We got him out, and he had so much anxiety we had no clue what to do, but we researched, we talked to our vet, we worked with him.  If you crated him, he would get super anxious. If you left him he would go round and round and would be soaking wet from licking himself.   I fostered for awhile but I was working long hours then, and when one of our awesome fosters, who also had kids that Harlow loved came open, she took on Harlow.   Harlow shined at his foster home, waking the kids up, helping with foster pups, he still had some separation issues, but he was happy and things were better.   He got adopted, he got returned.  The adopters had a camera on him and could not understand his anxiety.  ( Harlow might have had a bed or two explode, but he never damaged anything in the house, only ran in circles)  He went back to his foster family and I really think they were not sure if he would ever find his forever family.

And then here it came.  The perfect fit.  The family who had dealt with a similar dog that chewed on herself when left alone.  Another that was very food aggressive with the kids.  They dealt with some major issues and they fell in love with Harlow.  Harlow’s human mom is home most times so he is not left alone much at all.  They had already consulted a behaviorist to help them with him.  Harlow is living with his human parents and two human siblings and is very happy.   Four years after pulling from AC, Harlow is finally home.

Did we ever ever think of euthanizing either of these two boys or any of the other dogs we have had for extended times?  The answer is a resounding no.  The dogs were healthy and like humans suffered from some issues that could be treated and dealt with.  They could be loved by compassionate people until the right family came along.  Sometimes the situation is not the most perfect, sometimes they may be in boarding for awhile but you make their lives the best you can, you go the extra mile to keep working with them, loving on them, and hunting that family that is for them alone.  Some say boarding is terrible. While I would much rather our dogs be in a family setting, we make sure the ones we have in boarding, we go walk, we interact, play with them, take to events, to the parks, the trails.   We get a trainer when needed.  Its about saving lives, not killing them.

We took Kaleb from a DOT supevisor after found in a ditch.  Both legs broken, hip messed up.  7K just to fix that not counting the other vetting he needed.  We raised close to 10K for this boy and he now walks, runs, plays and is thriving, still in a foster home.   He is with one of our fosters who is also a trainer as he has some cattle dog in him and he would nip a tad too hard.   Now he is good, and his home is out there and we will find it.   ( and he will be adopted out for the same adoption fee we have for all dogs) Again its about finding them the right home.  Its about saving lives.

Do we ever have to make that horrible decision to euthanize?  Yes we do, but look at the definition of euthanize.  To kill painlessly to relieve suffering from an incurable illness.  To kill painlessly when there is irremediable suffering.   Unfortunately that decision had to be made just this week but we did all we could to give a sweet boy a chance.   The boy had been at our vets three weeks prior with his owners and had to have a corn cob removed out of his large intestines.   When brought back, owners did not have funds for more surgery, the dog had lost tons of weight, and was very sick, throwing up, and without surgery, the only option was euthanasia.  Thanks to a very generous donor, we were able to try to help this sweet boy.  I actually was able ( thanks to our awesome vets) and watch the surgery.   Before it was over  three vets were trying everything they could think of, but at the end of the day, the boy would barely have any small intestines, his small intestines had went into his large intestines, and there was not enough due to the previous surgery to be able to fix it.  He had a intussusception .  He would have suffered terribly if they had even tried, never being able to digest his food, running straight through him, ( he was already 20 plus pounds underweight).  All three vets said if he were their dog, they would let him go as he would suffer daily and there was no way to fix it.  We did the humane thing, and let him go.

As a non profit rescue we will never give up on a healthy animal, nor we let one that is suffering irremediably, continue to suffer.    When one puts down healthy animals it is killing not euthanizing.

It should never be about an adoption fee, or making more profit, or having the most adoptable dogs.  Rescue is about saving those that others may not give a chance.  Rescue is saving the abandoned, the sick, the injured and showing true compassion to help them.  Rescue is knowing that all lives truly do matter.

I am not sure I can put into words this rescue story.   Giles has come so very far and he is still on his journey but it is one truly worth sharing.  We got a message that there was a dog at our local open intake county run facility that was completely feral and literally climbing the walls.  We also heard that he would not make it out alive.  Then came the picture from AC in his kennel. Standing in the corner, with fear in his eyes.  All we saw was fear.    The picture is the type that pulls at your heart, that makes you know you have to help.  It did not matter if we had funds, or how we would do it, we just had to do it.

The next day, I went to visit this boy.  He was literally trying to climb the walls to escape from everyone.  I asked the employees to leave me alone with him to see if I could get him to trust me and get him out.   The first 45 minutes, he would not respond to me at all.  Check the next picture of him curled in the corner, trying to go through the wall, and notice uneaten hot dogs in front of him

Then he began to finally eat the hot dogs.    Dogs seem to go into fight or flight mode, and Giles had been in the flight mode but had no where to go.  When he was not eating the hot dogs, I knew he was still in flight mode and no way I would get through to him.    Working with fearful dogs I have learned that you ignore them, do not make eye contact, and let them come to you.  So sitting on the end of his kuranda bed, back to him, answering messages on my phone, sending emails, I sat.   Once he started eating, he came closer and closer and finally took a piece out of my hand.

You can still see the fear in his eyes in this video, but he finally decided he wanted the hot dogs.  I was so excited, only to hear the remark from the shelter was something to the effect, ” so he ate a hot dog”, and I was constantly reminded his stray hold would be up in 72 hours.  I focused on Giles, on his life, not the side drama, and the fact that some people do not understand that all lives truly do matter.  I visited daily to gain more and more trust.  I  went to Mickey D’s picking up chicken nuggets, sausage and egg biscuits,  making his food choices more appealing to where he would come to me.

We progressed.. he started eating out of my hand and I slowly started touching him under his chin when he would get his food. We began to bond, but if anyone came by the kennel, he would regress back to the corner.  The following two pictures show how his eyes and body changed when someone walked up on his kennel .

I spent five days working with him until we sprung him from the local shelter.  We then had a wonderful sponsor to help with his training and hired an awesome trainer, Dana Van Sickle, who taught me and Giles the wonders of Cream Cheese.   Giles will do anything for Cream Cheese and we have discovered many other dogs will too!  Dana worked with him and then I worked with him.   While he was not trusting of any stranger, with time spent, letting him decide to come to you, he made a couple new friends.    I think again the key is to not treat frightened dogs as if they are normal, everyday dogs.   The straight on, eye to eye contact, the come her boy, etc.  does not work.   Sitting down with back and/or sideways, no eye to eye, pretty much ignoring and letting him decide the food is high value enough to come to you.  Another great thing I learned is to toss a treat back so he could go back and have his space for a few and then bring him back up to me.

We progressed as Dana got his collar and leash on him.

Giles became better and better with us.  He met more friends.  And then the day came when I came by the kennels and did not know Dana was outside with him.   Once he saw me, here he came.  The following video shows how much this boy can love!

Giles still has work.  We are starting to take him outside his comfort zone in small increments.  Walking trails when the trails aren’t super busy.  Meeting new people slowly.  This sweet sweet boy who was frightened to death at the shelter, now only wants to please and love.    Just check out the last video we took.

While this story is already on the way to a happy ending.  Giles escaped death at the shelter, he has escaped much of his fears, and he is a happy  boy who loves us.  Now on to finding his forever home.  Once that is accomplished his story will be complete.

This should teach everyone that truly all lives do matter.  He was scheduled to be killed as soon as his hold was up, but he survived and he will continue to thrive.

He is currently with me at my home and we are working on more and more of his socialization skills.    He is a wonderful happy boy and I am hopeful he will continue to accept more and more people into his life.

 

 

Being involved ( and founding) a rescue for almost nine years now, I have learned a lot, but realize there is always more to learn.   I make an effort to read articles from reputable sources, listen to reputable trainers, ask advice from those who have been doing this much longer than myself and arm myself with facts, figures, and truthful information.

Social media is an awesome way to get people involved, let people know the truth, connect with people who share your same passion, and in the case of animal rescue connect with new rescue partners, new volunteers, new fosters, supporters, and donors.   Because of social media and animal rescue, I have met some really awesome people from all over the world.  I feel honored to have friends in the Netherlands, England, Ireland, along with the USA and Canada.  ( and yes some of us have even met in person)  We share a common bond of saving lives.  We are passionate about our mission and we speak up for those with no voice.

My philosophy is simple.  Find the issues and/or problems, and get them fixed.  I don’t expect to sit back and let everyone else do the work.  I will ( and have) worked to help fix many many problems.  When one does not get answers, or when things continue down a bad path, then the public needs to be aware.  Not just to be commenting on social media, but to take a stand to fix the issues. To help fix the issues. To make sure it never happens again. To speak for those with NO VOICE, after all that is what animal advocacy is.

As a rescuer, I personally have went down 40 foot ravines to get a senior lost dog ( and the fire department had to chunk me a rope to get out while carrying the dog).  I have spent hours lying on the ground, through ditches, in the mud, whatever it took to save a life.  I have stopped in the road to keep animals from getting hit, and yes, I move turtles too ( but through education have learned to move them in the same direction they were going and as little as possible to get them safe)  One of my friends and fellow rescuers saved a falcon freeing from fishing wire and after he was still and let us unraffle it, watch him look at us before flying away.  We have trapped dogs, cats,  and even saved a 200 pound pig. ( we are a dog rescue).  Lives matter, every single one of them.  Once its in your blood its in your blood.

My point is the people who rescue and advocate do not do it for attention, for stirring the pot, for spreading ” fake news”  or just to sensationalize.  We do it for the animals. We do it because all lives matter.  When needing to reach people to help speak up, social media is a powerful tool.

We also do our research.  I do not ever make posts without facts.  For those of you who do not know, you may request and receive public records through the F.O.I.A. ( Freedom of Information Act).  I receive many many weekly reports and when I have questions, I request what information is needed to find the answers.

While social media is powerful and can be very helpful, but I would encourage people to not make comments like, ” fake news”, “why don’t you go volunteer”  or  ” how bout you go adopt”  just to name a few.   I don’t answer those comments because the posts we make are for the welfare of the animals, we have the facts or we would not have posted it, and if you are  in doubt, if you really care about the animals, you would and should either message us, or  ask for the information yourselves. The very people you make these remarks to many many times spend their lives saving animals, make sure they have the facts and are completely frustrated watching animals die.

Everyone should always remember, ” its about the animals”.   It is not about us.  Those very animals that have no voice, other than humans speaking up for them.   Those very animals that end up dead, tossed in a hole in a landfill through no fault of their own.