Adopt 08 Contest

Adoption. What a wonderful thing to so many without a loving home or family. This is MY story:

One summer day in 2001, as I was sitting on the side of a road all alone, a cop car pulled off the road and called me to the window. I jumped up and put my front paws on the door and the nice cop patted my head and he offered me half of his lunch, which I hungrily gobbled up. The nice cop patted my head and said he had to get back to work. He drove away. I guess he thought that I belonged to someone since I was wearing a collar.

About a week and a half went by and the same cop drove by AGAIN! He saw me sitting all alone in the same spot he'd seen me before. Once again, he pulled off the road and I went and greeted him and again, he fed me half of his lunch. YUM!!!! Then he saw a lady across the street at a nearby house and he walked over to ask her if I belonged to anyone in the area. The lady told him that two weeks earlier she has observed someone throw me out of a car and speed away and that I had been there ever since.

The cop thanked the lady for the information and then he got back into his patrol car and he pulled out his cellphone and made a phone call. I was standing by the car door wagging my tail because I just felt it in my bones that something 'good' was about to happen!!!

I sat quietly and listened. I heard the cop say to whoever was on the other end of the phone: "Do you remember that dog I told you about last week? Well, he's still here and he's all skin and bones and starving to death! A lady told me that someone threw him out of a car two weeks ago." There was a pause and then the cop said, "Really! Oh baby! Thank you, I love you!!" The cop got out of his car and opened the back door and he didn't have to tell me twice to get inside!! I don't know who was happier....me OR him?

I was taken to his home, which also turned out to be MY new home!!! Once there, I was taken to the backyard where I was introduced to my new little sister Kaci, who at the time was an 8 month old Jack Russell terrier. She and I hit it off immediately and became inseparable! I was given fresh food and water. A short time lady a nice lady, who I learned is the one the cop called, arrived home. She came in the backyard and in the most gentle voice, she said, "awwwww.....poor thing." It was obvious that she was shocked to see that I was worse off than she expected when she saw that I REALLY was just skin and bones. She bent down and patted me and again in the most gentle voice she said, "you poor thing, don't worry, no one will ever hurt you again, we're your new mommy and daddy and we'll love you furrever." I licked her face and she started crying. She told daddy to go get some doggy shampoo and towel from inside the house and together they gave me a much needed bath. Mommy put a leash on me and took me inside to introduce me to some other family members I had not met yet.....THREE CATS....Cole, Kayleigh & Kassidy. Mommy was so impressed that I was very calm around them and did not attempt to chase them or anything. Then I heard her tell daddy that the next day I would have to go to a "vet" for "neutering" and "shots" (gulp!).

The very next morning, they loaded me into the SUV and with daddy driving and mommy sitting in the back with me, we went to the 'vet'. It was determined that I had heartworms and would need expensive treatment. Daddy and mommy told the vet to do whatever it took to make me healthy again and they mentioned 'neutering' again (gulp!). I had to stay overnight because of the neutering and the following week, my heartworm treatments began. I was very sick in the beginning, but after a few months, the worms were gone and I slowly started gaining weight. At that time I weighed only 38 pounds and today I am an 80 pound lap dog!!

Mommy and daddy think that I was most likely kept chained outside, because attached to my too tight, ratty collar I was found wearing, there was a broken piece of rope tied to it. Also, I am deathly afraid of thunder and I hate rain. Mommy also thinks I was kicked a time or two (maybe more often) because it has only been over the last two years that she can rub her feet on my back, without causing me to flinch in fear, when I lay near her on the floor. Although I look cautiously at her feet as she rubs them gentle on me, I trust that she will not hurt me and I no longer jump up when human feet come in contact with my body.

I was found 7 years ago and to this day both mommy & daddy look into my eyes on a regular basis and tells me how much they love me and how happy they are that I came into their lives. So often mommy tells daddy she would like to thank the %$#^&& that threw me out of a car because I've brought them more love and happiness than they can measure.

It's true what they say...... One man's trash IS another man's treasure!

I know that I was one of the lucky ones and I wish that every homeless animal could be as lucky as I was and find a furrever home.

That's MY story. It started out a little sad but like a fairy tail....I am now living happily ever after!

Jacking Jack of the Month

What a surprise I had this morning when I checked my pawmail!! I was chosen as the August 2007 Jacking Jack Member of the month!! This is great since August is also my birthday and I have to admit this may be the best birthday gift I receive yet!!

Thank you
Russell and all Jacking Jacks

Love,
Conner

Almost Poisoned

Mommy and daddy noticed that we had a mouse or mice in the house. Mommy said, "How can we have a mouse in the house with THREE cats and a Jack Russell?" First mommy bought a humane mouse trap, but the mouse would not go into it. Then mommy was cleaning house and when she removed the couch cushions to vacuum, she noticed that it was full of mouse poop and they chewed a hole in one of the cushions. Mommy then said, "Kaci Lynn & Conner! You are slacking off!! You are letting a mouse live right under your nose!"

The next day mommy and daddy went to the feed store and bought some mouse bait. She made sure to hide it real good in small spaces that me, Kaci or the cats cannot reach.

Two days ago, mommy went to work and when she came home, she walked through the living room and saw a 'thing' in the middle of my bed. At first she thought that maybe my cat brother Cole had pooped on my bed because he got mad about something (he's been known to do that as revenge). So mommy turned the ceiling fan light on and it was a dead......MOUSE! The mouse was laying in the middle of a big wet spot and there was some clear throw up beside the bed too.

Mommy became panicked and ran to the computer to look up the active ingredient in the mouse poyzin, and found that the internet was down. She ran to the phone to call the vet and the phone was dead.

Turns out that our cable company (Time Warner) had recently changed to Comcast and they messed something up and the entire Houston area was without internet and digital phone service on this day. But.....thank goodness for cell phones! Mommy looked up the feed store phone number in a big book with yellow pages. She called them and asked them to read her the active ingredient in the mouse poison she had bought from them. They said it Broma-something-or-other. Then mommy called the vet who told her to call poison control. Mommy had a fridge magent with the number to animal poison control on it, but remembered hearing that it is a $40 charge if you call them. Right below their number on the magnet was a hand written phone number with the word "free" beside it. Mommy must have found that number on the internet a long time ago and wrote it down. So she called the free number and it was a recording saying if this is an emergency call your vet (funny she just called the vet and they said to call poison control) or if you are calling during business hours please call.... mommy wrote down the phone number they gave and dialed it immediately.

A man answered the phone and said, "Kansas State University." Mommy hesitated and then said, "I was trying to reach animal poison control". he asked, "What is the nature of your call?" Mommy briefly explained about the mouse poison and coming home from work and finding a dead mouse and not knowing if either me or Kaci had chewed it and become poisoned ourselves." He told mommy to hold and he would transfer her to "toxicology". Then a man named Dr. Oehme came on the phone and mommy explained the situation to him too and told him what the active ingredient was. He told mommy that ingredient is an anti-coagulant which prevents blood clotting and that a dog would have to totally consume 5 dead poyzind mice to become poisoned himself. Mommy was crying now and she said, "So my dog won't die?" he said "NO". Mommy said, "but he threw up clear stuff." He said, "Your dog threw up because they are not used to eating dead animals (he obviously does not know US!)."

He instructed mommy to watch me and Kaci for an hour and if neither of us threw up anymore, she was to give me 2 cups of milk (cause I'm BIG) and give Kaci 1 cup of milk to coat our stomachs. Then he said an hour after that she should feed us.

Neither of us threw up anymore and then mommy gave us each a bowl of soymilk.....it was YUMMY!!!! I never had milk before but we really liked it a lot.

The good doctor was right.....me and Kaci are still alive and kicking!!

Dog Park

Today mommy and daddy took me and Kaci to the new Kingwood Dog Park!! We were required to have a bordetella vaccine before we could play in the dog park and that was rather traumatizing to have that liquid squirted in my nose. It took THREE people to hold me down for that.

Me and Kaci ran all over the dog park for about an hour. We made friends with an Australian Cattle Dog named Bungles. He was named after a mountain range in Australia.

Mommy and daddy said we can go to the dog park often now that there is one so close to us!! aaaaaaarrrrrroooooooo!!!

I'm Featured On REIGNING DOGS & CATS!!!

I'm featured on Lana Hughes' (of Radio Station KTRH 740 AM) Animal House blog called REIGNING DOGS & CATS!

Thanks Lana!!!
WOOF!!

I'm going to be featured on KTRH's REIGNING CATS & DOGS

Last night, mommy received a letter from a friend who told her about a radio personality named Lana Hughes with 740 AM KTRH who has a blog called "Animal House". She is accepting pet stories from people about how their pets were rescued, stories or survivial, how they met, etc... The stories will be showcased on "Reigning Cats & Dogs".

So, mommy immediately emailed her my story of how daddy rescued me a couple of weeks after some meanie threw me out of a car and sped away, leaving me to survive alone. She sent my picture in with the email and Lana Hughes emailed mommy tonight and said that she loves my story and can't wait to feature it on "Reigning Cats & Dogs"!! She also said I was very handsome!! Aaaaaarrrrrroooooooooo!!

I don't know when I will be featured, but I'll keep y'all updated. If you want to take a look at Animal House......Go to:
Animal House, There's lots of interesting stuff there to see!!

Owwweeee :-(

Yesterday morning mommy noticed a trail of blood on the kitchen floor and she got all scared and didn't know which of us five pets were bleeding. She quickly realized I was the one laying there, so she checked me over to see where I was bleeding and daddy was the one who saw I had broken my left dewclaw. Ouch!!! It was hanging by a think piece of skin or whatever. Mommy called the vet and they said all they would do would cut it off. So mommy got out the nail clippers and made daddy rub my belly and she first trimmed all my toenails, but when she tried to trim the broken dewclaw, I kept flinching and mommy was scared to hurt me. She remembered Brandon had done the same thing a long time ago and the vet then had just yanked it off real fast and it didn't even hurt him. But still she didn't want to be the one to do it in case it hurt me. So she told daddy she would rub my belly and he had to do it. Daddy didn't want to hurt his big boy either, but he saw I was so into my belly rub, he grabbed the broken nail and yanked it before I (or mommy) even knew what was happening. I didn't even feel anything. It is kinda sore today but it's not too bad.

Thank You Autumn!

This afternoon mommy found a box by our front door and it had me, Kaci and the cats' names on it~! It was from our Dogster/Catster friends in Kentucky: Autumn, Violet, Samoa, Calvin!

Mommy debated about letting us open it now or wait til Christmas, but since daddy is like a big kid at Christmas he told mommy to let us open it NOW! Yay for daddy!!

Autumn and her family sure knows how to pick 'em.....because we got some wonderful gifts from them!! Me and Kaci had a tennis ball, two squeaky toys and a cheesy flavored Nylabone (which I immediately staked a claim to!). It was a big Nylabone and I ate the entire thing in 20 minutes!! Kaci tried to sneak a taste but I growled at her, so she settled for the squeaky toys.

The cats got some catnip mice and treats.

Thank you so much to Autumn and her family for thinking about us, and thank you so much for the awesome Christmas presents!!

My Tail of Devotion for Conner

Dear Conner,

I remember the day your 'daddy' called me at work to tell me he had found an abandoned dog that was starving to death. Being the sucker for animals that I am, I didn't hesitate in saying, "Well, bring him home!" I think that was just what your daddy wanted to hear, because he said, "REALLY?...Thank you Baby!!"

I couldn't wait to get home to meet you. When I first laid eyes on you, I felt such sadness about your condition. You were worse off than I expected. And I felt anger towards the people who treated you so badly. God only knows what you endured before your daddy found you. Even now to think about it, brings tears to my eyes.

Even though you had obviously been neglected, abused and starved, you showed so much love and trust towards me and daddy. How could we not fall hopelessly in love with you on sight? You weren't very pretty then, but it was your big heart that melted us on the spot. Daddy had already fed you and given you water. I immediately proceeded to give you a bath and plans were made to take you to the vet the very next day. After your bath, I introduced you to the rest of your new family. You and little Kaci immediately bonded and you've been the best big brother she could ever have. We know you could easily take her head off with one bite, but you're a gentle giant who just lets the little brat have her way with you. You even got along with the cats!

I couldn't believe how someone could have thrown away the sweetest dog I have ever met. And I hate them for the way they neglected you, yet, I thank them for throwing you away, because had they not, we never would have had the opportunity to meet and love you.

They must have kicked you quite often from the way you used to jump away whenever I tried to rubbed you with my foot. Over time, you trusted me enough to allow me to do it . It must have been confusing to you, to be in contact with my foot, yet not feel any pain. I would never in a million years hurt you and I'm glad that you finally realized that.

I just want you to know that we're so happy that you came into our lives. I'm sorry that the beginning of your life wasn't a very good one, but I'm so glad that we are able to make the last years of your life a happy one. You will NEVER again have to worry about being hurt, starved or abandoned. Thank you for being the wonderful dog that you are. You're our big Conner Boy and we'll ALWAYS love you.

Love,
Mommy

This is a special Tail of Devotion

See All Tails of Devotion

Holiday hats????? NOooooooo!!!

Uh-oh.....today when mommy came home from the store, I thought she had bought me a new toy, but it was a silly holiday ELF HAT!!! The tag says a size LARGE, but it barely fit me. Mommy said it was the largest size they had and I can tolerate it for a few pictures. Grrrrrrrrrr!!!! Never in my life have I had to POSE for holiday pictures!! I don't like this at all. If I could only get into the closet and get my teeth on that elf hat, I could rip it to shreds and I won't have to wear it!!