Hi Amy,

It has been awhile since I had updated you on Sam, so I thought I might send you 1 or 2 pictures!! The first one is him jumping into the water off a rock on shore!

Sam is doing WONDERFULLY! He is HUGE! He is 10 months old, and 65 pounds! He is very lean though, all muscle, he's just TALL!! He is still a beautiful white color and when I can convince Josh to let it grow out a bit, it has the cutest curls to it!! We get stopped whenever we take him anywhere. People want to know what kinda dog he is, comment how pretty he is. It's amazing how many people wanna know if he's a Labradoodle!

He is quite the water dog! When we arrive at our camp, we have to make sure the windows are up, or the minute the car stops, he bails out the window to get to the water! But once, you open the doors, down he goes!! He is very loving and good with Andrew. They play together quite a bit, and Andrew frequently uses him as a pillow, and he does not mind. He LOVES to chew things. You give him a stick, he'll have it shredded in minutes. My sister's lab likes to pull LARGE sticks from the woods. Then Sam shreds them. My father calls them Skidder and Chipper!!

We are still having some "potty" issues, but they are getting better! He seems determined to only poop in Andrew's toy room!! At camp he poops outside fine. He just really really likes this one spot in that room! He'll poop outisde here too, but the minute he can get in that room, he poops on the floor! This winter were going to rip the carpet up, and hopefully that will cure that problem! He also still tinkles a bit when he gets excited! We've had him checked repeadly for urinary tract infections, bladder infections, kidney infections, but they always come back fine! The doctor thinks he'll grow out of it. So we just make sure we warn people "keep your shoes from underneath him, or your gonna get peed on!!"

Well, that is all I have for an update! I hope you're doing well, and all the puppies as well!!

Thank you again for our beautiful boy!
Allison, Josh, Andrew & Sam Braley

Hi Amy,

Just wanted to send you some pictures of Nanouk (Lucky Charm) after his first birthday and thank you again he is a wonderful dog and a great addition to our family. We adopted him from you at Christmas last year. We had our 3rd son this summer and Nanouk is great with the 3 boys and goes to work with me at the group home each day.

Thank you and best of luck,
Brian, Tanya, Aidan, William, Keenan, and Nanouk

Hi Amy,

I wanted to send a note to give you all an update on Gulliver (formerly known as Blanco!). As you know, I had been looking for a new addition for quite some time, and I am so glad that I was patient enough to wait for the right one. This guy is absolutely the right one! I knew from the moment I saw his picture, and read his sad bio that he was meant to come home to Nova Scotia with me. My wonderful sister, Lynn, agreed to make the road trip with me to meet him and off we went. When I finally met him at the transport in NH, I was nervous and not sure what to expect of this poor dog who had already been abandoned once and then just made a 2 day trip from his lovely foster home to meet me, a total stranger to him. I have to say the entire process was so emotional, it was quite overwhelming! I was so excited when Gulliver walked off the transport and calmly came up and put his paws on me as if to say 'here's my new forever mom!'.

After a very eventful 20 hour road trip home that included a midnight border crossing (the Canada Customs Officers at the border crossing at Houlton, Maine were great and he really won those ladies over!) and some very nasty weather that did not phaze him a bit, we made it home and Gulliver met his new family. He fit in like he had never been anywhere else. He deferred to my 10 year old Golden Retriever, was suitably nervous of my small house cat and absolutely loves my 10 and 13 year old sons.

Gulliver is the light of all of our lives and truly touches everyone he meets. He is calm and collected in the house, unless he can entice Gatsby in to a romp (which he is doing more and more) and he likes to come to work with me a few days a week and lay quietly in the middle of my waiting room floor like a Great Pyr Rug greeting all my patients and providing touch therapy for everyone in the office. He has even served as an unofficial grief counselor on one sad day.

On the days that Gulliver is not 'working' he loves to go to his doggy daycare and bounce (that is the only accurate word for him at play!) all of his friends. The owners of the daycare say Gulliver is a perfect daycare dog and so well socialized! He is a voracious eater and has gained 12 lbs in a month, and his fur is growing back incredibly quickly since moving to Nova Scotia. I think he is really enjoying the cooler climate and will be anxiously awaiting the 1st snowfall!

I really can not find enough words to describe how special this dog really is. He will soon be completing his basic obedience and going in to the St. Johns Ambulance Therapy Dog Program in our area. He is going to be a star at the hospitals since all he wants is someone he can lean against that will touch him! I want to thank Linda, the kind soul who picked him up off the side of the road where he was abandoned and thankfully brought him to Amy our rescue angel, and everyone else who helped to connect this very deserving, wonderful dog to his new home!

Thanks again!
Tanya, Liam, Nial, Gatsby, Simon and Gulliver
  

Hi Amy & Teresa,

Just thought I'd let you know that Kesuk arrived safely & is already a vital part of our family! He's all that we hoped for … & more. He & Ruffy are becoming buddies – which is a huge relief. It's a bit nerve-wracking to adopt long distance, but the honesty & helpfulness of all parties was incredible. Just as you did, Teresa patiently answered all of my questions & provided all the background she could … you are all angels. I've already sent her photos of Kesuk & will continue to do so – she was really attached to him, too.

Update:
We just got back from the Dr. Powell's (vet) visit … Kesuk is healthy & had his lyme vaccine & booster. He'll be running a heartworm test in March, just to be certain he's still hw free. Kesuk, like our other Mals & Husky, is very tolerant & trusting at these visits .. he's such a good boy! Dr. Powell said, "you've got a great guy!" & we do!!

You may certainly use our story … hopefully, I'll get a good photos of both dogs today – my first attempts have been difficult – Kesuk is so animated they've been a bit blurry! I'll forward the photos as soon as I get them. Anyway, I just wanted you to know how appreciative we are that this worked out … I still can't believe Kesuk is here … & yet I feel as if I've known him forever.

Thank you again,
Marcia

Hi Everyone!

Just a quick update....

Attached are pictures of Jed and Harvey from their 'beach day' at doggie daycare as well as pictures from Harvey's first day at the Barking Dog pool. He refused to go in except for his two front paws, but he looked awfully cute hanging out and he had lots of fun running around.

We brought the boys to the vets the other day, Jed weighs about 70 pounds and is all muscle, Harvey weighs 80 pounds.....it's hard to imagine that when he came to us his paper work said that he weighed 63 pounds. You can tell that he's feeling healthier every day. He now does this pouncing thing where he puts his butt in the air and waits to jump on Jed. It's entertaining when they get going because the hide around corners and jump on each other. We continued to be excited about how close the two boys are and how well they get along.

Harvey continues to think that he weights about 20 pounds and tries to sit on peoples laps when he has the chance. We've worked hard with him not to greet people by jumping on them and he's doing much better.

We're working on getting the boys use to going to Darryl's parents home, so we bring them over pretty regularly. We will be going away in October for a weekend and they'll be staying with Darryl's parents so we want them to feel comfortable. His parents also have a fenced in back yard, so they love to run around.

Hope that all is well and I will send another update soon,
Michelle, Darryl, Jed, Harvey & Willow

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to give all of the boys friends a quick update on how things are going.

Jed continues to grow into an amazing dog and is doing an awesome job! As you all know, he took and passed his basic obedience class and is now on the his Canine Good Citizen class. We have a couple of weeks left and then need to take a test; his instructor keeps telling me what a wonderful dog he is and that he is doing a great job. He now understands sit, paw (which he came to us knowing), down, stay, come, twirl, leave it and drop it. After completing the class and passing the test, we're going to look into getting connected with one of the local Pet Assisted Therapy Organization. Considering we don't really know what he came from, it's amazing to see how much he's grown. He's also put on some weight, his coat is soft and shiny and we're having no issues with dry skin.

Harvey also is opening up and learning to trust the situation that he's now in; we are enjoying watching him come into his own and also love him very much! He's put on about 15 pounds and continues to gain weight. If you can imagine it, he's also continued to grow taller and his chest is getting broader. His coat is looking better and getting softer. The old coarse fur is gradually going away. He's learned our routine, mostly by watching Jed and copying him. Knowing some information in regards to the neglect/abuse he's come from, it's made us happy that he trusted Jed from the beginning and that they've become best buddies. I think that because of his personality and the fact that he trusted Jed, he's learned to trust us on a basic level and continues to trust us more and more. Harvey is also signed up to start basic obedience class in a couple of weeks, however he's going into it already partially knowing many of the commands that he will need. He clearly understands sit and down and appears to partially understand stay and come. Harvey is also pretty uninterested in our cat Willow which is wonderful, considering Jed would love to play with her all the time.

Both boys continue to go to an amazing Doggie Day Care (The Barking Dog) one to two days a week, so that they can socialize with other dogs and people. The people who work there continually tell us that they are two of the best behaved dogs. There is a color coding system there to help the workers know the different dogs personalities; both Jed and Harvey wear yellow collars which means that they are extremely laid back and have no behavioral problems with other dogs. They are also allowed to be together while at day care, which is pretty uncommon for siblings. The boys take turns when coming to work with me as well as sometimes spending time with Grandma and Grandpa during the work day. We continue to try and bring to dogs with us to different locations like grandparents houses, the doggie park, hiking, and as a special treat to get a doggie ice cream. They also continue to have play dates with Chomper a black lab mix.

Jed and Harvey are best buddies and play together ALL the time, both inside and outside. There is always someone chewing on the others ears, legs, and tails as well as playing tug of war with the stuffed animals (luckily for them, I'm good at sewing). Both of them love their beef bones and periodically steal the others bone. They both love going for walks and are now walking side by side. They also enjoy going for car rides and love sticking their heads out the windows; from some of the looks that I've gotten driving, I'm sure it looks cute having a nose sticking out on each side; Harvey the left and Jed the right. Darryl and I are looking forward to the first snow this year so that Harvey can experience it; knowing how much Jed loves it, we're thinking that Harvey will also. We continue to love these boys more and more everyday and look forward to Harvey specifically learning to trust that we love him and that he's staying with us forever. He's already grown and we know that he will continue too; lord knows that both boys have all their grandmothers wrapped around their paws!

We want to thank Amy for allowing us to have the opportunity with Jed and then trusting us a second time with Harvey. We also want to thank the boys foster parents for being so willing to help us get to know them boys before coming to us and also being willing to trust that we would love them and give them a wonderful life.

The boys send hugs and kisses!

Love,
Michelle, Darryl, Willow, Jed and Harvey

Hi Amy,

I just wanted to send you a little note and let you know that Honey (formerly Hope) is settling in just great. She sleeps great in her crate -- she never complained at all and she waits so patiently in the morning for me to come let her out. For being so young, she is remarkably placid and poised; very little flusters her. She did get a little freaked out by our HDTV when I had it on Animal Planet -- she apparently doesn't particularly like the Meerkat Manor commercials. We discovered that she has a very loud, low, slightly braying bark. Any chance she has some hound in her? :-) She hasn't had any accidents; in fact, she whines a little to go out when she needs to go out.

She's made herself quite at home. Our living room is strewn with toys (she loves the squeaky tennis ball, especially when we bounce it off the privacy fence in the backyard). She really hasn't shown any interest in chewing anything other than her toys (although, I'm sure once she's settled in a little more, she'll test the limits). She's doing great with the leash. The first day it freaked her right out, but ever since, she's been tolerating it really well. Yesterday evening, the three of us went for a walk around the neighborhood and she met a Goldendoodle and a Lhasa Apso; she was extremely friendly, although the Goldendoodle seemed a little overwhelmed by her wiggly energy. We went for another walk this morning; she found a stick and carried it for the whole mile.

She and Josh have fallen madly in love. She follows him around the house (usually carrying one of her rope toys), and when he sat at the dining room table yesterday, she laid on his feet the whole time. I think she's going to wind up being primarily his dog, which is great. Since she and I will have evenings together, I"m sure we'll have our own special relationship, too. She met the cat the first day; Honey sniffed at her, but then seemed uninterested. The cat has mainly stayed upstairs, sulking. They seem like they'll be fine together, though.

Well, that's all for now. She had some lunch about half an hour ago (she's been taking a little nap on the living room rug since then), and she's probably ready for a potty run. I've included a couple of pictures (not that she's changed much in the last couple of days, but I thought you might like to see how she's settling in. I'm sure these will only be the first of many). Thank you so much for everything you've done to get this dog to us. She's such a little sweetheart and I think we're going to be so happy together. Amy, I hope that you had a safe trip back to Alabama. Your commitment to this cause is so inspiring; I really appreciate how much care you have clearly put into each and every dog. Thank you so very much.

Sincerely,
Inga, Josh & Honey

Hi Amy,

Just wanted to drop you another note with an update on Vanessa. She's only been with us for 5 weeks but we can't imagine our home without her. She is doing fabulous, hasn't had an accident in the house since week 2. Once we showed her the door she needed to go to for us to let her out it only took her few days to catch on. We have so much fun with her and watching her and Brodie romp around and play is so much fun. They love the pool, Vanessa will jump in after the ball all day long, and she helped Brodie get the courage up to go in. He got tired of sitting on the edge watching. He's still not as brave as her to just jump in, but he will walk down the stairs slowly and go in. I hate to wish the summer away but we can't wait to see her in the snow!!!! We just want to thank you again for doing what you do, so that people like us can find such wonderful dogs to add to our families. I've also attached a few more pictures for you to see.

Thanks,
Lisa

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