The latest: Suki and Rocket

A lot has happened since my last post on the 23rd of December. On Christmas day Bess, now known as Suki, went home to her forever home with the Martinez family. Most of the family thought that she wasn't arriving until mid-January, but as a surprise to Suki's two boys, Devin and Cody, we brought her home on Christmas day, complete with a pointsettia Christmas dress that her new mom had bought for the event.

She spent time running around and exploring, introducing herself to her 12 year old fur sister, Puffin and then conked out on Grandma Mary's lap, fully relaxed and at home. Unfortunately, house training continues to be a challenge and as many of you know, house training is not my strength, so if anyone out there has any good tips on how to help with a girl who is refusing to poop outside be sure to let me know.

The photo shows Suki between her boys as they help her open her Christmas gifts that are in the new bed that she' peeking into.

The newest member of our foster family to arrive is 5 year old Rocket (he just had a birthday this week). Rocket had a congenital defect in his knee called luxating patella and since it was never corrected he also developed painful arthritis on top of that. We had him taken straight to the vets for the necessary surgery and for updated vaccinations and picked him up this afternoon.

As you can imagine, he's not feeling especially chipper right now since he's had surgery and three vaccinations, however he seems to be a very sweet boy. He's resting in a cushy bed in the living room and hopefully will feel well enough this evening to spend some time getting to know the other dogs.

If you know of a home without young kids that's looking for a mature, stately gentleman, Rocket is your man. He's looking for a soft lap that he can warm and he promises that he's the perfect dog for the job. He has many years of devoted companionship to share and deserves a forever home that will treasure him as the sweet, kind dog that he is.

Catching Snowballs

One of Frodo's favorite snowy activities is to catch snowballs. Suki(Bess) tried to play along but preferred to chase Frodo rather than get a mouthful of snow.

In this rather dizzying video you see Frodo catch 2 snowballs and Suki run around a bit, enjoying a little playtime in the snow.

And the winner is....

The Pet Market at Dash Point in Federal Way held a raffle for a beautiful doggy basket over the month of December to benefit New Rattitude Rat Terrier Rescue. The raffle raised over $300 that will be used to pay veterinary expenses for rescued rat terriers. Thank you, thank you to Jillian, owner of the Pet Market who donated the basket valued at $160.

Our rattie, Frodo, who usually loves to eat paper was sure there was a set up when we put a box full of paper in front of him so he would "pick" the winning ticket. He refused to do anything but sniff so we had to bury treats in the tickets and the first ticket he knocked out of the box was the winner.

And the winner was....(insert drumroll here)...Patience Miller. Thanks to everyone who participated in this great event.

Coke Rewards points for Rescue!

The New Rattitude fundraising team has come up with a great idea. We are collecting Coca-Cola rewards points and then will purchase something with the points that we will then raffle off.

For those of you who haven't heard of the rewards program, any Coke products typically have a code under the lid. A person can sign onto a Website and enter those numbers to get points. The points can then be used for a wide array of prizes.

So here's what I need you to do. Save your Coke lids and then E-mail me the number under the lid and then what product the lid was on (i.e. Cherry Coca-Cola 2 liter). Any Coke products will have these so look for Minute Maid, Dasani, Barq's Rootbeer, Sprite... I will then sign into the New Rattitude account and enter the codes to upload the points. Then when we have enough I'll announce a raffle. Sound good?

Right now the fundraising team has come up with a goal of 1350 points. In just 2 days we have 120 points just from New Rattitude team members, so this is very doable. Start E-mailing me those Coke codes! I know a few out there (who shall remain nameless) who should have quite a few Diet Coke codes to send to me. :)

Collars

Whew, this is the third post today! I promise, it will be the last because I've got stuff to get done!

Anyhow, I work at an awesome independent pet store and sometimes a rep comes in and offers us a deal on collars that she/he is clearing out of their stock. This happened recently and I bought up several of the smaller sizes thinking that either I could sell them to raise money for New Rattitude or use them for the fosters.

They left collar is a 10-14" collar, with ribbon sewed to 3/4" black webbing. My favorite are the two red webbing 3/4" collars with the bone design, both 10-14". Then the little rainbow Celtic design collar is a 7-10" collar on 1/2" green webbing. The last collar is an 8-14" "Gentle Collar" by Goldpaws and is made of orange microfleece with the white fabric sewn on top. They are super soft collars - great for dogs who tend to have somewhat naked necks like my Frodo. The first 4 collars are by Premier. I'll sell the collars for $8 each plus whatever it costs to ship them which is still below retail which I believe is $10-$15. There were some larger collars as well so if you have a bigger dog, I could probably pick out some larger ones to show you, too.

Just E-mail me at adoptapup @ earthlink.net (remove spaces) if you are interested.

Tilly Plays Ball

Okay, not the best video quality and it starts out sideways but here's a video of our rescued puppymill girl, Tilly, playing with a ball. She loves attacking balls as well as flipping around (read "killing") stuffed animals. Enjoy!

The Clicking Paid Off

I am excited to announce that New Rattitude won the "daily click" contest for the state of Georgia which means $1,000 will heading our way to help out with the vetting expenses of rescued rat terriers! Thanks to all of you who took the time to vote for New Rattitude, even when theanimalrescuesite.com kept crashing. Each somewhat healthy dog (just needs shots, spay/neuter, microchip, and some TLC) costs NR about $50 beyond the $150 adoption fee that is paid when they go to their adoptive homes. So $1,000 can help a lot of dogs.

If you are wondering what to do with all that time on your hands now that voting isn't required, consider clicking on The Animal Rescue Site's "click for food" button each day. Advertisers on the site pay per click and all that money goes to pay for food for animal shelters in low-income areas. A click generates .6 bowls of food. You can even set it up so they will send you a daily reminder.

Thanks again, everyone. The fact that a brand-spanking new rescue group could win out over all the other groups and shelters based in Georgia is pretty amazing! That's teamwork for you.

Izzy Update

I just received an E-mail this morning from Izzy's dad along with a couple of photos. Doesn't she look great! She's fillling out and growing up and is still as cute as ever. What a sweet, special dog Miss Izzy is.

In this picture the little Texas transplant is experiencing her first snow and her dad said that she was less than thrilled with the stuff.

Here at our house the dogs are also having a little snow time. Frodo doesn't mind it and actually likes trying to catch snowballs in his mouth. Bess just acts like nothing has changed but Tilly is a little primadonna and doesn't like her toes to touch the snow. She tries to get away with peeing on the doormat so she doesn't have to move away from the door so now I get to bundle up and carry her across the yard to where the big Douglas firs have kept the ground clear of snow. Then I get to stand and shiver while she takes her sweet time marking every plant in the snow free zone and trying to find the perfect spot to poop - you know the routine - sniffing every spot and then circling in ever narrower circles, spiraling down to the perfect spot. The temperature is in the teens tonight so by the time we come back inside my teeth are chattering and I'm frozen.

Stay tuned for an introduction of our newest foster, Rocket, who will join us here after he has knee surgery on December 29th.

K-9 Rescue Barbie

Someone posted this in New Rattitude's online volunteer "den" and I thought I'd pass it on. Those of you involved in rescue or who have spent much time with a rescuer will totally understand this cute description of the newest "Barbie".


K-9 Rescue Barbie

This Christmas season, give the latest, hottest new Barbie -- K-9 Rescue Barbie. She comes with her own Ford Aerostar van, and various size dog crates inside. She has a cell phone that's barely working due to overuse and underpayment. Barbie herself is decked out in jeans, grungy athletic shoes, and a t-shirt that says "Dogs are Better Than Any Other Living Thing on Earth". She comes with a road atlas of every town and state in North America, and a compass on the dashboard of the van. She also has a map of every Starbucks. Optional is the special Rescue Dog Barbie laptop computer with the names and addresses of every other dog rescue person on earth, in case she gets somewhere and a contact fails to show up. Running buddy, "Lucky", the three-legged, blind Shih Tzu doll is available for an additional $49.95. For $89.95 you can complete the set with "Pissed off husband at home, Ken," and the various foster dogs at $20 each.

Prices for accessories are:
Fake snow falling on Barbie's van: $12.95
Flat tire for Barbie's van: (see "Barbie's Road Service Kit")
Barbie's First Aid Kit: (human): $11.75, (canine): $69.50
Barbie's Speeding Ticket: $95 (Mississippi- -$195)
Barbie's coat-that-she- had-to-buy- in-Minnesota: $85
Barbie's Vet Bill for Lucky in Vaughn, New Mexico: $63.45
Barbie's contact, Rhonda, who she had to give gas money to in Mesa Verde,Texas: $20
Barbie's bill to get her contact, Luis, out of jail in Bakersfield, California: $500
Barbie's bill to get Luis's dogs out of the pound in Bakersfield, California: $265
Barbie's hotel/kennel bill in Laughlin, Nevada, while she waits for her contact:$532
Barbie's overalls that she has to buy while in Minden, Nebraska, hunting down lost coonhounds: $49.95
Pizza for Barbie's suspicious looking hitch-hiker with sick puppy: $15
Vet bill for hitch-hikers sick puppy in Des Moines, Iowa: $143.29
Barbie's doggie wheelchair for "Klause" the rescue dachshund in Leavenworth, Kansas: $143
Barbie's van detailing/fumigation from hauling parvo/kennel cough puppies: $187
Barbie's resume to get new job when she gets home from run: $29.95

And let us not forget her sister doll - Cat Rescue Barbie, who comes with the same equipment, (substitute "cat" for "dog"), plus:

Folding ladder in vehicle: $129.95
Have-a-heart trap: $29.95
Cans of tuna for baiting trap: $11.95
Long handled fishing net: $39.95
Case of Simple Solution: $259.95
Black light (to detect cat urine): $29.95
Tee shirt that says "The More I Know About Men, The More I Love My Cat" $19.95
Running buddy "Jeep" - 3-legged tailless cat named after vehicle that claimed her missing appendages: $89.95
Vet bill for Jeep $397.95
Friend Edith, 87-year-old feral colony feeder, who calls begging favors when her arthritis acts up and she can't get out: $59.95
Food for Edith's colony cats (after all, Edith is on Social Security) $139.95
Friend Margie, do-gooder with pristine home and one spoiled cat, whose idea of being a rescuer is to pick up strays and take them to Barbie for rehab, vetting, fostering, and placement: $89.95
Vet bills for Margie's rescues $892.95
Mother Sadie, who calls weekly to ask Barbie when she is going to get rid of all those smelly cats and give her some grandchildren already $89.95 (telephone extra)
Shrink who talks Barbie out of killing above-mentioned persons each week $500
Vet who makes house calls and doesn't blink at unannounced visits and odd-hour consultations: *priceless*

A quick update

I've been super busy this week, but I wanted to give a quick update on Bess (now called Suki here since that is the name her new family has chosen for her.

She had her second heartworm treatment shot on the 3rd and unfortunately had a reaction to it. There was a lot of swelling and it was quite painful, however, an anti-inflammatory quickly solved the problem and she was back to normal. She doesn't seem as knocked out as she did with the last shot and isn't at all happy about being kept kenneled again now for so much of the time. We are using a mild tranquilizer to keep her calm, but it doesn't work as well as I wish it would.

In 4 weeks she'll be back at the vet's for a final test to make sure she is heartworm free and assuming all is well, she'll be heading to her new home in early January. I'm happy because she will be living a couple miles from my house so I'll get to visit her and hear about how she's doing.