A trip down 2012 memory lane - part 2

Champoux

 

This adorable 4 month old 4lb boy was a last minute rescue.  Our volunteer went into a not very large and crowded shelter to rescue a different dog and she then called our state coordinator asking of we were able to rescue this little boy as well as the other rattie.  We said yes and out came 2 pups that were to be euthanized within hours.  The shelters get a bad rap for how quickly dogs are put down but, really that's not the problem - the problem is that people need to spay and neuter their animals.  If that happened the shelters wouldn't be flooded to the gills with animals that have been tossed aside.

 

Champoux coming out of the shelter

Champoux aka Poux was with us for a short period of time and he was fantastic.  Poux's personality was to die for - full of love and he kept us laughing all the time. 



Champoux in foster care

Poux was adopted by a couple who was connected to our PNW facebook page.  They had joined our page watching for the right pup and once Poux hit the page they sent in their application. This was a great match knowing that Poux was going to get lots of ongoing socialization (which a puppy of his age needed) and a great set of parents and four legged sister to boot.  Poux gets, around - he goes to the beach, visits with lots of people and he has lots of playmates as you can see below.   This little boy is lucky to have found such an amazing family!



Champoux loving his new life!

Boushey

Boushey who had been in a shelter for a while (he was a staff favorite which is always a good thing for a dog).  He was rescued and it was planned for him to go to a different foster home but, we needed a low key foster since Dandy had been returned to us.  Boushey being 7-8 yrs old we figured he would be perfect for our open foster spot and the move was made to bring him up to us.  While Boushey is 7-8 yrs old this boy has a lot of get up and go along with an amazing personality.  Boushey loves all people, is great with other dogs and was house trained.  I can't figure out why he was in the shelter but, I'm sure he was passed over because of his age.  This is sad and happens a lot, people think a 7-8yr old rattie is old and it's not.  Rattie's can live 16+ years.  Anyone that meets Boushey is shocked by his age - he's a good example of how amazing a rattie of his age can be!  Clearly his adopters thought so as he was only with us for a couple of weeks.

Boushey in foster care

If anyone ever says you can't teach an adult dog new tricks well, they've never met Boushey AKA Boo!  This boy has been very busy since being adopted - he mastered a positive based doggie class and he and his parents have been busy learning lots of new tricks and together.  Boo is a total ham and everyone who meets him loves him.  Boo often gets to go to work with his mom and as you can see he's a busy boy http://boushey.wordpress.com/   How fun that his has his own blog!

Boo enjoying a trip to the San Juan Islands

 

Lucky Boo with his adoring parents!

 

 

Kerloo

 

I've been amazing this year with how many very young puppies were not going to make it out of the shelter system.  Again because of the overwhelming amount of dogs (puppies and adults) in the shelter, there just are not enough adopters. So many perfectly normal, well adjusted and lovable dogs just don't make it out.  I've heard people say "I don't want a shelter dog because something must be wrong with it".  What people don't understand is that the majority of the time there's nothing wrong with the dog.  What we are dealing with is an over population problem and lack of responsibility by humans.  This is no doubt why Kerloo found himself in a high kill shelter.  I'm sure someone got him as a cute puppy and then got tired caring for a pup so dumped him.  Everyone who meets Kerloo loves him - he's affectionate, well socialized and an all around awesome boy! 

 

Kerloo's shelter picture

Kerloo was like many of our foster pups - just a treat to foster!  He was easy going, did great with Catty and Dandy and liked being a part of what was going on.  Kerloo was with us for a very short time as we had a past adopter who was looking for a young rattie.  Once they heard about Kerloo they knew he was the boy for them! 

Kerloo in foster care

Kerloo is now Kirby and he's doing rat-tastic, and as you can see he loves his sister.  Kerloo and his rattie brother Hoagie (NR alum) are keeping everyone on their toes and there are many laughs in the house with two young rats in the house!
 

Kirby and his sister!

 

Dunham

 

 As I've been saying, and you can see from Dunham's shelter picture there are a lot of dogs in the shelter system.  Back in May our PNW team began working to rescue dogs from shelters in the Central Valley of California.  We have a wonderful NR volunteer who goes into the shelters finding us ratties in need of foster care. Not a job I could do!  The poverty level in this CA area is extreme.  3 of their cities rank in the top 5 highest poverty rates in the nation – and dogs that end up in the shelters there don’t have much of a chance of making it out. We focus on that area due to the high euthanization rate at the shelters (different sources put the rate in Fresno at roughly 72%  - a little higher and lower depending on who you ask) and the large number of Rat Terriers that would die there without rescue. Read more about the Central Valley and its struggle with poverty here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/california-poverty_n_1901642.html

 

Dunham's shelter pic

 

Dunham was a great foster and he was amazing with Dandy.  Dunham was the type of dog that was quickly able to adjust his play style and energy to the dog at hand.  He was one of the first foster dogs that Dandy actively sought out to engage with.  Again no big shock that Dunham wasn't with us for long - he received 5 applications in less than 72 hours.



These three NR dogs (Dunham, Ursa & Catty) won the March page in the 2013 New Rattitude Calendar contest!

Dunham has been doing wonderful in his new home - he mom is often at home with him, he gets to go all over the place visiting people and other dogs.  Best of all is that he and his very shy/nervous four legged brother are best friends.  Dunham's brother Oliver is now a playing fiend since Dunham has arrived - good job Dunham for helping him!  Sounds like a pretty great time for both boys!



Dunham plays hard and sleeps hard!