Puppy Mill Survivor Week: Mandy

Hi all , my name is Mandy, I am a 4 year old maltese and I am a puppy mill survivor. Six months ago, I was rescued and born again and this is my story. 

My rebirth began June 19, 2010, when volunteers with several canine rescue groups attended a live animal auction in rural Missouri. The volunteers hoped to rescue some of the 500 dogs for sale that day from a life as breeders.

At the auction, someone approached my dirty cage and whispered, “Baby girl, you are coming home with me.” This someone was Ellen Ellick, founder and director of St. Louis Senior Dog Project, a non-profit rescue organization in eastern Missouri. I would not see Ellen again for hours.

Early in the sale, a young fellow held me overhead by the scruff of my neck. It hurt and I shivered uncontrollably with cold fear. “What am I bid?” cried the auctioneer in his rhythmic chant. “What am I bid?”

Ellen’s hand shot up. “Sold!” shouted the auctioneer. With that single word, my old life was over.

You see, I was born and raised in a large, commercial breeding facility, a puppy mill. My dam (mom), my sire (dad) and I were breeders our entire lives. Looking at life between the bars of a wire crate was all we knew.

When the auction ended, Ellen cradled me in her arms and consoled my frightened soul. She promised good things to come: someone would care for me, pamper me, love me forever.

Turns out, Ellen was right. Someone does care for me, pamper me, and love me. I live in a foster home with lots of friendly doggies that teach me how to be someone's lifelong companion and part of a family. We play together, and sleep (a lot) on chenille pads during the day and on a big, comfortable bed at night. I like it when my foster mom calls me Miss Mandy or Baby Girl. One of my greatest joys is running free in the yard. I skip, jump straight in the air, frolic with abandon, and run happy circles around the trees.

This is me with my pal Isis the shitzhu

For a long time, I was skittish and panicky. Just about everything scared me. OK, everything scared me. When strangers reached out to pet me, I wasn’t sure what they might do with their hand and I became afraid. I tried to nip or bite those outstretched fingers. Please, be patient, while I learn to depend on the kindness of strangers.

I enjoy brisk walks, and trot proudly beside my foster mom while surveying the neighborhood with my head and tail held high. This is my first Christmas on the “outside” and I love seeing the colorful holiday lights and decorations. Now that the temperatures are colder, I dress up in a hot pink quilted vest or a pink argyle sweater that match my pink collar and leash. I am pretty hot in pink.

I thank with open paws all those involved with my rescue and I am ready to start out a new life in a permanent home. Would you like to share my life, too?

-Love

Mandy


From the humans:
Interested in adopting Mandy? check her profile out in our St. Louis Senior Dog Project website 

Puppy Mill Survivor Week: Radar

This week we are dedicating it to dogs that have survived the terrible life of puppymills and to start off we have Radar here to tell his story:

Hi There! My name is Radar, I wanted to tell you a little bit about me. My foster mom tells me that I have special needs, oh I'm not sick, I don't need medicine or surgery but I need special people to love me. You see I once lived in a dirty, dark place, that my foster mom calls a puppymill, I never had a name for it but it was scary. I had no idea that dogs lived like this, in a house, with soft beds, lots of food and water. You see in my old life I lived in a cage and walked on wires, I also had to go to the bathroom in the same place I slept and ate, it was really gross. I like my life now but I still get scared sometimes, I never knew that there were doors or steps, until I came to live with my foster mom. I had also never been on a walk, so I am unsure about collars and leashes but I'm working on it and my mom tells me I am doing great! I am special needs because I need special people, people that will be patient and loving with me because I am still learning about how dogs are suppose to live. Men really scare me, I think I might learn to get used to them but in my old life the men were not very nice to me. I learn something new everyday,and my foster mom tells me that she is going to help me find a home of my own, a home for a special needs dog like me. So if you have lots of patience and love will you consider adopting a former puppy mill dog of your very own? There are a lot of us out there, still waiting for that special place, we may never be the perfect dog but we will give you everything we possibly can, in hopes you will just love us and care for us. I think I see a stick in the yard that needs chewing, thank you for listening about my life and I hope you will consider giving a former puppy mill dog a safe and happy life full of love.

Woof, Woof,
Radar

Wordless Wednesday: Sunbathing gal

Why is the sun moving? I need my sun!

Dabney is a 7yr old Japanese Chin that loves to cuddle and sunbathe. She is fostered by the St. Louis Senior Dog Project you can see her profile at our Adopt site

Wordless Wednesday: Bongo stands up

What are you looking at? I always walk like this ;)

Bongo is fostered by the St. Louis Senior Dog Project you can help him out by sharing his Petfinder profile on your facebook, blog or twitter.

Benji the Teddy Bear

Hi all my name is Benji and it's my turn as Dog of the Week! I am so excited because the group that is taking care of me now the St. Louis Senior Dog Project just got their new website and I am featured in the banner! That got me all excited and I hope lot's of people look at my picture :)

So as a Dog of the Week I get to tell you a little bit about myself. About 5 months ago I got ditched at the pound by my previous owners because they said they were moving and there was no space for me in their new home. I wasn't really sure at first what was going on but when I realized I was at the pound I got really depressed. The people at the pound thought I may just die of sadness but a nice volunteer there tried to keep my spirits high and to get me out of there and in to a rescue. Then one day a volunteer from St. Louis Senior Dog Project came by the pound and guess who she saw? Me! I won't lie and say I knew exactly what was going on, nope I was kind of weirded out by all the moving and being in a home again, but after a couple of days I realized how lucky I was!

I am doing well in my current foster home and many of the volunteers of the group say I am a big teddy bear and that's probably because I am all fluffy :)

 I love going to the park and for walks but I am not a power pooch BOL (bark out loud) I mean you won't find me running a marathon anytime soon!

Check me out at the park! Yeah its nice to roll on the grass

I hope I find a forever home soon so if you can please share my profile from Petfinder on your facebook or twitter accounts, click here to go to Petfinder.
Thank you for reading my bloggy post
Bye,
Benji

Wordless Wednesday: Meet Lizzy

This is Lizzy, she is a dog in hospice care with the St. Louis Senior Dog Project. She is a 3lb, completely blind and deaf pooch, she is very senior and has suffered several health setbacks that have placed her in hospice care rather than in the adoptable ranks in our organization. She is a precious senior lady that will stay in our care for the rest of her days. Through out October we are doing a raffle to raise funds for all our precious dogs in hospice care please join us as we Trick or Treat for Hospice Pets (click)

Be the Change: Forever Fosters

Hi all, today it's the human behind this blog typing and I can't tell you how excited I am to be participating in the Be the Change blog hop once again. When we first participated our non-profit the St. Louis Senior Dog Project had just started using facebook, twitter and letting the dogs do blog posts and I can't tell you how much I have learned since then and how many wonderful people and anipals I have met in the twitterverse and the blogosphere that are committed to helping animals in need and committed to spreading the word. So many thanks to all and today a special thanks to Be the Change for Animals!

My favorite topic of choice is always fostering, however today I will add something to the mix and write about fostering pets in hospice care. The reason I want to bring attention to these special kind of foster pets is because just recently I started learning more and more about the dogs that are in hospice care in our organization. As a volunteer for a non-profit that focuses on senior dogs I expected to once in a while end up fostering a senior dog with a special need like arthritis or cataracts and taking care of them until they found a home.

However in some situations a foster pet becomes a Forever Foster.
What is a Forever Foster? They are special needs pets with  severe health conditions ranging from liver disease to cancer and due to these conditions they are not considered easily adoptable. Many foster families out there tackle the charge of taking in a pooch or kitty or bunny and more in to their homes knowing they will have them perhaps only for a few months or maybe for a few weeks. And they do it with great love and attention while at the same time taking care of the daily medication, emergency vet visits and more.

While most of the dogs with St. Louis Senior Dog Project are adoptable we have a few dogs in hospice care. Some of our hospice dogs  are dogs that have been with us for a while and have fallen ill and can't fully recover, others join us later on disposed off by their families or breeders after falling ill.  I cannot imagine the amount of love all animals in hospice care receive from their foster families and I am truly thankful for the existence of people willing to help out in this way.No pet should have to cross Over the Rainbow Bridge alone or without experiencing the love of a home. 

Thank you foster parents out there and keep it up!

If you want to learn and help out more please check out the links below, it is only through fostering and donations that organizations can keep up taking care of special needs pets:

-Our Trick or Treat for Hospice Pets, we are raising funds for dogs in hospice care

-Mary's House a sanctuary helping rehab puppymill dogs with several forever fosters in their care.

- Elmsford Animal Shelter a no kill shelter in NY

-Angels Gate a shelter dedicated only to animals needing hospice care

-YOUR LOCAL RESCUE! Even if a local rescue is not 100% dedicated to pets needing hospice care chances are they have a couple of animals in their care that are considered hospice cases please consider fostering or sponsoring a hospice pet!.

-FOSTER!!!! any dog, cat, bunny, ferret or lizard. Open your home and your heart.

Trick or Treat for Hospice Pets!

Hi everyone!
During the remainder of October and beginning of November we will be doing a donation drive to raise funds specifically for the care of our pets in hospice care  and during this time we will be introducing to you all of these wonderful animals. One of these special pets is Suzie a 12 yr old sweet senior dachshund gal with lung disease that receives daily medication, regular X-rays and vet visits.

All our donors are special to us so as a token of our appreciation each donation gives you a chance to win an awesome Gift Basket! use the ChipIn button below to purchase (virtual) raffle tickets. The higher the donation to Trick or Treat for Hospice Pets!, the more chances you have to win. Scroll down for pictures and a description of the Gift Basket contents. Wow!

• $5 donation -- 2 (virtual) raffle tickets
• $10 donation --  5 (virtual) raffle tickets
• $20 donation -- 15 (virtual) raffle tickets
• $50 donation -- 40 (virtual) raffle tickets

The first 15 donors will automatically win one of our new support bracelets!

Please use the ChipIn below to donate 
and enter the raffle .

Once you click you may donate using Paypal or a credit card. 

IMPORTANT: Do not forget to include your email.

What is in this special gift basket?


A great $50 online gift card for the online store Senior Pet Care Products selling great products for seniors and all age dogs and cats! (not pictured)
A beautiful set of wing earrings from Artis Elemental.
Four super cute handmade cards donated by MaggieTKat. A fab cat mug and two cat theme kitched towels from the Cornucopia store donated as well by Maggie Kat. And that's not all!
A dachshund magnet and a bag of Crunchy Woofs (dog treats)
And finally a super useful  Flexi Retractable Leash including two attachments:  4 pocket leash saddle and flash light perfect for those fall and winter evening walks.
For extra pictures of the earrings and leash plus attachments please go to our facebook photo album.

Think that's not enough? We have three additional prizes...


- A bag of Crunchy Woofs (dog treats) , a dog magnet and a cat book separator

-A wonderful handmade necklace from Artis Elemental

-A cool dog salt and pepper

During the rest of the month we will have opportunities for those that have already entered to win extra entries so please stay tuned.




Why do we have dogs in hospice care? 
A large part of our mission is to rescue and find homes for the most amazing senior dogs :). However sometimes some of these senior pooches have special conditions and they become our forever fosters. These pooches stay in our care until they are called Over The Rainbow Bridge and we strive to provide them a loving home and the best possible care and to maintain their comfort during their days with us.




Other rules:
1.Winner must be 18 yrs or older
2. To be considered for entry in the drawing you must provide a valid email address
3. Winners of the four prizes will be selected using Random.org
4. Donations must be provided via the ChipIn Gadget so your entry can be tracked.
5. Final day of entry is November 5th at 11:59pm Central Time
6. Winners will be selected and notified via email on November 6th.

Bell is Over The Rainbow Bridge

Today the dogs are taking a break after a hectic adoption event and so they are letting me, the human, come over and type away for a bit and talk about Bell one of our pooches that sadly went Over The Rainbow Bridge this last week.

Miss Bell was a senior lady pooch that had been in foster care for a little over a year. She came to St. Louis Senior Dog Project in April 2009 picked up as a stray in the Webster Groves, MO area. When she received vet care we were told that Bell had cancer and that she was not going to survive an aggressive treatment because of her age. So her foster mom took her in and prepared to give her a few weeks of good life, however Miss Bell was a fighter and a spunky old gal and she lived 18 months more!

She was never considered adoptable due to her disease but she had a loving foster home with  fur brothers and sisters that kept her company and a wonderful foster mom and dad that gave her lots of attention and most importantly she was kept as comfy as possible in her last moments. Our leader Ellen tells all of us during hard moments that  we can consider a dog very lucky if a human cries at their passing and Bell's passing brought tears to many. We remember her and we remind ourselves of our mission to help senior dogs find new homes however we find ourselves with more and more hospice pets like Bell that can't find a new home because of their illness and we try to give these senior dogs lots of love and comfort in their remaining days whether its a day or two years.

Farewell Bell.

Miss Bell

Wordless Wednesday: T-rex

T-rex is off to dominate the world! He is fostered by the St. Louis Senior Dog Project and is looking for his forever home.

A pug named Puggit!

Hi there, this is Puggit, that's me in the picture down there.

 I am so excited to be participating in the Adopt-a-less-adoptable-pet Week Campaign. I am glad that so many bloggers, facebook and twitter humans are spreading the word about pooches like me! yeap pooches with special needs!
I had a pretty bad family that didn't care about me when I ran away, I got caught by animal control and fortunately the St. Louis Senior Dog Project got a hold of me and I have been with them ever since, waiting patiently for a new home.
So what's my special need? Well my previous family never treated me for chronic dry eye condition and my little bug pug eyes eventually got all messed up :( . Now I get eye drops every day, but that's pretty much it! see you open my eyes, drop stuff in and I am set! I can get around pretty well as I am able to see shadows and shapes. There is nothing holding me back and I am pretty adventurous and playful. Please check out the St. Louis Senior Dog Project page they are hosting a campaign this week with all of us "less-adoptable" pets out there and also check out the organizers of this super cool blog hop at Be the Change for Pets. Thanks!

With much love and rumba,
 Puggit

Adopt-a-less-adoptable-pet Week Blitz Giveaways!

Hi all,
We are hosting a giveaway each day for those that participate in our adoption promotion!
I will be posting soon pictures of some of the gifts we will be having from giftcards to local St. Louis places too handmade bags.

Here are the rules of the giveaway,

If you are participating through Facebook
1. Share the picture profile of the dogs participating in Adopt-a-less-adoptable pet week
2. Leave a comment ON the particular picture you have shared letting us know that you have shared it
3. You can only enter once per featured dog but some days there will be multiple dogs so you may enter the giveaway more than once.
4. Of course you are welcome to share our pooches info more than once in one day!

If you are participating through Twitter
1. Retweet the tweets containing the info about the featured dogs
2.You can only enter once per featured dog but some days there will be multiple dogs so you may enter the giveaway more than once.
3. Of course you are welcome to share our pooches info more than once in one day!

Helping out one click, one tweet or one blog post at a time part 1

We are following the lead of the cool blog Two Little Cavaliers and writing about the Pedigree Adoption Drive.
Pedigree has pledged to donate 1 bowl of dog food for every person that goes to their facebook page and "Likes" them. Yeap its as easy as that.  Go ahead give the logo a click!

More and more those of us that are obsessed with twitter, blogs, facebook and every other social media outlet have a way to help out with just one click :)

If you want to do more than that please head over to our Petfinder page and sponsor one of our dogs. Please join us in spreading the word about senior dogs at our Facebook page and Twitter, or even better if you live in the St. Louis area donate some baked goods for our next bake sale!

Don't think you can make a difference? Our group started our facebook page and tweeting just a few months ago. During the last two months efforts by those that have joined us have helped us spread the word about bake sales, adoption events and even a lost foster dog that was just found today.
So don't think you can't make a difference!

One click counts today and everyday

In addition if you are a blogger join Two Little Cavaliers and many others on a special blog hop, please head over to them to get all the info!

Natsumi tells all

Hi there - my name is Natsumi.    Funny name, huh?   My human foster brother decided I should be given a Japanese name from one of his favorite Japanese cartoon shows.   (Don't tell him I called it a cartoon, though, he insists it should be called anime!)     He told me it means beautiful summer in Japanese and that they think I'm so pretty they wanted me to have a pretty name.

Hanging out at foster home

 
I had a very unhappy beginning of my life and I don't like to talk about it much, which makes it hard for my foster family because they don't know really what happened to me.     One thing they do know is that I ended up in a place called The St. Charles Animal Shelter and the person who brought me asked that I be PTS the next day.    What does PTS mean??       Maybe it means Person To Smooch**  because the next day this lady came and drove me back to her home and was really nice to me.    I was so scared when she came and got me because I was in a confusing place with people I didn't know.    I don't see very well and I can get a little intimdated when I don't understand what's going on.    The nice lady at the shelter opened my cage door and I ran out.     Between the two of them, though, they were able to pick me up.    I rode in the car with the new lady and she said very nice things to me and helped me calm down during the drive.
 
I really like this new home.  I have lots of other dogs to play with and a warm bed wherever I want.   My foster family tells me I'm silly because I play with things that are a little different than their other dogs.   I love empty dog food cans, empty boxes and kleenexes.   My foster Mom chcuckles because every morning I perform a musical number by clanking my different cans together.
 
Right after I came to this place, I went to a special dog doctor to look at my eyes.   I can't see out of one eye at all and they told my foster Mom I can see light/dark/shadows from my other eye.    To help me keep that little bit of sight, she puts one eye drop in my eye two times every day.    She tells me all the time what a good girl I am when she needs to give me my eye drop.     I will need to have these eye drops in my eye for the rest of my life.    My foster Mom is so proud of me because it took me just a few days before I knew my surroundings and quit bumping into things.    She said she has to be careful not to move her furniture around because it will confuse me again.
 
My favorite thing in the world is to have my fur stroked.    I'll stand on my hind two feet and my foster human Mom or Brother will pick me up to pet me.   My foster human brother says that I melt into them.   I don't want to move an inch because it feels so good to have my belly or ears or chin or head .... oh heck I love being rubbed anywhere!
 

Check me out all decked out in japanese outfit, I wore this to #nipclub

My foster Mom said she wants me to go into a quiet house because I use my ears and nose so much.    Sometimes when other little kids are around, I get extra confused because it's so loud.    I would really love to be with someone that doesn't have any stairs and will be patient with taking me in and outside to go to the bathroom.    
 
 
**Editors Note - PTS means "put to sleep"

Winners of our Second Giveaway!

Hi all, 

I am Natsumi and I just started as Dog of the Week! Hooray!

And today I am here to announce the winners of our Second Giveaway!

The winner of our Homemade Goodie Basket filled with yummy dog treats from Boomer's Biscuits is:

TKHULMANN entering in our blog, please send me an email to leyvaguerrero.1@gmail.com so we can get your address and send you your gift! :)

And the winner of our Dinner for Two from Latitude 26 TexMex is:

@deezegirl entering from twitter, and please send me a DM with your info so I can send you your gift card!

Thanks to all those that participated! hooray!

-Natsumi

What happens at #nipclub stays at #nipclub :)

Hi all, Blue here again blogging! I got some pretty cool news today that I wanted to share with you all :)  today the awesome anipals from #nipclub have decided to make the St. Louis Senior Dog Project their new charity!

I came upon these cool anipals on a stormy night, it was dark, I didn't know where to go... Ok I am totally making that up! Just wanted to give it a dramatic effect LOL. Anyway seriously I found this group last week and I joined them for their Anipal Drag Pawty! Check out my pic, I went as a bunny, hopped all the way to the #nipclub bar and drank a Hanks Bacon Beer, yummy! After chatting a couple of cool cats from St. Louis asked their human to contact one of our humans to ask her if the St. Louis Senior Dog Project could be the next #nipclub Charity! Today that became official and let me tell you all anipals out there all my senior dog friends (and not so senior too) are thankful and we send you woofs and licks, well no licks for the cats just a little pat ;) 

If you want to find out more about the #nipclub parties and check out their post about us click here

Blue rockin' her bunny outfit

Oh and just a reminder, please check out our giveaway! :)

Our Second Giveaway: Where in St. Louis is Blue?

Hi and welcome to our Second Giveaway!

We have two amazing giveaway packs:

1. Homemade Goodie Basket: Our sponsor  Boomer's Biscuits a homemade dog biscuit company in St. Louis has donated some amazing treats for your pooch!  Win an awesome box containing carob  chip cookies and gingerbread houses, a delicious treat for your furry family members! In addition you will receive a handmade scarf made and donated by one of our foster parents. :) Nice!

2. Out dining in St. Louis: Our sponsor Latitude 26 TexMex restaurant in St. Louis has donated a dinner for two! enjoy great food  at this Dogtown restaurant, in addition you will enjoy a handmade scarf donated by one of our foster parents :)

Dinner for you or treats for your pet, either way our giveaway gifts are great!

So how can you win one of these two amazing prizes?

First, if you haven't already please head over to Facebook OR  Twitter and join us! We love having new friends and spreading the word about adoption of senior animals!

Second, guess ----> Where in St. Louis is Blue?

So... meet Blue, your Giveaway Host!

Hello my name is Blue, I am a senior beagle looking for a home and I am super excited to help out with the second giveaway! so here are your clues,

• This monument can be found on the banks of the Mississipi 

• It commemorates westward expansion

• It is in the city of St. Louis, which was once called the Gateway to the West

• AND I am standing by it in the picture!

Can you guess the monument?

Post your answer on the blog comments or tweet us @STLSeniorDog

When you leave your answer please let us know where you are from! 

Please don't post Anonymous! If you are not a member of google or the other supported ID's please leave your first name and last name initial in your comment!

Please no double entries! Thank you :)

Additional rules:

1. This giveaway will begin on August 25 and end in September 5.

2. Due to postage we can only take submissions from people living in the USA, sorry :(

3. On September 5 at 5pm all entries will be taken and two winners will be selected at random. 

4. The first selected name will win our "Homemade Goodie Basket" prize.

5. The second selected person will win the: "Out dining in St. Louis" prize.  However due to the location of the restaurant the winner of the Latitude 26 dinner for two must reside in or near the city of St. Louis (such as St. Charles, Belleville etc). If the second selected person cannot  claim the "Out dining in St. Louis" package we will continue to draw names at random until a person that may claim the prize is found. However the second selected person is still a winner! and will receive a selection of homemade treats for their pets and a handmade scarf.
6. Our drawing will be made using Random.org

Wordless Wednesday: Saburo

Saburo is fostered by the St. Louis Senior Dog Project more info on him on Petfinder

Blue is our new Dog of the Week

Hi everyone!

My name is Blue and I am senior beagle being fostered by the St. Louis Senior Dog Project. I came to this group after my owner passed away and no one in their family could take care of me. It's a sad story that repeats itself more often than you think (Remember Thelma and Louise?), but at this moment I have a great foster mom and a happy place to stay while I wait patiently for a new home of my own.

I am so excited to be the featured Dog of the Week and even more excited to have been asked to host our Second Giveaway!! I know we have been a bit secretive Homer and I about what it's going to be, but don't worry just hold on for a couple of more days. We are also going to be trying a new cool website named Giveaway Scout to help us reach more people out there that may be interested in participating in our giveaway, thanks to Giveaway Scout for sending us an invite to join them!

See you all soon,

Blue

The winners of our First Giveaway!

In the last few days we have received wonderful pictures from the two winners of our giveaway! Miss Rosie hosted that first giveaway and we are thankful that she took time off her daily doggie life to help us out :)

Our prizes included a St. Louis Senior Dog T-shirt, a microfiber towel and handmade dog biscuits!

Here are some of the pictures we received from our first winner,

One of the winning pooches inspecting the treats and microfiber towel (in the back)! Yummy!

Waiting patiently for their treats!

Thanks for telling your humans to participate guys!

Our second winner was Peggy Frezon from Peggy's Pet Place  (cool blog :) ) and her dog Kelly,

Kelly sitting by her mom's new t-shirt and her treats!

Thank you to all those that participated, it was our first ever twitter and facebook giveaway so we were all kind of nervous but things worked out great!

Finally Homer wants to say a few words of farewell,

Well, it's time for me to say goodbye, my week as Dog of the Week has ended :( but fear not I am still around and may pop back to tell you if I get adopted! If you haven't yet take a look at my cool profile on Petfinder and tweet me or share me on facebook!

Plus I come with free vet care if adopted by a senior citizen! how cool is that!

Finally, later today Blue the Beagle will begin her run as Dog of the Week, she is one super sweet lady, so what's up with all the fuss about our SECOND GIVEAWAY???? Well we have two awesome sponsors for this one, plus some of our own foster parents getting crafty. All I can tell you is that someone will go home winning a nice dinner and some cool handmade items. If you haven't friended us on facebook or twitter go soon, pretty please you don't want to miss out on a cool opportunity.

Woof woof, farewell for now,

Homer