Homer

Hi all!It's me Homer again,

I hope you are ready for International Homeless Animals Day on Saturday 21st of August. 
What can you do?????

1.   Make a small donation to your local rescue, don't know what rescues are around you? Go online to Petfinder and search for  a shelter near you! 
If you live in the St. Louis area please consider stopping by the Kirkwood Petco and buying goodies at our BAKE SALE! We will be INSIDE the Petco and not outside, so come look for us!

2.   If you are strapped for cash,  consider donating a tweet! yes! it's as simple as that, for example go to my wonderful Petfinder profile (click it! go for it!) once you go there you will see a twitter and facebook icon. Click either one of them and send my profile in to the twitterverse! or facebookverse! (did I say that right?).

3. If what you don't have is much time, and believe me I totally understand I am one busy dog, then how about sponsoring one of  the dogs of St. Louis Senior Dog Project or of a local rescue, again just go to Petfinder!


Now how easy was that? Don't you feel awesome for helping out an animal in need? I sure would feel awesome because you are helping dogs like myself! woof woof!

Thank you and hope to see you Saturday at our Bake Sale!
-Homer

Homer talks about International Homeless Animals Day

Hi all!
My name is Homer and I am this weeks Dog of the Week!

I would like to talk to you today about International Homeless Animal Day.
This day began to be celebrated by the International Society for Animal Rights (ISAR) in 1992 with the aim of reaching out and spreading the word on pet overpopulation and the tragedy that is pet homelessness.
I was once homeless, I was picked up as a stray by a rural shelter, I don't remember how many days I was out on the road, and really my only concern was finding a safe spot for the night and some food to survive. I wasn't in a horrible shape when I got picked up by the shelter but I have seen other fosters come in to the St. Louis Senior Dog Project in dire conditions after spending months on the road.
Pet homelessness can be ended by spreading the word on spay/neuter programs, getting information on training and living with pets and by supporting your local rescue groups by adopting from them or sponsoring a rescue dog,cat, lizard, hamster, anyway you get the point :) woof woof

One of our fellow bloggers Bocci Beefs is requesting ideas on how you can help out your local rescue group this coming Saturday, stop by his blog and give your ideas.

I suggested a monetary donation or gift cards for online pet pharmacies or pet shops. If you have a local rescue that focuses on senior animals help them out by sending them a small donation or a gift card. Veterinary care for neglected senior animals can go through the roof pretty fast, specially those animals that have suffered years of neglect. But really any kind of donation will be appreciated by the group you choose :)
Some of our twitter pals focusing on senior pets are:
Muttville
Oldies Club (UK)

If you live in the St. Louis area please consider the awesome group fostering me the St. Louis Senior Dog Project and the awesome local spay/neuter group OpSpot

And finally there is an online candle vigil going on for homeless pets, stop by and light a candle for the homeless pets that are still out there, stop by the Light a Candle website and when asked for group mention ISRA (International Society for Animal Rights)

Thank you for reading,
Homer

We have an Award and it's time to share!

We got an award from our new friend "I still want more puppies" ! Our senior dogs and not so senior dogs are excited! So lots of licks and woofs for "I still want more puppies"!

This award comes with some conditions :)

1) Thank the person who gave you the award: BIG BIG THANK YOU!!!!!

2) Share 7 things about yourself

• I love to be online on facebook and twitter :) so I volunteered myself to be the twitterer for the St. Louis Senior Dog Project and that is how @STLSeniorDog came about
• And this blog came about because my initial idea was to let our selected Dogs of the Week tweet, now the dogs didn't like that as much as writing about themselves so I had to put up a blog for them :)
• I have two rescue dogs with my boyfriend, their names are Moxie and Liam, you can find us as part of the R.O.A.R squad!And ProjectDog!
• I also foster for the St. Louis Senior Dog Project, we are on our 9th foster right now, Miss Rosie
• Ok I think I am going to stop at 6, let me tell you that I am new at the whole social media thing but that I am loving it! I love the online community of pet rescue/ pet lovers/ pet everything!

Now the most awesome part of this award:

3) Pass this award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and you think are fantastic

Ok here it goes!

Grouchy Puppy - love the blog, love the motto "give fearlessly. influence positively."

Project Dog - What I love of Kira's project is that she is photographing not only purebreds but rescue dogs as well! How cool is that!

Fido and Wino - Love the blogs and of course the cool idea of the R.O.A.R. squad!

Be the Change for Animals - A great new cause to help out each week by giving a  #voluntweet (yes i invented that hashtag) or online

24 paws of love Love the photo stories of the dog packs

Peggy's Pet Place Monday Pet Roundups and more

Heartprints Pets  Twitter and blogger friend thanks for the many RTs!
TPPctv  woofy woo!

Traveling pets:

Road Dog Tales 

Go Pet Friendly

Now some blogs from other members of St. Louis Senior Dog Project  :)

The St.Louis Senior Dog Project Blog Our fearless leader Ellen talks about rescue, awesome stories

My life gone to the dogs - Becky is a foster for St. Louis Senior Dog Project AND she is the twitterer of @LastChanceMO

Who rescued whom? - Kim is one more foster of St. Louis Senior Dog Project! Go Foster Parents!

Dogrush Ranch Kati is a foster and so much more, read about her farm!

4) Contact the bloggers and let them know they where picked!

The Dogs of Divorce -- Zippy's story

Hi all, 

My name is Zippy and I am the Dog of the Week. 

I want to share with you all a bit about myself.

So how did I end up with St. Louis Senior Dog Project?

I was rescued as a stray by St. Charles County, MO Animal Control and was taken too the pound. I stayed there for a couple of days until they found my owners. The Animal Control officers thought my previous owners would be relieved to find me, well.....  that was not the case, my owners had actually been the ones that had dumped me out on the road :( . At 10 yrs old I found myself without a home. 

The reason they got rid of me was because they were getting a divorce. 

There are situations and you may read up on this all over the web where the dog/cat/mouse etc is cause of a struggle between owners and there are custody hearings and negotiations about visitation. I consider those animals lucky because at least someone still cares enough to fight for them, I on the other hand got the boot as soon as they both realized neither one of them cared enough about me to keep me. This actually happens a lot more than you realize. Just three months ago another dog of divorce named Jetta was rescued by St. Louis Senior Dog Project,  her owners dumped her at animal control as well, neither one of them wanted her. Jetta was fostered for a few months and finally got her happy ending: she found a new family that loves her :)

Divorce is awful, for the couple, for the kids and for the pets. I just wish people thought more about how we pets are not an object to be gotten rid of, we are alive, we have needs, we want a nice cuddle, if you have to undergo the pain of a divorce please take your pet in to account in your future plans. Don't dump your pet on the road, get information of options for your pet.  If you are struggling through a bad divorce find a safe place for your pets, with a relative or at a kennel, somewhere where they can stay until you are ready to take care of them again. I was a pet for 10 yrs or more and suddenly I found myself struggling in the streets, please don't do that to your pet. I beg you.

A final thought: What would happen if people could dump their kids in an orphanage/foster care when they got divorced the same way they dump animals? How many would actually do it?

Thank you for reading,

Zippy

Wordless Wednesday

Zippy an awesome senior dog looking for a home.

Take me out to the ball game

Hi all! My name is Zippy! and i am one cool photogenic senior dog! I am an 11 year old dachshund/ jack russel mix.

 

 Just last weekend I went with a bunch of other foster dogs to a RiverCity Rascals baseball game! It was awesome, there are certain days during the season when us pooches are allowed to go to the game and hang out with our parents (or foster parents) and meet other pooches :) That day Velma a previous St. Louis Senior Dog foster came in with her family, she is one lucky lady. Check out these pictures from the game----

Velma (on the left) a previous foster and Saburo a current foster

Me greeting a human at the game

mmmmmm peanuts!

Doxie invasion at the baseball game!

Thanks for checking out our pics,
Bye,
Zippy

Husky Friday!

Wow! Husky invasion at St. Louis Senior Dog Project!
Three wonderful beautiful Husky / Husky mix girls looking for a home

JACQUELINE

RUBY

SUGAR BEAR

Miss Rosie's story

Hi everyone! My name is Rosie, but my foster mom likes calling me Miss Rosie since she thinks I am very proper lady dog!

Miss Rosie at a camping trip

Well I am organizing a giveaway, that hopefully you all have had a chance to take a look in to and if not head over to read all about it! It's going to go on for one more week so you still have plenty of time!

So anyway back to what I really wanted to tell you about today, and that is my story.

How did I end up being fostered by St. Louis Senior Dog Project? Well it turns out my so called family had me for years and years tied up in their yard. I don't think they really cared much about me or my health and I had litter after litter of puppies. I get sad sometimes thinking about what happened to them and I so hope they found a better life than the one I had.

St. Louis Senior Dog Project rescued me from a bad situation, gave me a second chance and let me tell you I am such a happy dog now! I have discovered I  absolutely love going on walks to the park and love snuggling with my foster brothers.

Miss Rosie with her foster brother Moxie

However I sometimes have flash backs to my previous life, so I get scared when something makes a loud noise, and I go and hide under my foster mom's desk. She kindly reaches under and shows me everything is ok, I think I have made a lot of progress with dealing with the day to day noises in a household. One thing I am still working on is my awareness of the space around me, i think it is an effect from being outside and tied up all those years that it's hard for me to maneuver around the house sometimes. I am particularly not keen of walking thru doorways, my foster parents will usually coax me and gently guide me showing me that it's ok to walk thru, that nothing bad is going to happen to me if I go outside. So that is one more thing we are working on right now!

Well I really don't want to write a super long post, I know all the other Dogs of the Week say the same thing and we all end up writing a loooong looong story, it's only because we like to share it with you all out there, perhaps my new family is reading this right now!

Ok well it's time for a walk so I best get on my way,

Thanks for reading,

Miss Rosie

Miss Rosie's great giveaway!!

Hi! My name is Rosie

and I am this week's Dog of the Week! I will come back and tell you a bit more about myself but first let's get started with our FIRST EVER Twitter and Facebook giveaway!!!

We are hoping that all our followers participate and that they help us spread the news!
We are giving away a small dog microfiber pink towel or a St. Louis Senior Dog Project t-shirt for you  and treats from a local bakery for your pooch or kitty to the lucky winners!!!

So what do you need to do to participate????????
First step: View Rosie's video
Second step: Answer the question:  How many dogs are in the video?
Third step: Follow us on twitter or Like us facebook (side bar links)  and tweet us or post in the comments section of the blog your answer!!!
More info:
Our giveaway ends on August 6th. 
All entries guessing the number of dogs in the video correctly will be entered in a drawing, the selected winners will win the microfiber towel or t-shirt and treats for their pooch or kitty. Sorry but due to postage fees etc only submit your entry if you live in the USA.

Thank you for participating and help us spread the word about our contest!

Wordless Wednesday : Winken (black chihuahua mix) taking a nap with the rest of the foster crowd

I AM a SHY DOG

I, Winken, St. Louis Senior Dog Project foster dog, am a shy dog. .

There I said it, I am a shy dog and there is nothing wrong with that! Let me tell you a bit more about myself:

After I was rescued from a puppy miller auction I was happy but had a hard time showing it to my foster mom. I was not yet one year old but the experiences I lived at the puppy mill had already affected me. I was never held or socialized and I lived in a gloomy environment, those factors contributed to making me a shy dog. It was hard for me in the beginning to trust humans, little by little I got more comfortable with my foster mom and let me tell you she has been so patient and loving with me, she even decided to let me go for a little bit to spend time at other foster homes so I could learn to trust other humans besides her. And guess what? I was able to grow accustomed to other houses and the humans living there :) So you can say I have come a looooooong way.

But... to tell you the truth I still get shy sometimes, specially in environments with lots of people, like adoption events. I get shy and then you know what happens? I get overlooked. I become one of those dogs that just doesn't show well, you know the kind, the dog that you see at the shelter cowering in the corner, the dog that is at the adoption event in a crate and barks constantly or just curls up and lays there. It is rough for some dogs to deal with all the hustle and bustle of an adoption event so you may wonder why I go, and the reason is because it's the best place for me to meet my new family!

I do have some advice for you all humans out there, next time you stop by a shelter or by a rescue adoption event and you see a dog that doesn't seem to be quite in their element, please take the time to talk to their foster parents. They are in constant contact with the dog and they have likely struggled alongside with the dog to grow accustomed to being petted and held, and even better they have observed the dog in a home environment and are likely to know a lot more about the dogs character. Foster parents are the best resource you have to find out about a potential new family member, if that is not available a lot of the local shelters feature info pages on the cages of the dogs at their facilities. Take the time to review them and read the notes the volunteers have written about your potential new dog.

Information, information, information! you can never have enough of that when considering to adopt a dog, but it is particularly important when considering to adopt a shy or fearful dog.

Give a shy dog a chance to get to know you and you will see them blossom.

Thank you for reading and catch up with you later!

-Winken


Please check out Winken and our other dogs for adoption at our website.

Winken is our Dog of the Week for July 16-23

Hi everyone!

Winken here,  Thelma and Louise never got back to posting again they got busy getting ready for our BIG adoption event this weekend. They did however send my foster mom an email letting us know that my turn as the official Dog of the Week has started! I am super excited! 

If you haven't read my story you can go back a couple of blogs and read Dogs of the Week Blog the Change. If you are in a rush that's ok, you can always come back and visit our blog later :)

Well it is kind of late and I should be getting some sleep but I did want to share with all of you some info on our BIG adoption event going on this week. The St. Louis Senior Dog Project is holding an adoption event not only Saturday but Sunday as well! *foster mom walks in the room and talks to Winken* Oh yeah, my foster mom Michel just reminded me to tell you guys the spot where we are going to be at: From 11am to 3pm come visit us at the Kirkwood Petco, Kirkwood, MO. 

Now, don't think that because you are not looking for a pet you shouldn't stop by! Just come and show us dogs some love, give us a hug or a pet, we always enjoy that. And while you are there maybe you can come and talk to some of the humans of the group and find out a bit more of what they do. 

Finally if you are not in the St. Louis area I super super encourage you too still go out and check out your local humane society and shelter and give those dogs/cats/rabbits etc some love, they will appreciate it :)

Good night!

-Winken

Thelma and Louise's Last Day

Hi everyone this is Thelma writing, Louise is right here by my side. This is our last day as Dogs of the Week, we are stepping down after a cool week of tweeting and blogging about our days, please don't be sad though we may come back in a few weeks to give you a bit of an update or you may hear about our adoption :) We hope you keep coming back to Dogs of the Week and that you follow the other dogs @STLSeniorDog and even better we hope you spread the word about us and other dogs being fostered by St. Louis Senior Dog Project.

We might post again today, depends on our schedule, because you know we have so many things to do! We gotta watch The Young and the Restless and we have to take our power naps so that we are refreshed and ready for a Friday night!

Ok ok one last thing, sorry this is Louise typing because Thelma is so forgetful! She forgot to remind everyone to head over to Dogs of the Week Blog the Change if you haven't done so already.  Winken the next Dog of the Week shares his story in it and it was our Blog entry for Blog the Change July 15.

Well seems that is all for now woof woof!

-Thelma and Louise

Dogs of the Week Blog the Change

Hi everyone, this is Winken here writing, I am going to be the next  Featured Dog of the Week from the St. Louis Senior Dog Project on @STLSeniorDog The doxie girls, Thelma and Louise asked me to write the Blog the Change post for our cause.

Our cause is the St. Louis Senior Dog Project, the three of us and about 70 more dogs are currently being fostered in a home just like yours, in a home were there are probably already way to many dogs but there is always room to squeeze one more in :).

I was rescued in August 2009, picked up at a auction from a puppymiller closing his kennel. When you hear about puppy mills closing I think most people are worried about the poor little puppies in cages and forget about those older dogs that made the puppies, those older dogs that have spent their entire lives in cages. Their fate is pretty grim when a kennel closes down, you buy a puppy for 500 dollars and you find the older 7 year old dog being sold for 30 dollars at an auction. That's it, that is what a dog is worth to people that constantly bred them and never held them, 30 bucks. On the day of the auction people bid faster and higher for the puppies, and only a few groups, St. Louis Senior Dog Project among them, didn't turn their backs on the older dogs and on those not quite old but still in need of a home like me. My current foster mom Michel was there that day and I have been with her ever sense. I was in pretty bad shape when she first got me, I couldn't handle being picked up and I would loose control of my bowels if someone made the motion to touch me. I won't elaborate too much as too why I came to be this way, I think while I was at the puppy mill I lost myself, I know what you are thinking, that's pretty deep and I am only a dog, but every creature has its energy and mine was gone, I didn't know how to be a true dog.

My cause is the St. Louis Senior Dog Project because I have found myself once more, with love and patience and even more love. I have a second chance and its because of all their efforts. I am still looking for a forever home and I hope to find it soon because I am ready to start my real life.

Thank you for reading and if you want to see me or other dogs up for adoption please go to www.olderbetter.petfinder.com and if you want to check out our leader Ellen's super cool blog go to

www.stlseniordog.typepad.com

Thelma and Louise's Wednesday Post: Dachshund Day

It's Dachshund Day, its Dachshund Day! what? you didn't know about Dachshund Day? Ok fine we made it up, but really don't dachshunds deserve their own day? Hey Thelma went to the other computer and found out that there is a Dachshund Day in NYC!!

We doxies sure deserve a day to be celebrated, we are after all amazing dogs, wonderful companions, versatile animals. We can go from lap dog to earth dog, tiny to biggie, dapple to... well other kinds of dapple ;)

We are happy being dachshunds, even with our tiny legs, don't let the legs fool you, if you have a treat for us we will run to you as fast as a greyhound and jump as high as a lab! We were badger hunters at one point and this means we were bred to be very persistent dogs and to never back down. Now you can enjoy these attributes by participating in your local EarthDog Club's activities, its a great way to have fun with your doxie.


We think we gave you good points as to why you SHOULD ADOPT A DACHSHUND RIGHT NOW. *chanting hypnotically* adopt a dachshund, adopt a dachshund, adopt a dachshund *clap of paws*

Ok then, off you go, back to school or work, or volunteering a tweet to senior dogs  ;)
Thanks for reading and check us out at http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/15316633?rvp=1
-Thelma and Louise

Dogs of the Week is joining Blog the Change

Thelma, Louise and all future Dogs of the Week from the St. Louis Senior Dog Project would like to ask everyone visiting us to be part of Be the Change and Blog the Change

Thelma and Louise's Tuesday Post

Hi! It's the two of us writing today, it's a lot easier when you have two dachshunds typing!

We are so excited with all the dog and cat adoption related action  going on today on Twitter. 

Why is there so much action today? Well today it's #TweetAPetTuesday from @Petfinder! Its Petfinder's way of promoting pets via Twitter and many people take their time to volunteer a tweet and spread the word about dogs and cats looking for a home. So many thanks to Petfinder for their website and twitter promotion efforts! If you want to help out go to www.petfinder.com choose any dog or cat, click on the Twitter icon on their profile and its done! You have volunteered a tweet!

Well we will catch up with everyone later, its time for The Young and the Restless, we never miss an episode :), in the meantime maybe you can follow St. Louis Senior Dog Project on twitter @STLSeniorDog.

-Thelma and Louise...........................................

Thelma and Louise: Our story continued

Hi! This is Thelma! My sister is having a nap while we wait for our foster mom to come home. Hope you all read the first part of our story, if not just go back one post :)

So where were we? I remember now, our previous owner sadly had to give us up due to illness and age. However no one in her family decided to step up and take care of us. Now there are some details that Louise wouldn't tell me all about (she is older by a few minutes so she thinks she is much wiser than me) but I believe that our owner's family had decided to have us put to sleep. *gasp* :( 

For a while Louise and I were really stressed out, not knowing what was going to happen to us, but then St. Louis Senior Dog Project heard about our situation and came and took us in, and just like that we had a SECOND CHANCE. 

 And here we are a couple of months later, not to say the least about our foster family we love them, but we would love a family of our own, someone to take us places and call us their pets. We have been waiting calmly, well Louise has, because let's face it some days I get anxious. I wonder if someone will want two older dogs, I keep my hopes up because at St. Louis Senior Dog Project they are all about keeping your spirits high and thinking that everyone deserves a second chance and most importantly that there are humans (like you reading right now) that are willing to give dogs like us a SECOND CHANCE.

Thanks for reading,

-Thelma (and Louise taking a nap)

Thelma and Louise's first Blog post

Hi everyone! 

We are Thelma and Louise, two amazing dachshund sisters! We got to twitter and now we get to blog! :) . 

We want to tell you all first a bit about how we landed on St. Louis Senior Dog Project. A lot of the times people think that dogs end up with a rescue because they are problem dogs, it gets even worse with senior dogs because people think that by adopting a senior dog you are getting a sickly dog and you are just paying for vet bills that someone else didn't want to pay.

Well we are here to tell our story, to take away those common misconceptions! We were adopted together by a wonderful woman who was a senior citizen. Our owner's health began to deteriorate and she became less and less able to take care of us financially and physically :( She loved us dearly and we loved her dearly but her family asked her to let us go.

So as you can see there was nothing wrong with us, not even with our owner, but things happen and while we brought her much happiness she was too ill to take care of us. Okay so that takes care of the first misconception about rescue dogs, a little bit more on our story later, we are after all dachshunds so our short legs get tired with all this typing.

Bye

-Thelma and Louise

Hello!

Hi! This is one of the few posts I will directly be making, I really wanted to explain what is going to go on from now on in this blog.


I volunteer for the St. Louis Senior Dog Project my name is Elisa and I am a graduate student. The St. Louis Senior Dog Project focuses on rescuing dogs from a variety of situations ranging from animal control to rural humane societies, we mainly rescue older dogs that desperately need a second chance but we have dogs of ages from a few months up to their senior years :). If you are interested on adopting go to www.olderbetter.petfinder.org.

So what brings me to this blog? I began my volunteering outpost on Twitter last week and I am the proud official twitterer for this awesome rescue group! Well one of the things I wanted to start was the Dog of the Week, and I wanted to give the dogs a chance to tell their story and write about what they do on a day to day basis. Letting the dogs do this on twitter is getting a little hard, telling their stories in 140 characters is difficult because some of them have these amazing stories to share. The dogs will still be showing up on Twitter but this blog will be for them to share their day to day activities, every week a new dog will come up and tell us a bit about themselves.



If you want to share our Dogs of the Week we appreciate it and even more if you follow us on twitter @STLSeniorDog. Bear with me as this is my first blog! And finally check out our leader's blog at http://stlseniordogproject.typepad.com/ she talks about dog rescue, new dogs, adopted dogs etc.

Thank you for reading and stoping by!