Thank you for a Great Home!

A question often asked of animal rescuers and foster homes is "how can you give up a dog, cat, bird, etc. when she has been part of your family/rescue for X long?"  The photo accompanying this blog tells one tale of a female Beagle needing a home.  She came to Silverwalk and was very loved but now, is loved even more in her own home.  THIS is why we can hand off our dogs, cats, birds, etc. to someone else - we often get very good feedback and know a real home is always better than rescue.  This montage of Cindy Lou Who in her new home and garden says we all did good - thank you so much for sending it, Jackie!  Now, someone else is here at Silverwalk Sanctuary in Cindy Lou's place.....which would not have happened without her adoption.  Jackie, Paul and Cindy, you ROCK!

Snoozin' on a Hot Afternoon

Jedi TreeWalker 

Justus and Danny Quinn

Seymour 

I try to sleep on

Jed, Lady Bug, Annie (up top)

Todd and Dino

Saturdays most of the day to prep for work.  With the heat index close to 110, I had lots of company in the house after having been outside for most of the morning.  The snoring acts as a "white noise."

Check our adoptable dogs - click the logo

Silverwalk recently became part of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary, Inc. in Jackson, MO, a licensed, 501c3 tax exempt sanctuary mostly for cats with some dogs and now Silverwalk Hounds. Silverwalk remains in Cape Girardeau County, MO, specializing in Beagles, other hounds and senior dogs. There are always dogs needing adoption and sponsorship. Please see Silverwalk Hounds for more information about Silverwalk and Safe Harbor, our dogs and "adorable adoptable" cats needing very good homes.

My First Love - from Birth!

I never rode at this level - never came close but for me, dogs feed my spirit; horses feed my soul.  Get psyched and go do it! show that dog, rescue that pup, ride that horse, study and ace that class - throw your heart first and then follow with everything you've got!

Check our adoptable dogs - click the logo

Silverwalk recently became part of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary, Inc. in Jackson, MO, a licensed, 501c3 tax exempt sanctuary mostly for cats with some dogs and now Silverwalk Hounds. Silverwalk remains in Cape Girardeau County, MO, specializing in Beagles, other hounds and senior dogs. There are always dogs needing adoption and sponsorship. Please see Silverwalk Hounds for more information about Silverwalk and Safe Harbor, our dogs and "adorable adoptable" cats needing very good homes.

Crosspost - Let's find Gracie a Home!

Gracie - currently in very temporary foster home

 Gracie is a dog sent to me by an email friend and rescue facilitator.  She is in a very temporary foster home needing one of her own.  She is in Louisville, KY.  Gracie is a Treeing Walker Coonhound/Foxhound.   Please contact the link below her description.  Silverwalk has no more room, else we would jump for her :(. 

"She is a hound  and  by the vet exam she is approximately 3 years old. We need to give her to a new home. We did have her checked for micro chip and she does not have one, but we did get all of her shots. She is very loving and needs someplace with room to run. Please help us help her find a home. Thanks"

rlthom01@louisville.edu

Check our adoptable dogs - click the logo

Silverwalk recently became part of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary, Inc. in Jackson, MO, a licensed, 501c3 tax exempt sanctuary mostly for cats with some dogs and now Silverwalk Hounds. Silverwalk remains in Cape Girardeau County, MO, specializing in Beagles, other hounds and senior dogs. There are always dogs needing adoption and sponsorship. Please see Silverwalk Hounds for more information about Silverwalk and Safe Harbor, our dogs and "adorable adoptable" cats needing very good homes.

Monday Ramblings

Well, today, Monday, went better than expected though I did NOT make it to my afternoon meeting - we canceled that.  I finally really woke up about 7:30 PM after being up late for my morning appt.  Some days, I am so bushed, I go straight home - others, I go to a  my local fav eatery, have breakfast, nap with my feet up in a booth, then go home.

With the warm weather and my back yard gate fixed, I can leave dogs outside w/o worry of them being carted off by nefarious persons.  It is a concern as Danny Quinn, my blue eyed double dapple tweenie Dachshund, was once stolen, then reported to me as having been hit by an SUV.  After my vet told me to call these people back to let them know I cremate my dogs and need his body "we did not leave him at the side of the road as we didn't want him to be crushed any further, " he showed up at my vet's after "being found on Rt. W."  He was totally not himself for like 5 days.  So, yes, I worry and trust God with my outside dogs when I am not home. 

Dog safety is another reason I don't list my home address on the Silverwalk website.   I want to know when you are coming to see dogs.  I had one guy tell me a long time ago he had stopped by to look at them when I was gone.  He was on the up and up but man, made me nervous which is when I took my physical address off the site.  Could you find me if you really wanted to?  Sure.  But.....knowing my physical address and finding me sometimes are not equal :). 

Book recommendation - Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz.  I had read reviews, had read some stuff by Stanley Coren but when I picked up this book and really looked at it, it came home with me - physically, not digitally.  Very well written, researched, scientific with an obvious love of dogs throughout.  I have just started it, don't want to put it down and am watching my dogs already with fresh eyes. Other dog books I recommend: Merle's Door, Marley and Me (the book, NOT the movie), The Other End of the Leash (both book and blog), What the Dog Did, and Randy Grim's Don't Dump the Dog: I busted many a gut laughing and gleaned much truth in the reading thereof. 

I have a love/hate relationship with my iPhone.  I don't like the cost but love the convenience and the apps.  Course, I went from a Tracfone (which I still have and keep as Danny's - see above - collar tag still has that phone's number on it) .  Now, I may have more reason to like my iPhone - it survived Jedi TreeWalker.  I couldn't find it Sunday afternoon - remember, I am not very alert on Sundays and Mondays.  Had left it within reach in the breezeway.  When it would not answer a ring, I found half the cover.  Oh, dear.  Checked the back yard, then checked the bottom of Jed's crate again - there it was - a couple tooth marks on the back but not on the touch screen.  Whew.  I do have "dog insurance" on it as I went through 3 Tracfones in 4 months once.....but I had not downloaded recent photos, etc. lately.  To give Jed credit, he does have a soft mouth...

Check our adoptable dogs - click the logo

Silverwalk recently became part of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary, Inc. in Jackson, MO, a licensed, 501c3 tax exempt sanctuary mostly for cats with some dogs and now Silverwalk Hounds. Silverwalk remains in Cape Girardeau County, MO, specializing in Beagles, other hounds and senior dogs. There are always dogs needing adoption and sponsorship. Please see Silverwalk Hounds for more information about Silverwalk and Safe Harbor, our dogs and "adorable adoptable" cats needing very good homes.

Mondays - NOT

It's Friday - the beginning of a work weekend for me and a weekly re-adjustment for the pack as they need to 1) let me sleep in the daytime and 2) know I will come back after multiple nightly hours gone.  I always hope to come back, anyway.  Stuff happens - I work in the ICU - see it all the time.  Rare is the person who truly understands the rigors of night-shift staffing.  Sure, I can be up at 11:30 AM - would you like me to visit and wake you at 11:30 PM?  Especially after you had been working 14-16 hrs?  I didn't think so.  Dogs can adjust better than people.  They can sleep multiple hours OR go crazy for very small things - and when one responds, all feel the need to support the one.  So, for me, Sundays sleep-wise can be not good at all or just fine - depends.  Mondays I don't commit to anything.  I am groggy and trying to get back in the swing of days till my mid-week-night shift.  This coming Monday, I committed myself and then was committed by another.  I won't be very good for my afternoon appt.  I know that - by that time, I will have been up over 20 hours without good sleep - but I will give it a try even though I should have said "NO" - but I am trying to make myself available - just not on Saturday, Sunday or Monday.  I have already given at the office, so to speak and have no more to give on Mondays.  We'll see how it goes.  If it goes poorly, too bad, so sad - it's Monday.

Check our adoptable dogs - click the logo

Silverwalk recently became part of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary, Inc. in Jackson, MO, a licensed, 501c3 tax exempt sanctuary mostly for cats with some dogs and now Silverwalk Hounds. Silverwalk remains in Cape Girardeau County, MO, specializing in Beagles, other hounds and senior dogs. There are always dogs needing adoption and sponsorship. Please see Silverwalk Hounds for more information about Silverwalk and Safe Harbor, our dogs and "adorable adoptable" cats needing very good homes.

Independence Day for Beagles!

Visit Pets Alive to help find homes for these Beagles. Cartoon by Draw the Dog

Oh, and here is the video that inspired the cartoon.  So, you have fallen in love with Allie Mae and now find some tissues because you will weep with a heavy heart and then joy. BTW, Silverwalk Hounds is listed on the rescue list at Draw the Dog.com under "Hound." Check it out!

 

Check our adoptable dogs - click the logo

Silverwalk recently became part of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary, Inc. in Jackson, MO, a licensed, 501c3 tax exempt sanctuary mostly for cats with some dogs and now Silverwalk Hounds. Silverwalk remains in Cape Girardeau County, MO, specializing in Beagles, other hounds and senior dogs. There are always dogs needing adoption and sponsorship. Please see Silverwalk Hounds for more information about Silverwalk and Safe Harbor, our dogs and "adorable adoptable" cats needing very good homes.

Allie Mae: We Dare You not to fall in Love!

Photos at last: top from vet tech (thanks, Jaquie!); other two after week and half at SW w/2 breakfasts - not any more :)  Here is link to her story: Allie Mae Awesome.  I think Allie Mae is hard of hearing as I often need to touch her to get her attn.  She watches me intently other times to know what to do and LOVES her routine.

Check our adoptable dogs - click the logo

Silverwalk recently became part of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary, Inc. in Jackson, MO, a licensed, 501c3 tax exempt sanctuary mostly for cats with some dogs and now Silverwalk Hounds. Silverwalk remains in Cape Girardeau County, MO, specializing in Beagles, other hounds and senior dogs. There are always dogs needing adoption and sponsorship. Please see Silverwalk Hounds for more information about Silverwalk and Safe Harbor, our dogs and "adorable adoptable" cats needing very good homes.

Is He or Isn't He??

At Dogs Deserve Freedom,  a blog I follow,  breed recognition is offered as a puzzle on occasion.  Well, I now have a puzzle of my own here at Silverwalk - and it doesn't involve a Silverwalk dog.  I have over the past year or so fostered dogs for American Black and Tan Coonhound Rescue.  Not all have been Black and Tans - one was a Bloodhound, Toffee, the other was a Bluetick Coonhound, Connor, but now we thought I was on my third B&T - and then, I lifted up his ears 'cause his head and walk have been bugging me since I got him over a month ago.  Justus is smart as a whip, very personable (quite the lap puppy), does not (yet) bay, is relatively calm - and I think he is a Doberman.  You see what you think.
                                                       
 Justus at 5 months old

When initially found and rescued, Justus was thin, a stray and full of worms - in a county and area of MO where hounds are plentiful and Dobermans are rare - so who would think of him as a Dobie?  And indeed, he may not be but man, when I lifted those  ears in a temporary crop position, I was astounded.  His head has always bugged me - of course, he is gorgeous but his stop is more sloped and his nose almost Romanesque compared to the Coonhounds I have known.  He does not have the splayed hind leg walk Coonies do, either, though perhaps B & T's aren't as pronounced as Walkers.  He is a puppy - puppies change as they grow but one thing Coonies have is long ears, I mean loong ears, which Justus does not.

  

4 month old Doberman puppy from GreatDogSite.com

      

What do YOU think?  I have sent his photos to a Doberman rescue friend of mine for her more expert opinion - and I have let ABTCR know of my suspicions but I have NO Doberman experience to be able to state for sure he is or is not a Doberman vs a shorter eared Black and Tan Coonhound MIX who doesn't bay.  When I was perusing Doberman sites yesterday and came across this puppy photo, well, that puppy could be Justus (though we know he is not).   Justus is not muscular nor does he yet have the deep chest of a Doberman.  Puzzle me an answer or thought - we would appreciate it.  If Justus is a mix, he can stay with ABTCR and I can keep him as a foster; but if he is a Doberman, they will need to find a breed specific rescue for him :(.  

Obi-wan, we need your help!  and frankly, the current "Jedi" resident, now aka "TreeWalker," is no help in this situation, handsome though he may be.  

Check our adoptable dogs - click the logo

Silverwalk recently became part of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary, Inc. in Jackson, MO, a licensed, 501c3 tax exempt sanctuary mostly for cats with some dogs and now Silverwalk Hounds. Silverwalk remains in Cape Girardeau County, MO, specializing in Beagles, other hounds and senior dogs. There are always dogs needing adoption and sponsorship. Please see Silverwalk Hounds for more information about Silverwalk and Safe Harbor, our dogs and "adorable adoptable" cats needing very good homes.

Kisses to the Fourth (and Fifth)

Kisses celebrated the Fourth of July by coming home from the vets'!  She is to the right in the photo - the lovely tan and white fuzzy dog who is more soft to feel than she looks.   Lesson learned (again) - Beagles & Beagle-mixes will find and eat anything edible and sometimes not when left alone long enough without added stimulation.  Kisses among others raided medicines and food a week ago Sunday night.  Someone ate an overdose of Rimadyl - the only dog with symptoms was Kisses: bloody liquid stools and a refusal to eat anything whatever I tried for her.  Off to the vet - some IV fluids, some Carafate slurry and she was ready to come home Saturday morning.  I had her stay over the weekend as I work long shifts and wanted to be home to monitor her when she was first back.  I picked her up on my way home this morning.   WOW - Caitlin said it was the most excited she had seen her all weekend long - and yes, I got kisses!  Kisses is now home, trying to be the #1 dog - she really needs her own home as perhaps the only or one of two dogs; she tolerates our pack situation only because she is a lady (of sorts).  She came home on four medicines.  I have a lock box which we had tentatively planned to use at Safe Harbor.  Because I am such a procrastinator,  it is still here in the original package in the original bag; I am going to use it for meds so this won't happen again.  Too expensive but more importantly, potentially deadly!  We certainly don't want that!  Here is a copyrighted cartoon by Charles Schultz whose Charlie Brown echoes my feelings this morning - and hopefully, Kisses as well:

Thank you, "Peanuts," for so clearly showing our joy today. 

Check our adoptable dogs - click the logo

Silverwalk recently became part of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary, Inc. in Jackson, MO, a licensed, 501c3 tax exempt sanctuary mostly for cats with some dogs and now Silverwalk Hounds. Silverwalk remains in Cape Girardeau County, MO, specializing in Beagles, other hounds and senior dogs. There are always dogs needing adoption and sponsorship. Please see Silverwalk Hounds for more information about Silverwalk and Safe Harbor, our dogs and "adorable adoptable" cats needing very good homes.