The St. Louis Senior Dog Project

Brenda: Dog with a Mission

I’m  thinking good thoughts about Reba because I absolutely adore this Redbone Coonhound and want her to find the perfect home.  She’s the dog who was found by the side of the road after apparently being hit by a car.  It took her a week to get on her feet.  Now she runs, leaps, plays and shows no signs of injury.  And she is such a perfect, loving dog.  Visit our website to see pictures and learn more about our adoptable pets. See below for update on Ladybug, my last "good thoughts" dog.

Ellen’s Notes:

Brenda is a dog on a mission.  We found this out last week when we took her to visit a nursing home.

This brindle-coated lab/retriever mix may seem ordinary to you, but she knew just how to lift the spirits of the elderly she visited.  In each room, Brenda sidled up to the resident and sat calmly and quietly.  Gently, she nudged her head against any nearby hand.  The result: smiles.

We knew Brenda would behave herself and not jump up on anyone.  But we didn’t know she had such a gift.  A few weeks ago, Brenda was on death row in the St. Louis City Pound.  Staff there told us about her, and we were lucky enough to have room to take her into our program.  Her gentleness makes her wonderful around the elderly but also around small children.  Her grey face gives her the look of a wise senior although she’s probably not much more than 5 years old.  On any nice day, she enjoys playing outdoors with other dogs.

Someone will be so lucky to adopt Brenda.

While at the nursing home, we visited Crackers, a little terrier we placed there before Christmas.  He comes to “work” there 5 days a week, racing from car to front door so he can get started with a first round of room visits.  Crackers' former owner abandoned him at a shelter because they were moving.

“Everyone loves Crackers,” a staff member told us.  “He’s the perfect dog for us.”

This week we heard from people who adopted a Lab/Rottweiller mix from us a few years ago.  The dog now has cancer in her mouth.  For now, they’re just keeping her as comfortable as possible. They said, “The short time we’ve had her has been worth a whole lifetime of love from most dogs.”

Another adopter emailed about the two shih tzus (Gigi and Momo) they adopted from us a few months ago.  “They are doing great.  We absolutely love them, and they love us.”

Imagine.  These two came from a home where their former owner thought they were too much trouble and left them outdoors, dirty and matted, most of the time.  Now they are kept constantly spiffy in short puppy cuts.  “We take walks with them when the weather is warm, and everyone who has met them thinks they are darling. We feel so blessed to have them in our home.”

Those are the stories that keep us going.

Slim the Whippet still talks to me constantly, but he will soon leave to live out his life (probably numbered in months since his diagnosis with bladder cancer) with other whippets.  I’ll miss him, but I’m betting he’ll enjoy those other skinny canines.

People are always asking where we find our dogs.  Looking around me, I see Zelli, a sheltie mix who lived several weeks in a cramped cage in the City Pound.  This was after authorities removed her from a neglectful home.  She might be deaf, but she is so sweet and easy.  Someday maybe we’ll receive a note about how much she has meant to someone.

Mandy is a Lhasa Apso who was found as a stray.  The person who found her placed ads in newspapers, put up signs and called shelters to see if anyone had reported losing her.  When no one responded, she called us.  Mandy will find a new home easily.

Poochini is a black and tan Pomeranian.  He’s a puppymill survivor about 7 years old.  He’s a little too scared, a little too noisy, and way too cute for his own good.  He’ll find a home with people who will love him for the charmer he is.

Irene is a tiny old schnauzer turned in to a shelter when her owner died.  We think she’s had a rough life.  She peeks at me around corners but runs when I approach her.  Once I catch her, she settles in, but she still – as we often say – needs some work and a lot of tlc.

Minnie Cloud is an American Eskimo picked up as a stray and locked up in St. Louis County Animal Control for a couple weeks.  No one came for her.  After a few hours of nervous behavior after we bailed her out, she settled in and became an angel dog.

And then there’s Trent  He missed the Academy Awards, but he should have been a contender. He’s only 4 to 5 months old and probably an Airedale mix.  When we first saw him in a nearby shelter, he belted out cries of distress and limped around his cage.  We figured he was injured and needed immediate vet care.  So, although we don’t often take puppies, we rescued him and soon found out his legs were fine and so was he.  He sometimes demonstrates his distress cry for us, but thankfully not too often.  Had we left him behind, he could have been euthanized the following day.  For knowing how to take advantage of his big break, he deserves some sort of award…and a good new home.

Poor Ladybug.  I was concentrating on this little Tibetan Spaniel or Beagle/Pug mix in my last blog, hoping to find her a home.  She almost found a good home not once but twice in the past week. In the first home, she scared off a visiting dog with her little dog attitude.  In the second home, her problem was the hamster.  Rather, she was the hamster’s problem.  Ladybug is about 10 years old, loving to all people, pushy with other dogs and Not a friend to hamsters.  She needs the right home.

Going into another adoption weekend, I’m hoping to see many dogs go on to new homes.  We’ve got a long list of other dogs in need of rescue, including several that were among 70 animals taken from one home in a humane society raid.

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com

Red's Story

Welcome to the St. Louis Senior Dog Project BLOG.  Visit our website, look at our adorable adoptable dogs, and remember that we always need donations.  Last week I was concentrating good thoughts on Shorty, a plain 9-year-old beagle mix, hoping he’d find a home.  IT WORKED!  Shorty found a home with a couple who live in half of a duplex. Grandma lives in the other half and will have Shorty’s company much of the time.  They all thought he was perfect.  So this week I’m concentrating those good thoughts on Lady Bug, a little 10+ girl who might be a beagle/pug mix or could be a Tibetan Spaniel mix.  She’s a sweet thing who doesn’t act her age and loves everyone except for large dogs.  She’ll be a wonderful best pal for someone.

Ellen’s Notes:

Red will break your heart.  You’ve heard of animal hoarders.  They make the news when authorities come in to remove dozens and sometimes hundreds of half-starved, neglected animals living in filth, often without shelter.  Red lived many years with a hoarder…maybe most of his life.  He’s 10 years old.  This week he learned how to play. And he now wags his tail

When the humane society began investigating Red’s owner more that 2 years ago, the investigator spotted Red and couldn’t get him out of his thoughts.  This poor sad dog always perked up when the investigator arrived to talk with the hoarder.  But conditions for Red remained deplorable.  The hoarder ignored advice, assistance and warnings, and eventually Red and the others came into humane society custody.

Then what for an old 40-lb red mutt with a grey face?   Who will want such a dog?  The investigator knew there wouldn’t be lines waiting to adopt Red but insisted that he have the chance he deserved, maybe with a rescue group that takes older dogs.  That’s how we met Red.

Last week, Curtis took Red home as a foster dog. Red has no front teeth and his canines are worn down, but he eats just fine.  At first Red would turn his food bowl over and hide some of his food, apparently unsure when he’d see this much again.  At first he also wouldn’t take treats from Curtis’ hand.  Now he eats everything in his bowl and takes treats from anyone offering then.  And he’s discovered peanut butter and can’t get enough of it.

But Red’s new world is about more than just food.  “Red likes for you to sit with him and tell him what a good dog he is.” And then there was the morning he actually started to “play” in the backyard. 

“He usually just sticks close to me, looking around.  But (recently) he walked away from me somewhat, ran around a small brush pile and jumped over a small wall before he caught himself.  Then he came back over to me and waited to go back inside. “

Red has already earned full roam of the house.  He hasn’t chewed up or destroyed anything. He walks well on a leash.

We think Red’s ideal home would be with an older person or couple who will take him for walks and spoil him for the rest of his life.

UPDATES:  Merle, the handsome blue merle Australian Shepherd, was adopted last week.  No surprise there. 

Two of the three scared schnauzers from a few weeks ago’s Blog are now in what we hope will be their permanent homes. 

Reba the Redbone Coonhound is now fully recovered from the injuries she suffered when hit by a car.  She recently “showed her stuff” by leaping over a baby gate.  When she first arrived, she wobbled about and bumped into things, looking around always with a tilted head.  What a change!  She will make someone an awesome pet.

Slim the Whippet is still “woo wooing,” whining, hiding under blankets and trying to tell me something.  But he’s spending more time exploring the yard, and he’s slowly recovering from a bad urinary track infection.

SAD NEWS.  A week seldom goes by when we don’t receive some sad news.  This week we learned about three older dogs we’d placed in new homes.  All had died in their owners’ arms.  One of the owners, a senior citizen who has lost two senior dogs in the past 3 years, said, “Maybe this is what I’m supposed to be doing in the time I have left – giving good care and love to dogs that don’t have much time left.”

We also learned of the death of one of our younger dogs, a clownish hound mix who once took second place in a dog costume competition dressed as a jester.  He escaped from his yard with owners in pursuit.  Remembering him as I do, I know that the mischief in him took over and he took off with ears flying.  Unfortunately, he ran in front of a car and died on the way to a vet clinic.  His owners are heartbroken, as are we.

These dogs that come into our lives break our hearts every day -- and mend them.

Ellen Ellick

President /Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com