The St. Louis Senior Dog Project

Lorraine and Cody find a home

Lorraine...the English Redtick Coonhound

 

The St. Louis Senior Dog  Project is a not-for-profit dog rescue organization specializing in older dogs but taking in and finding homes for dogs of all ages...even puppies.  We'll have adoptable dogs 11 to 3 Saturday and Sunday, November 5 and 6 at  the Kirkwood Petco near I-44 and Lindbergh, and 11 to 3 Saturday, November 5 , at the St. Louis/McKenzie Petco at  7279 Watson Rd.  For information on which dogs will be there, go Here.

And are there any Scrabble players out there? Join us 3 to 5 Sunday afternoon at the VFW Post, 2301 Church Rd.  Bulding Business by Referral is hosting the event.  Proceeds will benefit three groups, including ours.  Cost is $50 for a table of four.  Cash prizes include $100 for first place, $75 for second place, and $50 for third place. Soda, popcorn and nacho bar provided.  Cash bar available.  For ticken information and reservations, call Ralph Kneese at 636-464-9456.

 And speaking of baseball (and we isn't), we are raffling off a baseball signed by Cardinal's slugger Albert Pujols.  The raflle is live at Baseball Raffle. Wouldn't this make a great Christmas present for someone you know?

When I first started the St. Louis Senior Dog Project, I thought I would primarily be adopting senior dogs to senior citizens.  I do some of that, but the world surprises me.  Sometimes it's young people who show up saying they want to give a home to an older dog.

That happened this past weekend.  A young couple showed up offering a home to an older dog and ended up with two.  First they adopted Lorraine, an English Red Tick Coonhound somewhere senior of five years old.  Lorraine spent some time at my home, and I thought she was wonderful, playful yet  but gentle, loving, eager to make friends with people of all ages, lover of small children. She was running out of time in the Central Missouri Humane Society when we brought her into our program.   Lorraine went home with the young couple Saturday.  But they were also interested in Cody, one of our more senior dogs.  Let's say 10 plus.

Sunday, the young couple came back with Lorraine in tow and plenty of praise for her.  They went home with Cody, who had already lost two owners to death.  We couldn't be happier. Cody is rather arthritic, doesn't do steps, but he's a gentle soul and he'll love this couple for all the days he has left.

We need more people like this, don't way. And here's Cody.

Anyway, I'm feeling very good.

We also placed Little Boo.  She's a Pomeranian who ended up in the old St. Louis City Pound after she was picked up as a stray.  Little Boo did go home with a senior couple who had recently lost their dog to death.  They thought about it for a day because Little Boo was about seven years old and they were still smarting from the pain of losing their dog and afraid of losing another one too soon. By Sunday morning, they decided what they would do.  Little Boo found her home. 

We need more people like this, don't we? Here's Little Boo, named for the season.

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com

New dogs with new lives, plus baseball

Blue Moon and Root Beer are stepping out to a new life.

The St. Louis Senior Dog  Project is a not-for-profit dog rescue organization specializing in older dogs but taking in and finding homes for dogs of all ages...even puppies.  We'll have adoptable dogs at the Pet Expo in St. Charles's Convention Center beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday.  We'll also have dogs at the Kirkwood Petco 11 to 3 both Saturday and Sunday.  For information on which dogs will be there, go Here.

 And speaking of baseball (and we isn't), we are raffling off a baseball signed by Cardinal's slugger Albert Pujols.  The raflle is live at Baseball Raffle. Wouldn't this make a great Christmas present for someone you know?

Every week brings emails about commercial breeders that are shutting down for good.  Many of them are giving their dogs to rescue groups, such as ours. Many of these shutdowns are because of stricter standards for breeders brought about by the voter initiation Prob B, otherwise known as the Puppymill Cruelty Prevention Bill.  Voters passed the bill, but it subsequently went through revisions some though weakened it.  Yet, something good sure is happening.  Several hundred breeders are decided the leave the business in Missouri.

Sometimes I ignore these pleas about "breeder surrenders" for lack of space and also for fear that the dogs might be "puppymillish" dogs who may be too shy or scared to ever make good pets.

But last week I weakened, and I'm glad I did.  I heard about one facility shutting down and the breeder described most of the dogs as sociable.  This breeder also had two five year old Australian Sheperds, one of my favorite breeds.  There they are above.  Blue Moon is a petite lady and already friendly.  Root Beer is shy but is gradually edging closer to me.  Booth are sweet, gentle dogs that are now also beautifully groomed.  Root Beer had some hair loss from a prior flea infestation, but hair growns back.  In the picture above, Root Beer is partially hiding in a bush but is still looking at the camera.

Others we accepted included two Maltese -- Brody and Lacey. Here they are:

We also accepted several poodles and a Japanese Chin.  Yet to come are a Schnauzer and a Shih Tzu.

The heartwarming thing is that these dogs, while not puppies, are still young enough to have at least half their lives ahead of them.  Those years will be spent as pets.

So as usual, we've been busy.  Our Trivia Night was a big success -- even though it did happen during a World Series game.  This weekend we're taking some dogs to the Pet Expo in the St.Charles Convention and others to our regular adoption site at the KIrkwood Petco.

We do have another event coming up too. If you're a scrabble player, save the afternoon of November 6 for Speed Scrabble -- plenty of fun with proceeds going to three not-for-profits, one of which is St. Louis Senior Dog Project.  More on that later.

We've had several adoptions including two beagles (Skippy and Bella), Savannah the senior chihuahua, Lexie the 7 year old Sheltie, and Shadow a yorkie, and Chachi a Pekinese.

Milo the dog that had spent seven months in the old St. Louis City Pound at Gasconade is doing well at my house.  He's ready for adoption.

And now I must get ready for a baseball game.

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

Freeing Milo

 Milo is free at last after spending seven months in the old St. Louis City Pound on Gasconade.

Our annual Trivia Night is tonight, Saturday, October 22, at the Assumption Parish of Mattese, 4709 Mattis Rd.   Doors open at 6; Trivia begins at 7.  Walk ins are welcome.  The cost is $25 per person for tables of up to eight persons. You can come alone or as part of a table.  The registration includes beer and soda.  Bring your own food, but no glass containers or bottles please. Directions: I-270 to Tesson Ferry, south on Tesson Ferry, left on Mattis (1st stop light). See you there!

Although we won't have an adoption event Saturday because of Trivia Night, we have two adoption events scheduled for Sunday (tomorrow, October 23).  One will be 11 to 3 at the Watering Bowl at Lindbergh and Lemay Ferry, and the other noon to 3 at the Kirkwood Petco.  For information on which dogs will be there, go Here. 

The St. Louis Senior Dog  Project is a not-for-profit dog rescue organization specializing in older dogs but taking in and finding homes for dogs of all ages...even puppies. 

Until a few days ago, I didn't know about Milo's plight.  Almost nobody did.

Milo had been in the old St. Louis City Pound on Gasconade since March.  Yes, that's the facility that is now closed.  Stray Rescue now houses and finds homes for dogs that formerly ended up in the St. Louis City facility.  But there's a problem.

St. Louic City animal control officers still pick up stray dogs and bring them into the closed shelter. Some of these are aggressive dogs that will ultimately be put to sleep.  But others are friendly and adoptable. They just don't have a place to go when Stray Rescue is full.  I learned this when someone from St. Louis City's animal control office called to see if I could take in a small dog they had picked up. When I understood they had nowhere to go with this dog, I drove down to pick her up.  We've named her Little Boo, and here she is.
And while I was picking up Little Boo, I met Milo and a row of other dogs frantically begging for attention.  Remember, this shelter is closed to the public.  No one comes here looking for a dog to adopt.  Pictures of these dogs do not appear on petfinder.com.  Hardly anyone knows they are here waiting for their chance to find a home.

So yesterday I sprung Milo, and I'm hearing that Stray Rescue may soon find room for some of the others.    Milo spent part of yesterday running and playing with other dogs.  He's getting along with everyone.  Last night he slept on a dog bed. Today he's spending a day at the groomers.   By next weekend he'll be ready for a home.  He's a black lab mix, and he's a real prize.  He deserves a good home.  He'll make someone a wonderful pet.  Here he is (middle) making friends, and in the next picture, mugging for the camera.

Little Boo and Milo both have me thinking about the problem with "no kill."   We all feel good about being "no kill," but the truth is there really is no such thing.  Anytime we take in one dog, we turn down and possibly doom another.  We make our choices about when and which ones we take in but force the difficult choices on those we deride as "kill" shelters.   We can say "Sorry.  We're full." and still think of ourselves as being "no kill."  We're just not entirely honest when we say that.

Depressing as this may sound, we're doing better all the time.  Thanks to spay/neuter programs and the existence of more rescues and shelters, euthanasia rates are down and adoptions are up.

And Milo and Little Boo are safe and will soon find homes. And we hope the others at Gasconade will soon move to places where they can find homes. We're making progress.

But we're a long way from being a "no kill" city.

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com

So busy with puppies, trivia, baseball, adoptions

Our annual Trivia Night is this Saturday, October 22, at the Assumption Parish of Mattese, 4709 Mattis Rd.   Doors open at 6; Trivia begins at 7.  Walk ins are welcome, or you can register by contacting Arlene at 314-623-0412 or Kulade5@yahoo.com. 

          The cost is $25 per person for tables of up to eight persons. You can come alone or as part of a table.  The registration includes beer and soda.  Bring your own food, but no glass containers or bottles please. Directions: I-270 to Tesson Ferry, south on Tesson Ferry, left on Mattis (1st stop light). See you there!

         Although we won't have an adoption event Saturday because of Trivia Night, we have two adoption events scheduled for Sunday.  One will be 11 to 3 at the Watering Bowl at Lindbergh and Lemay Ferry, and the other noon to 3 at the Kirkwood Petco.  For information on which dogs will be there, go Here. The St. Louis Senior Dog  Project is a not-for-profit dog rescue organization specializing in older dogs but taking in and finding homes for dogs of all ages...even puppies. 

Sometimes I'm so busy I can't think of any one thing to blog about.  I have far too many choices, and that can make me crazy.

For example, we're only a few days from our annual Trivia Night.  We're putting the final touches on some of our raffle baskets, worrying about decorations, and inviting, urging, and begging all our friends to be there -- even though it is during the third game of the World Series.  We will keep you posted during the game!  We will allow televisions and other electronic devices!  Please don't stay home!  (Details above...and drop ins are welcome)

And speaking of baseball, one of our raffle items is a baseball signed by Cardinal's slugger Albert Pujols.  The competition for this prize will reach beyond our Trivia Night.  In fact, this item is now live at Baseball Raffle. 

Last weekend was a good one for several of our dogs.  Duchess the Speagle (Beagle/English Toy Spaniel) finally found her perfect home: an owner who runs daily plus a five-year-old boy. What could be better?  Doesn't she look ready for fun?

In addition to Duchess, others finding homes were Riggley (in previous blog), Bluesey the Blue Heeler mix, Fallon (one of the former flavor-tester dogs), Booty the dachshund mix, A.J. the shih tzu, Mike the shih tzu, Sheba the border collie, and Mia the Pug puppy.

And speaking of puppies.  You were wondering about that picture on the top?  Just over a week ago, Pat from Lebanon, MO,  called me about a few dogs she'd like to move from her place to other rescues.  Pat runs a rescue that operates primarily as a half-way house for homeless dogs in her area.  She takes care of them until she can find rescue groups for them in more populated areas.  We agreed to take three small dogs.  But she'd also just received a phone call about a stray Redbone Coonhound that had just whelped nine puppies in a ditch.   So I now have nine puppies sharing a pen in my spare bedroom.  And I've named the beautiful mother Charlotte. In the first picture below, Charlotte's nose is making sure we're treating her puppies right as we try to take a group shot. (We couldn't get all nine in one lap, though.)  The second picture is of momma Charlottte.

Charlotte's puppies are now almost three weeks old, so they won't be ready for adoption for another five or six weeks.  We have six girls and three boys.  Momma will also be available for adoption once she's weaned her puppies and been spayed.  We know Charlotte is a Red Bone Coonhound.  We don't know anything about the puppies' daddy.

Later today I'm picking up a long-haired chihuahua that was confiscated in a raid by St. Louis City animal control officers.  This little dog had nowhere to go and no other shelter to take her in.

 

Sign up now for Trivia Night

 
Riggley (still looking for a home) invites you to Trivia Night.  You can come in costume too.

The St. Louis Senior Dog  Project is a not-for-profit dog rescue organization specializing in older dogs but taking in and finding homes for dogs of all ages...even puppies.  See our adoptable dogs Here. We'll be at the Kirkwood Petco 11 to 3 both Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16.

    It's time now to sign up for the St. Louis Senior Dog Project Trivia Night. Our Trivia Night is less than two weeks away -- Saturday, October 22, at the Assumption Parish of Mattese, 4709 Mattis Rd.  Riggley, picture above, promises it'll be a great night.  Doors open at 6; Trivia begins at 7.

    And the best part is that you don't even need to be good at Trivia to have fun.

    The cost is $25 per person for tables of up to eight persons. The registration includes beer and soda.  Bring your own food, but no glass containers or bottles please. Directions: I-270 to Tesson Ferry, south on Tesson Ferry, left on Mattis (1st stop light).

    For more information or to make reservations, contact Arlene at 314-623-0412 or Kulade5@yahoo.com.

     We've had several adoptions this past week, including Jazz, a 10 year-old yellow labrador retriever; Jacquie, a 7 year-old Sheltie; and Tyler, a Clumber Spaniel puppy.  Pictures follow in order:

 

 
 
And not too long ago, we had a very special adoption when one of our older boys, Sweets, found his new home.  We've heard from his  new people; all is going well.  Here's Sweets:

 
Also finding homes were a yorkie lady and a pekingese puppy. 

Thanks to the 100-plus people who participated in last Saturday's 5 K dog walk and run.

With your help, dogs like those pictured above receive a second chance for a good life. 

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com

How does this taste?

 
"I love all food," says Bella the Beagle. "It all tastes fine to me."

The St. Louis Senior Dog  Project is a not-for-profit dog rescue organization specializing in older dogs but taking in and finding homes for dogs of all ages...even puppies.  See our adoptable dogs Here. We'll be at the Kirkwood Petco 11 to 3 both Saturday and Sunday, October 8 and 9.  We'll also have dogs from 8 to 2 Saturday, October 8, in the Muny parking lot.  This event is part of the 5K Dog Walk and Fun being sponsored by the Kingsbury Animal  Hospital, with proceeds coming to us. Here's the link for more information.

http://www.kah.com/site/view/194968_KAH5K.pml

And it's time to sign up for our annual Trivia Night , Saturday, October 22.  This is our biggest fundraiser of the year.  This year we'll be at Assumption Parish of Matesse, 4709 Mattis Rd.  Doors open at 6 p.m. Trivia begins at 7.  Cost is $25 per person for up to eight players per table.  Registration includes beer and soda.  Bring your own food, but no glass containers or bottles please.  We'll also have a silent auction and prizes for Best Halloween Costume and Best Decorated TAble.  For more i nformation or to make reservations, contact Arlene at 314-623-0412 or Kulade5@yahoo.com.

 

Until recently Bella the Beagle, Latifah the Black Labrador Retriever, and Fallon the Pug mix all had jobs.  They were flavor testers at a research facility.  The company produced flavoring for dog foods.  Dogs at the facility were given the chance to chose which flavors they preferred.

All three recently lost their jobs because they thought everything offered to them tasted just fine -- wonderful, in fact.  They loved all flavors equally. They refused to chose.

Since telling this sad tale, several people expressed wonder that anyone would expect any other result from beagles and labs especially.  "Lab'll eat rocks," said one.

But now that they've failed as taste testers, Bella, Latifah and Fallon are free to be successful as pets.  Even a facility as nice as they one they came from isn't as good as living in a home with a family of their own.

Latifah has waited a long time for her chance to join a family.  She's eight years old and takes pills for her hips and some arthritis.  But she's still plenty active, and she's loving life in her foster home where she enjoys the company of a 12-year-old boy.  Her foster mom says she's a sweet, gentle dog and well-behaved.  Here's Latifah.

 
Fallon the Pug mix is about 3 years old and greets everyone with her adorable turned up nose and good disposition.  She's active but not crazy active, according to her foster mom.  She's a good girl, an easy keeper. Here's Fallon.

 
Bella Beagle, pictured at the top,  is also very sweet and only 3 to 4 years old.  She's a larger beagle and quite the beauty.  She's also doing well in her foster home.  After a couple days of shyness, she decided life here was ok.  Bella will make a great pet for a beagle-loving family.

All three of these dogs are available for adoption.  And as you already know, they're not picky eaters.  You will need to promise, however, that you won't overfeed them.  Latifah especially needs to keep her weight down if she's to stay active and healthy.

We may soon pick up a couple more failed flavor testers.  These two will come with an additional complication.  They both just turned 13 years old.  We need some special people willing to offer a home to a dog that won't be with them for long.  Are you out there?

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com