The St. Louis Senior Dog Project

Goodby pups, hello Holidays

Prudence...one of the new ones.

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, December 3 and 4 at  the Kirkwood Petco near I-44 and Lindbergh.  For information on which dogs will be there, go Here.

There's still time to enter our raffle to win 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?

And there's still time to have a famiy portrait taken with your adopted pet.  Read below for details.

Is it really December? Wow.  Just when I thought I was going to get some rest after eight weeks with Redbone Coonhound mix puppies.  Yes, the ones at my house should all be off to their new homes by Saturday.  And cute as they are, I'm happy to see them go. Last Saturday was puppymania at our adoption event.  Turns out a lot of people wanted these puppies, and my only demand is that the adopters send us photos so we'll see what kind of dogs they grow up to be. The two remaining pups will be at the Kirkwood Petco Saturday 11 to 3. This is my personal favorite, Pumpkin.

Now we've taken in some new dogs, including Prudence (on top) who was in a very crowded Joplin, MO, shelter.  Terri drove to Joplin last weekend to pick up Prudence and several others, including Liz, above, a border collie mix.

Tomorrow I'll be picking up a pointer/beagle mix boy at Jefferson County Animal Control, and the requests keep coming in.  Sometimes I can't work for the constant phone calls from people wanting to give up their dogs.

We'll be buying and selling Blues calendars this year because two of our dogs are pictured in it along with hockey players. 

And if anyone is interested in a family portrait with pets, we have a deal for you (and a benefit to us).

Marian Brickner, an animal photographer, is offering to take a family picture with your adopted dog.  Half of the $25 fee will come back to St. Louis Senior Dog Project.  You will receive a Hi RES image of the best picture.  To arrange, call Marian at 314-564-5855 and check her out on this website: Pet Photography.  There's still time for that photo Christmas Card.

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com

 

I'm thankful for people who stay in touch

The latest from Elle (Velvet) who now has her own Facebook page

  

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 26 and 27 at  the Kirkwood Petco near I-44 and Lindbergh.  For information on which dogs will be there, go Here.

There's still time to enter our raffle to win 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?

  I'm thankful for people who stay in touch.  Specifically, I'm thankful that many of the people who adopt dogs from us stay in touch with pictures and stories.  That's Elle up there.  I first knew her as Velvet, a black lab recovering from a gunshot wound to the thigh.  Looks like her life has changed for the better.  She even has her own Facebook page. Thanks to Meredith for the news.

    Thinking about Velvet/Elle makes be thankful that life never stays the same.  At any given moment, our lives can change.  That should give us both hope for the good things ahead and determination to hold on to the good things we have now.

    Thanks to Kristin for sending us a picture of Kevin, now Carraway, in the birthday hat her wore (briefly) at his 3rd birthday celebration.  He even had a doggy cake, which he loved more than the hat. 
When I first met Kevin, he was a stray in the old St. Louis City Pound.

    Thanks to Kimberly for letting us know that Miss Beasley, the black Pug, is "the sweetest dog we've ever owned."  We met Miss Beasley at a dog auction where you could have ended up going home to a life in a puppymill.

    I'm also thankful for all my volunteers who give of their time, their patience, and sometimes their sanity to help dogs in need of new homes.  These are some of the kindest people in the world. I don't thank them enough.

    I'm thankful for the good people who adopt dogs from us.  Sometimes we become so obsessed with the sad stories of abused animals that we become suspicious of those interested in our dogs.  We question their motives.  We wonder if they're worthy.  Not all are, but most of the people who come to us are people we don't need to worry about at all.  They're good people offering good homes to our wonderful dogs.

    I'm thankful we're able to pitch in sometimes when we learn of a desperate need.  This week we learned that the Joplin Humane Society had taken him a record number of dogs and were begging for help from rescue groups.  We can take a few.  A few weeks ago we helped when a breeder was shutting down with no place to go with the dogs.

    I'm thankful that my daughter, granddaughters, son-in-law, sister and others accept what I do and help all they can.

    I'm thankful for those who donate money and for those who help us raise more.  Thanks to a lot of good people we continue to operate in the black while giving the dogs we take in all the care they need.

    And, yes, I'm thankful that the Redbone Coonhound puppies are almost ready for new homes.  Believe me when I say I am tired.  I'll miss them a bit; they are such fun to watch.  But I'm so tired and so ready for a vacation.  And I'm thankful I just might be able to take one.

    I'm also thankful for a good book, a Kindle to read it on,a comfortable bed, and a few warm dogs to join me there.  That's next.

 Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com

Families and their new dogs

Ozzie has two boys to keep him busy.

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 19 and 20 at  the Kirkwood Petco near I-44 and Lindbergh.  We'll also have some dogs at the Bridgeton Petsmart. For information on which dogs will be there, go Here.

There's still time to enter our raffle to win 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?

It's always fun to see our dogs with their new families.  That's Ozzie the beagle up there.  He was out of time at a local shelter when we took him in.  Now he's playing hard and ending up exhausted every night.  Boy, did Ozzie ever get lucky.

And look at the family that voted to adopt Mac the Bug (Pug/Boston).  Mac came from a former owner going through a serious crisis.  Looks like he'll have nothing but fun and love with this family. That's Mac on the right.  The other dog is a senior Pug who will be showing Mac the way things work at this house.

We had other adoptions last weekend too, including Lezlie the shy dachshund who went with a couple who had recently lost their senior dog.  Lezlie is a young senior -- 7 to 8 years with plenty of fun and love ahead of her.  She spend her first years in a commercial breeding facility which probably wasn't that much fun.

I stil have six Redbone Coonhound mix puppies at my place and would love to find some willing foster homes.  All the puppies will be ready for adoption about Thanksgiving, by the way.  We're accepting applications now.  Here's one cute puppy face.

Pretty cute, huh?

We also took back a dog that had been adopted six years ago.  She's now 12 years old.  Her owners had retired and were now traveling a lot.  They didn't have time for Sassie the Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle) anymore.  We're hoping someone else will.

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com

Still crazy, but in a good way

Who could be happier than a dog with a bone and a soft bed. This is Winston (formerly Nate).

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 12 and 13 at  the Kirkwood Petco near I-44 and Lindbergh.  For information on which dogs will be there, go Here.

And speaking of baseball (and we're still talking), 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?

After my last blog, Terri reminded us all that we were boring before we were crazy.

Personally, I think it's possible to be both crazy and boring, but six-week-old puppies are never boring.    The good news is that I'm a little less crazy today because I'm almost down from nine Redbone Coonhound puppies to a mere four.  And I'm hoping someone else will fall to puppy fever soon and lower my numbers even more.

These puppies are awfully cute, and they're beginning to catch on to some of the joys of pethood...such as cuddling with humans.  They're even learning a bit about the wisdom of pooping outdoors.  Two of the nine puppies are now with Melissa, the other two with Rebecca and her family. Another will go home with Delfina tomorrow.

That leaves me with four puppies.  All these puppies will be ready for homes in about two weeks.  They're already robustly healthy and weighing between 7.5 and 9.8 lbs at 6 to 7 weeks. They've had their first puppy shots.  A good start for puppies that were born in a ditch in rural Missouri.

In fact, these puppies are already about twice as big as the much older puppies at Joan's place.  She has the five Japanese Chin mix puppies born to a dog we took out of Jefferson County Animal Control. Some of these  pups aren't yet 3 lbs. Here's a picture.

And we keep finding new homes for dogs and new dogs that need homes.  And we receive news.  The picture at the top is of Winstron, a 6 month old Cocker Spaniel we knew as Nate.

Maribeth and Steve sent us the picture and a few words about Winstron, whom they say is "the sweetest dog we will ever know.

"We are so happy to have brought him home with us. He is making our newlywed house a home! He is learning how to walk on a leash just fine in Carondelet park! He learned 4 new tricks in one day! " 

Recent adoptions include two black dogs -- Candice and Parker; three white dogs -- Duke, Cubby and Raymond, plus Ryder the chihuahua; Jake the shih tzu/Japanese puppy; and Gigi, the opinionated Pekingese. Blue Moon the Aussie was adopted but is coming back as her adopters look for a dog that is a little more of a couch potato.  We do have a few couch potato dogs.

Tomorrow begins another adoption weekend.  See you at Kirkwood Petco 11 to 3 both days.

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com

C R A Z Y times Nine

This is one of our nine Redbone Coonhound mix puppies.

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 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?

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.

The nine Redbone Coonhound puppies at my house are now five weeks old, and they are driving me crazy.

Each one is cuter than the next, but they are driving me crazy.  They are no longer content to nap in their exercise pen and curl up in a puppy pile.  They want to play, and they are driving me crazy.  It's at least another week before I can send them to other foster homes.  They've discovered toys and their talented noses.  They've discovered the great outdoors.  And they are driving me crazy. 

They wake me up in the night.  I'm constantly cleaning up poo and mixing puppy mush meals.  I love their fresh puppy breath and their puppy kisses and their plump puppy bellies.  But they are driving me crazy.

If I only had two puppies or if I only had three, maybe my life would be easier.  But I have nine puppies here. Plus I have other dogs also needed attention, plus the rest of my life.

Every day I say the same thing to someone: "I don't think I'm going to make it."  But I probably will, even though I remember more and more why I prefer older dogs.

In another week or two, the puppies will be in new foster homes.  A couple weeks after that, they'll be ready for adoption into permanent homes.  As you may recall, the mother, a purebred Redbone Coonhound, was a stray who had these puppies in a ditch.  Someone found her and them, brought them indoors, and contacted a local rescue person, who contacted us.

If you know someone interested in one of these puppies, let them know we'll be taking applications soon.

I'll keep you posted about the puppies and my mental health.

Meanwhile, these little darlings, these amusing little clowns, these most amazing puppies, these lucky little rascals --they are driving me crazy!

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@ aol.com