The St. Louis Senior Dog Project

No more "Poor Little Thing"

"Poor Little Thing" is now a precious flower.

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. Meet and adopt your new best friend 11 to 3 Saturday/Sunday , April 28 and 29 in the Kirkwood Petco near I-44 and Lindbergh or 11 to 3 Saturday, April 21 in the Bridgeton Petsmart. To see which dogs will be where as well as other adoptable dogs, go Here. We still have some money in This Dixie Fund to cover all but $50 of the fee for Red Ribbon dogs, generally those that are 8 years and older or have special needs that make them hard to place.

 

Dr Ivan first named her "Poor Little Thing." The name says it all.  She was a pathetic old chihuahua picked up as a stray in Jefferson County. I'd told the shelter we'd take her in but only after Dr. Ivan examined her and gave me her opinion of the little dog's health and prospects.

Old and sad she seemed, but we all agreed she deserved another shot at the good life.  So "Poor Little Thing" went into foster care with Norma, who gave her the more respectful name of "Keisha."

Keisha specialized in resting.  She was very good at it.  But gradually we all saw a little more spunk in this old gal, and finally Kelly offered her a permanent home.  A miracle, I thought.

This week I received an update on Keisha's first four months in her new home. She now goes by "Dahlia."

"I thought it was appropriate, since the Dahlia is the national flower of Mexico. Dahlia’s a precious little Mexican flower. She’s spoiled with love and goodies. She gets along well with the rest of the critters (two other dogs and two cats). I absolutely adore her, and she seems mutually attached to me."

If that wasn't good enough, Kelly went on to describe how Dahlia is thriving with a healthy diet, nutritional supplements, a low-stress home and lots of love.  "I'm hopeful that Dahlia will have more healthy, pampered years ahead of her.  Her energy is way up.  Her coat is also continuing to get fuller, longer and wavier."

As I reread the email, I had trouble believing this was the same dog.  Kelly wrote that Dahlia was now "a lively, happy little girl. On warm days, she loves to bask in the sun. She and I both get cold easily, so we get a lot of cuddle time under blankets, and I keep her well-dressed.  She has a growing wardrobe, and I think she may need a second dresser drawer before long.

"Anyway, your little girl is being showered with the love, warmth, and goodies she deserves. I think if she could tell you herself, she’d say she’s very happy with her forever home."

No one will ever again think of this little dog as a "Poor Little Thing." How things do change.

We've had some adoptions recently, including Pip, who was a stray in Jefferson County, and Pekie, a pekingese mix whose owner had died.

We've also taken in some dogs from an auction. They range from some that are completely healthy and well socialized to a few that will need some rest and rehabilitation before they're ready for new homes.  Here's my favorite -- a miniature Australian shepherd pup named Rex.  I've thought of setting his fee and adoption requirements high --- really hig.  That way potential adopters will stay away, and I can enjoy him longer.

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

 

 

 

Love these old black dogs

Ryley...one of our black dogs now adopted

 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. Meet and adopt your new best friend 11 to 3 Saturday/Sunday , April 21 and 22, in the Kirkwood Petco near I-44 and Lindbergh or 11 to 3 Saturday, April 21 in the Bridgeton Petsmart. To see which dogs will be where as well as other adoptable dogs, go Here. We still have some money in This Dixie Fund to cover all but $50 of the fee for Red Ribbon dogs, generally those that are 8 years and older or have special needs that make them hard to place.

Everyone says black dogs are the last ones to find homes, especially big black dogs, and even more especially old big black dogs.

But we found homes for three big black dogs this week -- and two of them are seniors, including Ryley, above, whose story I have told before.  She's the somewhat overweight black lab with limited vision and a tongue that hangs out all the time because of an old head injury.  She came to us heartworm positive too.  But last week she met her new people, and by Saturday Ryley was one happy new member of a family. A family of her own. Evie's former owner had lost his home and could no longer keep her.

Evie also found her new home.  Evie is also a senior dog and also one who came to us heartworm positive.  Plus she needed knee surgery.  Evie paid a couple visits to her new home before it became official.  Evie was a stray in a rural Illinois shelter before we took her in.  I know her bad times are in the past.  She now has a wonderful new family and even another lab as a companion.  Here's Evie.

And I just learned that Stella is being adopted.  Stella is another black lab mix although a young one.  We took her out of the old St. Louis City Pound at Gasconade.  Stella met her new person at Saturday's adoption event.  That person went  home to think about it some more and today contacted the foster mom about what she needed to do to bring Stella home.  Here's Stella.

 Any week that sees three black dogs finding good homes is fine with me.  But we also placed Carly the beagle mix, Lola the boxer, and Piper the havanese.

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com

This is what I like to hear

Honey, now Molly, enjoys a comfortable ride

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. Meet and adopt your new best friend 11 to 3 Saturday/Sunday , April 14 and 15, in the Kirkwood Petco near I-44 and Lindbergh. To see which dogs will be there as well as other adoptable dogs, go Here. We still have some money in This Dixie Fund to cover all but $50 of the fee for Red Ribbon dogs, generally those that are 8 years and older or have special needs that make them hard to place.

 

One thing I worry about is that the people who adopt dogs from us will give them away to people who will give them away again, and ultimately the dog will end up in a bad situation.  Of course, giving away the dog does violate our contract, and we do tell people that they must return the dog to us if they can't keep it any longer.  But sometimes people forget, and sometimes they think they're doing a good thing by finding a new home for the dog.

Giving the dog away is not a good thing. 

So I'm especially happy when I hear from people who fill me in on the dog they adopted from us several years back.  I love hearing that the dog is still with them, still alive, and still very much loved.

I received an email this week from Cindy who adopted  Honey (renamed Molly) six years ago. At one time I wasn't sure this eight-year-old blonde cocker spaniel would even make it another year.  She came to us thin and matted with badly infected ears, rotten teeth and multiple mammary tumors. She needed a lot of tlc and two surgeries before she was ready for adoption.

Good news.  Molly just celebrated her sixth anniversary in her home.

" She's now 14, give or take, so goes to show even those 'mature' dogs still have plenty of life in them!" wrote Cindy.

Molly had just returned from a vet visit where she received a clean bill of health.  Heart and lungs sounded good and all tests came back clear.

Cindy sent several pictures, including the one in the stroller.  "Molly has gotten a little slower and isn't too keen on walks, so she gets to ride in style in her stroller." Here's a picture of her in the yard.

Molly is one of those dogs that could easily have "fallen through the cracks."  She was too sick to be anyone's idea of a good choice to rescue. She was a risky choice, an expensive choice, but a choice I'm glad we made.

Six years!  Six good years for a dog that had been so seriously neglected.  And it looks like she's got the health to go several years more.

During her years with Cindy, Molly has learned to accept cats and has never stopped appreciating meal time.  Her tail really goes to work when dinner is coming.

If I had a tail, it'd be wagging right now.

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com

 

 

 

Happy News and My Poor Shoes

Aphrodite (Riley Ann) and her new pal: A pair of "good" chocolate labs.

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. Meet and adopt your new best friend 11 to 3 Saturday/Sunday , April 14 and 15 in the Kirkwood Petco near I-44 and Lindbergh. To see which dogs will be there as well as other adoptable dogs, go Here. We still have some money in This Dixie Fund to cover all but $50 of the fee for Red Ribbon dogs, generally those that are 8 years and older or have special needs that make them hard to place.

 

After I adopted my chocolate lab Shenzi, someone told me a few things about young labs I didn't know or hadn't remembered. I did remember that they chew a lot. Perhaps I didn't take "a lot" seriously enough.

Before I wised up, Shenzi destroyed every dog bed in the house. On one particularly interesting day, she redecorated the living room in ankle-deep shredded foam. That happened during a 10 minute lapse of attention on my part. I was in another room.

Before I wised up, she chewed up five pairs of shoes, six pillows, four blouses, towels, washclothes, two sweaters, and a jacket. She bit a hole out of another sweater, but I'm still wearing that one.

Mind you, I don't leave things within easy reach of dogs. But Shenzi has both a reach and a determination that requires stronger measures and higher places. So I wised up and found higher and higher places to store my stuff. And I closed more doors.

Now that I've wised up, she's ripped apart two more pillows, two more pairs of shoes, and a sofa cushion.

Now that I've wised up, I realize we are locked in battle. I'm not predicting a winner yet. By the way, this is Shenzi with her sneaky guess-what-I just did smile.

So you see why she's still alive. Good thing she's so cute.

Saturday I told several people that I was down to a pair of Keds, flipflops, and rain boots a size too small. I counted one pillow left for sleeping.

This morning Shenzi got one of the flipflops and the last pillow.

So I went shoe shopping at a resale store and did pretty well -- three shoes for six dollars, and they're actually pretty good shoes. Shoes now go on the top shelf in my closet.

I have yet to figure out a Shenzi-safe pillow, but I'm listening to all suggestions.

Sunday I took Shenzi on a walk in the woods. For the first time, I let her gallumph about without a leash. She never left my sight; she listened to my every command; and we both had a wonderful time. There's hope for her yet.

Other news: The stinky, naked beagle is starting to grow hair and is not quite as stinky now that he's had three baths.

We found homes this past weekend for several dogs, including Pogo, Jody, Trouble and Pig Pen (Murphy).

And we've received some good news from recent adopters, including the people who adopted the beautiful Aphrodite ( a chocolate lab not chewing shoes and pillows.) She is now renamed Reilly Ann and is getting along fine with her new dog compaion. (Picture above).

And I helped return an ancient pomeranian to her worried owners. I got a call about this dog from its microchip. We'd adopted the dog out 9 years ago as an 8 or 9 year old dog. That would make her 16 to 18 years old now. She got away somehow while the owners were moving into a new house. All's well. Dog home safely.

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com

 

Stinky, naked beagle for adoption

Scooter...not quite ready for adoption

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.  Meet and adopt your new best friend 11 to 3 Saturday , April 7 at either the Kirkwood Petco near I-44 and Lindbergh or the St. Louis/Mackenzie Petco on Watson Rd.  To see which dogs will be where as well as other adoptable dogs, go Here.  We still have some money in  This Dixie Fund to cover all but $50 of the fee for Red Ribbon dogs, generally those that are 8 years and older or have special needs that make them hard to place.

Note:  The Speed Scrabble fundraiser scheduled for April 7 has been cancelled.

It all started when Terri offered to foster a senior boxer at Jefferson County Animal Control.  I called out there to say I'd pick up the grey-muzzled girl we later named Saphron.  While on the phone I heard someone talking in the background saying, "Tell her about the old beagle.  He's right up her alley."

So they told me about the old beagle whose owner had died.  This dog needed  a little  help, they told me.  So instead of coming home with one old dog, I came home with two.  Here's the boxer, who was abandoned when her former owner moved. She's a happy wiggly girl who acts younger than her grey muzzle would suggest.  We're guessing her at 8 years old, and she is now ready for adoption.

And then there's Scooter, the beagle in need of "a little help."  When I checked him out at the shelter, I  first noticed the smell, then the long toe nails, and finally the fact that the dog had lost much of the hair that should have been covering its body. Add to that an estimated age of 12 years. No one would want this dog.   (See picture at top). 

So home I went with a stinky, naked beagle.  The vet diagnosed a flea allergy and started him on antibiotics and medicated baths.  After two baths, Scooter is still not a dog you want anywhere near your nose.  His skin, though, is a little less red, and I think I can feel some hair beginning to grow. 

So now we wait and hope the next bath will be the one that makes him smell  pretty.  In two weeks he goes back to the vet for a progress visit.  Here's another picture of Scooter today. I hope the next one will show a lot more hair.

And yes, we've had some adoptions. Tip and Top the Aussie puppies have found homes.  So has Bam Bam the senior Italian Greyhound, Bushka the 5 year old havanese and Alex the beagle.  We've also taken in some non-senior dogs, including Tippy a beagle mix and Pip, a 5-year-old small dog who might be a pomeranian/sheltie mix.  Here she is...and after a trip to the groomers, she's smells heavenly.

I've had a lot of inquiries about some of our adoptable dogs this week, so I'm predicting a good adoption weekend.

Ellen Ellick

President/Founder

St. Louis Senior Dog Project

EllenE9466@aol.com