HEIDI JOINS THE FAMILY

This is Tess. She was adopted from us and now lives with Pekes and Dobermans. It's quite a combination, but their owner are diligent about keeping them all safe. Those Pekes can be dangerous! haha Tess now has a new sister. (She's refusing birthday cake in the picture-- can you imagine!)

This is Vicky-- she's not the new sister. She was there already. The new sister is Heidi. Heidi was dumped out by the side of a highway and someone saw it happen. She stopped and picked up the dog. They tried to care for her, but knew she had problems they weren't equipped to take care of so they took her to the vet. And the vet called Tess and Vicky's owners, who he knew could help this little girl overcome whatever had happened to her. Heidi was so terrified that she wouldn't come out from under the bed. She had never had a dental (or any care!), and so she had a dental and lost 17 teeth. That meant she could eat without being sick. She was cleaned up and her LONG nails were cut. She had a urinary infection and soon she'll be spayed-- one thing at a time as she is healthy enough.

Heidi joined the family on Tess' eighth birthday , so they decided to give the same birthday to Heidi. Vicky was 15 on April 2, so they all had cake. Some enjoyed it and some refused it-- like Tess who wants to keep her girly figure. :-) Their owners said, "Heidi refused dog food of any flavor or variety but loved cake. True girl. Vicky sniffed it, licked it and walked away; we think cause it wasn't chocolate. :)" These Pekes-- you just never know!

MEMORIAL DAY

I want to use this blog today to say thank you to all the men and women who have served our country. This is a day to remember.

I have been "military" all my life. My dad served for over 30 years in the Air Force. My husband is retired Navy, and so is his dad. My daughter's father in law is retired Navy. We know many who have served and many who have given their life for our wonderful country. I want to say thank you.

This is my husband, who is the kindest man I've ever known. He lives to give to others. He gave over 20 years in service to our country-- thank you, sugar. (He's carrying Drill Bit on his back.)

To all who are presently serving, and all who have served before, thank you. If you lost someone in service to our country, you have my sympathy and heart. If you've lived as a "dependent" to someone in the service and have lived that life, with its challenges and rewards, thank you. I love our country!

LILY AND NOBLE

Lily and Noble came from a puppy mill bust in Arkansas. They were brought to the DC area and our group took 12 of them. Noble, above and below, was so small and malnourished.

Lily, above, was a tiny one. She was undernourished, had limited vision, and needed help. They were both in foster care a long time, getting help so they could have a life they deserved.

Lily had a lot of digestive and eye issues, but she was loved and cared for. And of course, she had a pink bed. Lily and Noble became best friends in rescue.

They were adopted together! Now, they are the only two dogs in their home. Their new owner had adopted before from us and we knew she would give them a wonderful home.

Aren't they cute! I love this, curled up with a best friend in a forever home.

Here's a note from their new owner:

"Now I have Noble and Lily. They were rescued from an Arkansas puppy mill about a year ago and have been with their foster mom, Gloria. She did a wonderful job of socializing them and I know she really misses the two Munchkins. Gloria is with the Potomac Valley Pekingese Club that handles Peke rescue efforts. Schatze, my Peke who just died, came to me from Gloria. Noble and Lily have met their new vet and she adores them already. They also met their "grandparents" Gumps and Ganny and Gumps has spoiled them with lap time. Both are sweet and gentle and TINY--Noble weighed 7.5 pounds and Lily was 10 pounds at the vet's office yesterday. They will also be good around children. We will just have to make sure Noble and Lily are safe around them!" Thank you for adopting them!! Have a wonderful life, Lily and Noble!!

FAREWELL OPAL

Opal was Paige's little 'tiny' girl. She got her from Louise (our president) and she had her for about 7-8 years. Opal was very small and had heart problems.

She loved to go outside in the snow-- or maybe not. :-)

She was definitely "Queen of the cuties!"

Opal was pampered, and always had to have her special things-- like ice packs in the warmer months. She had her special chair to sleep in at night, with everything she needed.

Paige loved her little girl. She Opal loved her back.

She had been having more health issues lately. Paige was doing everything she could for her.

Opal will be so missed by her family. We will all miss hearing stories about her.

Rest in peace, sweet Opal. Your mom will see you at the Rainbow Bridge.

FAREWELL THOMAS

Thomas came into rescue in 2007. He was from a shelter and not doing well there. He was blind in one eye and needed drops in the other. He was at least 6 years old then. He had a long history of infections from the appearance of his ears-- this was a little Peke who has never been cared for. He also had a lot of allergies that had been left untreated. His mom put him on Hill's Ultra Z/D, an allergy food. When she opened his special food, she wrote me that "Thomas went NUTS. You'd have thought I'd dumped a butcher shop in front of him. While I was pouring it from the bag into a plastic storage container, he went into full celebration mode - jumped and danced and woofed, and tried to leap into the container. He clearly love this stuff." I call all the Pekes "little" but Thomas was over 18 pounds. He fell in love with his foster family. He liked going for walks, car rides and the cat in his home became his very best friend.

Here he is with his friend, Mick. After Thomas had been in his foster family for awhile, his foster mom wrote me and said they took a vote and that Thomas was staying. I was so glad because he obviously adored them. This week, Thomas, who was at least 11, probably older, got pnemonia. With great sadness that he could not overcome it, his foster mom let him go. This is never an easy decision, but one we sometimes have to make. We are so sorry for his family and know they will miss him. Rest in peace, sweet Thomas.

JIE LI

Here is an update on sweet Jie Li. First, I have to tell you his story. He was adopted in February. We do all we can to find good homes for our dogs. We meet the people, check homes........ We did this and he was adopted. Our adoption contract is VERY clear. If a dog is lost, we must be notified. A dog adopted from us must have identification tags on at all times. It turned out that we were not notified when Jie-Li was lost-- he did not have tags on. And his name then was Milo. We just didn't know we had gotten Milo back until we compared the microchip numbers. We microchip every dog. We were very disappointed when the "owners" did nothing to find him-- or to let us know. And Milo, now Jie-Li, was disappointed, too. He thought he was going to be loved and cared for-- we thought so, too. Well, he is now! He even has a few best friends now.

Denali, his Peke sister, has taken special care of Jie-Li. She loves him, and she has taught him to play. He is overcoming all he went through and is beginning to trust again.

He is learning that people can be counted on to care for him. Jie-Li had been a back yard breeder dog, so he had trust issues to begin with. That's why we try to be so careful when we allow someone to adopt-- it is a big responsibility for us to choose the right home. Sometimes, we just don't know a home won't turn out okay-- but it rarely happens. Most of the time, they are great! So, thank you to all our great adopters.

Jie-Li is doing great. He is still a little timid, but he's coming out of his shell and his foster mom is thrilled.

Just to see this sweet boy smiling and enjoying life is wonderful to see.

Jie-Li is grinning as Denali looks on.

He joined my foster gang at the Peke picnic in May. We had a group of foster dogs in my xpen and they all did great together!

Jie-Li is wagging his tail more, and will get on the couch.

Jie Li is beginning to show that he does have much joy. When he is let out with the other dogs, he BOUNDS around the back yard. Denali and Cheech, the Chihuahua there, were playing hard in the living room and Jie Le got up from where he was laying down and walked to them, tentatively. Now he is playing and interacting and life is becoming wonderful.

We all love you, Jie Li!! Thank you, Marilyn, for all you are doing for him and for loving him back to health!

WANDA AND ELVIS

This is Wanda. She looks pretty rough now, but just wait until she gets better! She was in a shelter in the western part of Virginia and had been severely neglected. One eye will need to be removed, the other had dry eye and because of lack of treatment, she has lost some vision. She gets around fine, though. She also had a large bladder stone and severe infection. Those are all being cared for and she had surgery Thursday for the bladder stone. I'm sure she'll feel 100% better now that that is gone. She'll have a second surgery to remove her eye. It is non-functional and giving her trouble.

Look at her coloring. I've never seen this pattern on a Peke, but she is adorable! Her foster mom, a vet who adopted from us (and who I am SO thankful to for helping us) is taking great care of her. Just wait for the new pictures of her as she heals. She is only five or six years old.

And here's Elvis! He is doing so well and has come so far. You all remember that he had a giant (over one pound) hair/junk ball in his stomach-- he had eaten anything to fill his empty stomach. He was going to be put down by the shelter, but one of the workers fought for his life so that he could come to us. We're so glad she did!

He is not as fast as the other dogs in the house, but he sure makes an effort to keep up with them.

He's now looking for his forever home. If I had room, I'd take him! (I'm a little full right now haha.)

But, I kinow that perfect home is out there. Just like Wanda, he is a wonderful little dog. Can you see the similarities between them? They look like they came out of an oreo cookie package.

I think he's looking for his new mom/dad.

In the meantime, he's being loved and well cared for. If you are interested in either one of our dogs (or maybe even two!), just email us at potomacpekes@gmail.com.

LILY, WILEY AND MISSY

I wanted to let you see some beautiful Pekes-- the Pekes of Beth and David. They've adopted three from us and fostered quite a few. But, first, I had to put Wiley's first picture that I had of him. He was 11 pounds, hair thin from flea infested skin, and he needed help. I couldn't leave him at the shelter. You can see how rough he looked, but he was so sweet.

Look at him now with Lily!! Look at that smile! He was a charmer when I got him, rolling over for belly rubs, and he still does that. But, he is healthy and his hair is gorgeous. Miss Lily--Liliang Xin-- has her pink bows on and was all ready to go to the Pekingese Picnic in April.

Missy has her red and black bows and matching scarf. She is definitely a Daddy's girl. She was all beautiful for the picnic, too.

Lily was a foster dog from a back yard breeder who was in horrible shape-- but look at her now.

Wiley has come so far and is playful and loving. I hope you were able to meet them at the picnic. If not, I'm sure they'll be back next year!

FAREWELL CHANCEY AND DIXIE

My friend, Cherry, has taken in some of our older, special need's Pekes. She has a special touch with them and so much love just pours out of her. Her older dog, Dixie, was a member of the family before any of them came. She was a gentle soul and was between 15 and 18 years old. Cherry has to say good-bye to her last week.

She also had to say good-bye to sweet Chancey, who she adopted from us several years ago. Chancey was an older Peke I got out of a shelter. His tongue had black markings on it and it was so unusual. He was so sweet!

He had trouble getting around and this is how he ate-- he had lost most of his hearing and sight, and had trouble figuring out where he was.

Dixie was the first of Cherry's gang when she began to take in some of our seniors. And just like her love for Dixie, Cherry had incredible love for each one she took in. Some were challenges, had trust issues, were blind, or deaf, and Cherry loved them through their difficulties.

When I had Chancey, he was sitting in front of the fan one day-- it looked like he was going to take off! He loved that fan.

We took a road trip to meet his new mom, Cherry, and he was such a good boy in the car. Cherry was beyond thrilled to get him.

He liked to help her with her emails. Look how beautiful he was.

He had beautiful big eyes-- he had to have surgery on the folds when he was here, and it made his eye more visible than before-- just like a Pekingese figurine. Beautiful!

We are so sorry that Cherry lost two on the same day. It's so hard to say good-bye, but having to say good-bye to two at once is rough. They had a wonderful life with you, Cherry. Thank you for loving them so much and giving them all such a great life. I know Muffin, Tiffany, Weezie, Lovie, Precious, and Clifford will miss their friends. Farewell sweet Dixie and Chancey.