SUET-SUET

Happy Birthday Suet-Suet!!! You are sixteen years old today and we hope you have a wonderful day!! Here's what his dad wrote me about the plans for his birthday! "His celebration will start Sunday night. We have not been letting him upstairs for the past few weeks as he gets too excited in the morning, but Sunday night once he has had his night time med, we will move his bed back up to our bedroom and bring him up.On his birthday, around 11am, by then all his meds will fully be up, we will let him out in the backyard and then open the side gate and take him for a walk....something he has wanted to do for months but just could not do due to winter. It may not be a long walk, and we are very concerned about him getting too excited and will have our small tank with him, but if he dies walking...it was doing something he wanted to do...but we are optimists.Later, for dinner we will make his favorite chinese soup-which has big chunks of pork in it, and give him a bowl of....pork!!!!!Finally, assuming all else has gone well, we will let him back upstairs so he can have a good sleep."

Suet-Suet is still wagging his tail and looking for treats. Day by day he is weaker in body but not spirit. His mom and dad tend to carry him out for his first trip out in the morning as his meds are lowest then, but after that he does his "big doggie" routine and trots out and back by himself. His Dad had to clear the snow for him last month and made him a figure 8 loop to walk so he could get a little exercise. For the Chinese New Year, Suet-Suet (the Cantonese Peke) wished you: Gung hay fat choy ("May you become prosperous.") Sun nien fai lok ("Happy new year")And for the Mandarin speaking Pekes'Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xin Nian Kuai Le.

I think this is the first Pekingese driver's license I've seen-- and what better Peke to have it that Suet-Suet!!

You were young here, just about 11 months old.

This is an "all angles" picture your dad sent me. You are so cute! This is four years ago.

And when you moved to your new house three years ago, you were checking out the yard and the beautiful flowers.

His dad wrote me and said: "Suet-Suet went to the clinic and the vet is quite impressed that he is still with his mom and dad and while he is thinner (due to his disease) the vet thought all in all he was doing well. His lungs are (according to the vet) perfectly clear and his heart sounds okay (given his condition). After the visit he took a short walk outside in the snow while my wife paid the bill and he rode back home and was fine, no collapse. Today, he was fine, eager to go outside and walked in and out by himself. He is quite the little trooper.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUET-SUET!!! p.s I told Suet-Suet's dad that I was doing this blog and he said, "I will make sure he sees it..we leave the netbook out for him to use at night." LOVE IT!

SLEEPING DOGS PART 2

I did a blog last week on sleeping dogs and asked for pictures. Well, I got some and found some I already had. (If I have repeats, forgive me-- I just had so much fun looking at the pictures!) This is Arbie and Trio (adopted from us), sound asleep together, all covered up!

And Binky, one of our current foster dogs, is keeping company with a stuffed animal-- it makes a great pillow!

Here's RB/Rose Bud/Arby and Carter sound asleep. Two is better than one!

Here's RB sleeping soundly when she was in foster care.

Leo, the blind Peke we had in foster (now adopted) is snuggling in his bed. Simba was getting ready to fall asleep......

I don't think he was able to hold out-- those eyes are just about closed!

This is little Ginger-- totally relaxed on her back. She now lives in a wonderful home in NC.

Amy, former foster dog, was curled up in one of the many dog bed Jeanne has in her home-- Someone once commented that I had a lot of dog beds in my house. Well, of course, a lot of Pekes live here! And they all get washed every week or two. I know Pekes are concerned about that!! haha

Yoshi was curled up in a tight ball to sleep---- and his brother.....

Shami was using the side of the couch for a pillow. My Pekes do this, too. It just looks so uncomfortable, but I guess it's not. He is obviously VERY asleep!

Thanks for sharing pictures with me!!!

COSMO AND HIS "GRANDCHILD"

COSMO

Cosmo was my first foster dog and I love the updates on him. He was in terrible shape and came a long way in the month I had him, but he became a stunning Peke after he was adopted and continued to get healthier. I fostered him almost 8 years ago and now he's eight years older (funny how that works!).

I'm now seeing my former foster dogs getting some gray on them--

Cosmo has a new "grandchild." She is getting big now. She lives there, too, and sometimes Pekes don't want to be bothered by little fingers.

So, his mom bought this playpen. I had some for sale to raise money for my granddog's eye surgery and they bought one of them (THANK YOU!). I'm not sure who will be in it, dogs or child. It works for both. :-)

I have one in the nursery upstairs that is for my grandchild. (Notice I put the bumper pad at the top so no suffocation danger-- just a tip here.)

I think the grandchild is in this one at Cosmo's house. They put netting around it to keep little fingers from getting nipped. Some Pekes are great with kids, but Cosmo has been THE BABY along with his Peke brother Winston, and so it's good to have a safety spot when you can't watch every baby movement.

Cosmo is so cute-- I'm so glad I still get updates!

KIRA--SAFE / HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE!

Before I begin the blog, I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jane, Gracie Lu's mom. I'm sure Gracie Lu has big plans for the day!!! Jane sent me this article from her home town: Click here: Marshall County Tribune: Local News: Showing their puppy love (02/18/11) ++++++ ++++++

Kira came to us through a plea for help. She was a back yard breeder's dog and didn't know what love was all about.

She was very timid and just knew to run if you approached her. She had not be dealt with kindly. She would hide out in her kennel, because that was the only safe place she was familiar with.

Jeanne took her to her home for fostering. Kira has one small eye, probably from an injury where the eye was not treated, but she sees well enough to get around. She would love a quiet home, but was fine at Jeanne's with her dogs and doggy noise. :-) (Foster homes aren't always quiet!)

She began to look around and feel safer. She learned to go outside and didn't have accidents (which is amazing). She is not a bit aggressive--she wouldn't know how to be.

Kira didn't wait long for an application-- one came within two days of her joining her foster home. She is now in a patient and loving home of her own. She is following her new mom around the house and will sit on her lap for hours. I love endings like this for dogs who have had no love at all before. Thank you for adopting her!!

CIARA UPDATE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ESSIE!!! I KNOW IT WAS YESTERDAY AND I AM LATE! HOPE YOUR DAY WAS WONDERFUL!!!
We received a request to help Ciara, who was at a shelter in Washington, DC. We also had a wonderful applicant in N.Va. who sounded like a great fit for her. Do we always have to have our applicants adopt from us? We like it! But, if we can direct them to another Peke that needs help that would be a good fit, we will do that. We just like to save Pekes!

So, I told her about Ciara-- and she went to meet her. She fell in love with her! She was able to pick her up (after her spay) on January 19. Ciara was very curious about her new surroundings, but she adjusted quickly. Her new owners wrote me and said, "She knows where the door is and when the keys are picked up, and the coats go on, she is ready to go out. She loves to go for longgggg walks as we scour the neighborhood I have not visited since my Max passed last summer. She has come to be our aerobic exercise weapon. Her “greetings” when we come home is priceless. "

"I was apprehensive when I first saw her because she was missing an eye and she was so skittish in her den. But, when I got to interact with her, all that changed! Ciara is a great little dog. I feel we really got a great match, and we love her so much-- thanks to the Potomac Valley Pekingese Club and the Washington Animal Rescue League. I have come to realize and appreciate the work that both agencies do. I didn’t realize how may orphaned animals there are out there. I am glad that I was able to rescue one." We are glad Ciara has a home, too!! One Peke at a time, finding good homes is what we do-- and it just makes our hearts smile!

KELLER, FRIEND OF TRACEY

Keller, pictured with his friend, was part of his mom, Colleen's, saving Tracey's life.

Keller (who has a fancy diaper on) is dreaming of the new life Tracey is now going to have!

He was so excited to be part of her rescue. He can't see, but he could sense the need that Tracey had to be saved.

Keller was so happy to help rescue Tracey! Look at that smile on his face. He knows Tracey is on her way to a forever home and will have as much love as he has now.

Like Keller, Tracey will have her own bed, her own mom, wonderful food and safety the rest of her life. Thank you Keller for helping to rescue Tracey!!! You are my Peke hero today!

TRACEY, SAFE AT LAST

I have never "taken in" a dog in rescue that has had the background of little Tracey. All I knew was that she was in a NC shelter and was going to be put down the next day. It was a Sunday afternoon and Jeanne and I thought we had "the day off." That doesn't happen much in rescue.

Tracey was found next to her dead owners. The mother and grandmother had been shot by the son/grandson. Little Tracey was found next to them, not wanting to leave their sides. We have the news story on our facebook account-- it is one of the saddest we've heard. And the shelter decided that because Tracey was "old and needed a dental", she was not being put up for adoption. The volunteer rescue person at the shelter started sending out emails to save Tracey's life. I didn't get it until the day before she was going to be put down-- so I had to work fast. I knew a few people in NC, where Tracey was, and I emailed them all. One of them, Colleen, said she would help. Without her help, Tracey would not have been saved.

Colleen picked up Tracey-- who is here giving her a big thank you kiss. Tracey had been in the shelter since November, almost three months.

Here is Tracey on the way to Colleen's house. She stayed there, and had a grooming and bath by Colleen, so that she could then make the trip to her foster home in Va. today. Debbie will be her foster mom and her permanent mom. With her story, Debbie said she will stay there and be loved the rest of her life. Debbie wrote on our face book account, "she has been saved from euthanasia by Colleen and the final end is near for her forever home, I am the lucky one to get her. Thanks to POTOMAC rescue. What a great group of folks. And they have a friendship following that is very concerned and thoughtful." (Thank you for those sweet words, you are part of our team now, too!) Debbie is so excited that she said, "I am ready to have a baby shower for her! I'm going to spoil her and try to make up to her for the time she was in jail." I love that! When Jeanne and I see this ending to the work we've done, our hearts just about explode with joy!

If any of you want to thank Colleen for what she did, just put it on the comments or send an email to me at haveninhim@aol.com and I will make sure she gets it. THANK YOU COLLEEN! You saved a life this week.