Success Stories

                            " Jonsey"

Let me tell you about Jonsey. He is a very special Chihuahua. What makes him so special,? well he survived a puppy mill for 4 years. That is never an easy feat for ANY dog.

    Puppy mills are not a good place for ANY animal. The dogs tend to live in very small wire cages, in dark, swanky barns, the cages are barely big enough for one dog, but they normally have two dogs in one cage. A male and a female, then if they have pups, the pups get to live with their parents for a few weeks, till they are pulled.
And then the male does his job and the female is pregnant again, the female NEVER gets any breaks, they are bred from the time they are old enough until the time, they no longer produce.

Jonsey was subjected to this treatment as well. These dogs live amoungst themsleves. They live day to day, not knowing what will happen in the next moment. They are treated worse than livestock, they are NEVER handled, they are never spoke kindly to, they are never touched, except to grab at them to give shots, sometimes, or to check for abnormalities. They do not get petted, they do not get treats, they do not getout of those wire cages, they never feel the ground, grass, carpet, nothing but wire.
    No one speaks kindly to them, they do not get very good food.
But yet they are expected to produce.

    Jonsey came to us over 6 months ago.
I had to feed him can food sitting on the floor, and putting the can food in front of him, and avert my eyes, I was not allowed to look at him while he ate.
I was not allowed to touch, at all, he would shiver and shake so much, I thought he would have a heart attack, literally.

I was not allowed to put my hands on him for the first two months.
If I wanted to pet him, I had to climb in his crate, and force myself to pet him, while he would shiver and shake, and look totally terrified. I had to show him, that I would never ever hurt him, that he could trust me. I did this everyday for two months.
Until he finally allowed me to pet him, outside of the crate.

   We put a harness on him, so that we could introduce him to the outside, he would again, shiver and shake, he eyes would get so wide, I got to hate that look, it was a look of PURE fear. A fear that only a human could give him. It was at those times, that I am very glad that I do not live near a mill operation farm, for I know what I would have done to the people who had done this to this little dog.
      After awhile Jonsey got to use to grass, between his toes, and he got to like it, he learned to do his business outside, he learned that grass is sometimes good to eat.
He also learned that carpet is very soft and it does not cut his feet like the wire did. He learned that carpet is great for when you have an itch, the carpet will help you itch it.

He learned to trust me a bit more everyday.
He learned what a treat was, that took a bit for him to figure out
but once he did, he now loves treats.

Lady

I know that we are a dog rescue, but I have had horses all my life, and when I was told of a mini that needed help, I had to go take a look, and one look was all it took. This poor baby had been been grossly neglected she had been saved and helped somewhat but still needed a place to go to. I brought her home, to the rescue ranch. She came with her best friend. Lady is a very sweet horse, even though a human had neglected her. Her front hooves was elf like, and the front hoof walls had grown inward. So instead of walking on the sole of the hoof she was walking on the walls of her hoof, she needed help to literally get her feet under her, she stayed with us for 6 months, in that time she won the hearts of ALL the volunteers and everyone that visited our ranch. She was our star foster , and I really think she knew that, as she would always come to the fence for anyone that wanted to meet her. We got her back into shape and kept her on a trim schedule. Lady brought life to the rescue, she made everyone feel her love. When I knew that I was getting too attached to her, I knew it was time to find her a new home where she could be happy and live out her days in happiness. We found such a home, she now lives with another mini andShe has a life that she has always dreamed of..... she will be truly missed around here.....

Our Buddy

Buddy is a terrier mix, that was our longest resident foster dog. He came from a home that collected animals, he lived with several other dogs. He was not altered and was allowed to breed. Not for profit but just because! Buddy would not allow us to touch him at all upon meeting him, in fact we did not touch him for the first two days after bringing him home, this dog was a very scared, timid and wary little dog. Being the person that I am, I saw that he wanted love but was not sure of humans, or how to respond to love. I gave him his space, and he wanted love more than he wanted space, so he fought to be with humans, he jumped fences, he chewed thru the fences, the walls, anything that stood between him and humans.He had spunk, I saw that he wanted to trust but he needed time, and we gave him a whole year of time. He lived with a few foster homes. He needed to experience different environments, he had to learn to act like a dog, and to accept love from everyone. We took him to a few events, and each and every time he would shiver from being so afraid of the whole experience. We were almost ready to give up and accept the truth, that he would never be able to be placed with a new family, and we tried one last time, and it was then that he was seen by a person that fell for his cute face... it took a few more weeks to get him ready for his transformation, we placed him in the new home, to see if he could adapt...and Guess WHAT???? He did, and so he was allowed to stay and though he is still in the learning process, he is truly happy and so are we. Buddy taught us that you cannot put a time limit on love, and that we have to give these special dogs more time to adjust, and they will. Time, Love, and Patience will be our new rules to live by.....

Bo

Bo is a purebred Cocker spaniel. that showed up in a volunteer's backyard and we believe he had an angel that led him to us. Bo was severely abused, so much that he would shiver and shake and hide if you even looked at him, our hearts bled for him. He was placed in a couple of homes to try and get him used to strange people coming in and out, it took months of rehab to get him to allow folks to look at him, without him shaking, he was not totally healed but he was ready to allow someone to help him, and w e found a special couple that wanted to make his life easier, he is doing much better and he loves his new home, thank you for giving Bo his chance!!!!!

Black Jack

Black Jack, came up from New Orleans. he is a Hurricane Gustav survivor. But his story made us cry, he was released to a shelter when he was just a young pup and because he had a deformed foot, no one wanted him, no one would adopt him, so this guy had to grow up in a shelter, he lived for almost a year in a kennel, a cage, can you imagine what he missed out on,, what he needed so much of and had none, they told us that he was in need, and that was all it took, we brought him here to Michigan. we knew that we HAD to find him a special home, for he truly deserved one. And we found it, he is now the love of someone special, and he is truly happy at last, and never to live in a kennel again.