A Picture is Worth A Thousand Lives

sometimes you don't realize that something needs to change until after it already has.

volunteering at the shelter each week, and seeing and knowing the dogs first hand, i know how cute, cuddly, beautiful and adoptable they ALL are.  i only ever used the actual shelter website so i could check out the newbies, and see who was "still there",  making guesses on the other dogs - who might have gotten adopted and who might not have been so lucky. 

i never really stopped to look at the pictures.  i didn't know they needed to change.  and then came Project Pearl...

the idea spawned when two wonderful women met a Forsyth County shelter dog, Pearl. found as a stray, Pearl's owner was located, but had moved and decided not to bring her along. a staff favorite, Pearl, an adult dog, was already housetrained and had wonderful manners, but also had some minor skin allergies and was missing patches of hair, which made her less desirable. she patiently waited 2 months for a home until these lovely ladies teamed up, cleaned Pearl up, re-photographed her and found her a home! two days later Project Pearl was born!

                            Sweet Pearl barely made it out of the shelter! 
                                       thank goodness she did!

trying to figure out a new way to help the local shelter, they decided on highlighting some of the great animals with Project Pearl’s “lend a lens” program. with the help of local professional photographers and volunteers, Project Pearl meets weekly at the shelter. shelter staff help identify animals that have been at the shelter the longest and the animals get re-photographed by the professionals.

 

the difference is quite simply, amazing.  see for yourself:

Spot BEFORE Project Pearl

Spot AFTER Project Pearl - SPOT IS STILL ADOPTABLE!

it's through creative solutions like Project Pearl that awareness is being raised about local adoptable dogs, people are becoming more involved and sharing with one another and LIVES ARE BEING SAVED!  check out some of the awesome adoption photos at:  https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/Project-Pearl/294121223932475

but there are so many more lives to be saved!  here are just a few of the super adoptable dogs that are available NOW at Forsyth County Animal Control:

who could resist Lori's sweet face?

Jonice is a perfectly pretty pittie

and Marley wants to come home with YOU!

thank you Project Pearl for all you do to help our local animals in need!  for the rest of you, you can get involved by "liking" Project Pearl on Facebook and cross posting pictures of adoptable animals!  or consider adopting one yourself!

and, if you really want to help out, you can always volunteer your time and/or your services to Project Pearl - the animals will thank you!

for a full list of adoptable animals, you can also check out http://forsyth.cc/animalcontrol/adoption.aspx 

A Rags To Riches Story: Smiley aka Leroy Brown aka Stig

i got a message in my inbox this morning that simply said:
"Thank you for helping us find our sweet pibble. He's a blessing."

that message was in regards to a dog i saved a year or so ago, with the help of Two Loons Rescue, Melissa Kramer Barnes, and Kristin Marion.  that dog was smiley.

when smiley was at the shelter, he was ANYTHING but smiley.  rejection, desperation, and fear were written all over his face.  he barely ever moved, much less made even a peep.  i fell in love with this frail boy immediately, and set out on a mission to save him.  i knew he did not have much time, and he knew this as well.

so thus, the mission began as i posted his pictures in desperation on Facebook, hoping someone would step up for this sweet little boy.  no one did (but luckily a lovely couple did take notice of him and his eternal cuteness).  so i pushed on, begging the shelter not to put him down, reaching out to every 'dog person' i knew.  after some heavy-duty negotiating, Two Loons rescue stepped up to help me pull him from the shelter and Melissa Kramer Barnes agreed to foster him.  now all we had to do was find him a home - still a daunting task!

with all the pieces set in motion, let me take a quick step back and tell you that when i picked smiley up from the vet after being neutered, i encountered a dog i had NEVER met.  smiley KNEW he had been saved, and despite being stiched up and drugged up, this guy was so full of energy and life i could barely get us home safely - it's kind of hard to drive with a firecracker of a pit bull jumping all over you and your car while you're driving (i literally had to pull over on the side of the road twice to avoid an accident).

once, safe, the first thing to do was get this boy a new name...SMILEY?! i mean, it doesn't get much worse than that!  because of his frail appearance, and to make up for being named smiley, we had to go to the opposite extreme...Melissa Kramer Barnes came up with the name Leroy Brown.  that's right, bad bad Leroy Brown, baddest pibble in the whole damn town.

after only a few weeks of foster, we were lucky enough that the couple who noticed Leroy on Facebook contacted us and said they were interested in meeting him.  from the moment they met, see pictures below, it was clear it was a perfect fit!     

                        

so off went Leroy to his loving home with two amazing people!  we they first got him, he was so shy and didn't make a lot of eye contact (much like at the shelter). he hated to go near the street and would cry at night. but, after a lot of love and attention he has done a complete 180!



his new parents, Leslie and Glen, renamed him Stig, and affectionately call him a perma-pup because he still looks, acts, and smells just like a puppy! according to Leslie "He is so animated I'm still not sure he isn't a cartoon dog. He is the sweetest and most cuddly little boy ever. He sleeps in the tightest little ball and is sooooo quiet you can barely hear a peep so he makes an excellent snuggle buddy."

oh, and did i mention that he now has a SISTER, Georgia!?  Stig loves his big sis and follows her everywhere, which annoys her because although she's bigger and stronger; Stig is MUCH faster and likes to steal her toys and run around the sofa as fast as possible. go Stig!!

leslie says he has grown leaps and bounds in the short time they've had him and each day they wonder, how could anyone have kicked this little guy out?!

"we are so lucky to have found him! he completes our family and brings us so much joy each day. thank goodness he was saved, and then fostered because if he wasn't we would have missed out on a great gift and many years of silly puppy love." - Leslie

i just LOVE happy endings!

My Day Off and My Take On Dogs!

a dog is a dog is a dog.


and a day off is a blessing...and i am blessed.


today i had the pleasure of a day off and i had plenty of time to spend with rosie.  we slept in until a whooping 9am and then it was off to the vet we went!  the rest of the day was filled with errands and such, some with rosie, some without.


when i got home in the evening, i did the usual routine - fed rosie, walked rosie...and then i proceeded to do some art and talk to a few friends on the phone.  wow.  that day off made me TIRED....so i went and laid down (in rosie's bed which is actually a real bed) and i asked her to join me.  she did, delightfully so, and we both lay down and rested for 30 minutes or so.

i mean look at that face, it's soo ferocious! 

i was awoken abruptly to my phone ringing - of course - someone from work needed something...so i handled it without getting up, all the while feeling totally disgruntled that i was interrupted from my rosie time!  as i lay back down to rest, i look at the small dog curled beside me and i thought - IS THIS REALLY A PIT BULL?  THIS is the DOG that people are petrified of, the dog that makes parents run the other way with their kids, and the dog that, frankly, some people just want to do away with altogether!?  it's baffling to me!


the answer of course is yes, rosie is a pit bull, so as i laid with her it occurred to me quite strongly that yes, if you want to put a label on it - rosie is a pit bull.  and i'm damn proud of it.  but the reality is that rosie is a dog.  and a dog is a dog is a dog. nothing more, nothing less.


we teach our kids not to judge a book by it's cover, not to judge people for being black or white or indian or whatever.  


so why are we teaching our kids to hate a particular dog? i mean, it's a dog.  and a dog is a dog is a dog.

rosie sure had fun playing in the yard on our day off too!

Chance: The More I Know You, The More I Love You

the last few weekends i have made it a point to spend time with Chance both days.  partially because i want to get her out and get her exposure, and selfishly, because i love spending time with this girl and now feel like my weekend wouldn't be complete without her!

our routine goes like this - i drive to the local facility at which she is boarding.  when i walk in and announce that i am here for Chance, to go on a walk, all the staff 'ohh and ahh' over how sweet she is and what an awesome dog she is.  today, for example, the boy at the counter sprayed her down with doggie perfume and adorned her with a bandana before announcing "go out there and win a family, Chancy!"

Chance, today, all suited up with her bandana and looking for a HOME!

from there, we walk to a nearby starbucks and i get a drink and sit outside front and center so everyone who enters sees her.  they nearly always comment on how pretty she is, how well behaved she is, and to this she answers with a big wag of the tail and, if she's able, a lick or two!  unfortunately, even though every one we've come in contact with thinks that this is one awesome pup, we still have no potential adopter.

each hour of each day with sweet Chance, i love this girl even more.  she is happy, mellow, and friendly...not to mention cute as a button.  she's never met a person or a dog she doesn't LOVE.  even with little training, and being in a kennel most of her life, she knows basic commands like 'sit' 'shake' and 'down' and is happy to perform for you if she thinks she'll get a little love in return.  for her size, she is super gentle and, though not leash trained yet, she still doesn't pull you around or jerk the leash. she is also super food motivated, which means she'll be a breeze to train, once she finds the right family. 

it is my goal to get this sweet girl a home by the holidays, and this is where i need your help.  please share this with friends, cross post, and follow my blog for updates.  with your help, this baby girl could be curled up in her own home, with her own people as we all celebrate some of the happiest times of the year.

that is my goal and i hope you will help me.  Chance most certainly deserves it. for more info on Chance see http://rosiebunz.blogspot.com/2011/10/take-chance-on-me.html 

contact me for adoption details

Bunz - Part Two: Life, Love, and the Rainbow Bridge

the thirteen years i spent with Bunz were amazing.  he was my best friend, my loyal companion, and he was with me through it ALL.  college, roomates, my first job, changing jobs, boyfriends, break ups, heart ache AND happiness.  of course i had a great network of friends, family, and co-workers, but Bunz was the one i came home to every day...the one who always greeted me lovingly and made me smile.  thirteen years of this amazing being + me.  i, was, and am so lucky to have had him.

one of the biggest milestones we went through together was me getting married.  neither Bunz nor i had really ever been around kids before, so we were a little apprehensive about how this would turn out.  i mean he was 11 years old and meeting a child, really, for the first time.  i was never worried about Bunz hurting one of the children intentionally, but hey, he was a big boy and i didn't know how the kids would react or if they might be scared of him.  but i always knew, even though he looked tough on the outside, he was as big of a softie on the inside that you'd ever meet.

needless to say, the transition went smoothly, the kids fell in love with Bunz - who wouldn't really?! - and life was just good.  colin loved to pour Bunz's food for him and have Bunz lay with him in his bed at night.  julia liked to dress Bunz up in fairy and princess outfits (i WISH i could find those pictures).  and Bunz loved every minute of him.  though he loved his life with me, Bunz was a family man, and now he had a family.

i love this one because you can barely see his little head 

poking in, trying to get in the picture....

family life was good until the day that Bunz got sick.  he woke up and something just wasn't right.  his left eye was droppy and he was making a strange wheezing sound.  i took him in immediately and it appeared he had a stroke or seizure of some sort, but the bigger question was 'what caused it'?  


weeks of testing and trips to the vet revealed that his eye was able to self-regenerate, but that his larnyx was paralyzed.  (they described it to me as a set of double doors in your throat that lets air come in, but blocks bad stuff from going down).  so we were faced with the decision of surgery - the surgery was expensive and about 25% of animals that do it have serious if not life threatening complications.  if we didn't go through with the surgery, it was highly likely that he'd end up in a respiratory emergency since he couldn't breath properly.  a gut wrenching decision was made, we were going to do the surgery.


when i picked Bunz up from the surgery, i knew in my gut something wasn't right.  they told me he was lethargic from the anesthesia but this was extreme.  it took me 4 hours to get him out of the car in my driveway.  i sat with him the whole time, until i finally called a dear friend kate wilson, who came over and helped me carry him inside.  once settled on his favorite bed, i felt better, and figured he just needed to rest.


after watching him sleep peacefully for a bit, i ran out for 30 minutes to grab some food, a decision i'll question and wonder 'what if' for the rest of my life.  when i came home, Bunz had aspirated - meaning he threw up and because his throat was now unable to keep 'the bad things out' everything went right back down to places in his body it shouldn't go.  his lungs filled with fluid - pneumonia.  we rushed back to the emergency vet...AGAIN.


the first few days, they told me Bunz seemed to be getting better, at least feeling better.  and then, one day he started having strange complications again so they suggested an ultrasound.  what they found broke my heart into a thousand pieces.  Bunz had a heart tumor.  as sad as i was, it really didn't surprise me that it was his heart that was affected - a heart that big, with so much love to give, was bound to get tired and worn out at some point.


we made plans for Bunz to come home overnight and for a vet to come the next morning so he could die in the comfort of his own bed, with the people he loved so dearly.  unfortunately, the vet called back and he was deteriorating quickly - i needed to come in myself and do the job now.  so that's where it ended, just me and bunz, together, the same as it all started.


the day Bunz died, a part of me died too.  i was so utterly lost and heartbroken, i honestly didn't know if i could ever recover.  i missed him insanely and didn't like being in my own house, where i was always looking at his empty bed, expecting him to come running around a corner to cover me in kisses.  he was the most special boy who ever lived, and not having him around was too much to bare.


despite the pain,  i had to find a way to get myself out of this funk.  so that's when i started volunteering at animal control, a kill shelter, usually filled with pits and pit mixes, many of whom don't make it out alive.  i vowed to save every pit bull i could, in memory and in honor of my Bunz.  


so where one chapter ended, the new chapter of my love and life of rescue began.


today marks the one year anniversary of the death of my best friend, my son, Bunz.  i think he'd be proud of the work i've done, and of the dogs i've saved.  and i'll keep trying to save these dogs and to change people's minds about them for as long as i possibly can, no matter what it takes.



God bless you Bunz - thank you for an amazing 13 years. and thank you for inspiring me to be a better person.  see you at the Rainbow Bridge, my friend. i'm sure you'll still be wearing your shades!

Bunz -The Accidental Pit Bull that Changed My Life

i have always liked dogs, and rescued many as a child (cats too), but i really never knew anything much about the american pit bull terrier.  i just liked dogs.


while i was in college, i met a couple who had two dogs.  the dogs were lovely, friendly and full of personality, but i had no idea they were pit bulls.  i just didn't think to ask.  as i grew to know the couple and the dogs more, i REALLY fell in love with them (the dogs)....a small black female and a larger, almost boxer looking brindle male.  at one point, i did ask, 'what kind of dogs are these' and the response was - they are pit bulls.  i was shocked!  this was not what i imagined a pit bull to be, but i was already in love with them so luckily any stereotypes i may have had were overshadowed by the personal experience i had with these friendly, fun loving pups!


at some point, they decided to breed the male (something i am VERY against now, but remember i was just a young buck myself)...so of course i wanted a pup.  i called home and told my mom that all i wanted for Christmas was this puppy, Bunz.  my mom was hesitant, and rightfully so, not only did i want a dog (was i really ready to handle that?) but i wanted a pit bull.  her immediate reaction was...'so so' at best.

so i set forth at researching the breed, so i could have all my facts straight and really understand where these dogs were from and what they were about.  what i found surprised me even more.  pit bulls, though they were used in fighting, were bred for certain characteristics, most notable - LOYALTY, LOVE OF OWNER, AND NEVER GIVING UP.  loyalty - they will do anything for their owners and are one of the most truly bonded dogs i've ever met.  love of owner - they will do anything to please, especially if it means getting positive attention (hugs and kisses, and a stamp of approval).  never giving up - they are tenacious in spirit and never let you down.


that sounds awesome right?! - a dog that is more loyal than any friend you'll ever have, will do anything to please you, and will never give up in that pursuit!?


unfortunately, these are the same qualities that 'backyard breeders' and 'fighting gangs' exploit and use against these dogs.  


but, i digress....i told my mom what i found, i begged and pleaded, and finally she said yes.  the best thing that had ever happened to me!  i got my Bunzy - the love of my life, who stayed true to every one of those qualities above plus a million more!  to name a few - dignified, attentive, gorgeous, full of personality, soulful, cuddler, and a goofball (i could go on and on....).  


so, there began my story with Bunz, him a whole 8 weeks old and me a ripe 18 or 19.  ha!  the 13 years i spent with him meant more to me than anything else...he taught me so much, he helped me grow and learn acceptance and tolerance, and he made me an advocate for the breed.  in many ways he saved me.  he most certainly changed me - and i wouldn't be saving animals if it weren't for him.

tomorrow is the anniversary of Bunz's death so i wanted to give a prelude to how and why i ended up, somewhat accidentally, with a pit bull, and why it's so important to me.


God bless my Bunz at the rainbow bridge.