Tag: Dog Rescue Story

A Dog Who Loved Exceptionally Well

In 2019, I wrote of a very special rescue – 19 Labrador Retrievers living in squalor who found new lives and hope through Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue. Our founder, Jody Jones, and her transport companion went to Oregon expecting to bring back a few dogs from a breeder neglect situation. What she found so shocked and saddened her that she rented a trailer to bring all 19 back at once – unwilling to leave one behind for even a day. We called it the Lab Lift.

One dog’s story was especially touching. Minnie was an older girl with worn down teeth and mammary cancer from too many litters. We removed the cancer, but it had already metastasized. The prognosis was six months. Shut down and untrusting of humans, she did not present well to potential fosters much less adopters. We assumed she would be sanctuaried with us. But one couple saw something in Minnie that others missed. She touched their hearts, and they took her home – perhaps initially out of charity but she would come to mean so much more to them than that. “Minnie gave me a renewed sense of purpose in this life.  I am forever thankful for finding her,” wrote her new human dad.

This week, her people wrote to tell us of Minnie’s passing. Six months had turned into four and a half years. The power of love.

In January of 2020, we saw Minnie on Homeward Bound’s Facebook page. She was the very last of the so-called “Oregon Labs,” a large group of Labs rescued by Homeward Bound from a very tough situation. Everyone else had been adopted, but Minnie was still waiting for her forever home. Something about Minnie’s eyes drew us in.  

The Homeward Bound team told us that Minnie had metastasized cancer. She was not expected to live more than six months. We decided to visit her at the Homeward Bound ranch and see if there was a connection. Minnie was aloof and detached, scared and confused. She had pretty much given up on humans. She basically ignored us as we tried to get to know her. There was no spark. There was no meaningful look from her eyes. There wasn’t even one wag of her tail. I (Elaine) felt we ought to leave her at Homeward Bound because she seemed too far gone and because the whole situation seemed like a lot for us to take on. Jay felt very, very strongly she was ours. We took her home that same day as a medical foster, and we began our journey together.

Minnie didn’t know a thing about living in a home, basic commands, or love and trust. We didn’t know a thing about raising large dogs, but as empty nesters, we sure had love and trust and time in spades to pour into her. So, we spoiled her rotten, fed her all of the cookies, and checked off her bucket list. Three months in, we called Homeward Bound and asked to sign paperwork to officially adopt her. No more fostering for our girl.

We went to the ocean, and she ran in the waves. We went to the snow, and she jumped for joy. We swam in the river and in the lake. She celebrated holidays. She had more sweaters than most teenage girls. She slept deeply in her beds (one upstairs and one downstairs, both beside fireplaces). She enjoyed warm baths. She knew exactly when whatever we were baking (which would somehow end up as one of her many treats for the day) would be ready in the oven, alerting us to the one-minute warning beep. She suddenly had a human brother, sister, Grammy, aunts, an uncle, and cousins. She had a dog cousin and cat siblings. She had human and dog neighbors. She blossomed right before our eyes.

Along our journey together, we found that we needed her just as much (or more) than she needed us. She was a special needs dog who loved especially well.

Minnie conned us all in terms of her expected time on this earth and was still with us until just last week (4 1/2 years!), when we made the very hard decision to help send her to heaven.

Minnie is the sweetest soul, and we know her soul is still with us.

We wanted to extend a profound thank you to Homeward Bound for not only changing Minnie’s life, but ours as well. Bless you all for the work you do. 

In Honor and Memory of Minnie Joy Andersen, Loved Forever and Always
5/19/11 – 6/11/24

With Thanks and Joy, Elaine and Jay A.

The next time you go searching for a new companion, allow your eyes and heart to see that shy, timid one who does not come forward. You may just find a dog like Minnie – filled with gratitude for an unimagined life who loves exceptionally well. 

Dog Days of Summer: 2019

I know I have been away too long when this takes up residence in the entry arbor.

After an easy pace to the first half of the year, it has been raining dogs, lately.

My co-volunteers carry the heavy lifting of feeding, cleaning, vet trips and walking while a couple of us make sure that photos are taken, their bios get to the website, and we get the word out. It truly takes an army.

Jared has been with us since February. He arrived via another rescue that was having difficulty understanding his needs or finding a willing foster. He stayed with our foster for a bit and then came into our program. He was malnourished, anxious and acting out. Today, he is a dog transformed. Jared’s reward came this weekend when a like-hearted man saw straight into his soul.

Lola was pulled from a Southern California shelter but when their foster homes were all booked up, they told her rescuer to return her.

Her rescuer saw that this dog was extraordinary and was not having it. She took Lola to her home already overflowing with foster dogs where Lola comforted her severely autistic son and the rescuer began reaching out across the state. She found us. She had Lola flown to us.

And Lola found a family where two broken hearts – one human and one canine – were mourning the loss of their canine companion. Lola’s rescuer is now a member of our family, too.

Little Wyatt was dumped in front of a shelter at the age of only five months. He was malnourished and had a horrible skin issue but this wiggly boy wormed his way into everyone’s heart. Meds, good food, and TLC restored his health and coat – so his new family could see in him what we saw all along.

If everyone who put in an application for Mabel took home a dog, our kennels would be empty.

This girl is terrified of thunder, gunshots, fireworks, and loud noises. She lived in Utah where she was experiencing one storm after another. Mabel was transported to the safety of our Sacramento Valley where thunderstorms are extremely rare. Her new home will ensure the peace and quiet this girl needs and deserves.

And my husband and I have been hosts to these adorable puppies since the 4th of July.

The product of a Golden Retriever mom and a Dobie daddy, they inherited his looks and her heart. All are now adopted; one will stay with us for another week.

Meanwhile, the garden has been on automatic pilot where spiders are free to weave their webs across our arbor, bermuda grass runs wild, and the hot colors of summer have replaced the blues, purples and pinks of spring.

Time races by.

Before I know it, the Asters will be in bloom and the cycle will begin again.

But for now – these are the dog days of summer.

Forrest

There is a reason why gardeners are increasingly moving to native plants.
Unlike fancy hybrids, native plants are uniquely adapted to their landscape. Having developed over time, they are resilient and well-suited to the available soil, water, and sun or shade.

As a result, they thrive where others languish – providing valuable habitat to others.

Today’s designer dogs are much like plant hybrids. Mixed breeds combined in the hopes of a perfect mix of genetic traits. Bernedoodles are apparently the latest rage: a mix of Bernese Mountain Dog and Poodle.

Unfortunately, these designer dogs bred (and inbred) with limited gene pools by unscrupulous “breeders” run the risk not only losing the desirable traits of each breed but also inheriting health issues and undesirable traits from both sides. The result: Forrest.

Neurological damage. Inability to walk. One leg longer than the others. And seizures.

God may work in mysterious ways – but this is a man-made travesty.


Some would call it collateral damage. I call it a grave injustice.

If Forest’s heart could will his body to heal – it would be done.

This guy – with his tangle of legs and constant right turns – is bound and determined to get somewhere. We’re just not sure where.



It remains to be seen if we have a miracle for Forrest. But we will try.
For Forrest’s sake, help us spread the word. Let Mother Nature be.

She knows best.

Chocolate (Puppy) Love

When a new group of puppies arrived in December, I was the last to know. Seems I have been hogging the puppies of late. Can you blame me? This group has had the good fortune of having Puppy Mama Judy looking after them – and while they are not quite ready to go home, they are all spoken for. Thus, I am allowed to break “puppy silence.”

Mama dog, Lady Godiva, is a beautiful – and young – chocolate Lab.

A few days after giving birth, she was hit by a car. Don’t ask me why a new mama dog was allowed out in traffic; it is beyond me. She needed surgery to save her leg but her people said ‘no, let her go.’ That, of course, would mean the loss of the puppies, as well. They agreed to surrender her and them. A kind vet saved her leg and life – and with it, six more.

She asked for our help and we were delighted to be there.

Mama healed beautifully. Throughout, she nursed and cared for her young charges like a natural with plenty of assistance from Judy and her helpers. I’m not sure if it’s because they had the gift of so much extra time with their true mama, or because they were in the care of such an experienced Puppy Mama, but they are an especially sweet litter of puppies.

They are also big, fat, healthy adorable bundles of chocolate-themed love.

I was finally invited to take photos…as if that would be enough! We needed a full photo and video shoot for the luscious litter and their gorgeous mama, Lady Godiva. She has found her forever home; theirs will follow in a few more weeks. Viewer caution…adorableness ahead! (Note: if you receive this by email and are viewing on a phone, click on the post to view the video…technology!).

Chief’s Gratitude

We have been blessed and blessed and blessed.


And if April showers bring May flowers…we are in for quite a show.

Our five years of drought are officially over – and with the weekly rains, our gardening has been largely on hold;

called on account of cold, soggy ground.


Quick to forget, people naturally stopped counting our blessings and started whining, prompting one of my favorite nurseries to send out an email: “Don’t be a grumpy gardener!”

To complain about a planting delay after so long without water is to be ungrateful. The sunflowers will keep, or they’ll be started anew.

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” ~ Epictetus

To complain about anything when I look at this face seems doubly silly and small.

We call him Chief, but he wasn’t always called that. He was probably called some pretty awful names – none of them repeatable here and best forgotten, anyway.

His journey to Homeward Bound was unexpected. Chief’s “people” took him for a drive out to the fields nearby, opened the door, and shoved him out. Then they closed the car door and sped away. Chief chased after them futilely – afraid of being left alone. A kind lady saw what happened and alerted the authorities. They suggested calling us as well as we were right down the road. It took three days for them and our president, Jody, to coax/trick Chief out of the field. Once gotten, she gladly welcomed him – saving him from the pound despite his obvious lack of Golden pedigree.

He was terrified and – naturally – untrusting. For a good period, Jody was the only one he would go out with. He sought refuge in his kennel and by her side. But gradually, he became curious about the kind people around him, and – bit by bit – started to let some of them into his heart.

Chief takes things slowly because he doesn’t want to be hurt – or left – again. But just wait until you get to know him! He really is just a puppy at heart.

And most of all, this half Great Dane, half Lab is resilient and full of gratitude and love that wants to be given in return for the smallest kindness.

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Gratitude is not relative, and it is not soon forgotten. It lives in the heart and is always available. If Chief can move forward from his past and wait patiently for his future, we can wait for the rain to pass.

With grateful hearts and hopes for sunnier days – for our little sunflowers – and for Chief.