You've Come a Long Way Baby - ADOPTED

Missy has been doing really great lately.  We are all surprised she hasn't been adopted yet!  This is what Missy's foster home has to say about her....

Missy continues to do well. She is a very sweet dog to live with. She has not had one accident in the house and loves to cuddle on your lap while you watch tv. She is learning how to live with other dogs and has improved dramatically. She has learned that sharing is required and that resource gaurding is not allowed. Missy is now walking with a halti on and is doing much better. She can walk past other dogs with no issue, and is learning what "leave it" means.

Although she has come a long way behaviourally- her new home will have to keep up with the training and socialising to maintain her good behaviour. Missy is not trustworthy with cats and that is unlikely to change.

Missy is very smart and is easy to train if the motivation is right- she loves treats and balls! She will do anything for a toy- and is more than eager to work for food.

She's a very sweet dog with a great sense of humour. She likes to make you laugh and does the funniest things. Yesterday she buried a ball under the blanket on the couch and spent half an hour trying to "dig" it out. ;) I am not sure why she has not been adopted yet. She is in the prime of her life and is a great dog!

For more information on Missy, please contact the Windy City Canine Rescue at info@windycityrescue.com or by calling 403-359-3139.

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Our adoption fee allows us to provide the basics for the dogs in our care, but we are always encountering additional expenses (dental work, medicine for illnesses, etc.).  If you would like to help dogs like this one, but aren't looking to adopt one at this time, please consider a donation.  Thank you.

Long Weekend

Lily hopes everyone had a fun and relaxing long weekend!

For more information on Lily, please contact the Windy City Canine Rescue at info@windycityrescue.com or by calling 403-359-3139.

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Our adoption fee allows us to provide the basics for the dogs in our care, but we are always encountering additional expenses (dental work, medicine for illnesses, etc.).  If you would like to help dogs like this one, but aren't looking to adopt one at this time, please consider a donation.  Thank you.

Beauty AND Brains - ADOPTED

Farrah has been with us for a week or two and she has really settled in well with her foster home.  She is always up for a walk, swim or wrestle session with her foster siblings and is still very much a puppy at heart.

She loves carrying items around the house and has been known to steal teddy bears and pieces of clothing if a toy can't be found.

She is very smart and has learned basic commands and "house" rules very quickly.  She is an easy dog to just be with and would make a great companion for an active family.

For more information Farrah, please contact the Windy City Canine Rescue at info@windycityrescue.com or by calling 403-359-3139.

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Our adoption fee allows us to provide the basics for the dogs in our care, but we are always encountering additional expenses (dental work, medicine for illnesses, etc.).  If you would like to help dogs like this one, but aren't looking to adopt one at this time, please consider a donation.  Thank you.

Foster to Adopt

Sometimes people aren't really sure if a dog is completely right for them.  It is hard to tell when you meet a dog for 30 minutes how they are going to fit in with your family, how your pets will respond to another dog in the house and just generally if that particular dog is the perfect dog for you.

We understand that.  Bringing a new dog into your household isn't usually a completely smooth process.  Sometimes it can go fabulous from the first moment the dog walks through the door, but most times there are a few hiccups along the way.  It takes a little while for dogs to be completely comfortable and for their true colours (good and bad!) to shine through.

We want to make sure you are making the right decision so some times when people aren't sure, we allow them to try overnight visits or even "foster to adopt".  Foster to adopt means that you are committing to foster the dog until they are adopted.  And you just might be the ones to adopt them.  We know that you are interested in the dog and if someone expresses interest in that dog, we will let you know, and you'll be given a chance to say whether or not you can part with them.  Most foster to adopts end in adoption.  Heck, lots of just fostering ends in adoption, whether you were planning on it or not!

It doesn't normally take more than a few days to know if a dog is right for you.  You are either in hook, line and sinker or sitting on the fence. If after a day or two, you are still sitting on the fence, that probably means, this dog isn't your perfect match. But no worries, someone out there is looking for a dog just like her/him and there is a dog out there that is perfect for you.  The trick is finding each other!

For more information on fostering, please contact the Windy City Canine Rescue at info@windycityrescue.com or by calling 403-359-3139.

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Our adoption fee allows us to provide the basics for the dogs in our care, but we are always encountering additional expenses (dental work, medicine for illnesses, etc.).  If you would like to help dogs like this one, but aren't looking to adopt one at this time, please consider a donation.  Thank you.

Kaity (Happy Ending)

Kaity has settled in great! Everyday we see a little more of her personality shine through! We thought she was great at first but she just keeps getting better and better. Now that she is more comfortable with us and her new home she is really coming out of her shell. At first she wouldn't take treats or play with toys now she is doing both!!

We take her everywhere and she loves it. She and I are planning to run the Bare Bones 1/2 marathon this October, so we're running and training together. She LOVES to run and completed 10 miles without missing a beat!!

Kaity and our cat Holly have adjusted well together. As long as we keep the food dishes apart, life is good! We are so thrilled that Kaity is part of our family and are so thankful that you folks rescued her and gave us the opportunity to adopt!

Max {Happy Ending}

When dogs are adopted, we do our best to keep in touch.  Partly so that we can make sure everything is going well and if not, we can try to help out, but also because we miss the dogs and we just want to "hear their voice again".  We thought we'd share some of the updates we get with you.

Max is doing great. Not a day goes by that he doesn't make me laugh. Not just a little chuckle, but full belly laugh. And the louder I laugh, the goofier he gets. He was either a comedian in his previous life or he's practicing for his next. I've decided to take him to agility for some bonding time. I think we'll both enjoy it. One area we really need to work on is greeting people. For some reason he thinks doing acrobatics and talking loud makes a good first impression. Him and Ali have become such great buddies. They do have their little doggie moments, but don't we all. I've attached a picture of the two of them taken during one of their bonding moments. Max has definitely found his forever family and home.

Lily {Hound cross} - ADOPTED

I've known Lily for quite a while.  I first met her at the Lethbridge Animal Shelter.  She had arrived in early December and was still there when I started volunteering in early January. In early February she had puppies.  She raised her litter while at the shelter and they grew up, and were all quickly adopted. Lily was not.

Every time I went to the shelter, she was there waiting for a home.  She left briefly and I celebrated for her, but then she came back.  Someone didn't check with their landlord first to see if it was OK for them to have a dog.  Apparently it wasn't.  So after 5 months of living at the shelter, Lily was still waiting for someone to adopt her.

Then this past Thursday, she was adopted again!  Yippee for Lily!

But it wasn't the happily ever after we were all hoping for.  Her new home had a family emergency that was going to affect their living arrangements and they realized that they wouldn't be able to keep her.  But there is some good news.  The family who adopted her from the shelter are friends with one of our volunteers so instead of bringing her back to the shelter, they surrendered her to us!  I'm so happy that she is finally in a home environment and is getting lots of exercise and love, but she still needs to find the forever home she deserves.

So more about Lily....

Lily is a super fun hound cross.  She is playful, friendly and great with dogs, cats and people.  Lily spent about 5 months at an animal shelter so she has been really enjoying having some room to run. She gets the zoomies a few times a day and you can see the pure joy in every moment of it.

She loves to chew bones and to play with squeaky toys.  She runs around the house shaking her toys and rolls around on the ground playing with them too.  She loves to play with other dogs and enjoys wrestling and chasing them. 

She does have a hound’s bark but she is quiet unless she is excited.  She hasn’t shown any interest in the cat at her foster home and has greeted the children she has met on walks nicely.  She does pretty good on a leash (unless she gets the zoomies!) and has obviously lived in a home before as she knows what it means when you put on your coat and shoes.

For more information on Lily, please contact the Windy City Canine Rescue at info@windycityrescue.com or by calling 403-359-3139.

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Our adoption fee allows us to provide the basics for the dogs in our care, but we are always encountering additional expenses (dental work, medicine for illnesses, etc.).  If you would like to help dogs like Lily, but aren't looking to adopt one at this time, please consider a donation.  Thank you.

Farrah {Cattle Dog Cross} - ADOPTED

Farrah is a young, cattle dog cross that is about 17" tall, that came to us from the Animal Shelter in Brooks.  Due to their set up, she wasn't able to get as much exercise as she needed and after a few months, this was starting to cause her to go a little stir crazy. We've placed her in a foster home with some doggie playmates so that she can wrestle and run to her heart's content.

Like many of her breed, Farrah is smart as a whip.  She will be very easy to train.  She already comes fairly reliably when called. Her foster home has already taken her on an off leash walk and she's been with them less than 24 hours!  She also knows how to sit and other basic commands will be taught to her soon.

She enjoys splashing and swimming in the water and of course, good old-fashioned fetch. She loves kids and we think she would do great in an active and busy household.  

For more information on Farrah, please contact the Windy City Canine Rescue at info@windycityrescue.com or by calling 403-359-3139.

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Our adoption fee allows us to provide the basics for the dogs in our care, but we are always encountering additional expenses (dental work, medicine for illnesses, etc.).  If you would like to help dogs like Farrah, but aren't looking to adopt one at this time, please consider a donation.  Thank you.

Millie {Cattle Dog Cross} - ADOPTED!

In some cultures, caring for the elderly is a privilege, it is done out of respect and love. It can be extra work, but they do it because these people once took care of them, and down the road their children will follow the tradition. Unfortunately in our hectic society the elderly can be viewed as an inconvenience, especially elderly pets. Most of these dogs once let us cry on their shoulders when others left, they slept watching over our children, they thought they were part of our families, and usually they were, until they became inconvenient.

A few weeks ago during one of our recent spring storms, Millie was found wandering down a road near Pincher Creek. At one point a semi truck drove so close to her that the force of the spray from the road knocked her over. She was a quite disoriented and in need of food, warmth and shelter. She was scooped up by some kind hearted people who saw this and they tried to find her original home. They took her to a vet, and it was obvious Millie had been homeless for quite some time, she is very thin, and her pads and nails are worn from travel. After trying for several weeks to find her owners, they gave up and contacted us. When we talked with these rescuers they were still hopeful that Millie's original owners would come forward, unfortunately when you've done rescue for a while your not quite so optimistic. It was clear Millie's family was not looking for her.

Millie is a very sweet, older (10+) cattle dog cross. She is a little stiff but still has a spring in her step. I actually had to run after her while taking pictures as she just went trotting down the hill, leaving me in her dust. You'll notice a leash in some photos... that was AFTER I realized she wasn't as slow as I thought she'd be. It's amazing what a few weeks of good food and a warm bed can do for an older dog. Millie's roadside rescuers also noted how much she perks up when she hears children, they guessed at one point she had young kids to love and play with.

Millie is looking for that special family that wants to take slow ambling walks and keep her comfortable in her final years. She still loves to play fetch (albeit not for long periods of time) and has a wonderful zest for life. As comes with age, Millie is hard of hearing, and will often startle if you come up behind her and pet her. However, she is more than willing to smother someone with love in her final years, she just needs someone to do the same for her.

We'll have more information for you once we've had a chance for her to visit with our vet and she has settled into her foster home a little more.

For more information on Millie, please contact the Windy City Canine Rescue at info@windycityrescue.com or by calling 403-359-3139.

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Our adoption fee allows us to provide the basics for the dogs in our care, but we are always encountering additional expenses (dental work, medicine for illnesses, etc.). If you would like to help dogs like Millie but aren't looking to adopt one at this time, please consider a donation. Thank you.

Sneaking a Peek

More to come on this sweet old girl tomorrow.

Off Leash Walks

I am a huge fan of dog parks.  Not because of the interaction my dogs can have with other dogs, but because it gives them a chance to really stretch their legs and run full speed.  We have a decent sized back yard, but it is too small for them to really get their motors going.  I'm not sure what we would have done if we didn't run our oldest dog (a border collie, golden retriever cross) off leash.  As a pup, she needed quite a bit of exercise (and still does) and leashed walks around the block just didn't cut it.

I know lots of people are afraid to let their dog off leash and usually their biggest concern is "What if they don't come back when called?"  My dogs do not come back to me EVERY single time I call them.  And they never will.  There will always be something in the world that is more exciting than me (hard to believe I know).  But they come back most of the time and when they do, I make sure I have something to reward them. Their reward can be a ball or treat or just a pat on the head.  How I reward them depends on the dog and the circumstances. If there are other dogs and people around, I tend to reward with yummy treats, but if I just called them to get them to stop sniffing and catch up, I tend to reward with praise and pets.

The nice thing about dog parks is that there doesn't tend to be a lot of wildlife to distract your dog.  Most dog parks are used enough, that most of the wildlife prefers to go elsewhere.

If you are worried about cars, Popson Park (on the west side) has very little traffic (basically the only people there are people using the dog park).

And generally, the dogs at the dog park are well socialized dogs, so if your dog ignores you yelling "Come!" to go visit with a dog, it isn't the end of the world.  That being said, there is ALWAYS a risk of a dog fight. When I see a dog up ahead, I try and keep calling my girls back to me (and I reward them heavily for doing so) until we are close enough to the other dog that I know that I can get in the middle of things quickly if I need to.  It would be a great idea to learn about dog body language too so you can know when you can relax and when you want to be on your toes. In the 6 years I've been going to the dog park, I have had very, very few issues.

So how do you work up the courage to take your dog off leash?  There are a few things you can do to make your first off leash walk less stressful.

1. Go with other "experienced" people and their dogs.  The dogs will generally stick together so when your friends' dogs come running back, your dog will follow.  
2. Attach a long line to your dog.  You don't need to be holding on to the end of it, but they can drag it along behind them so you just need to get within 10 feet of your dog to "catch" them.  This works great for those dogs that tend to dart away from you at the last minute.
3. Pick a day and time when the park won't be very busy. For example, these last few days the park has been empty when I've gone because the weather is so horrible. It isn't as fun for me, but the dogs don't mind and I didn't need to worry about encountering any people or dogs.

Lola is by no means perfect at coming at called.  She even has a tendency to dart away when you reach for her. But I've taken her several times off leash to run with my girls and each time the long leash has just been a precaution as she really hasn't gone far.

If you haven't tried off leash walks but have a high energy dog, you will be amazed at the difference one can make and giving your dog enough exercise can go a long way in helping behavior problems.

Volunteer Meeting

We are having a meeting for all our volunteers this Friday.  It will allow us to all touch base, see what is going great, see what is going not-so-great and to make sure we are all on the same page.  If you have been thinking of volunteering but haven't contacted us yet, please send us a quick e-mail so we can send you an invite to the meeting. It will be a great opportunity to meet everyone, find out what we are all about and decide if you want to get involved.

For more information please contact the Windy City Canine Rescue at info@windycityrescue.com or by calling 403-359-3139.

Angel's in Rescue

I have attempted to write this post several times. I've decided that some things in rescue are better left unsaid, and some situations unfortunelty can't be shared, regardless of how unfair it feels to protect it. I will say that my husband is a paramedic/fireman in our city and last weekend he went above and beyond his call of duty and helped us save a beautiful dog along the way. Meet Suri, she is now safe thanks to Windy City and the amazing people at Prairie Pitbull Rescue. You can visit their site at www.prairiepitbullrescue.com

We will also be meeting up again with Prairie Pitbull Rescue and Prairie Dog Canine Rescue Saturday May 8th from 2-4pm at Gyro Park. You will be able to meet all of our available dogs for adoption!

For more information on this dog, please contact the Windy City Canine Rescue at info@windycityrescue.com or by calling 403-359-3139.