Well when they brought him home I asked my mom what his name was and they said Trey, but we had to name him different because I had a cousin named trey and it would have been to confusing.  After we thought it over with we came up with Scooter, I loved it and so did everyone else!  Scarlet our other dog (she is a short hair miniature dachshund) loved him as soon as Scooter stepped inside the door.  They played and played until it was time to go to bed.  The next day he came into my room and woke me up by licking on my face, he wanted to play so I got up and got dressed and went out side and played with him.

Years and years later my parents moved to Midlothian TX.  Scooter was about 13 or 14 years old, I couldn’t remember very well.  I thought he was just fine and he played as usual.  Then his birthday rolled around and we realized he was 15 years old.  One day I came over and Scooter wasn’t himself.  He didn’t eat and he barely even slept.  I thought that he had a stomach virus so that could be treatable.  Well 2 weeks later they were saying that he had cancer and there was nothing they could have done.  I was so mad and I just stormed out crying.  I just wanted to be left alone.

About 2 to 4 weeks later Scooter passed away in his sleep.  They found him just lying there not breathing.  I wanted to say one last goodbye and I never got to.  I miss my Scooter and I never stop thinking about him and I never stop crying because he mean’t so much to me!!!!!

 R.I.P my beloved Scooter – August 28th, 2010

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels.  I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her.  I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn't be afraid. 

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage.  I didn't want her to know that I hadn't been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn't want her to think poorly of them. 

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn't feel sad about my past.  I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone's life. 

She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me.  I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her.  Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship. 

A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well.  Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms. I would promise to keep her safe.  I would promise to always be by her side.  I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.  I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor.  So many more are out there who haven't walked the corridors.  So many more to be saved.  At least I could save one. 

I rescued a human today.♥

 Squeeky toys make a lot of noise, but this one was really loud!

Digby was a very smart dog. Potty training was easy, as well as basic commands like sitting, lay down, and “No”. However, he also would take instruction for tricks, such as “bang” or “get the bee” or “give a ride”. Anytime you would motion like you were going to shoot him, Digby would plop down on the ground and put his legs in the air. If a bee was in sight all you had to do is say “get the bee”, one chomp and it took its last flight. The bee might have felt safe while flying around five to six feet from the ground, but he wasn’t. Give a ride was something that thoroughly tickled us. By the time our daughter was two years old, she could get into her Little Tykes wagon and Digby would pull her around the yard, delicately and cautiously, for hours at a time. Digby knew that she was young and needed guidance and care. A trait he always displayed around her.

When he was four we noticed him having some medical issues and scheduled tests to narrow down the problem. We were told that he had a condition with his liver and most likely would not live past the age of 7. This news was very disheartening and we worked around giving him a better lifestyle, healthier food, and spoiling him rotten. Come to find the condition was a misdiagnosis and Digby made out like a bandit for nearly a decade until the unfortunate news of cancer.

Watching an animal suffer is something that is very difficult. They are your children and part of your family. The decision to put this family member to a peaceful state, without forcing him to endure any further pain, is something we, as a family, chose to do. The process was very sobering. The experience of petting our little “son” until his heart stopped beating was a powerful event, not without great depression, but one with sentiment nonetheless. In fact, it has been several years since his passing, and neither I nor my wife drive down the Vet’s street anymore, even though it is right in the neighborhood. I mentioned it to my wife recently, and she had noticed that I won’t drive by the Vet’s office, either. It’s kinda funny, but after posting this, I think I will go for a drive through the neighborhood.

Just after Katie was put down, due to serious diabetes, her son Tuffy got real sick as well. My husband and I did not want them to suffer. So now they are both in the back yard just under our beautiful pine trees. God watches over them daily. That helps me alot.

I now have Sammie, who I think gets sort of bummed out. He just lost his 2 best friends. But he has no competition anymore and he likes that too. I love Sammie, and pray that he gets to be with me for as long as he is suppose to be.

Keep up the good work Jesse!

Just be kind, patient and trusting, and we can all be friends!

 A True Story. “Jasmine”, with a mother’s heart♥

 
In 2003, police in Warwickshire, England, opened a garden shed and found a whimpering, cowering dog.  The dog had been locked in the shed and abandoned.  It was dirty and malnourished, and had quite clearly been abused.
 
In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a female greyhound, to the Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, which is run by a man named Geoff Grewcock, and known as a haven for animals abandoned, orphaned, or otherwise in need.  Geoff and the other sanctuary staff went to work with two aims: to restore the dog to full health, and to win her trust. It took several weeks, but eventually both goals were achieved.  They named her Jasmine, and they started to think about finding her an adoptive home.
 
Jasmine, however, had other ideas.  No one quite remembers how it came about, but Jasmine started welcoming all animal arrivals at the sanctuary.  It would not matter if it were a puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or any other lost or hurting animal.  Jasmine would just peer into the box or cage, and when and where possible, deliver a welcoming lick.

Geoff relates one of the early incidents.  ”We had two puppies that had been abandoned by a nearby railway line.  One was a Lakeland Terrier cross and another was a Jack Russell Doberman cross.  They were tiny when they arrived at the centre, and Jasmine approached them and grabbed one by the scruff of the neck in her mouth and put him on the settee.  Then she fetched the other one and sat down with them, cuddling them.”

“But she is like that with all of our animals, even the rabbits.  She takes all the stress out of them, and it helps them to not only feel close to her, but to settle into their new surroundings.  She has done the same with the fox and badger cubs, she licks the rabbits and guinea pigs, and even lets the birds perch on the bridge of her nose.”

Jasmine, the timid, abused, deserted waif, became the animal sanctuary’s resident surrogate mother, a role for which she might have been born.  The list of orphaned and abandoned youngsters she has cared for comprises five fox cubs, four badger cubs, fifteen chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray puppies and fifteen rabbits – and one roe deer fawn.  Tiny Bramble, eleven weeks old, was found semi-conscious in a field.  Upon arrival at the sanctuary, Jasmine cuddled up to her to keep her warm, and then went into the full foster-mum role.  Jasmine the greyhound showers Bramble the roe deer with affection, and makes sure nothing is matted.

“They are inseparable,” says Geoff.  ”Bramble walks between her legs, and they keep kissing each other.  They walk together round the sanctuary.  It’s a real treat to see them.”

Jasmine will continue to care for Bramble until she is old enough to be returned to woodland life.  When that happens, Jasmine will not be lonely.  She will be too busy showering love and affection on the next orphan or victim of abuse.

Pictured from the left are: “Toby”, a stray Lakeland dog; “Bramble”, orphaned roe deer; “Buster”, a stray Jack Russell; a dumped rabbit; “Sky”, an injured barn owl; and “Jasmine”, with a mother’s heart, doing best what a caring mother would do….and such is the order of God’s Creation.