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Abundant Rewards

I can’t think of a better time of year to count blessings. During the past 2.5 years, we’ve had 33 furry little blessings through our home. Each foster dog has left us with some great memories, like Jay Jay throwing his toy into our above-ground hot tub and then jumping in after it, Max overcoming his dysfunctional little body to reveal his giant heart, and Camille (now Lucy) with her unstoppable ass-attack. Even on the darkest days, these dogs have made us smile.

Bill and Lucy playing - One of my favorite photos of 2010

I don’t have any foster dogs this week to make me smile, so would you share one of your favorite pet memories in the comments section to put that smile back on my face? By sharing you’ll be entered into a raffle for a free stationery set of your choice. We’ll randomly select the winner on Wednesday, Dec. 22nd. (Please submit by Tuesday, Dec. 21st)

This entry was posted Friday, 17 December, 2010 at 1:19 pm
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About HappyTailsBooks

Kyla Duffy is an entrepreneur, athlete, and teacher. She founded Happy Tails Books to raise awareness of and funding for dog rescue efforts. She also created Up For Pups, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, to provide further resources to rescue organizations, including a best practices manual for dog rescue organizations and live events that promote volunteerism and adoption. Kyla and her husband have fostered more than 50 Boston Terriers.

19 Responses to “Abundant Rewards”

My favorite memory of my dog, Buddy, was how he loved to open presents on Christmas morning. He was my baby before I had my boys. He was such a great dog. Beagle/Basset mix. Buddy would grab the paper and shake with his whole body back and forth. He wouldn’t quit until something fell out. It was all his then!

Angie on December 17th, 2010 at 1:30 pm

I have had so many furry fosters in my house and so many wonderful memories.. I was going though photos just the other day.. My favorit memories are of helping deliver puppies into the world or having seniors come spend time with me, for one on one time.. I had 3 girls and a boy from a puppy mill we shut down come stay with me awhile. One 4 lb 12 yr old little girl loved to hide under the sheets, and having 14 + dogs at a time in the house I always had sheets cover the couches… well I went to go sit in my recliner, wondering why no dog was sitting in it but oh well, as i sat it growled at me.. well I throw back the cover and there this little girl was grining at me.. she was only growling to say that spot was hers.. She climbed in my lap and snuggled with her sisters, her brother was a cute little toothless, 3 lb neck warmer… I love fosters!! If i had to live my life over, thats one thing I would never change..

Anita Maas on December 17th, 2010 at 1:36 pm

We fostered a black kitten that we found in the snow. It was snowing so heavy and this all black cat stood out! We got her fixed, and she is in a good home. We fostered her for just a short time. All of my cats were found.

Michele C. Hollow on December 17th, 2010 at 1:43 pm

I had a white boxer girl from a mill that we fostered. She was the typical mill girl and terrified of every thing and one. One night we were watching TV and Nilla disappeared. I went to find her and discovered her hiding in our bedroom with a mooing cow dog toy. She was facing the wall and very quietly making it moo. When she realized I was there she froze like she was doing something wrong. I just smiled as I knew that was the break through we needed. I still keep in touch with Nilla’s adoptive home and anytime I get an update I think of the day I caught her mooing her first toy!

Jennifer Kimberlin on December 17th, 2010 at 1:44 pm

My favorite is my baby girl Roxy, a Rottie mix, and her LOVE for the snow. She didn’t get to see it often, but boy when she did, she was soooooo excited! Working night shift then, but she’d keep me up all day long to go out and play in that snow, and eat as much as possible, and then back out to pee and eat some more. She’d get more excited than any of the kids on the block, and I swear she had more fun playing in it than they did too! This is my second winter without her, and we just had the first snowfall. All I could think about was how much fun my Roxy would be having running around in it right now!

Angela Buenting on December 17th, 2010 at 1:53 pm

This time of year I find myself thinking back on the Christmas memories I have of my pack, and one of my favorites is from last Christmas. I brought home a little 8 week old schnauzer puppy on Christmas Eve and seeing this tiny 2 pound baby puppy snuggling up with my 65, 95, and 50 pound pit bulls made me so happy. It made me proud that my dogs are so gentle and loving and that they would groom him and guide him. They showed him his toys and took care of him. I will never forget how safe he looked curled up in a pile of big dogs that love him.

Amber on December 17th, 2010 at 2:24 pm

I had a little foster girl that lived to jump on the counter so I purchased a mat that was suppose to keep them off the counter but not shock them. It made a very loud shrill sound though. When she jumped up it would scare her so bad she that she jumped off. Well, one day I hear the alarm and it continues to go off and continues and continues….. I go downstairs to find all the dogs in corners or trying to rub out the doggie door and my poor big deaf boy Jackson is standing there with the mat in his mouth. I could only laugh!!!

Angie Persch on December 17th, 2010 at 2:39 pm

I’m just so happy that we’ve been able to rehome 1 cat, 12 dogs and 2 chickens since we started PDRF in June of this year. It’s such a rewarding feeling.I’m lucky enough to have one of the rescues living with us Foxy, he makes everyone smile. May everyone have a warm and “furry” holiday season. Cheers!

Kathryn Segura on December 17th, 2010 at 2:02 pm

I’m sitting here laughing at my big boxer, Chancy, right now. The postman just delivered two Christmas boxes from my parents and I plopped them on the floor before logging onto my computer. Chancy is going CRAZY sniffing them and pushing them around with his nose. Last year “grandma and grandpa” sent him a rubber chicken. I’m sure he can smell the new rubber squeaky toys that await him. I’m going to have a shredded box if I don’t get them into the closet soon. It use to only be the kids from whom we’d have to hide the gifts.
Enjoy your holidays everyone!

Teresa on December 17th, 2010 at 3:30 pm

Well this is not a distant memory, but just a few days ago, we brought a foster puppy (9 months old) into our house. One of the first things she did was run upstairs, jump into our bed and pee about a gallon. Then I had to crate her at bedtime and in spite of supposedly being crate trained (and house trained) she fussed so much I had to sleep on the floor beside her. I was determined to NOT bond with her. Not not not! Night two, however, we moved crate into our bedroom. My husband was saying, “she is a very nice dog.” This is MY husband, the guy who prefers CATS! She pees in our bed, but he still likes her? Night three, she sleeps in our bed, head on pillow, paws in the air, happiest dog the world has ever seen. Night four (tonight) we have failed miserably as foster parents and now she is OUR DOG! I love her so much!!

Jenny Yasi on December 17th, 2010 at 4:16 pm

One of my favorite memories about rescued Katrina dog Kate was the first time I saw her pick up a ball, cut loose, and play. This happened in November of 2005, more than 2 months after she was rescued. It may have been the first time in her life she played with a ball, and was a true indication that she was healing from the trauma.

Jenny Pavlovic on December 17th, 2010 at 5:06 pm

My Favorite memory is TONIGHT. I have done boxer rescue for almost 6 yrs and 2 weeks ago I was blessed when my boyfriend Jeffrey found an 11 week old German short haired pointer puppy sitting at the edge of a wood line waiting for his saving grace. He is now named Roper. Roper became very sick the night after Jeffrey found him and we took him straight to the ER vet, he ended up having parvo and we spent many hours over a 4 day period going between the ER vet and my personal vet trying to save this boys life. What a blessing today is that exactly 2 weeks later that this boy is happy, healthy and just went to his forever home. His new mom and dad actually lost their sweet boxer boy Casey 2 weeks ago. Casey took a turn for the worst almost at the exact same time Roper took a turn for the better. Sandy and Mark had both discussed how they felt their next dog should be a GSP MONTHS before Casey passed. God worked His magic when Jeffrey found Roper b/c after the parvo we had a nice vet bill that was well over 1200.00! I set up a chip in fund and sent the link to all my contacts in hopes that fellow dog lovers would donate towards Ropers bills and this is how Sandy and Mark came to find Roper. They knew from the moment they saw his picture that he was supposed to be their next dog. I just feel so blessed and honored to have been able to help save such an amazing puppy like Roper and then to be able to help heal two peoples hearts that were hurting so badly from loosing their beloved 4 legged friend. I have had about 3 dozen fosters in my home over the past 6 years but none have stolen my heart quiet like Roper. Tonight is bittersweet and is truly at the top of my favorite memories list, a sick puppy is now happy, healthy and on his way home! Roper, thank you for being such a fighter and for touching my heart so deeply. I love you Buddy!

Michelle Underwood on December 17th, 2010 at 8:52 pm

One of my favorite memories, happened just the other day. It was not with my lovable Rocky, but a german shepard I saw on campus at school. The temperature was about 20 degrees. I happened to have dog treats in my car, and started helping the campus security. The campus security really did not do anything but yell from their vehicle, and the dog continued to run. I followed the dog in my car off the campus, as I watched the security guards go back to school. I parked in the cul-de-sac because there was no where else I could drive. The dog went behind a house, and onto a wooded path. I went into the woods with the treats, and slowly walked a bit away from the dog, using every “fun” word I could think of like “treat”, “car”, “ride”,”eat”, “food”, “come”, “play”. I finally reached the dog and put a few treats on the ground for him. He smelled my hand, and I gave him another treat. As I petted him, he got another. I then rubbed his collar (with out a name or number on it), and he got another treat. He walked nicely out of the woods right next to me, and jumped in the car. I knew this dog was trained, and loved. We went to the vet, he did not have a micro chip. I then called the Animal Rescue League, to see if anyone had called about a missing German Shepard. Someone did! I allowed the Animal Rescue League to give my name and number to the family searching. The family described their dog, and it was the one I had. I asked them what his name was and they said “Duke”. I then said “Duke” outloud and the dog tilted his head at me! It was a match! I then met up with the very happy couple, and they handed me a copy of the flyers they were putting up when they got the call that their dog may have been found. It was truly a holiday blessing!

Ashley Hartz on December 17th, 2010 at 10:21 pm

One of my favorite memories is after my Pug had eye surgery and she was gaining her sight back it was like she was seeing the world for the first time. All the experiences she was living again as well as all the experiences that she wasn’t able to see before and what she was experiencing for the first time after the surgery. It was such joy and excitement to see it in her eyes such as a newborn baby opening their eyes to see their parents for the first time. The happiness on their face was a similar happiness on my Pug’s face. The excitement and gratitude she shown me was worth all the money in the world to experience that with her. She went from almost blind to only 25% loss of sight.

Dawn on December 19th, 2010 at 11:18 am

One of my favorite stories of a foster (who we later adopted) is of a small Boxer mix we took out of a kill shelter moments before he was to be euthanized. He was about 8 years old, very sick, and had a rope burn around his neck. We quickly found out he did not know how to play with toys. He would just cower, afraid of everyone. By the end of the first week, he was wagging his tail and running around full of love, and full of life. The sweetest thing was when he was in the kitchen when we had company over, and he was eying an Italian pastry on a little paper server. In the blink of an eye, he used his little tongue to grab the pastry and leave the paper in place. He looked so pleased with himself, and I knew he felt safe, and loved. He has been with us now over 4 years, and he’s grateful for everything.

Elaine Pacheco on December 19th, 2010 at 7:56 pm

My favorite memory is the day I rescued my bloodhound “Fred” from a very neglectful owner. It was that day I found out what unconditional love is, after all he went through he has done nothing but make me smile and give me everything he has.

Kari on December 20th, 2010 at 6:47 am

Tallulah Belle was in Dallas Animal Services shelter for over 2 months. She is approximately 5-6 months old. So, this means, she spent nearly 1/2 her life in the shelter. She and her litter mates were dumped in the night drop. I was tagged in a picture the week prior and when I saw her, I knew she was coming home to Foster Mama E. Well, Karen and I arrived just in time. I found her and kept my promise to take her home. I was so thankful especially when I found out she was on the euthanasia list! I broke my “cardinal rule” of one foster at a time, as I already had one foster at home, Tucker. I quickly realized this was perfect because she had never been apart from other dogs. She and Tucker hit it off like long lost pals! The next day I was also getting my first foster, Lexi, who was coming to stay with me for Thanksgiving while her parents went out of town. Saturday we went to an adoption event where Tucker was adopted. I came home with Tallulah, to Lexi’s surprise, no Tucker. The girls were happy and played, ate, slept, drank, everything, together for the next 7 days. When I went to pick up Lexi’s people, I decided it would be a great idea to take Tallulah so the separation would possibly be easier if she saw that Lexi was going home and safe. Well, next thing I knew we were introducing Tallulah to the pack (Addie and Buster) and she fit in perfectly! I left my house with two dogs thinking Tallulah was along for the ride, however, I came home with no doggies, as they adopted Tallulah that evening! I was shocked and elated!! Life is good for the babies, and better for me!!!
:-3

Erika Pinkoczi on December 20th, 2010 at 7:59 am

My fondest memory of animal rescue was the day I saw my “junkyard beagle” on the internet. It started out as a beagle someone dropped off in a junkyard the week after Christmas. When I saw my ten year old guy on our rescue’s website, I knew he was waiting for me. When I got him to the vet from transport, he was just heartworm positive. Now ten months later, he is blind, a diabetic, still hw+ because the vet says the treatment is too harsh. He may have been tossed away, and he teaches me the value of unconditional love each day. He is the most appreciative of any animal I have ever met.

Sandi on December 21st, 2010 at 9:35 pm

I’m sitting here laughing at my big boxer, Chancy, right now. The postman just delivered two Christmas boxes from my parents and I plopped them on the floor before logging onto my computer. Chancy is going CRAZY sniffing them and pushing them around with his nose. Last year “grandma and grandpa” sent him a rubber chicken. I’m sure he can smell the new rubber squeaky toys that await him. I’m going to have a shredded box if I don’t get them into the closet soon. It use to only be the kids from whom we’d have to hide the gifts. Enjoy your holidays everyone!