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6 Pro-Tips for Adopting a Rescue Dog

6 Pro-Tips for Adopting a Rescue Dog

As I’ve mentioned before, I run a decent sized breed-specific rescue in the Southeast. I haven’t always been the boss – I started off as a young, green foster home while in college, and slowly took on more responsibility with the rescues I volunteered with until I decided to hang my own shingle. Holding multiple different “positions” in the rescue field gave me plenty of insight into all the…

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What My Bad Dog Taught Me

What My Bad Dog Taught Me

Working in animal rescue of any sort will teach you plenty of valuable life lessons… chief among them being: don’t ever think you will cease to be surprised. This plays out in many different scenarios. You will always be shocked at the atrocities of man – I don’t care how many abuse victims you see each day, it will still hurt just as much each new time as the first. Think you’re getting a nice…

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What the F#@k is That Dog?: Zelda's Results Are In

Back in September, I wrote an article asking for ideas on my personal pound puppy, Zelda’s, breed mixture. I also ordered a DNA test, so we could all have an answer to the mystery. I woke up this morning to an email from Wisdom Panel– Zelda’s results were in! (Disclaimer: I got sidetracked and took over two months to actually send the test in.) As I lay in bed with Princess Ruto Kissy-Face, I…

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Merry Christmas! Now let me break your heart.

Merry Christmas! Now let me break your heart.

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to sit down and write an article; pulling sixteen hour days between law school and paying the bills, and somehow fitting in running a rescue, has not left much time for my creative muse. Plus, let’s be real – law school will suck your soul out through your nose and leave you feeling akin to something frightening from an AMC show. Never fear, though. I’m…

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Sharing - "Depression and Suicide In Animal Care Professions: What Can We Do?" an article by Jessica Dolce

I saw this article shared on Facebook today, and I couldn’t help but think it needs to be read far and wide, by as many animal-care professionals (veterinarians and rescuers) as possible.

Those of us who see darkness all around us, day in and day out, need to be reminded that there is light in the world and that it is the light who makes us who we are, and gives us strength to do what we do. Even…

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Have you ever seen a dog and thought to yourself, “What the f#@k is that thing?” Let’s be real, we all have. Whether it’s walking down the street, at the dog park, the vet, or roaming the wings of a local animal control facility, we’ve all been there.

I take a bit of pride in my knowledge of dog breeds. From the early age of, like, when I could read, I poured over dog breed books like they were encyclopedias and bibles meshed beautifully into a single source of wisdom for all things dog-centric. Needless to say, I’m usually that weirdo who knows exactly what breed the strange dog at the park is. I can’t tell if my friends are impressed or embarrassed – probably a mixture of both, honestly.

I do get stumped, however. For Dog’s sake, folks, I’m not always perfect. Just most of the time. And for a little fun, I have decided to try and garner a bit of public interest and breed guessing skills, with a routine post entitled What the F#@k is That Dog?

For your inaugural edition of What the F#@k is That Dog?, I give you my very own pound puppy, Zelda.

Zelda is a nine month old brindle and white Bull Terrier mix. I’m giving y’all an easy one for the first go – we know for a fact that Zelda’s mom is a purebred Bull Terrier (she’s white, deaf, and her name is Mia).

All we know about Zelda, and Mia, is that Mia was dumped while giving birth because she scratched a teenager in the home. Mia proceeded to have two puppies at the shelter, and when I found her and called Bull Terrier Rescue, we teamed up to get Mia and the pups out. Bull Terrier rescue took the family into foster care, and when Zelda was six weeks old, I brought her home to foster. The rest is history…

So, here’s where you come in – what the f#@k is Zelda? Comment with your thoughts and why you came to that conclusion.

Lastly, just because Zelda is mine and I want to add a little competitive element to the game, I will be ordering a DNA test and sending it in promptly. I’ll post the results when they’re in to follow up!

Alright, guys, let’s have some fun and judge the hell out of my dog (and I promise I won’t get mad at any yucky breeds y’all suggest).

And because I have to say it, even though I shouldn’t… yes I’m aware the DNA tests are not 100% accurate. It’s FUN, y’all.

Eight months old

Mama Mia at the shelter

Mama Mia ready for adoption

Mia and the babies, the day we got them.

Baby Zelda

More Baby Zelda

6 weeks old

9-10 weeks old

14 weeks old (our first Charleston trip!)

Four months old (first beach trip!)

Four months old (first beach trip!)

Seven months old

Nine months old (bad IG pic, best recent one I have).

  What the F#@k is That Dog?: Zelda Have you ever seen a dog and thought to yourself, “What the f#@k is that thing?” Let’s be real, we all have.

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A Very Unscientific Index of Adopters

A Very Unscientific Index of Adopters

I’m going on my seventh year of active dog rescue, and I’ll be the first to admit that I still have a lot to learn about dogs, fostering, running a rescue, and dealing with the wide variety of people that I come into contact with daily. You have your volunteers, your shelter workers, your donors, your wannabe-rescuers, your surrender-ers, and your adopters, just to name a few.

Today I want to…

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Why dog people are crazy... but also totally awesome and better than you. Probably.

Why dog people are crazy… but also totally awesome and better than you. Probably.

Heather:

I don’t reblog often, but I loved this piece from a fellow dog lover and rescue volunteer.

Originally posted on Six Dog Blog:

This morning I awoke to that constricting feeling of when your blanket starts to get wound a little too tight around you… Usually uncomfortably exposing a foot which becomes about 30 degrees colder instantly. Flailing around I finally escaped from the blankets…

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#zeldaofcolumbia's first beach trip! #edistobeach #beachpuppy #bullterrier #puppiesofinstagram #iflmydog

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The Love/Hate Relationship of Social Media and Rescue

The Love/Hate Relationship of Social Media and Rescue

Oh, the double-edged sword of Facebook. Rescuers know it well – what started as a brilliant method for sharing dogs in need and utilizing well-meaning volunteers has effectively become what many of us will consider the biggest thorn in our sides. This is a long read, so get comfortable.

Facebook – social media in general, really – is responsible for the lives of thousands of animals that would…

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Tala's Story: Lessons From a Mean Dog (Part Two)

Tala’s Story: Lessons From a Mean Dog (Part Two)

Read Part One first…

Come Christmastime, I took Tala with me to North Carolina to visit my father. He’s the reason I have Aussies to begin with, and he adopted my very first foster dog, Tucker. I tried to convince him to adopt Tala, since there was plenty of reason to assume she was in fact Tucker’s mom (same county, I was just full of crap). He didn’t buy it, but we had a blast anyways. Tala…

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Tala's Story: Lessons From a Mean Dog (Part One)

Tala’s Story: Lessons From a Mean Dog (Part One)

This is a long one, so I’ve broken it into two parts. 

Those of us in rescue know – there is always that one dog that opens your eyes and shows you exactly what you’ve been missing. They may appear early on in our rescue days, or they may not surface until we “think” we’re veteran rescue sages, just to show us that we really don’t know as much as we think we do.

To say I’ve fostered a lot of dogs…

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Foster Spotlight: Cyrus the Great

Foster Spotlight: Cyrus the Great

This is Cyrus – he is a Great Dane (maybe mix?) around eight years old. He weighs a skinny 100 pounds, but I’m not putting too much more weight on him for the well-being of his joints.

Cyrus was left at a county shelter in South Carolina. This is one of my favoriteshelters to work with – they hate rescues, won’t allow evaluations, and really can’t be bothered to hold any dog past its euthanasia…

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Protect your dog (yes, you are your dog's keeper)

Protect your dog (yes, you are your dog’s keeper)

One of the first things I tell people when they ask me about pretty much anything concerning dogs is, “Don’t set your dog up for failure.” It’s really a very simple concept. Most of the situations I see/hear about where dogs have done something wrong could have been easily prevented by the owners. The most common instances involve children, and then strangers.

1. Know your dog

You would think…

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What you didn't know about rescue (but really need to)

What you didn’t know about rescue (but really need to)

As a sort of follow-up to last week’s post that got a lot of people all hot ‘n bothered, I figured I would stir up some discussion on what exactly is the purpose of rescue. This post applies to most dog rescues; I fully understand that there are indeed rescue groups who do take it upon themselves to fill the niches provided below. Those groups are few and far between, however.

Dog owners tend to…

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Dear Breeders: Stop. Just stop.

Dear Breeders: Stop. Just stop.

Seriously – if you can’t do it right, just don’t do it at all. This is definitely a stab piece against dog breeders, but not for the reasons you’re probably thinking. I’m not here to condemn dog breeders or spout the “adopt don’t shop” religion. The few good, responsible breeders that exist have my full support and respect.Of my five dogs, two were purchased from breeders, and I will most…

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Love happy, healthy double merles!

#onemore because #shesjustsodarnedcute #roaddog #chefbigdaddychefcoatemergency #slackerchefswifelife #deafdogsrock #australianshepherd #doublemerle