Adoption Team Success Stories
"It matters to this one."
Sophie Our lives had been shattered by the sudden and unexpected death of our Beagle, Nellie. Her passing left such a void in our lives and it threw our old Border Collie, Robbie, into depression as well. Robbie had been a throw-away puppy, half grown, who appeared out of the woods. Robbie is eleven and about 65 pounds so he is quite old for a large dog. Nellie Beagle was a rescue dog and we have a rescue cat, Tasha (age unknown but we have had her for sixteen years). After a few weeks we decided our normal path of waiting maybe a year before considering another family member was being much too sad. Robbie was moping and we were too.
We found a little terrier mix through the SPCA-Tulsa, but through a mix-up of information, the foster family decided to keep her. This made us even more sad.
Then we found Sophie (Tillie)! Sherry Wilson was such a great foster mom to the eight pound poodle! Sherry told us so much about Sophie's personality and we were very excited about finding her. She seemed like the perfect little friend for us. We picked Sophie up about two LONG weeks later. smile
We had some uneasiness....how would she relate to the cat (who by the way, does not have front claws)...how would she relate to Robbie...would Robbie be kind to her as the newcomer...would she bond easily with us....would she always be overly shy....??
Well, all our worries quickly melted away! In less than two weeks her whole personality was full blown and she was the greatest blessing and sweetest girl anyone could want!
She was running around following Robbie or leading him, both seeming to really enjoy each other, she did not seem to be shy or insecure at all, she tried (tries?) continually to get the cat to play with her...bringing her sock and slapping it in the cat's face to try and get her to play...sleeping on anyone's lap who will sit long enough for her to land there....
but you can imagine how surprised we were when we heard a siren in the distance, heard Robbie howl and THEN heard this high pitched howl which was Sophie!!
Robbie is now chipper again, and Sophie has added so much joy to our lives! We thank Sherry and the rescue organization for helping us find this wonderful little friend. Judith and Earl Anderson
Ceasar I talked to you in the spring of 2002 about wanting a standard poodle. I called you from Wichita, KS and at the time I was looking for a puppy but you pointed me to a rescue dog that had been found as a stray that you thought would be perfect for our situation. I am the mother of 3 young children. At the time their ages were 6, 5, and 2 years old. Our 6 year old has severe CP, is non-verbal and has many medical difficulties. You convinced me that a puppy would be too time consuming for my situation and now I say, THANK YOU!, THANK YOU!, THANK YOU!!!!!!
Caesar (as someone there named him) was thought to be about 5 years old at the time and had been found wondering the streets with matted hair and the couple that found him had no luck finding his family and in turn gave him to the rescue service. He stands at about 27" at the shoulder and has been a wonderful addition to our family. He fit right in from the beginning but it quickly became evident that he was much older than 5 years old. We guess (and the vet agrees) he's closer to 10. He has some occasional arthritis flare up, though not too bad. He had some nasty habits we had to work on, like getting into the trash and helping himself to anything on the table or cabinets (it was very easy for him to reach at his size). He quickly learned his place and we can tell at some point in his life, we had been trained in some obedience class as he obeys commands well. He does have a problem with separation anxiety and can't stand to be alone. He also prefers to be in the house, not outside.
That November, I took him, along with my 3 children, to have their X-mas pictures taken together and while there, struck up a conversation with someone that had a friend that had a similar dog she got from her father (because he couldn't take care of it) but she wanted to get rid of it because she already had too many dogs and cats. I had been thinking that we want to eventually have a service dog for our daughter, Brianna, and Caesar was definitely too old to work with, even though he is so perfect in so many ways. This other dog was only 2 years old. The next thing I know, we have another black standard poodle. There was a little trouble in the beginning establishing the alpha male thing, but once Willie (the newer younger dog) was fixed and learned his place, that has subsided. They really compliment each other and are great company for each other. Willie is way too high strung to be a service dog and just can't seem to "leave it" but otherwise passed all his obedience classes. Caesar never had a playful bone in his body. To this day, he will not play with any toy. Willie has taught Caesar how to play and that has been the best thing in the world for him. It keeps him active and Caesar tends to ground Willie a little bit too.
The best thing of all about Caesar has been how he has been helpful with our daughter, Brianna. He was a little afraid of the suction machine (she has a trach and can't swallow so we have to suction the secretions from her trach) in the beginning so he shied away from her unless I was sitting with her on the floor and urged him to come over and lay with her. Over time, he will come to her, especially when he knows that she is sick. We began to notice a pattern to his behavior and he has become our 'lab tech.' We noticed that he would try to lick her ears and then soon after we noticed that she was getting an ear infection. He would try to lick her mouth and soon we noticed that she was getting strep or something when we did a culture. Since she is medically fragile, she catches things easily. At first, we were concerned that he was giving her something but quickly realized that he would smell the bacteria that was growing and he was trying to take care of her, even though the symptoms weren't obvious to us yet. It was kind of fascinating and now all we do is call the Pediatrician and say that Caesar is licking her ears, and he puts her on antibiotics because we all know that he is telling us something.
We just love Caesar and couldn't imagine our family without him. Some day when he is gone, I will be checking with you again to find a replacement, even though we know there's not another one like him out there.
Thanks again for all you and your organization do for Poodles and families like ours. I've enclosed a couple of pictures for you. You are welcome to use them for any purpose.
Dinell and Michael
parents of Brianna, Samuel, Marissa, Caesar and Willie
Simone: Three events transpired two years ago that helped to bring Simone to us. The first was the loss of our beloved fourteen-year-old poodle. The second, discovering that our remaining poodle, Colette, would soon be blind from an untreatable eye disease. And the third event was a puppy mill owner in Arkansas dumping her "inventory" at an Arkansas animal shelter.
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Simone made her way to Tulsa and eventually our home from the Arkansas shelter. This is all thanks to the kind volunteers with the Poodle Club of Tulsa. When we first saw Simone, her fur was long, dirty, and matted, she was missing some teeth, she was thin, and she was terrified of people. However, she was a quick learner after we brought her home, and she really wanted to please. She was also a good student of her adopted sister, Colette, who taught her everything she needed to know about how to be a pampered house pet.
Today, Simone and Colette both enjoy jogging, boat and Sea Doo rides, trips in the convertible, and many other fun activities too. But mostly, they enjoy being loved and loving right back
Sarge & Frosty - Sarge is the largest poodle to come into our rescue and Frosty is the smallest.
Sarge is a beautiful silver male that stands 30" at the shoulder. He came to us at the age of 14 months, an out of control bundle of energy. His original owners were an elderly couple that had never owned a standard poodle before They loved him and took good care of him, but he had no discipline. Sarge is now living with the *Reiman Pack* He is being trained for obedience competition. He is extremely smart and if mom (yes, that's me) will get busy will get busy training, he will do real well.
Frosty is a precious little silver girl. She is almost 6" and weighs in at a whopping 4.5 lbs. Frosty had been owned by an elderly woman. When she first came to us, she weighed 3.75 lbs and her back legs were almost totally atrophied. We think that she was probably carried on a constant basis. With the wonderful patience of Jane Ruyle, she is now a very active little girl. She is a member of Karing K-9's Therapy group and should should start competing in Novice B in the Fall of '04.
Both dogs appear in The World of Dogs Biography Series - Episode 5: POODLES. (Check with your local PBS station.)
Paulie Anna - Paulie is a wonderful black female toy who has the heart of a standard. We suspect that she suffered a ruptured disk from jumping off of a couch or bed that was too high when she was about 2 years old. There is no sign of trauma and she is in no pain, but has no use of her back legs. She also has no control over her bodily functions, hence the diaper.. Her original owners took her to the shelter to be put down because she wasn't "worth the trouble". The Vet at the shelter disagreed and asked rescue to give her a second chance. She is now a member of the *Reiman Pack* When she is in her custom made wheel cart (Thank you Doggon' Wheels http://www.doggon.com) she knows no boundaries except stairs. When she is not in her wheel cart, she pulls herself around just fine and does a great job at keeping up with the big dogs. She is a member of Karing K-9's Therapy group and is a real hit with the physical rehabilitation centers. She also appears in The World of Dogs Biography Series - Episode 5: POODLES. (Check with your local PBS station.)
