The Tallahassee Diary

9/10/07 - Citizen’s call to LBR:  boxer abandoned in house next door  7-10 days ago.  Neighbors  has 3 boxers (2 parents and the white one was their baby.)  They left the white female because she would fight with her mom.  The man would come by every 2 or 3 days but he hasn’t been back in a while.   LBR reported the situation to the Humane Society of North Texas.  A cruelty officer located owner and received release to take the dog on 9/17.

9-19-07 - From the shelter:  Here are a few pics of your boxer friend - and I will try to get you more information such as heartworm status and etc tomorrow.  She's terrified of people, not leashed trained, but give her a home where she can build up some of the confidence she desperately needs, I think she will be a great dog. She does not seem to be a fear biter, as I carried her and loved on her in the office and she didn't snap once, she's just scared out of her mind right now.  Talk to you soon. 

9/23/07 -  I think she's been in the backyard all of her life, but we know she was alone for 2-3 weeks.  Today, I had to drag her out of her crate to potty.  She had held it since yesterday, and she ate a big dinner and drank plenty so I know she was dying.  She slunk to the back of the yard and went pee pee and poo poo right away. 

I thought I had all my dogs put up, but Levi was out in the yard.  I saw her looking at something and he came wiggling around the corner.  I just stood and watched to see what would happen.   They met and she seemed to relax a little.  He saw me and came over for some scratches and petting.  She was like "WTF?  You are PETTING him?"  I think she thought he was in trouble.  Anyway, she eventually relaxed enough to venture into the house and sat by me at the computer for a minute.  I think it helps for her to see that dogs have fun here and don't get hit.

I think she'll be fine.  We've already made some progress.  She still makes me carry her everywhere and shakes like a leaf, but we'll be patient and see what happens. I think after the trauma of her spay on Tuesday, we'll be able to really work on the trust issues.

9/23/07 - Tallahassee is terrified and stays still like a rock. Makes me carry her EVERYWHERE.  I'm worried about this one.  I'm going to give her a week or so and see how she does. She may be past the point of help, but maybe she'll come around.  Send good vibes and tell her telepathically that Aunt Kathy is a nice person.  She has had no socialization and thinks I'm going to kill her every time I move :(  So very sad.

9/24/07 - She's doing a little better as each hour goes by so I'm hoping tomorrow’s spay doesn't set her back too much.   Dr. Norris is going to let me hold her while he gives her a pre-anesthetic shot as soon as I walk in the door with her, so that should help.

9/26/07 - How is Miss Tallahassee tonight?   She's good.  Up and around. Staying close to me but won't let me touch her. Progress I think.  Levi is out with the other doggies, otherwise, she sticks to him like glue.  I saw her wag her tail at him this morning.   He is such a Ladies Man!!

12/17/07 - Just when I was about to give up on Tallahassee, I think she's starting to come around.  My son moved home and she apparently likes boys better than girls.  She responds well to him and he tells me that she will actually go in and out the door when he tells her to.  She slept in his room last night.   He had a couple of friends over the other night and he said that all three were able to pet her.  She actually will stop running away when I tell her to stay and she moves toward me when I tell her to come.  Very odd indeed.

1/24/08 - Tallahassee had a bit of a breakthrough tonight.  For some reason, she likes it when you whistle.  My son has been whistling to her and she responds by moving toward instead of away from him.  I even got her to come to me by whistling. 

We were both able to sit with her and pet her tonight without her freaking out and looking for an escape route.  We even snapped a leash on her collar without her doing her "fighting marlin" impression.  She absolutely HATES for her feet to be touched, so we even did a little bit of that to let her know that it's okay.  She likes to have her face and under her chin scratched most of all.

And the best news of all - she took treats from our hands!  That is a HUGE deal for Miss Tallahassee.  You can tell that she still doesn't feel comfortable being touched all that much, but the fact that she ate from our hands gives me some hope.

My son has a friend that had a dog like Tallie and he said that it took a full year for her to act "normal".  Tallie has been with me for almost 5 months now.  She's just a baby, only about a year and a half old, but she has a very old soul.  Right now as I type, she has chosen to lay on the dog bed closest to my computer.  There are other beds spread throughout the house, but she picked the one next to me.

I have hope for this girl yet.  I don't know what the future holds for Tallie, but for now, I need to at least continue to work with her a little each day.  My son is planning on joining the Coast Guard and has about 2 months left before he leaves for basic training.  He's promised to work with her a little every day until he leaves.  She really prefers teenage boys to anyone else that she's met so far.

Attached are some more recent pictures of her that I took tonight.  She was totally un-fazed by the flash and by the camera getting close to her.  Not the best pictures, but they show her as she was tonight - a little more relaxed and without the wild look in her eyes that she had the first time I met her.

1/30/08 - What did my dogs do when the fence went down?

….My son ran to the back yard and found Levi and Tallahassee still in the yard.  Thank goodness that Tallie loves my son because he was able to get her to go inside and not dash off to the side yard like she does when I try to get her in.  She would have been long gone, never to be seen again because she does NOT like people.  No way would she ever allow anyone to catch her.

3/15/08 - Tallahassee did a…..PLAY BOW! Yep - she is getting braver all the time. She actually got so

excited at breakfast yesterday that she bounced around and play bowed at me several times. She comes when I call her most of the time and has started asking for small pats on the head. My daughter reports that she is actually standing up on the side of her bed like she wants to get up there with the other dogs.

I love watching her get braver and more trusting.

1/13/09 - Tallahassee says "Hey - where's my bling?"

At PF the other day, I cleaned them out of clearance sale collars.  I got some really cute ones for super cheap (like $3 each).  Anyway, Maple picked the pretty shiny pink collar with skulls.  That left several in the bag.  When the other dogs saw Maple getting her new collar, we were quickly surrounded by other dogs wanting in on the action. 

I picked the dangerous dog orange for Tres and Winston got a new cool ROGZ collar with some sort of military emblems.  I never mess with Tally much.  The pink collar that she had on has been on her for over a year.  She went and sat next to Faith facing her like she was asking "Hey - where's my new collar?".  Faith was able to unbuckle her collar while she sat still like a statue. 

I got the new collar ready with her tags and thought she would let me slip it over her head.  Nope.  She wasn't having that.  I chased her for a minute then gave up.  Faith said "Give it to me.  I'll put it on her." I'll be damned if Tally didn't climb back up on the couch and sat facing Faith again, waiting for her pretty new collar.  Faith put it on her like it was nothing.

She's perfectly happy and is now sound asleep on top of Winston.  She's a strange dog for sure.

4/28/09 - I have a digger here.  Tallahassee LOVES to dig rain or shine!

11/07/09  - Who does Tallahassee belong to?  Tallahassee belongs to Tallahassee.  She is like a spirit wind that comes in and out quietly without making any noise.  She doesn't let anyone touch her unless you have a cookie in your hand.  She's Levi's best friend.

Sometimes she'll come and sit on the dog bed next to my bed and let me pet her nose if I hang my hand down.  But mostly she just is.

A = Adorable, L = Loveable, A = ...

well, I'm sure you can think of something. Alabama's my name and being adorable is my game. And all that other stuff that goes along with being a boxer. My foster mom tells me that I'm the best boxer girl ever. Um, yes. I have to agree.

And once I'm healthy and ready for a new home, I'll show you exactly what she means. Right now my job is to look cute and take naps. I'm very good at both.

I'll write more later. Right now, I think I hear the dinner bell ringing!

Toodles,

Alabama

Hellooooooo....

Macie here. What's your name? I'm 10. How old are you? Is that rude to ask?

My friends at LBR told me to let you know that I'm safe and that even though I'm 10, I'm still a spunky girl that likes to have fun!

I was pretty scared for a little while when my family took me to the shelter. 10 loyal years I gave them and that's what I get in return. Hmpfff.

I say it's their loss. I'm doing just fine now and can't WAIT to find a new family that will love me as much as I love them.

I hope I get to meet you soon!

Love and kisses,

Macie

Whew...that was CLOSE!

Boy oh boy! Was that a close call. I barely made it out in time. Talk about making a boy nervous. The shelter I was in got so full and they kept saying that if I couldn't get a ride out before Monday, I would be taking my last walk EVER!

Thank goodness that Legacy Boxer Rescue had a nice lady open up her home to foster me. She has two fun doggies that I get to play with. It's been non-stop wrestling since I got out. It feels SO good to finally get to stretch my legs.

Whew...that was too close for comfort. Nothing but good times ahead though.

I'm safe and warm now and actually enjoyed this ride to my foster home.

Thank you LBR for getting me out just in the nick of time.

Slurps and Wiggles,

Amos

Saying goodbye

This is Freedom. He was a very sweet and fun boy that came into Legacy's care a couple of months ago. Unfortunately we lost Freedom today.


Remember the last post I did about heartworms? Well Freedom's story is exactly why all dogs should be on heartworm prevention. The people that originaly cared for him didn't do a very good job and let him get heartworms. Freedoms body had an immune response to the heartworm treatment. It caused what is known as Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia. Basically his
body started destroying his red blood cells.

So please don't let Freedom's death be in vain. Get your dogs on heartworm prevention now!
Goodbye Sweet Freedom we loved you and know that you're having a wonderful time with all of the other Legacy Boxers that have passed on to the bridge. We'll miss you very much.

Meet Iggy

This sweet little boy came to the shelter with hardly any hair.  He is very skinny, and only 8 months old.  He's had such a hard life for such a young boy.

One of our wonderful volunteers, Judy, took him in after just losing her sweet boy, Smokey.  This is Smokey.

Iggy spoke to Judy's heart, though, and she decided she had to help this sad, scared little boy.

Iggy has demodectic mange, which can be treated with a little medication.  He is on his way to a new and better life now.

He will grow back a beautiful coat in no time, and will be ready to start looking for his forever home!

Pet Fair Pups

Legacy had another pet fair this weekend and once again I wasn't allowed to go. I'm sure it's because my mom would be heartbroken if I got adopted. Yep that must it!

This is Zinnia. Just one of the many pretty girls available for adoption. Someone should really give her a cookie for being such a good girl.














And this is Secret. Such a wistful look on her face, must be a cookie over there.












This is my bratty foster sister, Molly. Mom said she was on her best behavior. I don't believe it for a minute!












Look at Elliot and Keebler, such handsome boys. Elliot even found his forever home this weekend! He's a lucky boy.

Last but not least is Apache (swoon!). I told mom he needs to come stay with us! He has a great face and really needs a cookie.

That's all for now, all this posting has made me hungry. I deserve a cookie!!

~Rissa~

Heartworms are Stupid

For those of you that don't live in an area that has to worry about heartworms I say ppbbsstt. Oh wait you guys have to deal with snow, lots of snow. Since my mom gives me heartworm preventive every month I don't really have to worry about heartworms and I don't really like the snow. So nevermind you just keep your lots of cold snow!

On a serious note, 70-75% of the boxers that Legacy takes in test positive for heartworms. Even I had heartworms when I came to Legacy, can you believe that? Heartworm treatment sucks, I mean really really sucks. It hurt...BAD, and the worst part? I had to be kept quiet and calm for 4 weeks. Mom says it's really expensive too a whole lot more expensive than taking a little pill every month.

So you go tell your parents that they better be giving you heartworm preventive every month! If they already are you should give them a treat, chicken jerky is good.

Maggie's mom here-if you haven't been giving your dog heartworm preventive then you'll need to get a heartworm test from your vet. It's a quick and easy blood test. Once you've done that then go see www.nuheart.com. They sell a great heartworm product that all 3 of my dogs have been on for almost 2 years now and No heartworms! Tell them that Maggie with Legacy Boxer Rescue sent you!

Thanks to All of Our Supporters!

Sharon, and all of the LBR Volunteers, thank you so very much for voting and helping us to spread the word! Sharon is honored to have been nominated for this award, and is THRILLED to have won it. Thank you to Care2.com and Tom's of Maine for giving us the opportunity to show the world how passionate we are about what we do! And, $5,000.00 is a lot of money in dog rescue, and it will go far to save more boxers in need. Thank you!

I Call Shotgun!

That's right Keebler -I call shotgun and you have to stay home barkin' on the porch! I can't BELIEVE it - I have a family of my very own. And OMG! Guess what? I get to travel all over the United States in a fabulous motor home, meeting new people and new dogs and having all kinds of fun.

Wow - can you tell I'm excited? I used to live in a back yard all alone and now, I'm going to be a world traveler! I'll get to go fishing on a boat and visit the desert and the mountains. I can hardly wait. Let the adventures begin!

My new Mom and Dad are super nice and they love me a lot already. I know this because they let me sleep in bed with them, feed me cookies all day, buy me new toys and gave me my very own couch with a giant window so that I can see where we're headed next.

This is my new dad, Harvey. He lets me sleep on his lap or sit there like a giant baby. He's nice like that. He likes the way I snuggle with my head on his neck or lap. I am a pretty good snuggler after all.

My new Mom gives me lots and lots of cookies. She talks to me all the time and tells me what a good girl I am and how pretty I am.

I told my foster mom that I promise to send post cards and let her know that I'm doing just fine.

She talked kind of funny when she left - like there were froggies in her throat or something. She gave me a hug and leaned down and whispered in my ear that she loves me and told me to have fun and be a good girl.

I will Aunt Kaffy! Thank you for finding my new mom and dad and tell the other folks at Legacy Boxer Rescue thank you for EVERYTHING.

I can't wait to see what's around the next corner...

Pet Fair Update!

There was a Pet Fair on Saturday and I got to ride with Daddy to deliver some crates that my mom needed. I wanted to go inside so bad, but Dad was in a hurry and had to stay in the car. I was NOT happy!

When mom came home I got to read (smell) the "pet fair news" from her clothes, and they had a good day indeed! Mom was really sleepy when she came in, so she sat on MY chaise lounger and fell asleep. I had lots of "reading" time because she was asleep.

MagZ and Bonnie both found their forever homes!! Yay for those two girls!

Here's some pics.

The "pet fair news" tells me this is my friend Susan with Hennessey and MagZ.

The handsome boxer getting love from a visitor is Connor. That could have been ME getting some lovin' if Dad had let me in there!

The handsome dog on the floor is Logan. Hennessey, Connor and Logan are looking for their forever homes still!

Maybe someday mom will let me go to a pet fair, but she keeps telling me that I am so cute and sweet that I'd probably get adopted if I were to visit. I don't want to be adopted, I love my mom and dad, but I do want to go in there!! They have fun in there, I just know it!

*sigh*

Some day they will realize that they should give me everything I want. I am the most awesomest boxer ever after all. :)