Rolling Dog Farm Blog

Yes, our two beautiful blind Poodles have found a wonderful new family to call their own!  Kathy K. and her husband Chris T. from South Tamworth, New Hampshire, came out on Saturday to meet the girls and, naturally, fell in love with them.  It wasn't long before we bundled the girls into the back of their Land Rover, kissed them goodbye, and waved as they drove out the gate. 

Kathy and Chris have a couple of miniature Poodles and a Beagle/Dachshund mix they recently adopted, as well as two horses.  Kathy had been looking for another dog to adopt as a companion for their Beagle/Dachshund mix when she came across Molly and Priscilla on PetFinder.  One look at our "belles of the ball" was all it took.  Several emails and phone calls later, we had a visit scheduled. 

Molly and Pris were shy at first, but it wasn't long before Molly was pressing her head into Chris' leg.  We could tell immediately that Kathy and Chris were going to be perfect for the girls.  After getting home yesterday evening, Kathy emailed us some photos.  Here they are in the kitchen with Kathy, with Molly showing she'll press her face into any available human leg:

Notice her fluffy tail is a-wagging!  Priscilla's tail is down, a sign she still isn't quite sure where they are and what's going on, but that didn't last long, as you'l see in this next one:

Yep, she's made herself at home.

Kathy wrote, "The girls are so good. We love them very much already. You have to see how happy Chris is (they are following him)."

Kathy and Chris, thank you so much for bringing these special girls into your family!

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The current Shelter Challenge started on Monday, April 4th, and ends at midnight on Sunday, June 19th.  Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners.  There are also other categories … please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

And remember, you can vote every day, so consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

Please note:  Use Rolling Dog Ranch for our name and NH for the state and our listing will come up.

Because of your votes, we won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the Shelter Challenge that ended in March.  Please help us win more money for the animals here by voting every day, and by encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to vote every day, too.  Thank you!

Vicky L., who adopted blind Lucy from us a week ago, just sent us these wonderful photos of the "Pink Princess" at home with her new best friend, Vicky's lovely daughter Kendall.  Vicky wrote, "Lucy is doing great! She really is 11 and a half pounds of pure JOY! She has adapted very well to her new surroundings, loves to explore the yard and loves going for car rides. Because we've had this week off she has gone pretty much everywhere with us."

She continued, "I brought her to my work on Monday (of course she was a hit) and she was quiet as a mouse. (If I could only convince my boss to let me bring her to work with me!) She was also a hit at Petco. People were flocking to her and she loves the attention. I brought her Wednesday on my 3 mile walk…. We bought a pet carrier so I could carry her on my walks and she really seemed to enjoy it, although I think Lucy just loves being in your arms…anytime."

Here's Lucy in her pink bed with her pink kong:

And finally, with this next photo of Lucy with Kendall, Vicky wrote: "Here's Lucy after stealing Fawn's bone (I know it's hard to believe that this 11 and a half pounder would steal a bone from a 70 lb greyhound…she did!)"

Um, not to mention she's a blind 11 1/2 pounder who's stealing a bone from a 70 pound Greyhound!

Vicky and Kendall, thank you so much for bringing her into your family!

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The current Shelter Challenge started on Monday, April 4th, and ends at midnight on Sunday, June 19th.  Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners.  There are also other categories … please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

And remember, you can vote every day, so consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

Please note:  Use Rolling Dog Ranch for our name and NH for the state and our listing will come up.

Because of your votes, we won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the Shelter Challenge that ended in March.  Please help us win more money for the animals here by voting every day, and by encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to vote every day, too.  Thank you!

I looked out the window a couple of days ago and saw this rather interesting sight in the dog house — Katie figuring out yet another way to use her brother Spencer for sleeping.  That's her on top, with her head buried.  Although in this case, I'm not sure how or why this one really works.  The headrest/pillow thing, yes.  Makes perfect sense.  This position, on the other hand, seems a tad awkward.  But at least her face was really, really warm!

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The current Shelter Challenge started on Monday, April 4th, and ends at midnight on Sunday, June 19th.  Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners.  There are also other categories … please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

And remember, you can vote every day, so consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

Please note:  Use Rolling Dog Ranch for our name and NH for the state and our listing will come up.

Because of your votes, we won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the Shelter Challenge that ended in March.  Please help us win more money for the animals here by voting every day, and by encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to vote every day, too.  Thank you!

Kate W. in Missoula, who adopted blind Luke from us several years ago, just sent us this photo of Luke with his new best friend, Pearl.  Kate wrote:

"Just emailing to let you guys know I adopted a 14-year old cat a little over 10 days ago and things are going great!  Luke has always loved kitties.  He likes to smell them, follow them around and be groomed by them.  (Yes, my sister's cat grooms Luke, and he will sit there for as long as Chubs is willing to groom.)  So I finally committed to the idea of a litter box and adopted a kitty.
 
I named her Pearl.  She's a 14 year old Himalayan X.  She was brought in after her owner died with another elderly cat and a Rottweiler.  
 
I'm sending a photo of Luke and Pearl on day number two!  Already snugglin' on the couch together.  She sleeps in bed with us and follows Luke and me all around the house.  It's so nice to be loved by two wonderful animals!  Although I do think Luke is getting jealous of the fact that Pearl fits in my lap, and he doesn't."

(Our experience is that the bigger the dog, the more they think they're a lap dog.  Somehow I suspect this is related to the issue of big dogs seeking out the tiniest possible beds to sleep in, too.)

Kate subsequently told us she took Pearl to the vet a few days later, and suddenly she had a very vocal and freaked out cat in the exam room.  So Kate brought Luke into the room, and instant calm prevailed.  Pearl took one look at Luke and that was all she needed. 

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Our friends at the New Hampshire SPCA not only made it into the top 50 shelters in this contest, but placed 5th in the nation overall in number of votes cast!  Thanks to everyone who helped them make it into this qualifying round!

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The current Shelter Challenge started on Monday, April 4th, and ends at midnight on Sunday, June 19th.  Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners.  There are also other categories … please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

And remember, you can vote every day, so consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

Please note:  Use Rolling Dog Ranch for our name and NH for the state and our listing will come up.

Because of your votes, we won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the Shelter Challenge that ended in March.  Please help us win more money for the animals here by voting every day, and by encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to vote every day, too.  Thank you!

I received an email about 10 days ago from Vicky L. in Connecticut, who was interested in adopting blind Lucy.  Vicky and her family have adopted several rescued Greyhounds over the years, including a three-legged one they lost earlier this year.  They still have one Greyhound, an 11-year old named Fawn.  They also have a couple of adopted horses — one of which came with its best friend, a miniature donkey — and a goat, too. 

Vicky wrote, "You're probably wondering why we would go from Greyhounds to a Dachshund. Well, the truth is my daughter wants a snuggle bug in her bed with her. Have you ever snuggled with a Greyhound? Not an easy task. Although our three-legged Greyhound was a snuggle bug, she took up half the bed."

I wrote Vicky back and said, "If you want a snuggle bug, that’s Lucy!  Snuggling is her thing."  

After we worked through the arrangements and scheduled a trip, Vicky emailed to say, "My daughter and I were at Petco and we bought a new dog bed, a harness with matching leash (of course in pink). Also a new pink coat, although hopefully we won't need that till winter. Oh, and a pink kong."  I told Vicky I didn't even know they made pink kongs!

So this past Wednesday, Alayne took Lucy to our vet clinic in Whitefield to get her interstate health certificate, and on Friday, Vicky drove up from Connecticut to meet Miss Snuggle Bug.  I took the photo above of the two of them in our dog room, just before they hit the road for home.

And here they are in the car, with Lucy sporting her new pink harness … and please note the pink bed for the ride:

After getting home Friday afternoon, Vicky emailed to say, "Lucy took about a half hour to settle in the car (as I expected) but she then settled right down on my lap. Only time she woke was to change positions…. I am truly amazed how she loves to explore. She pretty much covered the whole yard. We TRULY love her to pieces already! (How can you not?) Thank you for providing her with such a wonderful place and for allowing us to give her a forever home!"

Thank YOU, Vicky!

I told Kate later that day that this is the kind of thing Alayne and I live for — to see a little blind dog like Lucy end up in a loving home with someone like Vicky.  Wow.

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The current Shelter Challenge started on Monday, April 4th, and ends at midnight on Sunday, June 19th.  Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners.  There are also other categories … please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

And remember, you can vote every day, so consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

Please note:  Use Rolling Dog Ranch for our name and NH for the state and our listing will come up.

Because of your votes, we won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the Shelter Challenge that ended in March.  Please help us win more money for the animals here by voting every day, and by encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to vote every day, too.  Thank you!

Last June I posted a photo of blind and deaf Spencer using his sister Katie as a pillow.  Well, a couple of days ago I looked out the window and saw Katie using Spencer as a headrest.  When they snooze together, inevitably one of them is resting his or her head on the other.  They take turns at this.  It's just how they do it!

The mess on the other side of the fence is what's left over from when we installed the wood boiler back in late January.  Now that the snow has melted, uncovering all the rough ground from the installation site, it's apparent we have some landscaping to do this spring!

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The current Shelter Challenge started on Monday, April 4th, and ends at midnight on Sunday, June 19th.  Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners.  There are also other categories … please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

And remember, you can vote every day, so consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

Please note:  Use Rolling Dog Ranch for our name and NH for the state and our listing will come up.

Because of your votes, we won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the Shelter Challenge that ended in March.  Please help us win more money for the animals here by voting every day, and by encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to vote every day, too.  Thank you!

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The ASPCA $100,000 Challenge — Last Week For This Round

Our friends at the New Hampshire SPCA "downstate" (as they say here) in Stratham have made it into the qualifying round of the ASPCA's $100,000 Challenge to Save More Lives contest.  They are competing to be one of the 50 shelters eligible to participate in the final round of the challenge.  This is not a contest for us — you need to care for a minimum of 1,000 animals during the year to enter.  The NHSPCA has made it past the first stage and into the qualifying round, and now they need as many votes as possible to get one of the final 50 spots in the contest.  On their behalf, we'd like to ask you to vote for them — they do wonderful work and we'd like to support their efforts.

The qualifying round of the contest starts Monday, April 4 and runs until April 15 — and you can vote EVERY DAY in this challenge, too!  Please vote for the NHSPCA here.

If you have questions or want to know more about this Challenge, please go to this page.  My standard disclaimer:  I cannot help with voting issues, troubleshoot, or provide any other assistance for this contest.

Every morning Alayne bundles Bailey into a towel and carries him through the house on a "road trip."  This lets him "explore" and see things he wouldn't ordinarily see, like our offices on the second floor.  They make a stop here in my office, and that photo — taken this morning — is the view I have of him peering down at me while I'm on my computer.  The last stop on the tour is Alayne's office, where they always end up in front of her computer, and he sits in her lap while she goes through her spam filter, cleaning out emails.  As she holds him, he drifts off to sleep.  There's something very comforting about being held. But he also loves the view from "on high," which makes him feel bigger than the biggest dog.

He's wrapped in a towel, of course, because he's completely incontinent from his spinal disability.  It makes for a safe road trip.

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The current Shelter Challenge started on Monday, April 4th, and ends at midnight on Sunday, June 19th.  Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners.  There are also other categories … please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

And remember, you can vote every day, so consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

Please note:  Use Rolling Dog Ranch for our name and NH for the state and our listing will come up.

Because of your votes, we won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the Shelter Challenge that ended in March.  Please help us win more money for the animals here by voting every day, and by encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to vote every day, too.  Thank you!

—

The ASPCA $100,000 Challenge — Last Week For This Round

Our friends at the New Hampshire SPCA "downstate" (as they say here) in Stratham have made it into the qualifying round of the ASPCA's $100,000 Challenge to Save More Lives contest.  They are competing to be one of the 50 shelters eligible to participate in the final round of the challenge.  This is not a contest for us — you need to care for a minimum of 1,000 animals during the year to enter.  The NHSPCA has made it past the first stage and into the qualifying round, and now they need as many votes as possible to get one of the final 50 spots in the contest.  On their behalf, we'd like to ask you to vote for them — they do wonderful work and we'd like to support their efforts.

The qualifying round of the contest starts Monday, April 4 and runs until April 15 — and you can vote EVERY DAY in this challenge, too!  Please vote for the NHSPCA here.

If you have questions or want to know more about this Challenge, please go to this page.  My standard disclaimer:  I cannot help with voting issues, troubleshoot, or provide any other assistance for this contest.

It was 63° (17°C) when I took this photo this afternoon, and the snow is finally, at long last, beginning to give way to bare — if soggy — ground.  We've gone from what seemed like perpetual winter to almost-summer, though all that white stuff still on the ground seems out of place with the temperature today.  Our high tomorrow is forecast to be 70° (21°C), so we should have all the snow gone within a couple more days, we hope!  Next up is mud season.

That's blind Allie on the right, with the munchkin brigade in the dog house … blind Lucy on the left, Katie and Spencer, and blind Willie.  His snoring was the only sound I could hear when I was outside taking photos.

Miss Marker and I even enjoyed coffee on the deck this morning after breakfast, though you can see the snow is lingering here, too:

But notice the kitchen window is open — now that's a sign of spring!

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The current Shelter Challenge started on Monday, April 4th, and ends at midnight on Sunday, June 19th.  Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners.  There are also other categories … please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

And remember, you can vote every day, so consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

Please note:  Use Rolling Dog Ranch for our name and NH for the state and our listing will come up.

Because of your votes, we won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the Shelter Challenge that ended in March.  Please help us win more money for the animals here by voting every day, and by encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to vote every day, too.  Thank you!

—

The ASPCA $100,000 Challenge — Last Week For This Round

Our friends at the New Hampshire SPCA "downstate" (as they say here) in Stratham have made it into the qualifying round of the ASPCA's $100,000 Challenge to Save More Lives contest.  They are competing to be one of the 50 shelters eligible to participate in the final round of the challenge.  This is not a contest for us — you need to care for a minimum of 1,000 animals during the year to enter.  The NHSPCA has made it past the first stage and into the qualifying round, and now they need as many votes as possible to get one of the final 50 spots in the contest.  On their behalf, we'd like to ask you to vote for them — they do wonderful work and we'd like to support their efforts.

The qualifying round of the contest starts Monday, April 4 and runs until April 15 — and you can vote EVERY DAY in this challenge, too!  Please vote for the NHSPCA here.

If you have questions or want to know more about this Challenge, please go to this page.  My standard disclaimer:  I cannot help with voting issues, troubleshoot, or provide any other assistance for this contest.