Charlie/pending...OH

We wanted to update you on Brutus and Bella, formerly known as Charlie and Carolina (Brutus has the black nose and Bella has the pink nose). As you know, I hadn’t wanted to get another dog after we lost our Amos, while my husband wanted to get 2 dogs. We came to a compromise and agreed to get one. As soon as I saw Bella’s picture on you website, I was in love, as she is a doppelganger for Amos. The minute we saw that she had a brother, my resolve to get only one dog disappeared. I couldn’t possibly take Bella and leave Brutus behind, so Brutus had not only a new home, but a place in our hearts right next to his sister. Its fun to look back at their ”baby” pictures, they almost don’t look like the same dogs. But no matter how big they get, you can see some things never change, they still cuddle with each other when they sleep. They just turned 7 months old on 5/5/2007, and they are doing great! They are pretty ornery, and there are days we think we should have named them Bonnie and Clyde instead, but puppies will be puppies. Bella is definitely the leader of the pack, where she goes, he follows, even if it gets him into trouble. She is the ”œadventurous” one, and will do anything and approach anyone. He is gentler, and loves to give kisses. Most of the time we have to stop him giving kisses because he gets so carried away you almost can’t breathe. They are very popular with all the neighbors. Our one set of neighbors has a 1 year old who loves to play with them. The second she gets in their back yard she starts calling out ”Puppies! Puppies!” and they are more than happy to fulfill her desire to pet them and give her kisses. Another neighbor brings treats out every time he sees them in the yard. And another calls Bella his girlfriend, which is fitting because she always wants to sit on his lap when he is here. Unfortunately, their feline brothers aren’t as enamored with them as the neighbor’s daughter. The cats take an attitude of ”œif you leave me alone, I’ll leave you alone.” Poor Bella would like nothing more than for her kitty cat brothers to play with her though, which usually ends with her getting a good swat. We thought they would get along, the cats never minded Amos. But then again, Amos was 19, slept most of the day, and had no illusions about the cats being a chew toy. Speaking of toys, no matter how many we buy them, their favorite by far is the fuzzy blue rooster their foster mom sent with them. I could go on for pages telling you about how wonderful they are, and how much joy they bring to us, but I will restrain myself. Just suffice to say we are very grateful to have them and all your organization does to rescue these beautiful dogs. Enjoy the pictures. Thanks Again, Angela Kidder

CAGNEY...CT

Hi Diane You probably don't remember us, but we adopted Maggie and Macie (aka: Cagney and Lacy) back in 2005 around Christmas time. We have been so busy since then, but I wanted to give you an update. Last year in June of 2006, we moved to Arizona. I took a job transfer to our division in Chandler which is a suburb of Phoenix. We love it out here. The company moved all our furniture and personal belongings, and Dan and I packed up all our "important" stuff in a van and travelled across the country - with 4 dogs! It was quite an experience, but little Maggie and Macie LOVE to travel. The van had a console between the two front seats that was perfect to have a thick blanket on making the height even with our laps. For four days, they moved from lap to lap and basically slept and snuggled the whole route. Since then we have also travelled to visit family in Nebraska. We boarded our big dachshund, Tucker, as well as our Sheltie (Sassy). Neither of them travel well at all unfortunately. But we took Maggie and Macie and again they were just perfect for the ride. They love all people and had a great time with my daughter's dogs in Nebraska. One of her dogs is a great Dane, and it looked so funny to see them sniff noses. Because they are dachshunds, the size of the great Dane didn't faze them one bit! We love them very much. We don't know what we would do without them. I am sending pictures of them as an attachment. As you can see, they have quite a lot of fur now and they weigh 10 lbs each. We are now watching their weight; we don't want them to get too heavy. We are having a few health issues with Macie. She started to have an occasional seizure (very mild) not too long after we got her. The vet said to just keep an eye on her. Over time, they became more frequent, and the vet out here has put her on medication for epilepsy. This has been working pretty well, but she still has seizures occasionally. I am taking her to the vet this Friday to talk about further testing for liver function, etc. They have a nice fenced in yard to play in out here. The weather is too hot to be outside for long, though, so they really just go out to potty right now. Being away from the cold weather up north seems to be helping my Sheltie's arthritis also. She is more like a puppy out here than she has been in years. During the time that we are at work, they are crated together. My husband and I are on different schedules, however, so they are never crated for long periods of time. My big dachshund, Tucker, has his own crate which is very large. Initially, I thought I would crate them all together in the big crate because they like to sleep all together in a heap when they're out of their crates. But Tucker loves them too much. He likes to hold them down and clean their faces and ears, and I was afraid they would get stuck under him. He is a big boy - 27 lbs (Standard). I hope you enjoy the picture. Thanks, Nancy and Dan

CHARLIE5...MA

We adopted Charlie in early March 2009. Charlie was turned over to the AADR 10 pounds overweight! While Charlie was in foster care (mainly with Diane) he went from a whopping 24 pounds to roughly 16-17 pounds. Diane did the majority of the work, we were on the clean up crew. With a balanced diet of kibble, fresh carrots, green beans and low calorie treats we are happy to report he weighs approximately 15 pounds. Charlie is able to run, play and go for long walks with fellow dachshund ''Becks''. We want to thank the AADR team for his care and turning an overweight, low energy dog into a playful fun loving pet. Charlie turned 8 on 7/13 and is living the good life. Our thanks for those who brought Charlie into our lives.

Cookie...NJ

We renamed Cookie!! His new name is Nathan and he is awesome . He got a great personality, always happy, always friendly, and very loving. He goes everywhere with my girlfriend and I. Nathan is definitely a nature dog. He loves being outside with us, running around (he's fast!!), and going to the parks with us. We've really had no problems with training him. He sits, goes outside for the most part, rolls over, plays fetch... everything. Like I said he's awesome!

CONNIE....MD

Dear Diane, I just can't thank you enough for my precious Kitzell. She is smart, happy, energetic, cuddly, laid-back - and the best little love-sponge I could possibly wish for! She looks almost like a stretched-out rabbit, running and leaping through our gigantic back yard. She sees me pulling up grass from between our patio bricks - and tries to pull up grass herself, to help me. I made her a coat, and she not only tolerated the try-ons, she loves wearing it. And she does get cold easily - a by-product of her mange, I suspect, which left her with thinner fur than usual. That's fine - all the more reason for me to knit her a wardrobe! She discovered our parrot - had one encounter and now ignores bird. She gets a chew toy - the other dogs take it from her and she doesn't really object. Kitzell is love-oriented, not food-oriented, thank God. You have given me one of the most precious beings I've ever had the honor to love. Thank you!! Sincerely, Dot Pecson