Tolly

I adopted Holly (formerly named Tolly) a few months ago as a buddy for my other cat, Hoppy. The two of them have gotten along famously right from the start. When I brought Holly home, both of them cried and cried as they could smell each other through the door. So, after one day, an initial introduction, and one or two assorted hisses, they set about chasing each other around the house, playing together, and grooming each other. Here they are about a week after I brought Holly home, relaxing in the chair. (Holly is the all gray tabby) Holly is very curious and sweet and is quite happy to let her new, older sister rule the roost. She puts up with it when Hoppy forces her to be groomed, whether she needs it or not. She's not a total pushover though, she chases Hoppy around and can hold her own in their one-armed smackdowns. They complement each other well - Holly is missing her front right leg and Hoppy is missing her front left leg. I figured that would level the playing field a bit, so no one would have the upper paw. I like knowing that they look at each other and see a kitty just like themselves. Hoppy and I are really happy that Holly joined our family.

Thelma

Well, we (Louise and I) are at our forever home. Mom has other furry kids to keep us company. Cody, the rabbit, is way cool! She was the first one we met. It took the cats a little while to get used to having us around. Ciara and Conor came out to meet us the first day, but it took Claire a few days to come out from under Mom's bed--but now we all get along just fine! OMG--we love Mom's bay window!!! We can lay in the sun and get our beauty rest--that is when we're not busy watching all the squirrels and birds at Mom's bird feeders. We swear--those squirrels love to torment us--jumping from the bird feeders to Mom's trumpet vines on the house. She keeps telling us the squirrels just climb up onto the roof, but we think they somehow get into the house... But we've been good--our howl/bark only lasts about 10 seconds. We love our walks! There are soooo many neat smells and other dogs in this neighborhood! Mom keeps us on our leashes even in our backyard. The neighbor kids love to play with us but Mom doesn't want us to get caught under the chain link fence. Oh, and the wild backyard bunnies live under Mom's deck and behind her garden shed--we can smell them--she knows we want to chase them, but she says we all have to learn to get along. We've only been on one car ride so far. She took us to see her vet for our free rescue adoption checkup. Mom was very impressed by how calm we are. She had to lift us up into her SUV but we settled down in the front passenger seat and cuddled together for the ride. Those vet people are all very nice! They took our photos for our records. The vet, who also fosters animals for rescue groups, got kisses from us--and she told Mom we'd make wonderful therapy dogs. They all congratulated Mom for adopting both of us--and talked about her previous dog pair, Simon & Schuster. We never barked once the whole time we were there. We even met another cute little dog who is part beagle, part pug. Oh, and all our health issues have been resolved (Louise's bladder infection and Thelma's ear infection), and Mom started us on our Heartgard. We are still learning about where it's appropriate for us to go potty, but Mom says given all we've been through in the past few months we are doing pretty good. On our walks we get so excited by all the smells we sometimes forget what we're supposed to do, but we're learning pretty fast. She won't let us have the run of the house at night or when she's gone--not until we're totally potty trained. We have our own bedroom. One large kennel is in there, where Thelma likes to sleep, and one bed that Lousie can jump up on and where she prefers to sleep. Sometimes during the day Mom goes in there with us, lifts Thelma on the bed, too--and we all take a nap together. So, we just wanted to let you know we really love it here. And we want to thank each and everyone of you, especially our foster mom Sara, for taking such good care of us, and loving us until we could come home, here with Mom and Cody, Ciara, Claire and Conor, to our forever home. Howl/barks, kisses and happy tails, Thelma and Louise {^..^} {^..^} (posted 4/6/09)

Tugger

Dear Happy Tails Staff and Volunteers: Just a short note to thank you for being in the right place at the right time. My new family is treating me great! We go for long walks at least 2 times a day, and several short walks in between (my new mom is trying to lose weight!). My new mom says "I'm the best dog in the world!" and so does my new Dad. This was a match made in heaven. Mom says I am a quick learner, I have already learned "down" and not to be around the kitchen table at dinner time (I usually go sleep in my bed in the other room). Thank you again for finding me a good home. Check out some pictures of me in the phot gallery, they show how "ruff" life is here! Love, Tugger P.S. A big thank you from John and Nadine who LOVE Tugger and are very happy they went out shopping last Saturday (2/14/09), otherwise we never would have found this great dog!!!! (posted 2/21/09)

Tippy

We haven't been in touch in a little over a year so I thought I'd give you an update on Tippy! After we spoke last time Tippy went on another medication for her seizures and they worked great. In fact, I had planned on mailing you in Dec to tell you she had made it a year with no seizures. But, unfortunately, over Thanksgiving she got into some donuts while we were visiting family in Wisconsin. 7 donuts was more than even Tippy's insatiable appetite could handle and she got sick from all the fats, worn down, and had a night of seizures. We were one week from our one year goal! So, another vet visit and she got better quickly and is once again doing great. Her weight has stayed down and she has begun to show a little interest in the neighborhood dogs. Mostly, though, she is just interested in her tennis balls and going on walks. She has continued to get more confident about barking and howling, but thankfully that hasn't gotten out of control. She mostly just barks at the door bell and shut doors when she wants out. She can be stubborn, but listens pretty well and we couldn't be happier with her. Thanks again for letting us have Tippy! Bryan and Amanda (updated posted 2/5/09) Tippy is doing pretty well. Let's see... She graduated from a 7 week obedience class. I won't say that she learned everything she could have (pretty stubborn about a few things), but she did pretty well and listens when you want her to sit, stay, etc. Unfortunately, Tip has continued to have seizures...after a round of tests it was discovered that she had a thyroid problem, so she began a new pill for that…her thyroid is now reading normally. It has really made her feel better--improved her appetite (which she probably didn't need!), made her more energetic, and more active. She has lost a lot of weight! The vets seem to think her new weight of 28 lbs. is perfect for her breed and that she looks great. Of course, Tip is a bottomless pit, so I am sure she would gladly eat that weight back on if we let her! Tip really likes to ride in my van, and whenever I open the door she jumps in and gets in the drivers' seat. She goes to the dog park and chases tennis balls as obsessively as ever. She will run the whole length of the park for the ball all day if we'd let her. Tip still isn't too interested in other dogs, but we noticed her running out to greet the two neighbor dogs a bit more recently. As she lost more weight, she started to make it over our fence to chase squirrels in the neighbor's yard. We have trained her to stay in our yard, and built higher gates… Oh--I almost forgot! Tippy found her voice! She barks one loud deep bark when she wants to be let in, and if you get her excited or she gets impatient, she can really bellow out a Beagle yelp! Not sure if we like this development…but it is sort of funny. Glad she feels ok to do it, at any rate. So, anyway, thanks again for choosing us for Tippy. Despite the health woes, we are very happy to have her. Bryan and Amanda (Adopted 4/20007)

Tina Marie

Hi, I just wanted you all to know that Sadie (formerly Tina Marie) is doing great and has brought much joy to our family. She is a love, just as you all had said and so very playful! We have gone through the first level of Obedience training and she was the star pupil; partially since she already knew so much of what they were asking but also because she is so smart! Thank you for giving her such great care and loving her until we found each other. Jan (added 12/17/08)