Agnes
Sonoma, CA

Dear Mariah,

Hello! I just wanted to send u a quick note to say you have a wonderful website! It's great to see someone your age making a difference!

I adopted Agnes today and I would of never even met her if it were not for your site. I came to see her and Mia specifically b/c of your descriptions and pics. They had me take Agnes for a walk first ... and didn't even end up taking Mia for a walk. Agnes was so sweet, how could I pass her up!? I brought my dog Sumo with me - a beautiful golden ret/aussie mix who turned 7 last August.

Agnes had a very busy day today and is taking a nap right now (her second) with Sumo. I live about 70 miles north of the shelter, and she was great in the car! I stopped at Petco before going home and took her in with me to get her some things. She explored her new home, ate a bit then took a nap. After her nap I took her and Sumo to the park (about a block away from the house) and she went swimming with my dog ( there is a creek a long the trails). Sumo LOVES the water and to play fetch with his Frisbee; I throw it in the water and he jumps in to get it (deep enough!). I wasn't really expecting Agnes to be interested in swimming - but she jumped in! ... she doesn't seem to be interested in fetch, but I am so pleased that she enjoys the water and swimming -- thats a big part of Sumo's life and I am glad they will be able to share that!

Anyway, I just got home with them; they had a loooong walk/swim and now they are talking a nap!

Thanks so much for introducing us -- and keep up the good work!

Elizabeth

Dutchess is doing really well! She must have been an inside dog before, because she hasn't had any accidents at all in the house yet! She's really great with the boys. I've learned that she can't have plush toys - she rips them apart pretty quickly! LOL!

She tried to sleep in bed with us the first night, and it was pretty crowded. She only stayed a few minutes and then got down into her bed. I think she was just trying to get accustomed to unusual surroundings.

We are gradually changing her dog food, which she's handling pretty well. We haven't left her alone yet, so I am not sure how she'll handle that, but I'm not too worried. She has such a sweet personality, and is gentle - for the most part. She still has a lot of puppy in her, though, and LOVES to run in the backyard. We have a cow that lives in the pasture behind us, and the cow came up to the fence near where our older son was. Dutchess let that cow know really quickly that it was messing with the wrong boy! She's become really protective of the kids all ready.

Since her sutures are out, we can give her a bath now, right? Is there any way for us to find out what her previous owner answered to the questions on the owner surrender questionnaire? I just want to have as much information has I can for her. I know I've seen those answers posted on some other dogs on Paws to Adopt.

I'll attach a couple pictures for ya of Dutchess in her new home! Thanks for all you've done Mariah! I'll keep in touch and let you know how she's doing... :)

Update!

Dutchess has made herself at home. She's totally taken over the loveseat in this pic. She is so good natured with the boys. The baby will crawl to her if she's on the floor and pull on her legs and feet and she doesn't even flench. She's so much more than I ever could have asked for!

Just wanted to keep you updated! Hope you're doing well, and I just want to let you know again how impressed I am with the work you're doing with animals! You're saving lots of lives, and enriching lots of families!

Thanks!
Amber Broadway

Hi Mariah -
We adopted Laika on April 8 - she was known as "Roxy" at the shelter. You guys did a great job of matching us up with the right dog!

I thought you might like to know how well we're doing -- we really love her, and she's livened up considerably. We like to think she's getting a good chance to enjoy what puppyhood she has left. She's definitely not the dog too scared to walk anymore! You can see some photos here:

Laika has been a challenge in some ways, but one we wouldn't have traded for anything. When we took her to the vet right after we got her, we noticed a couple of spots of hair loss; the vet did a skin scraping and we found that she had demodectic mange. We're having good luck with her treatment, and though she developed a lot of bare patches, we think we've got it under control and most of her hair is already growing back in. In retrospect, I'm glad we got her when we did -- she was probably developing it at the time and I'm guessing she would have had a harder time being adopted. But we love her like crazy and are happy to help her get through it.

On Saturday we finish a basic obedience class we've been taking her to; that's been fun, and she loves time we spend on her training (never enough, but we're working on that! She does great, it's us that need the training.) She's been great with our cats, and great with our niece and nephew. She goes to work with me in the mornings (and spends the afternoon at home), and has a big chocolate lab for a buddy there. She's eager to go to the dog park, too, and has gone from being scared of dogs to being really eager to go play with them.

When I went to find your email address on your web site, I noticed Bella, and wondered if she might be one of Laika's relatives; she looks like she has that super-shiny suede-like coat also, although Bella looks like she's a little heavier build. I think Laika has similar separation issues, but we crate her when she's alone in the house and it's working out well; I'm really lucky to be in a position to take her to work half-days with me, and eventually we hope she'll be up to full days. Anyhow, I hope Bella finds a great home also!

Cheers,
Terrie