Ginger Ann

Here is an update for you all on Ginger Ann. We have shortened her name to Ginger, but we call her GinGin, wiggle butt and sweetie. We have had her for just over 3 months and we couldn’t love her more. This has been quite a learning experience for us. My other 3 pups I had had since they were 8 weeks old and I never realized how much I really helped to shape their personalities. Ginger came to us quite a loaner, she would sit on her chair all by herself and she seemed quite happy, but this really bothered me. Our other girls are very needed and they want to sit next to and by their mama all the time. I felt that Ginger didn’t like us, but she just needed to learn to trust us and we have given her lots of time, space and attention so that she can see that she is here forever and that we love her very much. She now sits on the couch next to us, she follows us around the house, if we are in the den, she is in the den, if I go into a closet, she will follow us. She knows that we love her and she now wants and can demand attention. At night when we are watching tv if she doesn’t think she is getting enough attention she will crawl under our coffee table and start wagging her tail, she then does this aurrgh sounding thing to get our attention and then she starts dancing around the floor until we get on the floor with her and rub her belly. This is really cute. She is getting along great with her 2 beagle sisters, and her kitty sister. We only have small problems. Our little Daisy was very close to our Bitzi and since Bitzi has been gone for a year, Daisy has decided that Ginger can take her place, this is really not too good. Daisy would cuddle with Bitzi and lick her on the head. Well when she tries to do this to Ginger, she will growl loudly and actually try to bite her. Poor Daisy bug really gets upset, so we are watchful to see when she tries to go to near and we then separate them. Ginger doesn’t like them in her face, but Daisy doesn’t understand. After Ginger was here for a month we had huge potty problems, she decided that she would rather pee on the dinning room rug then go outside. We put up barriers and started to work with her so that she would know that she needed to go outside. After 2 months, we have now removed the barriers during the day and she is doing really well. The only thing we really worry about is her health. She has allergies really bad, in fact she scratches so much she can cause welts and she chews on her foot so much that she starts to limp. We have her under our doctor’s care and we are working on meds that have helped out tremendously. As we have been working on the allergies, it has come to our attention that she has a heart murmur. On a scale of 1 — 6 hers is about a 2.8. This is really scary to us since our Bitzi had a heart murmur and the last 2 years we had her on all sorts of medicine, special food and many many doctor appts to make sure she wasn’t retaining water. So it was really sad to us to have Ginger with the same problem, but much worse for her age. She is just 9 and Bitzi’s wasn’t this bad until she was 14. Of course our vet assures us that we are the best parents for her since we know what to do and we know all the signs to watch for. He also has said that there is no guarantee that it will ever get any worse. So we are very thankful for our little adopted girl and like I said we have learned so much and she has really made a special impact on our lives. Please thank everyone who helped with our little Ginger and please share the pictures. Thank You, Kim & Rob Brown

Annie III

What a treasure we have found in the newest member of our family. Miss Macy is the sweetest dog and our children love and adore her. Today Macy, Nicholas (turned 3 two weeks ago) and Ava (almost 2) spent the afternoon playing tag and hide and go seek in the back yard. I will have to show you another picture (it will be next week though) but it is of the kids in the kennel laying on Macy's blanket with her outside looking in. Ava takes turns sucking on her pacifiers and the Macy's chew toys. God help me. But we are having fun!! In the morning, and everyone has been sleeping in until 8am :), we get up to laughter, smiles, and puppy kisses. It is hard to wake up on the wrong side of the bed in this house. I want to thank you for taking Macy in to your home and sending her off with her toys and your tears to our home. Don't worry though, you will see her. We plan to come to the event in Ybor and Treasure Island next month. Talk to you soon!!! Valarie Nussbaum-Harris Macy is doing great! This morning I spent an hour or so cleaning the boat out back. We do not have a seawall so as Macy has figured out, you can walk straight into the water (she had also figured out how to slip under the fence along the water.). She loves the water and loves to chase the fish and birds. She is getting very wild sometimes but that is usually her excitement to see us. Poor Ava though, Macy just licks the heck out of the baby. But, all and all the family has adjusted well, including our cat Max. Talk to you soon!! Valarie 03/06/08She is doing awesome!!! She is the sweetest dog I’ve ever known, just a little lover. She competes with my kids for attention. We love her!!!! Thank you!! As you can see, she is one of the family!!! Valarie

Minnie

Minnie is doing great. All 21 lbs of her. She has put on weight nicely and her coat looks great. She was out at the last beagle outing in the park(not the movie outing) with my girlfriend and her kids, don't know if you got to see her or not. Anyway, thanks for following up and I am sure we will see you at Al Lopez soon. Gregg

Baby

Baby has continued to attempt the escape artistry for which she was returned to TBBR several times. Her last successful attempt was by digging under a gate at the local dog park. Happy ending - we were able to get a key to the property onto which she escaped and we retrieved her within minutes. She seemed totally oblivious to the turmoil she caused (especially in my heart). I no longer take it personally when she tries to "get away." She's just being her beagle self and not trying to get away from me or anything or anyone else. Baby is pure love - giving and receiving it with an unending openness. She is not officially certified as a therapy dog yet, but she does visit friends at a convalescent center where a friend of mine resides. She is the perfect little visitor, and you can see the connection of love she makes when bonding. I look forward to the December Meet and Greet to reunite Baby with her old friends and to purchase some t-shirts for Christmas gifts. Thank you all for all of the work you do on behalf of these loving and beautiful creatures. Best Wishes and thanks for writing. Catheleen and Baby

Elvis

He’s doing just great, Angela. I’ve asked my daughter to send you pix. I will ask her again today as we are all off work. He has fit into the family so well — each day we see him get a bit more comfortable. You should see how he and our other Beagle Brody snuggle together when they nap. What an awwwww picture! His personality is charming and he is gentle without being passive. We’re crazy about him! Hello, we just wanted to give you an update on Elvis. We adopted him in July/August 2007. We love him so much. We have moved to Wisconsin a month ago and he is trying to adjust to the snow. It's cute. He didn't know what to expect at first. He is adjusting well though. We couldn't imagine life without him. We were told when we adopted him that he was adopted and brought back. WE thank whomever did that because we have the pleasure of Elvis in our family.