July 4, 2010 eNewsletter

Happy 4th of July from Planned Pethood, Inc

eNewsletter July 4, 2010

Iams Pet Food Donation In February, Planned Pethood received a generous donation from IAMS in the form of 33 pallets of dog and cat food. Two volunteers drove down to Leipsic to pick it up and many volunteers met at the Lucas County Fairgrounds to help unload it. Since then, PPI has moved most of the food into the homes of volunteers so it is readily available when needed. And, of course, much of the food has been eaten by the animals in our adoption program. We don't often get donations like this. In the lean times, fosters supply the food for the foster cats and dogs. It can be expensive. So we were eager and excited to get such a huge shipment. By the end of May, we had to remove the remaining 8 pallets from the fairgrounds to a warehouse offered to Planned Pethood by Bennett Enterprises. Alas, this meant we had to rent a truck and beg a couple volunteers to pallet jack the remaining food on board. Luckily, Rich, an employee at the Lucas County Fairgrounds took pity on us and forklifted the pallets into the truck. Phew! By August, Planned Pethood must have the food removed from the Bennett Enterprise warehouse. These last 8 pallets will be placed into homes as we can find space. Thank you to all the volunteers that have hauled 1,000's of pounds of food, stored food all over their house and moved the food from location to location. 50 Volunteers Needed (badly) We are still looking for 50 volunteers to help us Friday, July 30, 2010 for the Jackel Concert at Toledo Harley-Davidson on Central near Centennial. Only 26 days to get 50 volunteers. It's a ton of fun! You can read more detail here. Email ed@plannedpethood.org to sign up. Vote to win $500,000 toward a Toledo Dog Park The City of Toledo and Ottawa-Jermain Board have managed to throw up enough road blocks and complaints to ensure that a Toledo city park WILL NOT be the location for the first park, says Toledo Unleashed. Meanwhile, according to Kevin Mullan at Toledo Unleashed, Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop has opened some doors for us with the Metroparks and the Lucas County Rec Center. We are exploring these options and will provide you an update as SOON as we have more information. Mullan goes on to say, "While we are trying to figure out WHERE the park can go, Dani (my wife) and I, and more importantly our pug-pomeranian, Elvis, submitted an application for Purina's WagWorld Dream Dog Park contest. We are one of 60ish entrants." The ten Finalist videos will be revealed on the Beneful WagWorld Web Site on or about July 14, 2010. The Finalists' Entries will be posted for the public to vote for their favorite Entry at www.benefuldreamdogpark.com starting on or about July 14, 2010 at 12:00:01 pm ET and ending on August 11, 2010 at 11:59:59 am ET ("Voting Period"). Limit one (1) vote per person, per day. A "Day" is defined as the 24 hours between 12:00:00 am ET and 11:59:59 pm ET throughout the Voting Period. The public voting will be tallied as a numbered rank between 1 and 10 with the Entry that receives the most votes receiving 10 points, and the Entry that receives the least votes receiving 1 point. A new panel of judges will also judge the 10 Finalist Entries on the same judging criteria listed above. The public voting rank will account for 10% of the final score and the judges scores will account for 90% of the total score. If we WIN, we'd be able to bring a $500,000 Dream Dog Park to NW Ohio - hopefully Toledo. Please send this to all of your friends, family members, neighbors, co-workers and even people you don't know. View Elvis' video and voting details can be found here. Vote Daily! Get others to vote with you! Make our dream a reality! First Dog Wash Fundraiser a HUGE success Jacob Dilworth dries off a customer. We made over $400 in our first dog wash fundraiser. Most of the money was made by doing the anal gland expressions so it wasn't all that pretty. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped wrangle, lather, dry, perfume and shine up all the dogs. It was back breaking work. Thankfully, we have plans for the next dog washes to make it easier on ourselves. Don't miss our next ones: July 17 @ Anderson's Maumee (Come see the Amazing Air Dog Show while you are there), August 14 @ Anderson Maumee and September 11 @ Anderson Talmadge. Many thanks to the Anderson Stores for making this a possibility. Good Search & Kroger Cares Don't forget to use www.goodsearch.com as your search engine. Every search earns us money. Don't forget to sign your Kroger card into the Kroger Cares Program. Everytime you swipe your card you make money for PPI. More details here. Darby Update Lots of people have been following the progress of Darby. We think she was purposefully burned with a chemical over her back. It has burned down to the muscle and covers a 8 x 11 inch space in ONE of the two spots. We are very pleased to report she is doing wonderfully. As you can see by her happy Rottie smile, Darby is not only healing but in fine spirits. It's only been a two and a half weeks but the recovery is amazing. The swelling is almost completely gone. She is growing hair in a few spots. The oozing has all but stopped. And we can see new pink skin all along the edges. On Thursday, July 1st Darby had surgery to prepare for getting a honey wrap as part of a wet to dry dressing process. If you have ever had a large wound or known someone with a significant burn like Darby's, you know how painful and tight the scar tissue can be even years after the injury has healed. This process will allow for Darby to have loose skin, as any dog is supposed to have, and not suffer from the pulling and adhesion pain scar tissue can cause. Darby will continue with laser treatment to assist in the healing thereafter. And Darby will have a pain management program available to her. We do not refuse treatment to our animals based on cost of treatment, or on the age of the animal once it is in our care. When we take in a dog or cat we take that commitment seriously. Frankly, we treat the animals in our adoption program just as we would our personal pets. Any one of us would have elected to have this done to our own pet. Thanks to Sylvania Vet for helping with the cost. The total bill (all inclusive) is $500. If you are interested in following Darby's story, watch her on our Facebook. You can read her back story on our website as well by clicking here. If you would like to make a donation to Darby, you may do so here. We Don't Have An Office . . . On Purpose Many are surprised to learn Planned Pethood doesn't have an office. It's been a long time philosophy that the money donated to us is best used going to our animals rather than the upkeep of a building, utilities, etc. When you make a donation, you can be assured it's going toward our mission to save lives. We also do not have a large paid staff. PPI only has one part-time employee, the executive director. All the day to day work it takes to make the massive machine of Planned Pethood work is done by volunteers. Some are fosters. Some help with paperwork, data entry, paying bills, moving animals and supplies around and organizing events. Some do it all. Should we ever be so lucky as to be leased a space for $1.00 a year, utilities included, for a long term contract we might consider having an office. But until then, we proudly say we do not have a facility. Extraordinary Animals With Extraordinary Vet Bills Coopette will be available for adoption soon This 5 week old kitten was found inside an enclosed chicken coop cowering in a corner, eyes matted shut with several not so nice chickens around her. Luckily she was found before the chickens could do her any harm, but she has a severe and untreated eye infection in both eyes. Her right eye suffered irreparable damage and will need to be removed once she is a little bigger and healthier. Her rescuers thought she was a boy and so the name Cooper was given. Once taken to our wonderful vets, Cooper was a 'she' and is now affectionately referred to as Coopette. She is a friendly and sweet kitten that weighs just a pound and needs some TLC and groceries before her surgery. We need financial help for little Coopette's veterinary care and surgery and we are asking for donations to provide her with the care this tiny kitten needs. Robert Nubbins, the cat without a tail, has been adopted. Thank you for your support and care for Robert. In the last newsletter we introduced you to Chelsea, a dog with a broken leg. Many thanks to West Suburban Animal Hospital's Dr. Thompson for the wonderful work he did on her bone plate. They also gave us a significant discount. Chelsea is supposed to be kept quiet and rest her leg for the next several weeks. It's hard to keep a good dog down. It's harder to keep a frisky dog, like Chelsea, contained. Chelsea's total bill to her surgery is $667.00. If you would like to make a donation to any of these animals, you may do so here or at the PayPal logo below. Open Volunteer Meeting From time to time we offer an open volunteer meeting. This is your chance to bring up your concerns and good ideas. This is also the best opportunity for new volunteers to learn more about Planned Pethood. Handouts will be available. Tuesday, August 10, 2010 6:45 - 8:15pm Sanger Library 3030 W. Central Ave 43606 Your time is valuable, therefore we will begin promptly at 6:45pm. Quick Links Upcoming Special Events Our Calendar Shop Our Boutique Make a Donation Become a Foster Celebrity Wait Read all about it in this pdf file. Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at Georgio's Cafe 426 N. Superior St. 43604. Your servers will be Bob Esplin, Ben Konop, Randy & Janna Lake, Amy Davis, Greg Bilazarian, Doug Kearns, Justin Micheals, Beau Harvey & Tom Stebbins. Your $50 can spay/neuter two feral cats or go toward saving one dog from a life on the streets. One hundred percent (100%)of the "tip" you give your celebrity server will go directly to Planned Pethood. You will have four dinner selections (which is made the night of the event) and a selection from the dessert tray. You and your party will be seated at a private table and will not be seated with strangers. Please join us for a delightful meal and support the cause. Don't forget PPI's Blog For longer stories or daily updates we use our blog. Sign up for it and be inspired. You can read our blog by clicking here or visiting: http://plannedpethood. blogspot.com/ Upcoming Events July 17- Dog Wash @ Anderson's in Maumee July 18- Air Dog Show @ Anderson's in Maumee July 18- Parking Lot BBQ @ Big Lots in Perrysburg July 25- Craft and Information show @ Browning Care Center July 30- Volunteers work Jackel concert at Toledo Harley Davidson August 10- Volunteer Meeting @ Sanger Library August 12- Emergency Preparedness @ UAW Local 14 August 14- Dog Wash @ Anderson's in Maumee August 14- Bark for Life @ Bass Pro Shop August 24- Celebrity Wait @ Georgio's August 29- Road Rally September 10 - 12 - Petsmart 3 day Adoption Event September 11- Dog Wash @ Anderson's on Talmadge September 18- Dog Days of September September 25- Euchre Tournament @ UAW Local 14 Possible Craft Shows We are taking into consideration participating in several festivals with our crafts and/or bake sales. To determine if we will participate, it will depend on what help we can get from volunteers for these specific days. Please refer to the list below and send us an email if you can help out with any of these shows. Because there is a cost to be at these events, it's important we have enough reliable help. We need help with the following: * Set up before the event * Pick up craft and/or bake sale items from other volunteers * Man the table, make change, sell, answer questions * Take down and repack inventory. We have an inventory of crafts but need a wider variety for people to select their treasures. If you want to donate craft items, please contact us at ed@plannedpethood.org. We have a list of specific items that sell well and others that do not. We also would like to have a bake sale at many of these events. If you can contribute baked goods to one please email us your offer. We have figured out the items that sell well, transport well and those that do not. Considering: Polish Festival July 9 - 11 $200 Maumee Summer Fair August 20 & 21 $65 Sylvania Arts & Crafts Festival September 12 $135 Harrison Rally Days September 18 $100 Roche de Boeuf September 25 $30-65 MacQueen's Apple Butter Festival October 2 & 3 unknown cost Grand Rapids' Apple Butter Festival October 10 unknown cost Main Street Sylvania October 17 $40

June 18, 2010 eNewsletter

June 18, 2010 Some Good News From Planned Pethood, Inc Summer time is a busy time for Planned Pethood. We get 1000's more calls a week asking for help. The cat adoption program goes up to 5-6 adoption events a week. Volunteers are hitting more community events to promote Planned Pethood. We also are guests at events like MetroBark, Dog Days of September and the Anderson's Air Dog show. Adoptions go up. Volunteers and neighbors are out catching as many feral cats as they can from sun up to sun down. When we are busy, we are also successful and fulfilling our mission. This newsletter is full of good news and positive stories we wanted to share with you. Warm Regards, Planned Pethood, Inc P.S. Please check us out & become our friend on Facebook.

Old West End Festival & The Pooch Parade Made $531 and some new friends Planned Pethood supported the Pooch Parade as part of the kick off parade to the Old West End Festival. Last year 25 humans walked their dogs in the parade. But this year, 45 humans signed up to participate in the parade. Planned Pethood alumni, Freddie, at the Pooch Parade. Planned Pethood volunteers handed out thousands of brochures (and we didn't see very many on the ground) and handed out hundreds of bagged dog biscuits with more PPI information attached. Thank you to Barb & Sylvia Costilla for putting those together. With the generous donation of a yard by volunteer, Mary Bennett, Planned Pethood had a primo spot right in the middle of the home tours. We sold bake sale items and bake sale items. By noon on Saturday we had sold almost 75% of the bake sale items and still had Sunday to sell too. Thank you to Barb & Dave Garrett and Mona Guinaugh for heading up this venture and dealing with the setting up and tearing down both days. They arranged the tents, tables, pricing and all the details. Thank you to Paula Baker, Carol Dunn & Sarah Rogers for helping sell, manage the tables, help customers and help setting up and tearing down. Tables and tents from Janna & Randy Lake were appreciated also. Thank you to Deb Gring for hauling the craft items to and from the storage unit. We sold water thanks to the generous donation from Gail Sypeand Mike Servo. Judy DeWitz made gorgeous mini loaves of banana bread with paw print ribbon wrapped around each one. Janet Delikat contributed three different kinds of cookies her daughter made in a toaster oven, 6 at a time, while their kitchen is under construction. Judy Waddington's ranch oyster crackers and Nikki Morey's yeast breads were a hit. Barb Garrett's cupcakes in an ice cream cone were well received. Homemade dog biscuits by Mona Guinaugh are always a hit. Caramel corn & chocolate dipped caramels from Joan Wuest were gobbled up. Sarah Rodgers' coffee cakes were sold out. And everyone loved Paula Baker's snickerdoodles. Thanks to those that participated in the Pooch Parade. Thanks to those that stopped by and bought goodies from us. Thank you to those that passed out brochures. And thank you for those that contributed their crafting and baking skills. Together we made $531 in those two days of brutal sun and humidity. That's 21 feral cats we can spay/neuter. Ideas For More Craft Shows? Ways to make more money? Do you know of any place or anyone that is involved in a craft show or a festival coming up where PPI can have a presence. Of course, we aren't interested in paying booth fees, etc. Let us know by emailing ideas to the E.D. at ed@plannedpethood.org. Extraordinary Animals Darby was found as a stray Rottweiler. A client of Sheila Ortman; from Sham-pooch Grooming Salon and long time PPI supporter; contacted her to help save this sweetie. Sheila was alarmed to see the condition of the dog to be named Darby. PPI asked Sheila to take her to the vet immediately. St. Francis Animal Hospital has identified that some corrosive had been poured onto the dog's back, burning the hair and flesh away. Darby is recovering after several de-brining treatments and is on a pain management program. Once she has recovered, we will be able to make her available for adoption. Robert Nubbins has been adopted Robert Nubbins was found by three ladies on the east side of Toledo with a horrible wound in April. It is unclear whether or not he ever had a tail or if it sustained an injury and then abcessed. The wound was extensive and required reconstructive surgery to repair. For ghastly photos of the before and after click on Robert's photo to go to the Featured Cats page. Today he is thriving and his wounds are healing very nicely. You can also read about Smokey and The Bandit on the Featured Cats page. Last year Planned Pethood got a call from a man asking for help with his dog with a broken leg. Turns out he allows the dogs to run loose and this one, Tinkerbell was hit by a car. The man decided he didn't want Tinkerbell anymore so he surrendered her to Planned Pethood. Her broken leg was repaired and she was adopted to a loving family. At the time we were speaking to the man it was discovered he had another dog he allowed to run loose as well. PPI's offer to have this second dog, enter our adoption program. But the man declined because he "loved her". Even though the dog wasn't allowed in the house, didn't even have a dog house and was running all over the neighborhood. His neighbors had called the Dog Warden several times, but each time they came to investigate they saw no dogs at the home. That would be because the dog was running in traffic. Now we have this dog in our care with a broken leg from getting hit by a car. Neighbors called Nancy Fisher with the dilemma. The man is denying he owns the dog so as to avoid fines and citation. Thank goodness Planned Pethood could help, made possible by you and your generous support. The dog, Chelsea, had a break high on her rear leg. It required a bone plate and will require LOTS of rest. Her foster reports that Chelsea is ready to zoom around the yard but must stay in the kennel to rest her leg. As photos and details to the story become available we will share them with you on the Featured Dog page. You can also read about Harmony, a dog that came to us Heartworm positive AND pregnant (ugh) on the Featured Dogs page. These extraordinary animals have extraordinary vet bills. Can you make a donation to Planned Pethood so we may pay the vet bills? You may do so by clicking here.

Are you Up-To-Date (UTD) on your tetanus?

Often we discuss animals being UTD. But are you? Adults should get a booster tetanus every 10 years. You can replace one Td booster with a Tdap to protect yourself against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. Those handling animals with unknown vaccines histories, ferals and rusty, metal cages this is especially important. Talk to your doctor for details. Voluntold: verb. When one volunteer of an organization informs a friend, spouse or family member they will be helping at an event without prior consent or discussion. "Patty voluntold Albert's help at the PPI bake sale" Great White Concert a success. PPI gears up for Jackel Concert. Our participation in the Great White Concert garnered Planned Pethood a significant donation, positive feedback from the 50 volunteers that helped and positive feedback from Toledo Harley Davidson. We have been asked to be the volunteers for the upcoming Jackel concert on Friday, July 30. Of course, now that we know what to expect we will be better than before and have any kinks worked out. Very specific, detailed volunteer times needed is posted on our website. It's very important that if you sign up to help that you actually show up. You can read more about what is needed by clicking here. Thanks to those that worked the Great White concert. You Are Invited To . . . Committee Meetings Budget & Finance Committee This committee discusses the finances of Planned Pethood. They watch for trends, budget constraints, how to allocate our investments and the spending needs Planned Pethood has. If you are interested in coming to the next B&F meeting, please contact Kory Kaintz. Kory will extend an invitation to those interested. Policy & Personnel Committee This committee creates written policies for the day-to-day functions and the policies that uphold the mission of Planned Pethood. The created policies and/or procedures are submitted to the board. The board reviews the policies and decides if it will be included into official PPI policy. If you are interested in coming to the next P&P meeting, please contact Nikki Badman. She will extend an invitation to those interested. Fundraising Committee This committee assists in & approves fundraising efforts to benefit Planned Pethood. If you are interested in coming to the next Fundraising meeting, please contact Chriss Liskai. Chrissa will extend an invitation to those interested. Do you have an idea for a fundraiser you wish to share? Please complete this form (pdf file) and return it back to Chrissa. Emergency Preparedness Getting ready for emergencies with your pets Car accidents, major illness, natural disasters, etc are all things we never think will happen to us but we should prepare for as if they will happen to us. If you were in an accident with your family, would authorities know what to do with your pets? Would they even know you have pets? If you are a single person, do you have a plan for what will happen to your pets at the time of a major accident or your death? You are invited to an Emergency Preparedness discussion on Thursday, August 12 at 6pm. We will meet at the UAW Local 14 at 5411 Jackman Toledo 43613. This is a free, informational discussion, open to the public. We will present ways you can prepare for emergencies as it pertains to your pets. Handouts from leading experts, planning materials and helpful tools to make your emergency plan will be made available. Kroger Community Cares sends PPI another check Planned Pethood received another check from Kroger. This time our check was $454.52. That's nearly 6 dogs that can enter the dog adoption program with that money. However, everyone that signed up in 2009 to the Kroger Cares program must sign up again for PPI to continue to get donations from Kroger. Alas, Kroger reports that only 31% of those that enrolled in 2009 have re-enrolled for 2010. As you may recall, $5 million is at stake through this program, with Kroger awarding money every quarter based on how many households have signed up and used their Kroger Card when checking out. Since we are already into the second quarter of 2010, please take the time to sign your family up to make money for Planned Pethood. It costs you nothing by a few moments of your time to make this monetary donation. Our website home page has a link to learn more about this. You can read about it here. Application for Transfer from the Lucas County Dog Warden In another positive step forward, the Lucas County Dog Warden is asking area rescues to submit an application to be considered as a rescue the Lucas County Dog Warden (LCDW) office will transfer dogs to directly. Planned Pethood has submitted their application and awaits to hear if we will be selected. Of course, there are details to be worked out with the LCDW as to how transfers will occur. New Board Members During the June board meeting, four new board members were voted into working with Planned Pethood. We welcome the unique skills and help they can offer. As a C.P.A. and tax auditor for the State of Ohio, Craig Jacobs will lend his expertise to PPI's budget and finances. Jennifer Taylor is an attorney for Ohio Job & Family Services who has a wide knowledge of general law. Greg Bilazarian is an reporter for 13 ABC and is interested in grant writing. Douglas Kearns, Group General Manager for Yark Automotive Group, will be adding his experience fundraising with Make A Wish to our efforts. Upcoming Fundraisers Celebrity Wait Tuesday, August 24th, at Georgio's at 426 North Superior Street in downtown Toledo. Guests may begin arriving at 6:30 and dinner will be served at 7pm. Should we sell over 70 tickets we will add a second dinner sitting after the first sitting at 7pm. Read more about it here. Tickets are $50 per person. You may select from four tasty entrees that evening: Vegetable pasta el tonte, beef wellington, Norwegian salmon or chicken cordon bleu. Dinner comes with a greek salad and coffee/tea. Your dinner select does NOT have to be made in advanced. Questions? Contact Nikki Morey at ed@plannedpethood.org. You can purchase your tickets by clicking here. Dog Wash Fundraisers Stop by to get your pooch cleaned up at Anderson's on Maumee Saturday, July 17th from 11am - 3pm. Free will donations for each dog we wash. We suggest $8-10. Toe nail trims $4. Anal gland expressions $10. Sorry no cats- it's too risky. No rain date. More dog wash dates: August 14 @ Anderson's Maumee and September 11 @ Anderson's Talmadge. Volunteers Needed Website Need reliable volunteer to help maintain the website. It's super simple and you don't need website experience. You just have to be on the ball. This should take you about 2 hours a week. Organize the Storage Unit We outgrew our 10 x 10 storage unit and have moved into a 10 x 30 unit just a few doors down in the same complex. All the boxes and supplies have been moved from the old unit to the new unit, due to the hard work of Ron & Julie Brown. As the supplies were moved over, like items were placed with like items. However, the shelves need to be labeled so as to promote continued tidiness. We need someone (or more) to help organize and label the boxes and shelves. Vouchers Need a volunteer to manage the database we log vouchers into. This includes a mail merge which will produce the vouchers people use to get their animal fixed at Humane Ohio and paid for by Planned Pethood. It should take about 2 hours a week at the most. Postage, paper and envelopes will be provided to you. This is a very important part of the PPI mission. Therefore, it's imperative the volunteer is trustworthy and reliable. Transporting PPI's Truck Twice a week during the summer the dog adoption program needs help shuttling our truck from one adoption event to another. The person volunteering for this will need to submit their personal information to Planned Pethood to determine if you can be carried on our insurance policy. It would only take the time it would take you to drive the truck from one location to the next. Usually we are at the Franklin Park area, Rossford/Perrysburg and Maumee. Grant Writing No experience needed. Planned Pethood has a large list of grants we would be eligible for but need someone to submit the applications and supporting data. Guidance and suggestions have been provided to PPI by experts. >> If you are interested in any or these or have any questions, please feel free to contact ed@plannedpethood.org. Contact Information 419.826.FIXX pets@plannedpethoo.org www.plannedpethood.org Join our mailing list!

Rescue is not the impossible dream

Musical "Man of La Mancha" - The Impossible Dream Lyrics


Lyrics by Joe Darion
In this song, Quixote explains his quest and the reasons behind it.

To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To run ... where the brave dare not go ...
To right ... the unrightable wrong ...
To love ... pure and chaste from afar ...
To try ... when your arms are too weary ...
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

This is my quest, to follow that star ...
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far ...
To fight for the right, without question or pause ...
To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause ...

And I know if I'll only be true, to this glorious quest,
That my heart will lie will lie peaceful and calm,
when I'm laid to my rest ...
And the world will be better for this:
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

2 escaped dogs

From Deb Gring:

This morning on my way to work while on Monclova Road near St Lukes I spied 2 dogs standing in the middle of the road. A car stopped on the other side of the road and the dogs wagged their tails and ran up to it. Oh no I thought, someone dropped these guys off and they are looking for someone. I pulled over and rolled down the window, “are these your dogs?” I asked the lady. “Yes, they got loose and I have been driving around for a half hour looking for them!” she replied. She was out of the car and coaxing the dogs to get into the car when they bolted across Monclova and up into the parking lot of a medical building. I pulled in as the owner was facing the other way on Monclova to see if we could capture them.

They ran up to a lady going into the building and she was able to grab the collar of one for the dogs and walked back towards me. I grabbed its collar and their owner was getting the one dog into the car. As soon as she turned towards me to get the other dog, the first dog jumped out. What a mess! Finally we got them both in the car and she headed home.

I couldn’t help but think about those dogs, the situation could have been so much worse. I don’t know her situation, I don’t know if they bolted from the door, if they dug under or went over their fence or what. The sad story is too many dogs like these get loose from their homes and their owners cannot find them or do not try to find them. They end up wandering the streets. Many get hit and killed or injured. Many end up at the pound. Some end up in rescue organizations such as Planned Pethood.

We need to remember dogs are like children, if they see an open door they run and follow their noses. We need to protect them from danger by providing them a safe place to play, run, eliminate and explore. These two very nice friendly dogs could have easily become statistics. Thank goodness they didn’t. Of course we have all had dogs get out of their yard or homes unexpectedly. If you own dogs just keeping your fences patent and teaching your dogs “back” at the exits to your house will help immensely. If you don’t have a fenced yard for them to play in, please be sure to walk them with leashes or utilize tie outs for your beloved companions. “COME” is a good command for your dog to know too. Just think of these two dogs and how much worse this situation could have become. The best behaved dogs in the world can still become roamers at the drop of a hat.

Vigilance! Training! Patience and Love!

The trouble with Heartworm

Our featured dog, Rain is recovering from Heartworm treatment.

Here's a dog that might have had people love her. But they didn't love her quite enough. She was found as a stray (strike one against her former people). She was matted and soaked to the skin from being left in the cold January rains (strike two). Planned Pethood took her in and tried to find her people. Not that they deserved to get her back. But it's the right thing to do.

As part of her visit to the vet, we discovered she had heartworms (strike three). It's hard to understand how people still don't understand heartworm and the importance to prevent it. I just don't get it.

Rain took the treatment like a trooper. She felt lousy the first day and even WORSE the second day. Her usual perky self was laying on the floor panting heavily in pain. Her usual greetings of kisses were replaced with a moan as she lifted her head off her pillow.

But you can't keep a good dog down. Rain is pretty much back to her perky self. This is when the recovery process is agony. This is when it becomes painful for everyone, not just Rain.

Rain wants to frolic in the yard. She wants to race up and down the stairs. She wants to wrestle with her dog friend. She wants to have you chase her. But we can't. If a dog recovering from heartworm treatment is allowed to get overly excited they can throw a blood clot. This means she can have a stroke from a brain embolism. Rain can have a heart attack from an embolism. Or she can just drop down dead. Scary stuff, huh?

She has to be kept away from her doggie friend so they can't get each other wound up. Instead, like Lady and The Tramp they touch noses through the baby gate separating them. Rain has to go from room to room escorted by a human to stop her from leaping and jumping in glee. When she brings her humans a ball and wants you to play with her, the ball must be put away. Sorry gal, we can't play today. Poor Rain. Her doggie friend doesn't understand and it breaks her humans' heart as well.

Meanwhile the agony will continue until Rain is released from medical care. We have March 18th written in red on our calendar. That's when we think Rain will get the thumbs up from the vet.

Give your dog heartworm preventative, please.

Why I love Planned Pethood

Taken from those that voted for PPI to win a $10,000 grant. Thank you for the kind words.
____________________________________________________________

• Jill Borkowski says,
  

Why do you love Planned Pethood Inc? Planned Pethood is so dedicated to finding permanent, loving homes for abandoned animals AND focusing on the bigger picture and spay/neuter. They have a great relationship with other animal welfare organizations in our community, including Humane Ohio's low-cost spay/neuter clinic, and understand the importance of everyone working together to make an impact on pet overpopulation. This summer, when Humane Ohio had grant money to lower their already low-cost spay/neuter rates even further, Planned Pethood went door-to-door in the targeted zip code to make sure pet parents knew about this, and to offer free transportation to and from Humane Ohio's low-cost spay/neuter clinic. As they were going door-to-door spreading the news, they rescued several stray and abandoned animals, some of who needed immediate medical attention. That's just one example of why I love Planned Pethood!

• Kymm DeRose says,
  

I can't say enough good things about this organization. Not only do they do a lot of adoptions, but they are really making a BIG difference in the community. They will go door to door to find pets that need to be fixed! That is one dedicated Rescue group! You deserve to win PPI!!

• Tamara Ernst says,
  

Their willingness to be at the forefront of rescue in our community

• Heather Tessler says,
  

PPI is an all-around WIN for animals in our community! Their volunteers are a tremendous resource and are always willing to help. PPI has placed cats and a dog that I've rescued with loving homes. Thank you!

• Anonymous says,
  

They care about the local dogs.

• Cindy Belka says,
  

Because they are out there in the community and always willing to help! I just adopted my second best friend (dog) from them in the last year. They are always available for help and advice even long after the adoption process, and always have events open to the community as a whole and most of them are open to dogs as well as their human companions.

• Anonymous says,
  

The best and most comprehensive rescue group in Northwest Ohio, that also fund spay/nueter services

• Michael Brooks says,
  

Low-cost spay/neuter programs and pet adoption programs are the best in the area.

• Linda Boyle says,
  

Being very proactive in spay/neuters and taking care of sick/injured animals.

• Marion Risk says,

I like their plan of addressing the problem by offering adoption and low-cost spay/neuter

• Nikki Morey says,
  

They focus on local dogs and cats rather than ship (broker) them in from out of town. We have animals that dies daily so where's the logic in that? They also are PROactive in the overpopulation problem by aggressively getting spay/neuter into our community. Planned Pethood ROCKS!

• Catherine Buchanan says,
  

They truly believe in taking care of the animals and preventing more unwanted animals.

• Nicole Eppstein says,
  

I got my puppy from there and she is the best!