Cyndi S.
Story: No charge for love April 02, 2005 5:32 PM

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the 4 pups. And set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard.

As he was driving the last nail into the post,he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy. "Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies." "Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat of the back of  his neck, "These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."
 
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?"
 
"Sure," said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur.

The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse.
 
Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up....
 
"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't
run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."

With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully handed it to the little boy. "How much?" asked the little boy.
 
"No charge,"answered the farmer, "There's no charge for love."
 
The world is full of people who need someone who understands. 

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I was on the phone today with a lady who wanted to adopt a chihuahua for her neice who's young chihuahua died.  I told her to adopt from a shelter and, while talking to her on the phone, I found one at a shelter near her and gave her the info to adopt it.  She was so happy and excited to adopt the animal that she couldn't wait to get off the phone with me.  Here's the little guy who just got saved from death row:

It's so rewarding to see what a little Muttshack Keyboarding will do!

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This story doesn't have an end yet, but I wanted to post it anyway.  Since I live close to Amanda, we often work as a team in a rescue, so this morning I get a call from her about a lost dog picked up by her neighbor's son's girlfriend (who didn't know what to do with the dog).

So, first thing we do is load the dog in the car and head to the vet to check if it had a microchip (no ID tag!).  He didn't.  Next thing we do is take pictures of the dog and make flyers, and headed back out to post them around the area the dog was found.

Meanwhile, back at the Muttshack camp, we prepare to get the dog settled at my place until owner could be found.  But, it turned out the 42 ft tie in the front of my house got wrapped around the tree too many times ... the fenced yard in the back where he could run free couldn't keep this "houdini" dog in (as he found a way to pound a board loose and get out) ... and the large metal crate was too traumatic for him.

We loaded him back into my car to take him to Amanda's Muttshack camp instead, hoping he would be less stressed there.

Tomorrow, we'll make more aggressive attempts to find his owner.  Meanwhile, our little Houdini is safe.

If only he could point out his house as we drove him around!

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these pictures of these dogs on this thread are so beautiful. can really tell they are loved and well today, and that is just the sweetest thing to see in my eyes.

with so much pain that i witness, i am so glad to see the happy endings that come from all the work that others do, to help an animal.

i just had to say that.

hugs kindle

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baby was a little tiny thing, at 7 months of age. she was a puppymill rescue, of 150 dogs. many of the females had lived so long in boxes/kennels only big enough to stand and lay down, alot of these dogs had no legs due to rotting off from poor circulation, no excercise, and laying in their own feces, several inches thick. males ran loose in this mill, but females were boxed, bred and pups taken, if they lived.

this one puppy, was hidden in a small woodbox. no fur, only raw, infected red skin, there was not one hair on her. she was so malnutritioned you can snap her leg with two fingers.

i brought her home with me, with very little hope for the small thing. we took her to vet, they kept her there for a month, and then we had to take her back and forth for two more months, for weekly dips. she had multiple skin infections/diseases. she smelled terrible!!

when this girl was home, she hid the whole time. she had never touched grass, never been held, never seen much daylight, never played, never had a toy. nothing of life that a dog should have.

the vet told us that many of these type of dogs don't do well in homes or become pets, most end up put down, cause of behavior & social problems they never had opportunity to develope, vet said she would be retarded probably.

this is 4 years later. this little girl is so wonderful, so loving, so beautiful now, and isn't scared, plays, and not even retarded! vet said she may not be able to be housebroken. shoot she went through that training as soon as we could coax her out from under the bed. in 3 days she was housebroke, and not once have she messed in the house, but then we provided her a doggy door, and she could come and go as needed..smile

baby is the brindle chihuahua you see sitting next to the black/tan dog, on my profile picture, she is also in the care2 public photo album.

she is a survivor, healthy, happy, and normal little dog, that one would never know she ever once was abused in her life. but then thats my speciality, "dog behavior specialist"  giggle. vets don't know everything sometimes, especially when it comes to love of the heart for an animal..amazing things do happen.

hugs kindle

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Kodiak

In December I was coming home from Christmas shopping with my brother's ex girlfriend, Lauren, and her best friend.  Lauren noticed two puppies on the side of the road and pointed them out to me.  I saw one of them go into the road and nearly get hit by a car so there was no way I could leave him there.  By the time Lauren had parked the car and we had all gotten out the other puppy was nowhere to be found.  Lauren and her friend attempted to catch the puppy that was still there but he was scared and ran into the road again.  I knelt down and called to him and thankfully he came over to me.  At first he seemed to be very healthy, but it turns out he was extremely pot-bellied from a worm infestation so bad that he required an enema in addition to routine deworming.  He also had a mild case of mange.  After getting him back to health I couldn't bear to part with the little guy who I named Kodiak because as a baby my mom said he looked like a little bear.  I've had him for 5 months now and would never dream of being without him.

Then...

Now...

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i was working in a warehouse & would always get to work early to sit in my car & read.  one morning a fluffy little dog ran in front of my car, i got out to talk to her, she stopped & looked at me then kept running.  this went on for serveral days,  then i started seeing her during the day.  i told the guys to let me know when they saw her, i'd go out & throw dog goodies toward her & creeping closer each day, this went on for 3 weeks.  one day i decided to take a dog carrier with me, that day i creeped close enough & just grabbed her.

that was 7 years ago.  guess where she is now?  she looked well taken care of but not spayed.  i figure - anyone that lets a dog run loose like that does not deserve her. 

that's the story of one of my seven furbabies.

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Hello! I have my own little muttshack that I call Angel Rescue

I rescue all the sick/abused animals and I have just started with dogs but these are not the ones that you can find homes for so when I get them this is their forever homes.

It all started with a big handsome dog that was a mastiff/mix that was hanging around an abandoned house that had fighting dogs.

I called him Big Boy it took me 3 months to get him to trust me and playing catch with the a/c who would shoot 1st with no questions.

I started throwing food out and put it in a bowl but he would carry the bowl across the street so I had to bungee cord it to the car tire,then I would act like hanzel,gretal with a food trail to the back yard and he would open the gate.

Then 1 day as I was walking 1 of my cats in the stroller I saw him laying in the front yard of the abandoned house and I went up to him and gently touched his head and petted him with the tips of my fingers and when he woke up he didn't go that far but realized that I would not hurt him.

I did manage to get him to trust me and had the vet come out to give shots but he had heartworms and a bad heart/lungs and he was old.

I did everything I could to save him but he got to bad and we had to pts so I was right there holding his head and petting him and kissing him and telling him how sorry I was that people had abused him and that I promised him that I would never hurt him or leave him and that he was at his home and this would always be his home and he could pass over the bridge with his scarve.

His story is on my care2 group angel rescue and on masstiffweb.com under big boy.

My parents and I had him cremated and his ashes are in a mastiff statue laying on a beautiful box from foreverpets and we have him with the 2 cats we lost a week before him and a cat we lost 2 yrs ago that same month.

Now I am working on a black lab/chow mix that was skin and bones and afraid of everything I call her angel.She now looks for me and I have to feed her by hand and she has no idea of the simple things thought big boy didn't either not even know what food/water/shelter was.

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Hi Everyone!

Please meet Lakota!

Lakota is about 4 months old, and is said to be a Shepherd/Chow mix. She is extremely sweet and love's the kids, and is always near the baby (also four months old).

Scott and Lakota.

Someone must really miss this girl, I wonder what her story is. The shelter said she was a stray found on the street. But someone had invested a lot of love and time into her. She knows all of her basic commands in both English and in German.

This next picture is of Lakota with our other adopted rescue, Rex. He was adopted a couple of years ago from the same shelter. They always have so many animals. So sad! Anyways, they really seem to get along. Lakota looks like she could be his daughter. Their both fixed though, and will never breed. I really think people should have to have a license to be able to breed. There are way too many that need to be adopted, and we shouldn't take away their chances.

Rex (5 yrs.) and Lakota (4-5 mo.)

Rex has another remarkable story. He was an injured 1.5 - 2 year old German Shepherd no one seemed interesteed in. At the time, I had lost a shepherd a year prior, we had her for 12 years so her passing was very sad. She was living at my Moms, and my mom was alone, something I couldn't see. So, kept looking for the right dog for her. Finally, I found him, it was Rex, but my ex said I should check with my Mom before getting him for her. I knew he was the one, but thought my ex was right, so went home and called her to ask her. She was excited and said to go with my best judgement, and that I knew what she liked. But, the shelter was closed, and the following day he was gone. A couple of weeks past, my Mom came out and I suggested we go to the shelter. We went and there to my surprise was Rex. I got excited and told my Mom this was the one I was telling you about. We found out he was going to be put to sleep, but because he was so obedient the vet couldn't put him down and was given a second chance. I told my mom this was a sign and that he was meant to be. My mom agreed!My mom loved him and adopted him right away. He had a fractured leg, guessing this is why no one was interested in him. We rubbed his leg all of the time, and sure enough it healed and is doing well. We still rub his leg for him to this day, he's really spoiled and loved.

For the  of Dogs...Rochelle

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  Sasha is a keeper!

When you rescue animals from the shelter and you get to know them, then you are the best qualified person to find a new home for them because you KNOW them, and learn their cute ways. Now she is not just another dog in the kennel yapping for attention.   Once she got at home she just blossomed.  My friends are begging me to have her... but she's mine now.

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 Boots!  Looks like she's been a-walking 

MUTTSHACK:  CYNDI - BURBANK, CA

BOOTS! Just a bundle of huggable fun!


*A Mutt shack is a safe place, in a loving home for a short period of time.

REFERENCE BOOKS:
 
21 Days To Train Your Dog: Learn How Any Dog Can Be Taught The Basics Of Obedience Training In Just a Few Minutes Each Day

Good Dog, Bad Dog: Dog Training Made Easy

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