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At Last Day Dog Rescue, we are committed to giving our animals the best kind of life. In the interest of promoting better human-animal relationships, we recommend positive training methods. Why is that? Mistakes and missteps happen, even with the best of intentions. The good news is, as long as there is a way to move forward, training new and better behaviors is always time well spent. click to read more
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While it is true that there are all kinds of volunteers with varied skill sets needed in any rescue group or organization, it is more than likely the most significant need will be for fosters. What becomes apparent, even to beginning volunteers, is that each animal that comes to us may have multiple issues to manage. There are issues like a lack of socialization, reactivity to other dogs, people or environments, and a lack of basic manners. It is noteworthy that humans are the ones who assign the value of 'good' or 'bad' to health or behavioral issues. Depending on the volunteer, the determination of how best to help a foster could very well be a life-defining event. click to read more
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In early May I found myself enjoying what has become my annual trip west to the great Pacific Northwest. This time around I did something I have not done for a while, hike at elevation. What made it special was the cool weather, interesting terrain/geology, and visiting friends in the area. One of the great things about getting out on the trail is, if you hike far enough, you can shift your attention away from your everyday concerns. This time around... click to read more
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It is that time of year when, at least according to the calendar and despite the weather, we celebrate rebirth and the renewal of life. Speaking of new life, recently one of our rescue dogs, really still a puppy, was returned to her foster; the adoption failed. It may be that this puppy was not the right fit. Alternatively, it may be this was another case of unrealistic expectations. Prior to adoption... click to read more
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My name is Adrianne and I’ve been a volunteer with Last Day Dog Rescue since August of 2014. My story begins with the loss of my dog Nemo, which I had adopted in college. When he passed after having him for 15 ½ years, I knew I could never replace him. Seeing how sad and lonely I was, a friend suggested possibly adopting another dog. And that’s where LDDR comes in... click to read more
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Tonight's special edition comes to you direct from ringside at Healthy Paws. We employed a tag team in our training process. If you have not already met Larry you need to know that he was once a puppy who got by on good looks and boundless charm. Today he is a full grown dog and built like a bulldozer, that is to say, he is powerfully built and needs a handler that is aware of his, well, we'll call it "exuberance". You see, he loves people and other dogs so much... click to read more
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Today I took my new training partner, Peanut Butter, on a training walk for some bonding time. Before going out I talked with Chelsea Campbell of Beyond The Bark to make sure I was aware of Peanut's sensitivities and what the goals for our time together should be. Peanut is sensitive to human strangers, other dogs, and sounds. All of these stresses can be overwhelming, especially in an environment like a kennel. So the general training goal is, as always, to keep Peanut below her threshold level of stress and able to focus on making positive associations with things that would otherwise cause her to be fearful.
click to read more
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Before the training session I approached Megan V to get an idea of which dogs would be in class. Shana seemed to be the best choice to work with me but, because she has a hard time with all the activity in the training room I suggested taking Shana out for a training walk. Wait, a training walk? What is that exactly? It is nothing complicated, just incorporating whatever training principles I can while spending time with Shana. Specifically, I wanted to reliably redirect her attention while she was in a calm state. You can think of that like having a bank account and making regular deposits. The more you put in, hopefully, the balance of trust will grow... click to read more
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I recently watched a webinar on building resilience in dogs, presented by Patricia McConnell, Ph.D., CAAB. I wanted to share a few key points. This is great information for anyone with a dog but especially for recently adopted dogs and fosters.
Resilience is a dog’s intensity of response to an environmental stimuli and their recovery time. A dog with a lot of resilience won't be as affected by trauma and will bounce back faster.
There are 3 main sources of resilience:
Genetics
Early development
Current environment
click to read more
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Jody Saves the Day!
This is Jody adopted in 2010, she was a foster for over 5 months very shy & timid, her foster Mom worked real hard so she was adoptable & eventually found the perfect match for her, it was hard to let her go, but easy at the same time because of this family.
Jody's foster Mom got this message from her adopter:
This is Nikki, Jodys mom. I want to tell you that Jody protected the girls and I from being broken into while we were home last night. We are all fine. She scared the poop out of him. He was telling the Sargeant how scary Jody is. Turns out this kid confessed to thefts in a sub going back a year. The officer came to give Jody a treat for breaking the case and was shocked at how timid she really is.
Rescues Rock!
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"People should not be afraid to adopt blind dogs; they are amazing." Stevie, who just celebrated his first birthday on July 29, has had a medically difficult year working through his diagnosis of Craniomandibular Osteopathy (CMO). His condition causes his skull bones (lower jaw and middle ear areas) to swell, which causes pain and difficulty opening his mouth. The condition also causes high fever and an excessive amount of drool. CMO is an inherited condition common in some breeds of terriers, but it can also be found in Boxers, Labrador Retrievers and Great Danes. Stevie is part Labrador and part German Pointer. With excellent support and care, Stevie is working through his condition... click to read more
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April 26, 2012 GOTCHA DAY for Sophie. As a puppy Sophie had been thrown out of a car window at an animal shelter. A volunteer from Last Day Dog Rescue was at the shelter, witnessed the incident and grabbed Sophie before she ran out in the street after the car. She was fostered by April Malak for 3 months and her LDDR name was Sienna/Anna. When Mike and I saw her picture and read her bio on the website, we decided that she needed to be part of our family. We were amazed by how quickly she immediately enriched our lives... click to read more
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This is “The Great Story of Bum Bum” and how local rescue groups united to achieve one purpose. On a warm summer day Last Day Dog Rescue received “the call”. Sadly that day many of us learned that there were three Shepherd mixes that had been living around a liquor store parking lot since April. As we arrived to check out the scene there were two beautiful males standing in rubble and metal scraps, with an old thrown out television in a grassy area of the parking lot under a couple trees. There was left over pizza crust placed out for them on paper plates. In the lot next door, there is an abandoned house where their owner once lived, which was being utilized by the Shepherds for shelter. You can imagine the conditions! Critters of all kind were living in the vacant house. These guys were used to being out on their own; they were feral. The pack was a father (8 years old) and his two sons (2 years old). They were being fed and watched over by residents nearby. Everyone was aware of these dogs but it is not always easy to figure out the rest of the situation. People always ask, “Why can’t you just save the dogs?” With feral and stray dogs many things come in to play here. How are you going to catch them? Where are they going to live once they are caught? Who is going to pay for their food? Medical expenses? Rehabilitation?... click to read more
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Shortly after I was married, we found our first dog. A puppy wandering on the side of a busy road with no ID, only a flea collar… I always thought, (and still do), that she was the smartest dog I ever knew & worthy of a TV show. She was also the kindest family pet & we were so blessed to have her for 16 years. Being truly irreplaceable, it took me a few years to cave to pressure from my children to get another dog. “We need a dog!” one of them begged! So, without much thought, & a local newspaper ad, came our super cute JRT. True to breed, she was smart & fun, enemy to critters, a digger, & dominant presence, but loyal only to me. Always my constant companion, I was deeply depressed when she became ill & we had to make that difficult decision to let her go... click to read more
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It was the middle of January, Chief’s favorite time of year. While winter is Chief’s favorite, in the author’s humble opinion, January in Michigan can be really miserable for a human. It’s absolutely frigid, sometimes below -30 degrees Fahrenheit. It snows, sometimes several feet or more. And unlike some of our canine companions... click to read more
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We appreciate our many Facebook followers. It is by far our greatest avenue for reaching people at this time to share new listings, adoptions, updates, pleas for help and helpful tips among other things. We are amazed by the value of a "share" or a "retweet" on our social sites, and we hope that you will follow us and share our posts... click to read more
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On October 7th, a 14 year old dog named Maggie was returned to her owner after being missing since October 2nd. While this is a wonderful story, how this all came about is nothing short of amazing... click to read more
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Two weeks ago we said good bye to a dear senior and I wrote about the amazingly selfless people who fostered seniors. Two days ago someone contacted the rescue about the cutest puppy I have ever seen, period. Just a stunningly gorgeous puppy. And that got me to thinking about those who foster our puppies and pregnant moms... click to read more
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So many seniors get dumped at shelters for various reasons. Sometimes some lose their person to death or extended illness and no one in the family can take them. And sometimes they get turned in due to their age, period. And there are of course a dozen other reasons that may not have anything to do with their age but their age just complicates... click to read more
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I have said for the past year I have been with Last Day Dog Rescue that rescue means different things to different people and that is good. The reason being there is so much to be done, everybody plays a part. I did hear a real stretch yesterday in the words ‘I rescued a pup from a pet store’ but I digress... click to read more
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This an amazing adoption story that touched my heart. I took on Lenny and Liam when I was full with other fosters. I didn't really have the room but I figured what are two more? Well, it turned out to be a lot because the boys came to me practically hairless. We wont ever know whether the majority of their hair loss was caused by their skin issues or caused by suspected chemical burns... click to read more
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Sometimes good news and bad news come together in an amazing way. We were contacted last week about a bride, Jaclyn, who along with her new husband, Bernard, had made the decision to make a donation in lieu of having guest favors at their wedding. They wanted to do something beyond themselves to commemorate their special day. As animal lovers, they had included their dog Diamond in the ceremony... click to read more
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Many dog owners find toy selection hit or miss at best. And for many power chewers, the toys they love best aren’t strong enough to resist their attack. Case in point, many years ago my Lab/Pit mix had an affinity for shredding plush toys. The solution was to cease his seemingly endless supply of plush toys. Imagine my confusion having awaked from a nap at dusk only to find what appeared to be plum fog across the floor of the living room... click to read more
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A few days ago we received a heartfelt thank you from our very own Erin Collin. She had been a foster with us for some time now, and continues to volunteer with Last Day Dog Rescue today. She adopted one of her foster pups after bonding with little Jake and she never looked back. Here’s what Erin had to say... click to read more
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