2011 in Review and 2012 Wishes

My apologies to my core followers for abandoning my blog... I do have a few good reasons.

1.  Christmas came a little early... Bailey's Gotcha Day is 11/22/11.  He was pulled from an Oklahoma City Kill Shelter by Friends with Four Paws, a volunteer (Thank you Ethan!) tagged me and the rest was history.  I had all intentions of fostering him until FWFP was able to find a forever home; however, my partner John had other ideas and he is now a member of the Schanzuer-tude! pack!

2.  In August of 2011 I answered a call to help a homeless man who was living in his car with his 3 Shepherds.  I was able to raise some money and the dogs were placed in a kennel in Staten Island until the owner was able to get back on his feet.  One week then one month and another and the owner never came forward again; he abandoned them.  Precious, Princess and Blackie were residents at the kennel for about 3 months.

• Precious (now Precious Chance or "Chancy") is now with a wonderful family in NJ, she has two furry brothers, Bear and Buddy and is loving life with his new mom Janet.  Click on the photo below to see more photos of Chancy.  

Chancy with her new mom, this was their first day together.

• Princess is truly that... a princess.  Living on Long Island with her furry siblings Dagwood and Megan along with her two humans and human brother.  

Princess on one of her many thrones  -- Her human's words, not mine :-) 

• And finally, there is Blackie; he has a very long story.  I was able to find a foster for Blackie and on September 23rd when I was transporting him, he escaped from his collar and ran away on me.  Almost 16 days looking for him in Staten Island and with the help of an incredible core of local volunteers, SICAW, 3 trappers and 1 tracker (yes a dog scent tracker) we were finally able to capture him.  He was quarantined for two weeks and after three weeks, he went to a wonderful foster family in Flushing Queens.  He is currently enjoying his days with his furry foster sibling Kodi and a cat name Aphrodite.  HE IS UP FOR ADOPTION AND IF YOU ARE INTERESTED PLEASE CONTACT ME DIRECTLY.

click to see more photos of Blackie

So aside from the new addition, dog count is now four and these three rescues (something I'd never done before!) my time was not my own.   

I have a few wishes for 2012, top on the list is finding Blackie a forever home, paying off what I owe the kennel for boarding 3 dogs for almost 3 months, helping with more rescues but learning not to let it consume all of me (easy to say, hard to do) and finally, to be able to reach out to more people who can help with fostering, rescuing or even volunteering some of their time, either in person or virtually.    I started a FB page solely for rescues seeking fosters or forever homes.  Canine Collective is a core group of volunteers who I met during Blackie's search in Staten Island.  All animals posted on this FB page are personally seen by one of us and we are directly working with the rescue group or local ACC to help save them.  Please visit, "like" and share and cross post on your FB pages or on your blogs to help us reach more people that might be able to assist with a foster or forever home.  My final wish is to be able to dedicate more time to this blog, I will start with baby step and do my best to update weekly... wish me luck.

Wishing all of you a very healthy and happy New Year!

Claudia 

Nellie, Calvert, Yuchie and Bailey