What a day!  Rita McKeehan, Ruth Hann, Gypsy, and Harriet Cavalli sold 95 tickets and attracted $16 in donations, for a grand total of $206.  Much of the credit goes to Gypsy, who prefers sitting on tables instead of on the ground.  She offered her paw and tummy to anyone wishing to touch her, and of course they then had to buy at least one ticket.

Today our kids were marveling at how it hasn’t even been two months since we met Libby and they can’t imagine life without her. That made me realize that it was time to send you an update! Libby is doing wonderfully and she makes us all so happy. Her warmth just fills our home with smiles.

The first picture is Libby sitting by the front door after the unbelievable heartbreak of our three older kids leaving home for a couple of hours without taking her.

The second picture is “The Sisters of Chaos” duo. Lucy spends much of the day calling out, “Come, Lib! Come Lib! Follow me!” as they run through the house. When Lucy’s bedtime finally arrives the first thing Libby does is climb up on the couch and sleep for an hour. She is always so patient and gentle with Lucy throughout the whole day, but she’s worn out and ready for a nap by evening. They have a cute relationship. It will be fun to watch them grow up together.

The third picture is Riley cuddling with his best running buddy. When Riley reaches for his running shoes Libby knows to be ready for a good jog around the neighborhood. Those two will keep each other in shape! We just got her a reflective leash and a flashing collar light for the dark winter months that will be here soon.

Libby did wonderfully recently on an extended-family camping trip. There were about 10 families with lots of kids and other dogs. Everyone was in love with Libby by the time we came back home. She fits in really well with everyone.

The remaining pictures are from another recent camping trip. Libby with her beloved green ball, in a daze from being brushed, “helping” with a jigsaw puzzle, and walking with her favorite alpha guy. She really loves Kim and recognizes him as the leader of our pack. We think she transferred her respect and love for her trainers to Kim because they made such a great impression on her. They really taught her what it meant to be a part of a family. We are thankful to them for shaping her into such a great house dog.

Thanks,

Jan

We had the pleasure of adopting a black lab from you on August 8, 2010. Her name was Trinket or Lucy and it has since been changed to Tala which she has embraced well.

I just wanted to write and thank you for the pleasant experience we had with this entire process. We found Tala via the online web page Petfinder.com and were interested in seeing her. You allowed us to come for a visit and have the kids play with her in the yard. It felt like she was a good match for us right away, and it seems she feels the same back.

She was adopted and came home with us to Aberdeen that evening. At her first vet appointment she did very well and they were impressed with her and stated she has a wonderful temperament. They felt she had already bonded well to us as when they took her out of the room and she heard our voices, she just wanted them to bring her back to us. That made us smile.

We have had her for 2 weeks now and she has been so much fun! With a family of 5 this is a very busy house and she gets tons of attention.

Tala has enjoyed the sunny weather and has enjoyed cooling off with a good game of “fetch” in the swimming pool. What a great water dog she is! She already obeys the “sit” command and when told to go to her crate she obeys very well. Tala has alot of energy and she starts her training classes this evening. We are so excited! She is very smart and has a great desire to learn tricks and please her owners.

Thanks again for allowing us the pleasure of adopting such a great dog. We will keep you updated on her progress.

Sincerely,

Shonna

“Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains un-awakened.”

NAIROBI (AFP) – A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast, has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said.

The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back   to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.

‘It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a ‘mother’,’ ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP.

‘After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond.

They swim, eat and sleep together,’ the ecologist added.
‘The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,’ Kahumbu added.

‘The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years,’ he explained.

‘Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.’

This is a real story that shows that our differences don’t matter much when we need the comfort of another.