RLRR helpers: Mike and Sarah and Kevin

It is the first official day of spring and we have more than nice weather to be thankful for. We are happy to report that the Gehl skidloader which spends lots of time being broken down, is back in service again. Mike and myself have been moving tons of soiled straw from the kennels using the wheel barrow which seems to me an endless job when we have up to 17 outdoor kennels in use.

Thank you to Kevin for installing the starter and fixing the tire yesterday. See the picture of Mike enjoying the Gehl again!!
Mike has been employed at the shelter since November 15 when Benay returned to her home in Washington Island, WI. Mike can be seen walking dogs, taking animals to vet, transporting animals out, fostering cats and dogs with special needs, giving meds, cleaning kennels and handling any emergency that comes up.
Mike's salary is paid by the Red Lake Gaming Commission until May. We are currently working with the Bemidji Workforce Center to secure youth employment funding for 300 hours which will last 7 1/2 weeks, and then the possibility of them picking Mike up on their regular work program.

It is wonderful to have Mike working. He has never missed one day of work and his schedule is 7 days per week on a split shift, so he pretty much has to be here all the time. He is great with the animals and does a fantastic job.

Sarah who made the video for RLRR is 20 years old, and she graduated from Red Lake ALC 3 years ago. She is my brother Roger's daughter and does volunteer work at the shelter. She lives at my dad's house near the shelter since he passed away.
SARAH & PUNKIN
She works at the 7 Clans Casino and volunteers as she can at the shelter.

She and Mike have adopted one of the cats that came in after the RAVS clinic with upper respiratory problems. The cat is doing fine today.

They also foster dogs and puppies as needed from the shelter. Today they are fostering Montana who had neuter surgery yesterday and likes to tear out his stitches and seems to get out of his E-Collar.
MONTANA

Karen

Ginger and Joey moving on

It was a very sad day, as Ginger and Joey, Red Lake dogs adopted and loved by my sister Patti Good and Chris Cook from Roseville, MN were left homeless and were taken to Animal Ark.

Patti died last September and her roommate Chris cared for the dogs until now when he has to leave the house. He is unable to find a rental property that will take 2 large dogs. Chris is also very brokenhearted as he is very attached to Ginger and Joey.

JOEYGinger was Patti and Chris's first adoption came from the Hooterville garbage dumpster where she was found starved and full of hundreds of ticks and mange. She was food aggressive and really never got over that. She had an old injury on her rear leg with a large calcified lump.

GINGER BEFORE
Patti and Chris loved Ginger and took great care of her. They adopted Joey because they wanted Ginger to have a friend. They grew to love Joey dearly.

GINGER AFTERWe are thankful that Mary S. and Animal Ark gladly opened their arms to these two. Also thanks to Dee Dee who so kindly transported Joey, Ginger, and Chris to Animal Ark.

We appreciate all the kindhearted people we know and are hoping Joey and Ginger get a third chance at happiness.

Sincerely, Karen Good RLRR

RLRR needs a laptop

We are in need of a laptop computer. With our D J & T Foundation grant, Rosie's can be reimbursed for all community-owned animals that are spayed or neutered; however, this necessitates keeping a record of names and addresses at the clinics.

Contact DeeDee at dewelles@comcast.net
Thanks!

Penny in our thoughts

I was excited to get the update on Penny. We almost missed our opportunity to get Penny and find her a new home.

A young lady from Ponemah area drove out to Red Lake Rosie's shelter one day 2 summers ago. It was right after the RAVS clinic and every kennel at the shelter was full. In the backseat of her car she had a litter of puppies which had been weaned and the mama- Penny.

Well- I was in over my head, and had no place to put them, so I put the litter of 4 puppies, in crates on my front porch. I told the young lady she had to bring the mama dog back later, as I had no place to put her. Unfortunately I got no phone number or address on the person. That was my second mistake.Quite a few months went by and I did not hear any word on Penny and I was haunted by her eyes. I was sure I would never see her again and thought the worse.

Thankfully, one day while at work I got a call and the girl and her mother brought Penny and put her in my pickup and she came to the shelter.

She turned out to be a wonderful dog, met Diane and ended up in her foster care through Pet Haven.

I learned from that situation not to turn away an animal who comes here, as we may NOT get a second chance that we got with Penny. There is always a place to make a temporary accomodation.

Sincerely, Karen and RLRR

PENNY UPDATE:

Penny rode with me from Red Lake to the Twin Cities December of 2007.
I fostered her through Pet Haven until she was adopted. A few months later Penny was returned to me because ...... boy, I don't know .....
she is a perfect lady.

Anyway, she was adopted again by some friends of mine, G & G, in Amery, WI. I am happy to report THEY LOVE PENNY AND PENNY LOVES THEM! Penny has 10 acres to run on but has found she loves the indoors too. Penny loves car rides into town where she gets treats from the guy at the grain store and the lady at the bank.G1 works from home so Penny and Ginger get to hang out all day together and loves the time when G2 comes home to get all sorts of lovin' from him. G & G have 6 grandchildren and Penny is so loving and patient when they crawl all over her. If/when she gets tired of the attention she goes upstairs in the bedroom and sleeps in her crate.So this match has a very happy ending and Penny wants to say HI to Karen and all her furry friends at Red Lake.

Super Trooper

Here's a great story which had a sad beginning and happy ending:

I first met Trooper on Valentine's Day when his owner brought him over to be treated for mange, and I also gave him a parvo/distemper shot. He was the sweetest little chow/husky mix.

Just a couple weeks later on March 2nd his owner called and said that Trooper was in very bad condition as he was mauled by a large dog. He refused to surrender Trooper to us, but he had no money to vet him. When he told me the bleeding would not stop on his neck, I told him to go to the vet and we would take care of it, so he did.
INJURED TROOPERJust four days later, the owner called again and said Trooper was not doing well at all, and he feared he would die. He surrendered him to us and left him at the vet. Apparently he had neglected to give the antibiotic and Trooper now had an abcess on his back and infection in at least 5 lacerations on his little neck and body.

With antibiotics, water, and good nutrition, he improved rapidly, and went to Dino in Rogers, MN for foster care on March 15th. Read what she says about him now in his new forever home:

TROOPER AND FRIENDS IN FOSTER CARE
Great News !!

Trooper went to his new forever home last night and S. just called me this morning and said everything went wonderful. I had trained him to ring the bell when he needed to go outside and she said he did that twice last night and went out and did his job. He slept right next to their bed and slept all night.

They have one son (2-1/2 yrs old) and the two of them are buddies already. I'm sending a photo that S. sent this morning with Trooper at work -- that's right, she works for someone out of their house and is allowed to bring him with her. Isn't that great?! I am so happy for him and they are keeping the name Trooper!
TROOPER AT WORKdino

FURTHER UPDATES FROM ADOPTER:

Trooper is at the office with me today! We're leaving for a walk right now!

Just wanted to let you know that it was another great night last night! He used the bell twice successfully...and so far no accidents, but I've been taking out regularly.

Do you know how he is with water? He's going to be getting his first Petco spa day tomorrow afternoon. So I'm hoping he likes taking a bath and he does ok with it.

We have ducks in our yard that lay way under our big pine trees. So he watched the ducks and the squirrels in the yard this morning and would occasionally bark at them...it was very cute!

Trooper follows my son around everywhere...always needs to know where he's at, but he also knows now that wherever my son is there's a good chance he'll find a stray cheerio or two... :)

I'll keep you updated as often as I can (remember to). He is such a good puppy, so far we are very, very impressed with him!

Ahnung catches blogging bug

Ahnung is a Red Lake dog rescued by RLRR transferred to Pet Haven and now the much-loved companion of Pet Haven's president, Marilou.Ahnung was getting so much coverage in the RLRR blog, Pet Haven's dog blog and Marilou's personal blog, that she decided it was time for a blog of her own.

Check it out: Ahnung ... living life The Stray Dog Way.

Another chance meeting with a RLRR dog

Another great coincidence- Twyla runs into Wilma in Minetonka!! See her pic when Wilma was at the shelter. She left with Twyla on March 1st.
Karen

Sonya and Karen,

I just had to share with you that I went to the Minnetonka PetCo last Friday night. Got in line to pay, and lo and behold, there was Wilma/Cora with her new owner! I said, "Is that Wilma?" and she looked at me and said, "How do you know Wilma?" I explained that I had transported her from Red Lake and fell in love with her in all of 10 minutes upon arriving home. She was the nicest lady, we visited about Cora, she let me hold and kiss her (well, Cora kissed me!).

She was buying a crate, bed, food, toys, for her. I feel so blessed to have seen her again! That so rarely happens.

Can't wait to see pictures of her in her new home. It seems she's going to live a pampered life!

Twyla