In May of 2009, we decided to add another dog to our family. We had gotten our Siberian Husky, Avery, November 19 2008. She was so very lonely. . My son was 5 then, and they would roll around in the floor playing and she loves to fetch. As much as we played with her, walked with her, took her nearly everywhere we went, she was still lonely. We just can not play with dogs the way they play with each other. We decided to adopt a dog near her age. We thought about adopting another Husky, but to be honest, I do not think I could handle 2 Siberian Huskies blowing their coats at the same time. We decided to adopt a Visla. I got on petfinder.com and there were 2 in the entire southern United States. There were hundreds of Weimaraners, so our attention turned to Weimaraners as well. I ran into a girl I grew up with in the line to pick my son up at kindergarten. She is an animal person like me, so I told her about us trying to decide between a Weimaraner and a Visla. She told me about the group she volunteered for, Weimaraner Rescue of the South. I had been on their site before, and I kept going back.
For those of you who don't know, there are so many Weimaraner Rescue groups in the southern United States. I chose to submitt our adoption application with Weimaraner Rescue of the South. We were so excited when we heard back from them and did our phone interview! They called our veterinarian to make sure that we take care of our pets. I was worried about our home visit, because we have a small home, but the home visit went fine. We picked a couple of dogs on the site, we did not even notice the sweet boy we ended up adopting. Tonia Hanson, the Vice President of the group, suggested that I look at Tannan's profile. I knew he was my boy! We got in contact with his foster family, and arranged to meet in between Memphis and Nashville. When he got out of that car, I knew he was going to fit perfectly into our family! He was HUGE!! 90lbs of the most beautifully handsome Weimaraner I had ever seen! We took Avery with us so they could meet on neutral territory, and they hit it off immediately. The crate we brought to take him home was tiny. He squeezed into his tiny crate, and we were homeward bound. When we got home we let Avery and Tannan in the back yard, and they were both so happy. They came in and played all night long. We love him so much. He was around 3 when we adopted him. He had been adopted out before, but they did not fit in with their family. He is such a blessing to me.
I began volunteering for Weimaraner Rescue of the South earlier this year. What ever they ask me to do I do it gladly. I started helping at a fundraiser, then I began doing the owner surrenders. I got at job at a pet supplies store, and I promote Weimaraner Rescue of the South to nearly every customer that comes in the store. The first Weimaraners I ever pulled came from Hardeman Co. animal control, a male and a female. The male came to animal control easily and playfully. The female did not. I called the Vice President of WRS, and she said we could take the male. I let her know that they could not catch the female, and they would let me know when or if they did. They caught her a couple of days later. She was so terrified, that animal control had to trap her with a live trap. I called the VP back, and she said that we could not take her, but if I would foster her, that she would pay for her veterinary care. I, of course, happily agreed.
When I got to Hardeman Co, I saw this tiny little Weimaraner curled up in the back of the kennel. She was so scared. She was only around 2- 2 1/2, and had obviously had several litters of puppies. I assume that she had began being bred her first heat and is stunted. My husband was livid. As far as I was concerned, I did not have a choice. I was not going to let her be put to sleep. My husband and I had discussed fostering in the future, because our house is so small. She needed us. Avery gets along with everyone and everything. Tannan was not happy about bringing a stranger in the house. My universal name for everything that needs some love is "Sugar". She stayed in a crate the first three days, only coming out when I would put her leash on and pull her out to go to outside. Each time I would say, "Come on Wendy". That is the name the lady at animal control gave her. On the third night I said, "Come on Sugar", and she got up and came to me for the first time. So that is what I named her. Sugar. By that third day, Tannan was ok with her being there. She came out of her crate on her own. She would peek around into the living room and look at us. When she noticed we saw her, she would run back to her crate.
It has been a long process for her. She did not know how to interact with the other dogs. She did not know how to play with toys. She is so smart, and she picked up on those things, and potty training from Avery and Tannan. I have had Sugar for 3 months now. I intend on adopting her. The purpose of my blog is to let people know that there are breed specific rescues. People associate a rescue dog with a mixed breed dog that got picked up on the side of the road. Every day pure bred dogs are dropped off at kill shelters, because the owner decides they do not want them any more. Every day pure bred dogs are dropped off on the side of the road and picked up by animal control. Make a difference, and ADOPT. Do not forget about the cats too!! Both Mr. P. Kittington III and Ashton Jr. are rescue kitties!! Now I am the intake coordinator for Weimaraner Rescue of the South with another lady.
For you people that wonder why I do not put my children's pictures up on here or facebook and put my dogs pictures up, it is simply because my children do not need to be promoted. My children do not need to bring awareness to rescue, my dogs can. If you do not understand that, they you are the one with a problem.
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