MAXWELL

Fostered by Dawn & Bill Hutchinson

Babysat by Linda Hart,  Joanne Blair

Adopted by Eileen Rickerson

Max was an owner-surrender, dearly loved by his human mom, not so by his human dad. Max was fostered by Dawn and Bill for two months, and Dawn successfully cleared up an ongoing skin condition with which he had arrived.

Max’s new mom Eileen was a bit frantic the first week, as she did not understand the Vizsla trait of mouthing. She thought he might be inclined to aggression, though I assured her this was not the case. After seeking other anecdotes of Vizslas’ loving habit of taking your hand, wrist, or arm in their mouth, in greeting, happiness, of trying to show you something, I shared them with Eileen. She finally realized that she had a fabulous boy in her life, with no concerns!

Max now leads “The Good Life”, being doted on by Eileen, and all the friends and family too! Max has moved from Peachtree City to St. Simons Island, GA.

Note from Eileen:  Thanks again for checking in with us last evening and for your continued support and interest! I forgot to mention that as beautiful as Dawn had Max's coat looking 2 weeks ago, it has improved and is even better now. It has all filled in nicely and he's a beaut! Also, my daughter was so impressed with him that she hopes to check out Vizsla rescue when they are in a position to acquire a second dog. She absolutely loves Max and would've taken him home if I'd allowed it! (Did I mention she had been pre-vet and just loves dogs too?) ----------and----------- "Maxwell has most definitely won over ALL of the hearts of family and friends! He's a good, good fellow with many admirable traits! He loves the beach and is beautiful to watch, in motion, however after a week of daily walks and early morning sandbar races in pursuit of water fowl (and barking additionally at dolphins) his skin condition resurfaced." I will send a photo to illustrate that Maxwell also enjoys the old wicker swing as do I! It gives him a great vista into the marsh and there's so much to capture his watchful eyes!!! More later! Eileen and Maxwell (and I think he's very content now that we've both adapted...so we thank you for your encouragement, calm, patience and support!!)

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Three years ago, we made a pact that if we ever brought another dog in our home, it would be a rescue dog.  A few years ago, someone helped us by giving our 8 month old Labrador retriever a loving home, when we found we could not.  The lab shed profusely, and we had a baby with reactive airway disease, and the two didn’t mix.  

We decided to start off by fostering a Weimaraner or Vizsla, to be sure it was the right thing for us to do.  This way, we would be helping the rescue organization house a homeless dog, and giving it a try for us at the same time. 

I found Buffy Scheaffer on the internet, and after a few phone calls, we got to know each other and came to a clear understanding of the needs of dog rescue, and the needs of our family.  She, with her caring nature, took into great consideration what would be the best characteristics in a dog to fit our family lifestyle.

Copper came to us on a Tuesday night.  The family who owned him had recently moved to Atlanta, and their new careers kept them out of the house for up to 12 hours daily, and Copper needed more attention than they could give.  He was in dire need of medical help, and a lot of love and attention.

He took to us immediately, as if we had owned him since day one.  He licks my 3 year old and 6 year old’s faces daily, and is so gentle when they play with him.  We have renamed him a couple of things, “Copper, the Smooch Pooch”, and “Copper, the 50lb Lap Dog”.  He is happiest if he can jump up in my lap, and make a nest.  At night, he sleeps by my bed, on his back, with his belly up in the air, both feet out like he’s taking flight, and we cover him with a blanket.  We place bets on how long he will stay like that, and no one ever wins because we fall asleep waiting for so long.

He makes us smile so many times in the course of one day, this foster home just might only foster this one dog.  Forever.   

(The Myers family did adopt Copper, after extended fostering, nursing and medical care. Another Happy Ending!)

Sometimes we forget about the other victims of hurricanes…the animals.

Logan, a wonderful male Vizsla, was one of those victims.

He was seen running loose for several days, after the last storm hit southern Alabama. Eventually he was picked up and taken to a local animal pound, where he endeared himself to those who work there. They kept him for a little over two weeks, hoping his owner would reclaim him. He was sleek, already neutered, sweet and well behaved. They didn’t have the heart to euthanize him.

Sadly, Logan had no identification – no collar with tag, no tattoo, and no microchip. Someone is probably mourning the loss of a great dog because of that.  

Lucky for Logan, the Golden retriever rescue of south Alabama saw him and called Buffy, who did confirm for them that he was indeed a Vizsla. They made arrangements to transport him, with the help of another rescuer in Auburn, AL, who brought him to Atlanta. After immediate vetting, Logan was taken in by Becky White and her family, who had prearranged to foster him for as long as necessary.

Logan’s luck continued. A couple in Roswell who already had a year old female Weimaraner were determined they wanted to adopt a rescued Vizsla. They had waited patiently for weeks, after sending in their application. A week after Becky took in Logan, Rob and Athena, with Stella, their Weim girl, went to visit, and took Logan home that day. They opted to take a little time to make sure that Logan and Stella would get along, before finalizing the adoption.

Logan’s luck: A new sister who is sweet, playful, and easy to get along with, a new mom and dad who adore him, yet take the time to make sure obedience is a regular part of life. Best of all, Logan has his own red Mustang convertible. Check out the picture!

Seriously, a reminder to everyone who reads this…if your cats and dogs are not microchipped, please do it as soon as possible, for all your companion animals.  If Logan had been chipped, he would have been reunited with his owner very quickly. VCMA rescue recommends Home Again, AKC CAR (companion animal recovery). It works. It is worth it. Your animal friends are worth it. Do it.

Go to   http://www.akccar.org/  for further information.

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Then, a great new family came into his life. Tucker and his wife Julie work with Cocker Spaniel rescue, as a foster home. They have their own sweet little blond Cocker named Padme'. They were excited about having a Vizsla join their family, and had done the research.

Tucker grew up with Pointers, Brittany's and GSP's, and Julie worked for
a vet during college. Their fosters have included many challenges, which
they were willing to take on, since they do not have children yet.

An update from Tucker sounds like Raleigh is settling right in with his new family! 

"Padme' is totally in love with him and tries to snuggle all the time but Raleigh just looks at her as if to say, "What are you doing?"  He has behaved so well on leash that we gave him a trial off leash session yesterday to see how he would behave. He started racing all over the back yard and responded very well to our verbal commands. The last we spoke I mentioned he kept trying to get in the bed in the middle of the night. We went to Sam's the next night and bought a giant bed for him and the problem disappeared. We are starting to learn his games and he
ours."

Tucker laughed as he told Buffy about a man flagging him down when they walked Raleigh, right after they adopted him. He said the man was flapping his arms, so excited that Tucker almost
couldn't understand him. He finally did understand the man to say he has TWO Vizslas, both rescues, and he is a neighbor. The neighbor was very excited to see another Vizsla in the neighborhood!  Honestly now....how many of us who have Vizslas have NOT chased someone down when we see they have a Vizsla too?!

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DILLON FOUND HIS "FOREVER" HOME

Dylan and I have been very busy with obedience training and trips to the dog park.  He is adapting well to his new home and loves all the “friends” he has made at the dog park, including three or four other vizslas.  At first his exuberance scared some of the other dogs when he tried to play with them, but he is learning to play more gently. 

His favorite activities include chasing any birds that might be flying overhead and car rides (he races to the door whenever he thinks we are going somewhere).   He also really loves sitting in my (or anyone else's!) lap--he may seem to be too big to be a lap dog, but he doesn't know that.  He EXCELLS in his obedience class, and everyone is continually impressed with how quickly he learns.  He is especially good at sit and stay and is content to stare for minutes at a time. 

I have enclosed several pictures for you to post on the website.  If there is anything else I can do, please don't hesitate to ask.  Thank you again for everything!

Geoffrey 

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HARDY'S STORY   - by Buffy Scheaffer

It was sooooo sad. She had all his worldly belongings gathered and sitting right at the front door, and he looked confused, with big, scared eyes, and very vulnerable when I walked in the door. He knew something was up, he just didn't know what.

The husband is on the road 5 days a week, the lady works 5 days a week, their 2 year old little girl is in day care 5 days a week, and the dog was put in the basement to spend the day!!!!!!--5 days a week!! One weekend each month the whole family goes away for the weekend for the husband to do his reserve duty, so the dog was put in a boarding kennel one weekend each month, and more if they took any trips.

So....the wife realized two things....she was the one who had to care for the dog, and the dog had no life. She felt it wasn't fair to him, and wanted him in a home where he would get some attention. Hardy was 7 years old, and they had gotten him as a new baby!! I brought him home, we fell in love with him and decided to keep him as a member of our family! We had just lost our most precious (and first) Weim boy rescue, at about age 10-11, to TCC (bladder cancer), about 6 weeks before this. My husband was still in mourning big-time, and we were all still very raw emotionally from losing that dog. David had been adamant about not taking in any others for a while, foster or otherwise, but I know how things work around here.

It was one of those situations that didn't feel right when I picked up Hardy. She couldn't seem to get him out of there fast enough, and didn't seem at all upset about him going...and not one single tear. And I was trying NOT to well up with tears, he was so vulnerable and wondering why he was being taken from his family. I told Hardy all the way home that we didn't even HAVE a basement! And we had other dogs for him to play with, and four humans that were around most of the time. He just had to find out for himself.

Hardy is a precious fellow, well behaved, obedience trained, and a real clown! We all adore him! He has a goofy funny personality, and has big happy roo’s for us often. I am so glad we could be a part of his HUGE happiness displayed every day! The happiness we have in return is bountiful!

A note for potential adopters—Another Vizsla member of our family, who came from the Cobb County shelter (another story), was a white-faced 8 year old when we adopted her. She is going on twelve now, and continues to be more feisty than most of the others! She is also the “Little Princess” of this household. It’s hard to describe the joy this little girl has brought to us, so please don’t be afraid to adopt an older – “senior”—dog, Vizsla or otherwise!

~Buffy~