Raymond, formerly Luigi

We adopted Raymond in August of this year. We wanted to send and updated photo. Raymond has come such a long way! He has taken obedience class and now enjoys running (up to 4 miles!) with his owners and "brother" dog. Ray's confidence is growing by the day. He is very funny and playful and a he is a true delight. He is very affectionate and loves everyone.
Raymond's favorite things are: 1) eating; 2) snuggling; 3) going for walks; and 4) chasing squirrels. He is doing great!

Why we love Jeni

We have had Jeni about a month now. She has stolen all of our hearts, including our two greyhounds, Jimbo and Gordo. Jimbo and Jeni are best buddies. She curls up next to him at every chance and sleeps with him at night. Every once in a while, Jimbo allows Gordo to sneak in and cuddle up next to Jeni. They play tug of war and run together almost daily. Jeni lets you carry her like a newborn baby, with her head looking over your shoulder. She cuddles into your neck, just like a human baby and because of her size, you feel like you're carrying a baby! She is definitely my new furry daughter! She is impressively smart, coming to us crate trained, knowing "sit" and already learning "wait", "dance" and "up". When we take her to our cabin in the mountains, she happily uses potty pads instead of going out in the snow, and was easy to train. As she is a very vocal dog.. not barky, but vocal, I have been working with her to say "mama" and I believe within a month or so, she
will have it down. She is the first pup we've ever had that likes to talk in this way and it is so fun to work with her. Her intelligence continues to amaze us.

We are just so thankful that PUP provided us the opportunity to adopt such a wonderful member of the family. The happiness she brings can not be measured. You guys are doing great things, keep up the good work!

Gibbs Update

It has now been just over 5 months since we were fortunate enough to bring Gibbs... now named Rafael (Rafa) to our home in Vancouver, British Columbia. On June 11th we lost our beloved 10-yr old havanese AJ and two weeks later our hearts were healed when we were approved as 5-yr old Rafa's new parents. As with many rescues, his history was sketchy but he was thought to be a havanese-cross with a bad start in life. We immediately did a DNA test and discovered he was primarily havanese and poodle with a bit of Schnauzer & Pomeranian thrown in.

Upon settling in we discovered that he had plenty of energy, attitude, passive-dominance issues, separation anxiety and the occasional in-house accident. It was clear that he needed to learn who was the alpha (me) and where he stood in the pack. We hired BarkBusters to assist with retraining and the separation anxiety and he no longer howls like a wolf when left alone. We are now able to simply walk out and leave him alone for several hours with access to the entire house without incident !! He hasn't been left alone for more than 4 hrs at a time and this works well for us and him. No more crating, den-gating, doggy daycare and/or baby-sitters.

He is now well-behaved on-leash (never walks ahead of us), has learned several key commands/words and does all his 'business" during his daily walks. He has even figured out a way to communicate to us that it is time to go out.... rarely a false alarm. Best of all, it is clear that he has accepted us as his pack members as demonstrated by the abundance of kisses we now get that we didn't recieve the first few months... we initially assumed he just wasn't an affectionate kind of dog... we were wrong!

The plan was for him to sleep in the den on his own doggy bed and that eventually worked well if we gated the den. Recently, however because of his good behavior we have been letting him sleep w/us... he nestles between the pillows at the headboard and sleeps there all night long. I have a feeling that this is going to become the norm and the den plans are out the window.

He has plenty of stuffed toys to terrorize, rubber balls to retrieve and has made some doggy buddies in our complex. He loves to chase things that move... especially cats and squirrels... although I'm not sure what he'd do if he caught one. His favorite thing appears to be car rides with the window down so he can stick his head out and enjoy the breeze. Our vet has certified him as healthy (he's gained 3lbs) and our groomer is pleased with his disposition during his monthly visits. I'm not sure if he has seen snow before but he really enjoyed running and jumping in it last week. We'll be taking him to Palm Springs for Xmas/New Years so we'll get to see if he can swim in the pool.

Thanks PUP for saving Rafa... I'm sure he'd agree that he's in a much happier place.

Form Submission from: www.healthypawsfoundation.org

Tito

My boyfriend and I were originally planning to adopt a dog we saw at the Seattle Humane Society, but when we got there we found out the dog we wanted was already adopted. Disappointed, we decided to head over to Bellevue Square since we were in the area. The first store we walked into was Macy's and coincidentally there was a P.U.P. event going on. That was when my boyfriend laid his eyes on Tito; his name was Chief at the time but after looking at his little face, he deserved a name as cute and sweet as he was. My boyfriend turned to me excitedly and said "Look at that little guy!" When I turned to look, I'd experienced my first "love at first sight". We came over to pet him and we asked his foster mother many questions about the adoption process and how much we just fell in love with him. After two weeks of the adoption process we were able to take him home. At first he was really quite and a bit playful, but now his personality just shines through his little smiles and kis
ses that he gives us everyday. We look forward to experiencing Tito's first holiday season with us and the many more years ahead as a family.
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Champ/Joey

Joey (formerly Champ) is settling in very smoothly. He figured out the dog door quickly, and enjoys going for rides in the truck and walks at the park. He and Ranger (adopted last April) became instant best buddies and have so much fun wrestling and racing around the yard! I tried to take a photo but it was always a blur of motion. You'll have to imagine them racing across the grass, charging through the leaves, and leaping over the bushes. The tug-of-war matches are hysterical! Had to wait till the end of the day to get a picture of the two of them. Joey is a mellow cuddler when laying next to you on the couch but is always up for any game. Thanks for saving this gem!

Ted Update

I never thought I'd have a small dog, being raised with larger breeds my entire life. However, from the day I saw Ted's picture on PUPs website, I was in love. He is my little buddy, we often sit together and soak up as much sunlight as we can. He brings joy to everyone that meets him with his unique smile! Thank you PUP for matching me with Ted!