They have arrived!

Well it has been an exciting weekend at Camp Bobe

Heather headed out to pick up a very pregnant Angel. She is working with a wonderful group of animal people that has worked so hard to help Angel and all the Lakeshore dogs. In fact Allison and Heather talked on the phone last week until the wee hours about the Lakeshore dogs and rescue. These are our kind of people. Angel was close to whelping so they were planning plans b, c, & d.

Friday morning Heather left for STL about 4.5 hours into the trip Heather was notified that Angel will probably go within the next 24-48 hours. Really what can a girl do? She kept driving.

Angel started whelping on Saturday morning. Angel had 9 puppies! 5 boys and 4 girls. Mom and babies are doing well at the home of our temp foster that was only suppose to have them for a few days that has now turned into whelping and having the pups through Thanksgiving.

Nine pups is a lot of shots and Angel still needs surgery on her leg ($1500-$2000) and possible other medical treatments and of course a spay!

Puppy care is estimated at $2100.

Can you help?


She and the kids are doing great! They will need shots and deworming ($450) soon.
We need to raise a lot of funds for these guys. Every $1 helps. So don't worry if you cannot give big. Just give what you can!!!

For All You Cardinal Fans...

Lucy with her very own Rally Squirrel!

Who are you people anyway?

I have to be honest most of us at Camp Bobe did not start out to be "rescuers" or "animal experts" our purpose found us and beckoned to us over and over. Over the next couple of weeks we will be featuring interviews with our founders and Board of Directors so you can get to know this crazy crew.

We have a former English teacher with pink hair and a nose ring that is now a vet tech and our Director of Animal Health.
We have a consultant with a Masters Degree, a certificate in Animal Behavior and is a classically trained Soprano that is our CEO & Animal Behaviorist
We have two very successful retired business owners that are on our board of directors who are amazing role models.
We have a Sales Rep that sells an annual volume of $18 million for a sports lifestyle company who is our COO and in charge of our hospice care.

Oh and of course our Chief Animal Officer Matilda, who as a Border Collie is in charge of...well...everything.

Angels We Have Heard On High!

Those of you that follow our Facebook page know about our desperate search to find Angel and her unborn pups a foster home. I am going CRAZY. I am annoying everyone I meet begging the to foster her.

"Have you heard about Angel?" I ask.
Responses:
"Yes, Heather we talked about her during Lunch." or
"Yes, Heather I am friends with you on facebook." or most clearly
"Yes, Heather and no I cannot foster her."

It is driving me crazy. I see her pretty face in my mind's eye daily. She pulled me in from the moment someone emailed me her photo.

My intake team and I are pretty darn strict about our intake policy. Since our organization focuses on those with medical or behavioral issues we have to make sure we keep to our true north.

Angel fit those criteria. When Angel was first found by the rescue team living on the streets they noticed how beautiful she was but also that she was only using 1 leg. The man that had been feeding her said she was purposefully run over about 6 months ago (broken front leg). She no longer uses that leg so it may not be "fixable" and may need to be amputated.

That being said they noticed her sweet and loving nature. At that point they could only take the worst case animals from the trailer park where the strays were living. And believe it or not Angel was in pretty good shape compared to the others.

The team contacted me and we began to talk about bringing her to Nebraska and her health needs. We work with an amazing surgeon here in Nebraska and we knew if there was ANY chance of saving the leg she would be able to do it. We were not optimistic but we wanted to give it a chance.

When they returned about 10 days later to get the next round of dogs. Angel had a bit of a surprise for them. She was pregnant. Not completely unexpected when you have that many dogs that are not spayed or neutered running around. She is still as sweet as ever "singing" at you when she wants your attention.

So that is where we are at today trying to find her a foster home in Nebraska. The only options for her and her pups if they remain there are the streets or a shelter where the the chances of her survival would not be great because of her injury. An injury like that is a death sentence in a shelter environment because to fix her leg would cost money.

She has a vet appointment on Friday. We seriously have no placement for her. We need a generous heart to step up and foster this beautiful girl through whelping of her puppies and then her leg surgery.

We support our foster homes in every way possible with vet care, training plans for the animals, food, and adoption events. Please consider fostering and if you can email Heather at heather@campbobe.org

Here are some pictures with her caregivers down in Arkansas.

I love Kitties!

We look so much alike!

A cute shot of how loving she is and her pregnant belly.

Hello Everyone!

Kitty Kisses!!!

Smokey's Story

One of our recent success stories is Smokey. This HANDSOME boy had some hard times before he came to us at Camp Bobe.



If we didn't know better we would swear that Smokey was a bird. More specifically a Phoenix. You see Smokey's home burned down and he was thought dead. He was the next day under the rubble by his family. He survived but his family could not afford to continue to care for him after the devastating fire so they left his to roam. After roaming around for about a month he was taken into a local shelter where he developed a big fan based. (Yes, Smokey has his very own groupies!)

Since the shelter was a kill shelter his new friends worked hard and brought him to the attention of Camp Bobe. With the assistance of Furever Friends of the South, Smokey made his way to the Good Life in Nebraska. He was fostered by the Engle Family of Northeastern Nebraska.




His new home was only suppose to be a foster but when the Engles, who lost their St. Bernard Chewy 2 months ago, it was love at first sight. He was a spirited boy with a wiggly butt and kisses to give.

I (Heather) kinda knew that this was not just a foster situation when I got a text from them when they were still making the two hour drive back home.

"Almost Home. He is sound asleep in my lap"

A little over an hour and a half later I got another text:

"The cat and Smokey already kissed and get along. Cat just watches him. He is so cute. He ate and drank. Makin himself at home next to me on couch. I am pretty sure this his new forever home "

It was sent with a picture.


After getting the picture and the note I emailed her back asking it she wanted me to take Smokey of our adoption page. She emailed back saying:

"I am pretty sure he has his home. Already in bed sleepin with my husband. Pretty sure done deal."

The weekend passes and I focus my attention on getting our other intakes from that weekend settled into their foster homes and also check in on Piper. (Who by the way was playing ball this past weekend.)

Monday I get another message with a picture.

"This is where Smokey likes to sleep with his blanket.But some part of him has to be touching us for him to fall asleep. We are falling in love quickly."

Bright and early Tuesday morning I get the text I had been expecting for a while:

"It is official! We can't let Smokey go. We want to adopt him. We love him too much. He is wonderful. I will be foster parents if u need us to do so as well. we love him and he has touched us so much!"

This is why I feel so lucky to get to do what I do. God has blessed me with the ability to connect people and animals and I get to see the most wonderful outcome in the world...LOVE.

The dog is the only animal that has seen his god.

Long time no post and for that we are truly sorry. We have been so busy and that is a very good thing. Rescues and rehabs is our everyday.

I am posting today to bring you all some news. We found out last week that one of the our darlings, Piper, has bone cancer and it is terminal. At this point we are doing hospice and letting her lead the way.

She was taken off the adoption list and officially adopted by one of our founders, Laticia, so in her final days she had a home and a family that she belongs to. Piper is in good spirits. Today she was running around and rolling around like a pup.

We are going to let her dictate her final journey in partnership of our great vet Dr. L in California. Our goal is to enrich the short time she has left with us.
Don't be sad friends because she is not! She is living each day like a dog-- living in the moment and celebrating the joy that comes with that.



We have been comforted in this news with the release of Jon Katz's new book Going Home:Finding Peace When Pets Die.

Jon did a lot of research and on the book and talked to a lot of people who just plain love their pets. He look at rituals that have come about with animals passing and how we grieve.

I find it unique that society finds it foolish for us to grieve the loss of an animal. When telling someone about Piper this week one of our volunteers was laughed at because she shed tear while telling the story. She was told, "Look at yourself you are being silly crying over an animal." Our volunteer later noted that she realize the honest show of emotion made the woman nervous as she had never seen or had such an experience. You just don't understand if you have not known the love of a pet.

Here is a video Jon did to go with the new book.

Best Friends Training Day 2-It Begins

Hello Friends!
I have lots to share and some fun pictures too.

Arrival for us was at Lunch. I immediately met a group from Young At Heart from Chicago. Within an hour I was adopted by the group. I just love them. They are midwesterners that speak my language. Plus, their mission of rescuing senior pets just tugged at my heart. We had the Thursday "What is happening at the Sanctuary" weekly briefing.

After lunch we took a tour of Best Friends. I was the only one in my van that had been to Best Friends before so it was fun to revisit but also see others reactions for the first time. I was reunited with one of the Best Friends founders, Jana, who did my last training too.











When we got back we had time to sit and get to know everyone and have dinner. During dinner I sat next to Gregory Castle who is the CEO and one of the founders. He gave some great advice and insight. Being in the industry for 26 years and being in on it from the VERY beginning he has am amazing view of things.

AH-HA Moment/Quote of the Day:
"To be successful you have to lose your ego. Some of the greatest rescue organizations have been destroyed because of ego that causes infighting. Everyone involved checked their egos. That is one of the reasons were have been successful."-Jana

Best Friends Training Day 1 -Travel

Notice: There are few animals in this blog post.

When we promised that I would keep you up-to-date on my adventures while traveling to Best Friends this week we did not think the word "adventures" would play such a major role in the day

3:30am Wake Up
4:15am Leave for the airport
4:45am Arrive at airport
4:46am Proceed to wait in line for 15 minutes at the Southwest check-in
5:01am Head to TSA screening where I wait in line for 45min. This was no fault of the TSA as once I got up there I breezed through. There was just a crazy amount of people flying this morning.
5:46am Arrive at gate. Get in line. Thanks to early bird check in with Southwest I was A31.
Board plane sit in 3rd row with a sweet older couple. It was at this point that Southwest announces to everyone on our flight that this flight happens to have a 3:1 children to adult ratio on the plane. There was also an adorable Pomeranian on the plane.
During the flight some of the kids were given "jobs". The helped the flight crew hand out snacks and collect that trash. They has a blast and drama was kept to a minimum. Southwest Airlines are the most creative nannies EVER!
7:15am (Pacific) Arrive in Vegas. Get luggage. Help the sweet older couple get their luggage and head to the rental car center. I did not realize in Vegas that this took an act of congress. I checked in upstairs and was then lead through a basement dungeon to get my rental car that they had already checked and had the keys in and sent me on my way.
9:00am Stop in Mesquite at the Wal-Mart to pick up essentials. Notice that there is a big green sticker on the key chain for my rental car. That says FX Tire PF. I do not think much of it and drive on.
9:30am Get back on the road and drive through the grades and mountains of Nevada, Utah and Arizona.
10:30am Talk to co-founder Laticia on the phone. She is stuck at home with a torn tendon and bad ankle sprain and is walking with crutches.
11:30am Arrive in Kanab and check in at Dogtown.
12:00pm Arrive at hotel and discover that the passenger front tire has a chunk out of it. I was the luckiest soul on earth that it did not  blow out on me.
The phone calls back and forth to Enterprise begins. At first they tell me to drive it back to them. I tell the I do not feel safe doing so. Then they say we will send someone to change the tire then drive to St. George (3 hours) to exchange it. To which I burst into tears telling them I have been up since 3:30am. She suggests that I find a Firestone they are authorized to replace the tire. The nearest one is 164 miles away.
In the meantime the great folks at Ramsey Tire and Auto here in Kanab arrive to change the tire. The take it back to their shop to see if a patch is possible it is not so they put on the spare. While I am there two other folks are getting their tires repaired that rented cars. One of then had one blow out and another one was serverly thin so that one was being replaced too. We vented about the fact that above customer service at car rental providers safety and up keep of the cars should be the #1 priority.

Back in Enterprise land they did some research at the Vegas location and realize what a major error they made sending out this car. They decide to physically tow a new truck out to me. Yes, that is right they loaded a car onto a flatbed and brought one to me (3 hour drive).
In the meantime I get a nap. ZZZZZZZZZZZ
5:00pm One of our board members calls to check on my trip so far. He is very supportive and sponsored my trip out here.
5:12pm New rental car arrives. Drivers says leave it all to him and I do. When he is done I ask if we have to do any new paperwork or anything. He says nope and drives away.
7:00pm A few hours later I head out to dinner and the parking break is locked in place on the new car. It will not budge. I proceed to spend the next 30 minutes fighting to get it loose. I finally google the make and model of the care to find out the issue. Apparently, with Toyota the car must be on AND the car must be in gear. TA DA!
I am now going to bed!

Don't forget our Fundraising Committee meeting on Saturday July 30th! Everyone is invited as we will discuss a lot of our fundraising avenues including our Doggie Drive-In Event!

Road Trip!

Heather is heading out to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in the morning for some training. Follow her on the blog to hear all about her grand adventures!

Cause and Effect

While consulting on a case this week the perfect blog post appeared in my lap.

When you are suddenly dealing with behavior issues with your pet it is very important to consult a vet first. They are an important partner is the lifetime care of an animal. You have a whole cast of people that should be involved. You need a great vet, groomer (don't just stop in at the local pet store), pet sitter (check out Pet Sitters International), and of course your trainer (and yes I do mean your trainer, human. As training a lot of times is more about training the owner rather than the dog. But alas that is a post for another day.)

The case this week was with an older dog that was a rescue and had been adopted out 5 months ago. Prior to being adopted out he had spent 6 months in foster care due to being heartworm positive and going through treatment. After recovery he spent three months searching for the right family. He was playful, friendly, loved playing ball and playing with kids. I spent Christmas with him and six other dogs and he was the most mellow of them all. Zero food , people, or animal aggression. He was adopted in January to a family with a little boy. In fact the first week they had him the little boy was super sick and he laid at the end of his bed the entire time. Fast forward tho last week when the the family called and reported that 3 weeks ago the dog started nipping and becoming distant. I immediately knew it was one of two things-he was being mistreated or he was sick.

I asked if they had been taken to the vet---answer not yet. I said make an appointment immediately. My gut told me this was not behavioral. Answer: It wasn't that he was sick. He is being cared for now and hopefully on the way to recovery. AGAIN VETS ARE YOUR PARTNER!

When looking at animal behavior realize that behavior of an animal is almost always a "reaction to stimulus". Something is creating behavior. In this case it was medical. In another case it might be fear of something that we do not recognize because we are so focused on the negative behavior we forget to look at "causes". I have had a dog that was presenting with OCD type issues and it turned out he was afraid of the ceiling fans in the house. The minute they were off he became a normal dog again.

Cesar Photo by Elisa Mattonen

Pictured above is not the dog in question but my sister's dog Cesar. He is a rescue from Northern California

Lucy's Day Out With Girl Scouts

What a dog day for us!
Lucy spent the day with Girl Scouts at Spirit of Nebraska. She worked with about 50 Daisies on animal care & safety. Lucy loves children so she was tapped to go early on. She is quite easy going, behaves, and most importantly she sees to understand children. Lucy has an ability to understand human language and behavior. She also loves to get her picture taken and posed for like 20 pictures today.

It is so important to teach children from a young age the responsibilities of owning a pet and also how to behave around them. I see a lot of inappropriate interaction between children and animals because neither have been taught how to coexist. If we do this early on and continue as both human and animal grow there are few chances for children to get bitten or a family being forced to surrender a pet.

Unfortunately not every person is a responsible pet owner. Additionally, not every animal likes people. Those being the realities is it up to us to teach children on how to be around animals; both their family pet and unknown pets.

I do an education program through my rescue(Camp BoBe). If you do not have a program in your area and want to work with your kids on these things Best Friends have some GREAT resources on their Best Friends Network NextGen page

Lucy and Ethel

Yesterday you met Titi and Tori today I will introduce their "cousins", Lucy and Ethel. They are Golden Retrievers and true litter mates. The are a riot. Lucy is very reserved and loves children. She is super smart and her problem solving ability is amazing.

Ethel is...well...Ethel. She is very in vocal and demanding of attention. She is also a very lovely girl. She loves her mama and wants nothing more than to cuddle in her lap.

Here is there video enjoy!

Introductions

First entry here so let me introduce myself and tell you a little bit about my purpose.

My name is Heather Anne. I am a certified Animal Behaviorist. I love watching animal behavior and letting them tell me about their world. My goal is within the next 2-3 years to open an animal sanctuary. I have been training with Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. I am heading back in July for continued training.

First off this blog is all about animals. Yup those furry creatures that make our lives better. (As I write this I observe that one of my border collies is sleeping with her head on her huge dog bed and her body on the floor under my dresser...must be a storm coming.)

I currently have two dogs Matilda and Victoria, or as they prefer, Titi and Tori. The are a mother daughter duo that I rescued from Kansas City, MO. A farmer's land was being forclosed on and in his words, "they weren't worth much because they couldn't heard worth a damn", so he could not sell them. By search luck they were not put to sleep.

Tori is the mama dog and is on a word very laid back. She does not have the typically intensity of a border collie. I believe this is because she was basically broken. When she came into my care she did not like people, hated men, had a severe burn from a bark/shock collar, had a torn ear, and had at least two litters of puppies. Her growth in the 18 months I have had her is AMAZING. She is still quiet and a bit bashful. She is not a dog that is overly active. She hates being outside, but loves being around her people. She loves my dad who I call grampy and she does the happy dance when I announce that we are doing to see him and she talks in the car the whole ride over. The first night I got them my dad had laid on the floor with her just stroking her head over and over again and talking to her in a sweet soft voice while tears fell down his face. Tori's heart was won over. You will notice on this blog that there will be limited photos of her as she HATES having her picture take. My sister swears she has the soul of an old Indian woman that feels cameras steals ones soul.

Tori

Titi, although Tori daughter is the complete opposite. Everything you heard about Border Collies resides in her. She has a large personality. She talks in growns and sighs, throws tantrums, and can learn new commands in a matter of minutes. She currently is working on turning on and off lights since she has already mastered closing drawers. She is very particular about things. Everything must be just so in her world. She loves staring out our patio door for hours just watching. Although she is outgoing she is not as receptive to new people coming into her group or changes in her environment. She loves hanging out with my parents and their two Golden Retrievers Lucy and Ethel, but new people need to obtain Titi security clearance. She will put you through the paces too observing you and deciding if you are worthy of her attention. It took 5 days for her to give my poor sister clearance. She is not agressive or fearful she is just aloof. You know like a snobby french girl that thinks she is too good for you. One walks she greets people but still has a snobbish air about her. My mother claims that it is because she is MY dog and she just learned it from me...She might be right.

Titi