Walking for canine rescue groups at Woofstock

The opposite of love’s indifference – from the song Stubborn Love by The Lumineers My fellow dog rescuers and I are less than a week away from participating in the largest outdoor dog festival in North America. This year marks a decade since our umbrella group, K9 Rescue Me, launched its annual walkathon at WOOFSTOCK! […]

Leland ready for love after long recovery

Choosing a bite-sized baby from Happy Tails Rescue (HTR) to feature this month was like deciding what to order off the menu of a favourite restaurant. After much deliberation, I ultimately decided on poodle pie – mostly because I liked his name. Although casually referred to as ‘Poodle’, the approximately nine-year-old miniature poodle seen here […]

Seeing Toby’s ‘ghost’ eyes is believing

When we bought our 1850’s farmhouse near Colborne a few years ago, I quickly concluded we had a ghost! Not to worry. Like Casper, he’s a friendly spirit. He also has four legs. As ghosts tend to be, Tobias the Ghost Dog is invisible – except in the eyes of one of our beagles. Ever […]

Year’s first beagle rescue a winner

The hound dog in the tub with the big dreamy eyes has only one New Year’s resolution, aside from keeping sparkly clean. He’s howl-bent on being a better dog. His initial motivation is sure to break your heart. Our bubble bath boy was hoping if he accomplished his objective, his ‘humans’ would come back. But […]

Just a big, happy lap dog

This is a tale of an emperor without an empire, an alpine rescuer without an alp. But does Cesar, this young St. Bernard mix who prefers his name misspelled, look concerned? No way! He’s got grasshoppers to rule over (when they’re not teaching him the rules of safe hopping) and beds much less difficult to […]

Wanted: Happy and Alive!

Gather round the campfire and I’ll tell you the story of Porcupine Sam – the Most Wanted Dog in the Wild, Wild East! This boy once hid a generous helpin’ of hamburger in his best gal’s handbag just for safe-keepin’! Now if that don’t make you fall to pieces, you best settle in for the […]

Puppy love knows no age limits

You only need to spend a day at an animal shelter to discover there are a million excuses for abandoning the family pet. Some are legitimate but others, not so much. They range from having a baby, moving to a no-pet-zone, sudden allergies, sudden new lifestyle, to no patience, no conscience. . .the list goes […]

How a beagle’s pen pal made a difference

When I was working in the fundraising department at the Toronto Humane Society, a big part of my job was responding to donor mail. My favourite letters were those sent by children. There was one in particular I won’t ever forget, and not just because the envelope was lumpy. The author of that letter became […]

Walkathon for a four-legged cause

According to walkathon legend, we have Diplo to thank for pounding the pavement first. In 1953, the actor/comedian walked 80 miles through San Juan, Puerto Rico, to raise money for the Puerto Rican League Against Cancer. In four days, he raised $85,000. We’ve been walking in his footsteps ever since. We walk to fight disease […]