Category Archives: Rescue

Jan1

New Year Resolution Review

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New Year Resolution Review
New Year Resolution Review

I was just thinking about my big New Year’s Resolution for 2013. I wanted to learn a new hobby- particularly focusing on crocheting/knitting. While I haven’t quite gotten excited about knitting, I feel pretty good about nailing the crochet part of my resolution.

Here is a year in review with some of my favorite projects.

corchetcollage2I did a lot of crocheted flower/bow-tie collars for rescue, along with birds that could be sold to raise money for IGCA rescue, too. (And I made several birds as gifts for friends, too!)

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I have made several cute booties and accessories for friends and others, but these are my favorite. Evelyn’s owl hat was a blast to make. I still adore her pink boots That she wore for a while back in February, along with her “Converse sneakers“. (Now that I think of it… those “barefoot sandals” from the same post as the sneakers were pretty sweet, too!) The fingerless gloves in the middle were a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law, and it’s hard to tell from the picture, but there’s strands of glittery silver mixed in with the yarn, which is a super soft blend of merino wool and silk lace weight yarn. They were so soft and beautiful!

2013Amigurumi

And of course, all the stuffed animals/ amigurumi items I made were both a major pain and so fun to try out. While I thought that Link and Yoshi were going to kill me to assemble, the end results were absolutely worth it! (You are welcome, Jacob and Stephen. Like my college-aged brothers have time to read my blog, though! 😉 ) Evelyn’s birds, bear, and birthday owl were easy enough, but great softies for her. And the patterns from Creepy Cute Crochet (Ninjas, Amazon Warrior Princess, and Grim Reaper) were all great learning experiences, as well as fun gifts and decorations.

As far as meeting a New Year’s Resolution, I think this year I hit it out of the ball park! It’s so neat to look back on the past year and see what I’ve accomplished when this time last year, I couldn’t even do a single crochet stitch. 🙂

Sep25

Crocheted cuties for IGCA Rescue

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Crocheted cuties for IGCA Rescue
Crocheted cuties for IGCA Rescue

Okay, I know I haven’t revealed if I am crocheting the giraffe or the elephant yet, BUT I HAVE A GOOD REASON! Really!

A few weeks ago, the IGCA Rescue rep mentioned a big craft fair that was allowing her to set up a booth to sell crafts to raise money for the rescue group. Like with our sweet little girl, Selena (who was officially adopted last week, by the way. YAY!), the $300 adoption fee hardly covers all the fees rescue paid for her medical expenses. Many times, people bring their injured or sick dogs to the rescue group or to a shelter because they can’t, or don’t want to, pay the medical costs. A iggy leg break can easily cost $1000 to be corrected, and because young iggies think they can fly, this is sadly a common occurrence.

Anyways, I digress. The point is, they needed crafts. And in this past year, I have learned a fairly useful craft! So I offered up my crochet skills.

So, I have spent the past few weeks free time on this:

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And this:

 

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I did a slew of flower “collars” and bow ties. These are just the few I got pictures of. Obviously, the collars are for fun, not walking collars or anything, but they are quick and easy to make up. I just adjusted sizes and whatnot so people with bigger dogs could wear them as well as pint-sized Minka dogs. 🙂

Hopefully they will sell well this weekend and help the rescue out. Soon, I will be back to the You Decide project for you all to see.

Sep10

Meet Minka

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Meet Minka
Meet Minka

As a few of you might remember, we try to help with our local chapter of IGCA Rescue, out of love for our two Italian Greyhounds, Bonnie and Stevie. A while back, we had our blind foster, Selena. We had her for about 6 months before she just didn’t have any potential adopter interest, and we worried about who would adopt her in our area. I felt so sad to see her go to another town without being successfully adopted, but we needed to make the change. (As a side note, there are two potential adopters for Selena right now, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they pull through for her this time!)

I was super excited earlier last week when IGCA rescue contacted me about a dog that had known (positive) experience with small children. Of course, I was ecstatic at a chance to foster again. We have to be careful with our little human baby, so the rescue group won’t let us foster unless they are sure the dog will be safe around small kids (and you know, the small kid being safe around the dog, too).

Anyways, the Minkster arrived Saturday. She’s a tiny 8 pound bullet that has been bouncing around our house with no fear. I can’t keep her still enough long enough to get a great picture, but here’s the best few I’ve managed.

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We suspected she might have been bred in a home with that also bred chiuauas, but her papers are authentic saying she’s a full blood Iggy, so she gets to stay in IGCA rescue. Her head and ears have a bit of the chi look to them, but her body has the long twiggy legs, deep chest, and trim waist of the IG, so it’s hard to tell.

Anyways, it’s our luck that she has certified IG papers, since she’s a sweetie pie for sure. Minka is almost puppy playful at 6.5 years, loves playing tug-of-war, and isn’t afraid to snuggle. Jared has mentioned several times how much more he’s been enjoying Minka, even though we’ve only had her around for a few days. (I suspect it has something to do with the fact that she has no qualms about running up to him and burrowing between the blanket and his lap to cuddle!)

I’ll be surprised if she lasts two months with us because she is such a doll. And I hope she gets snatched up pretty quickly, because she’s too cute for her own good and I really don’t need a permanent third dog! 🙂

Nov27

Foster Child

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Foster Child

Okay, so apparently something inside me felt like I didn’t have enough on my plate, because a month or two ago, I finally got involved with trying to be a foster home for rescued Italian Greyhounds (that’s what Stevie and Bonnie are, in case you didn’t already know).

I have been interested in doing it for quite some time, but working as a teacher wasn’t exactly conducive to the hours needed to help with an Iggy-in-need. Now that I am at home most of the time (and now that Evie is starting to be less crazy when she is feeling well!), I can spend more time with the dogs throughout the day.

So I contacted my local chapter of IGCA Rescue (Italian Greyhound Club of America) about two months ago after seeing that they were getting a lot of dogs needing foster homes until they could be adopted out. It’s a pretty hefty process- they do actually call your references and there’s a few applications you have to fill out.

Evelyn does make things a little more complicated, however; we can’t foster a dog that has too many unknowns. It has to be able to handle a rather vocal and growing infant and be relatively calm and friendly.

Enter Selena:

This sweet little girl was saved from a puppy mill. She is about 8 years old, and a tiny little thing! Rescue was pretty sure she was in a real home at some point in her life, because she is so good about going potty outside and LOVES to snuggle with people, but somehow she landed in a Oklahoma puppy mill. While there, she developed some awful cataracts and a horrible case of glaucoma in her eyes, and so she is almost completely blind. The glaucoma was so bad, they thought she would have to remove her eyes, but this sweetie has been reacting so well to her medication that her eyes are no longer swollen and you can tell she is feeling so much better.

As I said before, she LOVES to snuggle. She is seriously the sweetest, easiest foster dog in the world. We feed her, and then she just wants to snuggle on the couch or on a doggie bed all day. We interrupt her cuddles to take her out for occasional potty breaks, or feed her, or remind her that she should drink water, but she has been so sweet and perfect. And that little tail of hers does not stop wagging when she hears you talking to her or when you are petting her. She LIVES for loves!

She’s also getting along well with Stevie and Bonnie. We were worried they’d be too rough on this little girl, but now that the novelty has worn off, they tolerate her really well (she occasionally wants cuddles and invades their spots, and they are really nice about it) and only need to be reminded occasionally to be gentle because she can’t see them. The other morning I walked downstairs to see this cuteness with Jared and the three dogs:

This picture is Iggy heaven in a nutshell.

Anyways, we are really enjoying this little girl. It’s going to be hard to let her go whenever that time comes, but whoever ends up with this sweetie pie is going to be a really lucky person, because Selena has A LOT of love to give. I am excited about this opportunity to give a little extra love to a dog who hasn’t had enough of it in her past. She is a real T-R-E-A-T!