Lady Piglet and Family

Here are a bunch of pictures sent to me from Lady's new family

 

Her favorite pastime - begging for treats!!

















                               Lady gets her own ottoman!

                                                                            

But sometimes, she likes to hang out with 

                             Dad on his recliner


















....or "play" with the kids.



Looks like she hasn't lost all her puppy yet.

She is definitely learning some much-needed manners though! 

Look how pretty she is sitting on the leash for Mom....

...and for Dad!

She goes on long walks through all the wide open spaces surrounding her new home. Finally lots of room for her to get out all that energy! And no dog-filled parks to distract her

Lady is allowed into the stores in her new town!! What a lucky Pig!! In the letter from her new Mom, she says that Lady is living the dream and "so many folks around here are taken with her beauty!!!"

So not only does she have a loving family, she is the beauty queen in town.

Mom and Lady. Nothing but pure happiness and love in both of their eyes. This picture about sums up how perfect a match Lady and her family have turned out to be.





                           Have you ever seen such a tired Piglet???
                                          They must be doing something right!!!!

I hope to meet up again with Lady Piglet in the future. Until then, I know she is loving her new life. She found a home that she really deserved with such a kind and loving family that deserved another great dog. Good job team!

Thanks again to everyone. If you are interested in bringing a new member into your family, consider adoption! There are a number of shelters in the Philadelphia area with animals that desperately need your help. Lady was from:    

 Animal Care & Control Team of Philadelphia

111 W. Hunting Park Avenue

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19140 

(267) 385-3800

We worked together through ACCT's PenPal program. If you would like to volunteer your time, shelters also would greatly appreciate your help as well. 

Happy New Year everyone! Best wishes to you and your pets.

Stay tuned for either my next PenPal dog or updates on my upcoming dog non-profit. If you are interested in getting involved with that project with me, send me an email for more details at SomeDoggysHero@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter to find out when I get things rolling @SomeDoggysHero

Lady Piglet Says Goodbye to Philly (Update...Finally!!!)

"Lady Piglet"

This is looonnnnggggg overdue!! But Piglet did find a home...just in time!! And her new name is Lady... I like to think of her as Lady Piglet.

The home she found could not have been more perfect for this rambunctious, lovable pup.

Her original fosters, Deb and Regina, kept up the work marketing her to potential adopters. All the hard work paid off and a friend of Regina that lives in Maryland talked about Lady Piglet to a coworker. It turns out that coworker's parents had two pit bulls of their own, but both passed from old age. It had been about a year of being dog-less and they decided they were ready to bring home a new baby.

Kristi and Pig

Kristi and I talked over the phone for a while and I told her all about Pig. Deb was in contact with Kristi's mom over email as well. Having lived with Pits before, she was well aware of the high energy levels and the mouthiness. She couldn't wait to meet with her and I had a great feeling about this home.

Kristi drove up from Maryland the day before my scheduled surgery and met me at my house in West Philly. It was a gloomy, overcast day with some rain, but we made the best of it and took Pig to the puppy park around the corner. They got along great and Kristi knew her parents were going to love her. We headed over to the shelter to finalize the adoption.


After Piglet officially had a family to call hers, we drove back to my house to pack up her things and get them on the road. They had a few hour drive ahead of them out to central Pennsylvania. She was moving to a great home with lots of land and two loving parents (and a big sister, Kristi!).

As they drove away with Piglet looking back, I felt so proud of all the hard work that every one put in to help find Lady Piglet a forever home and want to thank anyone that helped by networking and reaching out to people they knew who might be interested in adopting her. A special thanks to Deb and Regina for taking her in originally and ultimately making the connection necessary to get this done. You all made it possible. That was the first time I was involved to such a great extent in finding a home for a shelter dog. It was very frustrating and hard to handle at times, but it was immensely rewarding and something I cannot wait to do again. 

Our last picture together before she left

Since Lady Pig left a lot has happened. I underwent my surgery at the University of Pennsylvania a week later than scheduled. My entire thyroid was removed as well as lymph nodes on the side because it turned out the cancer spread. That operation really knocked me on my butt and I did not get back to work in the week that I planned. It took about two weeks to get back to the PHA. I went through a radiation treatment to get the last remaining thyroid cells around the surgical site, but my doctor told me it did not spread! Hearing the news that your cancer has not spread anywhere else is just an unbelievably exhilarating feeling. I finished up my last co-op there and decided that at the end in mid-September, I would step down from my position and focus on school full-time. So much had happened in only a matter of months and I needed a break.

"Good Luck, Lady!" -XOXO Philly

School has been a tremendous amount of work and I am now thankful for taking the break from working as I am still getting used to life without a thyroid. I have not been back to the shelter to pick a new PenPal yet, but cannot wait to get back to working with the dogs! Over these past months I have done a great deal of thinking and have decided to start moving forward with a Non-Profit Organization in Philly that I have had in mind the past couple years that will involve dogs.

Stay tuned for more information about this upcoming project!

Tomorrow I will be posting again with tons of pictures from Lady Piglet's new family. They absolutely love her! They sent me a roll of pictures of her in her wonderful new home.

Adopt Piglet Marketing Campaign

Piglet has been having a blast here at the house! A few quick updates...

• Piglet does NOT get along with other dogs. She should go to a home with no pets. We are working on it, but for the time being no other dogs. She is iffy with cats.
• She met a couple who was interested in her, but she was not a good match since they have friends with other dogs. 
• We have been taking long walks in Fairmount Park using the Gentle Leader and that works wonders! She walks like such a lady when she has it on. 

Unfortunately, Piglet is now on a deadline. I am getting surgery May 16th and she needs to be out of the house by the 15th at the latest. After surgery I will be unable to care for her while I am recovering.

So I introduce the Piglet Adoption Marketing Campaign. Please share with anyone you know who might want to bring home this loving, rambunctious girl.

Anyone interested can contact me at somedoggyshero@gmail.com

Spring Break 2012: Pig and Ken Vacation in West Philly and an update

Piglet is staying with me for Spring Break for the next couple weeks. A lot has happened since she was fostered by Deb and Regina. She was doing well with them, but Regina had severe allergies to Piglet so staying there long term is no longer an option. They tried finding her a home before Spring Break, but no leads followed through. So Pig moved in for the break and we are going to work on her manners and training and finding her a permanent home. A big thanks to Deb and Regina for trying with Piglet! Only wish the circumstances would have been better.

UPenn spayed her and discovered that Piglet does NOT have mammary tumors! It turns out that her lymph nodes are just enlarged. She went into heat before the surgery and had to wear a diaper around the house. The surgery went well and she is about a week into her two week recovery. She has to take it easy for these two weeks, so no jumping, running, or excessive activity.

That does not appear to be a problem at all for Pig.












I was on my futon this morning and she stepped up and nudged herself on the little bit she had and got comfortable.

                                                                                                           We haven't left the futon since.

No matter what position I move into, she manages to have some part of our bodies touching at all times. I think she is a big fan of country music.

Last night I brought her home and she explored our big house while I got the crate set up. She instantly made herself home in my room. She didn't try to get into or chew any thing, but since she still is healing she needs to sleep in her cage at night with the Elizabethan collar on.

More pictures and stories to follow.

To adopt Piglet, contact me: somedoggyshero@gmail.com

Piglet Moves to West Philly

The foster worked out and Piglet is now living in West Philly. She's the newest Drexel Dragon!

Deb and Piglet!

She is doing well in her new home so far. She has only had a few accidents and she loves her new crate. The ball only lasted a few minutes, so Pig needs heavy duty toys.



Piglet's new friend, Travis, took her on a run Friday morning to get some of all that energy out. They went running by the art museum and she tired him out.

Today Piglet got a bath!! Deb and I washed her in the bathtub and she was so well-behaved!!

It seemed like she was somewhat nervous about it, but she stayed in the tub.

All dried off and looking like a pretty Pig. Look how shiny her coat is!!

Pig is such a ham!! See her new toy in the corner? She already took a chunk out of the toe; a Kong is what she really needs.










They are indestructible (hopefully!)

Deb and Piglet dancing =)

Piglet started working on clicker training. We worked on associating the clicker with treats. It's a great method for a dog like Pig who is all over the place with her attention. The basic idea is that when the dog does something good, you "click" to let them know they did something good and that a reward is coming. So we started off with "look" to get Piglet to learn to look you in the eye and focus her attention only on you. This is helpful for all types of situations where diverting attention to yourself is important. She was catching on very quickly. Deb noticed that it helped with her nipping because it gives her an outlet for her energy and an activity to do.

After the bath and training, she was all pooped out. She took a little nap while we watched a movie.

Piglet is adjusting to life in a house really well!! She still needs a forever home, so if you are interested, contact me at SomeDoggysHero@gmail.com.

Piglet Finds a Foster??

Last week Piglet went for a walk in the neighborhood around the shelter. Using a harness, she is learning to walk very well on leash. When we got back from the walk we worked on "sit" and Piglet got it down. She can get distracted at times, especially when other dogs are walking by, but overall she has mastered "sit."

We ran around the parking lot to get some extra energy out and then went to hang out on the lawn. Piglet really likes belly rubs, but she is still learning to not be so rough and mouthy when you get down to play with her. She sat on my lap and watched the other dogs coming and going. Since she had sit mastered, I tried to work on "down" with her. She learned it so quickly; she's a very smart girl! She only does it when you have a treat in hand, but pretty soon she'll have that down pat too.

On Saturday, Piglet got out of ACCT again. I took her to Drexel University to meet a friend interested in fostering her.







She met the neighbors cat, Fluff, but he was scared by Piglet. She was very curious about him and stared at him, but did not seems aggressive towards him. After Fluff went away she kept trying to climb the steps, refusing to believe her leash could stop her.

We went on a walk around campus so Deb could handle Piglet a bit and see how she behaves. Piglet got her picture taken with Mario the Drexel Dragon!

On our way back to Deb's house, Piglet met a cat on the street. The cat did not like her, but when we tried to walk around it, it stalked Piglet! It followed us up the street, cutting across lawns and jumping out from behind cars. Piglet never barked or growled at it, just stared with her inquisitive look on her face.

When we got back, Piglet got into the house and rested her head on the couch and just froze and stared for a few minutes.

When she was done playing freeze, she started exploring. She wasn't too sure of the hardwood floors are first and it took enticing her with some treats to get her to go down the hall. There is a backyard with a long run for Piglet to run around in, so we took her out back to explore. She had so much energy to get out!

It was time to wrap up the visit, so we took Piglet in and she cuddled with Deb and me on the living room floor for a bit before we went back to ACCT.

On the ride back, Piglet and Munkin hung out together in the back.

Deb really enjoyed the meet with Piglet and she wants to foster her!!! Her roommate was out of town, so hopefully their meet will go just as well and Piglet will be out of the shelter before the week is through!

Getting Out of the Shelter

On Saturday, Piglet went on a trip to Penns Landing/South Street. She was excellent in the car and sat in the back quietly the entire time.

We walked around the Penns Landing area, but there weren't too many people out and about. Piglet saw her first horse; a horse farm probably is not the home for her! She barked at it until we could distract her.

Eventually, we made it to South Street and wandered our way up and down. Piglet is well-behaved in crowds and is very friendly with everyone she meets. She was super curious about all the stores and tried going in a few. There was a mirror outside a store and she enjoyed admiring herself.

She is learning to sit, so at every red light we tried to get Piglet to sit before we crossed. There was a lot going on, but she was starting to understand. She has so much energy and curiosity that sitting is not her top priority.

The day winded down and Piglet headed back to the shelter. She sat in the back again and got comfortable, finally tired out.

Piglet is still looking for a foster home. The ideal foster will be free to take her to UPENN for treatment of her mammary tumors. If you are interested in fostering Piglet, email somedoggyshero@gmail.com or head down to ACCT at 111 W. Hunting Park Ave.