To the Safe Haven Crew!

It is amazing to think that in January it will be a year since my husband and I adopted Abbie from your shelter. She was a playful, quiet, sweet 13 month old black lab. We happy to report that she is doing amazing, she comes to work with me daily and enjoys playing disc golf with my husband as well as taking trips to the beach! We wanted to send you some pictures to let you know she is doing fabulous. We can't imagine life without her! -Josh and Raina

Hello!
My name is Brian, and 4 years ago my wife and I found our dog Jessie because of you. She has been the best dog for us! Thanks for all you do. We still get your newsletter and enjoy knowing that so many benefit from your mission and purpose.
Included photos of Jessie. Thanks again!

Bowzer, now know as "Bruce" is adjusting very well to his new home. He has visited the vet and has gotten a clean bill of health. He loves playing with his new children. The other family dogs think he's ok - the cat isn't crazy about him at all - she's just waiting for the chance to show him who the real boss is. He's grown already and is in need of a new collar. He's been on several walks and his manners are improving every day. Today he walked 3 miles and had a great time.
We will keep you posted on how he's doing.
The Mann family

 

Howdy,

Bambi (L) and Rachel (R) are doing great and getting ready for the holidays by posing by the tree.

Thanks for everything! Sally

 

Dear Safehaven Staff,

You wouldn't believe the travels we've been through! Our family adopted each of us seperately in 2004. Since then we've moved from Oregon to Kentucky and from Kentucky to Tennessee. While neither of us were too hot on the car trip at the start, after nearly 3,500 miles on the road we were both regular car-cats. As you can see we are very loved and doing well!
I'm still a little skittish and probably always will be from the abuse I lived through prior to my coming to SafeHaven and being adopted. Yet I still love to curl up around my mama's head after she's gone to sleep each night!
Lilly (my fuzzy little sister) prefers Cody the dog for a companion since they grew up together - despite the fact that he's 10 times her size, not to mention he smells like...well...a dog! She's a regular spitfire and continually delights and amuses the whole family with her antics.

Love,
Cleopatra (the white one)

Hi,Wanted to send a photo of RayCharles and friends... he has settled in nicely and has taken up a new hobby... bird watching (we have bird feeders outside our kitchen window).

Regards,
Mary and Robert

In September 2001, Osalyn and Pat contacted me and told me about a dog that was at the Oregon Golf Course for the day during the first SafeHaven Golf Tournament. I went down and introduced myself to Red Baron. I fell in love with him and decided to adopt him. I dropped the "Red" part to his name and now I just call him Baron. He has been a handful at times, but over the last 6 years, he has become a wonderful companion.

Sharon and Baron

Hi, I'm Kassy...I don't know if you'll remember me but I was there last year for 4 months. I guess I came in because I had twelve puppies and my old family couldn't afford me...Anyways a girl named Ashley...aka mama adopted me in June. And well I just to let you know that I am SOOO happy, Mama used to work at a grooming place and I always went to work with her..that was LOTS of fun. Now she stays and home with my baby..EMMY..and me. We go for walks all the time and to the river..I love that!! I have lots of run to run around on at my home on Riverside and well to get to the point ...I love my new life..Thank you!!

Kassy, Emmy, And Mama..(Ashley)

About 8 months ago I adopted a Siamese named Pooka. Just wanted to let you know that she is doing great. She's such a sweet girl. I've attached a picture to show how pampered she's become. One of the girls that works there actually brought Pooka in after being thrown out of a car. I can't remember her name but she had short blonde hair. If you could pass this email along to her that would be great. She wanted to make sure that Pooka would be ok. I told her I would send pictures. I have more pictures if she's like me to send more. Just let me know.
Thanks again,
Charity

Hi, We adopted Lizzie the terrier on Friday the 11th. My vet told me she was healthy and "probably a pure bred wire fox terrier". I was finally able to take her to the groomers today and wanted to share her before and after pictures! We love her and she gets along great with my Labradoodle and our cat!

Thanks for all your hard work!
Leslie

 

We are already enjoying having Fezzik at home with us, we said we would send some pictures!

Thanks again,
The Gosnell Family

 

 

 

We adopted Willow (SafeHaven name: Esther) in June, mainly for her temperament. Loving, loyal and easily trained, she has proven to be an absolutely wonderful pet. At 46 pounds, she is a slim, solid and happy adolescent who impresses everybody she meets. She is so well-behaved that the large crate we bought was hardly needed at all; it's now in storage. Potty training was a cinch once we tried our vet's suggestion to take Willow out every 20 minutes. She's learned a lot of commands in her young life; sit, stay, come, shake hands, lie down, speak, sit up pretty, roll over, go lie down and leave us alone. She loves off-leash walks at the park and in the woods, and never wanders off. And Willow loves to meet every person and dog we encounter, especially children. Willow is becoming a fine example of canine good citizenship and an ambassador for shelter adoptions.

Thanks, SafeHaven!
Ron & Judi

Hello SafeHaven,
Several months ago, our family adopted 2 kittens that you may remember as Calvin and Hobbs. They've grown quite a bit and we want to share a few pictures we took recently so you can see how they're doing. These cats have been a great addition to our family. They do typical things- play, eat, sleep, play, sleep, etc. They like to sit in the windows and sunbathe. Hobbs, who we've renamed Playboy, is still a little bigger than Calvin (who we've renamed Scaredy Cat, although he's not scared anymore), but you wouldn't know it the way Calvin attacks his brother during playtime.He doesn't let size intimidate him. We are very glad we adopted them at the same time and kept them together. They do everything together and they clearly love each other. We hope these pictures come out okay- if not, let us know and we'll resend them.

Best Always, Will & Glenda

 

Hi ! SafeHaven friends:
You all might remember me as Amber the Hound/Lab mix, I was adopted two weeks ago. I just wanted to send an email to let you know how I'm doing at my new home. I'm such a lucky dog. My new name is Angel, because I'm such a sweetie. It took my tummy a couple days to settle down and for me to feel comfortable in my new house. I visited my vet Dr. Fletcher my first week and had a check-up and got my rabies shot. (he gave me squeeze cheese, yummm)

I have two boys to play with. They play with me and give me lots of attention. I also have a new dog friend, Rascal the Dachsund. We both live on a 20 acre Christmas tree farm. We get to go outside all the time to run and play ball and dig holes. I already had a trip to the beach to play too. My new owners work from home so they hardly ever leave me. I have been naughty at times, because I get nervouse when I'm alone. They found out I'm very strong and can open the fridge and help myself. I like meat!! But I think they might take me to obedience training so I can learn to be a very well behaved dog and understand I don't need to get nervous when I'm alone.

I attached some pictures of me with my new boys(Chase 10, Drew 5) and in my Christmas tree farm and digging some holes with my friend Rascal. Thank you for taking care of me while I was at the shelter.

I will keep in touch.
Love, Angel (aka"Amber")& Kirsten, Craig, Chase & Drew

 

Hello,
this is Christine. Just want to send you some
follow up about our Safehaven pups. 2 1/2 years ago we adopted Noah. He is now PeeDee and is 3 years old. He is a total sweetheart.

Last Dec. 10 we decided PeeDee needed a little sister and we adopted Helen, now Marlee. Both of them are doing great and PeeDee LOVES Marlee. Every morning he cleans her face for reasons unknown to us other than that he really likes licking her face. Marlee is a total clown but also very bossy when it comes to PeeDee. He puts up with anything from her. Marlee just completed a class at WonderDogs and did great.

Thank you so much for two wonderful dogs.
Christine and Thomas

 

Hi, may name is Augustus Goodwin Gott.  I am so excited to tell you about my story.  In 2003, I along with two of my brothers, were surrendered to SafeHaven.   We were only 11 weeks old.  I guess they took us there because we dug in the yard and escaped through the fence.  We were just kids!  I was so scared and didn’t know what was going to happen to me.  The people there were nice to me and they fed me when I was hungry.  But one day someone came and got one of my brothers and he never came back.  What would happen to me?  Then along came my Mom.   When my Mom first saw me she couldn’t help but fall in love with me.  I rolled my big, sad brown eyes at her.  I have a way of doing that.  Just as I planned her heart melted.    She came in and saw me for about a week before she actually took me home.  Each time she would stop by I would lean up against the chain link fence and just wait for her to reach through and touch me.  She always told me I was a “Good One.”  Mom tells me she went there looking for a rottweiller to adopt.  She and my Dad had just put their rottie to sleep because he had bone cancer.   I’m a funny looking rottweiller, aren’t I? But every time she would have to stop and talk to me and I would turn on my charm.   I’m irresistible can’t you see?  

I am one of the luckiest dogs on this earth.  Not only did the people at SafeHaven care for me and love me, but they made sure I had a good home with loving parents.

Now I live on a grass seed farm with over 300 acres to run on.  That is just about my favorite thing to do.  I can run and jump faster than any of the others.   Here is a picture of my sister and brother.  That is Rosie my sister and Bosco my little brother.  We have so much fun running and playing tug-a-war.  I also have some other sisters and brothers they are all mini dachshunds.  I like to play with them too.  Mom calls me her “ugly dachshund.”   It’s a good life.  It’s a dog’s life.  Thank you everyone for giving me a second chance.

With love and gratitude, Gus Aka “Oreo”

 

Hello,
A year ago, we adopted our little guy from you. He was a six week old, black and white, lab-pit mix, who went by the name Steiner at Safe Haven. My husband and I are so blessed by the addition of our little boy to our family. He has added A LOT of life to our house. We just love him so much...and I think he feels the same way. When we adopted him, we were told that you liked to receive pictures of the animals after they were adopted, so I have included a few of our favorites. Sparky now lives with us in California, where he likes to go camping in Big Bear and swimming and fetching in Big Bear Lake. Since we now live in the desert, he has plenty of room to run and play. He loves to chase birds and jackrabbits. He has completed puppy school, but has a little ways to go yet. Sparky is a huge part of our lives and we are so lucky to have him.

Very Respectfully, Melissa and Stanton

 

We just wanted to share with you our Ottis aka Caleb and how he has adjusted to life with us. Enclosed is a picture of him around Christmas time. We had decided to adopt another dog to add to our family and give our current border collie some companionship. We love the border collie breed so much we just HAD to get another one. They didn't get along very well when we first got them because of the older female was used to being the spoiled brat in the house. They have since become best buds and are wrestling and playing at all hours of the day and night. We didn't know a lot about Ottis when we got him as he was a stray but he has learned very quickly and adapted to house life very quickly. He is a very loving boy and demands your love and attention. He will often signal you for attention by a head butt or constant nudging with his muzzle. We are so glad to have added Ottis to our family and have no regrets about adoption and will be definitely be adopting again in the future.

Paul & Karrie Thomsen

 

On a Sunday in September 1999, my husband, Eric, and I decided that we would go to SafeHaven just to “look at the dogs.” We agreed that we would not just fall in love and bring a dog home. Well, of course it didn’t work that way. We walked by the kennels and all the dogs were barking and, basically, throwing themselves up against the fence to get our attention. All but one, that is. He was placed in a kennel about four from the end. When he saw us, he got up from where he was laying at the back of the enclosure, picked a tennis ball up in his mouth and walked toward us slowly, paw over paw, as if to say: “what took you so long?” Of course, all of our promises to each other were completely forgotten and we both knew “this is the dog.” His paperwork called him a border collie/retriever mix of about 2-3 years of age. Within an hour, we had finished adoption of Filbert (a.k.a. “Crackers”). As we took him to the car, my husband wondered if Filbert would be afraid of the car. We opened the van door and Fil jumped in, ready to go home.

There were some rough times in the beginning. But with a little training and growing up, Fil became quite dignified. He was a very giving dog. Eric and I referred to him as “our sponsor” because he would immediately come up to us whenever we started losing our tempers over things like computers, the washing machine that was constantly off balance, etc. Whenever we even started bringing out tools to begin some construction work on our house, he would stand between us and whatever we needed to work on because he knew it would only be a matter of time before we started cursing. He had many dog friends as well as people friends. His two best girls were Lexi and Eleanor. Lexi was a mischievous, occasionally jealous, border collie mix and Eleanor was a sweet retriever mix. One day both Lexi and Eleanor were playing with Fil. Eleanor had one of Filbert’s toys and Lexi came over to her and snatched it away from her. Fil quietly went up to Lexi, gently took the toy away from Lexi, and gave it back to Eleanor.

He greeted us and anyone with a toy in his mouth whenever we entered the house. He only liked soft toys, not the hard rubber ones, and he never chewed them up (that was left to Lexi). He was sweet and gentle and all of our friends, even cat-lovers, liked him.

Fil adored water in all of its forms except when it was clean and not in his water bowl (read: baths or hosing off the Oregon mud). He would run right out into the ocean after a stick, barking madly with joy. He barked so much that he often attracted the attention of seals that would pop their heads up to make sure that it wasn’t one of their own.He was also my running partner from day one. It was during these runs in the Spring of 2006 that I began noticing that he was stopping to urinate more often than normal. We finally took him in for an examination and, after many tests, we took him to the OSU Veterinary Hospital for an ultrasound and received the news: prostate cancer. We immediately set up appointments at the Portland Veterinary Oncology Center for radiation treatments, but the day his treatments started we received the worst news we could have heard. Two lumps that I had thought would just be sebaceous cysts turned out to be malignant. We continued treatments, but without the hope of a long-term cure. Filbert actually learned to love the oncology center, maybe because after treatments, they would feed him (he couldn’t have food or water for 8 hours before every treatment). Or maybe it was because they allowed him to sit on the couch in the waiting room. If someone were sitting on it, he would just look longingly up at them until they moved and then he would get a big smile and bounce onto it. It was only a few weeks after the last treatment that Fil’s condition worsened considerably. In August, I had the vet come and euthanize him. He went without a sound. The vet actually had to tell me when he had taken his last breath. That same evening, my friend told me that she had seen a dog on the SafeHaven web page that “looked a bit like Fil.” I told her that I was really not interested. Fil’s passing had devasted me. I realized that he had accounted for about 75% of my life in one way or another. But, about two weeks later, Eric was already talking about missing a dog around the house. I had to admit it was true. I dragged my feet for a while. Eventually, I looked up the SafeHaven website and saw the picture of the dog that I knew my friend had been referring to weeks earlier. He did have a big smile on his face, like Fil would have. And he was colored similarly. I sent the link to the picture with my subject heading of “hmmmmmmmm” to my husband. A few days later, we showed up at SafeHaven. I was sure that the dog had been adopted and I told myself not to get to upset if he wasn’t there. We walked through the indoor kennels and fell in love with all the dogs there. Then we went outside. I looked across the yard, over to approximately where Fil had been 7 years earlier (the kennels had been rebuilt) and I saw him. I knew it was him somehow even though all I saw was a black shadow. And that’s how we got Preston (a.k.a. “Joey”) in September. Although the picture looked a little like Filbert, Preston is really nothing like Fil was at all, except that he is sweet. Whereas Filbert was a rather short and stocky romantic type, Preston is a long and lanky business type. Preston loves to run. It took us a while to get used to the fact that, unlike Fil who stayed near us all the time, Preston will disappear the second we blink our eyes. We’re working on that. And his disappearances don’t happen as often or last as long – he’s getting better!