Hi Folks,

We just wanted to send you a couple of new pics of Ginger in her new surroundings. It has been a little over a month since we brought Ginger home and what a delight she has been. We and our extended family have been enjoying her so much, it’s like she always lived here. She has become quite a Daddy’s girl and goes to the office with him several times a week and all the employees have fallen in love with her too. She loves car rides and rolling in the snow. Our black poodle, Louise, which you can barely see in the corner of the one photo has taken fondly to Ginger and they both sleep on their pillow together.

We can’t thank each and every one of you enough who helped us adopt Ginger. She is the perfect addition to our family and we feel so fortunate to have found her. She has brought us so much happiness.

It is now January, and we are doing very well and so is Henry. Every month is a new adventure with our new boy. This month Henry and I found a veterinarian and we decided on one that is not to far from our home and the team there is friendly and helpful. Henry did well when I brought him in for his first visit. He was a little nervous when we had gone in but all of the assistants and vets said that he was a well behaved dog and they all agreed he was handsome.

We found out that Henry is all up to date on his shots until August. However we did have to bring him in to get treatment for an bacteria and yeast infection in his right ear. The vet gave us some ear drops and a solution to clean them out every other day. Henry is to stay on the medication for 3 weeks. But he should be up on his feet in no time.

We have also enlisted Henry in to a Petco training class. Henry is learning many new tricks. He is also doing much better on the leash. We are enjoying the class as well. We have learned many things about Henry we had not known.

At home Henry has also found the closet were we put the treats in. He has even learned how to do a new dance when he goes to the closet. He is also doing well with our two cats. They all love to go run around and play with one another. Henry loves to go in the car and his favorite is when we go to the park and play fetch.

I am so glad that we have adopted Henry. He is a joy to have around. I will be sending a picture of Henry with my next update. I hope you all have a wonderful month and thank you so much for our new friend.

My husband and I were one of the original volunteers for NEAAR when it first began, and although we can not commit a lot of time anymore like we used to, we check the site often and are so pleased at how much the organization has progressed. We also want to give you an update on our dog, Chance that we adopted back in 2001.

While we were volunteering one day for a NEARR event, we fell in love with Chance (at that time he had 3 names, Buster, Sydney and Jack – we don’t know why). We weren’t sure if we were ready to add another dog to our family since we already had a Black Labrador named Midnite but due to Chance’s sad history (he was neglected and abused by his original owner out in western MA), we couldn’t get him out of our mind. Plus NEARR had indicated that he is half pit-bull and some people were scared of that, so NEARR was having a hard time getting him adopted. We talked to his foster mom and she had nothing but great things to say, only to end it with if she didn’t already have a houseful of her own dogs, she would keep him herself as she became very attached to him. We couldn’t resist and renamed him Chance (as in second chance) and he became a part of our family.

Fast forward to our life now; we still have Midnite who is now 8 yrs old and Chance is 6 yrs old. We also have a 3 ½ year old daughter, Kaitlyn and a 1 year old daughter, Melea and our dogs are great with them. Chance likes to hang around with the kids and just tolerates whatever is given to him and although our daughters are young, they treat the dogs very well and often smother them with hugs. Chance sometimes gets the brunt of the kids being too rough on him but I think due to his history of neglect, in some way he enjoys the extra attention! Chance is very much a lap dog and my husband and I still laugh at the fact that the minute he gets home from work, he will not even have his shoes off and right at his feet are our two daughters and Chance waiting to play. It is just the funniest thing. Chance loves to sleep and as you can tell from this photo, we can do anything to him – we often get a good laugh and my girls love dressing him up when they can. Our daughters really love the dogs and we can not be more thankful to have such great dogs that tolerate our crazy house full of kids. And with him being half pit-bull, that does not scare us at all because he is such a gentle dog and many people often admire his beauty.

Chance thanks NEARR for saving him from a bad situation and for allowing him another chance to live in a good home. Thanks NEARR for everything and keep up the great work.

Hello:

I apologize for the lateness of my update; we have had a busy week as we just returned from vacation. Ouzo is doing very well and has become acclimated to our family and lifestyle very well. He went on vacation with us for the Christmas/New Years week to Vermont and he had a great time. He was introduced to the rest of my family and fit in so well that many exclaimed that it seemed like he had always been there! He got a lot of attention and belly rubs from my nieces and nephews and loved every minute of it! We went on some great long walks throughout our property, through fields and forests; he behaved very well and had a grand time. When we first arrived at our property, driving down our long driveway, Ouzo started whining with excitement and wagging his tail - it was if he had been there before and couldn’t wait to arrive! We did determine that he does not like bonfires or fireworks (both New Year’s traditions for our family); just like our yellow lab, Wyeth! He was content to stay in the house until the festivities were over.

He has been to the vet twice since the adoption; once with our regular vet for a check-up and one emergency trip this week. He has developed an infection in one of his paws and is under medication to treat it (the emergency trip I mentioned). He will return for a follow up in 5-7 days. Otherwise, he is very healthy. We have decided to keep him on the allergen-free food - his itching has become less frequent, has less red skin/hot spots and he just seems to be more comfortable.

He gets along fine with our black lab, although they really don’t play together that much - he just doesn’t seem interested. However, maybe that’s just how he acts when no one is home! After some initial curiosity/chasing the cats, he now barely acknowledges them and one of our cats is comfortable enough to sometimes lay beside him.

As mentioned in one of my earlier emails, Ouzo seems to have a sad, old soul. I can say that that has changed some in the past month, and really was not evident at all when we were in Vermont. It is apparent to all that he is a true Lab, loving the outdoors, going for walks in fields/woods, and being around a lot of people.

We are enjoying having Ouzo as part of our family!