We love getting emails like this…

I just wanted to send you a quick update about Lulu (formerly known as Gypsy)!

Suffice it to say she’s the apple of our eye and pretty much the star of the show. She’s such a great addition to our family! She’s smart, sweet, and hilarious. We just can’t get enough! She loves going to the local dog park, and keeping an eagle eye on the squirrels in a tree just outside our house from our 2nd story window.

Thank you all so much for helping bring her into our lives!

All the best!
Elizabeth

Beau was found wandering the country back roads in a very rural area of Tennessee and was as thin as a rail.

He was in a very small, high-kill shelter for several months – well past his welcome as it’s very rare that this shelter lets dogs stay there for this length of time. Beau was such a sweet boy that the shelter staff kept overlooking him on euthanasia days and begged PAWS New England to take him.

PAWS scooped up Beau as soon as a foster opening was available.

Beau has made his adoptive parents so very happy. His sweet, gentle nature makes it impossible for anyone to not fall in love with him upon meeting him.

Beau’s calm and patient disposition makes him the perfect playmate to his adoptive parents’ toddler nieces. This disposition also made it easy for Rory, the family cat and “only child” of three years, to quickly grow to love Beau.

Now, like two brothers, Beau and Rory playfully chase each other around the house.

Beau loves going for walks, meeting other dogs, and relaxing on the front porch watching and greeting the passersby and, when excited, loves to howl with the best of them.

Rico was adopted last December. His new owners waited until Christmas morning to tell their children.

Here’s how they reacted…

Moments like this are the reason why we do what we do.

Last week, Junior, a PAWS rescue dog adopted by long-time PAWS volunteer Joanne Hutchinson, passed away. This is his story…

Junior and I met 4 years ago. He was returned I think three times to the shelter after his original family turned him in at ten years old.

He came to foster and I picked him up in New Hampshire – we actually have the video of Junior in his crate on the transport truck as another adopter was there and caught him on film.

The minute I got him home and saw him I knew he’d never leave. So he’s been with me ever since.

He was a funny dog and was able until about a year ago to come with us on our walks, always lagging a bit behind or sometimes he’d flat out turn around and head back to the car and that’s where we’d find him. Lately he was just happy to sleep and eat anything he could get his mouth around (although most of his teeth had to be removed shortly after arriving to me because of decay and pain).

The photo from the shelter with his red bandana is my favorite of him as I keep thinking he had no way of knowing that his life was about to get better – he was so affectionate and loving – always put his head on my shoulder when I picked him up. He was missing his right ear, we are not sure what happened to it but we called it his Lucky Ear.

He had many nick names, Junie, June Bug, Uncle June, Junie Joon.

Even lately tired as he was he’d come running in from the back yard when he could and run through the kitchen and then back out to the kitchen and then back into the living room and back out again – checking to see if food was in the works. I think I have it on film. I’m going to miss that so much as it was one thing that could always make me laugh without fail.

I love all my dogs but he was my guy. His brothers and sister loved him – Buggy the Frenchie licked him all day yesterday and Brady snuggled him all day as we hung out together.

I’ve attached a few photos… although right now it kills me to look at them I am so happy I have them.

Peter and his PAWS dog Priscilla love taking trips together:

Hi Guys,

Hope all my friends at PAWS New England are doing well. Priscilla and I recently returned from an absolutely fantastic eleven day vacation that we spent at The Lazy Dog Inn in Chocorua, NH.

During our stay, my girl and I awoke every morning before dawn and drove 5 minutes on Rte.16 to enjoy an invigorating hike around White Lake as the sun rose over the mountain tops. Absolutely beautiful! Priscilla had a ball, especially when we would venture into the woods via a side trail on the far side of the lake. Soooooo many interesting things for her to sniff!

Later in the day, the two of us would go for a walk behind the inn, venturing into the woods and following a meandering, picturesque river. Again, lots of great smells!

A superb time was had by both of us and, as the attached photo shows, we both left New Hampshire feeling very happy and quite satisfied.

Peter

When we first met Oliver, he was very, very emaciated, found wandering in Tennessee, no place to call his own.

He was placed with an exceptional foster-caregiver (PAWS co-founder Joanne Hutchinson), and is now in an incredible forever-home with people who have explored every avenue to make his life happier and healthier – he gets physical therapy, swim sessions and holistic treatment.

He spends his days getting treats from neighbors, relaxing with his new brother Shadow, and following his new owners around the house.

Oliver is one of those dogs that reminds every PAWS NE volunteer why we do this and how we couldn’t do it without the support of those people who love these wonderful creatures as much as we do.

Before

Now

Last year, we rescued an incredible bichon-poodle mix named Scooter.

Scooter was paralyzed from the waist-down. We were actually advised to euthanize him, because his recovery would be so costly. We didn’t.

(To learn more about his back story, check out this video from PAWS co-founder Kelly Parker. Skip to the 1:20 mark. Warning: It’s sad!)

Fast forward a year.

Scooter is in a wonderful and loving forever-home, where he spends his days hanging out with his new sister, FiFi.

Tell everyone that Scootie is doing just GREAT!!

He had a wonderful summer running around in his little “wheelie” with his sister FiFi. He played every day in the garden, we went to the beach and tons of parks and he played with all sorts of dogs and ate lots of ice cream!! He is quite “the man about town.”

More Pictures of Scooter & FiFi

The hearts of the entire PAWS community broke when we first met Monty- a young pit bull who had been hit by a car. The accident left Monty with a compound fracture of his femur and ultimately rendered him an amputee with bladder and bowel incontinence. Many believed that Monty should be euthanized. They argued that it was difficult enough to find any “normal” pit bull a home and that Monty’s special needs made him “unadoptable.”

The volunteers at PAWS simply would not accept this as an option for Monty. He had a magnetic personality that ingratiated him towards everyone who met him. He was not in pain after his amputation and the folks at PAWS do not believe incontinence should be a death sentence for any dog. Admittedly, the adoption coordinators for Monty were a little overwhelmed when charged with the task of finding this boy a home, but they never waivered.

The courage and perseverance demonstrated by both Monty and the volunteers paid off in the end. Monty spent four wonderful weeks in PAWS foster care in New England and eventually found a loving new Mom who thinks he is the best thing on three legs. Monty is now a beloved family member who gets to sleep in bed and snuggle every day. He gets plenty of exercise and does not let his disability slow him down. PAWS volunteers are constantly stopping by his new home to check in on one of their most favorite dogs and he always greats them with enthusiastic puppy kisses. Monty is a reminder that dogs with special needs deserve a chance too. PAWS hopes to be back up and running soon so we can continue to grant these brave souls a chance at love.

Trinity was a bait dog who has been adopted by the most wonderful family. Trinity’s new family blogs about her at the website they created for her: www.trinitythepitbull.com

Hi All,

Well it’s been eight days and Trinity has been everything that you all said she was. We’re attaching a couple of pictures that we took this week. The first is Trinity and the girls right before we had dinner tonight. Trinity likes to sit under the table and has been great during dinner time. The second picture is Trinity watching as Kyle and the girls made cookies the other night. Since the snow last week we’ve had some good days up here. Following 24 hours of straight rain on Friday and Saturday the sun finally came out today, and it made everyone very excited. We went to the park and Trinity is able to run around in a fenced area for a while. She has been great on her morning walks and has even stopped pulling on the leash for us. She went to her first athletic event today (Tom is an Asst. Athletic Director at Central Connecticut State University) and she is a hit with everyone. We took her to the vet on Monday and she weighed in at 58 pounds, Joanne we will fax you the paperwork from her exam. She was the perfect patient and everyone there loved her. We have been to the pet store just about every day and it take 3-4 times as long because everyone has to stop and say hello to her. She met her Nana (Tom’s mom) last week and did great with her and the girls while she babysat. She also met some friend’s dogs and is fabulous with them.

That’s about it from here, just wanted to give everyone an update and a few ics.

We’ll stay in touch.

Tom, Kyle, Bella and Sophie Family

Oscar’s happy tail, shared by his new owner, Angie:

Hi -

Oscar is doing great! I think I’ve solved the mystery of what he is. I’m thinking half shepherd/half basenji. He’s really such a great, smart, sweet dog. And he loves the kids and they LOVE him. He even tolerated all the kids coming to pet him in Nantucket-when it got to be too much he’d just crawl farther under the so they couldn’t reach him. He really makes us smile everyday! Thanks for making the whole thing work out! I wish I had some silly story for you but he’s really been just great. I’ll keep sending you Oscar updates. I’m going to try to get him swimming next week in Lake Winnipesaukee. That should be entertaining!!

Angie