PawsToRemember4

We've been receiving so many wonderful letters, e-mails and photos from the folks who've adopted/rescued Barbour County shelter animals that we decided to create these special pages where we can share this good news with all of you. We're always thrilled to recieve updates about our "fur babies"! If you've adopted one (or more!) of our pets and you would like to share your story here, you may forward your letters and photos via e-mail by clicking the button below, or you can mail letters and photos to:

AFBC c/o C. Skrodinsky, P.O. Box 452, Philippi, WV 26416

A PERFECT PLACE FOR PARKER!

Parker went to his new home In New York on Sunday, October 9th. His new mom, Pam, sent the first photo of Parker and dad, Bill, watching the 3 Stooges on Monday, October 10th. You can tell that Parker already felt right at home!! A week later we received the photo of Parker and grandaughter, Camryn enjoying an episode of Sponge Bob. Somehow we think it wouldn't matter what was on TV, Parker just likes the 'snuggling' part!

Following are excerpts from several e-mails that Pam has sent --

"Parker is doing great. He has taken over both our home and our hearts. . . He is very well behaved and just has the best personality. It is as if we have a new child in our family. . . We find him a real joy and cannot understand why anyone would give him up. He is great around the grandchildren. I had four of the ages 2, 4, 8 and 9 stay here this weekend and it was like having 5 kids here. He played with them and 2-year old Camryn just loves him to pieces. . . My husband and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you (Jennifer Jayne, the rescue corrdinator) and your organization for the best addition to our family that we could have dreamed of. He definitely runs our house, but we love the idea that he does. Again, thank you all for the wonderful gift of Parker!"

And "Thank You" Pam and Bill for seeing his potential and bringing him into your home! We'll be looking for more photos and news from you!

A THANKSGIVING MESSAGE . . .

Monica Kline and Dennis Balbac adopted Barbour dog Rosie this past summer. We recently received the following note from Monica and want to share it with you.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving truly is my favorite holiday. Face it, you don't have the hassles of the other major holidays like Will it rain on my Memorial Day picnic? . . . Or How many weeks will it take to get this egg dye off my fingers? . . . Or Thanks Santa, another Chia pet, how kind of you to give me the perfect gift. On Thanksgiving, the biggest concerns we face are how to get the turkey on the table on time and whether or not we'll have good TV reception for the parades and football games.

But my favorite part of my favorite holiday is that it forces each of us to think back over the past year and reflect on those things for which we are grateful. This year will be the best Thankgiving year of my life. This year has not been without heartache for me and my family. We have lost some of our dearest friends. We have witnessed some tragedies in our lives , in our country and around the world. But in spite of all this sadness, the one bright, shining moment that has made this the best year ever was the day I laid eyes on our precious little Rosie -- for that I give thanks.

THANK YOU to the volunteers of Animal Friends of Barbour County, without you this would not have been possible.

THANK YOU Kim Delauder for being a foster Mom for our girl until she found her Forever Home.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

And to Rosie:

THANKS pumpkin, for adapting to life in a house with three big brother dogs and five kitties;

THANKS for accompanying Mommy to obedience class so she can learn how to be a better parent;

THANKS for being Daddy's snuggle-buddy while watching football games;

THANKS for keeping the center of the bed so warm at night, even if you do leave Nylabone "crumbs" on the sheets;

THANKS for helping the cats keep their litter box so clean; :)

THANKS for spreading joy and sharing love with everyone you meet

THANKS for the perfectly timed kisses that make whatever seemed bad seem not so significant anymore;

But most of all, THANKS for just being you. You are the best friend a person could have and we all love you very, very much.

A HOME FAR AWAY

During the Fall of 2004, the 'Underhound Railroad' executed a transport for several hundred 'rescue' dogs. Barbour dog Americus was among those that boarded that transport and headed for homes far away. Denise Malanchuk, who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, adopted Americus and sent us this e-mail to tell us how things went.

"I wanted to share our story of "Lily". The summer of 2004 had been a terrible one for us as we had lost two pet dogs -- one to old age and one a month later to kidney failure. My family was devastated.

Then Lily came into our lives. She had travelled all the way from WV to Manitoba, Canada and we saw her on the internet living at a pet rescue not far from us.

We have had her for almost a year now and she is the loveliest girl you could imagine. She is a coonhound and she bays rather than barks, which is quite unusual for around here. She climbs up for hugs and kisses all the time. She loves her walks in the park to play with the other dogs and she is so protective of her new family. People have commented that they have never seen such a happy dog.

It may seem like we saved her life, but in reality she saved ours as well. Thank you for Lily (Americus as she was known at your shelter.)"

Denise

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Just goes to show that those coonhounds are just big hunks of LOVE! Thanks Denise!!!!

TALBOTT DOG GRAYSON

Grayson was the last Talbott dog to find his 'forever' home -- he was quite timid, so Amy, the Catahoula rescuer who took him from us, worked very hard for a long time to hone his 'social skills'. Finally, in September of this year, John Semel and his fiance, Karena, who live in New York City, adopted Grayson. Here is an update from John . . .

"Grayson has really come out of his shell very nicely. Although he is still a bit shy at times, he likes to sniff new people (our friends and people on the street), and he will even accept treats from different people now. He still LOVES the bed -- he insists on sleeping in the bed, and we can't really deny him because he's so sweet. He has become more liberal about distributing kisses to people (and to Maggie), and he has a very mischievous side as well. He has gotten into Karena's shoes and chewed a couple of them to pieces. We refer to Karena's clothing closet as "Grayson's toy chest". He even tried to sample one of my cigars -- he got into the pocket of my coat and extracted the cigar, which he left on the floor after gently biting on it.

We took Maggie and Grayson together for romping in the snow recently. Maggie loves the snow -- she rolls all around in it, buries her face in it, etc. Grayson seems less interested, but still looked as though he was having a good time running around."

Thanks for the update, John! Looks like Grayson chose the perfect family for himself!!!