Namaste

Hi folks - I leave on my big trip tomorrow. I am told that I will have internet access, so I hope to blog from India. Please check the blog, and check in with CDW who will have more than he can say grace over with the pets here on the homefront.

More to be thankful for . . .

Abbi would also like to send a big thank-you shout-out to her friends Matt and Heather who both made gifts in her honor. Unfortunately it has been a little harder for us to thank folks who made their gifts directly to Recycled Love. If you made a gift to Recycled Love online please let us know so that we can thank you personally!

Thank You and a Quick Update

Hi Everyone,

Please forgive our tardiness; Abbi would like to thank these fabulous folks for making gifts to Recycled Love in her honor:

Tina, Todd and Cynthia, Grammy Sue, Grammy Gloria/Gyor Family, Grandpa Fred, Hale Family, Aunt Jennie, Margeson/Beauchamp Family, Burgess Family, and the Whisted Family. Thanks to each and every one of you for your generosity!

Abbi is the featured adoptable on Recycled Love's homepage - view it here: http://www.recycledlove.org/home.html Above you can see the doggies (and me) getting our photo taken with Santa. What an exciting day!

I wish I could post more, but life is unendingly busy. My mom came to Baltimore for Thanksgiving which meant lots of family time and holiday cooking, and now that the holiday weekend has almost come to an end I have to start thinking about school work again. With only 3 weeks left in the semester I am busy with final projects and wrapping things up, as well as mapping out my capstone project which I will complete next semester. Chris is equally busy with his job. To all of those we haven't had a chance to speak with or see for dinner in so long, we hope that you are well and that you enjoyed wonderful holidays filled with family time and memories.

Chris and Jody Are Asking for Your Help

Abbi on the day that we found her.
Abbi getting comfortable in the house - turns out she is crazy for laundry baskets! We have given her her own where she spends many hours either snoozing or watching the household around her.
Happy Abbi.
Post-op Abbi (hence the "Cone of Shame"). On this record-setting cold October night we're thankful to have found Abbi, and that she is curled up in front of a warm fire, recovering from life-saving surgery.

Dear Friends,

This post is dedicated to our foster dog, Abbi. We found Abbi two weeks ago, running around downtown in morning rush hour traffic. She gave us quite a chase, and we are very thankful that many morning commuters patiently stopped their vehicles out of concern during our frantic pursuit of this small, frightened dog. When we caught her and got her home we discovered that she had no collar, tags, or microchip. We also discovered that Abbi was much older than her elusive chase through downtown Baltimore would have led us to believe. We could tell that Abbi was a good-natured dog who had a lot of love to give, and some really great years still ahead of her. We feared taking Abbi to a local animal shelter because of her age; older dogs don't get adopted as quickly as cute puppies, and they are usually euthanized. We contacted Recycled Love, a Baltimore rescue group (http://www.recycledlove.org/), and they agreed to admit her into their adoption program if Chris and I agreed to foster her. Deal.

Being a Recycled Love dog also entitled Abbi to discounted vet services and boy did she need them. Abbi had fleas, a bad ear infection in both ears, was missing many of her teeth, had an entirely rotten molar that was exposed down to the root, a mammary tumor, and had never been spayed. Her perky demeanor and loving nature never betrayed how much pain she likely experienced on a daily basis. Her condition was most likely a result of an owner who did not seek or could not afford medical care for Abbi. Despite the daunting expense of Abbi's necessary medical treatment, Recycled Love elected to move forward. As a result, Abbi had a big day of surgery this week with a tooth extraction, tumor removal, and spay. The vet found that her uterus was very unhealthy, and that she had a condition called pyometra, which can be fatal if left untreated. Her tumor and the pyometra are both the result of having never been spayed.

Abbi is home with us now, and despite not being happy about wearing an e-collar, is perkily recovering from surgery. Once she is healed Abbi can start meeting families, and will eventually go to a new forever home. However, Abbi's vet bills are significant. In addition to fostering and covering Abbi's day-to-day costs, we have made our own gift to Recycled Love; yet, they are ultimately responsible for her vet bills. Groups like Recycled Love are never able to cover their operating costs with adoption fees, so they must rely on the gifts of generous friends to support their work.

Because we are grateful for their help in getting Abbi critical medical treatment and for the great work they do for animals in Baltimore City, we have committed to raise $500 which will cover most of Abbi's vet bills (Swan Harbor Vet Hospital deeply discounts their rates for Recycled Love). I am hoping that our friends and family will help us with this endeavor. We are aware that most of you already give generously of your time and money to a variety of worthy causes, and we are asking will you join us in supporting Recycled Love by making a gift to help cover the cost of Abbi's care? Many gifts of $10 or $25 will add up and make a huge difference to Recycled Love - they have already made a difference for Abbi. Larger gifts are of course welcome. ;) Your gift is tax deductible, and Recycled Love will send you a thank you letter and receipt for your taxes. Checks should be made out to Recycled Love, and can be sent to our home address.

Please consider making a gift. Abbi is a wonderful dog who will bring love and joy to her forever family; she deserves an opportunity to be healthy, and to have a second chance at life.

Thank you for reading, and we hope to hear from you soon. Please check the blog often for photos and updates on Abbi.

best,

Jody and Chris

PS - Please share Abbi's story with any of your friends who care about the welfare of animals, or who might be considering end-of-year tax-deductible donations.

Happy 8th Birthday Caele!

Fabulous birthday treats from Doggie Style. Yes, that is the name of a real store located right here in Federal Hill.
Caele sports her new game day look.

Mmm. Frosty Paws.

Caele turned 8 years old on October 1. I am having a hard time believing that my little girl is 8 years old now. She wears it well. Poor girl though - instead of getting a cake and frosty paws for her birthday she got us dragging home a stray old dog. Not the birthday present she had been hoping for (she's been asking for a Ravens jersey all year long). Tonite we finally celebrated Caele's birthday as well as Jack's. Jack's birthday is July 4, and was completely lost in the hustle of our move and renovation. We celebrated tonite by having our friends Matt and Heather over for dinner, then some special doggie biscuits and ice cream (BTW - special shout-out to Matt - congrats on 26.2 yesterday!). Caele also got an antler (which both doggies chew on non-stop) and that Ravens jersey she's been begging for (Jacks got one, too).

On a final note, many of you know that we have an extra friend living with us right now. Abbi Bock is our foster doggie, and she is fabulous. This week is a big week for Abbi as she will have some final medical tests, and some long-overdue medical care. I'll be posting more information on little Abbi Bock soon . . . stay tuned.

Dog Swim 09

Caele is a good swimmer, but she is a better treat hound. She likes to cozy up to folks with treats in their pockets, and show them her doe eyes. It works on us, right?
Waiting for dad to throw the ball. You can also see the heiny of another dog that adopted our toys.
Caele is still a fish even as she approaches her 8th birthday. I love watching her run and jump into the water.
Jacks always forgets how to swim, so when he first gets in the water he doesn't move his hind legs and really pumps his front legs. This is him after he got the hang of it again.
Jacks and his pops.
Caele Armstrong enjoying a mild fall day at the pool.

What a busy weekend for the dogs! Their social calendar has been booked solid. Today was the annual dog swim at the pool at the gym. On the last day that the pool is open for the summer they reserve the last two hours of swim time for four-legged friends. It is always a lot of fun, and this year was no exception.

We Heart City Life

Jody, Jacks and Caele with Rec and Parks friends Mary Sue (Partnerships Director) and Ms. Wanda Durden (Director of BCRP).

We love this log. Jacks loves to jump over it.
Caele is on top of the log- she's the king of the world.
CDW and the kiddos.
Fantastic shot of C-Monkey.
This tree is right in the middle of the dog park - we think it is so cool. We found out that it came from Druid Hill Park, which is where BCRP main headquarters are located - and where my office was this summer.
This is the water channel in the park. When you push the button water comes out and flows through the channel which weaves across one side of the park. The dogs think this is very cool.

This weekend is off to an awesome start. This morning we finally checked out the new farmer's market at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. We picked up all kinds of goodies like Japanese pears, smoked salmon with candied ginger, fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, Dangerously Delicious Peach Pie . . . and we topped it all off with a freshly made crepe.

After the farmer's market we headed down to Locust Point for the grand opening of the Locust Point Dog Park. This has been a long time in the making - until today we've had to drive all the way to Canton (on the other side of the harbor) to the only dog park in the city. Locust Point is just one neighborhood over from us down here in SoBo (South Baltimore).

Caele says that the new dog park is "da bomb." Mayor Dixon was at the opening to say a few words, and we ran into some of my old friends from Baltimore City Rec and Parks - Rec and Parks was instrumental in making the LPDP happen. Caele wasted no time snuggling up to the Mayor's Press Director - he was quite enchanted with her. Caele and Jacks had the best time meeting lots of other doggies, and checking out their new fave hangout.

And finally we want to send a shout out to the Sullivans who added to their family last night. The Sullivans adopted a stray pooch that was found by the side of the road in Essex. We think he's about a year old, and a beagle/basset hound mix. This little guy is so cute - and though shy at first seemed right at home with his new family and new digs by the end of last night. He also had his first play date with Jackson last night. Congratulations to the Sullivans on their new addition and for giving a homeless pet a home, and to their little guy for going from roadside homeless to Federal Hill Yuppie Puppy.