NCPR Volunteer Shares Her First Rescue and Adoption Experience

Hi dog lovers,

I wanted to share my story of my first rescue and adoption as a volunteer with Nor Cal Poodle Rescue. I began my journey by "manning" or "womaning" ( I know this isn't a word, but it should be) the hotline, after Sue came over and gave me training. I was surprised at how many requests came in for poodles.  It was encouraging to see the love that people have for the breed. The poodle duty my first week was to find a home for a 7 year old male Standard Poodle named Hershey. Yes, I was thinking he would be a big strapping chocolate poodle, but he was more a cafe mocha, with LOTS of milk. I guess a more apt description would be cafe latte (heavy on the latte). I met Hershey and his owner in a home depot parking lot.  We filled out the forms and I reassured his owner that she had been responsible to call us, versus taking him to a shelter.  Then he hopped in my van and off we went. We didn't have time to poodle dally because his "potential adopter" was already on her way to my house. Hershey was just as sweet as, well, a cafe latte with lots of sugar, and the woman adopting him fell instantly in love. We took my dogs and Hershey on a walk to "dog test" him and allowed the dogs to meet on neutral territory.  We then allowed him to interact with the human kids and he was great with everyone. I think he'll be happy in his new home.  I would say this was a good Valentine's present for both Hershey and his new owner.

Happy Tails,

Misty

Our Adoption of Bear the Standard Poodle

I wanted to share our story of how we adopted our lovely boy Standard Poodle, Bear. We have a 1/2 lab, 1/2 Standard Poodle, Basie.  My husband says that everything he loves about her comes from her "poodle side" and that half is the "perfect dog!" Our journey to find Basie a friend, and additional family member, ended at NCPR. We had submitted our application and I checked the website religiously until I saw three beautiful black standards featured. I spoke to Sue and she thought Bear would be a great match for our 2 little girls and our "big girl" Basie. Bear was very timid about being in a house and loud noises.  He was especially fearful of men, much to my husband's chagrin, since this was going to be "his" perfect dog. However, much to our delight, Bear quickly fell in love with my husband, our children and Basie. Basie and Bear have WWDF (World Wide Dog Federation) wrestling matches on a daily basis.  Basie is gracious and lets Bear win sometimes. We love our sweet Bear and he is such a happy guy and is thrilled with all the hiking, love and attention that comes his way. He has never shown an ounce of aggression toward anyone.  Although his life wasn't too happy before us, he has blossomed in the 6 months we've had him. Everywhere we go people can not believe he was a rescue.  He is just too beautiful they say, who would have given him up?? Well I can tell you we are glad they did and that now he has the life he deserves!

Sincerely,

Misty, Greg, Sienna, Imara

Poodle Love Blossoms at Adoption Events

We had our first adoption event at Petsmart today. We have adoption events the first Sunday of each month at Pet Food Express in Concord. Many wonderful adoptions have resulted from our PFE events. Some people don't know they need a poodle in their lives until their hearts lead them through the PFE door and then it happens- poodle love! They experience those sweet faces, dear personalities and feel that soft curly hair and wonder why they haven't considered a poodle before. It is so much fun for NCPR volunteers to see this idea develop. It's also wonderful when families who have previously adopted stop by to visit and show off their much loved poodles. So to expand our adoption outreach efforts we took Wiggles, Codie Girl, Sugar and Harley to Petsmart. There were no adoption prospects today, but we had a really good time.

Toy Poodle Duffy is Worth the Wait

I met Dominic and Marcia in July when they first came to NCPR to meet our poodles. They didn't adopt on that visit or the next. I had to chuckle because Dom would describe their busy schedule, but when I called about a toy poodle they would jump in the car and arrive in an hour or two. Finally, in January, Duffy a 2 year old apricot toy, became available. True to form, Dom and Marcia dropped everything and rushed to meet Duffy and it was love at first sight. They scooped him up and took him home to San Francisco. Each time we talk they are so effusive about how adaptable, smart, sweet and loving their little guy is. Duffy, now named Joshie, is truly a little bundle of joy.

Liz blogs about Jackie the Labradoodle

20something knowitall: Doggie Dog Dog!

Liz and Brentan adopted Jackie from us in December '09.  While searching poodle related blogs I found this post by Liz about their new dog.  I thought everyone would enjoy seeing Jackie the labradoodle in her new home.

Standard Poodle Boris is adopted and finds stairs, doorways and hallways a challenge

Boris went to his new home with John and Nora in San Rafael last week. His new "sister", Bella, is a friendly curly-coated retriever. We all met outside John's house and went for a walk with the dogs (a la Cesar Millan). Bella and Boris were friendly on the walk so we decided to let them romp in the backyard. The yard is on a steep slope with a lot of stairs. Boris took one look and put on the brakes. John gently coaxed him down a few stairs at a time and finally arrived at the lawn. The dogs sniffed, ran about and eventually Boris bound up the stairs with no hesitation.

Welcome to Our Poodle Rescue Blog

The goals of our blog are:

• provide updates on our poodle adoptees and their new families
• provide progress reports on our foster poodles
• share our rescue, fostering and adoption experiences
• answer questions about poodles and their care
• grow our friendship with our followers