Art and Sew Forth

IT'S FURBABY FRIDAY!

I spent last week in Chicago with my daughter-in-law, Abby, and son, Gabe. They have a very nice 'family'! Two each of dogs, guinea pigs, and birds. Today you will meet the dogs, Toby and Haylee.

Toby-Gabe's best friend

I was just a pup living in Rescue Village in Ohio when I first heard that word 'home'. I really had no idea what anyone was talking about. I had my brother to play with and the humans at the Village were nice to me. But I kept hearing 'home' and 'family' and 'adopt' Sometimes my friends would be let out in a pen, and humans would come to play with them. My friends would wag their tails and bark and jump. And then a human might pick one up or pet one a lot. They might even talk to the Village people about taking them 'home'. I began to think that 'home' was better than the Village, that 'family' was a good thing and that 'adopt' meant I had to put on a good show to go there.

One day a man human came to the Village. He looked at some of my friends. Then he looked at me. Some of us were let into a pen and got to do our 'adopt' tricks. But I really didn't know what to do. I was nervous. But I so badly wanted to do a good 'adopt' show, so I ran over to the man and-this is so bad-I PEED on him! Oh, what a dumb thing to do! Surely, I was doomed! But, no. The man laughed and pet me and said he wanted me!

So Gabe became my new best friend. He has always treated me kindly and like a true buddy. We have long talks and he lets me share his couch. I have been there for him when times were tough and when times were great. I am a good listener. I am four years old now and can hardly remember what life was like without Gabe. He is my hero and everything to me!

Haylee...Abby's sweetheart

I was taken from Tennessee and brought up to Chicago when I was very little. I don't remember much about Tennessee but I just get some nasty feelings when I think about it. I was taken to The Anti Cruelty Society where I got a bath, food, and met nice humans. I had friends there, too. Sometimes the Anti Cruelty humans would bring other humans in to see us dogs. They would talk and play with us and say things about being in a family. One day some humans came and they said they wanted me. I was so excited! Was I going to go to a family? I said bye to my friends and was put in another car and taken to their home. I was pretty young still and I know I had lots of energy, but I tried to be good. I guess I just wasn't good enough though, because not long after they put me back in the car and left me at a dog pound. I didn't like it much. I was scared. But thankfully I was let out and taken back to Anti Cruelty. Back to the old friendly faces. This was the best 'family' I knew. One day a man human and his lady came to the Society. They looked at a lot of dogs. They even looked at me. I was still a bit scared. I remembered the car rides, the mean faces, the pound. But they seemed to like me and decided to adopt me. So I had to go in the car again. I felt sick. I was nervous and afraid. But the lady was nice to me. Even if I was bad, she would discipline me, but she still liked me. I wondered when they would make me leave. But days turned to weeks, and weeks to months. I finally realized they weren't going to make me leave-that they really loved me and that I was truly a part of their family! It was amazing! I love Abby! She has made me a better dog. She takes me in the car to places that are fun-like the dog beach! She even buys me toys that I can chew up in 10 minutes and doesn't yell at me! She's the best! I think I must have the greatest home in whole world!

We love to run and play together!

The dog beach is the best! I LOVE to swim! These are some friends I met there last week.

We get to go to the playground at night and run full blast around the fenced in area. One of my favorite things is going down the cool slides!

It's VERY hard to run like torpedoes for too long! I'm taking a break...

This is what we look like after a playtime at the beach...all wet and tuckered out on our way home.

Isn't this the life. I sure am a lucky girl to be loved like this!

It doesn't get any better....

I hope that other dogs who live at Rescue Village and Anti-Cruelty will someday get to experience what 'home' and 'family' really means. It sure is wonderful!

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Toby just recently passed his Canine Good Citizen test and is a certified therapy dog.

Haylee is 18 months old and will celebrate her one year anniversary with Gabe and Abby this month. She is going to get her Canine Good Citizen someday when she settles down a bit and hopefully be trained in agility!

Abby volunteers with Anti Cruelty in Chicago where she adopted Haylee and is hoping to have a dog training business one day.

Gabe is the founder of ZigZap Technologies and is based in Chicago with a branch in the Cleveland, Ohio area. ZigZap provides complete IT solutions for any size business.

http://www.zigzap.com/

FURBABY FRIDAY is dedicated to our much loved furry (or not so furry!) animal friends that enrich our lives and world and make us better people!

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