In the fall, Dogs at Camp, which offers daycare and overnight care for dogs, opened in Stitsville just outside of Ottawa. Paddington, Corduroy, Thomas and I had the pleasure of attending and everyone had a great time. Their facility is large and has lots of room for dogs to play and run away their energy.

One amazing thing that Dogs at Camp is doing to help the Ottawa dog community is they are fostering dogs for BARK Rescue. What an amazing concept!! The foster dogs get to run and play and have a great time before finding their forever homes. I commend Dogs at Camp for doing this – you are making a huge difference in the lives of dogs and that’s so great!

Soon after they opened, Dogs at Camp launched a blog and I think it’s so much fun! Check it out here.

I often post on here about charities doing fundraisers because they need money, but something I don’t post about enough is that most of the dog rescue organizations in Ottawa also need foster homes. Many shelters these days don’t actually have a shelter, but have their dogs rehabilitated in homes that are lovingly opened up to them by some amazing families.

Fostering a dog can bring up a lot of questions, and fears. What if I grow too attached? What if I can’t do it?

I am friends with an amazing pet photographer who is based out of Southern California and recently she took the leap and fostered a dog. This dog is named Harry, and this is Grace’s story of their journey together.

***PLEASE NOTE: Harry is available for adoption in Southern California. He is NOT in Ottawa.***

I’ve always considered fostering, but the thought of it honestly freaked me out. I couldn’t imagine taking care of a dog and inevitably growing to love him, only to give him up to his forever home. So while it sounded really awesome in theory – I knew I just didn’t have the guts to do it.

I feel like if me, miss scaredy pants, can bite the bullet and foster, anyone can! It’s a really amazing experience.

But on Christmas Eve 2009, Los Angeles Best Friends Animal Society volunteers went to the Balwin Park Shelter and rescued a group of dogs from euthanasia – including this little Bischon-Poodle mix named Harry.

Poor guy was in REALLY bad shape. He was lifeless in his cell at the shelter, and upon closer examination volunteers discovered he was badly wounded. It looked as if he’d been dragged on asphalt by a car, resulting in a big, painful patch of road burn on his side. He had also developed hot spots around his back legs and tail, probably from all the anxiety of being in the shelter.

They bathed him, groomed him as much as they could, and off he went to the vet for boarding.

With so much recovering Harry needed to do, it seemed that it would be best for him to heal in a foster home instead of yet another scary, cold cage in boarding. My friend and Studio Manager thought he’d be a perfect fit for my house. Maeby and Zoey love small dogs and I work from home. The ONLY REASON I really had to say no was my own selfish anxiety about growing attached to Harry and eventually giving him up.

So I sucked it up, got over my fears, and in early January I went to the vet to pick Harry up.

See the giant patch of road burn on his side? Poor guy had wounds on his legs too.

It’s been about 7 weeks now since Harry has come to live with us. He had to wear a cone for the first month, learn to be in a crate, and learn to be home alone. I can’t lie – it’s been a long journey. He had EXTREEEEEEEEME separation anxiety and couldn’t stand being in a crate. Once when I was out of the house for an hour, he actually CRACKED the bottom of the plastic crate trying to get out!

But our little man Harry come a long way in the last 7 weeks!! His wounds are completely healed, his hot spots are gone, and he loves hanging out in his crate even if I’m home. Harry is extremely obedient – if I tell him to “go inside” his crate, in he goes. He learns commands very quickly – I taught him sit, stay, and shake in a matter of minutes. Harry loves all dogs big and small and doesn’t have an aggressive bone in his body. He has complete respect for Maeby and Zoey, and doesn’t have rude doggie manners other than trying to snatch food from my hand (but he quickly learned not to do this too). His favorite thing in the world is cuddling and having his belly rubbed. Best of all, Harry is 100% potty trained! He still has some minor separation anxiety issues (especially compared to how he was 7 weeks ago) and loves to follow me around from room to room. We’re trying out best not to enable his clingy-ness by only giving him affection when he’s calm, relaxed and not asking for it.

Harry is still a little withdrawn and hasn’t completely emerged from his shell. He doesn’t quite know how to play, but every once in awhile something in his head clicks and he goes bonkers playing with Maeby and Zoey. He’s come such a long way since I met him 7 weeks ago and I know he’s ready for his forever home. Overall Harry is an AWESOME DOG and whoever gets to adopt him is one very lucky person!

My hope is for Harry to get adopted in Los Angeles so I can have a photoshoot with him and his new lucky owners someday. But until that day comes, we’ll continue to love him and get him ready for his new life.

And check out how handsome our little man Harry is now!

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I got this information from several sources and readers ~ thank you for sending it in

About 60 dogs are now in Ottawa. Many Ottawa Canine rescues have stepped in to help out and foster these dogs to get them healthy so they can go to their forever homes.

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If you are considering adding a new family member to your brood, please consider one of these beautiful dogs. 22 out of the over 100 dogs rescued are confirmed to be pregnant so adopting a puppy is a great way to adopt as well.

Dontations

Anyone can donate to BARK through PayPal on their website on the memberships and donations page.

Cheques can be made out to “BARK” and mailed to:
2229 Braeside Ave Ottawa, K1H 7J6

Toys etc can be dropped at the Braeside address as well.

Video by: Scott Parker, The Ottawa Citizen taken from this article.

(Ottawa Dog of the Week for August 3rd/09)

“Melly was surrendered to the Canadian Chihuahua Rescue and Transport (CCRT), a dog rescue group I co-founded 10 years ago, in July 2007 from the Ottawa Humane Society, where she came in as a stray. I picked her up and instantly fell in love with her – all 20 pounds of her! She was morbidly obese and needed to go on a diet big-time! She stayed with me for a few days until she could hitch a ride to her foster home in Elliot Lake, ON. Sadly, during those few days, my 14 year Chihuahua Newton passed away and I was devastated. It helped to have Melly with me and while I considered adopting her at the time, I was grieving so much for Newton that I thought it best to not make any big decisions.

Melly went to her foster home and was able to lose 6 pounds in just a couple of months (why can’t I do that?). I stayed in touch with her foster mom who sent me regular updates and photos – I fell more and more in love every day.

Finally, on October 11, 2007 (my birthday) I realized that I was ready for another dog and it had to be Melly. I officially adopted her and made the 7.5 hour one way drive to Elliot Lake to pick her up. I couldn’t believe it when I saw her – she looked sooo slim and trim. I returned to Ottawa the same day (yes, that’s 15 hours of driving in 1 day) and learned something about Melly I didn’t know – she is petrified of car rides. It was an interesting ride home, to say the least.

It’s been almost two years since I adopted Melly and I can’t imagine my life without her. She has lost another few pounds and while she remains a curvy gal, she is in much better shape now. She is such a clown that I tell people she ran away from the circus – she’s truly amusing! Like all dogs, her favourite things are walks and food, but she also enjoys curling up on the ottoman at my feet while I watch TV. She was housebroken pretty much from the moment she came to CCRT and even does tricks – it boggles my mind that such a well behaved, trained dog was not claimed at the Humane Society by her owners. They obviously loved her very much to take the time to train her – but their loss is most certainly my gain!

Melly is a great example of a wonderful, older dog in rescue that is just dying to be a part of a family. Hopefully her story will encourage people to consider adopting an older dog when they are looking to add to their furry family.” – Melly’s Mom, Nathalie

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A HUGE Hopeful Hearts thank you to our supporters for making our 2009 Spring Auction a HUGE success. We made over $2,200!! All items were donated by incredible friends of Hopeful Hearts and we couldn’t be happier or more grateful!