May 2012 clients

May has been a wonderful month for me. My foster daughter, Sofia, was adopted, I obtained my dog trainer certification, and I had lots of awesome time with amazing clients! Thanks to all of you who chose Delightful Doggies for your in-home pet care services.

Thumbnails of May 2012 clients are below; you can click on these to enjoy a Flickr slideshow of our moments together from this month. You can always see more client photos on our Facebook photo albums, too!

Not pictured and also very appreciated: schnauzers Chester and Bailey, Focus the coon hound, Chico the mastiff, and min pin/terrier mix, Elsie!

With much gratitude,
Laura
Owner, Delightful Doggies

Sofia has a new “furever” home!

Sofia and her adoptive mother, Faith

My foster daughter, Sofia, found her new home recently and is now living with a wonderful couple, their greyhound and cat. She will have an awesome new house with her own large, decked-out crate, and lots of love.

I am so very happy for her and I will very much miss her! We have grown rather attached to the “little rat,” as we sometimes affectionately call her in my home. We’ve been blessed to get to know her over the past month and care for her. She has enjoyed our large dog beds, the crate with another awesome bed from a mutual friend of ours, the sun bathing our yard offers, all the food and treats we’ve bestowed upon her, and the love of not just me and my husband, but our adopted dog, Jasper, our two old cats, and our other foster daughter, Uma. We have been a big happy family together and her presence will definitely be missed.

We are so grateful to Faith, her new mother, for contacting us and taking time to think over the decision to adopt. Queen Sofia is quite old and has some health considerations, so she was in need of a very special and loving home. Faith was up for the challenge and took the responsibility very seriously. I would hope that every homeless dog and cat out there would be able to find someone as wonderful as her, and I am so thankful to her for her love and desire to open her heart and home to Ms. Sofia.

Bon voyage, sweet Sofia! We love you and wish you many happy times in your new home!
Laura
Owner, Delightful Doggies

Now officially certified as a dog trainer!

I am very pleased to announce that I have officially received certification through Animal Behavior College as a professional dog trainer!

Soon I will be offering in-home dog training services through Delightful Doggies, so please subscribe to our blog here for updates (see the left navigation bar of the home page for the widget to subscribe). Currently I am still working on developing the business to add on the training services, so I’m not quite ready to formally offer them yet. However, I do appreciate some practice, so contact me if you have immediate needs.

Likewise, if you have adopted a dog from MaxFund, I am currently offering free training services to all MaxFund parents. Feel free to contact me for more information and to set up a consultation. My primary motivations for working towards this career path is to help prevent dogs from being relinquished to shelters, to successfully re-home shelter pets and to offer affordable training in your home so that you can get the assistance you need to make your relationship with your dog a lifelong, successful one!

I am still working on certification as a veterinary assistant, as well as taking continuing education in the industry, but I’m very proud to have completed the dog obedience training program. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my husband and family, friends and fellow volunteers who are always encouraging me and finding ways to help me grow. Thank you so much!

Please keep in touch with me about your needs,
Laura McGaughey, ABCDT
Owner, Delightful Doggies

Client spotlight: Fitz the Retriever mix

Fitz has a smile that will steal your heart!

Congratulations to Fitz, our Delightful Doggies May client spotlight!

Mr. Fitz is a very well-behaved retriever mix whose smile just melts your heart. He is yet another rescue dog in the Delightful Doggies fold, once again proving how many awesome dogs are available in our nation’s rescues, sanctuaries and shelters.

When Fitz gets a good strut going on during his walks, his ears bounce and his whole body seem to trot on air. He is a joy to walk because he is just so happy, and it’s easy because he knows basic commands and heels well.

A bit shy at first, he is a sensitive soul. It has been awesome getting to know him on our walks, since he is a relatively new client, and I’m looking forward to spending some overnight visits with him soon.

We’ve very much enjoyed exploring the trails around the Platte River together. His anticipation and excitement when I come to the door remind me how lucky I am to have the job I have! When you go to work and get greetings like this, you know you’re doing good in this world.

Many thanks to Fitz and his caretakers for allowing me to care for him in their absence!
Laura
Owner, Delightful Doggies

Uma is back!

You may remember our foster daughter, Uma, from previous posts.

Uma has a beautiful smile!

She had been adopted but was sadly returned about two weeks ago. After spending about a week in the shelter, she came back to our home as a foster.

Right now she is on mandatory bed rest, as her right leg is broken after an unfortunate tumble down stairs. This truly sucks for her, as she loves to run and play, and go for car rides. She loves playing with our son, Jasper, and they are not allowed to play, which is sad for them, as you can imagine! All he can do is lick her ears affectionately and wait patiently.

Her cast/splint has to be changed weekly. By the end of the month they will take new X-rays for her, that will be then reviewed by an orthopedic surgeon before determining her prognosis. We hope that she will be healed enough to resume a normal, fun life!

Of course, this all means Uma is available for adoption! Due to her leg, however, she cannot go for meet and greets at your home to see how she reacts and gets along with your pets, in your environment, etc. We will be happy to do them once she is healed, and answer questions in the meantime. Please contact me with any questions and I can provide more details to you. She is a sweet, loving companion and does have some special needs. Her ideal home would be a calm, quiet one with mature adults and possibly older children, and easygoing cats and/or dogs.

You can also connect with Uma on her Facebook page! And don’t forget her foster sister, Sofia!

Thank you for spreading the word about Uma–we are hoping to find her the right forever home this time!
Laura
Owner, Delightful Doggies

Missing dog alert: Hawk

UPDATE: May 16: A couple days ago Hawk was spotted (at 6 p.m.) running through a field behind Auto Zone (70th and Federal). His owner and a MaxFund volunteer both searched the area with no luck, as well as posted more flyers in the neighborhood. Hawk is still missing and any are welcome to go search the area.

Hawk, close up

I am so bummed!

Hawk finally made it out of the MaxFund shelter into a loving, permanent home. Unfortunately, he has been missing since Tuesday morning. He got away from his new owner and bolted. Huskies are very fast dogs and not easy to catch; plus, Hawk can be a bit timid so he can be difficult to lure back.

He was lost at 64th and Pecos, near Gordon Lake. He was last seen moving west towards Federal Boulevard.

Hawk, full body

If you spot him, take care not to spook him. Very high-quality treats/food MAY entice him but as I have written, he is a bit timid. Don’t try to scare him and make him run further; please report your sighting to MaxFund at 303-595-4917, and to Mark 303-905-7498 or Kathy at 970-443-2213. You can even call 311 to reach animal control to report him. Please let animal control know he is a MaxFund dog and should be returned to them. We just want to make sure to get him back safely!

The area has spots of high traffic volume and I worry for his safety. Let’s all keep Hawk in our thoughts! Please spread the word so others can be on the lookout. I have share buttons on these blogs so you can post it to numerous networks. Also, I will post updates as comments and edits to this blog as they occur.

Thank you!
Laura
Owner, Delightful Doggies

Delightful Doggies on examiner.com

Laura & her client, Lucy

I wanted to thank Jennifer Patchen of Denver’s Pet Source for featuring me on her posts for examiner.com! Check out the article and slideshow here.

She definitely captured my enthusiasm for rescue/shelter dogs. It is my hope that I can not only make a living doing what I love, but help prevent pets from being relinquished to shelters, as well as rehabilitate and successfully place shelter dogs in loving, permanent homes.

Currently I am undergoing the final examination to obtain my certification as a professional dog trainer, so I hope to formally roll out training services in several months. This is an exciting time for me, as I’ve been able to complete the program faster than anticipated! It will be a huge accomplishment for me to continue to work towards my dreams of making a difference by offering affordable training, and educated volunteerism, to make an impact for our furry friends.

Thank you for your continued support!
Laura
Owner, Delightful Doggies

April 2012 clients

April showers do bring May flowers, as the continued growth of Delightful Doggies’ clientele demonstrates. Moving forward, the future looks filled with bouquets, and I appreciate the continued business of my long-standing clients as well as those who have just joined the Delightful Doggies fold!

Thumbnails of April 2012 clients are below; you can click on these to enjoy a Flickr slideshow of our moments together from this month.

Not pictured and also very appreciated: terriers Danny and Amanda!

With much gratitude,
Laura
Owner, Delightful Doggies

Special project Petchouli needs a home!

Petchouli

How can anyone resist this face?

Petchouli is a young, energetic and loving soul. She was relinquished to MaxFund as an even younger pup. Her previous owners got her as a very young puppy and then couldn’t take her with them to their home because, well, she got bigger–she is a Rottweiler mix, after all. To make matters worse, she hasn’t received much obedience training during these important, formative months, so she still jumps and nips like a little puppy. She doesn’t understand it’s not polite and it’s also something that can potentially hurt people, now that she’s a big girl. To her, it’s all fun and games.

While it’s true she needs some consistent training, she IS a real lover and VERY smart and capable! I have faith that the right home is out there for Petchouli. I have been able to get to know her over the last 10 weeks. I’ve been a MaxFund volunteer for a while now, so I’m no stranger to the dog and cat folk there, but I have gotten to know Petchouli in particular due to my mandatory volunteer hours through the program I am taking to be a certified dog trainer. Petchouli definitely benefited from these needed hours, and she gets further training from other volunteers and staff. She proves herself to be very capable of learning commands and is eager to please, perfect for training!

Petchouli has been my “special project,” I like to say. I am committed to helping find her the right home, whether it is as a foster or permanent member of the family. I’m putting out this blog post and more to try and find the right match for her. Are you someone who can help? Even if you can’t open your home, can you share this blog and see if it will lead to the right match?

She would do best in a home with adults who are active and want to take her out and play with her in appropriate ways, run with her, take her to parks and play dates, and be consistent with training and a loving environment. She adores playing with other dogs but I might be a little cautious about having her around cats.

I am also willing to provide as much advice and training services as possible and needed to whoever takes her in, no charge–just a continuation of helping her overcome her lack of confidence and develop basic obedience skills to shine like the true doggy star she is!

Shelters are anxious, scary environments. Even if Petchouli isn’t right for you, please consider other dogs or cats from shelters. They need us and are often the most loving and gracious of pets. They know they’ve been saved and are grateful, I am convinced!

Thank you for reading and sharing this. Anyone who can help, feel free to directly contact me!

Laura
Owner, Delightful Doggies

Meet our new foster daughter, Sofia!

Sofia has found her favorite spot in her new home--the corner of the couch!

I picked up our new foster daughter from MaxFund today, a sweet little Italian greyhound named Sofia!

Sofia was found on the busy intersection of Broadway and Evans in south-central Denver, so little is known about from where she came and how she ended up there. She is a very special girl: she is missing her front right leg, is quite elderly, and is on some simple medications for her later-in-life aches and pains. What makes her MOST special, though, is her sweet nature, soft temperament and very loving soul.

She has a Facebook page so please go visit her there, like and share the page so we can work to find her a forever home! She is available for adoption and while she is welcome to stay for as long as she needs, we’d love to see her find a permanent home that would give her everything she needs and more. Please contact me to set up a meet and greet with Sofia if you or someone you know is interested in potentially adopting her.

And thank you for letting others know about Sofia! Shelter dogs need advocates so I appreciate your willingness to share her story.

With much gratitude,
Laura
Owner, Delightful Doggies