www.nasap.ca

I adopted Tucker (formerly Leon) in February of this year, and wanted to thank you so much for rescuing him and giving me the opportunity to bring him into my life. The first few months were difficult. Tucker had some aggression issues with other dogs, but his sweetness shone through in his interaction with people, especially with my two young nieces, and I knew he had it in him to behave. I was lucky enough to have found just the right trainers to encourage and help and slowly saw improvements. Last month I went away for a few weeks and boarded him in a kennel out by Devon that is owned by an amazing couple who were willing to allow Tucker the chance to meet their dogs and help to socialize. When I went to pick him up, I walked to the outdoor exercise area and found my beautiful dog playing and having fun with a whole group of other dogs. I can't begin to tell you how thrilling it was to see him having so much fun!! Since then we have been able to go to the dog park daily and he's having a blast! We still have some things to work on - he still has some issues on leash and chases my poor cats every chance he gets - but I know, now more than ever, that patience and time can change anything.
So, again, thank you!!! My life is so improved with the addition of this sweet dog and I am forever grateful!
Holly

My husband and I adopted Rupert (formerly Oakley) at the beginning of April 2009, and we cannot believe how well he’s adjusted to life in our home, and are absolutely amazed every day that his former owners had no time for him and wanted to put him down. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with this little orange-nosed teenager! We adopted Rupert, not only because we wanted another cat, but also as a companion for our 2 year old female cat Sadie. As neither of them are aggressive personalities, they turned out to be the perfect match! From the minute we brought Rupert home, these two hit it off. Amazingly, there was no hissing or growling, just sniffing and playing. Sadie and Rupert started to wrestle on that first day and haven’t really stopped. They are constantly together, napping and hanging out. His adolescent ways sometimes irritate her, but they play all the time, and whenever Sadie goes out onto the balcony to bird-watch, Rupert walks around the apartment meowing his head off. Surprisingly, he hasn’t shown much interest going out on the balcony. He can still be a little timid. He seems content to simply lay in the sun by the window, or look out the many windows in our condo which overlooks a park.

Although Rupert showed no problems in relating to Sadie, we were struck that he didn’t seem to understand “playing” with humans. This is probably due to the neglect he suffered. Even if you take a toy out or a string, he seems mildly curious, but ultimately confused. But he is the sweetest guy. I have never met a cat that immediately starts purring the second you touch him (every time)! This cat will even lay under our bed all alone just purring like crazy. He also loves to be held, carried around, and follows me everywhere. He particularly loves the computer, and will sit for hours as I work, watching the mouse arrow. He’s also very vocal and is constantly making deep cooing noises. And I cannot believe how clean he is. When we first got him, I was nervous (as he’d been taken to be put down) that he might have a litter problem. But I’ve found Rupert cleaning up after Sadie (she has the bad habit of not burying her waste); he puts his front half in the litter box and buries what she’s left behind. Bizarre!

Rupert does have his quirks though, of course. There is one major quirk that we have to be careful about. I think it might stem from him being de-clawed; he is the most mouthy cat I’ve ever encountered. He’s like a dog! At first, we had to train him not to bite, and now he does not bite our hands. But, this cat loves to chew and EAT clothes! We have to be very careful not to leave anything on the ground or he will eat a hole through it. And he does not discriminate between ratty towels and expensive articles of clothing!

We pretty much knew Rupert was the perfect addition to the family when, after a few days, he began to clean Sadie’s face. However, these displays of affection usually lead to more play; he cannot seem to help himself. We are so grateful you saved this little guy, giving us the opportunity to give him a new start. We absolutely love him! To make up for his past experiences, we make sure to give him tons of attention. He still gets a little nervous when “strangers” come to visit; our theory is that he’s anxious they’ll take him away. But I am sure he is starting to realize that this is his permanent place of residence. Thank you NASAP! You are an amazing organization, and I’ve made sure to tell all my friends about you! Thank you for Rupert!

Sincerely,

The Winnington-Ingrams

Hi Mary;
So nice to have a chance to fill you in on how little Chester is getting
along.
At our free vet check, my vet advised an excellent food for Chester to help
with his shedding and blood sugar levels (which one has to keep an eye on
with Chi's and Chi-crosses. Together my vet and I devised a healthy feeding
schedule that would also enable me to get Chester back on track as far as
toilet training goes. This food is a prescription brand and it did the
trick. He tends to be a bit fusy in the morning, yet hungry, so he gets the
soft stuff. At dinner, we fill his kibble bowl with the harder version, in a
special bite size for him, which is helping with the tartar on his back
teeth. He loves the taste and is eating well. Along with that, I have
all-natural, doggie treats and cookies, that helped him during training, but
not a lot of extra calories which might cause him to gain weight. The vet
gave Chester a clean bill of health, no hip or joint problems. So we got the
okay to begin some exercise each day, gradually adding more and more time to
his walks and play.
He took a couple of weeks to get on track about toileting, but the weather
was a problem too. Not use to being outside, and it being rather cold, he
preferred to do his business indoors. But being consistent, and following a
tight feeding and toileting routine, he mastered the concept pretty quick.
No problems regarding toilet issues after that.
He is a very smart fellow and a fast learner!
He was so scared of everything outside, at first. So I would take him out
early in the morning before traffic, other pets and people were about, just
to get him used to walking outside. At first he wouldn't even smell
anything! I am happy to say that today Chester loves his walks. He has
accepted the leash and looks forward to his 3+ walks each day. I don't think
there's a bush or tree he doesn't know or mark! He now has accepted other
people out and about while we walk, but remains a bit skittish about the
other dogs in the neighbourhood. That's okay too as I don't know them
either!
He is the little prince of the house and he knows it! He has a wardrobe now
that I envy, a bed in every room, a crate in the main part of the house that
we draped with black fabric and placed a deep foam mattress in, where he can
go if he is unsure of visitors, or just wants a place to nap. He plays
musical beds at night, alternating between our bed and my son's. My son was
injured in a very serious car crash over a year ago, and has lost the use of
his left foot. At first Chester was fearful of the wheelchair, but one day I
came home and my son was riding around the house with Chester on his kneee.
Chester has become a welcome distraction for my son, and has helped my son
heal both emotionally and physically. My son wouldn't use his leg brace
until we got Chester. Wanting to take him out for toileting and walks, my
son started wearing the brace. He now no longer uses a wheelchair. He takes
Chester out for the big walk at noon each day. He loves that little dog!
Slowly I have begun introducing Ches to drives in the car, visiting other
people , coming to the office with me, seeing our vet, going to new parks
and areas to walk, children and babies (which at first scared the heck out
of him) and soon we will begin some play dates with other dogs my friends
have. He will require some socialization with other dogs and we plan to get
some professional help with this.
Thank you so much for our little prince. I love that dog so much and he
brings me nothing but joy each day. He is happy and healthy and part of our
family.
I am sending you some pics I took of him just a couple of weeks ago.
Sincerely, Lori, Larry, Peter and Chester!!

Riley (aka Glenn) is doing really well.  He and Molly have settled in really well together and are still getting along great.  I would say he is about 99% over his fear of car rides. The only time he even hesitates is if Molly is staying at home – car rides alone seem to bother him, but only for a second.  He really enjoys going to the off-leash park, though he is still an on-leash dog, until we can trust for sure that he will come back.  He has a great time there with the other dogs, or walking the trails and marking every tree in sight.  He and Molly also go to Doggy Daycare one day a week, and they have so much fun there that it takes them a full 24 hours of sleep to recover.  On the weekends when the weather is nice, we’ll also walk the 1km to the Starbucks and have a coffee on the patio, and he is so well behaved.  He just lays in the sun until we’re ready to walk

We did have a minor incident on Monday night actually, when he broke out of our backyard.  He actually pushed a board until the nails bent and he could push the board away… no one ever said he was a dumb dog.  Luckily we found Riley only a couple of blocks away in a neighbour’s yard (we’re also thankful that Molly didn’t follow him out of the yard).  He really scared us that night, so needless to say, we’re spending this weekend reinforcing the fences in our yard!  Especially since he loves laying in the sun out there on a nice day, but he’s only allowed to that as long as he won’t get out!

Riley’s been through some obedience training, but his success totally depends on his mood.  If he’s a bit wound up, then it’s not a very successful class, but after a good walk, he’s great.  We’re going to do a second class soon.  He loves to cuddle and he’s crazy for his Kong – absolutely loves chasing it around the yard.  Riley has also been to the groomer’s once, during a bad month of blowing coat (there was so much hair coming off of him, I’m surprised he wasn’t bald).  He was a bit of a handful for that, but he did fine –though he still thrashes around if you try to trim his nails.  That fear is going to be a bit tougher to overcome than the car…  Between the grooming and a change in food, he’s not shedding anywhere near as bad, and he’s finally put on enough weight that you can’t count his ribs from 10 feet away. 

Overall, Riley is doing really well, settling in nicely and he’s really starting to bond with us.  He’s a total goofball sometimes, and pretty sneaky when he wants something.  He’s been a great addition to our family and a really great buddy for Molly.  I’ve even had people at work (where everyone just adores him) ask us where we got him, so I know a lot of people have been checking out the NASAP website for dogs.  So it seems he’s been a good ambassador for NASAP as well.

Thanks again – I’ll send you another update in a few months!  I’ll also try to send you some photos soon!

Hi Mary and sorry for not getting back to you earlier.  I have been wanting to
write up a blurb and post it on your website because we have had such a
beautiful experience with the whole process.  Cooper is doing very well. He
really is a fantastic dog - we can hardly believe how gentle and compliant and
loving he is.  There are so many dog owners in our neighbourhood who have
commented on what an attractive dog he is.  All in all, we have had  a super
experience and all of my fears and hesitations about owning a dog have
evaporated.  Right from the start, he just became a part of the family. Both
of my children interact well with him and have totally bonded with him. He has
made lots of dog friends - in fact, Ivy, the American Eskimo dog from next door
often spends the day at our house, which is great for Cooper.  We were a little
nervous about losing him initially but when we took our annual holiday at
Nipika ( a wilderness lodge in the mountains) we let him off leash and he did
beautifully.  He ran all day and was exhausted at night.  Our only issue was
that he was car sick on the way there but since then a friend of mine told me
about a static strap to attach to the car and on our Easter trip to
Saskatchewan, he was fine.  So, I would like to do a write up - do I just send
it to you with a picture??  Thanks, and apologies again for not responding to
you earlier.  I am in the middle of spring cleaning etc.  Thanks, Martha Lambert

I lost my beloved seventeen-year-old cat Tilda just after Christmas and, while I knew I could never replace her, I was lost and miserable without any feline companionship. I found Elspeth (formerly Helen) on the NASAP website and knew as soon as I met her that she was the one. She has been with me for about two-and-a-half months now and, after some inital shyness, has settled in very well. She loves to play and often thinks I should stay home from work to play with her. She's also becoming increasingly affectionate as she gets more and more settled. She is a very sweet and funny cat and I'm very glad to have her in my life.