Update from Travis (Rita's Elvis) & Rita's Lily

We love Travis! He and Lily are my two other kids. Travis has a very unique personality. He is full of life and tennis ball chasing energy. He still is very much a lap dog. He a Lily get along great, although Lily is the alpha dog in house. About a year ago we went on a two-week 3,000 mile motor home trip to Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Parks, and Mount Rushmore. Travis and Lily got to bark at Deer, Elk, Buffalo, Horses, and Sheep. One of the attached pictures is from a pass in Wyoming. The other is more recent in the house kitchen. Julie is very good at working around the dogs.

Both Travis and Lily go camping and hiking. They are great traveling buddies. We have a lot of stories about Travis and many many pictures of both dogs.

Thank-you so much for making life with Travis possible, and for all you do to help dogs and getting them together with families.

Terry

Here are a few pictures of Bella with Jason. Bella is loving as ever, healthy, yes, of course she gained a few pounds since she joined our family. Bella gets along with our black labrador well and loves hanging out with us. She's a big sweet heart!

Thank you and have a blessed day!
Dorothy, Paul & Jason

Rita's Polly adopted!

Rita's Polly was rescued in Taiwan by Rita and MJ in July, 2011, and made her way to the United States in January, 2012. She had hip problems and we were able to correct her one hip soon after she arrived. Polly's progress was slow at the veterinary hospital. I had an opening at my house and, once in a home environment, Polly healed more quickly and proved to be a very sweet, playful and easygoing gal.

Wendy and Kaz were familiar with Polly since they are regular walkers at Culver Palms and then began fostering after my pestering. As most foster parents know, the first foster is pretty hard to let go and their memory always stays with you so I gave them a bit of time after their first foster was adopted to a new family before I asked them to take in another.

Wendy and Kaz offered to take Polly in and free up some space at my house and Polly got along famously with their resident canines. Her hip healing progressed even faster at their home with their walking regimen. Polly also won the heart of Wendy and Kaz's daughter, Emily, and son, Ben. The tipping point came when I called Wendy and asked her and Polly to join me on KTLA morning weekly dog adoption segment. Emily decided that there would be too many people who would want Polly after seeing her on TV and decided that she needed to stay where she was.

Thank you to our amazing partners in Taiwan, Rita and MJ, for rescuing this sweet girl. Thank you, Sandy, for arranging her transfer, taking her in and giving her the medical treatment she needed for her hip provided by the wonderful doctors and staff at Culver Palms Animal Hospital.

Update from Rita's Marvin

It's been 8 months since Marvin came to us and I can honestly say he's settled in nicely. He used to be afraid of water and of the night time and I think the California lifestyle has broken him of those fears. He started liking swimming pools in the last few weeks. He still doesn't retrieve as much as I'd like but he loves to do tricks (Speak, sit, crawl, shake, lie down, sit up, etc). The next one we're working on is back up and wave. Marvin has such a mellow disposition that many people think he's still a puppy. But is typical California fashion, the women love him and he loves women.

Marvin has been quite the joy in our lives for the past 8 months and we are looking forward to many more years ahead. Hopefully these picture will give you a sense of what a California Boy he is now.

Many thanks, Rita. Also, thanks for connecting with me on FB as well. Hopefully, you will be able to come to California sometime and see the wonderful legacy you have started here.

Regards,
Gary and Dao

Update from Charlie (Rita's Rudy)

Our darling Charlie is happy, loves his brother Sam to pieces and they enjoy each other so much. The unfortunate beginning proved worthless as they have grown close as brothers and we are so delighted to have him in our family.

We think Charlie has grown a lot--in height as well as girth. He is now getting less to eat as a diet is in order. He loves to play ball better known as fetch and then immediately finds himself on the top step of the pool trying to cool off. It is adorable to see but the pool man is not too happy with that whole thing.

One strange thing about him is that he does not like to have the underside of his body nor the back of his hind legs brushed. Wonder what might be the cause of that? Volumes of hair are removed from him daily but it does not help the endless shedding.

Regardless, we would not trade him in for anything. We all love our Charlie to bits and now he even crosses the threshold without being coaxed. We thank the good Lord for him daily.

Ursula

Many thanks for rescuing Finnegan (Rita's Pudding)

He is one happy guy as you can see by the photos. He loves his new family and all the extended family, especially when they come to swim.

Finnegan is on medication for his skin allergies and just had surgery on his foot for a growth between the pads on his left foot. Stitches come out in a few weeks. - and then it is back to his routine of having fun, fun, fun.

There is nothing that keeps this guy down - he loves to walk and run, swim with the family, loves riding in cars with his head out the window, checking out the neighborhood. He couldn't be a more sweet. We should have called him Peanut Butter - for he loves his pills with peanut butter.

Again, many thanks for making it possible to be Mom and Dad to our sweet boy. We are blessed to have him in our family.

Update from Rita's Chi Chi

She is the love of our life. She is perhaps the best behaved dog we’ve ever had. She is so good all the time, and honestly she just has a happy attack after every meal. She rolls around, chases the other dogs, and just is a happy girl. Believe it or not, we wanted a bigger back yard for her, so we put the house up for sale. We actually couldn’t find anything comparable to what we had size and view wise (without a pool), so we decided to stay in the house, and now we’re going thru a backyard makeover.

She is an important part of our family though, and we adore every moment we have with her. She’s just the best girl ever! Tell Rita thank you for saving her…now we are spoiling her rotten, and she seems really very happy. If we just look at her, her tail goes a waggin! .

Thank you,
Patty

Update from Rita's Becca

We are just so in love with Becca. Since we've had her she has really come into her own. She is our little social butterfly who just wants to meet everyone! She has made so many friends in the neighborhood, and gets told everyday how beautiful she is. She was a little timid at first but has truly shown her personality, which is so wonderful to watch.

Unfortunately Becca has had a lot of issues with allergies and her ears. We have still not fully resolved her itching issues or fully cleared her ears of all infection or inflammation, but the vet is working very hard with us at trying to make her problem free once and for all. She had to have surgery about 6 weeks ago for an ear hematoma caused by all her scratching and she's on daily allergy medications. Fingers crossed that we can get this resolved once and for all!

I've sent some pictures so everyone can enjoy her smiling face as much as we do. Her favorite things are car rides (!!!), her friends Mystic, Buddy and Rex, naps, treats, sniffing, snuggling and squirrels. Her least favorite things are dogs that don't play, ear cleanings...and squirrels.  We're happy to report that her favorites outweigh the others. She went in the ocean the other day for the first time, only up to her chest, but she had fun running and playing with the other dogs. She's not quite sure about the waves but liked the water. I had to include a picture of that because she was just too cute, hiding behind momma's legs at first.

We owe Rita so much for this wonderful dog. She is truly the best.

Utmost thanks and love,
Kate, Rob and Becca

Update from Rita's Chance

Chance is doing really well - now.

The most amazing story about Chance is when we took him to see his new Vet Dr. Y. about one week after getting Chance. This was our first visit ever with Dr. Y but she came highly recommended. Chance weighed in at a sad 47 pounds - his coat was less than healthy. Dr. Y took a look at Chance - asked us how old we thought he was - at which point we said we thought he was 3-4 years old. Dr. Y checked him thoroughly, looked at his teeth and gums - and said based on how he looks, he is likely to be closer to 8 years old. My son Michael burst into tears - turned to me and said I cannot fall in love with Chance and lose him in only a few years. Michael and I had a lot to talk about - and consider.

We talked about it for the next couple of days - and agreed that we had already fallen in love with Chance - and with lots more love, exercise and good food - he would be able to live a happier life by being with us. We fed Chance puppy food for 4-6 weeks, had him groomed, and gave him lots and lots of love and attention. We took Chance back to Dr. Y for a wellness check up and to have his teeth cleaned. When Dr. Y walked into the exam room - she saw my son, looked at Chance and said - "so you did not keep the other dog?" - Michael said - yes we did - this is Chance. Dr. Y was absolutely blown away how different Chance looked from 2 months earlier - he was happy, his coat was beautiful and his weight had gone from 47 to 60. NOW Dr. Y and the girls in her office ask about Chance if we don't bring him in with our other pup (corgy/terrier mix girl named Brodie). The Vet office refers to Chance as the miracle boy from Taiwan! Chance is a big love.

I am attaching three photos - one of just Chance, one with his sister Brodie, one with his number one buddy, my son Michael.

Cindy

Photo from Sunny (formerly Rita's Ju-zi)

Photo update from Rita's Bear

Update from Bowler & Hunter (formerly Rita's Polo & Maggie's Bingo)

Here are some pictures of Bowler: enjoying play time with Hunter, running in the ocean at Dog Beach (San Diego) and cuddling with Garrett. He is such a blessing! Please pass on our sincere gratitude to Rita and her team for rescuing both Bowler and Hunter!

Best,
Kathy