Sheppy
(July 2008)

Hi Patti,

Here is a picture of Moses, now Sheppy. We adopted him 5 years ago, his birthday was in June. He was one of a litter of four. He is so sweet and mild mannered. He is half chow half Sheltie. He is also very timid and loves to chase the squirrels and he likes to stay in the house. He once chased a deer and brought in a deer leg into the house and his human sisters screamed and I had to get rid of it. He eats food only bought at Booth Feeds and table scraps. After the pet food recall, and an extensive research on pet food, I have found that 90% of the pet food on the market today is pure garbage without nutrients and I did not want to feed garbage to our wonderful Sheppy. Also, I have found that pets are being over-vaccinated with boosters and the garbage pet food combined with over-vaccination causes numerous diseases in our beloved pets.

He does not look too happy in this picture because I did not make him his eggs and toast! He is so smart. He knows beforehand if he is getting a home cooked meal or cereal. In short, he is one spoiled, healthy dog and we love him!

Hi Patty,

Do you ever wonder what happened to the 9 month old black Lab & German Shepherd cross who that you picked up from the Front Royal Animal Shelter & had neutered for us? The Front Royal Animal Shelter named him “George,” but you re-named him “Dana?” Well, as you can see from the attached pictures, he’s become one of the best, smartest & lovable dogs we’ve ever had!

Even as a giant puppy, since he took it upon himself to guard our 3 cats, we re-named him Lancelot, Lance for short. After bringing Lance home, we had a full house with 4 large dogs, 3 cats, 15+ goats, and 11 horses.  Of course that all changed last November, when I found a frail & freezing 8 month old Lab / Pit Bull with a broken hip that someone had abandoned in a field near our house.

Of course I couldn’t give Patsy away with a broken hip, or until we also paid to have her spayed, but after she won our hearts with her kindness & affection to the dogs & cats she also became part of our growing family.  You can see Patsy & Dax (Great Dane / Catahoula cross) napping on our front porch. 

As it turned out, since our other 3 older male dogs weren’t interested in playing puppy games with Lance day in & day out, Lance & Patsy have become the best thing that ever happened to each other!  Although he’s twice her size, weighing in at a mere 130 Lbs., Lance is ever so gentle when rough-housing with Patsy and even lets her win most of the time.

It’s funny how well things can work out!  Anyway, Margaret & I just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate you & Erika bringing us together with Lance. – All the best, Greg

PS (Let us know the next time you have an adoption somewhere & we’ll bring Lance so people can see how great your dogs are! ;-)

Hi Patti,

Just wanted to check in and let you know that Clyde is doing great, and is enjoying being a "big brother." Alex (our son) is now 15 months old and enjoys giving Clyde his toys, they have become fast friends! Attached are two pictures of the two of them. Thanks for taking care of Clyde while he was between homes. The past 7 years that we have been blessed with Clyde's presence have been wonderful; hopefully we have many more great times to look forward to!

The Hickmans

Dear Patti,

Hope you are well.  Chris and I think of you often. 

We thought you would enjoy this photo (taken two years ago).  The dogs are now nine years old, and are still very spry and active.  As you can see, Merlin is still the scene-stealer.  Whitney is the sweetest dog we have ever known.

We hope to come to the shelter soon to say hello.

Best regards,

Chris Birchansky and Richard Schwartz

3/17/08

I got a lucky camera-phone photo of Max (Milo) yesterday. It sure looks like a great "success story" picture to me!
 :-)

All The Best,
Bill Schoonover

Patti,

We just wanted to write you a fan letter about Taz—now Ziggy.  He’s even more wonderful than we could have imagined.  He’s polite, friendly, and really very smart.  We spend weekends in the county where we take him for long walks, but he also loves the city.  There’s lots of wildlife here for him to sniff out—well, rats and squirrels.  Our neighborhood has lots and lots of dogs and so he has new friends to play with.  He still is getting used to car rides, but it’s better every time.  We can’t believe our good luck in getting such a great dog.

Tim Ayers

Britt

No note with this photo :)

2/14/08

12/12/07

Kikki (no note included)

Maggie & Carter
(September 2007)

Hi Patti,

I just wanted to send you some pictures of Maggie (foxhound) and Carter (beagle/lab mix). We adopted Maggie about a year ago. I think you said that you had her for about 3 years when we got her. Carter was only 2 or 3 months old (is now about 1.5 years old) and is a big boy now (about 75 lbs.).

Maggie (left top, hunting) has really come out of her shell. She is very sweet and wants nothing more than to be loved on. When we first got her she liked being by herself. Even though she still likes to relax on the bathroom floor or outside on the patio, she is becoming more and more playful every day. She loves to greet me when I get home from work. She loves going for runs and especially loves sticking her head out of the window on car rides.

Carter (left, resting) is a great puppy. He has so much character and loves to play. He thinks that he is the man of the house but Maggie puts him in his place if he's not careful.

I'm so happy that we adopted the dogs from you. They are so much fun to have.

The attached pictures were taken when I took the dogs to my brother's place in Florida. I hope you enjoy.

Take care,

Shawn

Monet
(January 2007)

Here are some pictures of Monet enjoying her day here with us. She is just a perfect dog and we would like to thank all of you for taking such good care of her.

Thanks again,

Duane and Karen

PS. She is doing great on our walks now.

Hi Patti,

Happy Holidays!

Now that I have a digital camera I wanted to share with you some pictures of Kaper. Since I work mostly from home, the dogs snooze on the couch opposite my desk until the dinner hour approaches at which point they slowly move closer and closer.

Kaper's doing great! When I first got her, 4 1/2 years ago she was a little untrusting and as you'd mentioned, wasn't too big on having her collar yanked, a response to which might have been a bitten hand. Over the years I've come to understand her limitations (the car, my bed, yanking on her collar) and as long as I take the less direct route, we do just great. We only had one meltdown a few years back when she'd decided the car ride hadn't been long enough and refused to come out.

Sadly, she's slowing down a bit. The vet has her on Cosoquin which has been helping.

She's been the greatest, most loyal dog I've ever known. In the morning when I get out of the bathroom from taking a shower, she's lying outside the door waiting for me. After a year or so she got Jake to do the same thing so now I have two dogs sprawled in the doorway waiting.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Have a great holiday!

Sarah

Clyde

Hi Patti !

We hope you’re doing well.

We just wanted to let you know that we’ve moved away from northern Virginia. Clyde is now a registered resident in North Carolina. We have a nice half-acre yard for him to run around in (as we did in Virginia). He is still the sweetest dog and everyone that meets him falls in love with him. He is still completely obsessed with chasing tennis balls. We buy them by the case at Costco and he has a blast chasing them. He likes it best when we throw them so that he can run out, then jump up and catch them in the air after they bounce once on the ground. He continues to be healthy and happy. He tolerated the car ride down here just fine and likes going for rides and walks. I’m sure he still misses you and his other friends from RAWL.

We thought you might like to see some recent photos. We’ll send more if you’d like.

We hope everything is going well for you and RAWL.

Best Wishes,

Clyde, Ron and Ruth Tencati

Hi Ms. Patti,

I just wanted you to know that your foster dogs always go to good homes. I am the perfect example. I can’t lie…when I got picked up by my Mommy and Daddy when I was only 4 months old, I was a bit nervous. I mean, you guys took such good care of me! But, once I had snuggled up in my new Mommy’s lap and realized where I was going…I was okay…well, better than okay!!!!

It only got better! Little did my Mommy and Daddy know that I would end up SO BIG! I have a HUGE yard that is what my Mommy says is “one acre” and I play with my brother and sister…both who were also adopted. We are so happy. I can’t tell you how spoiled I am. My Mommy does this daily thing that is called “discipline” with me…but somehow I land treats out of it. It’s a good thing! I hope you know how big and strong I have become. I have attached pictures so that you can post this on your website, and other people might see just how good I have it!

Take care Ms. Patti, and thank you for taking care of me and giving me a good home.

Love,

Dempsey (formerly Lane)

December 2007

Hi Patti,

Just wanted to send you a couple of new pictures of Raja. She is coming out of her shell and has quite a personality. She makes us laugh. She is very lovable to me and my daughters and is warming up to my husband and son. She is fine with them as long as they are not standing. She attended obedience training and was very frightened but it helped our relationship. She listens very well now. She has gotten taller and is no longer skin and bones. She looks beautiful athough the pictures cannot really show it due to her coloring.

Sharon Davis