Holy Cow did it ever snow last night! At least a foot of wet fresh, clean snow. The pups were racing around playing tag. But all my firewood is covered in deep snowball snow.
The snow collected on the fence! The mounds were almost clear yesterday!

How clean and pristine it looked this morning!

Then it was sleep time in the dog room!

Sleep time just like kindergarten!

More sleepy pups

Isaac playing with the favorite toy!

Poncho and Chunky Munky settling down for a nap.

Yesterday was quite exciting for my guys. When they went to GSA Auto Terry had CHEX TV on hand to document the handing over of the keys to the new TG Bus! It will be on Channel 6 tonight. Sally Sue and Margo’s adoptive families were there too. And the star was the old girl Mrs. Johnny.  Stan did a fabulous job I am told! And this is after driving all night!

Then they went to the Nanaimo ferry landing to meet with Bev’s husband and hand over Buck and Stacey.  Stan then drove to the line up,  bought the tickets for the two vans and took Mrs. Johnny for a walk. She was very wobbly and this concerned Stan so he took her back to the van, gave her a drink and set her up on the seat beside  him for the ferry ride to Surrey. Half way across Mrs. Johnny had a seizure and slipped into a coma. She died shortly after on the ocean.  There was little Stan could do but hold her. Her earth journey was over. I am so sorry Momma Dog - you deserved a home of your own with pizza night , and all the hugs you could handle. Run free - you were loved.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

Dear Turtle Gardens
Today is February 28, 2008 and the approximate birthday of our loved puppy, Samantha (was elektra, but she is a Sam girl).
We were just emailing to send you a couple of pictures of our puppy. Since someone told us that you love getting them. So we took a bunch today where Sam was celebrating her 2nd birthday!
We want to tell you that she is a VERY smart dog. And if you are able to tell what kind she is from these pictures that would be great, since we have yet to find someone who could tell us exactly what she was. And almost everyone asks what type of dog she is because she is so pretty!
So we hope that you like these pictures and we want to thank you for helping us find Samantha. We love her very much. Including our older cat ‘Kitty’ who took a while to get used to a new dog around the house. But she liked it because she didn’t have to worry about all the other cats fighting with her and stealing her food. Now she has someone to protect her!

From The Capewell Family

She looks very much like Zack who I suspect is a "Nautical" So the breed - collie/husky. Both come from the same pound!!

She looks a lot like Lassie and Oro!

Happy Birthday Sam!!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

For some reason our server was down yesterday so late but very relevant! The TG Bus left for a grand trip last night at 7pm! The first stop was for Willis and Karen wrote at 4.30 am:

OMG he’s cute and funny and tough!  Met Stan at 3:30 a.m., brought the little guy home, introduced him to the 3 big dogs, and he walked straight over to Jasper’s big soup bone and picked it up and carried it away (It’s almost as big as he is). He’s currently zooming around at high speed with a knotted tea towel. I’ll be spending the rest of the night putting anything chewable out of reach.  I’d forgotten about puppyhood!

Thanks for trusting him to our care.  Mike will be home on Friday for a week, and I know they’ll be the best of friends.

She writes a most  entertaining blog at Inman Road Chronicals

Curious, cuddly, busy Willis - I will miss you very much!

I checked out our find me spot this morning and I know that they are almost at the ferry landing. They won’t make the first ferry this morning as planned but they should be across by noon. The first stop is at a rescue for 4 of the big pups - pyrenees/retriever mixes - Cinnamon, Annalise, Polar and Shylo. the next stop is another rescue with 4 poodle/terrier pups - Freddy, Littleman, Taffy and Shyboy. And finally the 4 sherriff dogs and Kya will go to their safe haven - Beanie, Buffer, Taco Belle and Gene. They will be seen and adopted quickly - they are very nice dogs but their breeds turn a lot of people off. They expect dogs that are sled dogs - dogs that need a lot of exercise. Most of these guys are ordinary, normal family type companions. But seeing is believing and once seen they are adopted quickly. Which is why we work with these rescues. They have the same ethics and values we do. The dogs come first.

Then they guys will drive to Sidney to GSA Auto Rentals and meet Terry who has donated a TG Bus. This one has the TG Logo on the side windows!! How cool is that!! He and his friends have filled the mini van with dog food, supplies etc. Thank you so very much to the supporters of Turtle Gardens. We appreciate it so very, very much. THANK YOU and thank you to FX Graphics for the TG Bus sign and logo!

Sally Sue and Margo’s families will meet the guys at GSA to meet and greet their new family members.
Sally Sue and Margo are very good friends and will have playdays with their new families!! how wonderful for them!

Margo and Kerri. Margo likes dogs of all sizes! And is a very cuddly under the covers sleeping partner - I will miss your warmness in my arms at night! Be good Margo - you were my fave for a while!

Once the adoptions are finished it is on to another meeting - with Bev Davis of Second Chances for little Stacey and Buck. Buck has a home and will be meeting his new Mom then. Thank you Bev for helping us and Buck find his home.

Gentle Buck - be good to the kitty Buck - you have a great home!

Little Stacey will have a great chance with Bev for the perfect match!

Then they are still not finished their very long day!! It is across the ferry and on to Surrey to meet the last adopter! Irene will be picking up her tiny poodle girl. She and Guy have adopted Adoni last year. He is so bonded to Guy that Irene feels left out so when she saw pictures of the little poodle girl she was smitten. She looks like she will be a silver later on. She sure is curly!!

The sweet little poodle girl!

And I suspect that the final placement will be the next morning. They will crash at Dave’s home - our second son! The final is a senior sherriff girl. She needs sanctuary and the best place for her is Saints. So Mrs Johnny B is accepted by Carol - thank you so very much for giving this poor old dog her best chance in life. Saints blog

As the day goes on I will post how they are doing and where they are! Love that find me spot!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

After the balmy spring like day yesterday it was a shock to wake up to -20!! Winter again - what a disappointment. The sun was shining weakly trying to reach the yard and the dogs were running around enjoying their morning romp so I had to get the camera to document their play.

Now that we are Fort Knox the "boys" have full freedom to play - they are inveterate fence jumpers with no recall so they have been on long lines under supervision only. They had their first taste of free run late yesterday afternoon and they were very upset - they pouted - they checked the fence over and over where they had gone over.  Today they know they are confined and have accepted their limited freedom. They now have the freedom to play - to run - to have fun - to come in and out whenever they want to. They are very close these boys - brothers that have been together since birth through hard times and now good times. I doubt is anyone will want to adopt two untrained reindeers together but we sure can hope, So Turtle Gardens introduces Poncho and Stanley at play!

The boys at play!

Poncho running. Stanley has the ball.

Stanley running - you can see the  saluki in this guy - they are pretty close to all saluki!! Puff Dog, Issac and Margo watch.

Elegant Poncho.

The joy of freedom to play!

And the early morning light and the other puppers playing too - enjoying each other, the sun and the freedom to play.

The sun just starting to hit the yard. Once the sun rises enough to flood the yard the temperature comes up again trying to fool us that spring is coming - by 11 am it is -6!! Soon it will be balmy and enticing all of us outside - me too!

 
The big pups playing with a tennis ball. Thank you Cynda for the pail full of balls - as you can see they love to play with them! Toys stimulate them - they especially love the long stuffed pull toy that squeaks and tugs and is just so much fun to play with - Margo, Willis and Sam really like it. Thank you Wendy and family - the dogs really like toys!

Beautiful Crackers - she really looks like a setter mix with a soft lively temperament.

Sad Zack asking for his cone to be removed - he is fully healed so off it went and so did he - off to run and play with his new freedom!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

It is that time of year again - where the moose come down and look for greener pastures - hoping the southern exposures will soon be greening up. Unfortunately they cross the railway tracks and is it because the trains go way too fast? Or what? But the number of moose killed by trains isn’t just because last year had so much snow. In just our small area from the crossing at the bridge to Perow loop - probably 1.5 kilometers - three moose were killed and spread along the tracks. And not only moose but what eats moose is killed too - the eagles, ravens, martens and fishers, fox, coyotes, wolves, lynx, cougar, and yes dogs and cats. It is a lure that calls to wildlife - the smell entices too many for a free feed.  And death.  There was an interesting article in the Houston Today  -  Conservation Groups take CN to task for moose kill

The main concern here is the heavy loss of moose and deer too. But the secondary deaths are just as important. How to prevent the slaughter? Is it the speed of the trains that catches them unawares? I wonder what could be done to prevent so many deaths. It is possible to prevent our pets from leaving the confines of our yards - good fences. But what about the wild ones - coyotes, wolves, lynx and other small predators? How can they be protected from the fast trains that fly down the tracks day and night? It is very sad to see so much unnecessary killing for economy.

It was a glorious warm day today as we worked outside finishing our Fort Knox  - 10 foot high fences to keep our dogs safe. The dogs played and ran and lay in the sun - they were so happy to enjoy the good weather too.

Sabrina, Stanley and Isaac (he is the singleton pup born October 12th)

Sweetpea, Libby and Isaac again!

Beautiful regal Sam

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

Yahoo - adoptions today! But first a quick trip to the vets for Stan with Digby. When he was wrestling with Digby in the dog room he noticed a bump near his suture line. We all investigated and realized that he had a blood blister which needed attention. So off Stan went by 9 am hoping that Karen and Matt would be later rather than earlier. Not to be. They were early!! They had come all the way from Dease Lake - an 8 hour drive to Smithers then another hour and half to Topley!! Matt was coming to see Crayola while Karen wanted Digby for certain and a smaller dog as well. She cradled puppies and they were so very cute but so much work!! Then she saw Eden and 14 pound Eden was sweet, cuddly, full grown at 7 months and already spayed! No real contest - Eden is still a puppy but is ready for learning, and yes being already spayed was a big factor - especially with the long distance for veterinary care!
Karen meeting Eden.

Meanwhile Matt met Crayola and what a perfect fit! Crayola was so happy to meet him, he walked quietly on leash, he sat, he shook a paw - he so wanted to go home with Matt! Matt put his new collar on him and attached his new leash and Crayola pranced! One very happy boy!
Spiffy, happy Crayola.

Haley standing at the fence watching the adoptions - hoping for her turn soon.

Stan finally arrived with Digby. Karen put her arms around him and hugged him, Digby just melted! He does have a blood blister and will need to wear a cone until healed. He has antibiotics just in case and he has a clean bill of health - ready to go home!
Adjusting the cone - goodluck Digby! Be good.

Filling out all the paperwork - we really do need an adoption center!

Soon all the dogs were loaded up and away they drove the long ride home.

Matt and Stan loading up the dogs for the long ride home. They each had soft  beds to lie on.

And since Dave took the pictures - here’s his Ragamuffin!! Always close by.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

It must be spring in the air ’cause the pounds are getting full again! There are 6 at The Burns Lake Pound. Hopefully some will go home again and they aren’t all big dumb males either. Turtle Gardens welcomes two pound pups today - a small sheltie/spaniel mix female and a handsome golden/collie mix male. The little female is a joy! She is small, fluffy, cute as a button and super friendly too. Here is her picture:

Here is Puff Dog and Margo meeting Eden!

The Telkwa Pound Dog has been voted Libby! So this new one is Eden!! She reminds me of Flopsy and Mopsy - and their sibling Nell whose pups were Truman, Ned, oh oh I forgot her name - Gloria has her!!

Here is another picture of her on Stan’s new double gate he is building for the fence’

She is a small dog! Margo is behind her, Tanis (a guest) and Stacey.

So cute little dogs end up in pounds too.

Then the male came in and he is gorgeous inside and out - what a nice dog! Kelsey was thinking of naming him Zack but Britney likes Marko - what do you think he looks like?

Puff the busybody has to meet the new guy!

A head study of our new fella!

And to finish off our day Haley has returned - she has decided to join the town dogs on their runs - her family’s yard is not fenced and they don’t want to tether her either. Turtle Gardens always take back our own if they need rehoming. Haley is a very good girl with small children. She walks well on leash, is very clean and well behaved indoors. She will sleep in a crate or in a dog bed. She is quiet and an awesome family companion with a secure yard.

Sad  Haley is a rhodesian ridgeback/boxer mix - only 3 years old.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

It was a busy day today - cleaning and fence fixing. From early today until sundown we all worked at the red house  then working to build the gates for the fence - a double gate so the dogs can’t rush and get out when we go through. Stan bought more fencing, two by fours and plywood to keep going around the entire fence to keep these fence jumpers in.

His first purchase this morning was a professional mop and pail which Dave broke in!!

One of the small pups checks out this new thing in the dog room.

Dave demonstrating proper mopping technique!

While we were working  in the main dog room, Stan went to the mail and lo and behold there was a package there from Hoover, Sally, Brie Marie, Snug and Lacey oh and Wendy and Charlie too!! And it had many treasures inside!

Treats, soft blankies, jammies -super soft for ME!!!, toys and leashes too and chocolate for the guys. Fun for everybody.

The coolest  screensavers too!!

And a singing pup who thinks I am wonderful!! He sits on my puter - so very cute!! Thank you so very much - you put a huge smile on all our faces.

And while we worked the dogs rested or played!!

One of the big pups cuddled up with one of the little pups.

The gentle big chow Sam playing with Margo. Sam has had very few life experiences and he is just learning how to play. He is often seen with a big grin on his face. He and Margo rough housed for over a half hour! Then he and Margo napped together. Sam is coming along well learning how to be  dog instead of a lawn ornament.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.