Happy Video Update from Hoover!

Happy Tails with Hoover

We Love Alice, Everyone Loves Alice

I wanted to give you an update on how great Alice is doing since John and I adopted her last September.  We LOVE her.  She is so special and has settled in so well with our family.  Everyone who has met her loves her too.  We always get compliments when we are out with her about how beautiful she is.  She is a hit at the vet's office too--behind the desk getting cookies and having her picture taken, she's a rock-star!  Her favorite activities are still sitting at home and sitting in the car (and eating, she likes to do that) :-).  We always take her to MA when we visit John's family and she greatly enjoys the car ride.  She has done well with everyone she has met there and people can't get over how low-key she is.

Our cats have acclimated well to her and they co-exist nicely.  Alice basically doesn't even acknowledge their presence, which I'm perfectly fine with ;-).

I've attached some pictures we've take over the past year.  I'm so glad I found her description online and contacted OPIN about her.  She sounded like the perfect dog for us on paper and she has lived up to expectations.  Thank you so much from both of us for bringing us together.

Enjoy the pictures of our favorite pit bull :-).

Felicia  and John 

Bullet (aka, Apollo) Doing Great!

Bullet (formerly Apollo from the shelter) living a great life in his happy home.

Thank you to the Infante family for opening their home to this beautiful boy!

Lucky Pawley!

Hi Alex,

All is going great with the new addition to our family!  We have decided to name him Pawley.  It was a close run between Pawley and Lucky but Pawley won out.  We go to Pawley's Island, South Carolina for vacation each year (Walter has been going there his entire life) and the name has a lot of meaning to both of us.

Pawley is settling in wonderfully at our house.  He is so happy, smart and confident!  He adores Walter and I and he is working on getting Mimi to love him too.  She has been very good with him (even though in the beginning I was getting the "what the HECK?" looks from her!).  He is really such a joy!  The first night he cried a bit in the pack n' play set up in our bedroom but he settled down after about 10 minutes.  Saturday night he was so exhausted he went right to sleep without a fuss and last night he settled down about 5 minutes after he was put down and he slept from midnight to 5:00 am. without waking up or having any kind of accident.

We are so happy, please give Joe (I'm pretty sure that was her name?) the good report on Lucky/Pawley and thank her so much for being such a wonderful foster mother.

I will keep in touch and send you reports on his progress.

Thank you again to OPIN for taking in his momma Jazz and taking such great care of the puppies.

Judy & Walter D

Panda Checking In!

Almost a year later and we are in love with our Panda girl. See attached photo of the beautiful girl. Adoption date 5-15-13

Noelia and Edward

Gracie Update!

Gracie is doing great, we love her very much. She is very spoiled and loves to cuddle. She has made lots of new friends that she plays with. Her favorites are Brody (a Bernese mountain dog puppy) and cooper (a golden retriever). Here are some pics....  Love, Gracie and Elyse

Happy Anniversary Kioshi!

Dear Ali & Jenny,

Hope you and everyone from OPIN are doing well! I came across Kioshi's adoption papers the other day and realized it's been a little over 1 year since he's been living with me :) I simply wanted to take this opportunity to thank you again for hooking me up with such a great dog...he's been a great addition to my family and has made the last year a lot of fun! As you know, he's very energetic so we've spent a lot of time doing activities outdoors-  from hiking quite a bit around Lake Mohegan to playing fetch and our daily walks here in town! We even took a couple of road trips to Chicago during this past year!

I am happy to report that Kioshi continues to super friendly to all humans and has also helped Rudy (my sisters dog who's living with us until May and who had tendencies to disagree with dogs) overcome his fear of dogs. I've attached some of the pics from this last year :)

Thanks again for Kioshi and for the great work that you all do at OPIN!

Ernesto

Blue Update: Looking Great and a Loving Home!

Here’s an update on our friend Blue: For refresher OPIN covered eye surgery and medical for Blue and the lucky guy found an incredibly loving home with Susan.  Here are some pictures from Blue’s trip to the beach last month, reports are that he loves it there. While Blue could be known as a very energetic pup, we hear he is also capable of being an incredibly calm cuddle buddy on the sofa.   Susan, thank you so much for giving Blue an awesome life!

And Judy Makes it 3!

Special thanks to Toni for sharing a picture and update on the latest member of the pack:

Judy, recently adopted, is settling in nicely with Sarah (10+) and Arthur(1 1/2).  All three came from the Stamford shelter at different times and fill my home with love and giggles. Judy was very apprehensive and timid at first, but is quickly putting Arthur in his place and runs and plays with him constantly.  She gets along well with Sarah who is now given more peaceful time to just be a queen.  Thanks to all of you for giving me a super trio.  ~ Toni

Ice Gets a New Home, a New Name, and a New Brother!

We’re very happy to update you with a very warming tail, our beloved Ice has found a forever home.  The proud boy pictured here caught the eye of Michele and Betsy at OPIN’s recent “Pup Hub” event.

A short time later they stopped by the Stamford Animal Care & Control with their yellow lab Brady so the two dogs could meet. OPIN:Outreach to Pets in Need, sponsors a free to the community, group training class lead by Rob Mullin of K9 Wizard & Company, a perfect time for the dogs to meet and have their interaction observed.  All went well with Brady and Ice and Ice moved into his new forever home. Ice was renamed “Griffin” and as you can see he and Brady get along great on the couch as well! 

Our sincere “Congratulations!” and thank you for changing a life!

Rocky is doing Great!

Just wanted to send a picture of Rocky and Bonnie smothering me on the couch. Love it.

His neutering went flawless, he is settling in nicely. Just a pistol and Bonnie loves him so much! Boys are totally bonded and helping in his training. Will try and get him to Stamford shelter for some training tips, but he is doing well. 

Thank you for helping make this 

Thanks!

Gretchen

Luna Update!

Hi Anya,

Better late than never....

I just wanted to reach out to you again and say THANK YOU! Thank you for making me come to the shelter before we went to see Fred at his foster house.  I believe everything happens for a reason, and I was meant to meet Luna first!  I feel incredibly grateful to have found Luna and cannot imagine life without her! She has adjusted so well and has exceeded all expectations I had! She already knows basic commands, loves going to the dog park to play with other dogs and has turned into a complete bed hog at night! I love her so much and couldn't ask for a better dog!

Thank you again! It's incredible what you are doing for these animals, you should feel very proud of yourself!

PS...I've attached 4 of probably 1 Million pictures I've taken of her so far! She is too darn cute!

--Kate 

Beautiful Blue is Seeing Clearly and Running Strong!

Dear OPIN,

Today is 8 weeks that I adopted beautiful Blue from the Stamford Animal Shelter. After 10 vet visits, 2 surgical procedures and almost 6 weeks in an E collar I am thrilled to report that we got the "all clear" from Dr Lazarus yesterday! His entropion eyelids are finally fixed and have healed properly.  Today we were able to resume our regular activities. We took a 3 mile run along the beach this morning and a nice long walk around the neighborhood this evening with lots of snoozing on the sofa in between. As you can see in the photo, Blue is getting ready to greet trick or treaters in a couple of days!

Many thanks to Dr. Lazarus and Todd the Tech (Blue's favorite!) at Rippowam...they were wonderful throughout the entire ordeal.

Many thanks to Dr. Sturh at Animal Eye Clinic in Wilton. He and his staff are true dog whisperers. I am in awe how they calmed this HIGH energy puppy to give him a complete eye exam. Many thanks to OPIN for ALL you do. I promise Blue will have a very nice life in my care.

Sincerely, Susan Stanek

Mia & Mike: One of Our Happiest Tails this Year...

This is one of our happiest tails this year…

Mia was pulled from the New Britain kill shelter in May 2011 and stayed with us for almost two year because of her dislike for other dogs.

She got a great feel for the home life while being fostered by OPIN volunteer Carrie.  

Recently Mia found her forever home with Michael - who as it happens is from New Britain himself.

It was love at first site as evidenced by this incredible greeting Mike received when he returned from his  weekend away!

The Bond between man and dog is simply amazing !!!

Pets in Need isn’t limited to Dogs and Cats!

Pets in Need isn’t limited to Dogs and Cats- Thumper is one happy bunny is his new Greenwich home with OPIN volunteers, Peter and Angela !

A NEW Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde

"We just want to thank you for the gift of Bonnie and Clyde. They are the best dogs! We love them to pieces and are so grateful to you for bringing them into our lives. [We] made a donation earlier in the year in appreciation. Wishing you a happy, healthy new year."

                                                                                              - Barbara and Steve H.

This Is What Makes It All Worthwhile . . .

"I just adopted Princess Snow White, an elderly dog, from OPIN and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for helping Princess to survive her three operations so I could adopt this beautiful dog. If they had not put her picture on the Internet I never would have seen Princess. They worked so hard, saving her life after all the traumas she went through. She had cancer two times and had a growth removed, and also was spayed. OPIN even found donors to help pay for her operations -- just amazing! Princess never would have survived if it weren't for OPIN. They found her wandering the streets and in very bad condition. They are incredible people, full of love and compassion. They made sure she was well nurtured and even got her a foster mother to help her transition to a fur-ever home. They made sure that I would provide a decent home for this poor traumatized dog. OPIN even delivered her to me on that special heartwarming day when I met these beautiful people!! Princess is thriving and she is definitely a survivor -- a happy ending! What a difference they make in society for animals and people!! I love you all. Thank you, OPIN, all the best to you all."

                                           Sincerely,

                                           Veronica

From Foster to "Furever" -- LV's New Life

OPIN has adopted out our first cat – congratulations to Katy Destiny Purry!

Katy is the surrogate mama cat who saved baby Leroy's life by caring for, and nursing, him as her own kitten when he was found abandoned at just a few weeks old.  OPIN's amazing volunteer foster mom took Katy and Leroy into her home and allowed nature to take its course, in a warm, friendly, loving environment.  (This same foster mom also welcomed a one-year-old Staffie mix into her family at the same time.  What else can we say but...what an angel!)  When it was time to separate Katy and Leroy, our great friends at New Canaan Mounted Troup (NCMT) rode in to the rescue: first they fostered Katy, and now Anne, the barn manager, has adopted her -- new name "LV" –- into her home.  Thank you, Anne and NCMT!  Katy, now known as LV, is a lucky kitty, now in her awesome “furever” home with three cat siblings!

newcanaanmountedtroup.org, you are the best!

From Foster to "Furever" - - Pico's New Life

This is a story of a "furever" foster . . .

Once upon a time, there was a sweet young Staffordshire terrier who was languishing, thin and in poor health, in an overcrowded shelter.  This unfortunate fellow was rescued by OPIN in March of 2012, was given the veterinary care he needed, and began the road to a full recovery.  To help him on his way, a wonderful family in North Stamford opened their home to him as a foster, and . . . well, as they say, the rest is history.  These kind people fell in love with Pico, adopted him in September, and now, just take a look at his Christmas card photo.  Do we have to say any more?

Please consider fostering a homeless pet.  There is nothing that equals a nurturing home experience in preparing an animal for future rehoming.  And there's nothing more gratifying to a loving pet guardian than to provide an innocent dog or cat the opportunity to flourish away from the noisy, crowded and overwhelmingly stressful shelter environment.  And who knows? -- you might just meet the next love of your life that way.  Pico's amazing parents did. 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good life.

Tara's Theme

We truly feel that it's mutual, too!