How a woman, her mother, and her aunt provide homes for a Gabbs dog and two of her shelter friends.
By Jennifer Hayes, Best Friends Staff Jennifer from California, an avid animal lover since childhood, takes time perusing the Petfinder listings. She has a soft spot in her heart for Australian heelers, so she took a special interest when she saw the listing for Roxie. The posting had already been up for over six weeks and at ten years old, with an untreated thyroid condition which had caused obesity, the dog’s prospects for an adoption did not seem likely in the near future.
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Roxie smiling for the camera.)
Special needs rescue dogs are nothing unusual for Jennifer, who already has Cady who needs eye drops twice daily and Simon and Yoie who are prone to seizures, in addition to Sam, Tara, and five horses. Jennifer figured it was a long shot for Roxie to find a home, so she and her mother made the trip to Yerington Animal Shelter to meet and possibly adopt the sweet senior.
As she had hoped, it was love at first sight and Roxie had found her new home. What was unexpected is that Virginia, Jennifer’s mother, made a connection with Sadie, one of the Gabbs dogs. With two rescued border collies of her own, she was not actively looking to add someone to the family. However, according to Jennifer, “Sadie was really people-oriented and friendly, so my mom took her.”
While two adoptions by the family would be fantastic, the pair also saw Ginger. The big yellow lab mix looked almost exactly like her Aunt Patti’s dog Annabelle, who had recently crossed. Her aunt had been searching for another canine companion and “She [Ginger] could have been her other dog’s clone.” With a phone call to Patti, and a leap of faith, they brought home Ginger, along with Sadie and Roxie.
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Murphy, formerly Ginger, is now comfortable on her very own bed.)
Now Sadie has been renamed Gabby (a very common name following the Gabbs rescue) and has become a “rockhound,” accompanying Virginia regularly on rock hunting trips to find fossils, crystals and petrified wood. Jennifer says, “For never being in a home that we know of, she took to it really well.” She was housetrained within a week and has already begun learning basic commands. Gabby still maintains one habit from Gabbs, and has a tendency to hoard items, including toys and rawhides, behind the couch. She gets along wonderfully with her canine housemates and since the three border collies do not have any livestock to round up, they attempt to herd one another.
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Gabby, formerly Sadie, takes a romp around the yard.)
“At first, she didn’t know what to expect and was somewhat unsure.” However, with only a little bit of time in her new loving home, Jennifer says “She’s really come out of her shell and settled in nicely.”
Ginger, now renamed Murphy, fit right in to her new home. Despite not being a part of the adoption process, Patti quickly bonded with her new dog. Having previously been abandoned from an unstable home environment, Murphy was very timid and needed to learn to trust again. However, she is enjoying her new family and receiving plenty of love.
Roxie is now on thyroid medication and has already begun to lose a few of her 97 pounds. She fits right in the family, but that should be no surprise. Jennifer says, “The ones that need a little extra just seem to find me.” She is happy to have the knowledge and ability to care for special needs animals and comments, “If somebody has it in their heart to adopt a special needs dog, they should really consider it before they pick the youngest, cutest, prettiest dog because they are so much easier to place. Dogs that aren’t perfect, just like people, need love too.”
Obviously love for animals runs in their family, and for that, three dogs from Yerington Animal Shelter are extremely thankful.
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Roxie gets along well with her new canine family.)
How you can help:• 27 of the shyest Gabbs dogs are temporarily being cared for by
United Animal Nations in Reno, Nevada. Shelters or rescues are needed to take these dogs in to their foster and adoption programs. If you have the ability to take one or more dogs in the next two weeks, please call Shannon Asquith at 916-216-3677 or Paul Bruce at 916-344-1710.
• Consider adopting another of the
Yerington Animal Shelter dogs.
• Senior and special need animals are always in need of homes at shelters. Previously considered “unadoptable,” thanks to organizations like Best Friends, nationwide many are now given a new chance at life. While it is easy to fall for a cute puppy or kitten, the rewards of adding an animal in their golden years or needing a bit of extra care to your home can be many.
For more information: •
Yerington Animal Shelter217 Trowbridge
Yerington, Nevada 89447
Phone: 775-463-6578
Photo credits: photos courtesy of Roxie’s new mom, Jennifer. The lead photo shows a happy Gabby playing out in the yard of her new home.