Happy Tails - enjoy our adoption stories

Many of you that have been able to visit our facility will remember Valentina. She loves to greet everyone and that was one of her jobs here. She not only greeted everyone but insists that she gets lots of attention. Valentina is three legged and deaf. She was found as a young dog with a broken leg on Valentines Day—therefore the name. We took her to our veterinarian in Socorro but they were not able to fix the leg. We then took her to a specialist in Albuquerque and it was determined that her leg had to be amputated. Like all our special needs dogs, Valentina has figured out how to get around like all the other dogs. She tries to get in your lap because she needs help. Actually she does fine but we all like to spoil her and give her a few minutes attention with her resting on our knees. We are happy that she now can share her love and understanding of special needs with others as a therapy dog.

UPDATE - JUNE 2012

Valentina is doing wonderful! She made herself at home and loves her family unconditionally. We absolutely adore her and we love spoiling her. We are currently in the process of getting her certified as a therapy dog.

Magpie, aka Morgan

I think Magpie enjoys playing dress up!!

“Fur and Feather Animal Assistance was a terrific partner in helping our family find the perfect little dog. Laurie was wonderful in answering all of our questions and concerns about bringing a dog into our home with special considerations – we live in town (on only a half acre), we have two young cats and a seven year old granddaughter who we are raising full time. When Laurie and I began trading emails, I soon learned that this little Aussie-border collie mix was a very good fit for our situation. She sounded ‘pretty perfect.’ We drove down to Pie Town from Santa Fe and visited with Laurie and Sharon about how they felt the dog would do with us and they agreed that it was an excellent match. I suppose we could have adopted a dog nearer to Santa Fe, but the fact that Laurie knew so much about the dog, and her history, meant that we were much better off going with Fur and Feather Animal Assistance. This little girl is a complete jewel of a dog and so far, she has been very easy – the sweetest dog I have ever known. Thank you so much to all of the folks who made the adoption day a wonderful day, too!”

Quincy is adopted!

My 10 year old son Kiden is autistic. We've been told of the social benefits of dogs on autistic children. Although Kiden's autism symptoms are mild, one of his quirks unfortunately is that he's unusually afraid of dogs. We're a military family so our kids already have a hard social life with all our moves. So it was really important for us to first of all get Kiden over his fear of dogs and then find him the perfect best friend to help him overcome all his other social challenges. We had one requirement: we needed a dog with hair like a poodle or a maltese. My daughter and I have allergies. We went back and forth on whether we should get a puppy from a breeder or if we should adopt. When we saw the fur and feather website, though, we knew adopting was the better choice. It would be difficult to find the perfect dog, but lo and behold there was Quincy--an older poodle (potty trained...yay!) with a very mild temperament. We drove almost 3 hours just to see him (really, it ended up being almost 5 thanks to my awful navigating) but it was well worth it. The staff at Fur and Feather were great. They patiently waited for us and that day we brought home our newest family member. Kiden and Quincy "Superion Maximus" are a great couple. Can you tell my son likes Transformers? They sleep together and Kiden even reads to him every night. Kiden's learning responsibility (taking Quincy for walks and letting him out first thing in the morning, making sure he has enough food and water, and bathing him every weekend) and in turn he has a friend who never judges him or hurts his feelings. We really never thought adopting would be an option for Kiden seeing as we needed a dog who was molded just for him but we're glad we were wrong.

Well, that's our story. I hope I didn't ramble too much. Please let me know if you need anymore information or another picture. Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Michon

TEX ADOPTED on Saturday, March 17. We love adoptions and this looks like a good match for everyone. Here is the first update.

Laurie, We made it fine. Tex traveled great. We introduced him thru the fence to the other dogs. I’m gonna get them together in the fence tomorrow. My daughter came over to meet him. He couldn’t get enough lovin.

24 March 2021 - I told Laurie that she must have a hole in her heart not having Tex there but he is sure filling one in mine. He is such a smart boy. He learns fast. He is very protective of my wife and I. He has growled at a couple of people. We have tought him we get to choose who is here. He still stays in between us and whoever comes around and watches them really close. That’s just fine with me.

He has never had an accident in the house he wakes me up if he needs to go outside. He doesn’t care for the vacuum cleaner. I was hoping to be able to clean him with one. That was a u-tube moment. I feel really sure that he will learn it won’t hurt him but it was funny. He has such a gentle disposition. If you give him a treat he is really careful not to bite you.

We have a bed for him in the living room he didn’t understand at first was his. He loves it now. He sleeps beside my side of the bed at night. We need to make room for his bed in there. Yes we are spoiling him. I intend to do that from now on. I’m gonna train him as a service dog for me. That way he can go anywhere I go.

Well I guess I’ve rambled on enough. We really appreciate all the work that is done by Furandfeather for our friends that need their help.

Thanks again

Tom Sparks

27 March 2021 - Tex's first ride in the truck. He wanted to drive. We have to get him a
learner's permit first. Lol

TEDDY ADOPTED SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 2021 Note, Kim and her family adopted Jasper three years ago and now they have adopted Teddy. See the picture of the two dogs.

Got a nice call from Kim and they got home well with Teddy. He was perfect on the way home, didn't even eat the kids goodies. He is playing with the other dogs and she said that they love him already. Yeah!!!!!

Here are some pics of Teddy and Jasper that I took last night. There will be more to follow. Teddy is doing great. He is such a good dog! I was very nervous about when we pull into our gates that he would try and escape, well he is perfect. He just stands there and listens to me, doesn't even make an effort to go out of our gates. Him and Jasper have been playing all morning. Our female dog Laney also really likes him. She follows him around and feels the need to lick him to death! He did chase the cat up the tree but with some time and training, I'm sure that won't be a problem. We hadn't heard him bark until this morning, when a strange car pulled up to our gate. He definitely has a deep, low bark and was not happy about the strange car being there which was exactly what we wanted! So all in all, he is fantastic and we love him very much:) Thanks for all your help and all that you do to save these wonderful doggies! :) Kim

TWO CATS ADOPTED MARCH 21, 2021

Burgess and Budika were adopted and moved to Albuquerque.

When my 13 yr old grey cat, Nitroglycerin, passed away, I knew I couldn't go too long before getting another cat. When I started looking around, I found out that at the places I was looking they were very particular as to where the cat was going. Not that I loved animals and took very good care of them, but if I had a dog door. WHAT! they didn't want anyone with a dog door have THEIR cats as they were only to live indoors. This was very sad, as even we humans love the out of doors and here they were restricting cats the right to explore what God gave them. Plus I had a 1/2 acre in which to play.

Anyway, I gave up looking around the Albuquerque area due to the above, and Animal Control didn't have many for me to check out on line.

I ran into Furs and Feathers on line and saw cat after cat that looked like they would fit in with my two dogs. When I emailed them, I got an answer back almost immediately. The emails ran back and forth many times, what size, what age, what color, what food do they feed, and on and on. Nice people. Down to earth.

When my sister and I got to Furs and Feathers, the cresendo of welcoming barks, howls, sniffs and leg rubs let us know that we were quite welcome indeed. All those dogs running loose, and only a squable or two among them let us know that here was a great place to find dogs that could get along with any other animal. Then up came a batch of cats, weaving in and out among the dogs. Good grief! Since I had two older dogs, this was good to see. My heeler and my cat would sometimes get into it, but no real injuries. Most of the time they would be seen sleeping on the bed side by side. I was worried about bringing a new cat into the environment, but after seeing the managerie of 30 some dogs and bunches of cats intertwined in a friendly dance of life, my fears subsided.

Laurie and Sharon sat us down on a bench and up came animal after animal. Even the cats jumped up on us. Since I was looking for a couple of cats and not dogs, Laurie would go find one or another of them that I had seen on line, but mostly they just showed up. Then we got a trip down to the young cat house, which was an old travel trailer. Works quite well for a bunch of kittens that when they arrived, were sickly and weak and now were nursed back to health and yearlings with energy galore. A special cat exploration area was being built so the youngsters could be outside yet safe from owls and over enthusiastic dogs and slowly worked into the population of free animals.

The outside animals also had the option of being in an inside area if they preferred.

Well, I fell in love with Burgess and was having trouble deciding on another cat. I ended up with Tika (Budika). Burgess is a black and white quite talkative cat. You can hear him coming from 50 feet away. Tika is a grey long hair female with a funny shaped white mark on her face. She is more quiet, but will follow you everywhere. She didn't seem to get along with Burgess at first and he was quite respective of her personal space. He finally realized that she is more growl than bite or scratch, so will get up on the bed with Banjo, Shiloh and Tika and I and take a nap with us. He likes the cat tree I built for my Nitro and spends time sleeping on one of it's levels, It is in my bedroom and gives access for them to an area of closet space in the ceiling.

And to think, it has only been 5 days since I brought them home.

Audrey

Penny and her new family, Sandra

The difference between Buffy and Penny, my F&F dog, comes down to one word: appreciation. Buffy's been raised from birth to have food, shelter, affection, toys - he's always known his needs would be met. Penny is the opposite - she can be overwhelmed at the idea that a bone is hers - not a chewed up, no meat left on it bone, but a smoked bone made just for a dog. And food. Not only enough food, but good food. A bit of ground beef, a piece of ham, or (gasp!) a small bowl of chicken stew. I almost have to put it in her mouth, she is so not expecting/demanding that the treat is hers. She doesn't understand toys and play; she may never understand toys and play. But it's enough for me to see her happy and healthy, and running through the yard with a grin on her face.

I love Buffy to pieces, even though he's a boo-boo head, but Penny makes me proud - I've helped make a difference in her life.

Sandy, with the help of Buffy and Penny (who is sitting next to me, as usual)

"The Ballad of Penny" by Sandra Evans (I think of it as the theme song for F&F, since it fits so many of their residents)

The Ballad of Penny

(to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy)

I'm a Fur and Feather Rescue

Fur and Feather saved my life.

They kept me warm and fed and kept me safe

'Till I found my forever place!

I was carefully matched up with you

They' told you all the good and bad

You won't be sorry that you picked me out

Just look at the smile on my snout!!

Penny isn't there right now

but there are still a lot left

looking for a lifetime home,

do you have room at your place?

Nash & his new family, Marty & Dave Dalbey

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