Dog Tales

Here you'll find heartwarming tales of PAWS foster dogs, PAWS dog adoptions and PAWS   dog rescues ... it's what PAWS is all about.


Pixie


PAWS was called by the Ashtabula APL to see if we were able to take this little 5 year old  Min Pin / Chihuahua mix since she was not doing well in a shelter environment and her eye needed medical attention - it could possibly have to be removed.


Of course we took her and her foster mom took her to several vets to try to save her eye. With a few medications and some TLC, Pixie's eye will be just fine. She was spayed and had some bad teeth removed. 


Her little tail never stopped wagging. I'm sure she was happy to be safe and feeling better.


In no time we found her the perfect family who already had a doggy ophthalmologist since their other dog had some eye issues also - a match made in heaven.


Troy- Crossing the Rainbow Bridge


It is with a heavy heart that I have to tell you that Troy crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. It was discovered that he had a huge cancerous mass in his spine that was discovered  when we once again had to rush him into emergency. This mass was missed on his first visit when he first came into PAWS Ohio just a few days ago.


I want to thank Amanda Hinton for giving him a comfortable place to lay his head and frail body on for the past few days. You were his comfort, his provider, and gave him love that he did not obviously have in his life for a very long time.


I also want to thank Janet Hanna for her love and concern for Troy, and Lisa Hart for being with me tonight as we sent him on his way to the Rainbow Bridge.


I want to also thank each and every one of you who donated for his care, sent messages of support, and loved this boy from afar.


Amy Beichler - Executive Director


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Reilly
The Life of Reilly: An Adoption Love Story

By Laura Bruck


When it’s meant to be, adopting an animal is like falling in love—sometimes at first sight. 


Richmond Heights residents Chip and Donna know that feeling well, as do all the rescued animals with whom they've shared their lives. And now, a lucky 10-year lab-mix named Reilly does too. 


Called Homer by his rescuers, this sweet old boy wandered the streets until he collapsed and, miraculously, found himself in a PAWS foster home. Homer had no clue that, as he was recovering, I was searching for the words to help readers look past his senior status and health issues to see what volunteers described as one of the gentlest dogs they’d ever known. He also had no idea that Chip and Donna had decided to add an older lab or lab-mix to their family—as long as the couple’s golden lab-mix Heidi, whom they’d rescued as a puppy, could retain her princess status while sharing her parents’ love. And then, the Sun News landed on Chip and Donna’s doorstep.


“The minute I saw that face I knew Homer was meant to be ours,” said Donna who, along with Chip, waited anxiously by the phone after submitting an adoption application. Days later, Chip, Donna and their precious Heidi went to meet Homer. And the rest, as they say, is history.


“We’ve always had a special place in our hearts for older animals, and are quite accustomed to giving medications,” said Chip, adding that Homer’s bald patches from a previous flea infestation don’t phase them at all. “In our eyes he’s beautiful just the way he is,” Chip said.


With a new home, a new name and a fresh start in life, Reilly had been home for only days when I went to visit but he greeted me with his tail wagging as if he’d been there forever. “Reilly was simply ready to be home, and he’s everything we wanted and more,” said Donna, who still struggles with thoughts of her sweet boy wandering the streets. 


As I sat in Chip and Donna’s home, surrounded by photos and paintings of their beloved animals, I wished I could somehow clone these people who had given such precious gifts to Reilly, Heidi and so many others. And as Princess Heidi napped happily on the couch, I saw in Reilly’s eyes what I saw in hers; namely, the kind of peace and contentment that come only from knowing you’re truly home. “What a fitting name,” I thought, “for a dog who really is living the life of Reilly.”



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