Giove, You Made It!

Giove (see the picture from earlier blogs) was trapped for many years in a horrible shelter were he had to drink his own urine many times, and often went without food for days at a time. The lack of food and water happened many times during his time there. He is some kind of terrier mix so many were afraid of him ---still many don't understand that it is often the human that creates the dog's "aggressive" mentality through their interaction with the dog--- and needed surgery for a hernia (surgery provided by AWL). Erika and Bobby sat reading my blog and saw this picture of him trying to reach out from the cage. There was something with this little boy that reached across the kilometers, indeed across Europe, and touched their heart.

They contacted AWL and told us they wanted to adopt him! So the journey began (please read earlier blog stories about him) ---he stayed at another shelter, a little better since they got food every day. Once the adoption was for sure, I moved him to a sort of kennne, where all the shots and tests were done, as well as the operation for his hernia. He stayed there for several months, getting well. For four (4) months he had to stay there until I could bring him to our home for evaluation and socialization. One veterinarian told me to be careful because he would nip! They said "Absolutely no children and he wouldn't get along well with our other dogs."

A little nervously, I have to admit, with 13 dogs and 2 children in my house, I definitely didn't want to jeopardize anyone's safety. But then I have learned from my work (12 years) that people are different, environments are different and dogs minds are certainly different. That's why we test them several times and in different situations. The result after three weeks here; Giove was best friends with everyone in my house, he listened and learned so quickly, it amazed me, and with my children he was polite and gentle (they were never alone with him and we didn't have him on the bedroom floor, it's closed to the dogs to come up). In a car, he was wonderful. Out at cafes; gentle, waiting patiently next to the chair. At a veterinarian waiting room with other dogs, no problems!

Eating, he is protective of his bowl, so we fed him in a separate room. When he's done the bowl was removed. (Why protective? In the first shelter they got fed every 6 days... you'd be protective of your food too!). Once we learned these habits, we easily adjusted him and our envitornment to counter the undesired behavior.

Veterinarians; reacted to the stereotype of a Pitbull mix. They immediately wanted to muzzle him and treat him like an "aggressive" dog. In some slight ways, this was a self-fullfilling prophesy. His reaction to being restrained and presented with a needle was learned from his past. (Why? Dog catchers caught him with 2 ropes and pulled in two directions while one pulled him up by his tail to demobilize and lift him up. We have pictures of this... imagine it would leave a permanent memory with him, not a pleasant one! He had been really baddly treated by some veterinarians.)

We went to another veterinarian to give him a shot. Sadly this veterinarian was so scared of this small 10 kg Terrier and started to wrestled with Giove while yelling excitedly. I tried to explain why and how we wanted him to be handled, but this male veterinarian wrestled and yelled, "Do you know this is a dangerous dog?!"

Giove is now at his home in Sweden, getting aquainted with his new mates, a Mastif and Rhodesian Ridgeback. Why the couple drove 22 hours each way to pick him up rather than flying him? They wanted to have some time together with him, to get to know him before he would meet the other two kids.
This is a wonderful couple who have great experience with terriers and dog psychology/training. I would never allow a dangerous or unstable dog into somebodies home, not even my own home. We have had to put down very few dangerous dogs, sadly not their fault their behavior was created by humans. I work for what is best for the dog. Giove, he won a place in Paradise. Good Luck my friend, you did it my "mini-Mandela."

Giove -- Update

Finally, finally we are getting to give Giove a wonderful life, he so deserves it.

You remember Giove from the terrible shelter. Ylva took a picture that a wonderful couple in Sweden saw and fell in love with him. They fell so much on love that they adopted him and this was back in February! He was transported to another shelter, not as bad as the other one, but not very nice either. Paper work is a nightmare here and the change of microchip took a long time so we could start with all the blood tests. We transferred Giove to one veterinarian clinic in quarantine, tests and a hernia surgery, de-worming and de-worming and gosh everything.

We have paid, me and my husband, 700 euro for his treatment and lodging. And then the trip for him is not included. This is one reason why Sweden gets a lot of sickness and problem dogs since adopting a healthy dog is expensive and no organization can afford to spend up to 1000 euro per dog on many cases.

Today, me and my children picked him up and he was so sweet in the car, sitting looking out through the back windows. He was a good gentleman when walking into my yard and 6 dogs greeted him sniffing him very carefully and he stood absolutely still and wagged his tail.

Right now he is outside laying in his first grass ever, together with his former "terrible shelter" friends wondering...what is this green stuff?

AWL - Shelter Cleaning Mission

Animals Without Limits mobilized volunteers from the US Navy and NATO communities here to help clean another area shelter and take care of the dogs there. This shelter was in much better condition than the "terrible shelter" in January, but had taken in many of those "terrible shelter" dogs, filling the shelter beyond designed capacity.

Thank you all great volunteers for today's mission. You did all a truly wonderful job.
Kristine, Rosa with boyfriend, Keegan, Jackie with neighbor. Siron and Brown, great job!

Dareen did an excellent grooming job, cutting the fur.

Vania and her husband with friends (3), you did a tough job very well.

Cleaning and brushing the dogs. Washing their cages and houses. Many were emotionally touched by the dogs and we hope we gave them a sunny day. They sure gave us a lot of Amore.

The dog "Fiora" was quickly everyone's favorite. Abandoned with her brother by their English owner when they moved to Hawaii (actually left them in their vacant apartment!!). She is around two years-old and so affectionate and well behaved. This dog truly deserves an owner to love forever!

Sarah and Bruce making lunch for the dogs.

In total, the team finished cleaning and taking care of approximately 70 dogs, and cleaning their cages (around 20). We plan to go out again in 3 weeks to finish the job, and hopefully power-wash the pens as well.

AWL in the news

Yesterday's activity to close the "terrible shelter" was reported on in the Stars & Stripes newspaper. Read it here.

The reporter told me that her editor cut about half the story she had written because of space limitations. I can only assume he cut the best parts that talked about our wonderful Veterinarian, Dr. Inga and great volunteer/friend Ylva. Our many, many thanks to them.

Also, so many thank-you's to Ms Sandra Jonz, the Stars & Stripes reporter who spent the morning with us at the "terrible shelter" and not only wrote a great article, but will perhaps one day go on a mission with us as a volunteer herself.

People coming together to help those without a voice of their own. That's amore.

AWL in the Newspaper

Our clean up days at the "terrible shelter" are getting acknowledged in Panorama. (page 6 and 11)

• I will also thank Erika Sundman who was the one who made AWL aware of the "terrible shelter".
• Ylva Mercer who cleaned like a man, and made lunch like a woman.
• Kath for 10 big Clorox cans.
• Zina for your dog care package.
• All the wonderfull workers who toiled over the 2 days of effort.
  

And to all you who donated so that we could buy all the medicine, a big amore THANK YOU!

Terrible Shelter Update

A lot has been happening about the "Terrible Shelter", and we've now been informed that it will close completely on February 13th. On this date, any remaining dogs will be seized by the authorities, and taken to one of the "official" shelters... the ones that are canine warehouses.

So, there is only about 2 weeks to adopt away as many of these wonderful, worthy, helpless souls. You can see the current listing of dogs, with pictures and descriptions at this link.

These amore souls did nothing to deserve being in this shelter, and their continued love of and for humans demand that we find them homes.

One Who Deserves a Home---Una che merita una casa...

Photo from the randagi organization. http://www.randagi.org/

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=QpuHCm9NVxo

She is such a loving soul that is left in the "terrible shelter' where we are going to help this weekend.

The first time I met her I fell in love with her. Maybe it was her love and eagerness to love up on me, that made me see her among all 60 dogs in terrible need.

Maybe it was her right-front foot that is oddly twisted, (probably from a badly healed break) that made me love her, she is so beautiful and I call her "my duck foot." She is 5-6 years old and it is such a shame that this loving dog has to be moved to another "awful shelter" if we can't find her a home.

She is so sweet, kind, loving and it breaks my heart even harder this time that I cannot bring her home with me. We have seven now, and soon eight....oh my God I hope our landlord doesn't read my blog!

If someone would like to adopt her I will do everything in my power to help. She is a fantastic dog, and if Mia Mattsson-Mercer, the well known animal psychologist says so, it is so.

This is an Amore dog with a beautiful paw.

lei e un anima cosi dolce, ma purtroppo lei si trova abbandonata in questa struttura , questo canile terribile- dove noi andiamo questo weekend per cercare di migliorare un po la situazione.
La prima volta che le ho vista , mi sono innamorata subito. Forse era perche lei era cosi affetuosa con me, e grazie a questo le ho visto tra sessanta altri cani in bisogno di aiuto.
Forse era anche perche ha un problema con una delle zampe, (sembra che si e rotta prima e poi mai non curato)e cosi dolce, e grazie alla zampa rotta la chiamo con amore la mia papperina. lei ha tra 5-6 anni ed e veramente un peccato vederla la in questo posto brutto . se non troviamo una bella casa per lei, allora va trasportata in un altro canile ancora piu brutto di questo .
lei e cosi dolce, cosi brava e mi si spezza davvero il cuore perche non posso portarmela con me a casa. Ora abbiamo sette cani, tra poco otto ! mio dio spero che il propriatrio della casa non legge il mio blog..,
se qualcuno volesse adottarla sarei disposta a fare qualsiasi cosa per aiutare. Lei e un cane fantastico, e se Mia Mattsson - Mercer, famosa psykologa degli animali lo dice - allora e cosi.
Questo e un cane stupendo che merita davvero qualcuno!

Starving Dogs -- Cani Affamati

Yesterday evening around 19.00, I got a phone call from the Sengora of "Terrible Shelter." Could I come with dog food, there was no food left for them.

Urgh!! A Saturday evening, my family time and where to get food?
I locked my family into a room with chocolate* and said, "Back in a minute!"

Yes! Still some lights on in the dog store. I banged on the door and Alberto, with family, opened. I waved with the donation envelope and shouted I needed dog food for 51 dogs! He thought I couldn't get my numbers right in Italian and came with a small bag. "No no" I said, "I need 60 kg dog food!"

Kind Alberto drove the 60 kg of food ---- three huge bags --- home to my house, I surely couldn't lift that.

Back in the house, I opened the door where my family was locked in to see that they just finished their chocolate*...mom hadn't been gone that long. Sigh!

Thanks Alberto and family for helping AWL. That's sharing Amore!

* The children were not unsupervised, my husband was with them, and the chocolate!

ieri verso le 19, ho ricevuto una telefonata dalla signora dell Canile "terribile" . mi ha chiesto se potevo venire con un po di cibo per i cani perche non avevano niente piu. I

Urgh!! Sabato sera !!! Il mio momento per stare con la mia famiglia a casa e inoltre dove trovare cibo ?Ho chiuso la mia famiglia dentro una stanza con ciocolato caldo e ho detto " torno tra un minuto " Sii!! ancora vedevo delle luci dentro il negozio per gli animali. ho bussato sulla porta e alberto - con la sua famiglia mi ha aperto. Ho fatto vedere la lettera con i donazioni e dicevo quasi disperata che mi serviva cibo per 51 cani. Lui pensava che avevo sbagliato i nummeri in italiano ed e tornato con una busta piccola! "no no " mi serve 60 kilo di cibo" .
gentilissimo Alberto mi ha portato con la macchina sua tutto il cibo a casa mia ---- tre buste enorme---ovviamente non potevo portare 60 kilo cosi in mano fino a casa.

Tornata a casa, Ho apperto la porta dove la mia famiglia stava chiusa avevano appena finito il ciocolato. * mamma non era stata fuori per cosi tanto tempo alla fine. Sigh!Grazie Alberto e alla sua famiglia per l aiuto che date a AWL. Questo e davvero amore !

* I bambini non stavano da soli, cera il mio marito con loro e con il ciocolato.

What a Day! -- Che giornata!

AWL had our first meeting with a fantastic group of Italian animal workers and the project "terrible shelter" is ON! Finally after searching for the right connection and people, being mislead to wrong people we have found the right ones. And today we sat down and talked about what to do at the "terrible shelter".


These people have a working knowledge of the shelter, and the "back story" or history behind it. It is not simple and is terrifying when you hear the background. Once the mission is completed I will write you all the whole story, we are still kind of egg-shell walking at the moment.

But these ladies and we are starting off this Tuesday with plan 1, I can tell you more about that Tuesday evening when we are back. Your generous donations have not been used yet, we are having them ear marked until the middle of January, when our big operation starts, plan 2.


Dexter, our new dog, we knew that he must have had some difficulty in the past, since he is very afraid of hands and people and noise. He is great with other dogs, though.

One of the ladies we met with today, has his sister and is very involved in this mission. Dexter was born several years ago in this cage where we found him. He has never seen freedom until now!

Our wonderful Dexter, no wonder he doesn't go out by himself, he is scratching the door in panic! He sleeps nearly the whole day in our guest bed, and he keeps away from us humans at a good distance. When you are finally reaching him he lays down and freezes. Our little Dexter was for several years kept in this terrible cage in this terrible shelter. He is such a good boy--even if he is peeing quiet often inside--but what the "pumpkin" what does he know differently?


Today it was a lot of Amore, a better day.

AWL ha avuto il primo incontro con un gruppo di persone fantastiche che lavorano per il meglio degli animali. Il progetto "canile terribile" puo prendere inizio! finalmente dopo aver cercato la giusta persona. Oggi abbiamo potuto iniziare a parlare di come organizzarci per la struttura terribile.

Queste persone hanno una esperienza piu ampia di questo canile , e sanno la storia. Non e faccile ed e fa paura quando senti la storia di tutto cio. Quando il missione sara tutto completato scriveró tutto ma dobbiamo ancora stare molto attenti per tanti motivi.

Ma queste signore e noi inizieremmo questo martedi con progetto no 1. Vi racconteró tutto un po piu avanti. I vostri donazioni molto generosi non sono ancora stati usati, li teneremmo fino a meta gennaio quando il nostro grande progetto inizierá.

Dexter, il nostro nuovo cane, sapevamo che aveva una storia brutta dietro, visto che ha tanta paura di persone, mani e rumori. Ma e bravissimo con altri cani.
Uno delle signore che abbiamo incontrato oggi ha la sua sorellina, e la signora segue molto questo missione. Dexter e stato trovato in questa gabbia anni fa e non ha mai avuto una vita in libertá.

Il nostro adorabile Dexter, ci credo che non vuole uscire da solo. Dorme quasi tutta la giornata nel letto degli ospiti. E tiene una distanza da noi persone. Quando riesci a prenderlo si mette per terra in panico e si ferma. Piccolo Dexter che ha dovuto vivere in questo inferno da anni in una gabbia cosi. E un ragazzino dolcissimo anche se fa spesso pipi´dentro - ma come fa a sapere che non lo dovrebbe ?

Oggi cera molto Amore, una giornata migliore.