Hope you are well. Have attached pictures of 'Tiger' who is settling in very well and is absolutely gorgeous.

We love him heaps. Hope you like the pics!!

Take care, Cheers

I thought it was time I let you know how Dallas (now re-named Dalla) was settling in with us, after we adopted her on 1st December. As you know, we adopted Dalla after our much loved Heeler X Fitzy passed away from cancer in October '07. We were absolutely devastated to lose Fitzy and after our initial loss, we wanted to be able to give another shelter dog a loving home and experience that unconditional love only a dog can give.

Well, despite some initial challenges for all of us in settling Dalla in, I'm pleased to be able to say she is an absolute joy to have in our household. Dalla is now accepting she has to have manners and is learning how to come and stay and wait before she barges into the house. We still have a little way to go before she stops jumping all over us with excitement when we come home, but we're getting there. It's only because she is just SO excited to see us. Her separation anxiety is also slowly disappearing, so that's good.

All she craves is for us to be with her (constantly!) and we have to laugh when she rolls over onto her back for a tummy rub. She'd stay there all day if she could! Any command we give her ends up with her on her back for a belly rub - even shake hands!!!

Gradually, we hope to be able to introduce her to some 'doggy' friends, as at the moment, she really doesn't like other dogs. She also needs to learn that Buster (the cat) is part of the family and we are slowly teaching her not to run at him any time one of us talks to him or pats him.

We've even made a breakthrough in her eating habits and she'll now accept tinned dog food and dry food, after turning her nose up at everything offered to her in the first 3-4 weeks she lived with us. She never went hungry though as she had buried copious bones/treats in the garden which she dug up whenever she felt like something.

All in all, we love having the beautiful Dalla with us. When she's outside she loves her kennel (complete with snooza mattress and polar fleece rug) and also curling up on the mat in front of our couch whenever we're watching t.v.. She loves people, and often will just sit with her head in one of our laps looking lovingly at us. It melts your heart!!!

Thank you Sue for the patience and kindness you showed us in our adoption process. We had our small hiccup prior to adopting Dalla, but she really belongs here now and we're so pleased she's come into our lives. We look forward to many years of fun with our Dalla.

Here's a recent photo of her, and I think you'll agree she's looking fit and a lot trimmer than when she came to live with us, thanks to our daily 5km walks, which we both look forward to immensely. She also keeps herself fit chasing buckets around the back yard. I learned a bucket was her greatest love by accident when I was watering the garden with a bucket of grey water and she grabbed the empty bucket from my hand and started to chase it around the yard. She even sticks her head into it, flips it into the air, catches it and then starts the game over again. It's hilarious to watch!

We hope that anyone reading the new home stories and considering adopting a shelter dog but has concerns, will take the positives from our story. This is our 2nd adoption from Keysborough, and whilst we have had some challenges with Dalla we didn't encounter with our previous adoption, we would recommend to anyone who may believe they're taking on someone elses problems by adopting an older/shelter dog, that the rewards and sense of pride to be able to give love and shelter to a homeless dog far, far outweighs any disadvantages. It is love all around here!

Kind regards, Alison & Colin

We adopted Rufus, previously known as Hooch (No. 26649) from your shelter on 27th Dec 2007.
From day one he was as happy as could be and has settled in to be a much loved member of our family.
He has become a devoted companion to Jen, our 8yr old labX, and our feisty cat Jules has even accepted him finally.

He has thrived on long walks, loads of cuddles and a bit of discipline, I often think of what a wonderful dog his previous owners have missed out on.
I have enclosed a few photos I thought you may like, Many thanks, Mary

We decided to adopt them several weeks ago when we heard that they had been in the shelter for 2 months, with no suitable prospective owners.
We sat for a long time with the Boogie-woogies (as we now call them) in their enclosure, and got to know them. They were so shy but seemed to want our affection, and were clearly unhappy- despite an abundance of food, they were thin. And despite the wonderful efforts of the staff, their physical needs were not able to be met- their eyes, in particular, were very crusted and weepy. On top of that, we observed the constant stream of visitors past their enclosure, staring at them, laughing at them and making comments about their "ugliness".
We thought that they were beautiful (though we wish people would not breed cats to the point their features impede their ability to care for themselves) and felt we just couldnt leave them there for one more day. The shelter was in the midst of a huge cat crisis, and we felt we could make room in our lives for two more cats.

I can honestly say that this was one of the best decisions we have ever made.

We were so worried that they wouldnt adjust to our other animals, but they waltzed out of their carriers as though they hadnt a care in the world. Our boogie-woogie's need eye care every day without fail, especially Boogie, who has a chronic eye condition. They also need grooming at least every other day. They do require a lot more maintenance than our other cats. However, in return, we have been blessed with the two sweetest cats we have ever known. In fact, they arent really like cats very much at all- more like little walking teddy bears. They know their names and come running when we call them, and love to be cuddled like little babies! (We've never known cats like this before). Gone are the shy, bedraggled Persians from the shelter. They sleep with us in our bed, and when I come home from work, they are waiting for me at the door. They are also very playful- in fact, Boogie is the most playful cat I've ever met. They love to have bubbles blown for them, and to chew on anything with catnip in it.

I'm so glad we decided to bring our boogiewoogies home with us. Thank you to all of the staff who cared for them while at the shelter- especially to Suzanne, who helped with the adoption process, and to the staff member who clipped their hair (what a mammoth task that must have been, and they still look great). I'm attaching some pictures for you from their first days home. Also thanks to Leigh for the text message asking how they were- this reminded me that I havent updated yet!

Many thanks, Claire and Stef

Just a quick note to let you know how our beautiful ginger girl Tinka is doing. We adopted her back in July 2007 after deciding our 18month old cat Molly needed a friend to keep her company. We were originally going to adpot an older cat but after spotting tiny little Tinka in the kitten enclosure we fell in love. She was so small and fluffy and from the start all she wanted to do was curl up on my lap and purr.

Molly was fascinated by the new addition and after a few days of supervised introduction times they soon became friends, although Tinka made it clear from the beginning when she was on my lap Molly was not allowed!

The two of them together are incredibly amusing and they keep my husband and I entertained with their antics and wrestling matches. Though they don't sleep together often we do sometimes find them having a quick cuddle or giving each other a bit of a wash.

Thanks you AAPS for all the hard work you do for all the animals.
Meagan, Luke, Molly and Tinka.

I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know how well Jimmy is doing in his new home. You may remember him as 'Gizmo' a German x English Short Haired Pointer that we adopted just after Christmas.
Jimmy is loving his new home, and as you can see he is looking much healthier now. We have been feeding him twice a day for the past few months and he has gained a further 4kg. The vet says we should be able to go to one feed per day in another month or so. His coat is shiny and he seems very happy overall. He and Ruby are best friends and its hard to imagine our home without him!
Thank you so much for helping us out in our search for a new friend for Ruby.

Thanks again, Michael.

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