ARF Happy Tails

We love to share the Happy Tails of our adopted pets! If you've adopted one  of our rescue pets, please send us your photos to include on our Happy Tails page.

Louie Hi Kathy,  Thank you so much for helping us adopt Louie today. He is PURRFECT for us. We thought he'd like to decompress in his own room for the day so we set it up with a bed and litter box and of course a lovely heart shaped water dish and food bowl. He was in there for maybe 2 minutes before we heard him pawing to come out. Thought well what the heck, we'd try it. He came out, met everyone. There was a bit of initial hissing, nothing much really. He seems to like everyone and actually he seems like he's been here for a long time already. He just made himself at home and fits right in. It's quite amazing. Attached are some photos. That's the wicker toy box for the cats in the one photo. I'll keep you up to date on our new baby.  Thanks again--We love him!! Debbie (and Steve) Teuscher Jersey Thank you so much for helping to make the “best birthday ever!” Saturday, Jan. 2nd was my daughter’s 8th birthday and also the day we brought home Little Lamb. She has been named Jersey and has added so much fun to the house already! She has been introduced to family and friends, and puppy neighbors, and is doing wonderful.  My daughter loves joining in the responsibilities- anything from filling the water bowl to cleaning up accidents! Jersey enjoys chasing her tennis ball then bringing it right back and after a few (hundred) more times, curling up on laps for a quick nap. She is doing great with following directions, with “sit” and “stay” already mastered.  Our 2nd vet check-up at Wheaton Animal Hospital is this weekend; I’m guessing Jersey is about 6-7 lbs. now. We will continue to check-in with you to see the other families you’ve helped. If you have heard anything about Maggie’s other pups, Jersey would love to hear how her siblings are doing.  Thank you again and happy adopting!!!  ~Heather, Ken, Haley & Jersey Phantom Dear Ann,  Just thought you'd enjoy this cute picture of Phantom (Nicholas). He is a truly wonderful dog! Indeed, he's the most loving animal I & my wife have ever known! Thank you again for bringing him to us!  Blessings, Rich Bossie Maverick Tanya: It has been a little hectic as my dad is in the hospital, but wanted to share a couple pictures with you. Maverick has adopted a shoe cubby as his spot. Not sure how long he will fit, but for now it is his safe spot.  Mat Quincy Hi Kathy!  I just thought I would let you know that we found our kitty!  We went to the Wheaton PetsMart on Saturday and fell in love with Quincy.  My son is so excited to finally have a cat.  Quincy is doing well and is so funny.  He is a snuggle bug, too! Here are some pics!  Thanks again for all of your help! :) Take Care! Jenny Bandit Bonnie Hi Kathy, Attached are some pics of Felicia ( I renamed her Bonnie ) Henry and Charlie my Chihuahuas (rescue babies ) Murphy, my horse and pics of Walter yellow canary and Harry blue parakeet.  I will have more pictures of her. Thank you so much for sending me pictures of her. She is so loving, smart, and affectionate to my other fur babies. She always greets me at the door with my other fur babies when ever I am returning home. She knows her name Bonnie, as she comes to me when I call her. She is so beautiful and very loving. Thank you for letting me adopt her into my family.  ~jil Jerry We are the adoptive family of the sweetest little dog...our Dear Little Jerry (aka Berry). He has a fulltime playmate, Shannon, and a loving family. He has a nice fenced in yard to play in and goes to the dog park every day with my husband Pat. Thank-you for rescuing this sweet creature!  ~Susan Peters Brugh Macie Hello,  It's long over due, but I wanted to update you on how Macie, the black lab/great dane mix is doing. She is the sweetest and smartest puppy. She loves to run around in her big back yard and chase snowflakes. Her favorite hang out is under our 1 year old's highchair.. She can always find some yummy crumbs. She has put on a few pounds and is getting so tall. She is the perfect addition to our family.  Happy New Year!  ~The Gudath Family Beamer Hi Tom, Just wanted to let you know Beamer is settling in well and has quickly become a beloved member of our family. He has already gained a few needed pounds, loves walks and naps on the couch (he's a great snuggler!). Our cat finally got over his initial anger at us and they are becoming good companions. I took him to The Barking Lot last week to get his nails trimmed. The ladies there were great and thought they remembered Beamer from when he was with you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ~Margie   Phineas and Ferb We adopted our sweet kittens in September.  They are a wonderful addition to our family and our Golden loves them too. ~Renee Holly Hello, Ann! I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know how MUCH we are enjoying Holly (whom we have renamed Luna!) Luna (in Italian) means "moon" which, if you happen to know, there was a Blue Moon on New Year's Eve! (Not necessarily blue, but big!) Since Luna is beginning a new life with us during the New Year (2010) that started with a Blue Moon, we felt the name was appropriate! (Blue Moons are rare. The next Blue Moon will not occur until another 20 years or so!) Just like a Blue Moon, Luna is a rare treasure to us, and deserves big loving! She seems to answer to the new name quite well, so far... as we use the name in only the most endearing, sing-songy fashion, whenever we call her. I plan to take her in for her stitches (from being spayed) to be removed this week at Wheaton, as was directed. Then we can begin having fun with a little obedience training. (I thought it would be best to let her have a free week of getting to know us and her new place before training her with some basic safety commands, such as "come," "sit," and "stay".) The first night, not surprisingly, she just sniffed and sniffed and sniffed every square inch of our two-story house, plus the basement, before settling down. My sister immediately came by that same evening, to meet her too... she now loves Luna as much as we do, and she says she will gladly dog-sit whenever needed, as we knew she would! Today I gave Luna a little face and paw trim, and she looks as lovely as ever! (No bathing was done yet, of course, with her stitches.) She and Giotto are getting along famously. We have long, ceiling-to-floor windows along the back of our house, and they enjoy watching the winter birds nesting in bushes and feeding off of our bird feeder. Luna loves to hunker down at the foot of our king-sized bed at night, usually on TOP of my legs, before falling asleep! We have found the two of them playing with toys in the living room or studio space, and can hear Luna running around squeaking loudly any of the toys she has in her mouth at the time. Philip and I have even gotten them to play tug o'war with the deflated squirrel toy (it's as limp as a rag) with some success. Giotto, I suppose, is practicing being the Alpha dog. He has a hard time sharing his toys to some degree, but no quarrels have ensued. He will simply snatch the toy away and then run around with it, or hides it, as if he owns it. Luna seems to appreciate being the gentler, quieter one, albeit slightly younger. I have learned that she is a good little retriever of toys when we play fetch with her. I marveled at the way she sat so sweetly for me when I was trimming her face today, too. She is a Beauty and we have quickly fallen in love with her! I'll continue to write as we get to know Luna better. We are so happy to have added a second (poodle) to our family, and glad that Luna and Giotto have one another, too! We look forward to teaching Luna new commands in the future, exercising her outdoors (with Giotto) when this frigid weather warms up a bit, and bonding with her even further, if that's possible! She is the single, most exciting new addition to our family and a real gift! We are thrilled to have Luna with us. It was nice meeting you too, Ann. Thank you for (temporarily) caring for (Holly) Luna before we met and adopted her last Wednesday! Happy New Year! Wishing you and A.R.F. all the best in 2010! (Here are a few photos I had on hand - before the face & paw trim!)  ~Etola (Philip, Giotto and Luna) Zinni   Abby Ann,  Hope all is well with you and all your animals. Attached are 3 pictures. 1st is of Ethan faxing some papers. 2nd is of Abby napping on a bag, and 3rd is the 2 of them napping. I'm very pleased I took your advice and picked Lucie, we changed her name to Abby. You could not ask for two cats to get along better than they do, and Abby is great for Ethan.  THANKS Ann.  ~Eldon Sprite We adopted Sprite several months ago, under her name of B.L. (formerly broken leg kitty) and we have since changed her name to Sprite. She was spayed in late November. Please contact me if you need any further proof or have any questions. I hope this information is what you were looking for. Also, I have attached some recent pictures of Sprite, along with her brother and sister, our other cat and dog. I would like to share our story of Sprite's journey. Since we adopted her in September, she has had chronic diarrhea. We went to two different vets, had many many tests done, tried several types of medicine, and to no avail. The doctors were puzzled, and Sprite was miserable and not improving, and her diarrhea was an awful mess to clean up all over the house. We were extremely worried about her condition and had already become very close to her. I was not sure what else to do, so I sent an email to ARF and got a response back from Tom. Tom was so helpful and offered for us to take her back to Wheaton Animal Hospital and ARF would pay the bill to get her treated. We were skeptical that anything else would work, but we took her to Wheaton and the combination of special food and medicine worked like a charm. She has recovered wonderfully and has since been vaccinated and spayed, and her health and attitude are one hundred times better. She is such a sweet kitten and she loves her new home, and her other siblings, another cat and a pug dog. Sprite has become an important part of our family and we are so very thankful to ARF for their help and support. Thank you! ~Melanie   Colby AKA Choma Hello everyone! We adopted Colby from you the week before Thanksgiving. Sorry it took awhile before I let everyone know how he's doing. We ended up naming him Choma (pronounced 'Cho' as in chosen, and ma). Choma is the most cuddliest, clingiest, and affectionate dog - It took no time at all before I was comfortable letting him exercise off-leash. He's very respondant and always tries to work out what I'm saying to him; there have been times when I've actually spoken to him in plain english, and he's complied! He's also become very skilled at picking up my habits. For example, we usually walk down the street to the trash bin to throw the poops away. Before, I'd throw the poop away and have to turn him around manually so that we could go back towards the house. Now, as we approach the bin, he slows down, waits while I throw the poops, and is ready to turn right around on his own. All this without me saying a word! I did alot of research to make sure I was making an informed decision with a border collie, but seeing the wheels working within his brain in person is a completely AMAZING experience to observe first-hand. Thank you guys so much for informing me about Colby coming into your rescue, and allowing me to meet and adopt him. I really wanted to rescue a border collie in need, and you guys made that wish come true! Forever grateful, ~Mykela Harrell and Family Camden Hi, I just wanted to give you an update on Cam, we just love him to death! We bought him a new toy and he can already fetch short distances. We purchased some training treats and his "sit" is coming along wonderfully! He had his first pig ear yesterday (cut in half) and he was in heaven!  He can go up the stairs pretty well, going down... well we have to carry him!  He has had a few pee accidents, I think from the excitement, (we are taking him out every 15 mins!).  He hates the cold, but so do I! We will be buying him a sweater today.  Our neighbors came over to meat him and brought their dog over.  She and cam get along famously! Wheezer is not too keen on him yet, he just runs away from Cam.  I think he's a bit jealous, and has never seen a puppy. He doesn't quite know what to do with him. We are giving Wheezer plenty of attention and treats so he doesn't feel left out. It's gonna take some time. Cam is completely submissive to Wheezer so he knows his place.  He slept the whole 2 1/2hr ride home.  We stopped once and he went potty and right back to sleep! More updates to come and I will try to get some pics for you. Thank you for all you do & your lives devotion to dogs and cats. We love Cam. Thanks! again  ~Kathy   Cookie and Reece (former Maya and Ana) They are both doing very well and are growing like weeds!!  They love our other dog and she has been very tolerable of their constant biting of her tail. They have also been doing pretty well with the potty training.　We have only had a few pee accidents. Tom/Gary--Thank you so much for everything--they are great dogs and we are very happy that we adopted both girls! ~Jennifer   Buba Just a quick update on Buba.  We adopted him in April and after a week long battle with parvo,  Buba could not be happier.  He is now 25 lbs. and found out that he is a Lab/Italian Grey Hound mix.  He visits the dog parks about 4 times a week and loves other dogs.  He is faster than most, but still loves to play.  He is in a home surrounded by love and constantly has someone to take care of him, as all of my families work schedules works out to minimize him being left alone.  To this day, he has been a very healthy puppy and is now going on nine months.  I thank you for the opportunity to adopt him and look forward to working with you for the next dog we adopt. -Sean Ripley  Poppy & Sapphire First, I wish to thank you for all the work you are doing to find great homes for animals that would otherwise be destroyed. Also, I wish to thank you for my two little "children", Emma and Jack (formerly "Poppy" and "Sapphire", as was noted on their bios at Petsmart at Danada). I adopted them about 4 weeks ago from a wonderful lady named Mary - I had not the intention of actually getting an animal, but one Sunday night, I happened into Petsmart just before closing, Mary let me in, and I fell in love with an adorable gray little girl kitten and realized that I needed her as much as she needed me. The, she chose another kitten (Sapphire, now Jack Bauer like in the show "24") and I took him as well. I cannot tell you how much these two babies have filled my life with joy. I am in the process of a divorce, and I needed something to pour love onto, and what a double blessing these two have been! They love the toys I have gotten them, chase each other and play fight all the time, but they never put teeth into each other. Jack is adventurous - loves to stalk my pant legs and grab on, but when I am feeling down or a trifle sick, he is always there. He greets me when I come home with purrs and throwing his little body against my legs. He weighs a little over 4 pounds and is about 1-1/2 times his size already. Emmy is a little thing (named after my mother who passed away about 25 years ago)- all fluff and sweetness - with dainty paws and a sweet little mew. But she holds her own again Jack - and loves to lay all over him. (They are getting neutered and front declawed within the next 6 weeks!) I wanted you all to know that they are a continuous gift - worth every penny I spend on them - and bring me just a oodle of comfort and joy. They might outlive me - knowing that cats can easily live to double digits and beyond 15yrs. - I will be 60 in a week. But I know that as I consider retirement in the next year or two, they will continue to be like children to me. Thank you for rescuing all the animals you do - especially my two loved ones. Sincerely, Patty Corwin   Sweet  Baby Girl Sweet Baby Girl was found as a stray by a local animal control.  ARF pulled her out of there when her time was up to make sure she wasn't euthanized. Hard to even think that such a sweet heart could have been at risk of being euthanized.  The only thing we can guess is that she was abandoned by her former owners. When taken to the vet by ARF the vet found tons of bladder stones; she must have been in so much pain. The wonderful veterinarians at Wheaton Animal Hospital performed surgery on Sweet Baby Girl and she was in fantastic shape in a matter of days and ready to find a new home. To all our friends at ARF, you can be assured you will not see her in another animal control. She is a sweetheart. This morning we have my father babysitting her (so my wife can run errands). He  has been begging us to babysit her as she is already adored by her grandfather. The few people she has met she has been so sweet to. My dad says this is the first and last dog we should get as he views her as the sweetest dog he has ever seen (and he has owned and met a lot of them) and will probably never have one as sweet. Thanks, Roger   Pepper Ann, and all others at ARF, First off, Dr. Pepper is no longer Dr. Pepper.  He is now just Pepper. The girls came home and stated "Dad, this is Pepper," contrary to what Karen and I had picked for a name.  I dutifully said "okay."  So Pepper is now adjusting quickly to his home and is loving us, and being loved. Well, not having a puppy in a number of years is obvious in our house.  We have to chase him around and scoop him up when we think he's going to pee.  The first couple of days was crazy, but now we seem to have come to an understanding, and he whines a little and follows us around, telling us he has to go out.  Except for today... it's raining.  He will run for the porch as soon as we put him down.  So after four tries, I gave up and figured, "I guess you don't have to go," until he gets inside, where its nice and warm and dry, then it's pee time.  Oh well, good thing we bought the stain and odor remover.  Attached is a picture of our girls and Pepper. We'll let you know from time to time what's going on. Thanks again for what you all do, Dave and Karen   Sonny  Hi all, About a month ago, on a Sunday, at a model airplane contest in Muncie, Indiana, I met a man with a friendly Shepard-mix dogie. I gave the dog some of my ham sandwich and started talking to the man about dogs. And, the subject turned to Rockys' passing and how much I missed him, and the man could see my pain. He said, his dog passed and he wasn't gonna get another, then by chance, god brought this beautiful stray into his life and brought him much joy. He told me, "some day the same thing will happen to you, I guarantee it!" Well, last week I was looking at a site on the Internet, ARF (Animal Rescue Foundation) and I saw a picture of a beautiful Boxer that was in a kill-shelter in Southern Illinois. ARF rescued him and brought him to the Chicago area to try and find a home. So, I filled out the form for him and emailed it. Didn't hear anything for a day or so, and thought he was probably placed already. Then last Wednesday a nice couple (Frank and Kim) who work for ARF called, and told me I would have the first chance to see the Boxer. The next day they brought him to my house to check everything out. What a beautiful little sweetheart! He's about a year old, very smart, and a really good doggie! He would lick your face if you were here. His name is now Sonny (after Sonny Liston the boxer). We are enjoying early morning long walks; he is in training and learning very fast. He is a brindle Boxer (deep red color with black stripes melted in). Here's a picture of the boy. Boxer slobbers to all, Gene and Sonny