We Know A Doggy Hero!

Hi everyone! We wanted to share a few happy stories (and one sad one) for the new year!
First, we know we have mentioned our neighbor dogs, Andi, Betty and Finn, before. They live next door to us. Betty and Finn were adopted together from a local rescue organization that specializes in saving senior citizen dogs, and Andi is a giant yellow lab was adopted as a puppy and is now a year old! We always play with them through the fence... especially Andi, who cries with excitement and tries to jump over the fence every time she sees us!
The sad news is that Betty got so old and so sick that she had to go to the Rainbow Bridge. She had a softball sized tumor in her stomach. Even when she was the sickest of sick she still mustered up the energy to bark ferociously at us whenever she saw us! (She had anxiety issues.) We are really going to miss her. But we know Finn is going to miss her the most of all! The two of them were best friends, ever since their days of being in a cage together at the shelter. They would wake up each morning and give each other kisses.
The news about Betty was sad for us to hear, but we also heard some very cool news about Andi! Andi's human aunt had been very ill and had had to have surgery recently. She was staying at Andi's family's house while she recovered, along with her own two dogs, so that Andi's human mother and grandmother could take care of them all. One day Andi's aunt was fast asleep on the couch. All of the humans were used to the aunt sleeping a lot lately and were trying to be quiet so she could get her rest. But Andi had a bad feeling all of the sudden.
Andi jumped up on the couch and started crying and licking her aunt like crazy! The other humans yelled a Andi to get off of her aunt and let her sleep. But Andi wouldn't give up! She just kept on whining and licking her aunt! When the aunt didn't wake up to complain about the gigantic yellow lab on top of her, the humans got worried and checked on her. Andi's aunt was not breathing!
Quickly the humans dialed 9-1-1. But before the ambulance had arrived, Andi's aunt woke up. Andi's vigorous licking had revived her!
It turned out Andi's aunt suffered an allergic reaction related to her surgery, which caused her to stop breathing in her sleep. To the humans, it just looked like the aunt was sleeping peacefully. But dogs have great hearing and can actually hear humans breathing all the time, so Andi was able to actually notice when that sound wasn't coming out of her aunt any more! If Andi hadn't been there, her aunt would have died. Needless to say, the humans treated Andi to a nice, big rawhide bone that night!
Of course, Andi has no idea that what she did was heroic.

In other news, we read on Facebook about this cool project called SharePet. It allows you to "virtually adopt" a pet, and post it on your blog and Facebook page. Then, when we or any of you want to spend money online for things like pet supplies, flight, hotel reservations, and even things you buy at sites like Amazon.com and Buy.com (There are a ton of sites on there) a percentage of what you spend will be donated to the shelter where that pet is, in order to help support that pet. The percentages are different depending on the sites. Some will donate 2%, some up to 20%! You can also share the pet on Facebook or Twitter to get others to notice him or her
We thought this was a great idea. Mama has a special place in her heart for bully breeds, but she knows we probably won't have one any time soon, for a variety of reasons. So she thought virtually adopting one would be a great thing to do! We found Precious, an American Staffordshire Terrier who is currently lost in Yonkers. Well, shes not lost, exactly, but she's in the municipal shelter! (The Yonkers, NY shelter is a "kill shelter" but not a high kill shelter. They say they only euthanize dogs who are considered unadoptable because of age, illness, temperament, etc... although a news article about them mentions that they do sometimes have to euthanize healthy pets to make room for new arrivals.  They have  recently raised enough money to build a brand new shelter that will allow them to take more animals, and give them better living conditions, including a larger outdoor area for play time and agility activities. The Yonkers Humane Society also helps out by taking their overflow pets.)
Precious has a similar story to Trixie! Like Trixie, she had a litter of puppies when she was brought to the shelter. And like Trixie, she was left behind at the shelter to take her chances. The weird thing is that Precious's previous owners kept all of the puppies (they probably planned on selling them) but dropped off Precious at the shelter. Unlike Trixie, who was on that shelter's list to be put to sleep within ten days, before she was rescued by Almost Home Foundation, Precious is not in immediate danger. However, she still wants to have a real home, instead of living in the shelter! Her profile says that she is a sweet, housetrained dog who gets along well with humans and some dogs. If you have other dogs you'd have to introduce them to see if they get along. Obviously this is a dog for someone who has experience with Precious's breed. Not many details are available about her, but if you are thinking of rescuing an American Staffordshire Terrier, we think you should visit her Petfinder profile and give the shelter a call to find out more about her. Also, if you are going to do any shopping online, please come to our site, find Precious's picture on our side bar, click it, and then click on "Buy and give." You'll be able to choose a category for what you're looking for. Amazon.com and Buy.com are also listed in all of the categories. We really hope maybe this dog will catch someone's eye! Thanks, everyone!