Autumn Acres Animal Rescue: Orvis Dog Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
With the generous $1,000 granted to Autumn Acres Animal Rescue through the Orvis partnership, we were able to purchase 12 large dog beds, three cases of 51 dental chews, three small Nylabone chew bones, 15 normal-sized squeaking tennis ball packages, a large variety of Gnawsome Squeaker Ball toys (various sizes/colors), five extra-large Nylabone dog chew bones, five large alligator squeak toys, five extra-large Kong squeak tennis balls, 20 plush squeaker toys, five mat-style dog beds, 20 cases of dog biscuits, two puzzle toys with filler treats, and seven rubber squeaky toys for the tougher chewers.
Our rescue focuses on the dogs most in need. We take the ones who will be harder to place, which means they will have a longer-than-normal stay time. We currently have 33 dogs in our program and they all enjoyed toys, treats, or beds from this donation. Six dogs have been adopted in the past 60 days and they also enjoyed the treats and toys. We still have toys saved for more dogs as they come in. We like to give each new dog a special toy and blanket to be theirs. We have two dogs going through heartworm treatment and they love the puzzle toys. It gives them something to do while they are on exercise restriction. We expect this grant to help 75 dogs in total.
How many pets did this grant help?
39 so far.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Jerry (first photo) came to us through the local city shelter. He was also a part of their special-handling unit. He didn’t handle being on the shelter floor very well and was shut down and growling. Once he was moved to a quieter place, they saw him open up more, and they reached out to rescues to help. We went to meet him and he was so sweet with other dogs and just a bit nervous with humans. We knew he’d love our daycare environment and pulled him. Jerry is a big goofy clown for the most part. He loves toys, loves his people, and is a blast. But he doesn’t like strangers and he doesn’t like when people “force” him to do things. He’s been working with a trainer and he’s going to be just great in the right home. Meet Jerry here.
UPDATE: Jerry has been adopted (second photo)!
Ollie (third photo) came to us through the local city shelter. He was a “special handling” case and was up for euthanasia. He has barrier issues and will not allow strangers to touch him. Once he gets to know you, he’s a total clown. He is a special-needs boy who has some potty accidents when stressed, and visitors can stress him. He needs an understanding home willing to go gently with him. He LOVES toys. He was thrilled to have new toys. Meet Ollie here.
Dinah (fourth photo) is a sweet pit bull/hound-mix girl who is as dog friendly as they come. She loves all people, loves dogs, loves water, loves toys, loves life! She was overlooked for so long, but she was adopted just recently 🙂 She did get to play with toys and loved a green ball!
Bubbles and her sister Blossom (fifth photo) are two very aloof Chihuahua mixes. They will pick one person, and once they’ve bonded with that one person, no one else matters. They are super sweet to their one person. They are crate-trained, they follow you around for treats and give your fingers kisses, but they won’t allow strangers to touch them and will avoid interactions as much as possible. It’s hard to get people to give them a chance. They want the dogs who greet happily, and because Bubbles and Blossom ignore them, they decide not to go further. Bubbles and Blossom loved their new toys and their little nylabones. Meet Bubbles and Blossom here.
Cheddar (sixth photo) is a sweet, easygoing dog with people. He loves to play fetch, loves kids, and he’s house-trained and well-behaved. Cheddar came to us through the Springfield, MO, shelter. That shelter doesn’t adopt to the public, and the only way dogs make it out alive is through a large network of rescue groups. Cheddar loves fetch and was thrilled with the new toys. Meet Cheddar here.
Miles, a.k.a. Miracle Miles (seventh and eighth photos), has an incredible story: “Tonight was a reminder that God always has plans for us. I was driving home and it was around midnight, which means it’s dark as can be on our country road. As I’m coming up to the Cooley Lake area along 210, there’s a red dog walking down the road. He’s coming straight towards my headlights and looks totally lost.
“210 is a two-lane highway with a 60-mph speed limit. I immediately slow down, turn on my flashers and move to the side of the road. I roll down my car window and try talking to the dog. He’s looking at my car and has a scared-but-wanting-saved look. Either someone had dumped him or he’d gotten himself completely lost.
“I get out of my car because another car is coming behind me. I wave and try to slow him down. The dog is still standing in the middle of the road. The driver stops in the middle of the road and sees the dog/me and decides to help. This awesome guy pulls over in front of me and starts tossing fast food at the dog to try to get him to come. He’s crouched down and trying to lure the scared red dog.
“As I’m digging in my trunk for food/toys/leashes, another car is coming. So I start standing in the road waving a bag in my hand to TRY to slow the car down. This car refuses to slow at all and comes so damn close to hitting the dog. It’s an absolute miracle it misses him.
“Another car is coming shortly after and the dog is still pacing back and forth from one side of the road to the other. At least this car slows down before driving past.
“And then a train goes by and between the train, the cars almost hitting him, and us, he decides we aren’t as scary anymore. The dog is really wanting to get into a car and the guy opens his car door and the dog climbs in. That guy was AWESOME.
“Without the two of us working together, I think that dog would have been killed. God put us both together at the right time and right spot to be able to catch this dog.
“We took him in; he had no microchip, and the next day I checked the area where we’d found him during the daylight. There was a red blanket next to the road. We placed found ads and posted him found all over. No one ever called. We checked all of the lost-pet reports; no one ever posted about him. We brought him in to our vet for his vetting and found that he is highly heartworm-positive. He’s a sweetheart. Totally. He’s a ham for photos and he’s got so much personality and charisma. I think he could be a movie dog or a TV commercial dog. The entire vet staff just adored him. He’s currently going through heartworm treatment. He’s on the preliminary meds and he gets his first injection on Nov. 20. He’s not listed on Petfinder yet, but he will be once he’s over his treatment.
