G o i n g H o m e: Opie Taylor Has Been Adopted!

Our sweet & goofy 10 month old pup, Opie Taylor, now has a new last name since he has been adopted by his Army dad!  Opie's new dad is a veteran who served our country for about a year in Afghanistan.  He comes from a family that has lots of love for dogs & knows how to get around bigger dogs - like Opie is going to be once he is fully grown.  Opie's new dad also has lots of friends that have dogs so Mr. Social Butterfly Himself, Opie, will have lots of 4-legged friends to hang around with.  On the day that Opie went home, his foster parents let him run around for one last time with his fellow GFK foster buddy, Popstand Petey, since the two were fast friends.  Of course, he left in his new dad's very clean car with very muddy pawz... but we can say that when he left his fostercare, he didn't even look back... so we know he is home.  Be good Opie!  No annoying your new dad with endless requests to play fetch & always remember to smell & make sure you are on grass & not carpet.  We are looking forward to seeing happy pics of Opie in his new home but in the meantime, we are sharing these   G o i n g  H o m e   pics of Opie with his new dad.

Jumping up to give kisses!

This is their serious face... but if you look closely, you can see both Opie & his new dad are smiling!

Opie giving another kiss to his new dad!

"I'm already looking up to you, Dad!" ~ Opie

As tough as any soldier is, there is always a tender side... Be a good boy, Opie!

All photos above are courtesy of MeliMoon  ~ melimoon.smugmug.com

Merry Christmas from Green Fur Kidz!

Green Fur Kidz foster dog, Popstand Petey, & one of his "mascots", Miss Libi - a puppymill survivor, would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

All photos above are courtesy of MeliMoon  ~ melimoon.smugmug.com

Then... & Now: Helloooo Opie Taylor!!!

Opie Taylor came into rescue as a puppy that was surrendered to a kill shelter in NYC by a teenager because his mother would no longer allow the family to keep him. He is such a great puppy, we can not even imagine why they wouldn't want him??? It makes no sense. He is house trained, knows basic commands & fetches & retrieves like a world-class agility champion & first class hunting dog. Opie is amazing! Not only that, he loves to show his belly & get lots of belly rubs from his foster family. Opie loves all dogs, he's a bit overly zealous & vocal at first but for the most part, he just wants to run & play with fellow 4-leggerz. Opie loves kids & people of all ages... he would make a perfect addition to any family. One funny thing about Opie is that he sounds like a hound dog when he barks... but he has no hound in him at all!

Opie came in to rescue as a scrawny, awkward puppy with a slight case of demodex, which has now resided. We wanted to share a before & after... because Opie Taylor is one hunka, hunka handsome hot diggity-dog!!!

Opie the day he arrived into fostercare - taken with a phone by his foster family...

Opie today... approximately 20 pounds heavier, very healthy, full of life & happiness!!!

Photocredit: MeliMoon

Do you know anyone who would like to open their hearts & home to adopt Opie Taylor? If so, send them to www.greenfurkidz.com for more info.

Joey Meatballz & One Of His Guys!

It's been a while since we have last blogged... it was a very busy end of summer & the fall was truly exciting with two monumental storms hitting the northeast that took out power in most of our state for over a week in all parts. Now that winter is upon us & we have colder weather approaching - forcing us to stay in doors, we are trying to catch up with some updates from our current fosters & our graduates.

That being said, here are some heart-melting photographs of None Other Than Joey Meatballz Himself*... the Green Fur Kidz Graduate with the mushey-jowley boxer boy face that is undeniably smooch-a-licious who broke lotsa ladies hearts!

Joey Meatballz, a small staffie-boxer mix who was euth-listed for kennel cough at a kill shelter in Brooklyn, New York, has been settling in to his forever home for the past few months. He has been a little mischevious with his random "presents" dropped lovingly on his Forever Mom's white rug (OH Meatballz!!!) & he had taken a little "road trip" within his neighborhood by himself but was immediately picked up & returned to his family... we knew he loved the car, but roadtrips?

"Meatballz" as he was referred to around his foster home for his mama's boy antics that got him lotsa love from the ladies, was a pretty lucky fella because he was on his last hour before he was to be euthanized when he was, at last, rescued. Kennel cough is rarely fatal - however, it is highly contagious & passes on to other dogs. Even though a common cold by human standards - & rendered harmless by a $4 script purchased at your local Walmart, it is what is considered to be reasonable cause for being euth-listed within shelter systems across the United States.

Joey's Forever Dad took these gorgeous pics of Joey Meatballz & one of his sons, with whom Joey has bonded to, & sent them to us here at Green Fur Kidz. None Other Than Joey Meatballz Himself* is truly loved... thank you to his family for opening their home & their hearts!

It is images like these that keep all of us volunteers pushing forward when the going gets "ruff" in rescue.

*At GFK, we say "None Other Than [insert dog's name] Himself/Herself" when one of our foster dogs have shown distinguished refinement in some form... whether it be in manners or naughtiness, it is all much deserved of distinction.

Ollie Becomes The Dog He Was Always Meant To Be... An Update From His Forever Family

From time to time, we get updates on the fosters we have had come through rescue. It is the ones that were in such bad shape, that had been so neglected & mistreated that always tug at our heartstrings... such is Ollie's story. However, it is the families that come forward to adopt the ones like Ollie who make the difference & with patience, love & understanding comes breakthroughs with time. We received the photo above from Ollie's adopting family along with this update on him...

"Had to share. Last Sunday my Godson - age 8 - jumped off a step and fell into a gravel pile. His Mom called me, they are just two houses away, and I went over to see how bad it was. So off to the ER and two sutures in his left knee later... we came home.

On Monday his Mom went to change his dressing and he had a fit. So she called me to come help. And I thought, I'll take Ollie with me to distract him. Mr. Ollie sat in my godson's lap and snuggled him while he cried and next thing you know the dressing was changed and he did not even know we did it. So, yeah Ollie!!!!!!!

Today, Ollie was out on his walk and we ran into my neighbor's son and daughter-in-law and their two babies who live in Delaware. At the end of June, they will be our neighbors. It has been a long time since they had seen Ollie. They could not get over the change in him. How outgoing and trusting he is. How loving he is. And how amazing he is with kids. So very gentile with them. Because they have not seen him for about 2 years, the change was very striking.

He is such a great dog and it is so nice that other people see it as well. He is still my little trouble maker - he just has this impish side. I love all his sides!!!!!!"

Thanks for writing us, Ollie's Mom. You are truly an amazing person with so much love in your heart to help sweet Ollie become the dog he truly was meant to be. Lots of love to you, all the family & many, many kisses & belly rubs to Ollie.

Adopt Popstand Petey... He's Ready to blow this Popsicle Stand!

Our foster boy, Popstand Petey - aka Petey or Pete-Pete, is ready to blow this popsicle stand! Petey was a euth list dog (he had kennel cough) in NYC. We got him & nursed him back to health. Once healthy, Petey was neutered.

Petey is an AWESOME guy. He is, by far, one of the easiest fosters & a joy to have around. He is loving & goofy. He knows basic commands & is housetrained, crate trained & extremely food motivated. He enjoys a grain free diet & loves to chew on his Bravo! beef tracheas & his extra large raw bones. We think he is probably one of the most food motivated foster dogs we have ever had. One thing we would like to mention is that he does not like to share his food or bones with other dogs. He is perfectly content to let any human stick their hands in his bowl or take away his bones.

Petey loves to play fetch! He is quite an athlete & will play for hours on end in our fenced in yard with either us or his other foster siblings. He loves to play keep away with his foster sibling, Rufus!

Petey lives with both small & large dogs in his foster home. He loves to let the smaller dogs lay all over him in his bed & will gladly share his crate with any of the smaller dogs that like to shack up with him.

Petey has been exposed to children, but not to toddlers. We ask potential adopting families to please consider the fact that Petey is about 65 pounds & that while he is quite sweet, he could knock over a toddler with his zest for playing so we think older children are best.

We love Petey! We think you will, too!!! If you would like to adopt Petey, we require an adoption application & a home visit. Petey will not be shipped, adopting families must show up in person to pick Petey up.

Joey Meatballz... A VideoStar!

Check out Joey Meatballz latest video...

On 'da Stoop... Collecting Cookiez!

Joey Meatballz is Ready to Go to His Forever Home...

Here's a quick checklist of

Our Forever Home Wish List:

Joey Meatballz' Location: Newtown, CT
Age: 1.5-2 years, possibly younger
Sex: male
Weight: 52 pounds & holding...
Kids: Yes! He Loves 'em!!!
Cats: Yes, dog savvy ones!!!
Dogs: Yes! Joey Loves the Ladies & some gentz!
Fenced Yard: Preferred, but not required

Here's a message from Joey Meatballz:

"Yeah, me & 'dis chick named Miss Libi (datz me fostah gram's dog) were hangin' on 'da stoop collectin' cookiez from my foster pops when my fostah momz decided to click some pics of me & my lil gurlfriend... don't be fooled, she may look cute but she is one spicey frog i tellz ya... she don't take lip from nobuddie, fostah momz sayz that that's cuz she's a puppymill survivah & she's done 5+ yearz of hard time. i don't care though, i likes me a fiesty girl."

Joey Meatballz has recovered from his kennel cough, has been neutered (big thanks to our spay & neuter group, SNAN!) & received additional veterinary care from a holistic doctor who specializes in nutrition. He has sensitive paws that seem to get more scratched up on the snow then the other dogs in our home so we decided to consult a nutritionist to see if he could use any dietary support for that. He has visited his favorite doctor for his skin & is taking some antibiotics to clear up a little break out.

Joey Meatballz is a hunka-hunka staffie/boxer guy & he loves all the girl dogs in our home but the boy dogs seem to really want to give him a good beat down in plain old english slang... he is probably considered more of a passive-aggressive guy in the dog world, so we are looking for a home that has one or more girls. He's a loverboy for sure. This doesn't mean we wouldn't consider a very submissive male who is relaxed, but we will require meet-ups to make sure that everyone got along.

Joey Meatballz is a favorite around here. He reminds us of our first puppy that we raised together years ago with his puppy-boy antics & he is the spitting persona of our boxer fur-nephew with his goofiness that he entertains us with all day long. He isn't picky but we are feeding him a grain-free diet & most recently we have added some raw to help support his immune system along with some liver to help his blood. He loves Bravo beef tracheas & will bury them under his bed. He will protect his tracheas, so supervision with treats like this would be needed in a home that had another or more than one dog. He appreciates company when he eats & will sometimes wait until we stand or sit next to him so that he will finish his breakfast or his dinner.

Joey Meatballz will need more training on a leash & would benefit from continued use of an EZ walk harness or halti harness. Right now, he is getting the run of over an acre of fenced in yard so we are hoping that since he is more of an athletic boy that we can find him a forever home with a fenced in yard - but that doesn't mean we wouldn't consider a home where there was someone willing to walk him regularly & continue using his harness.

One heartwarming thing we would like to point out to you about Joey Meatballz... even after all he has probably been through in his short life so far, is that he is so very loving. All he really wants is a person to call his own & a warm, broken-in sofa to sit on. He is easily made happy. We do believe that whoever had him before he went to the kill shelter may have physically hit him because when he first started sitting on the sofa, he would flinch every time we would raise our hand to pet his head.

Our dream home for Joey Meatballz is one that is filled with love & supervision... one that will let him chew on his tracheas & sit on a broken-in sofa with lots of pats on the head & belly-rubs. He is a mixed bully-breed so the forever home must be willing to do whatever training would be necessary for him if he should ever need it. Each dog is different in every home... improvisation & proper training is key in keeping the bully breeds.

Do you or someone you know want to adopt Joey Meatballz? If so, email us so we can send you an adoption application!!! Send us an email to AdoptAPup4Life@gmail.com