Maisy

Gina,

I’m not sure if you remember my husband Don and me, but we adopted Maisy, a black lab/rottweiler mix you fostered, almost one year ago today. I just wanted to tell you and the Heartland Humane Society how grateful we are that Maisy is our lives. I can’t imagine her not being a part of our family.

Maisy is doing great. She loves chasing the squirrels in our yard and taking long walks. Her favorite toy is actually a soccer ball. She kicks it around the yard and enjoys playing goalie. And although she is definitely a ball of energy, she is also my favorite cuddle buddy and gives kisses without reserve.

I’ve included a picture of Maisy taken this past summer. Thanks again for bringing us Maisy. It’s been a wonderful year and I look forward to many, many more. And when we are ready to adopt a friend for Maisy, Heartland will be the first people we will go to for help.

Best regards,

Kate Christopher

Colt - Gizmo

This is Gizmo (He was one of the Revolver Kittens-Colt). I Got him early in June '07 and now he is growing to be a big strong boy!When I went to Pets Mart I heard a little kitty yelling at the top of his lungs for some one to pick him up and play with him. So I picked him up and just never put him back down. He recently learned that he can jump from the floor into the freezer. He had always loved to get into the refrigerator and the pantry, and now he is very proud of himself that he can jump into the freezer. He is the sweetest little boy ever. He loves to sit in my window sill and watch the cars go by. When he was younger he tried to follow them past the window, and couldn't figure out why they kept disappearing. But I think he has accepted the cars disappearing and not just enjoys watching everything outside. He also loves to watch animal planet. Every time I turn it on he sits in front of the television and just watches the dogs and cats. As soon as I turn the channel he either yells at me or walk off. He is still very playful, he especially loves any toys that have feathers. I have a toy that is a fishing pole with feather on the end of the elastic string and I have to hide it when we are done playing or else he destroys them from playing so much. He has learned my hiding spot for the toy so he will sit on top of the dresser that it is in and paw at the drawer to open it to get the toy. When he's not pawing at the dresser you can probably find him sleeping in a shoe box (One of his favorite spots). He loves to sleep, but what kitty doesn't? Thank you guys so much for helping out the Revolver kitties, I wouldn't know what to do if I didn't have Gizmo~! Terra Pizzo

Fred & BamBam

Note: the second picture was their website picture with all of the littermates - we also get regular updates on Pebbles, the white one.

Hi Angie!I just wanted to drop a note and let you know how Fred (Alex) and Bam-Bam (Logan) are doing. They are the loves of my life, such crazy little tikes. This winter, a squirrel has been teasing Logan, even running up the screen of the slider, he's a chirper when excited. They are so different in temperment and color, you wouldn't be able to tell them as brothers except for the promient chin they both sport. Thank you again for all you do!Erin Dick

Smiley

Smiley, now known as Callie, was adopted by our family in April 07. Her old caretaker before she was adopted by us was Gina. Callie is doing great and enjoying life with all the new dog friends she has made. Her two favorite buddies are Tramp and Calyx, who she plays with almost everyday. Other than playing with friends, she loves all her millions of toys. Here are some pictures of her now.

Dot & Dash

GinaIt has been awhile since I updated you on Dot and Dash. I finally got a picture of them that you might be interested in and it is attached. If you want to use it in your newsletter that is fine. They usually get in their cutest poses when I can't get to my camera!Dot and Dash have settled in quite well here. Even though they still won't let me pick them up, they love to cuddle with me in my recliner or in bed. I love to watch them play together and they both have developed quite the personalities. Each of them have "volunteered" for "jobs" in the house. Dash waits patiently in the morning when I am showering and as soon as I get out of the shower, he immediately begins licking the shower curtain and wall dry! While he is doing that, Dot is methodically cleaning off the top of my sink making certain that all small items like earrings, coins, hairpins, etc., are safely tucked away under the bathroom rug. She also monitors my insulin injections by making sure I take the top off the syringe and give it to her! When I originally decided to get a pet, a friend told me to search on the websites for animals who needed to be adopted. At first I was hesitant to do this but when I went to Heartland's website and saw all of the animals that were waiting for homes I almost couldn't decide which one. Then one day I saw Dot and Dash and I immediately fell in love with their pictures, although it was a couple of months before I was able to actually make my move. They have added so much joy to my home and I cannot imagine being without them. Thank you, Heartland for taking them in and to Gina for being such a wonderful foster mom!Marsha Bagby

Ernie

They always told me that you will end up adopting your first foster pet, but I didn't believe them. Of course, that was until Ernie came into my life. Initially, I was somewhat hesitant about fostering for HHS because I wasn't sure that I would be able to give the animal up and like any good pet mom, I also worried how my own kitties would handle it. Angie worked her magic though and reeled me in as a new foster. My first foster kitties were 2 male littermates - Robbie and Ernie. They were trapped on a farm in Lincoln County and were very young when they came to live with me. Immediately, I knew that Robbie, the cute gray tabby with the pink nose would be the outgoing, playful one that would attract all of the attention. His brother on the other hand was a pretty pathetic looking scrawny black kitten that needed some good food and a lot of TLC to bring him out of his shell. Since I only wanted to foster 1-2 kitties at a time, we figured that it would be best if I worked with the more shy and timid cats that needed a bit more one-on-one time. After a couple of months of being at my house and becoming a lot more socialized towards humans, the boys were finally ready to go to Petsmart. Of course everyone ooh'd and ahh'd over Robbie because he was so friendly and cute, but poor Ernie cowered in the back of the cage, afraid of the chaotic action around him. That kind of behavior doesn't bode well for a black cat since they tend to be overlooked because of their color. Unfortunately, people don't always get to see a cat/dog's true personality at Petsmart because it can be quite intimidating and overwhelming for the animal (understandably). Within a few weeks, Robbie found his forever home and left poor Ernie alone and without his best buddy. After several months of lugging poor Ernie to Petsmart, a place that he least wanted to be, my husband finally asked me why I kept taking him up there? I asked him what he meant and he simply replied, "You know that you love that cat and can't stand the idea of giving him up, so why don't we keep him?". Needless to say, I was shocked because my husband told me from the very beginning that fostering did NOT mean keeping them, but I could tell that he was just as smitten with the big guy (and boy did he grow big during those months) as I was. So now, a year and a half later,, Ernie (aka - Ernest, Ernesto, Fuzzy Monkey, and Chubbles) continues to be a constant source of entertainment and unconditional love for us, and as you can see by his picture, he has become quite a handsome (and photogenic) boy! We cannot imagine life without him, or the other felines that own us, and are so happy that we found him. In addition, I cannot say enough about Heartland Humane Society and the highly dedicated, incredibly caring volunteers that make the mission of saving animals truly possible. Thank you for letting me become a part of your wonderful organization and for bringing Ernie into our lives!!!
Sincerely, Julie Bauman

Mo - Montana

Thought I would send you a couple of pictures of Mo. Now that he has been with us for almost 4 months, I can't imagine living without him.

It took some adjustment time on our part...going from a elderly 40 lb dog to a youthful 100 lb 3year old dog. We had several episodes of "counter surfing", once involving a full deep fryer being pulled to the floor (cold, thank goodness!). But once Mo trained us, there has been no looking back.

This weekend, Mo got to meet his "cousins". My parents' dog and my sister's dog. They had so much fun running around the yard and playing and sniffing! By the end of the day they were all wiped out!

Just want to say thank you for introducing me to my best friend that Saturday at PetsMart. He's a laid back, couch potato. but he is also my protector, my comfortor, and my comic relief. He keeps me company when my husband is out of town on business and he keeps me warm on those cold winter evenings (he thinks he's a lap dog!).

Thank you so much for introducing us.

Susan Perry, Tim Perry, and Mo.

Sugar

Hi Lori- We finally got some pics of Sugar Pie. My son went camera happy with her. She loves riding in the car and visiting my parents. She has become such an addition to our family. She certainly is a retriever as she can spend hours on end playing fetch with us or by herself. It seems like she has been part of our family for much longer than a week and a half. We truly love her and we know by her daily kisses and constantly wanting to be around us that she too loves us. I have attached a darling photo of her playing and about. Thank you again...we loved her the first time we saw her. Have a great week. Kelly

Tess

Hi there I thought you may like to have this photo of Tess (who we adopted from you on May 19th), she really is a great dog, completely mad at times, but she is having the time of her life here with us and the other animals, as you can see from the photo, she loves floating around the pool with my husband! She has put on a bit of weight, she was house trained within 36 hours (very clever girl) and she is very well, very happy and looks extremely healthy. She spends most of her day pottering around here chasing rabbits and trying to decide if the horses need rounding up, she even herds us and anyone that visits along sometimes - its very amusing. Tess and Charlie (our other adopted dog) get along great, they play for hours with Tess taking off in huge circles running flat out. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that Tess is doing fine and we love her to bits. All the best. Jilly

CeeCee

Gina, Just wanted to let you know that CeeCee is doing great. Thank you very much for introducing her to us.Her vet told us the only "treat" she could have is green beans. Good thing she loves them.

Happy Holidays.

Mark

Note: CeeCee was adopted out as a senior pet. She was someone's sweet Shiba Inu who ended up at a kill shelter but now has a brand new family because her foster mom believed that she wasn't too old for another chance to be happy!