So, thank you for your good wishes. I miss Tehachapi, it was hard to lose the ranch, but rest assured, the spirit of dog rescuing SHALL be continued there, and very soon. Check back here next week for news on who is taking over the property! Mum’s the word until she closes escrow though.

Bear and I are doing fine, I love Colorado and hopefully I’ll be back on my feet and back to rescuing lost souls someday. Right now I’m trying to rebuild a little bit of life for myself and for my best buddy Bear. Thanks for checking in and please hug all of your pets for me!

Leslie

May 1, 2010:  Hello from beautiful Colorado!  Bear and I (and our two new kitty boys) are finally settled into our new tiny place here in the mountains west of Colorado Springs. Its been a busy month, getting moved up here in the winter snows was NOT easy, changing addresses, banks, went back to using my maiden name now that I am divorced, so that really complicated everything. But, after many trips to both Social Security and the DMV, I finally have my new Colorado Driver’s license…sigh. Still looking for a job and still trying to sell the property down in New Mexico. It is now listed with Joseph Lopez at Northern Mountain Realty at (505) 918-9999 if you are interested. I am starting to get out and meet people, especially as Bear and I go for two daily walks. This is a nice lovely little town, everything is within walking distance and its quieter than I thought. Its been 10+ years since I have lived “in town” so its an adjustment. As much as I enjoy the snow (and we still have deep drifts everywhere), I am looking forward to Spring.

Just wanted everyone to know that I am well, slowly gaining my happy self back again, and tell you all how much I appreciate your good wishes via email. Keep sending me photos of your happy dogs!! I miss rescue more than I can say, but I will eventually be back on my feet and will start planning my dreams again. Never thought I would be completely starting over-both financially, emotionally and psychologically at age 52 (well, almost). Those of you who know me, know that I don’t look or act my age, so wish me the best! As hard as it is to get over being “left” I am rediscovering the joy of doing things for yourself and feeling competant again.

Hopefully soon, when the ground isn’t more frozen than not, (April 23d we got another foot and a half of snow!) Bear will have a nice little fenced yard and maybe we’ll foster an older doggie friend now and again.  Bear is almost ten now and spent his life at my rescue with many hundreds of brothers and sisters-he is absolutely loving being an only dog and I hope his last few years are happy. He has earned a rest, as have I. The cats have taken over Bear’s dog bed in the office and they sleep all day and drive Bear crazy at night.I cheat and close my bedroom door! They all get along quite well and are recovering from their prior residence with a hoarder. 66 cats and 4 large dogs were all removed from a tiny house up near Cripple Creek. They are completely comfortable around Bear and have eachother to chase and cuddle with (that’s why I came home with two when I only intended to adopt one).

Once Spring arrives, I hope to get out more and explore our new area..but first, I have to find a job! the tourist season is almost here, so local businesses are gearing up. The economic impact on this little town was serious and I hope the spring, summer and fall will be prosperous, as well as breathtakingly beautiful. I will never get tired of the view of Pike’s Peak and the rest of the mountains here. Aaaahhhh. It feels like home.

 Leslie Crum (with Bear dog, and Nikko and Simba the cats)

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Scoop/Saving-one-dog-at-a-time

Colt, our last NM rescue, was adopted by Scarlett 2/15/10. Happy Valentines Day to Scarlett, her new “son” and both girl dogs at her house-you all get a handsome hunky 96 pound ball of LOVE!

Hi there. I’m Colt, named for a small horse.  I’m a LARGE puppy, not even two years old and a nice healthy 95 pounds of hunky man.

 

We lost our Vizsla, Sugar, in January 2009. Its been two months and I still miss her every day. So do her brothers, Bear and her couch buddy there, Buzz (all former foster dogs and/or “unadoptables”). She was my constant companion and seemed to understand why she sometimes missed out on Mom’s attention since during her six years with me, I have always been surrounded by foster dogs.  I hope they do understand because the fosters seem to get the most attention.Sugar was originally a foster dog, and came from right here in Tehachapi on Curry Street. You may have seen her running loose at night. The family that had her then at age 8 used to shut her out of the house all night and she ran around in the orchards (where the fire station and housing tract is now). Then she got shut inside all day while they were gone. What a life, huh? One night, someone shot her with bird shot and she ran through some barbed wire trying to escape (I’m sure she didn’t realize she was trespassing). The next day I got a frantic call from my friend Matt, who said they were going to put her down because she was bloody (ears bleed like crazy) and they had no money for the vet. I rushed over there and took her home. She lost the sight in her right eye from one BB and I never was able to pick all of them out, she had them under her skin all over her body.During the next few months, this foster dog began to accompany me everywhere and when I first brought her out to the property that later became Canine Canyon Ranch, her face lit up with a huge happy dog smile as she bounded around. It was then that I knew that I would keep her, she was already “my” dog. I’ve had many hundreds of dogs go through my rescue in the past several years and I’ve only wanted to keep a handful. Sugar was special and I miss her so much.Sugar lasted another five years after I moved out to the ranch and she was with me every step of the way as I spent a whole year developing the property: she sat in the shade while I cut down a hundred dead trees, followed me around behind the quad over hill and dale, and all three of the dogs, and several fosters, suffered through four months of living in the barn, freezing through March until the house was delivered in sweltering July. She got to swim in the dog pool, roll in deer poop, chase rabbits and have a normal dog life. She was the first dog to be bitten by a rattlesnake here too, and I almost lost her then, but she survived and remained healthy until about late November 2008. She absolutely loved this ranch and I loved seeing her so happy.Vizslas are quite athletic, and Sugar was typical of her breed.  She could dead jump a six foot fence (but usually didn’t-at least not when Mom could see her!) and she loved jumping through the window of the truck so she could go with Mom to deliver firewood. Well, in late November, I broke my arm, so no firewood this year, but that didn’t stop Sugar wanting to be in the truck. She started looking older, losing bladder control, getting tremors, and then she began to run into the furniture. I told my wonderful husband that my intuition told me her time was close and that I didn’t want her to live completely blind, or not able to run around, she just wouldn’t be happy, I knew that. Turns out, I didn’t have to make that decision.  One day she jumped up and didn’t realize that the truck window was closed! It appeared that she had hurt her shoulder and she began limping, then things seemed better and she was bounding around like usual, but I still had a nagging feeling.The busy holidays with out of town family visits passed and she started going downhill, and fast.  We went to Tehachapi Vet Hospital on January 6, 2009. Dr. Steve took one look at her sitting stiffly, trying to get up, and he told me what I already suspected: Sugar had cancer in her shoulder. She probably had it already, but the injury caused the cells to start rapidly accelerating the process.  We left, and I waited for my husband to come home to say goodbye. We put her down that evening and buried her on top of a beautiful sunny knoll facing north here, on the ranch where she was happiest. I had already dug her grave and written her a goodbye letter, thanking her for all of the wonderful time that I was blessed to spend with her and telling her how sorry  was that I hadn’t realized sooner that she was sufering. I guess I still feel a little bit guilty about that and I wish I had listened to the little voice in my head sooner. I’ll know next time, and I hope that all of you reading this will realize what a gift it is to know when your companion animal needs YOU to let go. Being able to LET them go is one of the greatest gifts that you can give to THEM and it honors the life that you shared together.  They will hang on, suffering, until you let them know that its OK for them to let go. They know already, but they don’t want you to suffer. So give the greatest gift ,and say goodbye when its time.Sugar’s grave was a cold place for the past two months, but now it is covered with lovely green grass and I will sit there with her spirit, enjoy the sunrises and sunsets, and think of my best friend, Sugarbear.  I will continue to miss her but I know she is up there running free and out of pain now.  Someday, I will see her again at the Rainbow Bridge, and she can cross over with me, right in front of the pack of hundreds of rescues that I was privileged to have pass through my life. And if they aren’t welcome where I am headed, then I won’t go either!Goodbye, sweet Sugarbear. I miss you so much, and I will never, ever forget “my girl.”Hug your dog for me, please? And thanks for listening. Writing this made me feel better. 

“So, into this chaos Cassie arrived and has brought peace to Rita.  I can’t thank you enough for saving her and I admire all that you doing to help the dogs of this world who through no fault of their own, ended up needing to be rescued.”Jackson once was known as “Limpy” and was due to be euthanized at the Bakersffield SPCA:“ I’ll never be able to thank you enough for saving his life. He has brought so much joy into our lives. Through your rescue work you have enriched our lives and rescued us too. You’ve given me a best friend that is always there to hug when times are tough and tears flow. A source of goofy amusement and wonderful companionship. You’ve brought smiles and laughter to my family, friends and co-workers. And that was just with one of your dogs. You are a truly amazing woman who deserves more than what you’ve been dealt.  We thought you might get a kick out of seeing how Jackson and I interact…see pictures attached. Yes, we’re the same size Leslie.

Congratulations again and thank you for saving so many deserving big guys!”

Merry Christmas!

Vikki and Jackson

Leslie,

Thank you so much for all the wonderful pictures!  We really love seeing our animals happy in their forever homes.  Also, thank you for the rabies vaccination.  I received it yesterday via fax.  Colt looks so happy and at home.  That makes me happy.  I really look forward to continued communication with you!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Danette, Cindi, Christine, Kat, and Alex (our mascot shelter cat)

My name is Libby. I’m a 1 1/2 year old yellow lab/mastiff mix. Somehow I ended up at the local shelter but its time to move on now.  The minute I got to the rescue I had several boyfriends to choose from, but as you can see, Sparky caught my eye and literally swept me off of my feet.  I am part of the rescue’s Christmas Angel program so I got spayed right away. I’m so sweet I won’t last long-at least I hope.

 The lady said to tell you that I was obviously someone’s dog as I flew through the dog door, went right to the food and water and I know how to behave in a house. So, you won’t have to teach me much. I’m quite the sassy girl and I love to play but I’d probably be a great only dog too, for humans of any age. I don’t jump up, or bark, or any of those habits..and I’m always smiling and happy with my tongue hanging out..I wonder why I was out on the street? I weigh about 60 pounds, have wonderful soft yellow lab fur and big brown eyes. I have so much extra soft skin that we think one parent was a mastiff-you know what great loyal but mellow dogs they are!

Oh well, that was my OLD life, let’s get on with the new one, shall we?  See you soon?

Note from Leslie:  Libby was spayed on 11/30 and I’ll bet she doesn’ last long. You’ll be emailing me in a year saying how you can’t believe you got so lucky to adopt her!

My name is Cassie and I was picked up with one of my puppies (they couldn’t catch the rest) and taken to a local high-kill animal shelter. Man, was that place NOISY! Luckily my pup got adopted right away but things didn’t look too great for me, then on my last day I was saved.

I’m a Chinese Shar Pei mix, no doubt about my genes. And the lady here thinks I have lab (see that profile shot?) too, because I am so incredibly mellow.  I’m 54 pounds of slightly wrinkled, soft dog and I’m only 2-4 years old. I am the absolute perfect companion for anyone, dog or human. I am housebroken, use a dog door and am smart but very mellow (like an older labrador. The lady here thinks I am 3-4 years old and I’ve had too many puppies. Not anymore-I got spayed on 11/13/09! I now have my shots and in a few days I’ll be back to my contented self.  Being a Shar Pei I have the watery eyes, but I do not appear to have a serious problem with my eyelashes. Rosemary tea compresses makes them feel much better.

I really don’t have any bad habits, I don’t jump or bark and when I want your attention I will softly place my foot on your knee. Otherwise I just curl up at your side and wait until you want me to follow you to your next chore. I am social with other dogs, and I probably won’t mind cats even. I sleep curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed and snore very softly until morning. I will be great with kids or a great dog for an older human who will keep me company all day.

I’d really like my own home now, so please come and meet me. You’ll fall in love! Call Leslie at 505-425-3289 to meet me.

Note from Leslie: I am soooo glad I pulled Cassie out of the shelter. There she was, sitting calmy and quietly in the midst of total chaos..sometimes you just know which dog deserves a second chance. Honestly, she is such a great dog that I have considered keeping her..out of many hundreds of dogs, she’s that special! But, if I kept them all then I wouldn’t be able to save more. So, come and get her-she deserves YOU!

Canine Canyon Ranch held an Open House Saturday, June 20th, 2009, to say farewell to all of our friends in California. we had a nice crowd for our Open House! (In case you missed it, after seven years in Tehachapi  CA rescue, we relocated near Sante Fe, New Mexico. Sorry we missed you!

The Dog Song - Tony Vice

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Take Me Home - Jimmy T. Harris

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