TX Success Story: Mason - 29 May 03
TX Success Story: Dolly - 29 May 03
TX Success Story: Shelby - 1 Jun 03
TX Success Story: Max - 3 Jun 03
Lucy and her new family - 10 Jul 03
Ozzy - TX Success Story - 23 July 03
Lucy.. her new name is Tatters - 23 Jul 03
TX Success Story - 10 Nov 03
Woody - 24 Oct 04
Raven's Pictures - 29 Dec 04
Spike - 11 Apr 05
Pixie - 30 Apr 05
Pixie and Gimli - 15 Jul

Thu, 29 May 2003 17:10:09 -0700 (PDT) - from Yolanda

Mason was an owner give-up from Friendswood, Texas. He had been a gift from a fiancée to a young man in law enforcement, who although loved Mason did not have time for him. So he was given to his mother to take care of. Mason had been raised in a man-beach-type of environment so was not appreciative of a house and 5' chain-link fence environment. So he jumped the fence and escaped and escaped and escaped until the mother, at her wit's end, called a friend who was also in rescue work who contacted me. Mason was definitely a runner and not happy here. I thought that he would never be happy away from his original owner. Well Mason and Nellie proved me wrong! Nellie drove from San Antonio, Texas to Baytown, Texas and back in one day, a very long trip. She fell in love with Mason at first sight it seems because Mason went home with her that same day. I had explained to Nellie that the adoption was contingent on a home visit and that I would be at her home the following weekend. On the following Saturday I drove to San Antonio for the promised home visit. Nellie's home turned out to be a lovely Texas Landmark historic home, with a big wooden-fenced yard for Mason to run but not escape from. Although the family had had experiences already with Mason, Nellie already loved Mason enough to forgive him and prepare for any situation. It also turned out that Mason had made the decision that he loved and wanted to stay with Nellie. I say that because after all the time that he had lived with us in Baytown, in a week's time he had adopted Nellie so much that he wanted to bite me, as if I were the stranger! I truly believe that Mason was afraid that I had come to take him away from Nellie and that he was truly happy with her and his new home. After all I had come to Friendswood and took him away from one owner, then here I was again at his new owner's home. What would you think?

Statement below is from Nellie:
"As you can see, Mason does very well with children. He is very protective of my two granddaughters. One time I was playing kind of rough with Alexis, my 4-year-old granddaughter, and she was kind of acting like she was crying. I was just tugging on her arm, not letting her get away. Mason got very upset and growled at me, almost biting me. Needless to say, it made stop playing rough with my granddaughter and proved that Mason will not allow any harm done to these children even by his owners hand. I was very proud of Mason taking care of my babies. He loves kids and loves to run around with them. He allows them be pull on his ears, kiss him, and hug him and all. He is very tolerant and playful with kids. Mason has been with us for almost 16 months and is definitely a family member."

Thu, 29 May 2003 17:10:09 -0700 (PDT) - from Yolanda

Dolly was picked up at the local rabies control shelter, really scared about what was happening to her. We soon found out this attitude only lasted long enough to make friends with all my dogs and us once we reached home. Then she became a Queen. She just needed to be sure that we were the good guys and knew how to treat MinPins.

Dolly found a wonderful family and home with Rosemary and Sunny. They even had a boy toy for her. WOW! Poor Buddy.

Sun, 1 Jun 2003 12:58:29 -0700 (PDT) - from Yolanda

Shelby was another owner-give-up but Shelby was not in good health when she came into the IMPS organization. Shelby had heartworms, was severely underweight due to poor diet and illness due to a very bad infection from being bred indiscriminately. With love and attention (and a lot of medical help) her health and personality improved and she also quickly became a favorite in our household. It was a very difficult decision for us to place Shelby for adoption when she was healthy enough to go to her forever home but the decision we made became easier we were lucky to be contacted by a wonderful new IMPS volunteer and near perfect person, Michelle. Michelle and her husband Jack drove hundreds of miles to pickup their new baby. Although we miss her here, God found a way to place Shelby in her heart-home and for that we are very grateful. We will always love you Shelby.

Below are photos of Shelby and Shelby with her new family.

Tue, 3 Jun 2003 09:08:27 -0500 - from Yolanda

Well Mag, here I am again with another success story that is just a little late in getting to you. This is Max, who was given up because the owner adopted another smaller dog and was going to do a lot of traveling with her job. So Max had to go.

We found out that Max had heartworms and due to a kidney problem would never be able to take the heartworm treatment cure. We would lose him because his kidneys could never take the punishment. At least Max would be able to take Heartguard to keep the heartworms from multiplying. The vets said that he would have 5-6 good years before his kidneys would begin to fail and he would have to undergo dialysis. This is a very painful procedure for him at best.

We just figured that Max would be our dog for the duration of his life and we would face what would be together but along came Darla. Darla submitted an app to be an IMPS volunteer about the same time that Max came into our lives and offered to foster Max because we had a pretty full house. Coincidentally the ogu lived about 1 mile from Darla, just across the freeway from her. Déjà vu! There are not many people who can face this type of outcome with their pets but Darla fell in love with Max while she was fostering him. God bless her. Below are some photos.
Thanks, Yolanda

Thu, 10 Jul 2003 16:16:55 -0700 (PDT) - from Yolanda

Wed, 23 Jul 2003 07:52:04 -0700 (PDT) - from Yolanda

Hi Mag,

Another TX Success Story: Ozzy AKA KoKo was an owner give-up in the Houston, TX area. Another tremendously wonderful pin that found his forever home with a wonderful family. He is one of those little ones that a foster-mom just hated to give up. So when I found just the right family for him his new family and I paid half the fare each so that I could fly with him to meet his new family. I knew I had found just the right family for him as soon as I met them at the airport. His new family had gone through a lot to adopt him and I was grateful to have found a family that I knew would always take care of him. Although it was heartbreaking to know that it was the last time I would hold him in my arms, I knew it was right. As you can see below I was right, it is the right home. Thank you Donna, for being such a wonderful mom to my boy; for having such a generous heart for your babies; and for contributing to the rescue of another deserving baby. Below are some of the photos and a note recently received from Donna. It is great to see him happy with his new family and sisters. Yolanda

Wed, 23 Jul 2003 08:00:25 -0700 (PDT) - from Yolanda

An update for Lucy, her new name is Tatters. Also pics her new family sent today. Y

Mon, 10 Nov 2003 09:19:22 -0600 - from Brenda

Hi,

I'm a volunteer in Texas and although I am no longer Admin Coordinator, I still assist Elyse, Dana and the rest of Texas when I can. I have fostered several IMPS dogs and adopted two of my own. This is why I wanted to share my own success story with you.

My first Min Pin, Sparky, was "rescued" but not in the manner one would typically think. By going through my local animal control, I asked for a Min Pin rescue group. They referred me to a breeder who was helping out another breeder, who wanted to sell him as a pet because he was too tall to show. I loved him instantly - never a question in my mind, this little guy was going home with me. Boy, I was never prepared for him (even though I researched the breed for months before deciding on getting a Min Pin). He was definitely a handful but a delight to me as well!

It soon became apparent there was something wrong with him when he started having seizures. To make a long story short, in January 2001, he was diagnosed with Addison's Disease (adrenal gland failure) after he almost died from it. Thousands of dollars later (and worth every penny), he was on medication and back to being as healthy as any Addisonian dog could be. I wonder how many people would have stuck by him through all his illnesses and necessary, expensive vet visits.

I decided around Thanksgiving 2002 that I would get him a friend. Of course, that would have to be another Min Pin (I think they're addictive!). This time, however, I decided to rescue a dog. When I did a search for Min Pin rescue on the internet, the first result was IMPS. After reading on the home page what IMPS was all about, I decided to look no further. Within a day of filling out the online PHQ and volunteer application, I was contacted by the regional for Texas at that time, Chad. We spoke for over an hour (not unusual, I would learn from volunteering later!) and he suggested "Angel." I already had fallen in love with "A.J."'s photo and was put in touch with her foster mom, Ruth Tarlton. Sparky and I made the drive from Duncanville to Fort Worth to visit our new family member. A few days later, she was with me and Sparky in her forever home (I thought I'd need a week to see if they'd get along but they were two peas in a pod within minutes!). A.J. became Sadie and was the best thing in the world for Sparky. He was happier than I'd ever seen him! And he began to lose some weight (steroids were keeping him fat).

When I began volunteering in May of 2003, one of the first things I was asked to do was to dog-sit a foster for a week while the foster parent was out of the country. By the time I got home from picking up "Buzz" from the vet, I had called Elyse and told her, "I want this little guy!" Another case of foster failure! He was so shy and skittish and seemed afraid of the other dogs. Eventually, Buzzy opened up. Little did I know he came into my life for a reason.

A month later, on June 17, 2003, Sparky lost his lifelong fight to Addison's Disease. He had developed an auto-immune disorder that attacked his platelets and even though I had blood transfusions and medications for him, I had to let him go. He was slowly dying and I didn't want his death to be slow and painful. Sparky was the love of my life, and of Sadie's, and we were both devastated. She wouldn't leave the window during the day, waiting for him to return. But slowly, she started playing with Buzzy again, and once more, I had "two peas in a pod." (Sadie still has to let Buzzy know that she's the alpha now that Sparky is gone.)

My story would end here, except that on July 5th, Buzzy went into seizures (eight in all) and had to stay at the emergency vet over the weekend. I was back at the place I last held my Sparky, but fortunately, this outcome was better. Buzzy is on meds now, and to my knowledge, has not had another seizure since that weekend. He even found his "voice" and is almost as spunky as his sister Sadie.

You may use my story if you wish. I just wanted to share it with IMPS and to thank them for allowing such love and companionship into my life. Attached are a couple photos - one of the three dogs together about a month before Sparky passed, another of Sadie and Buzzy sunning themselves.

Thank you,
Brenda
TX IMPS

Sun, 24 Oct 2004 12:42:40 -0500 - from Richard & Shawna

Attached our photos of Woody at his wonderful new home. We would like to give our success story to someone so we can share it on the MINPINRESCUE site.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Sincerely-
Richard, Shawna and Woody H.

Wed, 29 Dec 2004 08:30:40 -0600 - from Gail

This is Raven, who I adopted last year after Thanksgiving from IMPS. He was a stray with heartworms and some battle scars. Which I can see why he has those scars, he thinks he can fight any size dog. He is my first Min Pin and what a joy it's been. He is always near me, preferably under the covers, my little man by my side. Just had to send some pictures of my handsome boy.

Thanks,
Gail
Cleveland, Tx.

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 13:11:09 -0500 - from Lisa

Here is a picture of 'Spike' who joined our family from IMPS in December of 2004. He has been a wonderful addition to our home. His big buddy 'Outlaw' just loves him.

Rescue is the only way to go when looking for a new family member.

Lisa

Sat, 30 Apr 2005 06:06:32 -0700 (PDT) - from Candace

Hi all,

Just wanted to share some pics. The first is of our rescue from the IMPS - Houston region.. Thank you Diana! Her name is Pixie the Snaggle-toothed Princess and she is the most awesome 9 lb snuggle bug. Oh, the human would be my son Gary who adores her. The second is of Pixie as well, after a good half hour of chasing the other love of my life. That is Rocky Dawg, a 70 lb lab mix, rescued from some evil people in the Walmart parking lot who were taking him to the local kill shelter. The first meeting between Pixie and Rocky ended with her nipping his nose. He seemed to say, "Okay, okay, you can be the alpha. I don't care!" Hope you are all as happy as we are! ~Candace

Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:03:26 -0700 (PDT) - from Candace

New pics of my loveys... the first is Pixie having a fine time at her birthday party which she shared with my niece....

Second is Gimli, my Moms pupper, when I took them to the beach - he hated the water but loved playing in the sand! Just like sharing pics of the babies.. Candace