Livestock Rescue, Dogs, and More

Rescue Dogs for Adoption in IL
Tide found a home after 5 years of waiting! They love him as much as we do!

We need a home!!

New page for retired and adult dogs is under the Parent page tab.

2-1-22. We know of 2 lab beagle mix 5/6 year old female dogs really needing a home!

I cant figure out how to edit page below the paw print clickable tabs. 

Four Paws Sake in Maryville IL has a wonderful foster based rescue. Please check out her FB page and fill in an application if you’re in the area and would like to foster, or are interested in adopting a rescued dog.

Our farm also cares for 14, to 18 rescued cats, and kittens at any given time. (All our cats are spayed and neutered.) We get pitiful babies given to us sometimes. Several would LOVE to be house pets!

In addition, we are a sanctuary for several horses, the ridiculous number of cats, a couple ducks, some domestic rabbits who all have a permanent home here. We found homes for the too many potbellied pigs, and the 4 pygmy goats. They each have their own very sad story before coming here, most had been starving where they were living. Some of the cats had been dumped, or were in a foreclosed house. The last 2 kittens January 2023 barely had their eyes open, and a freezing cold day someone found them in their yard. Our new 9 year old daughter LOVES the cats and kittens!

The clickable tabs below with the paw print for each page have not been started yet, or edited for a long time. Ugh, I am not good at this, and cant figure out how to edit pages of the paw print tabs!  

All of the 5 starved, now healthy dogs below have found homes!!

We have adorable kitten/cats available! from July, and September 2019, and more summer 2020. Found in the middle of the road huddled together, alone on the road and 2 saved from a neighbor dog. The older ones have all been spayed neutered now and ready for homes!

7 cats were given to us, by a lady crying, desperate to get help, as she had lost her house. They need homes! 

Another sad story. 5 little dogs ( only weigh about 10 pounds now but should be 15 to 25 pound dogs) need homes. Please contact me for information. They are 6 months to 2.5 years old. Unknown mix breed. Photos are day we met them. the 3 older ones have chewed up faces/ears from trying to get the tiny bit of food that was given to them. The brindle girl lost out to the more mature red female and only male. Their enclosure was pitiful. The 2 puppies were loose and able to get on the porch, plus must have been fed a bit more as they are much too thin but not emaciated to the point of death like the other 3.

They now have food, clean water, a heated, dry, dog house. We will personally had them spayed /neutered and current on shots. $100. to $200. to adopt. Must have a vet clinic phone number you use, or recently used, for us to call for a reference prior to adopting.

They are also starving for attention! They may be dogs who need attention so badly they will have separation anxiety for awhile going to a new home. The older 3 resource guard with other dogs, but boy you cant blame them they almost died from lack of food. They take food from people very gently.

Izzy has been living with a pug and now a westie and does really well with them!

Scroll down for new photos, all healthy and happy!

 

Look at us now!! 

The 2 youngest tan color girls are a terrific weight in just 2 weeks, and they have been adopted together!!

1 of them still needs a home!

In less then 2 weeks the brindle girl is looking a million times better. She was so terrified the first time she was brought to meet strangers she pooped while Art was holding her! She is SMART though! The next time she was brought to meet strangers she wagged her tail and let them pet her. 🙂 She is now very friendly and only takes a couple seconds to warm up to strangers.

New photos of the boy and 2.5 year old tan dogs who are looking terrific too! The female is very shy of strangers. The boy seems to love anyone who will pet him.

Tide on the rescued dog page below, and photo above still needs a home! The poor guy has been waiting 6 years! The other dogs on the clickable page have all found homes! I just cant figure out how to update the page.

This is "years ago" text from the previous website that had crashed. It use to have photos for some of the many dogs we had saved, but I just quick 'copy and pasted' and none of the photos are there.

We no longer work as a rescue, only a sanctuary since IL has very strict rules about rescue facilities requiring dogs to live in a cage, or on concrete with only time out 15 to 30 minutes a day for play and exercise.

We just don't have a facility with that much space. Some day we plan to not only make a state of the art kennel for our dogs, but also to have a separate building that is state approved for rescued dogs. We still will take a few dogs in that are desperate, which can fit into life here, and we still have a couple dogs who could use a good home!

If anyone would like to donate resources for a building we would be happy to have a state approved kennel to do a lot more to help needy dogs!!

Very old posts, all but Tide have found a forever home, or passed away of old age:

Cora, a medium size dog that I think is the smartest dog we have, but she will bite if she''s behind a fence or in a kennel. On a leash she is fine. She adores us and would be a very devoted dog to the right person, but due to her kennel/fence aggression towards strangers I don't know if theres a hermit who needs a super smart dog. She is un-adoptable due to her willingness to bite if someone is on the other side of a fence, and ou lack of knowledge in how to train her. So sad because she is a sensitive super intelligent dog!

Susie and Mr. Cool (Was Max), 1st day here at DreamCather Hill. Bobby was adopting Susie, but he backed out. Susie still lives here as of this update 7-22-16 Susie has become a great farm dog. Shes great with everyone but shows tendencies to be a one person dog, only meaning if her favorite person is there she will go to him first and ignore everyone else if she can. If hes not there then she will follow anyone around who will give her attention. Susie had some separation anxiety when confined indoors, shes great when shes outside. Since she has been allowed to follow us about and is crated only at night and occasionally in the day if theres too much going on I believe she has adjusted so well she no longer has separation issues. She attached herself to Bobby when she first arrived here and would climb/ jump out of anything, including once over a hot-wire fence to get to Bobby. She no longer does that. Bobby has lost interest in her and she now follows Bryan or myself around. She wants to please very badly and is just a sweet heart of a dog.rnrnAt first she thought she should nip at the horses when Bobby rode the first time but is highly intelligent and learned rules quickly, who can blame her, that thing had hold of her best friend and was running around with him! I just love her quiet determination and sweet temperament. She now will follow along when they ride the horses very well behaved now that she knows that big thing isnt hurting her friend. She is submissive to other dogs on their rides and when visiting. She would be great to teach a sport, or be a jogging companion since she is very athletic and has great willingness to please and endurance, plus doesnt mind other dogs at all. Or just a buddy for someone as shes not very active and is content to just follow along and quietly check out what your doing. Shes not a very big dog at all, looks bigger in the photos then she is. Mr. Cool, next to her is only 50 pounds and she is much smaller then he is, she can almost walk under our Cane Corso Bro, or Wolf. I cant imagine what she has gone through in her short life already, yet to stay so friendly and loving is amazing. Update 5-9-12. Susie is relaxing quite a bit. Shes not anxious when left alone or kenneled. I guess she is understanding its only temporary and she doesnt need to worry that shes trapped and never going to see her friends again. She gets lots of freedom to help around the farm and loves just hanging out. Update 5-21-12 Wolf our great pyr/GermanShep cross puppy decided she was his personal chew toy. Jerry Lee doesnt really want to play with him so he started chewing on Susie. She would just lay there in submission as he chewed on her head, leaned on her, and flopped down on her like a pillow. She just let him not having a clue how to react. He was being gentle but persistent, as in hours of playing with his new chew toy. In the last week she has learned to play! So now she still lets Wolf chew on her, pin her to the ground, but she also jumps up runs around all happy and chews back just a tiny bit. So sad to think she really didn''t know how to play with a dog and so great to see her learn something new and have so much fun! Wolf loves that his new toy is actually playing with him and not just laying there. Its great to watch them tear off in a big circle, she is very quick and agile while hes a big (over 90 pounds now) floppy, uncoordinated puppy..... They have the best of times! Update 4-2013. Susie has really come into herself. She has confidence now and has finally learned not to jump on you. (she occasionally still will but shes just SO happy!) She loves my grandsons and want to give them kisses and will sit with them forever even if they pay no attention to her at all

Suzie
Suzie

Adopted! (update 7-2016 returned!!) This cute shar pei girl has been here since 8-15-13. She was very sick on arrival and her eyes were so infected I thought she would end up with vision problems. Once she was better enough we took her and got here eyes tacked, very common procedure in share peis. Until then we kept oitment in her eyes and it made all the difference in the world. She was one of 5 in a litter dumped at the pound way too young and sickly. 2 died before the shelter workers would allow us to pick them up. If we hadnt said we would take the litter they all would have been put down because they were ill. They only need some nice normal care. The one sister has been adopted. Huggle here and her other sister are available, super healthy and very tough to have survived all they have been through!! This puppy is one of my favorites. She has the most wonderful soft coat (they hardly shed at all) and her personality is wonderful. mellow and happy. 🙂

Also pictured are rescued dogs who may have never had a good home, or for some unknown reason their home life ended and their time was up at animal control. They didnt have a chance of adoption and we will give them a home and see they are never neglected or abused again, like sweet Charley, the pitiful yellow dog above

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Ever since I have been friends on face-book with the young lady who helped get a huge herd of starving TB''s rescued, one of which we adopted, I have seen posts about dogs at high kill shelters.rnrnMany do not realize if you take a dog to the shelter/dog pound/animal control whatever they call it in your neck of the woods that if it is an owner surrender they do not have to keep the pet, they can euthanize it that very day. Pit bull type dogs, boxer type mastiffs, any of the big "night be a pitbull or pittie mix" rarely make it a day. Often they are taken in back and put down. Please find a good home for your dog! Strays only have 3 to 10 days in most locations. Most shelters are so full of dogs and cats that were let to multiply, there is physically no room. The good "no kill shelters" have to turn away many dogs and cats a day. People then resort to taking their pet to a county shelter/animal control/dog pound.When their time is up they are "PTS"= "put to sleep" or more accurately= killed, some with what is called a heart stick. They stab the dog or cat in the heart to kill it, other shelters cram as many dogs or cats as will fit into a chamber, piled on top of one another as they struggle to escape and they are gased to kill them, which can take 30 minutes! It is not pretty there is no reason to word it tenderly so those people who are sensitive dont get upset. This is a VERY upsetting situation! The reality needs to be right there in front of everyone so there are no unwanted dogs, cats or pets. Don''t get a pet you cant keep its whole life. Life happens if something huge happens (a move, or birth of a baby is not a a good reason!!) I don''t care what anyone says, if your dog is bad with children, well that''s the persons fault for not training. Take the dog to Kennel-Wood or DarnFar Ranch and have the dog trained the way it should have been in the first place. There is no bad dogs, there is only people who are bad trainers. (Dont feel guilty about it, do something to correct the situation. Training is learned not instinctive. Trainers understand it wasnt intentional.) Your puppy got big, well of course puppies grow. Its your dog now and your mistake for not thinking about what the size was like before you adopted the puppy. Deal with it. Big dogs well trained are wonderful. Train the dog if its knocking people down or running in the house!rnrnNow to think the shelter workers are at blame is wrong. What do you do when 20 dogs come in and there are kennels for 40 that already are stuffed with several dogs each? Not all dogs or cats get along, they would be killing each other if you keep cramming them in. And who is buying the food and cleaning up after them? Money does not grow on tree''s for shelters. Have you sent a couple thousand dollars to your local shelter to help? no, well sadly no one else did either. Feel bad for the shelter worker who loves the dogs and has to see death over and over. I dont know how they stay so strong to continue to give the dogs who are there for a long or short time care, never knowing if they will just be PTS. I couldn''t do it. I applied at a shelter once 2o years or so ago when my children were young thinking I would care for the dog and cats to the best of my ability. As I filled in the application a young lady brought in a cute little purebred looking jack Russel terrier. Said she just couldn''t keep him anymore, he was too much to handle. I was so distraught I had to leave before I told her off, about how stupid it was to get a dog and then dispose of it because she "couldn''t deal with him anymore." I realized then I could never do that job. I would become a very angry, bitter person seeing people be irresponsible and horrible to animals day after day.rnrnSome areas thank God, have less stray dogs and cats. More people spay and neuter pets, because they love their pet and do not feel its disposable. Some places charge more for city license if they are not spayed or neutered, so those who don''t care as much may realize its cheaper in the long run to spay/neuter. For whatever reason some areas are much worse then others, all due to people, not the pets fault. These bad areas have shelters that are forced to kill many many dogs and cats on a daily basis. Don''t blame them blame those who didn''t take care of their pet. Blame legislation that will not allow certain breeds in some towns so a family is forced to have a job, or get rid of a perfectly good very loved dog because someone said pit bulls, rottweilers, or whatever it is that was labeled as a vicious dog due to breed, not the dog itself. They are truly full of crap since its the bad people who make bad dogs, not the breed. But anyway the loose dogs and cats everywhere is a problem and at this time in history people add to it, by allowing their pet to have puppies and kittens with no plan of how to get them into responsible great homes, or ability to keep everyone that didnt get a home. The may find a few homes who in turn let them run a-muck having more puppies or kittens, or worse the horrible people who think dumping their pet solves the problem and the pet will miraculously end up in a perfect home, or they just don''t care they are sick of it.rnrnAnyway I see these so very sad pictures daily. I love dogs all dogs. These are just dogs, its not their fault. Some have such bad temperaments, due to lack of training, being beaten, being abandoned and smart enough to figure out how to live on their own, or born from a dumped mom that normal people cant handle them. I feel terrible that no one took charge of that pet when it was a puppy and did normal training, so understand how they end up PTS. Some are dumped dogs whose time has run out. Some are the result of horrible people that makes me sick to think people can even do the things they do and this is what is left, the remainders of dog fighting. Some are pets the family had to move and could not afford a place that would let them keep them. Some are the result of a person unable to care for themselves, who really love their pet but cant physically care for it. Some the family who loved them died and somehow no one else in the family, or maybe there is no other family, so the pet is homeless. Some are others who cant care for themselves, keep the pets and before long they are over run with a multitude of very badly cared for pets, that are multiplying at an incredible rate (hoarders.) It''s all very sad and I wanted to do something to help.rnrnI tried to foster dogs from our local shelters. Since I breed dogs they will not allow me to foster. I wrote one of the many who I thought was in northern AL about fostering. Charlene wrote me back and said they are not anti pure-breed, they are "pro rescue" and would be happy to send me foster dogs! They are grateful for anyone to get the dogs and cats out of the shelter so they are not killed. They it turns out were quite a distance, Mobile AL.rnrnSo we built kennels in the shop and built a "play yard" off the shop. This way the new dogs are apart from our others until we know if they have anything contagious to keep the spread of disease down.rnrnWe drove over 5 hours to KY to meet a man who very graciously helps transport dogs for the rescue group in AL almost every week, his own time and money! Some people are just wonderful!!! It was too far for us to go the full route so Rick drove over 5 hours to meet us half way. He had 2 other dogs he was also meeting another person. So 6 dogs saved!!rnrnWe offered to foster 4 large dogs or more if small. I thought its a number we can handle. Coco (Lisa Marie on some paperwork and photos) Max, Mr. Cool, and Susie are our new furry friends. this is the link to email for the application to adopt one of our foster dogs, or a dog from this rescue group. adopt@saveasoutherndog.com the fee is $95. They are UTD on everything and have all been spayed or neutered, plus I microchipped them. They will also try to help with transport if you would like a dog they have in boarding or from the shelter down there. Petfinder has a list of dogs from Southbark rescue who help get the dogs out of Mobile County animal shelter.

Dogs below are just a few who have been adopted!! All kinds of dogs for all kinds of nice people!

Max has been adopted! Thank you Sonja for giving Max a great home!! Max is a tan dog with a black muzzle. He has the cutest face ever, and is Very sweet. He wants to please SO SO badly. He learned within days not to jump on you, but he stills jumps up hes so happy, he just keeps his feet to himself now and occasionally puts himself in the sit position if he thinks that''s what you want more. Hes very happy and playful active but not hyper, just a nice energetic dog. Very smart. He has a fast runner type build and looks like a tiny bit of greyhound? mixed with who knows what type plain dog. He can really run quick and looks like he could for a long while. He would be perfect for an active family, or someone who walks lots, jogs or has children to run around the yard with. Do to his willingness to jump about he may accidentally knock over small children. My 3 and 5 yr grandsons are use to large dogs and take it in stride, but many their age may think hes a bit much in energy. For older kids he would love to wrestle around and run about. To teach him fly ball or agility would be fun. None of the pictures do him justice, he has the sweetest face ever. Hes also housebroken, great with other dogs and just an easy dog to work with. He even travels perfectly in the car, and will hop right in and lay down quietly ready to go for a ride, Max is ready to go anywhere and do anything. He also comes well off lead and is great with all the other animals. He can even talk the "not so sure" dogs into playing a little bit, he loves to play. Very puppy-like!

About one of our many rescues: Charley, our oldest addition in October 2012, was going to be killed at the dog pound, old and pitiful, no one gave him a second glance including the employees who commented he should be put down "now." I fell in love with his photo a group of volunteers had sent out on facebook desperately trying to place dogs trapped at the dog pound before they are killed. I have a real respect for our ageing best friends, and offered to take him. We have lots of pictures and updates about him on the Facebook page in photo albums. Turns out I am sure he is part Shar Pei!

I seen a picture from a volunteer group thats posts photos of dogs and cats who end up at Washington County Animal control of a pitiful old dog who was going to be killed in days. No one claimed him, he needed vet care, he had big bald area, and he was just laying there as if he may not be able to walk. (read more below about why you should never take a dog to the dog pound or a shelter.)rnrnLots of current updates on my facebook page "Dreamcatcher Hill". So if one family member wants a cute small, but big hearted Westie, Cavalier or Shar Pei and another wants a big dog in body and heart (or a small dog rescue too !) then getting a rescue and a puppy at the same time may be the answer! Puppies are very easy to housebreak when they have a well behaved adult role model, so its a huge bonus to have a dog for them to follow 🙂

Updates about Charley, one of the very old hospice rescues who we cared for until he was ready for the rainbow bridge on my facebook page "dreamcatcher hill puppies" in albums.

This is Charley after a bath, cleaner, and all fleas are dead but still in bad shape. He looks to be half Shar Pei, wrinkle skin above his tail, ears, coat and tail just like a bear coat Shar Pei. He has a spotted tongue also. The veterinarian I went to litteraly on my way home from getting Charley gave me a list of health issues and said hes "over 10 years" But my biggest concern was if he had been hit by a car or some injury causing his difficulty walking. She said most likely he has arthritis. Not sure if that is better or worse then an old dog with an injury? These photos are about 7 weeks after rescue. His coat is all coming back in. By spring 2-13 he has as much coat as a collie! I need to take more pictures. Hes a very furry handsome boy.

If they are old enough they will be spayed or neutered prior to adoption. All are UTD on vaccinations, been dewormed most have been heart worm tested. Since they are rescues we can only guess at some backgrounds, some we do know. We have 2 hounds whos owner died in very rural TN. There were 16 dogs starving when authorities learned of his death. One dog was guarding the mans body and fire dept had to smoke the poor dog out of the trailer in order to get to the deceased man. A local rescue manged to fight through rats trying to get to the dog food as they carried it up the mountain to keep the dogs alive as they worked on catching, trapping and finding places for them. We offered to take in the last 4 that had no where to go. 1 they adopted before we got transport, 2 are here. The 4th was the one who had guarded the man. It took them 2 months to trap him and he then cut his foot was treated by a vet and managed to escape when he was brought back to his foster. He has been sighted but they are as yet unable to catch him. He looks to be a border collie mix. Anyway, we have a dachshund puppy, share pei mix? puppies, lab mixes balck mouth cur mixes, adults who many are housebroken and super sweet. Eventually I will list them all and get photos up. They are keeping us VERY busy with caring for them but death was their alternative! Donation fee for adoption is $175 to $250. depending on the dog/puppy. Cats and kittens are $45. all either spayed/neutered or if not old enough and brought to me I will cover the fee completely for spaying neutering!! Please spay and neuter pet dogs and cats they are killed by the thousands in animal controls everywhere!rnrnWe named most, or shelter volunteers did, but one was turned into shelter with his name, Larry. They said "we have too many dogs." We cant understand how anyone can do that to there friend. To make it worse they had adopted him from a No kill shelter just 4 months earlier and then dumped him at a High kill shelter! Whatever each dogs reason they ended up in animal control/shelter (shelters are not really sheltering for the dogs…) they now need real forever loving home!The adoption fee doesn''t come close to covering expenses incurred in rescue. Rose and Bandit together have already cost well over $800. to save them from certain death, and I spent more this week on them (today is 12-3-13) to get them both spayed, UTD on vaccinations, flea meds, and heartworm tested. Rose turned out positive! Many need extensive dental work, others are also heartworm positive. Ladonna has a huge bill pending. She needs extensive dental work, mammary tumors removed and to be spayed. Plus still need HW test, which at her age and lack of care its most likely she will be positive. Plus the food alone to care for her the rest of her life as few people love the old dogs like we do. Update 1-2014 The vet believes Ladonna is to old to do surgery and it would just put her in pain and not give her any additional quality or quantity of life. She is an excellent weight so even to do dental was not advised. She believes there is a mass, most likely a tumor spread from untreated mammary cancer that is near her heart pressing on her trachea. 🙁 She has severe arthritis in her back, which is why she walks so oddly. The vet said as long as she is happy (Ladonna limped about saying hi to everyone at the office who all fell in love with her….) to just keep her comfortable with pain meds and chondrotin supplements as needed until the time comes she''s not happy or comfortable enough anymore. Please spay and neuter pets! Mammary cancer can be virtually prevented by spaying female dogs prior to the first heat cycle. Female dogs can come in heat right at 6 months of age. Mammary cancer often spreads and is deadly. She has probably had cancer for years. The list goes on… Sammy, the border collie, is HW positive, treatment is $300. Christopher a tiny terrier is HW positive too…. Now Chipper a new big dog is HW positive also and Harry the very old grumpy maltipoo needed extensive dental work. The vet tech said it was the grossest mouth she has ever seen! He''s doing so much better now that he had all those nasty infected teeth pulled.This is how some of our rescued dogs look when we first bring them home. All were going to be killed at the dog pound because the right person didn''t see them, and they were out of time! We foster them to give them the time they need for the right person or family to see them, fall in love and adopt them to a safe loving life. We will not push a dog or let one go that we dont think will work perfectly for someone. We want the dogs and people to have a wonderful, happy life together! If elderly we will also take back any dog or cat at anytime in the future if family is not wanting the pet. You never have to feel an elderly relative should not have a pet because no one would want the pet later. Lonely people need pets more then anyone else! Or join/start a local program to help deliver pet food and supplies, offer transportation to the vets for local people in your area. If we all work together people and our furry, feathery, scaly companions will be happier!rnrnCharely the old guy in really bad shape pictured here we will keep. He has adjusted really well here. Update 6-2013 He is very old and I dont think he has much time left, although he looks awesome fluffy now. More pictures of him and others on my FB page DreamCatcher Hill.

Update 5-1-13, after a year Coco has been adopted by a wonderful family who also was so great we let them adopt Wolf also. We had planned to keep Wolf, but Jerry Lees back is so bad we have to keep them from playing for fear Jerry Lee will get hurt. Wolf now has the opportunity to have a home of his own with lots more attention and he may even get to go to work with his new dad! Coco gets to be a house dog to help keep their westie they adopted a year ago from us company. Plus they have 4 children.rnrnCoco is a doll, sweet small chocolate lab type looking dog. She was only months old when she was at the pound and going to be killed. Rescue pulled her out and she went to the vets where she sat for a long time in boarding waiting for a home or foster home. She was coughing when she arrived but it cleared up quickly. (She is perfectly healthy now). Also covered in fleas. I treated all of them for fleas, and micro-chipped them, so they will never be lost again, updated vaccinations and dewormed them. She is playful but not at all hyper. Shes has a very soft easy personality. She is housebroken, walks on a leash and is learning basic commands. She loves to play with Max, everybody loves to play with Max! She has gained more weight and looks even more lab like. She never tries to get out of anything, patiently waits her turn for everything. She travels great in the car, walks on a leash and loves my 3 and 5 yr old grandsons. Coco is a very submissive dog and does great with anybody and everybody. She loves all people and children. More aggressive dogs will cause her to just sit in a corner. She never offers to try to be dominant. She is perfect for a person or family with easy going personalities and would do terrific with children, visiting children or traveling. Plus loves to play and is so careful I have her with Westie puppies. They have the best of times chasing each other around when they play! She is not at all high energy, just a super easy dog. She is even great with cats. She loves attention and wants to please SO badly!

Mr. Cool, who we call Buddy, is a big fluffy black and tan dog with some white markings. Looks border collie/Australian shepherd or long coated German Shepherd type mix. Someone also thought he was a Bernese Mountain dog. Hes isn''t high energy, so not very border collie like in energy level at all although that''s what he looks most like to me. He already knows quite a few tricks, sit, down, stay. He doesn''t come well when called, I think because he wasnt worked on that, when you insist he does come right to you. He is housebroken, doesnt bother the cats or other animals. He is a very cool and confident dog and very, very handsome. He travels perfectly in the car. I love his collie like coat. He likes to play with Max but ignores Coco and Susie. I think its because Max talks him to playing. He will jump at a thrown toy and pick it up but hasn''t figured out how to catch it mid-air. Update 5-21-12 Max and Coco have been adopted and we are working on getting Mr. Cool use to all the other farm dogs. He thinks the male dogs should not be able to boss him around so now that we are integrating him into the pack he and Bro are deciding they don''t like each other too much, both want to think they are the top dog on the block. He listens well and he gets along great with the female dogs, and isnt bad with the male dogs but Bro is and Bro trys to dominate him which we dont allow. He loved to play with Max, but Max was very playful and not at all interested in who is "top dog" he just wanted to play. My daughter loves him and would have taken him home but they have 5 dogs already.... Update 4-2013, amazingly Buddy is still here. He is now wonderful with all the dogs, male and female. I have him out to play with a big group, one is even an intact westie. Those 2 dont play but Buddy and Wolf play nonstop. The Westie girls are all in love with him. He pretty much ignores them, more interested in rough housing with Wolf. They love to rough house and chase each other with a toy. Buddy is getting fat.... hes a very easy keeper! His coat is beautiful like a full collie coat. It doesnt matt at all though I have only brushed him a couple times and it just stays wonderful.

If one family member wants purebred and another wants a rescue dog then getting a rescue and a puppy at the same time may be the answer!

These dogs available who were rescued from very high kill shelters in the nick of time. They are available for adoption to forever homes. They will not be a "gamble" for personality, what they know, or don't know as they may be if adopting straight from animal control. I over did rescuing too many a couple years ago but everyone was in grave danger of being euthanized through no fault of their own. We now need to keep them to a more manageable number.

Please spay and neuter pets, and neighbors' pets and relatives' pets!

There are even free programs for trapping, spay/neutering, and then releasing feral/unclaimed area cats. They don''t have to be just killed, and it prevents more from being born feral, plus they are healthier.

Dogs below are just a few who have been adopted!! All kinds of dogs for all kinds of nice people!

Tiny little Harry has passed away, here. This was his information: Harry, laying in cold shelter terrified and trembling so bad he looked like he was having seizures. We offered to take him when we learned he had no real place to go. He was so matted you couldn't hardly tell which end was which. The local rescuer seen him and immediately posted for help. We offer to take him. He was was shaved right before we got him.

Harry has to wear a sweater now that he has been shaved. Poor guy shivers with the air-conditioning on. He''s a much older guy but gained weight and was active, although then would just sleep for hours on end. He will be with us until his time here is done. He''s a bit too old to adopt out. and give another family heartbreak when he passes away." Harry is no longer hairy! At the vets getting cared for. Angie goes through the horroebl pounds in her area and immediately pulls dogs out who are sick injured or to young to survive if left. She has no plan and just prays she will get help with vet costs and someone to step up and help give them a home as boarding at a vet uses money needed to save other dogs. Harry is be available, he has had a full dental been neutered and is mentally happy again. He gets frightened easily. He was so terrified, cold, wet, and lost! He is middle age, or older, and a maltese mix? No doubt simply got lost, although as matted and bad as his teeth were he didn''t have a good home in the past.

Duke, a big handsome boy. Was only 80 pounds when we rescued him now 94, and still gaining. He should be about 100 pounds. We think he is a Newfoundland Shepherd cross. Smart, housebroken well behaved, acts like a puppy sometimes. Vet guessed him to be about 8 years old. We have had him neutered, treated for heart worms and had a couple benign lumps removed. He is a bold dog yet will lay on the floor to play with a puppy. He does like to guard his food and favorite toys from the other dogs. He may be best as any only dog, or with a very submissive dog due to this. He is fine with cats. Everyone who meets him thinks he''s extra handsome! He really would love a home and not to be stuck in a kennel! "

Duke needed surgery for growths to be removed, and he was heartworm positive. Once we got him all up to date and healthy he was lucky and he eventually did get adopted to what I thought was a great. home. I have tried contacting them several times though and can't get a response. 🙁

October 14-16 We were given 8 little dogs, unexpectedly. Story was on the blog page, but I accidentally deleted it. No time to retype it all, so frustrating! It was a long story. The owner said take them, all the Pomeranians had already been given to the state. These needed to go too. He had said some got loose and we could have them too if we could catch them. He said they couldn't catch them and weren't feeding them. One was running loose we could see out the window. After trying to bribe her unsuccessfully she happened to dart into the kennel building where we were able to catch her. She's super sweet but was just terrified. All were matted, were covered in fleas, and some were very thin. The teeth on the older dogs were in terrible shape.

We took them all the the vets same day we got them, Friday. Worried about anything serious they could have going into the weekend when the vet's is an expensive emergency call. They were nice and squeezed us right in when I explained the situation. Good thing we did.

The 8th, whom we named Henrietta, is still at the vets, she needed an emergency spay. She was caught trying to kill a chicken twice her size! She was starving. The vet thinks she had had puppies within the last 2 weeks and was quite ill. She also developed mastitis. The vet kept her there, since she was in such bad shape to have been so sick, fleas, lack of food, and pyometria.

​Some of the dogs are very friendly, some very shy, one so scared she will nip when corned to pick her up but once held she's sweet as can be. One is blind and he is a friendly outgoing dog, I'm not sure how, but he's a happy boy, only one who is already neutered.

We got rid of the fleas immediately, comfortis works great. I have been working on grooming. One was mostly bald from flea allergies vet suspects.

Various photos of 6 of the dogs before grooming, and one dog after grooming. The 8th is still at the vets so I don't have any pictures of her. Will post more as I get them all completely groomed.

Update 11-23-16. Henrietta, Mattie, and Polly were all spayed and have been adopted to new homes. Mop was given to a yorkie rescue group who has a much larger presence and can help get him a home so he doesn't get stuck living in a kennel here.

They all gained weight, and bald little Andy is finally growing new coat in.

​We love the little bald male and the one we had to catch, we named them Amber and Andy. Woppi is a wild child, the darkest colored one and a tiny bit bigger. Lindsey is very shy, on the purple blanket. We have a family member who is taking both of them.

nLassie here was going to be returned, the family adopted her and then was moving to a place where they could only have one dog. Before they could return her or meet us we got a call from animal control. They had found Lassie. We now have Lassie back. She has a raw nose, turns out she has dog lupus, which was easily treated with a course of prednisone, she''s now a good weight and her nose is better. She also had her vaccinations updated as they hadn''t done that either. Please do not get a dog if you can''t or don''t want to care for it and keep it short of serious circumstances. Lassie is housebroken plays well with confident dogs, and is just beautiful and sweet! They can have flair-ups and need a course of treatment then be good as new. Lassie has been adopted after a long wait to her perfect home!

(old post she has been adopted :)Penny was just dropped off in May 2013. Told she was a corgi, but shes seems dachshund/ corgi to me. 13 months old, just a big puppy. We honestly have no idea why the family didnt keep her. They said she needed room to run out in the country as they could only let her walk on a leash due to traffic. Shes super in the house, housebroken, well mannered, crated trained, walks and potties while on a leash, doesnt know any commands but is well behaved, we are working on "come" when off lead outside, which she is learning really fast. She loves children and is terrific with the animals and other dogs. She and Booboo, our 10 month shar pei who is also just a big puppy like her, have become super friends they just love to play! Talk and about super easy loving girl!

German Shepherds as of 4-8-2013 were added to our group needing fur-ever homes! Very long story some of which is on my facebook page DreamCatcher Hill, Brighton IL. These 2 dogs were running loose for awhile. Someone posted their picture on FB hoping someone would claim them. Long story Animal control picked them up, then lied to numerous people saying the dogs were still at large and not there. I knew too many bad stories from AC, many different AC''s not just that one. Another concerned person had posted about the dogs and I wrote her asking her to go in person and call all around to see if a rescue would get them or help get them. She got help from a friend who enlisted Granite City Humane society help I believe help in getting AC to admit the dogs were there.rnrnCrystal saved the dogs. She went to pay their adoption fees on Tuesday so they could be picked up on Thursday because she was going to be out of town on Thursday. When she arrived she was told they both were not going to be adopted they were being put down that day! (This was on Tuesday, before AC said they could even be picked up so they would have been dead if she hadnt happened to need to go ahead of time!) She called all around again and the Humane society, across the street was very nice and helpful. They came right over did a reevaluation the dogs temperaments. She said they were fine and pulled them out so there was no chance they would be put down. They still needed to be spayed/neutered so the Thursday date for pickup stayed the same. Everyone else had backed out of actually getting the dogs. I went down and adopted them. I need much better pictures, a beautiful white female and a darker slightly long coated sable male. Both normal size with normal Shepherds personalities. We decided to call the infamous pair Bonnie and Clyde. The girl is particularly sweet and will be easy. The boy is high energy, very confident and has a strong working drive. Neither are too fond of other dogs but they love each other. We have some work to do with getting them

Bonnie loves to play, but only for a bit, shes a mellow sweet German Shepherd! 6-2013" width="150" height="150" /> Bonnie loves to play, but only for a bit, shes a mellow sweet German Shepherd! 6-2013[/caption]rnrn

Clyde: He was with Bonnie when animal control picked them up and did everything in their power to first claim the dogs were not at AC at all, then said yes they were there and rescue can get them on Thursday. Only by chance the wonderful person who was paying there fees showed up to pay early on Tuesday only to find they were being euthanized that day!! 2 full days before they were to be picked up!! Needless to say she got on the phone, long story. The Belleville humane society came right over for her to the AC, temperament tested the dogs and determined Clyde wasnt as awful as they thought if Bonnie was near. Bonnie wasnt bad at all, and they had no idea why they were so determined to kill her. The humane society removed the dogs, they both got vetted, are HW negative, and we ended up with the pair. Clyde is all male confident German Shepherd. He is now neutered, but at 5 years or so of age his all male personality is well set. He respects Art and I now, didnt at first. He is crate trained, learning to walk on a leash, loves to play with big female dogs, about 85 pounds! We had a pittie mix girl (now adopted) that would really play with him. Bonnie is too laid back to play as long. He is fully vetted. He will require a very knowledgeable person to adopt him. I am floored over how very intelligent this dog is and he really wants to please now that he understands we are the boss. He is handsome and doesnt deserve the negligent past he most certainly had. He may get stuck here as not very many people appreciate how wonderful it is to train and dog who knew nothing and was at deaths door for no fault of their own.

They have acclimated to life on the farm and lots of other dogs! They need a forever home! Both love attention and have had some training in the past. They fell asleep in the car on the way home, very well behaved!rnrnUpdate: Bonnie and Clyde. We have now had the pair for 4 weeks. Bonnie is a sweet dog with tons of potential. Clyde is strong willed but responds to discipline well. I think Bonnie will fit in about anywhere that loves German Shepherds. Clyde will require a confident person who is as smart as he is to reach his potential. They both loved the 2 small children who were at the farm today trying to give them kisses through the kennel. I had a female shepherd years ago who fortunately we had raised from a puppy who had his high drive and she could do obedience incredibly well, fast learner who loved to go train. She would get excited and try to put her head into the training choke collar. She was a favorite of my sons when they would play in the woods"training" the dogs to do tricks and jump hurdles. I think Clyde will be the same way with a "job". We did have a small westie puppy duck right under the door to their kennel, scared me to death they would eat it for a snack, but Bonnie was playing with the puppy and just loved it, Clyde was too busy wanting out of the kennel to pay any attention, he glanced at it and ignored it. It was wonderful to see they are adjusting well to other dogs and dont have a huge prey drive toward small dogs. I will allow them to be adopted separately. I feel they will do better with training when apart. They do love each other but are doing wonderful apart.rnrnAs usual I tend to go on and on

Adopted!! Bonnie: Barely made it out of animal control alive! see Clyde story below. She is a very beautiful full blooded white German Shepherd. She is fully vetted, plays well with the other dogs, about 80 pounds. I dont think she would be good with cats, but havent given her the chance to see if she just likes to chase or more then that... She loves attention and like a typical German Shepherd her family can do anything with her but can be indifferent to strangers when they first arrive. She stands beautifully for grooming. She''s good with children, housebroken, crate trained, knows "sit", although she pulls on a leash and we are working on that every now and then. She loves to chase a ball and will bring it back if you show her the ball you have. She isnt an active dog so only plays with the ball a short time then is done. Shes very mellow. If you love Shepherds you would love this easy one!

Lassie here was going to be returned, the family adopted her and then was moving to a place where they could only have one dog. Before they could return her or meet us we got a call from animal control. They had found Lassie. We now have Lassie back. She has a raw nose, turns out she has dog lupus, which was easily treated with a course of prednisone, she''s now a good weight and her nose is better. She also had her vaccinations updated as they hadn''t done that either. Please do not get a dog if you can''t or don''t want to care for it and keep it short of serious circumstances. Lassie is housebroken plays well with confident dogs, and is just beautiful and sweet! They can have flair-ups and need a course of treatment then be good as new. Lassie has been adopted after a long wait to her perfect home!

Eddie has been adopted to a great home. They had adopted Bandit from us prior and wanted a second dog. It worked out perfect.

Eddie a shepherd mix. He was abandoned with 4 other dogs when the owner moved away. 2 of them were found shot to death on the property, one in the bathroom. 2 others were females a rescue said they would take. Neighbors threatening to shoot all 3. The girls were picked up Eddie left by himself. We couldn''t have that so said we would take him. He is very docile, sweet good with the other dogs, treated for heartworms… He became the favorite at vet clinic were he was boarded until we could get him here. He is smiling! He is not a bully breed, more heinz 57 mutt, about 64 pounds. Eddie was heartworm positive. We did the slow kill heartworm treatment. It took longer then usual for him to test negative but he eventually did.

Christophers temporary foster family fell so in love with him they cried when he came here to get treated for heart worms, neutered and ready for a forever home. They would have kept him but then would not be able to help foster other dogs in need. We are SO grateful for wonderful people like them who want to help save more! Chirs is crate trained walks on a leash is only about 11 pounds. He loves to sleep in someones bed!"

Duke, a big handsome boy. Was only 80 pounds when we rescued him now 94, and still gaining. He should be about 100 pounds. We think he is a Newfoundland Shepherd cross. Smart, housebroken well behaved, acts like a puppy sometimes. Vet guessed him to be about 8 years old. We have had him neutered, treated for heart worms and had a couple benign lumps removed. He is a bold dog yet will lay on the floor to play with a puppy. He does like to guard his food and favorite toys from the other dogs. He may be best as any only dog, or with a very submissive dog due to this. He is fine with cats. Everyone who meets him thinks he''s extra handsome! He really would love a home and not to be stuck in a kennel! "

Duke needed surgery for growths to be removed, and he was heartworm positive. Once we got him all up to date and healthy he was lucky and he eventually did get adopted to what I thought was a great. home. I have tried contacting them several times though and can't get a response. 🙁

Very scared dog at AC, stray hold is up and dogs who are not friendly often don''t make it out alive. Four Paws Sake helped pull him from AC and we now have him. Teddy, see his new photos!

Teddy and Jasmine, lovig a safe warm place to rest, after sitting on cold concrete at Animal control, with fleas so bad half his hair is missing. He was freezing there.

Tiny little Harry has passed away, here. This was his information: Harry, laying in cold shelter terrified and trembling so bad he looked like he was having seizures. We offered to take him when we learned he had no real place to go. He was so matted you couldn't hardly tell which end was which. The local rescuer seen him and immediately posted for help. We offer to take him. He was was shaved right before we got him.

Harry has to wear a sweater now that he has been shaved. Poor guy shivers with the air-conditioning on. He''s a much older guy but gained weight and was active, although then would just sleep for hours on end. He will be with us until his time here is done. He''s a bit too old to adopt out. and give another family heartbreak when he passes away." Harry is no longer hairy! At the vets getting cared for. Angie goes through the horroebl pounds in her area and immediately pulls dogs out who are sick injured or to young to survive if left. She has no plan and just prays she will get help with vet costs and someone to step up and help give them a home as boarding at a vet uses money needed to save other dogs. Harry is be available, he has had a full dental been neutered and is mentally happy again. He gets frightened easily. He was so terrified, cold, wet, and lost! He is middle age, or older, and a maltese mix? No doubt simply got lost, although as matted and bad as his teeth were he didn''t have a good home in the past.

"Bear, 1.5 yr old neutered male. hound dog mix, hes very very sweet. Love his stable normal personality, even when faced with dogs who are a bit temperamental he doesn''t get worked up. Has only ever lived outside, his owner passed away, and his 20 dogs were discovered starving. Most outside dogs would never potty indoors. He came here with his friend Penny." Bear was adopted to an inside home with 3 other dogs, and he is very loved, wonderful with the other days and never potties in the house. Its rare if an outside dog isn't housebroken naturally.

Very old English Coonhound, Ladonna, and her baby who had been dumped by owners at a shelter. 9-18-13, baby will be available when shes 8 weeks old, 10-10-12 to10-19-2013. Mom is as nice as they come, all she wants is a soft warm place to lay down. Please consider elderly rescued dogs. They fit in anywhere since they have lower energy and are the sweetest ever after having had a very rough life. They REALLY appreciate having love and a home." Ladonna, sadly had lung cancer, from untreated mamery cancer. Our vet said operating when we bother went help her quantity or quality of life. She has since passed away. She was a very sweet dog.

Selena was one of almost 30 live dogs found starving in a house that had 1 to 2 foot deep dog doo, remains of dead dog bodies, and skeletons of dogs and puppies. Such a horrific sad situation. the couple who owned the house had moved into a shack in the back yard. they are elderly and had dementia. I don''t understand how no one was adhere of the situation for such a long period of time. Its believed the man told someone he boarded up live dogs into a bathroom and that is what sparked the investigation. The couple is being cared for and went from hospital to a nursing home. The dogs were sent to a rural animal control that was more then maxed out but fortunately the AC in control loves dogs took some home herself and begged others to foster as many as the could to get time to get the dogs rescued/adopted. There were 6 the commissioner said they will be put down tomorrow is they are not gone. We took 3 of them, the other three went to a temporary situation, where 2 have been adopted and one is still in need of a home. 1 of our three a local rescue agree to take and find a home for. Jayda a black lab hound mix was just adopted last week :). Selina is still waiting. she is a DOLL! housebroken, crate trained walks on a leash and super sweet and friendly. Very submissive personality so she never starts anything with anyone and will play with the more dominant dogs perfectly. She''s only about 45 to 50 pounds and is fully vetted. We think about 1.5 years old. She is still shy when meeting new people, but as terrified as the dogs all were coming from a totally dark house with no people interaction its amazing how well they have all adapted. She will make someone a really beautiful best friend!

Kimsy, had a severe broken pelvis in the past. Her hind legs have limited mobility but it doesn''t slow her down. She loves to play, although we are careful she only plays with tiny dogs, hard when she''s only 13 pounds herself! She is a fun loving dog but also super sweet. Schnauzer- cairn terrier mix? She has a terrier spunk but really short legs. or wire coated doxie mix? Very cute! only about 1 to 1.5 years old. She has been adopted!

Saffron, not sure how I didnt have her on the website! She has been waiting along time for a home. She''s good with dogs who like to play and are more submissive. She is very shy around strangers, and I believe she had been physically abused. She is SUCH a sweet dog!! Needs a quieter home, very low energy and would love to just hang out and have a friend she can trust. About 3 years old, heart worm negative and current on everything. She has been adopted!! A perfect family willing to give her the time and quietness needed for her to adjust thinks she is the most prefect dog ever 🙂

2019/2020 Homes needed for cats and kittens!

We found homes for the kittens we rescued in 2017 who were almost dead. In 2018 we had not had any fall in our lap, until late in the year. 2 starved part siamese kittens, had been brought to me. One was dieing and passed away in just minutes of getting here 🙁

The other was not quiet as bad, still able to walk and eating. She did well and my mom kept her. We also got a bottle baby kitten about 2 weeks old in the winter. Gray and white, really cute. My mom also kept her t0 keep the other one company. They were moved to outside cats once old enough (they did have a heated house to stay in, as it was still cold out.)

I did what I always chastise others for doing. I didn't realize how old they were getting, (6 to 8 months) the vet was booked for a month when I called for spay appointments. One of Art's older sisters had moved in with us January 2019, and I was just too distracted. The kittens still looked like big kittens...

Needless to say they both ended up pregnant before the appointment. They did get spayed after raising their kittens! Plus the 5 kittens we couldn't find homes for are all spayed and neutered already! No one is perfect, including me. Key is to take care of the oops before it escalates. Most of our farm cats are 14 to 16.5 years old. So its not terrible to have some new ones since they are fixed, but still bad because we could have got feral barn cats from the barn cat program as our old cats pass the rainbow bridge.

So back on the soap box;

We have had people who refuse to spay and neuter their cats try to get us to take their kittens. The situation is so frustrating. Please spay and neuter cats! 

2 kittens, one almost dead rescued 11-3-17. Sorry pictures day we got them didn't turn out well. We were too busy getting fleas off them, and some food in them, and a place set up to keep them to worry about photos. 

The one, a girl, was full of energy even though so starved she was snarling and ready to attack anyone, or her brother who got near the food when we fed her. 

The little boy was so weak he could barley stand and would just lay down, and hung limply when you picked him up, even while getting a bath he was limp. 🙁 He didn't even want to eat. He was only 13 ounces, even after being fed. I used a dropper to get some warm fresh goat milk into him. He was happy to swallow the milk. After 2 days he was lapping out of a bowl and would eat a bit of kitten food if soaked in the milk. The girl had mellowed out nd didn't snarl over the food as it was available at all times. 

More about them in their album on the Facebook page, DreamCatcher Hill puppies in Brighton IL. 

Kittens 6 days later! Bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready to play! Its amazing what a warm dry place to live, food and water can do for a kitten in such a short time! The boy is already 1 pound 3 ounces! The girl 1 pound 9 ounces. I didn't think to weigh her when we got her. She was skinny, but not near as bad as the boy. 

​They need homes! Here they will become one of the many spayed and neutered farm cats. We already have about 14. Most are 14 to 16 years old now, although they are doing great.

The old website had the history about how I had spayed and neutered 18 cats the first 2 years I lived on the farm. I don't really even like cats much. I had one cat I kept food out for at all times. We didn't know the previous farm owners abandoned their 6 plus cats in the dead of winter when they moved out and put the farm up for sale. We moved in 4-1-2003. The cats had fended for themselves for 4 months, through the worst of winter! I'm not sure how many cats the people had left behind but we found skeletons and kitten sculls in every farm building we cleaned out. It was infuriating to me that people are so callous and and heartless.

​Needless to say the neighbors cats also moved their kittens to our place too. We had a feral cat also with 2 half grown kittens following her around start showing up.

We know for a fact healthy cats are fed cats, and they will catch mice better then a half starved cat! There were lots of mice around, before we started feeding the cats. Now we rarely see a mouse. Out here in the country field mice are just a part of a field. If there is food in the barn for chickens, or horses then they move in and are quite prolific without natural predators and/or cats around.

The other cats that made their way here over the years and also had their own story.

We have been so busy I just haven't had a chance to do anything with this page. I finally started on the page when 2 more pitiful kittens needed help.

My son, Keith, who professes to not like cats has 2 kittens from the place up the road. That place seems to always have sickly sad uncared for kittens. I never see them, but Aryne did and picked up 2 she could catch. Their eyes were so matted they simply couldn't try to hide or run way well.

She took them to Keiths, and called me asking what to do for them. Keith had just moved next door and there were lots of mice. The only cat seemed to be one from our place that they seen. The previous people had a big dog and I don't know if he was good with cats, or not. The place was not kept up. He wanted cats for catching the mice.

Its too funny that he talks about the kittens as much as the dogs. He even commented how they run out to see him soon as he gets home and follow him everywhere. As he is holding and petting them! Keith is actually cat person! lol!

We currently have 2 horses who had been starved that call the farm their permanent home now. In one year we ended up with 3 starving horses.

I'll add photos sometime when I can remember how to get back on here to do an update. It took me 3 hours and I still don't know just what I did. this page of the website is different then all the others with how you get here to edit. 

We purchased a very starved 2 year old gelding the same family who had Carely, who's story is below. He tied to a trailer with no food or water for 24 hours. They had just got him in a group of starving young horses the day before, with the intend to take them to auction and sell for a profit. He was a stud colt and promptly walked through the hot wire fence trying to breed a mare in heat. They did know what to do with him so tied him to the trailer. 

When I went there the next day to see how he was doing (you could see he was still there from the lane) there was no bucket at all, no hay on the ground, no spilled grain. Noting to indicate he had been given even a wisp of hay. Horses are messy they get hay spread about where they cant reach it if they are tied. And no bucket, you can drink water if there is no bucket. 

I had talked to Keith because I knew I wouldn't have time to work with a 2 year old horse and didn't want him to just hang out here for years doing nothing. He was willing to have him be "his horse". So I bought him. Josey was a really good boy. I don't know if he was naturally easy going or if someone somewhere had actually done a bit of work with him. His only issue was needing to be gelded (neutered). He was way too thin to get gelded safely so we had him in the solid fenced paddock where he put on weight quickly. He also quickly noticed the girls! He would run the fence line wanting to go see them. At one point he jumped a gate. We decided even though he wasn't as big as we wanted he was ready for surgery. We trailered him up to Ghrist vet clinic and had him gelded.

He has always been a really calm easy going horse. We still have him here. Some day Keith may put up a fence and take him and Jay, the other rescue he loves to his house.   

Carely, the oldest horse we rescued that year, was just a horribly sad situation. A walking skeleton. The people who had her had been turned in many times for neglect. She was "owned" by people who boarded her at the neighbors where there was always a few walking skeletons of horses. The state did nothing because the horse was old. They were our neighbors. A young lady who I tried hard to help her understand basic care. Same ne who had left Josey, a starving colt, tied to a trailer with no food or water for 24 hours. Her father was a horse trader long ago and she grew up around horses. I will never understand. 

Anyway Art and I finally talked the boarders into letting us have the horse. They had already euthanized the huge sweet gelding I begged them to give us, because he was starving.

They wanted to show Carely at the fair for Halloween before letting us have her. Someone actually even rode this poor horse at the show. No one said anything. Horses do get old and they can become a bag of bones, but to ride the horse in that condition? You could beat your head against the wall with how dumb/mean some people are. 

When we got her home I slowly started feeding her a variety of things to see what she would eat. Cant go fast, or you will colic a horse. I kept increasing the amount a bit each day and added corn oil for calories. Since she was old we gave her pellets. If her teeth were bad she would still able to eat and digest a pellet type food. The neighbors and said they were giving her pellets, which I cant believe. She gained weight at a wonderful rate, even with the winter coming on and colder temperatures! By the time our yearly dentist appointment came around in April she was sleek, shiny, beautiful and if she weren't gray around the head would have looked like a young horse. 

We were all shocked when the dentist opened her mouth and said "I cant cant believe this horse isn't dead!" Her teeth are the worst he had seen "for a horse that wasn't dead, but actually looked good!" I felt SO horrible! I had no idea her teeth were so painful and awful because she did gain weight and looked so good. Still makes me feel like crying. This poor horse had probably never had a dental done in who knows how many years, if ever! The neighbors had her up there for a couple years riding her. I cant imagine the excruciating pain she must have been in being ridden with a bit in her mouth while starving! Horses teeth grow all the time. Not like our teeth. So if a tooth falls out the one below it will just keep growing putting a hole right into the gum above. Plus even if no missing teeth they wear on each other making really sharp edges that make sores inside the horses cheeks.

The dentist pulled some teeth that couldn't be saved and floated the rest. Unfortunately her big fetlock (ankle) was still a problem for her but she seemed happy and would even run around sometimes! 

She loved children! I never seen a horse who would actually follow children around wanting to hang out with them. If we set someone up there she would walk like she was on eggshells and stop if they started to slide. She was such a sweet horse. Adults, she never wanted anything to do with. She tolerated us because we fed her, eventually she came to follow us around a bit but it was never like she was when a child was around. I cant say I blame her adults hurt her for years and years on end by just not having her teeth maintained. 

We had her for years and eventually nothing we did would keep good weight on her, she slowly got thinner. Feeding an old horse is quite an expense, but there wasn't anything to do about it but just keep buying expensive feed and giving it to her hoping she would be willing to eat. We even poured table sugar on it so she was happy eating it and her medication for her bad leg. Some people seem to think what you feed is a choice. Eat hay, or starve. We would never do that! SO many old horses simply need pellets because they have no teeth and cant chew, so they slowly starve. Its so sad. 

Her old fetlock injury started giving her trouble. We never knew if she tripped and fell, or if she had laid down and couldn't get up. We would find her laying down unable to get up off and on. Art and I would roll her to her good side and then push and pull, and help her get up. Once up she seemed fine. 

Then one day we found her half in the barn and half out of the barn flailing about and hitting her head on the wall trying to get up. We were able to get her up with much difficulty. She had really wedged herself into a bad spot.

I called the vet it was time. We were lucky we had been home and heard her, by the big banging of her head not he wall, finding her pretty quick. If it had been at night, or while we were gone, or even in the house, she would have been hurting herself in a panic for potentially hours and hours on end. Art was mortified we would have her put down but I was more mortified she would seriously hurt herself for hours, and have to lay there for more hours until an emergency call could get a vet out to put her down. Of course on the day the vet came she was having a good day. Those are just the worse ever decisions you have to make when we are our furry friends guardian! :*(  She's buried in the pasture she called home. RIP sweet girl Carley. 

The third horse was one of a whole herd of Thoroughbreds that many were not cared for properly, rummers were some had starved to death. He too was a long story. Blazing Jay as we call him was very thin, not as starved as the others since he was one the guy had at the race track so they had to feed him some. We got him here and he was just a sweet guy. You never know with off the track thoroughbreds, OTTB's. Some have had no, or horrible training and are fruit loops. Some are great. All have lots of energy.

He wasn't very energetic, so no wonder he didn't race well. Keith took him for a ride and did all kinds of silly things, like spinning in the saddle and reaching way down, sitting backwards. Jay just stood there. Keith loves him. When they go on a rare trail ride its who he always rides. He is just a really nice horse. He like most TB's eats a lot. It took about a year before he finally put on more weight. It was odd he just didn't gain. I think it was stress at first and then just time to heal on the inside, and he isn't a pig, but low man on the totem pole so sometimes he wouldn't go to the hay feeder if the other horses were crabby we are guessing. He was often eating hay so its not like they didn't let him eat. Just stress in general we think. Now he is sleek and looks great.

Horses are a big expense. Not that they really actually cost much to feed for their size but its that constant amount of feed going in and cleanup. We have 4 separate pastures for our various horse and donkeys. It helps keep any one area from being eaten down too far. Luckily we don't have to feed hay in the summer, but in the winter at $6. a bale and 5 to 6 bales a day it adds up! Winter we also feed grain. Its $8 to $20 for 50 pound bag. Carely was eating about 20 pounds a day, of the expensive stuff. Some of ours don't eat any grain. Josey gets about 8 pounds a day, Jay about 12 pounds a day. We are going to look into some different brands. My daughter old TB has lived here forever retired. She's on the expensive stuff, but doesn't need as much of it and looks good for an old thoroughbred.

They need a farrier to trim their hooves every 8 to 10 weeks, dental care once a year, dewormer on a regular basis, fresh water, shelter, good safe fencing. Plus things like a horse trailer and truck to pull it in case you have to take your horse somewhere. Or you can pay a farm call and have the vet come to you, if you have one that will do farm calls.

They are wonderful and as a little girl it was all I ever wanted! I may not ride anymore, never did much, but I just love them. As we get older we may not take in any new rescues if we can help it as they are big and when not handled all the time can be hard to handle. All ours are pretty good. 2 of my 3 kids love the horses too, and live close, so they can always help if we need it. They do help us, well Art as he does it now, stay in shape carrying that hay and grain, and dragging the hose around is all good exercise! 

2019 The rescued starved pot bellied pigs we saved, were all pregnant! ugh! We found homes for 5 of the 11 babies they raised.

They are cute 🙂

But now we have 10 potbellied pigs, we really didn't want but couldnt see being starved, plus old Miss Piggy. At least these guys all live together. My son-in-law had worked on a hog farm and castrated the boys so no more babies! 

One of the goats we got who was surviving on just corn in the dead of winter. He wasn't in too bad of shape. I forgot how I added the photos to put the 2 does on here. They were in bad shape and pregnant. Fortunately got them soon enough in the pregnancy the babies were small but healthy. SUPER cute. 

 

2011? Christmas morning I go a call from my son. Hey mom you want a pot bellied pig? huh? He then explained dogs and got a hold of the pig and the people had no intension of doing anything for the pig. He said it was bleeding, and hiding in their chicken coop, the only shelter it had ever had. It was really cold out and the coop had no bedding. Plus they said they may just eat her and wanted Keith to help them butcher her. He said no.  

I said I don't care if you can get it here we will take it. We know NOTHING about pigs! He came and got the horse trailer and returned with the pig in it. It was giant!! I thought it was going to be the size of a lab or something. 

I had been reading a bit and they say use a piece of plywood to protect your legs from the pigs sharp teeth to herd it when you want to move it somewhere. 

We got her into a horse stall with a bit of pushing. She wasn't bleeding but you could see big tears on her ears and sores on her belly and side where she had been bit. I had a mountain of straw in there and we hung a heat lamp. She quickly buried herself in the straw and the whole pile just shook with her trembling! She was terrified. I felt so bad for her. 

Keith said they had her for about 3 years and fed her but they never actually pet her. I didn't get that, most people have them as pets and they are like dogs. But most people wouldn't want to eat their pet as an option if it got hurt and needed a bit of care either. Later when she was better they wanted her back. I said no. She would have been torn up by the dogs again, they were not going to build her a safe pen, or do anything different.   

Needless to say we call her Miss Piggy. She's about 250 pounds we think. We have had her about 5 years now, I cant remember exactly. (2018 as I write this). Various birds have lived with her over the years; ducks, peafowl, currently a very old turkey. When its cold sometimes the turkey will get in her hut with her and sit on top of her.

She doesn't want to be touched but she likes to eat!! Pigs really are pigs! She loves to lay in the mud wallow when its hot. She really doesn't seem to do anything. We have various things in there for her to play with, but she doesn't play with anything. She just likes to lay around and is most happy if your throwing her food!  

The photos above;

Early, very cold winter 2019 we had a call from a relative who was insisting we check out his friend, who had just passed away, farm animals. The last thing we really wanted to do. 

Well the family was not at all caring for the critters well. We got 3 goats who were in the worst shape, 2 were pregnant, just skin and bones and no place warm to have them kid (deliver babies so the babies wouldn't freeze). A very ugly, skinny, pot bellied pig, they said had been a house pet, then outside with a heat lamp, and then they decided to toss her out with the boar, in the middle of winter! She had previously had a litter and the 7 or 8 half grown piglets were running with her the boar and a big herd of goats. She looked horrible. We got her and 3 of her offspring we could catch. Trying hard to figure out how to get the boar. He was adorable. But we didn't want more babies and didn't have another pen. 

We tried calling rescue for the donkeys. The son refused to separate the 3 for us to take at least 1. One was so painfully foundered he really needed to be put down. The other 2 we could have taken, thier hooves were so long and they are in bad shape from only having corn and no hay they were at a huge risk of foundering also. 

We just couldn't fit them all in right away. Then when we finally figured out how we could divide a paddock to get them all, the family became really rude. They said "they all found homes" Art asked did the rescue take them? He said "they are not here, you don't want to know what happened to them all," and hang up on Art. 

So sad I don't know if they starved to death, he shot them, or what. I know the rescue didn't take them as I called them. We had heard animal control was called on them by their neighbor, but the animals were still there, so they didn't do anything.

Trying to figure out how to attach photos again. I did once.