April Family Fun Day

Posted on April 6, 2014August 23, 2021 by True Blue Animal Rescue

Yesterday TBAR held a great Family Fun Day! We were worried about rain, but the weather held off and a great time was had by all! We hosted two sessions, a morning and an afternoon and the group organizers had a lunch planned for the families at the Washington on The Brazos State Park.

Family Fun days offer fun activities for all to enjoy, including:
1) Learn safety with dogs and horses
2) Listen to a story about rescue animals
3) Ride a horse
4) Hay Ride

Our events are announced on our website, and also on our Facebook page.

If you are interested in having your kids, aged 6-16, enjoy some horse time with TBAR ABLE residents, please stay tuned for info on our July ABLE Read-to-Ride Camps!

Feature Foster: Olivia and Patrick

Posted on March 30, 2014August 23, 2021 by Olivia

I didn’t make the decision to become foster Mom to a TBAR foster dog lightly. I had been thinking and praying about it for some time now. While my dogs are a wonderful pack, I do have a corgi mix that seems to live with a lot of fear. But when Melanie informed me that T-bar was taking in two puppies that had been found on the side of the road starving I felt the pull grow. What sealed the deal was a picture of the two puppies side by side looking very thin and scared. Since My corgi mix is mostly scared of anything bigger than him I figured a puppy would be easy for him to get used to.

Our foster dog Patrick came into T-bar care on St. Patrick’s Day, hence his name. I could not help but notice his long legs and soulful eyes when Melanie and Teresa came by with him. Thankfully T-bar provided a crate for me to use for him. His ribs were showing and so were his hip bones. Knowing my dogs, I was right about their reaction to the newcomer. Lucia, my oldest, wanted to check on him non-stop, Chloe our middle dog, could have cared less (Patrick could be a new chair for all she noticed), and of course Jack, the corgi mix, was the biggest hurtle.

Patrick made it clear that his experience on the streets had given him encounters with bigger dogs already. Jack growled once and Patrick bowed his little head and hunched his shoulders. The puppy was going into a submissive stance to try and let Jack know things are ok. This dance has been repeated a lot in just our first week with Patrick, through no fault of the new arrival. Jack has trust issues and Patrick is responding very well. He gives Jack space, he knows not to try and play with Jack unless Jack invites him, which has so far only happened once.

Patrick picked up crate training pretty fast and had only one accident in the house which was mostly my fault because I stopped watching him when a friend came over for a visit. Since I work from home I have my dogs on a set schedule. Having three other dogs to model his behavior after has made things pretty smooth for us in adding Patrick into our pack. If Patrick were an over-eager dog, or insistent on jumping on Jack or our cats this would have required more work on our part. Thankfully Patrick seems to be one of those dogs that is Heaven-sent. He already knows to nap on a dog bed, or sit there and play. If I catch him chewing on something I firmly tell him no and then make sure to give him a toy that is okay to chew on. He is still a pup and is teething. All puppies like to chew but, it is up to those watching them to teach them the do and don’ts of what they can chew on. So far he has left shoes and socks that my cute husband leaves around untouched (which is more than I can say for Lucia, who loves socks).

It’s an honor to train Patrick and house him for T-bar. Many people have asked me questions about him so I will try and answer them now.

How is he with cats? Like all puppies Patrick wants to play. We have only had to get after him twice about the cats and his “chasing” efforts were fainthearted. He took two bouncy steps and then stopped.

Is he hyper? He is a puppy and has the desire to interaction and love. We make it a point to not pet him when he jumps on us, but to show affection when he is being calm or laying down chewing on a toy. This helps him not feel the need to jump on us seeking attention and love. Since he is a puppy I put time aside to run around with him outside and get him to move. Even so, he is a pretty low-energy dog. As I write this he is blissfully snoring on his favorite blue dog bed.

Does he bark a lot? He is not much of a barker. For now other dogs barking scare him a little. But this is a huge improvement from when we first got him. Dogs would bark and he would whine and want inside. He is getting braver day by day.

Is he good with kids? I always want people to understand that kids are high energy beings. They are young and they want to run, play and make noise. That will have an effect on any dog’s behavior, especially a puppy. Patrick is a gentle dog so if a family with kids wants to adopt him he will be safe, but always keep in mind it is up to you and your kids to help a dog remain calm and happy.

Fostering Patrick is something I am so excited to be doing and when a family comes along for him and he has a forever home I know that the amount of pride and happiness I will feel will be huge. Helping an animal get healthy and then find a forever home that fits him will give me joy beyond words. For now though, I am enjoying this new ride. Patrick has been so sweet that I am already thinking about doing fostering again! But I have to ask my corgi mix first!

We hope this story has inspired you to join in our wonderful group of TBAR Foster Homes. TBAR is a 501(c)3 non-profit animal rescue made up of only foster homes. We have no public funding for a central shelter location, so every person that can take in just one foster animal is a big help to our mission of saving lives. Read about fostering, or write to us at [email protected] to find out more!

Pyr Story

Posted on March 25, 2014August 23, 2021 by Melanie DeAeth

In February Olivia shared the story of the Pyrenees Dog rescue. We are pleased to follow that up with the happy success story ending for these dogs!

vet1

Vet3

On March 12, 2012, after their final round of vet care, True Blue Animal Rescue sent Delia and Porthos, two Pyrenees rescue dogs, to New Jersey to be placed in forever homes through Eleventh Hour Rescue. In doing this we learned that northern states have done such a great job of eliminating their overpopulation problem that they currently have a shortage of rescue animals. With this demand for rescue animals in the north the southern states are now shipping hundreds there on a regular basis.

Delia transport

Porthos transport

Delia During Transport

We linked up with PETS, LLC., one of the transport companies that brings dogs all over the country to their new homes. We met with this transport team in Houston, TX where there were another 40 dogs loaded into an air conditioned semi truck by compassionate people who were knowledgable about dogs and how to care for them in a transport situation. We were comforted and happy to receive updates and pictures of our dogs during this three day trip. Then when they arrived in New Jersey we were notified and sent pictures to assure us that they made it safely.

Porthos in New Home

Porthos during Transport

Porthos and Delia in NJ

Delia in New home

Since it means saving more lives we plan to try and place more dogs in homes in states that have less rescue dogs than we do but we also know that this is not the answer to ending our overpopulation problem. Thirty years ago these states had the same overpopulation problems that we see in the south. I worked in an SPCA in New York State and experienced this first hand. Since then They enforced licensing laws, developed spay / neuter programs and educated the public in order to become no kill states. Knowing this gives me the assurance that we can do the same thing here in Texas, and other states who are still working to decrease and then eliminate their euthanasia rates.

TBAR is a 501(c)(3) non-profit no-kill animal rescue organization. If you would like to help animals such as this one please consider donating to TBAR, volunteering, fostering, or adopting. Donations go directly toward care, feed, and veterinary care of the rescued animals and every little bit helps us to help another animal in need of safety and rehabilitation. Save a life: adopt instead of shop and spay or neuter your pets!

T-Bar is Looking for Additions to our Volunteer Staff Team

Posted on March 23, 2014August 23, 2021 by Alissa

During 2013, True Blue Animal Rescue underwent many changes in our structure and policies, and our administrative volunteer staff have worked very hard to ensure that all animals who come through our doors are met with a loving family and outstanding veterinary care. In order to continue improving T-Bar, we need help from our loyal supporters. We are looking for dedicated individuals who are able to donate some of their time to the T-Bar mission through volunteering. T-Bar is in need of additional administrative staff in the following committees: Adoption, Spay Assistance, Medical, and Intake and Processing.

Adoption Coordinator:
As one of T-Bar’s Adoption Coordinators, you would be reviewing a portion of adoption applications received, performing vet and personal reference checks on applicants using a pre-made form, filing applications and completed reference forms in T-Bar’s online filing system, recording adoptions in T-Bar’s files, and conducting, tracking and reporting follow-ups with adopters.

Approximate time needed per week: 5-10 hours

Medical Coordinator:
As one of T-Bar’s Medical Coordinators, you would be maintaining T-Bar’s medical spreadsheets to track the dates of vaccinations, worming, deworming, coggins, etc. to help fosters know when it’s time to take their animals to the vet for their annual exam and vaccinations. You will also request updated vet records from all foster homes annually and work with other T-Bar staff in adding new vet clinics as partners in different areas as our foster homes increase.

Approximate time needed per week: 5-10 hours

Spay Assistance Coordinator:
As one of T-Bar’s Spay Assistance Coordinators, you will track T-Bar’s available spay assistance funds and spays T-Bar is assisting with, sending follow up emails to assure the animal was spayed and is doing well after surgery, and provide information for T-Bar’s networking assistance for spayed animals who are now looking for an adoptive home.

Approximate time needed per week: 1-5 hours

Equine Listing Coordinator:
T-Bar was accepted into Equine.com’s A Home For Every Horse Rescue Program this past year and we need a volunteer who is able to post our adoptable horses to the website and maintain the ads.

Approximate time needed per week: 1-5 hours

If you are interested in taking on the responsibilities of any of these positions, please email [email protected] or call (936) 878-2349.

Three Donkeys Found Wandering Burleson Co. Neighborhoods

Posted on March 9, 2014August 23, 2021 by Alissa

True Blue Animal Rescue is again helping with the vetting and re-homing of more donkeys. T-Bar President, Melanie DeAeth, received a call about three homeless donkeys that were wandering the streets of Burleson County, Texas. After contacting the Sheriff’s Department, T-Bar agreed to assist in getting these skinny little guys to the vet and then helping them find their forever homes. Once their time on “stray hold” is up, T-Bar volunteers will be headed out to pick these three up and then will be taking them straight to the vet. They will be gelded, vaccinated, wormed and will also receive hoof care.

All they will need are families who will take them home, love them, feed them and make sure they never have to live the homeless life again! If you are able to foster or adopt any of these three, please email us or call (936) 878-2349 for more information!

IWD2014 Inspiring Change

Posted on March 8, 2014August 23, 2021 by Jess

Today is International Women’s Day, a day for celebrating the positive achievements and strength of all women, everywhere.

The theme of 2014 IWD is “Inspiring Change”, and that is exactly what the ladies of TBAR strive for everyday! Our amazingly powerful group of women has been the driving force of this nonprofit in Brenham, Texas. Without them, TBAR would not be what it is today.

We would like to thank all of the women officers, staff, and volunteers that work hard to make this organization a success in its mission to stop animal cruelty. It takes great courage AND great heart to face the realities of animal abuse and neglect, and it also takes strength and determination to continuously give your time to a higher cause while maintaining jobs, homes, families, and other life situations. We encourage everyone to honor the women in your life whom you most admire, and remember the International Women’s Day vision: “make a difference, think globally and act locally!! Make every day International Women’s Day. Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding”!

Pet Sitter Appreciation Week

Posted on March 4, 2014August 23, 2021 by Jess

This week is Pet Sitter Appreciation week!

From all of us at TBAR, and all of our personal and foster pets, we want to THANK everyone who steps in when we have to step out. Sometimes it’s for fun things, like a vacation, sometimes it’s for sad times, like a funeral, but no matter the reason your pet only knows that you are gone. Some pets get sad and confused, and even might refuse to eat. Sometimes our pets may be old or sick, and our pet sitters make sure they get special love and their medicine on time. That is why we have to pick certain special people whom we know can be there for our pets. So for all those people that we trust to come into our homes, or to take our pet into their own, we thank you for being responsible and also loving to our pets.

Having a pet doesn’t mean you can’t get out and travel if you want/need to, it just means you’ll have to find someone who can take great care of your pet while you are gone! Visiting Pet Sitters International is a great way to locate a sitter. One of our TBAR volunteer staff members, Amy, is a regular pet sitter and offers the following advice to those looking for a pet sitter, or looking to become a pet sitter:

“I chose to take on pet sitting as secondary income to help pay surgery bills almost 2 yrs. ago. I wanted something with flexible time & didn’t want PT work after my FT job and something in retail or fast food. I love animals so sought out to get my name out there. I’m registered on care.com & sittercity.com Most of my success has come from care.com & word of mouth. I have a few regulars right now and love all their animals as if they are my own.

Always make sure to meet the owner & animals before the job starts to learn the routine, get emergency contact #s including their vet, trusted neighbor or friend, etc. Interact with the animals so you can get to know them & vice versa.

I love the interaction with the animals especially after a hard day at work. There is nothing more relaxing than talking to “someone” who is happy to see you, listens, & loves you unconditionally.”
– Amy Hemsell, TBAR Staff (and TBAR Pet Sitter)
Amy pet sits for the 10 mile radius from downtown Brenham and can be reached at 713-992-4700 or email [email protected]

And here is some advice (and notes of appreciation) from some of the TBAR Officers and Staff!

“As an owner of multiple dogs and cats, vacation time can either be stressful or not considered at all. We ask ourselves ‘how can we afford to go anywhere?’ A ‘Pet Sitter’ who comes into your home to care for your animals is the best way to go. Especially if you have large animals like horses or donkeys, someone who can come to your home twice a day to feed and check on your extended animal family is the best way to go. Be sure to provide a safe environment for each animal as the care taker will only be checking on them twice a day. Supply all medications, food, access to water and emergency phone numbers for your care taker. Planning ahead will make your vacation time away from home much more enjoyable.

My friend Harriet Patrick does “In Home Boarding” for limited number of dogs. She temper tests her boarders because they must get along with her own personal dogs. She likes to meet your dog in her home before you leave on vacation. There are certain advantages to an “In Home Boarding” environment over a professional kennel. Dogs are in the house interacting as a family. This situation causes less stress on the dogs. Harriet provides Pickup and Delivery if you are in a rush to get to your appointment or airline flight. Don’t worry about coming home to a dirty dog that has been in a small kennel while you are away. Harriet will also bath and groom on request. Harriet has 30 years training and showing dogs, and she has experience with older dogs and those with special needs.

Larriet Spaniels, Home Environment dog boarding: 11818 Beinhorn Dr (Houston, TX 77065), 281-705-0364, [email protected]”
– Linda Taylor, TBAR Marketing and Events Director

“I’d like to thank my sister and future brother-in-law for pet sitting my little furry man, Archie. Knowing I was going to be leaving him for two months was difficult enough, but having family there to care for him while I was gone was a huge relief.

Being trusted with someone else’s fur child is a big responsibility, but being able to bond with animals you don’t see every day is always a joy and can hardly be considered work! That is unless you’re pet sitting for TBAR. That’s hard work and all of the furry friend love you could handle in a single day!

You wouldn’t leave your children in the hands of strangers and neither should you for your pets! Always check references from previous clients for potential pet sitters.”
– Alissa Cannon, TBAR Secretary

“Finding a sitter that you can rely on is hard. But finding one that you know can take care of all your pets needs is even harder. My pets are my children and all have different little needs. I am grateful that I have a friend that is taking the time to try and bond with all my pets, even my most shy dogs.”
– Olivia Moore, TBAR Photographer & Journalist

“In our last city we had a great pet sitter. He loved his dogs and loved all dogs. Our dogs loved going there, and even used to stare out the back window and whimper when we took them back! I learned from his facility that a good pet sitter should be willing to let you visit them and show you where your pet will be staying. This will help alleviate YOUR stress, which will make your pet more at-ease as well.

In our new city we have not found a new pet sitter, so the pups have been staying at camp – that is, my parents’ house, and home to about 35 TBAR foster dogs! My dogs have so much fun running around with all the other dogs! Thanks Mom and Dad for taking in your ‘grand-dogs’ so I can take a break!”
– Jessica Ripley, Webmaster

“True Blue Animal Rescue is a volunteer organization made up of foster homes. We don’t have a facility with staff to take care of the animals. They are all cared for by the families who foster them. Foster homes usually have more pets than most people, making pet care a challenge. As the largest foster home in Tbar I know this first hand. I also know how important it is for us to take breaks from caring for the 30 or more dogs and over 35 horses that my family fosters at our home. To us, a good pet sitter is very important. We love and care for all of our pets and foster pets and we couldn’t leave and relax if we didn’t feel comfortable with our pet sitter. For us a pet sitter is someone who will not only feed and water the pets but will also be observant and look around and see how they are all doing. If they have any questions they can call and we can make sure that our pets are getting everything they need whether we’re there or not. With that type of dedication and communication we get to take the breaks we need so we can continue caring for this many animals and that’s what keeps Tbar going. So, on behalf of all the animals we help in True Blue Animal Rescue I want to say ‘thank you’ to the pet sitters we’ve had here and to all the pet sitters everywhere. I hope you know how important you are!”
– Melanie DeAeth, TBAR President

TBAR Speaks to Aggieland Rotary Club

Posted on March 2, 2014August 23, 2021 by Linda Taylor

As a part of our Community outreach and involvement TBAR often gives presentations to different groups to spread the TBAR mission and message while possibly setting up future partnerships. These presentations help to grow awareness about improving the treatment of animals in our community.

TBAR was pleased to have several of our members attend a meeting of the Aggieland Rotary club this past Thursday, February 27, from 11:30am-1:00pm at Traditions Country Club in Bryan, Texas. Our Marketing and Events Coordinator, Linda Taylor, gave an informative presentation complete with slideshow covering the TBAR goal of improving the treatment of animals through education and communication.

The members of the Rotary seemed very engaged and interested and we were pleased that a few of them have already inquired about becoming foster and adoptive homes. In addition, shortly after the event TBAR’s Facebook page passed 3000 followers! We are very excited to have crossed this milestone so we can continue to make an impact for better animal treatment in the Brazos Valley area!

TBAR is a 501(c)(3) non-profit no-kill animal rescue organization. If you would like to help animals such as these please consider donating to TBAR, volunteering, fostering, or adopting. Every little bit helps us to help another animal in need of safety and rehabilitation. Save a life: adopt instead of shop and spay or neuter your pets!

Our Facebook Page Reaches 3000 Fans!

Posted on March 1, 2014August 23, 2021 by True Blue Animal Rescue

TBAR has slowly been nearing the 3000th “Like” on Facebook, and with all of the help of our fans we were able to make that milestone today! In this past week we gained over 80 followers, and our post asking you all to share our page was seen by more than 2000 people!

For those of you that don’t know, Facebook does not show all of our posts to all of our fans, in fact, Facebook only shows posts to about 16% of page followers! That is why it is so important for us to receive your “likes”, Comments, and “shares” on posts we upload to the TBAR Facebook and RAIN pages. The more interaction a post gets the more Facebook will share it with others. That is why it is so OUTSTANDING that we reached so many people through your shares this week. We can’t THANK YOU all enough for being such great supporters! The animals thank you as well!

Friday Fluff: Pyrenees Dogs

Posted on February 28, 2014August 23, 2021 by Olivia

This past February True Blue Animal Rescue was asked to assist 4Paws Farm, a rescue center located in Hempstead, Texas, who was helping place sixteen Pyrenees dogs whose owner had passed away. Placing that many dogs at once would be hard on any rescue group and that is why networking with other rescue centers is so important. Thankfully the Great Pyrenees Rescue Society took seven of these lovely dogs and Golden Retriever Acres Senior Sanctuary took the female Golden Retriever in the group and the senior Pyrenees dog as well. True Blue Animal Rescue was asked to help place six dogs and the last senior female went to Betty Neblett who does private rescue.

Two of the beautiful dogs that Tbar was helping with were adopted out almost right away to an approved Tbar family. The remaining four were transferred to Tbar and vetted while they waited patiently for their new homes in New Jersey where the Eleventh Hour Rescue found adopters for them. While these dogs wait for their transport they are being worked with on socialization and being taught to walk on a leash. Now when their big three day trip to New Jersey comes and it is time to meet their new families they will be ready for them!

Thanks to the tremendous team effort of Nancy Stoorza of 4 Paws Rescue, Della Lindquist with the Great Pyrenees Rescue Society, Rhonda Blaschke and Kelly Gasser of Eleventh Hour Rescue and T-bar, these dogs have a second chance at a happy home life! We also want to congratulate the Miron family on their newest family members from adopting two of these lovely dogs in need. Remember if you or a loved one has a dog that needs to find a new home, never offer the dog for free, contact a rescue center for help finding them a quality new home. Adoptive homes are checked out by rescue groups and this will insure a safe new home life and environment for them, and the rescue can help you network your animal while you maintain them as a “foster home”.

TBAR is a 501(c)(3) non-profit no-kill animal rescue organization. If you would like to help animals such as these please consider donating to TBAR, volunteering fostering or adopting. Every little bit helps us to help another animal in need of safety and rehabilitation. Save a life: adopt instead of shop and spay or neuter your pets!

*Edit and Update*
From Facebook:

Brenda Standefer Brady: I just read the blog. It was Great Pyrenees Rescue Society that went to the farm and took 6 dogs (not Texas Great Pyrenees Rescue). We loaded them in my 4-runner. Very happy to say they are all in NW in forever homes.

Read about the transport and adoption of Delia and Porthos here!