Rosie was found wandering through a field, starving and infested with fleas, before arriving at her furever home nearly 10 years ago.

Here’s Rosie’s rescue story from her diary.

I was looking for food in a big empty field in the cold winter rain. A Pick up was coming down the road and it suddenly stopped. A very tall lady jumped out and ran over to me and said are you lost? I was never ever as happy as this! I jumped up as high as I could , she caught me and wrapped me up in her coat and took me to her house.

She bathed me,I had fleas so bad that the bath water was blood red, my skin stretched tightly over my bones, you could county them all. She fixed me some food, then she introduced me to Chewey a 19- year- old Boston Terrier she had just rescued from a pound about 3 or 4 months earlier. We liked each other from the start.

Mom and Dad looked for my owner thinking I may have been lost, but nobody ever put up a flier or anything. No ads, nothing. Then after about 4 months when I was getting fat and happy a lady gave a man a ride to our house so he could get Dad to come fix his truck. That lady looked at me and said I know her, and I am really happy that you have her now. Mom asked where I came from She would not tell her, just that they had teenagers who tied fireworks to my legs. and lots of other stuff they didn’t hardly feed me and threw me out. They were really mean to me according to that lady. She said do not ever let her go back. At that time Dad said noway will they get her back now! I been with them every sense and I always will be till death do us part.

Rosie has a very unusual way of communicating, when she wants something, she smiles and stomps her feet instead of barking.

What a cutie, we’re so glad she found such a wonderful home.

I received a few woofs about this happy story.  A bomb training Australian Labrador, Sabi, went missing a year ago in the Afghan desert during the heat of battle.  A few days ago she was   found by an American serviceman and now Sabi is back home on an Australian base at Tarin Kowt.

Here are the details from The Sydney Morning Herald.

The plucky canine had been missing in action for more than a year and all hope appeared lost, given that she had disappeared into the desert landscape of Afghanistan’s south.

She went missing during a battle that led to Australian SAS soldier Trooper Mark Donaldson securing a Victoria Cross for holding out Taliban insurgents.

Nine soldiers were wounded during the encounter, and the party got separated from the dog during the fight.

Sabi was picked up and incarcerated by enemy combatants before her rescue by the US soldier, identified as John.

Back on the base yesterday, Sabi appeared composed and relaxed, posing for cameras and meeting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and US General Stanley McChrystal.

It’s reported that Sabi is doing fine, no signs of stress.  Welcome home Sabi!

*Photo ADF

Dogster member Rosie has gone missing, here are the details from her good friend, Daisy.

Rosie escaped the morning of 11-5-09 from her pet sitter’s fenced backyard. She actually managed to unlatch the gate and presumably is headed for home. Her owner is one of my best friends and was scheduled to go out of town today hence the need for a pet sitter.

Rosie is an adult, female, German Shepherd with a very black colored face. AC saw her at North Star and Northwest Blvd. at 10:00 AM this morning but couldn’t catch her. If you find her or think you’ve seen her please call 614-297-8380 or 614-787-1405. She is normally a friendly dog but was very scared when she was last sighted and took off running. Please let us know if you see her.

Rosie was wearing a pink gingham collar, she has all her tags on.

Please help me spread the word to anyone you know who lives in the Columbus area. Share this message on Facebook and retweet on Twitter.

We are worried sick for Rosie’s safety.

Thank you for any help!

A good Samaritan, Gary DeNicola, rescued a stray dog running in traffic, most likely saving her life. What he didn’t realize at the time was he saved 10 lives,  she was pregnant. When he picked up the dog she was starving and emaciated, it looked like she had been nursing but when he searched the area for puppies but didn’t find any.

He took the dog home and put her in his spacious backyard to keep her safe, he was worried about bringing her in because he has a 12-year-old and wasn’t sure how he’d react. DeNicola planned on dropping the dog off at the shelter the next day, things didn’t work out exactly as planned.

Here are the details from the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

That evening, on Sept. 27, DeNicola noticed the dog begin to hunker down in a garden bed. Next, she was giving birth to one, two, four, seven, and then nine black and tan puppies.

DeNicola began making calls to shelters and soon discovered many area animal rescue groups are at full capacity. People struggling financially had abandoned their animals, and many pets were turned out during the flood, he was told.

“And one shelter wouldn’t take the newborn pups until they were vaccinated,” he said. “I realized — they are mine.”

DeNicola is now raising the lucky litter on his own until he can find qualified, permanent homes. He built a special pen for the dogs in his basement, not wanting to mix the new deliveries with Tiger, who isn’t sure how to handle the strange sounds coming from below.

It’s always great to read a heartwarming animal story. A big thanks to DeNicola for stepping up to the plate and making a difference, we give him four big paws up.

If anyone is interested in adopting one of  Ruby’s adorable puppies you can contact DeNicola via email.

*Photo courtesy Katie Leslie

This is a strange story about a Yorkie who escaped from a house, was found by animal control, and given away as a gift.

It all started when Janet Torren took her 4-year-old dog Shai over to her son’s house for a visit. When the two of them went out Shai managed to get out a sliding door and was eventually picked up by animal control. Torren searched for her beloved dog for 12 days, knocking on doors and making phone calls.

She had called the Stoughton Animal Control many times but was always told her dog was not there. Shai had a microchip so Torren called the company to see if any vets had scanned it in, no one had. However, she decided to call another company and then learned the chip had been scanned by the town pound in Stoughton, the one she had been calling.

Here are the details from Boston.com.

So, once again, Torren called Kristin Bousquet, the town’s animal control officer. There was no answer. After Torren left a message threatening to call police, Bousquet called back and tried to suggest someone else at the pound or the local rescue league may have scanned Shai’s microchip, even though Torren said the company told her that Bousquet had registered Shai.

“It was a continuing change of the story,’’ Torren said. “There was nothing solid to what she was saying. If I asked her a question, she changed the answer. It was one lie after another.’’

After a brief investigation, Murphy found that Bousquet had given the dog to a police officer’s girlfriend, who was planning to move to Florida with Shai. He found that the dog was well fed and in good condition. The officer and his girlfriend, neither of whom Murphy identified, did not know that the dog had been missing, Murphy said.

Torren decided not to press charges against Bousquet, but she was fired from her job as animal control officer last week.

* Pic courtesy David Abel/Globe Staff. Call me crazy, but that doesn’t look like a Yorkie to me.

Flash was abandoned by his previous owner but luckily found himself a wonderful new furever home.  He now enjoys hiking  with his family and chasing rabbits.

Here’s a little more from Flash’s mom on how he found them.

Unfortunately, Flash was abandoned when his previous owner moved from his house and left Flash tied to the porch. Somehow this dog escaped the porch he was tied up too.

When he showed up at my house I was outside in the front yard. I felt something staring at me and I turned around and there was this dog looking at me. It was like he appeared out of nowhere.

I was told by several neighbors that he had actually been from door to door trying to get someone to take him in. He was terribly hungry, thirsty and scared.

I’ve had Flash since 2002 and I feel blessed that he came and found me to take him in.

He is my Best Friend!!!

I’m not sure who adopted who, but this match seems like fate.

Here are the details from Mark’s ‘Smile Like A Dog’ blog.

Readers of this blog will remember Raven, a standard poodle I photographed a few weeks ago.

Raven’s owners need your help: She escaped from a home where she was being watched in San Jose California and has been missing since the afternoon of September 30th.

Full details can be found on this page her owners have set up but if you live in or around San Jose or know someone there please be on the lookout for her. Here are the basics:

Monica Vigil Dombeck (510) 387-1367

* She’s a black standard poodle with a non-traditional cut

* She’s friendly but can be initially shy around new people

* She was last seen in San Jose moving along Junipero Serra Lane (parallel and just north of Moorpark; just south of 280) heading East

* There is a $500 reward for her safe return

If you see her or have any information at all about her, please contact

Mark Vigil Dombeck: (510) 235-6979  or via email.

We hope this beautiful girl finds her way home soon.

If any of you live in the Bonaire, Georgia area, the accident happened at the intersection of Watson Blvd. & I-75 (Veterans Parkway).  Sam is a coy dog, chow/coyote mix. She is wearing a collar and new tags, and is also microchipped.

Her owner is still in the hospital with very significant injuries. She has not even been able to put up flyers or go look for her. The dog tends to overheat and the owner is worried she may have gone into shock. The tow truck driver said he saw a dog heading toward Russell Parkway.

Houston county animal control and the police have been notified. If called the dog will most likely NOT come to anyone.  My friend is very worried her dog may be shot since she is a coy dog. She has owned her since she was a puppy. The dog is about 10 years old.

Keep your eyes open for Sam. Leigh is a sweet person, she loves Sam with all her heart, she is her best friend in the world. It would be great if we could help bring Sam back to her so she’s there when she gets out of the hospital.

Please contact owner Leigh at cell 478-972-3431 if the dog has been sighted.

Pit bull is a term commonly used to describe several breeds of dog, many breed-specific laws use the term “pit bull” to refer to the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and dogs with significant mixes of these breeds.

Recently a dog named Lucey was almost put down due to mistaken identity.  It all began when Angie Cartwright was pet-sitting for her brother and his dog got loose. Animal control officers picked up the dog and when he was returned saw Lucey.

The officers thought she looked like a pit bull and told Cartwright they were taking her in for testing, a DNA test. I found it interesting that they offered that option, as you’ll see in a minute it can be a lifesaving test.

Here are the details from KansasCity.com.

Today, Lucey is home, and Cartwright credits a genetic test kit that helps pet owners identify the heritage of their mixed-breed dogs.

The test found that a minor amount of Lucey’s DNA came from Staffordshire bull terrier genes — a little more than 12 percent, not close to a predominant percentage.

Without the test results, Cartwright and her family would have been faced with finding Lucey a home outside Salina, or leaving her at the animal shelter where she would be destroyed.

I am personally against BSL because I don’t think it solves the real issue, bad owners and bad breeders. This case is just one more reason it scares me, Lucey was taken away on the assumption she had bit bull in her. If it weren’t for the the DNA test wh0 knows what would have happened. I am impressed the time was taken to find out what breed(s) she really was.  I have no idea if all places that have BSL test like this, but they should. I also wonder if the test cost is charged to the owner, it isn’t an inexpensive test, usually about $140.

Interesting enough, the test showed the largest amount (25%) of Lucey’s DNA was Bernese mountain dog.  She had no more than 12.5 percent each of bull terrier DNA, boxer, and Staffordshire bull terrier.

You can’t judge a dog by its cover.

*Pic courtesy Tom Dorsey

I just  got a message  about two puppies found wandering the streets of Lawrenceville, Georgia.  A good Samaritan picked them up, unfortunately she already has a house full and needs to find a home for these cuties.

Need good, loving home(s). Two female lab mix puppies – approx. 10-12 weeks old.

To my knowledge they do not have shots, nor have they been spayed. Both were found running unattended across from the cometary on Lawrenceville Highway in Lawrenceville area.

I have been helping to care for them for the past week. Both have very sweet dispositions and are amazingly calm for puppies. We have temporarily named them Lola and Yogi.

If anyone is interested please contact Valerie via email or by phone at 770-363-0827.  She is the owner of Best Fit Pet Services, a professional pet-sitting business. If anyone in the area is looking for a caring pet-sitter be sure to check her out.