Little Mamas

These sweet little dogs were seized from a puppy mill in Colorado 4 months ago. The Bichon Frise' is named "sprite", she is 4 yrs old. The little rat terrier is named "Betty" and she is 7 yrs old. They were forced to have puppies over and over during their life while they were stacked in cages on top of each other. Puppy mill dogs are often very traumatized and it takes a long time for them to trust people much less look you straight in the eye. They do not go for walks like the other dogs at Dogtown because they freeze up from fear and hug the ground shaking. The handler suggested we take them for a ride in our car to get them used to being away from their kennels. They shook alot in the beginning but after about 10 minutes they actually let me pet them and they looked at me! They still have a little more time to grow socially but BF hopes to only adopt them as a pair since they are so bonded to each other. Puppy mill owners SUCK!!

Another sleepover!

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Meet "Bauble". He is a 9 month old mixed breed pup that was found abandon along with 5 other brothers and sisters on the nearby indian reservation. We brought him back to our hotel ( Holiday Inn Express) to spend the night with us since Best Friends likes the dogs to be able to go out and socialize with people as often as possible to help put them at ease in all new situations. He loved hanging out in our room and lying on my bed playing with toys and having lots of belly rubs. As you can see he eventually collapsed onto the soft bed and fell fast asleep. He did not make a peep all night and I should know because I woke up several times during the night to see what he was up to. Every time he was still asleep hogging most of my bed. Taking him back the next morning was sad but he was happy say hi to all his friends back at Dogtown and his keeper gave him a big hug and a snack to welcome him back.
This dog is fantastic, as are almost every dog we met there. They just need forever homes of their own. :o(

Can you guess what this is?

If you guessed pine cone you are pretty quick! Dana saw this old pinecone sitting under a bench and asked me to take a picture of it. she has a good eye don't you think? This tiny pine cone is pretty interesting once you take a much closer look at it don't you agree?

Kind of makes you wonder what else you miss along your day if you don't stop to take a closer look at things.

Grand Canyon North Rim

Today we drove to the north rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. We can't be all work and no play all week can we? The weather was beautiful and the aspen trees were beginning to turn colors along the road.

Here are a few pics of what we saw. It took our breath away...literally! We found out that the elevation was 8500 ft.

Tomorrow is Tuesday and we will be volunteering in the Dogtown part of Best Friends during the morning and the afternoon shift will still be dogs for me and nene but Dana and Pam will be working in the cats area.

I plan to bring a dog home for a sleepover for me tomorrow so I am pretty excited. Harley worked out so well and was so fun and cuddly that we cannot wait to bring another
back to the hotel again.

The Gang

Here is all of us who made this trip to Best Friends (from Left to Right) Nene, Dana Edwards, myself, and Pam Rogers. We are having a terrific time. I am hosting this blog and Pam is hosting another so family and friends can stay in touch an watch what we have been up to.

The Sleepover

Best Friends lets dogs go on sleepovers to socialize them outside the sanctuary. Nene took a blue heeler named Harley back to the hotel with us for the night. As you can see they hit it off and he made himself at home!

It will be hard taking him back in the morning because he is a wonderful dog and a gentleman in everyway. I hope he finds a forever home soon.

This sweet cat is named Bubba Lu. He had both his back legs removed after a car accident. This kitty moved along like nothing was any different.










This little cross-eyed kitty below is named Sweet William. He has severe neurological problems but loves to be cuddled and carried around like a baby. The pic below was my chance to hold him. He was just purring and going to sleep in my arms.

Beverly makes a friend

Here I am visiting the cats at the Cat village. Torreone took a liking to me and decided to climb onto my shoulders for a snuggle and a small nap. This sure beats sitting behind a desk!

local celebrities of Dogtown

Dana and Nene ran into Dogtown celebrities John Garcia and Jeff Popowich while Beverly was busy working with the kitties over at the Cat village.

Angel's Rest

This is the cemetery where any and all the animals that passed away while living at Best Friends. Every animals has a grave marker with their name and all around in the trees is hundreds of windchimes tinkling in the breeze. This place was created so the staff and visitors can go to visit and reflect on the time the animal spent here at the sanctuary.

We made it!

I hope you can see how happy we are in this pic. We could not believe we were really here at last. This photo was taken right after we had a tour of the sanctuary and had our volunteer orientation session. Later that afternoon Nene worked with dogs and I worked in the cat village (nene is allergic to cats).

The weather was wonderful and I took a few pics of the surroundings along the santuary grounds. I will include some next. Day one was fantastic!

Why a Blog you ask?

Who wants to wait forever for us to get home and send out pics when I can just keep you updated on our excellent adventure now? ...and we won't have to tell the same stories over and over!

~Beverly and Betty

Best Friends here we come!

Hey there!
After what seems like forever, Nene and I are finally going to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. We leave tonite woo-hoo!

Some of you may not be familiar with Best Friends but have watched the "DogTown" on the NatGeo channel from time to time. That series is filmed on location at Best Friends. The Michael Vick dogs that were considered traumatized or "unadoptable" were given to BF to rehabilitate and provide special care for the remainder of their lives if needed. Unfortunately, we will not be allowed to visit with these special dogs, however, we will be spending our volunteer time working in the many other areas of Best Friends that house the horses, cats, pigs, birds and bunnies to name a few. I will update this blog every night if I can so be patient!

~Beverly & Betty