gonna see Penny and Elke tonight!!!!!

sooo Exciting! Penny was my candy!!!!!
I will write u tonight and tell u all about it. I have NEVER met Elke in person and I have never seen Penny since she was but a gleam in my eye. Sooo exciting!!!!
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tty soon!

Jitterbug feels very very well and assures you all this is not goodbye-- just a segue into new directions....


Hello all!!!

Since I started this blog, its direction has changed alot, and so have I, and so has WTR!

I am soo happy to announce that WTR has been granted advance notice of likely approval of 501 C3 status! YAY!

Congratulations to the wonderful and intrepid Holly- whose blood, sweat, and tears went into reaching this HUGE milestone--- and to the rest of the WTR crue and WTR adoptors and supporters!!

The future direction of this blog and possible new blogs is unknown--
right now I am thinking that some of the content that has been on here will be subsumed into the regular website unless another WTR blogger wants to take over and do some happy tails and the like.

For right now, I am gonna be blogging at this new blog, come on over!

Peace and love and puppy kisses! I may or not provide more updates here, alot of things are in flux.

My greatest thanks to all the incredible support I have been given on this, my first ever blogging endeavor, from Alejandra, one of the first supporters, to my dearest Holly, my best friend and Idol, who has taught me everything I know about dogs and rescue, and who has always provided such loving and patient encouragement and let me find my own voice and pace, to the steadfast Milo's Mom, whose comments always brighten my day.. And Jenni! And Trisha! And Jo! And Lindsay! And Katie! And Robyn! And Krafty! and Elke! Ok I need to stop now because there are like 100 more and I dont want to bore y'all, but you know who u are and thank u!!! And all the rest of you dog lovers and lurkers!!! Love you all!!!!

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Cocoa's Happy Tail part III

Sarah here:

Alejandrda and Jack are such loving parents. I first met Alejandra when I babysat for Cocoa one time when they were out of town. I will never forget my first sight of this pudgy, joyful creature who was wearing a TINY sweater with large, horizontal stripes. Alejandra clearly adored Cocoa. She gave me a bag of supplies, toys, treats, and clothes that exceeded the amount of gear a teenage girl would bring to boarding school. I had trouble reconciling how such a clearly loving mother would put her daughter in a sweater that called such attention to her weight problem.
I mean, horizontal stripes?


Cocoa was slimmed down for that picture so you really can't see the effect this sweater had on her. When I watched her she looked like one of those furry round bumblebees.


Alejandra and Jack adore her so much. They adore her in the best way-- they love her as she is, with all her idiosyncracies, and they laugh with her, never at her.
I love to hear Alejandra describe how Cocoa acts when they have company over. Its so bizarre because Cocoa is such a sweet dog and she really has a great temperment. But apparently she loves her home and family soo much that she really doesn't see why anyone else should invade that sacred space. So Cocoa tries to act Territorial. Why is this funny? Cocoa DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO BITE. When the house is penetrated by an INTRUDER (aka houseguest) Cocoa tries to runs at them like the ferocious monster she wants to be. But as she doesn't know how to bite, she can't seal the deal. She just BUMPS into their leg like an adorable fuzzy little soft battering ram. I am afraid it can't be very threatening. But the important thing is that she is trying.


This families happiness is a wonderful thing to watch.

I never really understand how Alejandra does it-- she is an incredible mom to Cocoa, she does So much for WTR, she is a rock star (not hyperbole, LITERALLY), they have a great relationship, she has a full time grown up job, and they have a kick ass blog. I can barely take care of one and a half dogs and manage a full day of TV watching..

Maybe there are many Alejandras and thats how she does it all. Does that mean there are also many Cocoas too?

This means world is a much better place than I thought it was yesterday...:-)





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Cocoa's Happy Tail Part I

We didn’t know we wanted a dog. We were happy being carefree lovebirds with only dancing stars – not chihuahuas – in our eyes.
We had just moved in together and everything was going great.



Then we had this vision. A dog! A snuggly little being to bring into our circle of love, and make it stronger.


We began searching on Petfinder because c’mon – breeders? Pet stores? You’ve gotta be kidding me.

So we met all these crazy people and sweet dogs. One of the dogs we met was advertised as being blind, but wasn’t! (“I don’t know why they put that one the site,” said his weary foster mom.) Sarah here: When Alejandra told me this story I was doubled over laughing.. They said there was this incredibly touching story on petfinder about two dogs who were sisters, and one was blind.. The profile said the sister who could see was anorexic because she gave all her food to the blind sister.. Alejandra and Jack said the profile brought them to tears..Then they went to foster home and there was one dog, who saw just fine.. FUNNY...

One shed all over the place, which was bad for Jack’s nose. The search was becoming a little tougher than we’d imagined. But then we found Waggytail.

We carefully filled out the adopter application, and sent it in asking after a dog named “Cosmic”.
Less than ten minutes later, we had an e-mail back from Holly telling us that we didn’t want Cosmic since we both work all day – he would tear our house to pieces if left alone!
Sarah here: this was NOT a bait and switch.. I know that dog is the cutest dog in the world-- but u gotta understand.. It was part Jack, part Poodle, and part Cerberus.. Seriously revved up with dominant traits and wanting to be a destructo puppy..Cosmic was not ready to spend time alone during the day...

She suggested we look at three other Waggys. One of them was named Cocoa, and wore a little leopard print jacket.
The photos were a little blurry.


That evening, I got a phone call from Jackie who was gushed about Cocoa’s fat cuteness, assertiveness, energy, and general puppyish demeanor despite eight hard years. Our vet later confirmed that little Co had lived a rough life - her nails were all gnarly and overgrown, she didn’t really know how to go for walks, she was obese, and her mouth was a mess.



Jackie, Sarah, and Cocoa came over to play a couple of days later, and I will never forget the moment of looking out my third-floor window and seeing the three of them (led by Cocoa of course) running towards our front door. Cocoa struck me even then as a special creature, a gift to the world, even though she was only a little speck seen from above. She was a spirited speck.
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Cocoa's Happy Tail part II

I think Cocoa wanted to be with us right away...


While she definitely loved Jackie and Sarah, we saw her scoping out our apartment, checking for other dogs, and coming away satisfied that we didn’t have any. See, to say Cocoa is kind of a Chihuahuan-American princess would be an understatement.


We are so happy with Cocoa. She has completely changed our lives for the better. She is the manifestation of our love for each other, but she is more than that – she’s a new love that neither of us has ever experienced before.

We talk to her, we daydream about her, we snuggle her every night and wake up with her every morning.


I think this is the way she likes it to be, and we’re so happy with our little monkey/kangaroo/colt/deer/human.
When she gets happy and excited, she jumps up on Jack’s lap and actually gives him HUGS, like real human, arm-out hugs, and she also spreads out like a sea otter on her belly and snaps at invisible treats in the air while her little nubby tail flies around its tiny orbit.

One of the most beautiful things about our relationship with Cocoa is that there is so much trust between us, and it’s so touching.



She’s even ok with us putting her on a sensible diet, and brushing her teeth sometimes!


We had never had dogs before, and we’d like to use the example Cocoa and the joy she brings us to encourage other first-time adopters to totally go for it! Your responsibility will go up a bit, but your stress will plunge, and your life will expand with love.

Alejandra has even used her feelings for Cocoa as the jumping off point for more than one original love song!






Cocoa reminds us everyday what’s really important in life –love, play,

self-expression,
nature – and every Waggytail dog can bring the same simple and deep joy to their new forever family. Thank you, Waggytail Rescue, and thank you Sarah, Holly, and Jackie, for making this happy tail come true, and for uniting us with our constant muse!

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Who is Jenni?

Jenni joined up with Holly and started rescuing the little dogs of NYC years and years ago, when Jenni was cute little naked sprite playing in the pool.



OK, so it was just about 4 years ago so Jenni wasn't THAT young.. But it was a loong time ago...

Jenni's pup Bruiser was the reason she got all nuts for dog rescue in the first place.

She saw him in a window at a shelter in Queens and picked him up, played with him in the back
room for awhile and before she knew it he changed her life!



Jenni first came to Holly as a foster mom. She fostered little Kofi, who
just passed away at 20. Jenni and Holly hit it off right away-- and History was made. Jenni and Holly worked side by side at a CRUCIAL point in WTR's evolution. Jenni helped develop soo many things, including the fabulous logo starring Holly's love muffin, Taco. Jenni truly helped make WTR what it is today.


Jenni has been central to WTR for years. In the beginning, she worked with Holly in the Trenches. Jenni fostered many a sick and old chihuahua back to life- and spent many an hour waiting in Dr. G's office with a very ill pup on her lap. She built and developed and maintained the main Waggy Website from SCRATCH. She has tirelessly managed sooo much of WTR's paperwork and documentation and submissions and tracking that no one else could have..

About two years ago Jenni needed a break from NYC, as we all do from time to time, so currently she is in CO, where she is living the dream-- she is a PAID animal rescuer, working at a wild animal sanctuary where she frolics with Lions and Wolves in beautiful meadows and magical woods. Or at least thats how I picture it. Don't burst my bubble Jenni!

But she is still a CORE member of WTR-- WTR needs her too much to ever let geography get in the way. We email her and call her all day and she emails us and calls us right back-- she still does sooo much, webstuff, working with Holly on tough cases and petfinder profiles and happy tails and all the other high level administrative documentation that makes our ADD heads spin right off our bodies. As a Senior Board member, Jenni is ALWAYS there when we have a tough call or difficult situation. It really helps us to have one board vote come from someone whose great judgment is further sharpened by the clarity of distance-- her decision making process is always reasoned and concise.

When on occasion we get a little stressed out or melancholy from a bad patch in our daily grind- Jenni gives us perspective and helps us laugh.



Also, animal rescue sometimes requires a 'bad cop' - so when we need to get tough with someone for the sake of a pup-- we can also count on Jenni-- another silver lining to the sad cloud of her not being in NYC..


Jenni is a sage, compassionate, experienced Waggy and our dear friend.. I know Holly misses seeing Jenni every day-- but Jenni is still with us every day- which is good because it couldn't be done without her.



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Taco

Taco (thats Don Taco Waggytail) to you, is and was the first Waggytail.

Taco had been found tied up. He was intercepted on the way to the pound by our friends Bobbi and the Strays. He was emaciated and severely traumatized, physically and emotionally, from being tortured. He had been purposefully burned with cigarettes.

Holly was tranfixed with Taco from moment one. Somehow someone got that picture of Taco to her before she even saw him and she said 'thats it'. She knew. Sight unseen. She knew that he was her puppy soulmate and she was going to fix him up and he was going to fix her up and that would be that. And that is that. They adore eachother. She taught him how to trust people again.

Holly nursed Taco and gave him a second life. Holly loved him so much. She couldn't stop thinking that he was not the only one. That there were other dogs at the shelter, alone, in cages, still shaking from something terrible that happened, expecting the worst but still not being able to deal with the horror of the reality. Scary bars. Awful noises. No walks. No blankets. Just fear.

They never left her head. She had been volunteering for animal rescuers for years, and her family was always into rescue so none of this was new- except that it was. Taco had touched her so deeply that she couldn't bear for dogs like him to suffer if it was within her power to help. She had always helped animals. But Taco turned on a light inside her, and now it was different Its not a hobby, its not a theory, its not a philosophy. It is a fierce drive to end suffering, and I respect it so much. She went back to the shelter a few days later and took out three more chihuahuas and worked on finding foster homes.

Taco is the most loving, softest, sweetest, unique little man. He shows few remnants of his past horror except to sometimes make the cutest snarly face if someone is trying to take his harness on or off. He has eyes like a person, not like an animal. its not the shape, but the flecks and layers of color in the iris and the pupil that constricts when he is concerned. They are so expressive I don't know how Holly gets anything done. I would just stare at those eyes and try to figure out what he was thinking.. But i guess she doesn't have to because she knows. They really understand eachother and bring eachother so much comfort and joy. They are always together.

Knowing, every DAY, that there are dogs like Taco in the city shelters, about to be euthanized, and we can get them out, rehabilitate them, and find them forever homes keeps Holly going and she keeps us going.. Taco inspired Holly, and continues to inspire us all.

Taco was the catalyst.. He changed Holly forever, and is the most loyal and true and magical companion in the world to her..

As Maddie's Fund was started for Maddie, WaggyTail Rescue was started for Taco.

Holly says. "I do it all for him!"

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