Thursday, April 3, 2014

Never to be forgotten, Bruce

Bruce was one of the early rescues of Friends of Flicka. I saw him online, in a shelter in St. Cloud, MN, marked down for quick placement and I knew we had to help him. A friend and I actually drove up and adopted him and brought him back into the care of RAGOM (Retrieve A Golden Of Minnesota). On the drive back, we stopped at a gas station and when we came back to the SUV, Bruce had moved into the driver's seat. We laughed so hard, but it was appropriate for Bruce. He found a family that loved him until the end of his life at age 14. Read updates from RAGOM:

From Bruce's forever family...

We adopted Bruce in October of 2008 after going a few years with no dogs as pets just cats. Bruce is so awesome in every way! We can’t imagine not having him in our lives. I learned about RAGOM through our local vet and started the adoption process. At first we requested a female under the age of 6, then received the phone call on Bruce who is a male and approximately 10. At first that kind of scared us, but we fell in love with this guy almost immediately! He has his moments of puppy energy and makes us laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever kissed and hugged a dog so much and I have witnessed my husband doing this too. Thanks RAGOM for everything you do! Your program is the best and we truly are blessed with Bruce.

   
   

10/08/2010: Bruce has been with his family for 2 years this month!  Boy time flies when you have such a loveable fellow like him!  Even though he is approximately 12 years old according to the vet, you would never know it. We have 2 wonderful parks near our home that we visit daily and the way he romps around you would think he is a pup. Bruce travels with us everywhere from camping trips, snowmobile racing in the winter and just small errands we run in the car. We love him so much and he loves us.
Enjoy the pictures, he may look very serious but he is a very happy man.
The M’s and Bruce

08/17/2011: Our wonderful boy Bruce is loving life and continues to be a joy for our family. He's always happy and comes with us just about everywhere. We love him to pieces and he loves us. He will be 13 in October.


10/16/2012:
October 17, 2008, was the day I was adopted!  Happy 4th Anniversary to me!  My mom made me promise that I would give them 2 years of love and I have done that and more.  Always a pleaser that I am. 
From Bruce, Mom and Dad.


05/17/2013:
It is with great sadness that our fur-kid Bruce left us on Thursday, May 16th. We loved this boy so much and our home is so empty. I made Bruce promise me that when we adopted him at the age of 10 that he would give us 2 years of his life. He was with us for 4 + years. Bruce was the type of dog that everyone he met loved him and even people that weren’t dog lovers loved him. Bruce went with us everywhere camping, running errands, snowmobiling racing, visiting friends and family and we even snuck him into hotel rooms. He had the whole back seat of the truck equipped with sleeping bag for comfort, water bowl and food. Our lives evolved around this sweet boy. Bruce loved winters the most and how fitting that when our final snow left Bruce left us shortly after that too.

Bruce we love you and hope you are enjoying your walks in the woods. Until we meet again sweet boy, God speed.

Love, Mom and Dad

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Matching Funds for Holiday Fundraiser

Friends of Flicka has contributed matching funds to the Holiday Fundraiser for Red Lake Rosie's Rescue for the past several years and did so again this year. RLRR helps companion animals in need on the Red Lake Reservation north of Bemidji, MN. We recently sent our check for $2000 and received this Thank You.
RAPHAEL
Red Lake Rosie's Rescue wants to thank everyone who helped with our recent fundraisers and everyone who donated. 
CLEO

You make it possible to rescue as many animals as we do. Many of these animals are alive today because we could help.
GRACIE
Our Holiday Fundraiser brought in nearly $20,000, plus the matching funds of $5000 from the Lawson Foundation and $2000 from Friends of Flicka for a grand total of nearly $27,000.
GILBERT
This is our major fundraiser of the year and much of it is spent on costs and supplies to run the shelter and for vet care and medicine for the animals.
LOU
Thank you!
Karen of RLRR

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Ember: Relying on the kindness of strangers

I learned about Ember from an e-mail I received along with many other animal lovers. He appeared as a stray on the farm of a kind family who cared for him and tried to find his previous owners. They had only good things to say about him, but he was older and needed vet work they could not afford. I contacted our friends at RAGOM (Retrieve A Golden Of Minnesota) to see if they would stretch their definition of "Golden" a bit to help this guy if Friends of Flicka would sponsor him.

RAGOM worked their magic and this sweet old boy regained his health (if not his youth) during several months in foster care and then was adopted by a new family. See the posts and photos from RAGOM below.

RAGOM POSTS:
Ember #12-323
(Fostered in West St. Paul, MN)


Sponsored by:
Friends of Flicka
"In memory of Rolf Ljungkull"

Hi there, Let me introduce you to the sweet Ember 12-323. He is a golden mix. Ember has come to RAGOM as a mystery. He was a stray and was found in a family's yard up in northeastern MN. These good samaritans took him in, fed him and loved him and called RAGOM and he is now in our home as a foster.

Ember is approximately 7 to 8 years old. He is neutered. Up-to-date on shots and is microchipped. We had blood work done on him and found out he is heartworm positive. So treatment has begun with Doxycycline for 30 days and then onto the shots of Immiticide. Ember does have some range of motion issues in his hips and were going to start him on an anti-inflammatory but due to him needing heartworm treatment, we decided to hold off so it is not so hard on his kidneys and liver. Ember weighs 88 lbs. The vet advised that he needs to loose 10 lbs and that should help his hind end area. So he is on a diet. Otherwise, he is a healthy happy dog except for the heartworms and has no obvious outward sign of heartworm disease except for his bloodwork.

Ember is a beautiful dog! He is apricot and white in color along with a very sweet disposition! I have two of my own Golden boys, one being a pup and Ember just ignores him. He has shown very little interest in our two cats. All three dogs will drink out the same water bowl together with no issues. There is no resource guarding at all. If anything, Ember will retreat.

He is crate trained. We had to take the mats out of his coat and give him a bath and he has the patience of a Saint! A very good boy! He does not know sit or down and are working on that. Ember does come when called. That is pretty good for a dog that was just named three weeks ago! Ember is a very sweet dog and he bonds to you very quickly. This dog does not bark. When I get home from work, he will "Roo Roo Roo" to you softly. This goes on for about a half an hour. He is just so happy to see you! Ember is definately a velcro dog and just loves attention but is not pushy about it. He loves to be petted and stroked and lays down next to your chair. Ember will roll over for a belly rub! He does have the Golden habit of following you room to room though. He rides in a car great and just lays down in the back seat and relaxes. He takes treats very gently and gives gentle kisses. He is great with kids from what the good samaritans have told me.

This guy is an awesome teddy bear and whoever is his forever family will be very lucky! I will give another update about Ember soon! Thank you for reading!



UPDATES:
11/19/2012: Hi there! Here is an update on the fabulous Ember #12-323! He has come a long way in the last few weeks. Ember has just blossomed. Good food, much love and some medical care goes a long way. He has become more lively, bright and is moving much better. When I come home from work, I get my normal "Roo Roo", many tail wags and he bounces around as he is sooo happy to see his foster mom. He used to walk slowly outside to go potty. Now he definately has much more of a spring in his step!

Ember gets along great with our resident goldens. He will correct our puppy if he gets to rambunctious with Ember. Ember does have issues with stairs. He can handle a few with no problem. If there are many, he will avoid them. I do think this has to do with his arthritis in his hips. If you want a velcro dog, this is your guy! He will follow you room to room. He will lay down and relax if you do the same. Ember is very affectionate and loves his attention. Ember will seek attention from you and I always give it to him. I give him body rubs and he just totally relaxes and this makes his so happy. It warms my heart for me to see the happiness in this older gentleman. We feed him Wellness Dog Food. I am a firm believer that a good dog food makes a huge difference is the way they feel, their coat and their health in general. He loves his "Pup-Peroni" Beef dog treats! Ember absolutely is crazy about Nyla-Bones and loves to chew on them! It doesn't take much to keep this gentle soul happy!

Ember had his first Immiticide shot for his heartworm this last Friday. He is handling it very well! He is eating great. He is a little more subdued than usual. We keep him very quiet. He does get medication for pain at the injection site and the vet did give him an anti-imflammatory for the arthritis in his hips. It does seem to be helping him move easier. Ember also has a urinary tract infection and is getting medication for that, so he should be fine in a couple of weeks. So all in all, Ember is doing wonderful.

The picture I took is of Ember "Rooing" at me. Ember is verbal! I find this very endearing. He always has something to say.
The other is of Ember out in the back yard just checking things out.
Please consider this older gent for your fur-ever home. Yes, he does have some issues as he is getting older, but we all get old and need help dont we???
I am going to keep Ember as unavailable until he is finished with his heartworm treatment and his bloodwork comes back as negative. I will still do updates, so that you know how Ember is doing. Thank you

12/25/2012:
Hi All! Hope everyone is enjoying their Holidays! Ember is doing just great! He went in for his second set of Immiticide shots for his heart worm a couple of weeks ago and is having no adverse reactions. He is resting but is somewhat of a rug anyway so no worries about him running around. =) Ember goes back in for a final check in April to make sure that he is clear of heart worms. He will need to be on heart worm preventative the rest of his life, so he doesn't have to go thru this again.

Ember is just the most wonderful dog. He is an extremely loving and a gentle soul. He loves to rub up against you like a cat looking for attention. So if you want a velco dog, this is your guy. Another thing he does is come from behind and go in between your legs looking for a body rub! Ember continues to "Roo" at you looking for his love!

Ember is doing well on his Norocarp for his arthritis. He seems to be able to move around much more comfortably on it. Stairs are still an issue for him. He will go up and down two or three but a whole flight of stairs he is not able to do. He has changed so much from when we got him. He is such a happy dog. He looks awesome. His coat is healthy and soft. His eyes are bright. A weekly grooming is all he needs and ear cleaning.

Here is a picture of Ember with our resident Goldens. Kirby, our year old pup and Jay, our six year old. He gets along great with them unless Kirby decides to really bug him. Then Ember will correct him and Kirby leaves him alone. So keep this love bug of a dog in your sights and I will update again soon.

Happy Holidays!

01/27/2013: Hi All! Ember 12-323 continues to do well! He made it through his heartworm treatments with flying colors! I just have to take him for a microfolia test (tests for baby heartworms), and then he needs to go back in in April for a final check to make sure all the adult heartworms are gone from his system.

Ember has so much energy now! He is such a different dog from when we first got him. He was so lethargic and I'm sure it's from him being on his own and the heartworms. His coat was dull and lifeless. It is now soft and shiny. He is eating well and always looks forward to feeding time and his treats! He is the talker! Roos at you when we wants his love and attention, when he wants to go potty, and at feeding time. Ember rubs up against you like a cat for his love. He absolutely loves massages! Ember is a gem and whomever becomes his forever family will be extremely lucky to have him. You couldn't ask for more of a gentle soul than this guy. I just think it must be because he is a senior dog. He seems so grateful to have love, food, a warm place to rest his bones and excellant veterinary care that RAGOM has provided. He is still on his medication for his hinder-end and it is helping. He gets up much easier than than he used to and having a much easier time negotiating our few stairs.

So if you are looking for an older gent and don't mind having your feet kept warm in these frigid temps by Ember, please contact RAGOM.
 

01/27/2013:
Merry Christmas from Lisa, Maddie and Sam 12-349 Merry Christmas from Lisa, Maddie and Sam 12-349
 "To Ember - We love you! Foster Mom and Foster Dad" To Ember- we love you! Foster Mom and Foster Dad

04/03/2013:Hi all! So sorry for the delay in getting an update done on Ember. We had some family stuff going on, but all is back to normal now.

Em is doing just great! He is playful, loving, and gentle. He is moving around pretty easily. He is a little slow to get up, but once that is accomplished, all systems are go! He runs around the back yard with my two Golden boys and has an awesome time!

In two weeks, he heads back to the vet for his final heartworm check. He is acting normal, eating and drinking great! Ember is just the most affectionate old man. He comes up to nuzzle you, "roo" at you for his love. I don't think he had much of that in the past and thrives on the attention. He has learned to "sit" with the bribery of a treat or his food. We also are working on "down" and "shake" but have a ways to go on that. He loves to lean up against you, and when you rub his bum, Em fluffs all up. He loves that and it must feel so good to him.

He has no problem navigating the four stairs we have off our deck to the yard. He still doesn't appreciate a lot of stairs, so we don't make him go up and down to the second level of our house. He just sits patiently at the bottom of the stairs and waits for us to come down. If you take too long, you will get "roo-ed" at! He wants to be with his people. =)

We no longer put him in his kennel. He does just fine having the run of the house all day while we are at work. We leave him with water and his Nylabone. No accidents. He is there to greet you at the door with a "roo" and a look on his face of "Please love me" and he gets plenty of it! He is a doll.

Will update again soon and please give this gentle old man a chance to come into your home and let him love you!



05/29/2013: Hi All! Ember has been adopted! Thank you to the J's for adopting Ember! I know he will have a wonderful life and will be very much loved! I am grateful for having this wonderful dog as a foster. I love Ember and always will. Thank you!

Here is a picture of Ember and me, his foster Mom, Jeanne.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Minnesota Companion Rabbit Society

Friends of Flicka is happy to report on the success of a matching grant fundraising event for Minnesota Companion Rabbit Society (MCRS). We offered $1000 in matching funds and MCRS raised over $3600 for a combined total of $4600!

Minnesota Companion Rabbit Society (MCRS) is a volunteer, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of companion rabbits. MCRS is entirely supported by donations and memberships. Check out their website at www.mn.companionrabbit.org:


Mission:
■Education: To reduce the number of unwanted rabbits and to improve the lives of companion rabbits by educating the public and assisting humane societies.
■Adoption: To help rabbits in area shelters, or those that shelters can no longer care for, to find permanent homes.
Vision:
■Create a community of knowledgeable rabbit companions in Minnesota.
■Eliminate the need to euthanize adoptable rabbits in the Twin Cities and surrounding area.

The Minnesota Companion Rabbit Society works to let people know that domestic rabbits can and do make wonderful companions, as long as you are willing to meet them on their terms. We teach "bunny parent" classes, train shelter staff, offer bunny tune-ups, maintain a phone and email hotline so that people can contact us with questions or problems, and generally try to help keep rabbits and their human companions living happily together.

In addition, we have a small number of foster caregivers who work with the local shelter systems to help them lower their euthanasia rates and raise their adoption rates. Our fostering efforts focus primarily on rabbits who are relatively healthy but are not well-suited to the shelter environment due to personality or temperment. In addition, we do occasionally help the shelters with a rabbit who is ill when we believe that the additional time and expertise that we can offer the rabbit may make the critical difference in saving that rabbit's life
.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Matching Fund success

FROM RED LAKE ROSIE'S RESCUE BLOG:
Red Lake Rosie's Rescue is so grateful!!! In the last month, we have received just over $20,000 in gifts large and small from our loyal supporters. The amount is more than enough to earn the Matching Funds of $10,000 offered by Friends of Flicka and the Lawson Family Foundation.

The money will allow us to pay our vet bills and costs to maintain the shelter and continue our mission of rescue and education through the winter.

One of the special projects we hope to do is to purchase plexiglass for weatherizing some or all of the dog kennels for next winter. That way they would be warmer, the dogs would be able to see out, and we would not have to do the tarping each fall- we would simply install the plexiglass.

We have ten 2/pod kennels so that would be a project. Each 2/pod would need 6 large sheets of plexiglass.

Eventually we will need re-roof the cathouse as we have some leaks.

We would also like to create a little outdoor cattery with lots of windows and places for cats to enjoy the fresh air -- maybe one about the size of one of our dog kennels with lots of shelving and play area.

Red Lake Rosie's Rescue doesn't have money coming in from adoptions, because almost all of the animals we rescue go to other organizations for care and placement. We foster and adopt out just a few animals each year. This system works very well, but it means we need more help from our supporters throughout the year.

THANK YOU for your donations to the winter fundraiser!!! And, Thank You for all the creative fundraisers and donations throughout the year.

Karen, DeeDee & Twyla

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Matching Funds for Red Lake Rosie's Rescue

We are pleased to announce that once again this winter, Friends of Flicka has offered to match donations to Red Lake Rosie's Rescue in December and January. Every dollar donated will be matched up to $5000.

Red Lake Rosie’s Rescue (RLRR) is a companion animal rescue located on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northwestern Minnesota. The rescue was founded by Karen Good and became a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2006.

There is an all-volunteer RLRR Twin Cities support group. The volunteers help with animal transport, fostering, transport of food and supplies to the shelter, work at the shelter, and clinic support.

MISSION:

1) Education

RLRR is educating Red Lake residents by teaching basic animal care, which includes feeding, watering, shelter, medical care and spaying/neutering.

Karen is committed to teaching compassion to a society facing enormous challenges. The reservation has a very high rate of poverty and unemployment, so it is no surprise that the most vulnerable population, dogs and cats, would suffer, too. By teaching compassion, and providing an opportunity for volunteerism for residents, especially youth, the suffering experienced by the reservation animals is reduced.

RLRR provides information about animal health care, abuse, overpopulation, and spay/neuter opportunities at Red Lake Health Fairs and at its local spay/neuter clinics.

RLRR is also working on revising the Red Lake Tribal Code regarding animal abuse and neglect. There had never been a case of animal abuse brought before the tribal courts until recently, and this was due to Karen's advocacy for the humane treatment of animals.

Red Lake Rosie's would like to develop a model for rescue, shelter, veterinary care, and reducing overpopulation through spay/neuter initiatives that can be replicated on other Indian Reservations.

Annually, RLRR has booths at both the Twin Cities' and Bemidji Pet Expos. Volunteers educate visitors about RLRR and hand-made, donated items are sold to raise funds. Adopted RLRR dogs are enthusiastic ambassadors the tables.

2) Medical Care

RLRR provides medical care and spay/neuter through private donations and grants at local veterinary hospitals. Each year RLRR holds four or five spay/neuter/vaccination clinics that are free to reservation residents.

The organizations providing services for these clinics are:

Minnesota Spay/Neuter Assistance Project (MN SNAP), Animal Humane Society Mobile Services Unit, Animal Ark Neuter Commuter, Akin Hills Pet Hospital, and The Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association Field Service Program (HSVMA).

3) Shelter and Placement

Stray/surrendered dogs are temporarily housed at the shelter in outdoor kennels with enclosed hay- filled areas for warmth. Small puppies, kittens, and cats reside in an indoor shelter. Most rescued animals are transported to rescues in the Twin Cities area for adoption.


See www.redlakerosie.org for more information or follow the blog at www.redlakerosie.blogspot.com for daily updates.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

In Memory of Lee Seidl

I was so sorry to learn of the passing of Lee Seidl at age 91. She is the mother of my friend Jim who has supported Friends of Flicka as a dream realized of helping animals in the name of his closest animal friends. We are deeply grateful for memorials received in remembrance of Lee.

Leona M. Seidl-Smith left quietly in her sleep for her new place of peace and rest, joining her husbands, Edward H. Seidl (just in time for his July 26th birthday) and Stan W. Smith.

She is the youngest daughter of Gustav and Esther Okerlund, and sister to Phoebe, Reuben, Nathaniel and Orpha all of whom have gone before her. Her sons Steve, Mark (Vicki), Jim, grandchildren Peter (Alli), Katelin (Derek), and Jacob, along with great-grandchildren Mia and Ava (Peter and Alli), remain to celebrate her rich life.

Whether at work or play, she was blessed with a host of friends and was an avid water and snow skier, golfer, bike rider and swimmer; played a mean game of bingo and intertained her grandkids with Monopoly, Pong and assorted other competitive board and card games.

Tusen tack, tack sa hemskt mycket, mormor.

As a lifelong member of the Evangelical Free Church, she was committed to a life of spiritual discipline. And she just may have been the preeminent Swedish Christmas cookie baker ever. She loved to travel and is probably still planning another trip to Hawaii.

Her life will be commemorated at a small gathering of family and friends on Friday, July 29th. A private burial ceremony was held (on Eddie's birthday) at Ft. Snelling. Kindly direct memorial donations in lieu of flowers to charity of choice.


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Rescue organizations need support in many ways. I help abandoned animals find loving homes. You can, too. . .