More Alumni Animals - Dogs
LOUIE/EDWARD
"We are calling him Edward and he's a lovely dog. Very easy-going and loves playing with my other hounds. They were a bit "sulky" for a couple of days, but by yesterday everyone was best of chums and having a riot. I'm pleased as punch."
SUGAR/JOSIE
She had a
litter of pups shortly before coming into our care and one of them (Harry) can be seen below. The photo on the right was one of
the winners in our 2004 Calendar contest so Josie is now a "pin-up"!
UPDATE March 2005 - Sadly, Josie's adopted mom is very sick - so Josie has had to be returned to us and she is now looking for another home.
UPDATE June 2005 - Happily Josie has found a new home!
UPDATE Sept 2006 - Her new family bought Josie along to
our 2006 Dog Spa.
Doesn't she look happy!
DUSTIN
HARRY
UPDATE 7/22/2006 - Melissa sent us this update along with these new pictures:
Harry is three years old now and is the best little buddy anyone could ask for. He travels with me whereever I
go and loves to be around people. We moved to Alexandria (city) last September and he now has his own little
yard to play in and guard. Of course his little howl is only a scare tactic as he'll shower anyone with as many
kisses as they can stand! Except for the mailman! 
He is Harry's "enemy number one" and Harry is affectionately
called "Killer" whenever the mail is dropped through the door. Harry lives with two cats and is especially fond
of Teddy, most likely because they are almost the same size and weight! Harry has provided me with hours of smiles,
laughter and entertainment, especially once he's discovered a shadow on the floor. My friends have nicknamed him
the Shadow Dancer! He loves his dog walker and gets to go to the dog park every day and play with his numerous
friends there. He is a joy and was recently referred to as an "angel"-I couldn't agree more!
SHELBY
SABRINA
UPDATE Sept 2006 - Her new family bought Sabrina along to our 2006 Dog Spa. She had a great time being rubbed and scrubbed and lapped up all the affection!
MOZART/MERLIN
UPDATE March 2005 - Well that the day arrived when 2 SPCA alumnis competed against eachother! This picture was taken in the Fall 2004 at a flyball demonstration in Columbia, MD. Max is on the left and Merlin is on the right.
UPDATE March 2006 Lauren sent us this update:
I just wanted to let you know that Merlin just earned his Flyball Master Excellent (FMX)
title this past weekend down in Franklin, VA. This
means that he earned 10,000 total flyball points.
Not too shabby for my now 5 year old "rescue". It's
hard to believe that he has been a part of our family
for three years...Time flies when you are having fun.
Thanks to the SPCA of NOVA for allowing him to be a
part of our family.
FOXEY/BENTLEY
She is now the princess of the house. Grant has been working on some of her tricks and she now knows how to beg and high five. All of the dogs in the dog park love to run with her at mach speed...she's usually the last one running :-) Bentley really enjoyed the big snowstorm of 2003 although it made it a little tough to walk her since she was barely tall enough to walk outside.
Her other
favorite hobby is sitting by the fireplace on her bed. She just celebrated
her 11 month birthday and we couldn't be happier with our little princess.Her siblings Beanie and Noel are also on this page.
UPDATE
8/16/2003 - Bentley came to our 2003 Dog Wash
and was very brave about it all!
MAX & ZOE
The Simons had just moved into a new house in Silver Spring,
MD, which they now share with these extremely lucky young sibling
Bernese Mountain
Dogs.
Update 7th February 2003 - They love playing in the snow!
The photo on the left was a winner in our 2004 calendar contest - so Max and Zoe are now "pin-ups"!
BEANIE/BEANS
& NOELThese adorable puppies were adopted by Nick and Nancy Wessell in December 2002. They are having a wonderful time playing constantly and are extremely happy to be adopted together! They were really excited by their first snow and loved to play in it.
RUSTY/JEFFERSONRusty was adopted by Barb and Barry Willey in July of 2002 and renamed Jefferson. The story of how Rusty was rescued is featured on our website - Click here. This photo was taken of him on his first birthday (September 16th 2002). In Barb's words:
"He now has indicated to us that he no longer wants the door closed on his kennel at home when it's bed time! He has his little routine and then he goes on his own into the kennel and sleeps all night with the door open. It's in our bedroom so he is quite pleased to be with us! He still 'rushes' the door when people come in, but we continue to work on it. Having trouble teaching him to heel, but again, we keep working on it. He is VERY smart and loves to work for his treats. He now does fetch and 'release' ! He is a handful, but we love him.
Soon after we adopted Jefferson, military friends moved to our area, but had to wait 6 weeks for their house (in our neighborhood) to close... so all 6 of them moved in with us in our townhouse. Jefferson thought he had died and gone to 'Attention Heaven'. Our friends have four children between age 9-15 and they also have a black lab mix, who was with friends. Jefferson loved to play with the kids...'steal' their various socks and toys and anything else left at his level. The oldest boy, Matthew has become Jefferson's dog nanny, staying with him when we have to be gone longer than he can remain inside. Matthew has taught him to sit and stay while a treat is put on the floor a few feet from Jefferson. Both are quite proud of this accomplishment."
Update
1/2/2003 - "Thought I'd send a update on our dear Jefferson. We are
enjoying him so very much. This was our first Christmas with him and it was
tons of fun. Our daughter, 27, came home and was very eager to meet her new
canine brother. They were instant pals. Rachael is a real dog person so it
was love at first sight. Not that Jefferson needs any more attention, but it
was fun to see them 'hang out'.
We are
noticing him maturing. He is over 85 pounds...long and lean. He still gets
very excited when we have visitors, but he jumps less and the initial energy
lasts a shorter time. He was very good with the two Christmas trees and
enjoyed 'helping' open gifts. The dog loves paper!!! When we leave him here
in the house alone if he can get near a roll of paper towels...it's
everywhere.
Now that we have a cloth 'haltie' we can take Jefferson on long walks without
being 'dragged alone'. He has adjusted well to Mr. Haltie. It's not his
favorite thing, but he loves his two mile walks with his daddy, so he
cooperates. He also is excellent in the car. We hardly know he is there.
We look forward to his continued maturity and having him sleep in a little
longer in the mornings...we now can make it til almost 8 AM!!! Some
times he'll even curl up and go back to sleep....that makes him KING
JEFFERSON!"
Update
1/30/2004 - "Jefferson continues to bring us much joy. He has filled out
and matured, but for a Lab, 2 1/2 means he is still very much a puppy. He now
has adjusted to OUR schedule and sleeps in like the 'big people' in the
house. We are grateful for that. He LOVES the snow and so for the past two
winters he has been very happy. He and his 'daddy' go on long walk/runs in
our neighborhood and that is the highlight of his day. He is very well
behaved when we are out of the house...with the exception of sometimes
figuring out how to get into the trash can! We are so blessed to have
Jefferson in our lives and he has brought much joy not only to us, but also
to our family and friends. Thank you again for all you do for needy animals."
Update 1/5/05 - we heard from the Willey's that they
are moving to New York. This is what Barb wrote us:
We will live in a huge house built in 1860 with a fenced acre lot filled with
100 year old trees and even a grape arbor. Jefferson will be able to play
outside off leash for one of the first times in his life! He will have a huge
house to roam around in and many new friends.
Update 3/13/07 - We got a sad update from the Willey's that
Jefferson's life had been cut short:
With much emotion and much sadness we wanted to report the loss of Jefferson Willey. We are pretty emotional today so
this will be short, but he was very ill in the last month and we had done all we and our vet could do so he had to be
put to sleep. We now are living in New York as we are working here at West Point. He had a wonderful one acre fenced
yard and life here was so good for him. He apparently had an auto immune disease, our vet felt was Lupus and was not
responding to the treatments. He could not get himself up on all fours without much pain, even on all the meds. He
would not let anyone near him (he bit me twice) and as much as we all tried he was not improving. After consulting with
our wonderful vet here we made the difficult decision.
I know we gave him a great life for the wonderful 4
years we had him and we are so grateful to YOU for allowing us the joy of
Jefferson.
ZEUS/REGGIE
Zeus was adopted by Karen & Gabe McGinnis in August 2002 and renamed Reggie. This is what Karen wrote to us about his new life:
"He's doing really well...still the highlight of our lives!
His most recent adventure was when we went camping in the Blue Ridge mountains. He is surprisingly well-behaved off-leash, so he was able to run around and play all around the campsite without getting into trouble, as well as go on lots of hikes and swim in a waterfall! He also graduated from PetSmart's puppy training this past Saturday, and he was voted the smartest dog in the class!!!
One of his newest tricks includes "sneak", which means we put a treat on the floor about 3 or 4 feet away and he crawls up to it on his belly. It seems like such a silly thing to teach a dog, but he just started doing it one day, so I kept saying "sneak", and now he does it on command! It really is the cutest thing.
He also "plays dead" when you pretend to shoot him by saying "bang bang!". It's really funny to watch because he tries so hard and really flings himself onto the ground fast- I think he thinks the faster he gets down there, the faster he gets a treat!
He is completely potty-trained (I better knock on wood!)- accident free for the last month and a half. I'm sure he could have a few slip ups in the future, but he seems to have gotten the hang of it!
He's one of the favorite dogs in the whole neighborhood and also at the Fairlington Dog Park where he goes every day. It seems like everyone knows his name and loves watching him grow up. He always gets compliments about how well he plays with all kinds of other dogs and how well-behaved he is!"
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The photo on the right was taken at the SPCA Dog Wash held on September 14, 2002. Also there that day, were two of Reggie's littermates, Angel and Beauregard (now named Bobo).
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The pup's Mom is Jasmine - it took
her a little longer but she has a home too!
SMOKEY
Smokey was adopted by Amy Rider in May 2002 and renamed Whidbey (after the town in Washington state). Smokey, Shira (husky) and her 5 pups were rescued from an abusive situation in April 2001 - by Cheryl & Bill Shifflett - their amazing story is featured in the Summer 2001 edition of our newsletter. There is an update on Whidbey's new life in our Spring 2003 Newsletter
Amy took Smokey for a road trip out West in the summer of 2002. This is what she wrote to us about it:
"I thought I’d give you all some pictures from our summer around the country. I think that Whid is cured of his car sickness! He only threw up twice on the way west, and none on the rest of the whole trip! We had a couple of bumps along the way, but nothing that we didn’t work out.
He can run
off the leash now, and he comes right back to me. He loved playing with my
mom’s dog (Langley) and my sister’s two dogs (Tug and Lager). He also loved
my niece Jordan. I was really careful with him around small children, but he
did really well.He is so loving and cuddly. He also likes to run with me.
I am so in love with this dog, and I thank you so much."
BODIE
Bodie was adopted by Robin Gray, her husband and daughter in February of 2001. Bodie is a much loved member of the family along with his constant companion Casper - a Chihuahua mix. This photo was taken when Bodie came to visit us at an Adoption Day - we are always very happy to see Alumni!
RUSTY
Rusty was adopted by Andi Dies in February of 2002. Rusty is a example of how wonderful his breed CAN be - he is a pit bull mix who loves everybody - people, cats and dogs. His ears go curly (as you can see in this photo) when he sees someone he wants to meet. This photo was taken at our 2002 Rover Romp. Andi was fostering him for us but he very quickly convinced her that he was fine staying right where he is!
BLOSSOM/CALLIE
Blossom was adopted by Haley and Steven Gyory in February of 2001 and renamed Callie. This is what Haley wrote about her:
"She has been the joy of our lives, and she is very happy in her new surroundings (we moved to a new house in February '02). She has an acre of land to roam (although we still hesitate to unleash her, as she has a tendency to run) and many other dogs to play with in the neighborhood."
CALEBJo Dempsey and Dave Davoudlarian adopted Caleb in September 2001. This is what they wrote about him:
"We adopted him on September 9,2001. Ironically the first day we could pick him up was our daughter Rai's first birthday. Little did we know that it was one of the best things that we ever did for her.
Caleb is a wonderful, smart and sometime 'precocious' dog. But he is also amazingly intuitive. Rai has many problems, many of which the doctors have not even put a name to. Caleb has assigned himself to be her special protector. First thing in the morning he runs around looking for her. Now, when she sees him, she just laughs and laughs. If I am busy, Caleb looks out to make sure that Rai is ok. If she has a seizure-he runs right to me to let me know. His instinct is amazing! I have found him running to me before one even starts on occasion. Somehow-animals know!
He also has
made a girlfriend of one of our girl cats, Luna. They just love to rub each
other's noses. Caleb also has a chase game with our boy cat, Talker. They
love to chase each other around ALL day long!Adopting Caleb has enriched our lives so much. I can't even remember what it was like before we had him!"
UPDATE 8/16/2003 - Caleb came to our 2003 Dog Wash - here he is getting his nails trimmed. He certainly is a handsome fellow!
MARK/TOMMYCarol Vernon and Don Hartung adopted Mark in November 2001 and renamed him Tommy. In Carol's words:
"He is a Jindo, which is a Korean breed. Tommy was very, very thin when the SPCA first got him (and when we got him shortly thereafter). In the attached photo, he is the dog on the left. We adopted the other dog, Peaches, from the Arlington Shelter around the same time that we adopted Tommy. She is about four months younger than Tommy. Both dogs are "best buddies." They play, wrestle, chase each other, and have fun together. They love going to the Banneker Dog Park, playing in our fenced-in back yard, going for walks, chewing their many chew toys, and curling up at the foot of our bed at night. One of the funniest things they do is play with their rope toy. They each get a hold of one end of it and play tug of war. Then Tommy goes completely limp (except for his death grip on the rope) and Peaches drags him all over the house like a sack of potatoes!
Tommy and Peaches are polar opposites. Tommy is our little "home boy" and Peaches is our little "ball of fire." When they are outside in the backyard, Peaches runs around the entire time, and Tommy alternates between chasing Peaches and watching us from the back door. At the dog park, Tommy comes over to us periodically as if to say, "Are you still there?" Peaches forgets that we exist when she plays at the dog park! Peaches will play "fetch" until we collapse with exhaustion, and Tommy really doesn't see the point in chasing after a ball. Tommy sleeps in our room with just his muzzle under our bed, and Peaches sleeps under our bed with just her muzzle sticking out. Tommy is very wary in new situations, and Peaches just dives in with wild abandon. They are very different from each other, but that doesn't get in the way of their obvious attachment to each other and to us.
They are both very smart, in different ways. Tommy learned to "shake hands" (or "gimme five", as we say) in about three tries! It took Peaches maybe 300 tries! On the other hand, Peaches learned to "roll over" right away and Tommy wasn't too keen on this idea. In the obedience class that we took, Peaches would try her best throughout the whole class. Tommy would get bored or tired towards the end of each class and then he'd just lie down and refuse to do anything further! It was a hoot! Everyone got a kick out of it, even the instructor.
Tommy can leap maybe five feet high, straight up in the air and from a standing position! When we arrive home from work, he wiggles with great pleasure and makes happy little whimper/coo sounds. Peaches is completely thrilled to see us, too. Both dogs have brought so much joy into our lives. We love spending time with them, playing with them, and taking care of them.
We want to thank everyone at the SPCA who helped us, esp. Lisa Reid and Joan Hughes. They gave us lots of good advice, encouragement, and information."
MCCARTNEY
Mccartney was adopted in April of 2001. Here he is with
his proud owners, Nancy and John Harvath, when they all came to visit
us at an adoption day in December 2001. Here's their story:
"My husband and I had decided that we wanted a dog. We went and looked in pet
store after pet store seeking out that perfect puppy. It suddenly dawned on
us that there are so many unwanted pets out there in this world, that we
should look at rescuing a dog.
So, we went to work on the internet and came across the SPCA site for
Northern Virginia. There were numerous dogs available. My husband had chosen
one and I saw this photo of another. Upon pointing this dog out to my him, he
exclaimed "What is it?" McCartney is a handsome dog, part Collie, Australian
Shepherd and Afghan.
We went that weekend to the show at the Fairfax Weber's Pet Supermarket and
my husband caught up with the SPCA just as they were pulling into the parking
lot. A van full of dogs, most barking after a long trek to find homes. John
approached the van & inquired about the one dog and was told that he had been
adopted. So, he then asked about McCartney. Well, you would have thought the
world had just stopped spinning. The volunteers were thrilled that someone
was looking to adopt McCartney.
John peeked into the van of barking dogs and saw what he believed to be
McCartney. All of the dogs were barking, barking, barking. Except for one, it
was McCartney and he had this look about him telling the other dogs "Hey! If
you want to be adopted, you just better shush!" So, we spent two wonderful
hours with McCartney and decided that he was exactly what we were looking
for. Friendly, Loving, Outgoing but not overbearing and adorable. Once we
were approved by the SPCA screenings, we were finally able to pick up
McCartney and bring him home to meet the rest of our family: 3 cats, Mick,
Boo and Hairry. Boo hid out for a couple of weeks, hence the name.
The first night with us, just as John & I were about to fall asleep at
11:30pm, McCartney started barking (quite the baritone) and would not stop.
Our first thought was that he tricked us at the SPCA showing, but soon
realized after doing a CAT count, that two were missing from the house. So,
off John & I went to the cars in search of Mick & Hairry who had escaped
through the garage door. 45 minutes later we were all safe and sound asleep
and McCartney was the hero of the house.
It has been 9 months since we have had McCartney and we will attest that he
is the best dog that John & I have ever owned. There is not a day that goes
by on our walks with McCartney that someone doesn't stop us to ask about him.
Without fail, each time we come home from work or running errands, McCartney
is waiting for us at the top of the stairs. He loves the outdoors and loves
to chase the lawn-mower, weed-whacker, anything mechanical (including the
vacuum cleaner in the house) and loves chasing squirrels! HE IS AN ABSOLUTE
JOY! We now have added another cat to the household (Pumpkin) and are looking
to adopt one more dog this month of January, 2002 from the SPCA of Northern
Virginia."
UPDATE 1/19/2002 - They have adopted
Zsa Zsa (renamed to be Elkie) and everyone couldn't be more happy!
KRAMER
Kramer was adopted by Karen McDonald and her boyfriend Mark in June of 2001. Here he is getting his photo taken with Santa Claws at Petsmart ready for Christmas 2001 - and on the right he's hanging out with Karen and Mark at the SPCA's Dog Wash.