PIEDOG PLANET

Piedog Heroes & Rescued Piedogs

	THE BORDERJACK TWINS   These littermates were brought to Oregon from Alberta, Canada, to join the Portland Tail Blazers Flyball Team.  They are  a Border Collie and Jack Russell Terrier mix, potentially the fastest height dogs in the sport of Flyball.  They have joined two of the team's families, and will start their training July 19th. RAZZ!L (formerly known as Blink) Border Collie & Jack Russell Terrier NANO (formerly known as Jet) Border Collie & Jack Russell Terrier GALAXY: A PIEDOG ROCKSTAR GALAXY & HER HUMAN JD From the CBS Show: Greatest American Dog Galaxy appeared on the first season of the CBS show, "Greatest American Dog," in which 10 canines and their owners competed for the title and big prize money. She was nine years old, at the time of the show.  She came in third. She is a perfect Piedog, of pointer and border collie ancestry.   Galaxy is known to have a variety of tricks up her sleeve, an exceptional athlete who demonstrates impressive confidence and maturity. When not on the road performing stunts and routines, Galaxy can be found doing a typical everyday dog routine. She enjoys playing Frisbee, playing with tennis balls, running in the snow and swimming. DUDE: A HEROIC PIEDOG DUDE Click Picture to See Video The 8-year-old hound mix was adopted as a pup from the Monroe County Animal Shelter by Jason Schindler. He was the last of a littler of puppies. "I saw him lying there alone in his cage and I felt so bad for him," said Jason. He named him Dude. On February 22, 2007, Dude jumped in between Jason and a black bear that was attacking him. He saved Jason's life, ultimately making the ultimate sacrifice of a loyal, courageous canine. "If not for the dog, I wouldn't be standing here," Jason said. The bear dragged Dude to its den, where Jason found his dog still alive, after scaring off the bear with a rifle shot. But Dr. Debbie Padilla, Sparta Veterinary Clinic, wasn't able to save Dude in hours of emergency surgery. "In a way he was a miracle dog," Jason said. JOSIE - PIEDOG HEROINE JOSIE & HER OWNER ROSE Click Picture to See Video On November 29, 2006, Josie woke up her mistress, 91-year-old Rose Cappola of Braintree, MA. This 4-year-old brown and white Piedog - shih tzu and rat terrier mix - saved Rose by yipping till she woke up. Rose's furnace had malfunctioned, creating lethal levels of carbon monoxide gas. "Little Josie, God bless her, she saved me," Cappola said. "She's a smart little thing, and she's a very good dog, a lovely, lovable dog." After Josie woke her up, she went to the basement to turn off the furnace, then called 911 and went outside to wait for the fire department. "That dog saved her life," said firefighter Larry Mawn. Rose lives alone with Josie, who generally sleeps next to her owner in bed.

	ASHLEY Certified Piedog Ashley's story: She had been found wandering on a dirt road in Pasco County. Hungry, dirty and filled with all sorts of parasites. To her good fortune, she tested heartworm negative. Once she was cleaned up and healthy again, she was placed on an adoption web site. She was adopted by a woman who was recently divorced. The husband had gotten "custody" of their dog. After a year, the couple reconciled and Ashley found herself in the home with the husbands very unfriendly dog. One evening, the other dog decided he had had enough of Ashley and picked a fight. Ashley was badly beaten up by the other dog. The husband insisted that Ashley be removed from the home. The wife contacted the original foster mom who was now involved with the Animal Friends Society, also in Tampa, and asked her to take Ashley back. The foster mom already had 12 dogs in her care but agreed that it was best for Ashley. There she was, back on an adoption web site begging for a forever home, again. Now 2 years old and full of love to give, Ashley spent every Saturday for the next 2 months sitting in a cage at PetsMart hoping to be adopted again. I just can not believe that no one wanted her!! I spotted her on Wednesday and immediately emailed the foster mom with our information, references and vet information. Friday we got the email....ACCEPTED!! Later we found out that the foster mom had turned down several potential families. Bad history with past pets. Lucky for us that she was so thorough. Saturday morning at the crack of dawn John and I were on the road headed to Tampa, he wanted to be the first in line just incase someone else tried to adopt her first. Even though I told him that could not happen since we were already accepted, he didn't want to take that chance!! There she was, our forever dog. IZZY CERTIFIED PIEDOG Izzy plays flyball for the Oregon team, the X-Fidos.  Adopted at 8 months from the Oregon Humane Society, she lived for about a year and a half with a young man who moved to the Caribbean.  He placed her with a friend who couldn't keep her, so she was placed again with another friend temporarily. Then he worked from St. Croix to find a permanent home. Her present family heard about Izzy and thought she would work for friends who were looking for a sweet little dog. One look at Izzy and their image of a sweet little dog went south. "We said she can stay here and the rest is history."  Izzy is a hound mix, and has the FDCH-S title in flyball racing. DURAN VEGAS (aka BONKERS) CERTIFIED PIEDOG Duran Vegas' Mom Tiff wrote:  "We got Duran from the highest kill shelter in the Nation in Las Vegas. She was severely underweight and malnourished. Now healthy and certifiably insane at 2 years old. At one point she had a chain that had grown into her neck. Her abuse was so severe she would try and bite us out of fear. Now she is pretty balanced but there are times when she is scared. (Like when Mom is trying to put her coat on.) We love her to death and would not know what to do without her around. She provides a lot of entertainment around here." Ms. Vegas is Australian Shepherd and Whippet. She has the fortunate job of being a product tester for homemade dog treats.

	MOUSE CERTIFIED PIEDOG     MOUSE (right) was rescued from a puppy mill, which was breeding mutts.  This rat terrier mix was adopted her from Homeward Bound Dog Rescue, Monticello MN.  Katie (her Mom) writes: "We named her Mouse because she was so timid and quiet (though she gets braver every day)."   For more information on the problem of puppy mills, go to the website: Prisoners of Greed.   PEPPER CERTIFIED PIEDOG From Olivia (Peppers Mom):  "I adopted a dog,  Pepper, last December from North Shore Animal League in NY,  and since then I have been searching for just the right term to describe my crazy canine.  We were informed,  when we adopted him, that although a mutt, he is mainly Australian cattle dog.  I have come to the conclusion that he is mainly cattle dog mixed with pointer.  Whatever the case may be, I am thrilled to finally think Pepper finally has found his place as a "pure" piedog."

	TRIXIE THE WONDERDOG CERTIFIED PIEDOG Janet (Trixie's Mom) writes:  She is almost 3 years old, adopted by us in October, 2002;  born July 22, 2002.  Stubborn blue healer/red border collie mix, she has b.o. and  sheds like a barn dog and is the best friend my little girl has ever had. Trixie plays frisbee, soccer, golf, tennis, catch (anything) and likes to separate things into two piles and then mix them up again to start over with creating a puzzle.  She takes us, herself,  or any other dog on a walk with the leash, but will happily accompany our family on a walk without a leash.  She has tamed our two cats to receive an ear massage, tamed the greyhound to it, too.  She is the best example of win anyone over by adoration and patience.  She is the original stinko-burger dog, and as allergic as I am to her, she lives indoors and plays outside and she is a real dog who smiles. TURK - Border Collie Mix Certified Piedog Missy is Turk's Mom: "Turk and most folks who know dogs think he could be pure border collie. He was left in a shelter "drop-box" so nobody knows for sure. I've suspected he isn't purebred--he is way too calm for a young BC. On the other hand, he did herd a moth last night. Notice I said herded not tried to herd. Not only did he keep the moth in a corner but he protected it from a predator (a very annoyed cat)."

	SPIFFY JUMPS FOR JOY - AND SNOWBALLS! Annie (Spiffy's Mom) wrote:  Spiffy's last known owners in California gave him up for adoption after he accidentally killed a chihuahua while playing with it on the beach. He spent some time in foster care and then lived in a shelter for about six months, but was very lucky to have a guardian angel who brought him home on the weekends and tried very hard to find a permanent home for him since she could not adopt him herself. This woman was friends with my neighbor's sister. When my neighbor's sister heard that Spiffy's time at the shelter may be running out, she agreed to take him into her home. Spiffy and his guardian angel flew out to Boston (he was in his crate for about 13 hours straight!) and met with his new mom. He loved his new home, but new mom found that Spiffy needed more time outdoors than she could provide with her small apartment.   One day she brought him to my neighbor's house to leave him in the fenced-in yard all day while she worked. My husband and I fell in love with him and of course asked about him...when we heard she was considering adoption we told her we'd love to have him. A few days later he arrived on our doorstep.  Spiffy joined our home in September 2004. He was born in October 2002 and we believe he is part border collie and part lab or pointer. Some people think he is all border collie, and he certainly has the personality of one. APOLLO CERTIFIED PIEDOG APOLLO was adopted from North Shore Animal League in New York when he was just 8 weeks old, his Mom Pamela said. "I am not sure of how he got there because none of the other puppies looked anything like him, but I just fell in love with his face the second I saw him. I was walking him one day and a woman came up to me and told me that not even an artist could create a face like that...and it is true for all piedogs!"

	LILI & MOLLY CERTIFIED PIEDOGS George (Lili & Molly's Dad) wrote:  My wife and  I adopted Molly through PAWS in PA when she was about 3 months. Molly,we think, is part german shorthair, collie and/or lab.  After having her for about 2.5 years, we thought she might like to have a playmate and we began to look for a new addition to the family.  I have always liked german shorthairs and I was directed to the Mid Atlantic German Shorthair Rescue where I found Lili. As soon as I met her, we adopted her as well. Lili is mostly german shorthair, but she is definitely mixed with something else, athough we aren’t sure of what. They are both wonderful “kids” and we don’t know what we do without them. Of course, this wasn’t always the case.    When we adopted Lili, we soon learned through some behavioral problems that she must have been abused or neglected prior to coming to our home. She became very aggressive, growling and snapping at me and my wife and sometimes she would just tear into poor Molly.  After about six months with these issues, I had come to fork in the road. I had two choices, I could return Lili or I could give her one last chance. I chose to give her a one, last chance and began to take her to training classes. Soon after training, she began to calm down and she and I started to create a real bond. I learned that Lili had special needs and needed more attention than we were giving her. After graduating the training class, Lili and I have become best friends. I don’t know what I would do without her in our family.  One year later, present day and we are still very fortunate to have given Lili a chance. She has made a wonderful companion, although we still have some small issues, and I look forward to having her around for years to come. There are no words to describe how someone feels when you come home from a long day and you have your pups eagerly waiting for you at the door. I can hardly wait to get home every day to see my “kids”. Rest in Peace: MS. BROGAN CERTIFIED PIEDOG MS. BROGAN was adopted from the Furry Friends Foundation of Chicago IL. She was a lucky dog to find her human being, Miss Elysia, with whom she found love and companionship. Ms. Brogan left for the Big Dog Park in the Sky last winter, at a ripe old age.