Success!
Pets Available
Sponsor a Pet
Adoption Fee
Events
Volunteer!
Our Mission
Membership
Animal Links
Success!
Click on Adoption Fee
to find out more about
adopting a PAWS for
Life pet.
We'd love to hear your success story! If you adopted a dog or cat you saw on our website, please send us a photo and your story to info@idahopawsforlife.org. We'd love to post them here!
Best Friends
Remember Romeo, the deaf Dogo Argentino that was on our website for
quite some time a while back? Well, he got adopted by a wonderful
couple in north Idaho. It's a great ending to a
rather hopeless situation...
Romeo, (now known as Big O), had bad knee problems. He limped very noticeably. It is hard enough to place a healthy dog, but one with this bad of existing problems just about never happens.
Greg and Linda applied for his adoption, came down and met him, fell in love with him and took him home. They have already taken care of one of his knees through surgery and have plans to have his other knee done this winter. But as you can see from the photos, they are all taking it in stride!
Big O has two Pug brothers that obviously love him a lot. His lack of hearing doesn't affect his ability to love one bit. What a great ending to what seemed like a hopeless story!!
Thanks Greg and Linda for giving this wonderful dog the care and love he so deserved. You're the best!
A Cross Country Tail
Harley the Afghan was a rescue from Nevada. He had lost his home because
he did not enjoy being teased by children. A PAWS foster home had him for 6
months before the right home came along, but that home was in Maine! Not to
worry, his adoptive parents paid to have him driven all the way from Idaho
to their home in Maine. Harley arrived only a little worse for wear and
from there, things only got better. Harley is now the cherished pet of a
veterinarian and his wife. The couple have 2 other rescued Afghans for
Harley to play with, but his favorite buddy is a rescued German shepherd
dog. Thanks Tom and Lisa for giving Harley the forever home he deserves!
A Real Buddy
Dale came to PAWS as a six-week old pup we named Bubba. With his floppy hound ears and soulful eyes, he quickly became a favorite, particularly at a local grade school he visited. While we try our best to make sure every adoption is a good one, Bubba, who had become Buddy, ended up at the local shelter by the time he was almost a year old. His former foster mom took him back into foster care, and we tried to find Bubba/Buddy his forever home with an experienced hound person. We were contacted by John from Washington State who had been looking for quite a while for a hound. After sending someone to do a home check and informing John of Buddy's quirks (a hound can follow his nose into lots of trouble!), John drove all the way to Boise to make Buddy his own. John, who renamed his new dog Dale, writes, "He's the best dog and buddy! Thank you for letting me have the chance to adopt him." It looks like Dale is happy with his new home, which makes us very happy!
It's a Dog's Life!
Remember Rufus, the handsome Great Dane who came to us needing medical attention? Rufus had been living in a chicken coop on a farm for several months, and before that he’d been chained to a fence and underfed. He had a tennis-ball-sized growth on his chest, a tremendous gash on his front foot that hadn’t been tended in months, he was severely underweight, and he was intact. He also had never been vaccinated.
After some much-needed medical attention by our friends at All Pet Complex, Rufus was adopted by David and Donna in Moscow, Idaho. Rufus, as you can see, is now a much-loved couch potato. Since his adoption, his wonderful new humans have taken him to the doggie dentist where he had his teeth cleaned and one pulled. Rufus will also need more dental work than normal as the result of poor nutrition. This big guy is one lucky dog to have found such a wonderful forever home!
He's One Spicy Kitty
Sage's mom, Laura, recently sent in these photos of Sage, a Siamese mix cat who was adopted lat summer. Sage was originally part of the PAWS spay/neuter program, and was neutered a little over a year ago along with a lot of other cats from a Garden City mobile home park. The residents fed the cats, many of whom were abandoned in the area. Sage was "adopted" by a nearby resident, but wasn't being cared for appropriately. You can see in his before photo that he was very thin. He also needed to be dewormed and defleaed! Since he was such a loving cat, we decided to get him into a foster home, and put him up for adoption. After a bath and treatment for worms and fleas, he was sequestered with another Garden City cat in a separate bathroom until the foster parent was sure the worms and fleas were gone.
We posted his photo and information on the website and also on a couple of bulletin boards. Laura, who had adopted another cat from us a year before, took one look at Sage's darling face and said she wanted to adopt him. Unfortunately, she couldn't pick him up for several weeks because she lives out-of-state.
In the meantime, Sage decided he wanted to escape what he thought was "kitty jail" and made a break for it, clawing through a screen and dropping from the second floor onto the concrete. We put up posters, scoured the neighborhood, and filed the appropriate documents with the local shelter, but no luck. All of us, including Laura, were quite disheartened. Here was a cat who was going to a great home, but now we couldn't find him!
Several days after his escape, his foster mom came home to find Sage hanging around her garage. She scooped him up and we all did a happy dance! He was a little thinner, but none the worse for his adventure. Sage's new mom made the long trip to pick him up and he settled into her cathold nicely.
You can tell that Sage has enjoyed an excellent life with Laura and his "brothers." He looks sleek and well-loved now, and we know he's very happy in his new home because he hasn't once tried to get out Laura's windows!
Spoiled Rotten Dogs!
Hey, LOOK! Do we have it made or what!!?? For two years my sister, Jessie (then named Daisy), lived in a 12' x 6' chainlink kennel in the back yard. Up till we were about 6 mos. old, we got to go everywhere with the guy that bought us. But when the "new" wore off, we were stuck.
When Jolene finally rescued us, we had been livng on about 12" deep poop. We only had one dog house for shade in the summer and shelter in the winter. Life was NOT fun. We barked a lot and THAT is what finally got us out of there!!
I was adopted by Dale and Karalee in Meridian. I am a full-time house dog now. They thought I was such a good boy that they not only helped me graduate from obedience school, but helped me get my Canine Good Citizen Diploma, too!! After that, I went to "vocational school" and got my certification for Hospital Therapy. I am so busy I sleep real good at night now!
My sister was adopted by Ralph and Sherri up in Garden Valley. She gets to see deer and take long walks and run in the snow and take long lovely naps because she gets to be a full-time house dog, too. Did we make out, or what!!??
P.S. I guess you can tell from the photos that we are getting our dads trained REAL good!! We lay on them and get tummy rubs on demand!! Wow! We're a long way from the nasty chainlink kennel and we are two very happy dogs!!
Jolene, Foster mom
Oh, Mr. Milo!
Life started for this little guy in a pet store with his brother by his side. What a sad beginning for two such sweet little lives. "Brutus" became his name when he and his brother were purchased one day by a family in Lewiston, ID. Due to a medical problem in the family
both pups were given up a short time later.
His brother pup made it into a good home, but because of Brutus' deafness, the home he was given to did not keep him. Off he went into Boxer Rescue. Boxer Rescue had heard about me and the other deaf dogs that I had taken in. So here he came!!
When he got here, I could tell he had bad food allergies. Within a week on the right food, he was looking and acting much better! He learned 11 different hand signals for "come", "sit", "out", "wait", "down", "let's go", "go potty" (and believe it or not, "go poop", too! :), "good boy" (his favorite) "uh-uh", "stay" and "off"!! What an amazingly smart little fellow!! :) He had also learned three agility obstacles and became quite proficient at the "tunnel', "a-frame" and "dog walk"!!
But the best was yet to come! After weeding through many applications for his adoption, I came across one from Bill and Liz in Coeur de"Alene, ID. Wow! I couldn't get back to them quick enough!
After the written application, a phone conversation or two and a home visit... (some people say adopting a dog from PAWS is harder than adopting a child!! I think they are right!)... Liz met meto pick up her new "boy"!
His name became "Milo"! He joined a beautiful dark brindle Boxer named "Knox"! And what a pair they are!! Liz says "what one don't think of, the other one will!" :)
Bill has taught Milo to ride on a 4 wheeler... I suppose being deaf helps with THAT one!! :)
I think everyone will agree with me when I say that ANYONE may be able to "buy" a dog, but it takes REAL people to be a doggie mom and dad!! Thank you, Bill and Liz!!
Jolene, Foster Mom
Good Golly, Miss Polly
Wow! What a life this young lady has had! Born deaf, Polly was given to a family, but they discovered that they had no idea what to do with a deaf dog. They called me and I went and picked her up at the age of 3 months.
What a delightful puppy Polly was! Easy-going and so very social! She learned 11 hand signals in a very short time, So many people applied for the adoption of a special needs dog. It is very hard deciding what the best for each one really is.
A couple I know very well decided that they wanted to adopt her. Perfect!! ... but later we discovered that he was allergic to Polly's hair. Back she came to me... happy as ever! What a flexible dog she is!
Then Joe and Sarah, a couple from Kelowna, BC, Canada applied and even though getting her to them was hard, what a good home for Polly. They already had an American Bulldog so knew what they were getting into.
However, some people LOVE to make trouble and turned Polly in as being two inches too tall for the subdivision covenants! What? They fought it and fought it, but lost. A very sad Joe and Sarah tearfully brought Polly back to the states.
Now... I heard from Shari, a woman who had adopted a dog from me about a year prior, that she was looking to adopt another dog. (I would place EVERY dog with Shari if I could! Great home!) I arranged ... (am I tricky or what?) ... for Polly to go to Shari's in Tacoma, WA, to be "fostered" by her until I could arramge to go up there to get her.
MY PLAN WORKED! One of the best dog homes I know now had TWO of my dogs! Shari, Ebby... (Shari's resident dog also adopted from me)... and Polly all fell in love!
So after a long journey, Polly found her way to the perfect destination. Thank you, Shari!! :)
Jolene, Foster Mom