Adoption Success Stories

Addison's Story
As told by Lysa Bea, his foster mom & the French's, his forever family!

Tireek was so very thin when we picked him up from Gary, IN animal control. He was found as a stray wandering the streets in downtown Gary. He was dirty, scared and sad. It was hard to see how thin he was, he did have a lot of really gross coat. Obviously this poor boy had never been brushed, he still had baby coat and he was now about 12 months old. Tireek was neutered, and luckily had no other health problems other than poor nutrition. After a bath and several grooming sessions, most of the dead tightly packed undercoat was gone. We put Tireek on the same diet and supplements we use and recommend for all of our dogs, all natural Lamb & Rice with plenty of essential fatty acids and enzymes. After only one month Tireek started to grow a brand new coat, as this occurred he started to loose the old coat. There was about a month that Tireek looked almost naked.

Even though he had very short hair, it was soft & beautiful. His skin was no longer dry and flaky, now it was soft & supple. Tireek was turning into a whole new dog and not just his looks! He learned potty training, crate training and basic manners in no time. It was clear to me as his foster mom that this is a special boy, very loving and a typical Keeshond. Tireek was wonderful with other dogs, tested wonderfully with all people especially great with kids and even tested well with other animals (we test with primarily cats).

When The French family came to meet the available Keeshonden (after completing our extensive screening process), it was clear from the time they came in the house that Tireek knew this was HIS family. Tireek fell in love with Jack French, who was just 2 years old at the time and a typical boy. The French's; Tracy, Curt & Jack all fell in love with Tireek! They did not fall in love with his name and so Tireek became Addison. The French's have provided Addison a wonderful loving home and rescue with many pictures & updates with his progress over the last 2 years. We are so proud to have adopted Addison to such a great home. Even more proud that Addison demonstrates the qualities that make Keeshonden such perfect family dogs, gentleness; patience; playfulness, willingness to learn & adjust; loyalty; protective & alert; and most of all the abundance of love a Keeshond has to give and to receive!

Thank you Tracy, Curt, Jack and now Elaine (the newest member of the French family). Below is a recent email message from Tracy, with pictures of Addison. I hope Tracy's message brings the same pleasure to everyone that reads it, just as it did for me, Lysa Bea.

Finally! Here are some pictures of our beautiful “Addy Boy”. I’ve been meaning to forward some photos for ages but am just now getting around to it as we recently purchased a digital camera. These shots were taken a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, Addy’s nose is covered in dirt as he had just finished doing some more digging in his hole. He has a couple of holes that he likes to cool off in. They’re under the nice, shady trees. He doesn’t spend all that much time outside when it’s hot out but if the family is outside then there is no way that boy will stay inside and miss all of the action!

Addison has had a busy year. Last summer we adopted a cat from our veterinarian. It didn’t take all that long for Addy to tire of chasing his new little pal, Bill, around the house. They’re getting along really well. I think Addison likes having an extra playmate. Speaking of playmates, there is something to be said between the love of a boy and his dog. Our son, Jack, is now 4 years old and Addison is really his dog. I may be home with Addy all day but when it comes down to it, he is faithful to Jack. Not having grown up with dogs, I still can’t get over this bond that dogs forge with their families. Addison goes wherever Jack goes. He loves to be outside with him and they play chase all over the yard. It’s great because it wears both of them out! They cuddle together on the couch or on the floor. And when Jack heads up for bedtime Addison parks himself under the bed or directly outside his door. He’s a faithful watchdog. And now he has a new charge. We had a baby girl, Elaine, in November. We brought her home on Thanksgiving Day. Curt and Jack went over to my in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner while I stayed home with the baby. I had her sitting in one of those bouncy seats on the floor. I would occasionally leave the room to go into the kitchen and poor Addy was completely torn as to whether he should follow me or stay with the baby. I’m not kidding! It was amazing. You could see him get up and walk towards me and then look at the baby and walk towards her. He would walk back and forth between us. Finally, he parked himself down right next to her (I’ve attached a photo). I swear he understood that she needed to be looked after. Meanwhile, she is now 7 months old and crawling all over the place. I kid you not, Addison will lay right on the floor and let her crawl directly over him and he doesn’t even twitch an ear. He loves his kids. And they certainly love him in return.

We can’t thank you enough for the gift you have given us. Addison is the perfect dog for our family. I still can’t get over how amazing it is that we found him. As I had mentioned before, we’d been watching the kees website for a while knowing that we would someday adopt a dog. I’ll never forget the day I saw “Tireek’s” picture and told my husband to print the application because he was our dog. Thanks again for the job you do!!

Gunner's Story
As told by Gayle...

Gunner entered my life at the lowest part of his life. I was looking for a dog that would run and play with my very energetic shepard mix-Kylee. We had been to many shelters and Kylee had rejected every dog I presented her. She either growled or cowered with every shepard, lab, and mixed breed that I offered her. I was ready to give up when I was encouraged to take out the Keeshond in the cage in the corner. He was pitiful... matted, sad, fearful, and thin...he hid in the comer of his cage. When the attendant went to leash him he lashed out. This was the last dog I thought my Kylee would want to take home. Was I wrong! It was love at first sight. She made it very clear that we were taking him home that day. We took him home, bathed him, fed him, groomed him but I still had a feeling of profound sadness when I looked into his eyes. I had no way of knowing the series of events that had brought Gunner into my life.

Gunner was found dumped on the side of the road. He was severely injured, unable to walk or stand, bleeding, near death. He was picked up by a suburban animal control officer and taken to a holding facility for 8 days. He drank very little, did not eat, and his wounds became infected. Animal control offered no medical attention or comfort. He must have been frightened, his suffering unbearable. Shortly after Gunner was found a large dog-fighting ring was discovered in the same area that Gunner had been discarded. They were shut down, however, the suffering of the dogs used by these criminals was now clear. Over 20 Pit Bulls were destroyed, unable to be rehabilitated due to their past.

Gunner had been used as a bait dog. He had been thrown in the pit with the fighting dogs so that they could get a taste of his blood and be more aggressive in the ring. The criminals that participate in dog fighting use dogs like Gunner because they have full coats and gentle temperaments. They can be used repeatedly before they are injured so severely that they die and they are not likely to hurt the prized fighting dogs. Gunner like most Keeshonden is a gentle, loving dog that did not understand what was happening. Gunner was most likely someone's pet, stolen from a loving home. He understood the sit command and still had a trust of humans. This amazes me since most of the humans in his life had not earned that trust. After 8 days at the holding facility Gunner was transfered to a local shelter. They took immediate action to end his suffering. Ironically they took him to my Vet to be euthanized. Thankfully my Vet refused, citing his tenacious fight for life over the past 8-days.

This Vet offered gentle care, loving support and 6-weeks of intensive medical treatment, paying all expenses out of his own pocket. Gunner had over 200 stitches, weeks of antibiotics and wound cleaning. My Vet and his wonderful staff provided love and encouragement to entice him to eat and drink. They saw something in Gunner that was worth saving. After Gunner was healed he was returned to the Shelter where he spent another 6-weeks before I adopted him.I have never regretted keeping Gunner. He has taught me many things...never give up on life, no matter how grim things look...If you look hard enough there are many really good people in this world.

Trust can be broken easily, but it is much more difficult to earn back. Sometimes Kylee is a better judge of character than I am. Don't judge a book by it's cover (or a dog by it's appearance). A warm hug, a gentle voice, a soft coat, a kind pat, a tender nudge, and a little puppy love all go a long way to make this world a better place.