Happy Dog Rescue

Happy Dog Rescue
Available Dogs

Adoption Application

IMPORTANT ACTION ALERT! The fight is on in Pennsylvania to end puppy mills. These are the squalid commercial dog breeding operations exposed by Oprah on her show this past spring with the help of Main Line Animal Rescue. Two bills that would help improve the lives of dogs trapped in these miserable puppy mills have passed legislative committees and now face votes by the full Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The vote could come at any time. There are lobbyists at the state capitol working on behalf of millers to defeat these bills. The dogs have only you. Please help. Click on the link below to find names and contact information for Pennsylvania House members including your own if you live in Pennsylvania. Write or call now and urge them to vote yes on H.B. 2525 and H.B. 2532. http://www.animallawcoalition.com/companion-animal-breeding/article/511

Off topic, but very interesting! Have you heard about cyber schools in PA? They're public schools (no tuition) for students in grades K-12 who live in PA.
Students take classes at home via the internet. Come chat with parents of cyber schoolers by joining this group: PACyberSchoolers.

How much does it cost to own a pet? ASPCA breakdown of estimated annual cost by type of pet.

Rehoming Your Dog: Can't keep your current dog for some reason? We are currently full but may be able to help you connect with another rescue.
Please submit our Temperament Questionnaire and we'll be in touch. This will provide us with detailed information about your dog.

Featured Dog:
Sophie!
Approx 32 lbs

VERY social!
Loves people & dogs.
Doesn't know a stranger.

Comes with FREE obedience
classes beginning in August.

Local Dog Trainer: Jill Wright at K-9's In Training
Live in the Lehigh Valley area and looking for a groomer that can come to your home? Try Linda's Dog Grooming ~ 610-967-3160
Please DO NOT call Linda about any of the dogs on our site. She is not part of our rescue and doesn't know anything about our dogs.
If you have a question, please email us. We will respond to all email inquiries.
Please join our mailing list to receive announcements about new dogs needing homes or shelters in need of donations and rescue help.

Click here to see our Happy Tails! These dogs have been adopted already.

Who We Are

Happy Dog Rescue is a small rescue offering personalized service to our adopters as well as five years experience fostering/adopting dogs. We will do our best to match you with a dog that is compatible with your family's lifestyle. Our goal is to find the best match for both dog and adoptive family. We do not do adoptions on a first come/first served basis, but rather based on the needs and desires of the dog and adoptive family. If you do not share this philosophy, please do not apply to adopt from us.

Volunteers needed: Volunteers needed for crossposting. If you are online frequently, you can help save the lives of dogs in kill shelters! Click this link for more info.

Adopting a New Family Member

Our adoption procedure:

1. If you find a dog on our site you're interested in adopting, read the dog's description for further instructions. Some dogs listed may still be with their current families. Others may be in foster care with Happy Dog Rescue. The procedure for adoption will vary based on where the dog is currently residing.

2. If the dog is in foster care with Happy Dog Rescue, please submit our adoption application. We will be in touch via email within 24 hours of reviewing your form to provide you with further instructions.

3. The rest of the adoption process includes a phone interview, home visit, vet check, having your family (human/canine/feline) meet the dog to see if everyone gets along, and may also include personal references.

All dogs adopted through Happy Dog Rescue will be vetted prior to adoption (including rabies, distember combo, heartworm test if old enough, spay/neuter, deworming and flea/tick preventative). Vetting records are provided as part of the adoption contract. All dogs adopted through HDR must be seen by your vet within two weeks from the date of adoption for a wellness check and a fecal test. We also strongly recommend a Lymes test at your post-adoption vet visit.

What type of dog is right for your family? Click here to find out. HDR mostly gets mixed breed dogs, but you can use this questionnaire to give you some idea of breeds that may be more appropriate for your family. Then you can look at the dogs on our site to see if they have traits similar to the breeds recommended for your family.

Come Visit Us!

We are not a shelter. All dogs are fostered in a private home environment and all meetings are by appointment only. Appointments are only made after adopters have been screened, so the first step is for you to submit an application. But before you submit an application, please check to make sure you live within our adoption area.

Resources for Canine Behavioral Issues

Having problems with your dog? Unwanted/unacceptable behaviors and you don't know what to do about it? Here are some of the resources we use to help our foster dogs.

Recommended Trainer: K-9's In Training located in Phillipsburg NJ. 6/2/07: Two of our own dogs have taken Jill's class and graduated. We are very happy with Jill's training methods (all positive motivation based) and are now comfortable recommending her to our adopters. Her group classes are small and the price is reasonable too! If you sign up for a class, please let her know you saw her on our website. Thanks!

Tracy Vroom of Cranio Connection: Tracy has helped us rehabilitate shy dogs and dogs with fear issues. She is a true Dog Whisperer and very soothing for us humans too!

Tellington Touch: This is something that Tracy introduced us to several years ago. It was easy to learn and we are amazed at the results. At the very least, we recommend you get the book and video. Even better...attend a formal training session.

On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals: A short book but a real eye opener. Helps the novice to better understand their dog's body language. We highly recommend this book. Also, visit the author's website.

Resources for Lost/Found Pets

Check out the info on the Best Friends website. Right now this link is being used for Katrina disaster victims.
Also, visit the Petfinder Classifieds page.
Make a flyer of your missing pet for free at the Best Friends website.
Animal Emergency Response Network: Disaster victims, please check out this site for help with finding your pets: disaster information.

Spay/Neuter

Links to low cost spay/neuter programs nationwide.

News & Information

PLEASE READ THIS BOOK! Redemption is the story of animal sheltering in the United States, a movement that was born of compassion and then lost its way. It is the story of the “No Kill” movement, which says we can and must stop the killing. It is about heroes and villains, betrayal and redemption. And it is about a social movement as noble and just as those that have come before. But most of all, it is a story about believing in the community and trusting in the power of compassion.

DO NOT buy puppies from "breeders" over the internet! Here's why.

Dog Fighting PSA by the Animal Rescue Association of America

PACashCrop.com: Food for thought about puppy mills.

Posted 6/24/08: Article: Illness, Death Dog Nutro Pet Food

Beaten-down dog from Vick case has his day: Pit bull rescued from famous dogfighting ring now helps cancer patients

Pennsylvania to allow breed bans? Action alert!

Governer Rendell to propose puppy mill crackdown! Watch video.

Oprah to do follow-up on her puppy mill show: Article, Oprah's website

$1,200 Vet Bill Around the Corner! Planning for your pet's health care.

Dog Day at the Park! June 11! Visit the Iron Pigs website.

Article: PETA and Euthanasia: "Since 1998 PETA has killed more than 17,000 animals, nearly 85 percent of all those it has rescued."

Nathan Winograd: Redemption - Don't miss this book!

No-Kill Advocacy Center

Article: Let's Not Foreclose on Family Pets!

Best Friends Network: The Truth About the Pet Trade

IMPORTANT!!! Oprah devotes show to inhumane treatment of dogs in commercial breeding kennels (aka "puppy mills"): Tourism industry supports efforts to halt abuses. Please read the entire article and VOICE YOUR OPINION by contacting the state of PA at the email address at the end of the article. Let's shut the millers down! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER buy a puppy from a pet store or over the internet! If you can't see where the puppy was born and is being cared for, DO NOT buy from that person. ASK to see ALL of their breeding dogs. If they won't show them to you, it's probably a puppy mill.

Amazing video: Elephant paints self-portrait.

Now that you’ve seen Oprah’s show on puppy mills, here’s how you can take action in your community to help stop the pet trade, help stop the cruelty.

Nutro pet food alert

Austin to Boston: A man and his 2 dogs, 2,000 miles, a walk for all those touched by cancer. The funds raised from the walk will finance the first ever nationwide epidemiological canine cancer study which will be managed by their partner, the Animal Cancer Foundation.

Pitbull videos

3nd Annual "I Pitty, The Fool" Photo Contest: Pit Bull Rescue Central

Pitbull Information/Pitbull Myths: The Real Pitbull, Pitbull Facts vs Legend

Article: Dog Dies in Iditarod. Sadly this is all too common! Please DO NOT support this race. Check with your child's school to see if they are promoting this cruel event! Google search for Iditarod Cruelty

Best Friends article: The Truth About the Pet Trade. What it's like for a breeder dog that produces puppies for pet stores. Do you unknowningly contribute to the horrors these dogs endure? Please DO NOT buy a puppy from a pet store or over the internet! Red flags: If the breeder won't let you see the parents or if the pups are housed in a barn/kennel. There are TONS of puppies in shelters and rescues. Check Petfinder to find a rescue or shelter that has puppies available. Adopting from a rescuer or shelter rather than buying from a pet store or breeder is the best way to send a message that you want to see puppy mills SHUT DOWN FOREVER.

Pennsylvania Dog Law Advisory Board to Discuss New Dog Kennel Enforcement Proposals: Board to Discuss New Proposal for Improving Health, Welfare of Kenneled Dogs.

Visit the Best Friends Network: Pennsylvania website.

HSUS lanches hotline for reporting dog fighting in Georgia. Read article here.

Please help Saving Gaffney Pets Rescue. They are trying to save the dogs at a high-kill shelter in Gaffney SC. They need rescues, foster homes, sponsors, donations to cover transport costs, a cargo van, crossposters, items for their wish list, etc. Join their Yahoo group to get information and email updates.

Tammy Grimes Found Guilty: Call on Governor Rendell to Pardon Her and Help Pass PA H.B. 1065. Read more here.

2008: "Finally" Says Fido, "A Car Insurance Company that Gets It". Dogs and cats everywhere jump for joy as Progressive introduces Pet Injury Coverage, included at no extra charge for customers with Collision coverage. Click here to read their press release.

Help Pass Pennsylvania Anti-Tethering Bill! Read more here.

Book: How to Afford Veterinary Care Without Mortgaging the Kids. We haven't read it yet. If anyone out there has, we'd like your opinion!

Posted 5/23: There have just been TOO many recalls for us to keep up with posting them here. At this point, we have all of our dogs on The Honest Kitchen combined with a raw food diet. We are not using ANY kibble-type or canned dog food. To get info re recall alerts, subscribe via this website: http://nationalpetfoundation.com/pet-food-recall.html. Also, check out this site.

The FDA website has information about the massive dog food recalls.

Article: Bigger than you think. The story behind the pet food recall.

Article: Tainted pet food may have hurt 39,000 pets nationwide.

We've been looking for better food products for our dogs and will be trying out The Honest Kitchen dog food. They have some very interesting info on their website. Their products are processed in a human grade food processing plant and they have 600 distributors nationwide, so you don't need to order online. UPDATE 4/11: Our dogs have been on this food for about a week and they all LOVE it, including our two picky eaters! We did not experience any problems with upset stomachs/diarrhea with the switch over. It smells very good when rehydrated and reminds us of the consistency of a vegetable dip. We're not kidding...we have two dogs of our own who usually sniffed at "kibble" type dog food and didn't eat it too willingly (sometimes skipped meals). Now these two are eating the whole bowl when we feed them in the morning and evening and are also begging for a third meal at lunch! Since the food is dehydrated it doesn't weigh very much when you purchase it. But a 10 lb bag rehydrates to 43 lbs of dog food. When rehydrated, it's comparable in price to the higher quality "kibble" type foods on the market. PLEASE NOTE: We do not sell this product and do not make any money off of your purchases. We are not on commission and do not have a professional relationship with the distributor. No one has asked us to advertise this product. We are just writing about our own personal experiences with it. Everyone is advised to do their own research when choosing a safer alternative for your pets.

Article: Food Even a Dog Shouldn't Eat - Killing Our Pets with Every Meal

Read the article above, then visit the Canine Care website for information about making your own dog food. You can also join this Yahoo discussion group.

Website with detailed info on the dog food recall.

Dog Food Recipes

Article: Why this vet feeds people food to her dogs.

Pet deaths prompt recall of pet food: read article here. AVMA offers advice to pet owners re food recall.

WE ARE OUTRAGED! You should be too! LOOK at this dog that was rescued (by another rescue) from a commercial breeding facility in Lancaster PA.

There are changes being proposed in the PA Dog Laws that will help!
This is the text of the proposed changes in PA dog law:
http://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol36/36-50/2452.html

Please send letters in support of this legislation! The millers are voicing their opinions very loudly. The government needs to hear from the animal loving public just as loudly! We've seen two different dates for expiration of the public comment period. The first was February 14. The second was March 16. The sooner you mail out or fax a letter, the better! Comments should be sent IN WRITING TODAY (VIA US MAIL OR FAX, NOT VIA EMAIL) to:

Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement
Attn: Ms. Mary Bender
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
2301 North Cameron Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9408
(717) 787-3062
Fax: 717-772-4352

Also, please support Prisoners of Greed and North Penn Puppy Mill Watch in their efforts to put a stop to this animal abuse in our state! NO DOG SHOULD EVER BE MISTREATED LIKE THIS, ALL IN THE NAME OF PROFIT!

Cracking Down on Pet Owners Albuquerque and a growing number of cities are passing tough new measures aimed at ending euthanasia in animal shelters. Owners are even being forced to clean up after their dog in their own backyard. Read the full story here.

Study shows that pets in the home can help PREVENT allergies! Read full text of article here.

President Bush signs Pets Evacuation and Transport Standards (PETS) Act: UAN Press Release, October 6, 2006: UAN Praises President Bush for Signing Animal Disaster Bill

If my dog has black on his tongue, is he a chow mix? The truth about those those black tongues.

Why do we rescue? Because they need us.

Food for thought.

Why a fence? Read this article.

GO GOVERNOR RENDELL! Check out this video!

The Shelter Manager's Lament ~ A posting written by a shelter manager from their perspective. A MUST read!

PLEASE LOOK! This is undercover video taken at an Amish puppy mill. Here's a link to the news article that goes along with the video. CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH...DO NOT BUY PET STORE PUPPIES! This is where they come from...filthy and disease ridden puppy mills. After you have viewed the video, please SIGN THIS PETITON!

Black Dogs: Did you know that black dogs are the least likely to get adopted from a shelter? Especially if they are large black dogs? In our experience, black dogs are the ones that shelters are most often begging rescues to take before they have to be put down for overcrowding. It seems that blondes have more fun even in a dog's world. Please consider adopting a black dog from a rescue or shelter near you. You will TRULY be saving a life! We did! We adopted our black & white dog, Ratchet, in the fall of 2005. Interestingly enough, we noticed people behaving differently toward Ratchet than they did to our 2 prior dogs (since passed away due to old age). Our other dogs were a Yellow Labrador and a Dalmatian. When we walked these two in the neighborhood, people used to stop and comment on their good looks and ask to pet them. When we walk Ratchet, most people don't even take a second look. Yet Ratchet is very sweet and submissive. This guy wouldn't hurt a fly, yet his color seems to scare people away. Such a shame. They don't know what they're missing! UPDATE: Check out this article published in the March/April 2006 issue of The Bark magazine. We recently discovered this magazine and it has some interesting articles. Visit their home page for more info. Or pick up the March/April 2006 issue today. Check out this article too: [People Who Matter] Changing from Within: Jill Robinson is working hard to change the way companion animals are regarded in Asia. It's not on their website, so you'll have to pick up the magazine to read it.

What is animal hoarding or "collecting"? People who hoard animals. An article from PsychiatricTimes.com

Petfinder launches PetVideo.com! Here's the intro message about the site from Petfinder: It is our dream that through the creation of PetVideo.com we’ll help owners and their pets strengthen their unique bond. Our first order of business is to launch over 200 training videos that are easy, quick to watch, and fun to do with your pet. New and seasoned pet-owners can work on one behavior, skill, or fun trick at a time and enjoy watching their relationship with their pet blossom. PetVideo is also the engine that drives the new Petfinder.com adoptable pet videos – a lifesaving medium to help adoptable pets put their best paw forward.

Where do those cute pet store puppies come from? Click here, here, here, here, here, and here for more links/information. Here's an organization that's trying to influence change.

How did Petfinder get started? Check out this article.

News Video of a pit bull caring for orphaned kittens. Since this breed always gets such a bad rap, we thought you'd like to see what a pit can be like when raised properly, as every dog should be!

And another one you're going to love! The good news about the "bad" breed."

Off topic ... but of interest to us and possibly of interest to you! Concerned about the quality of the food you eat? Concerned about pesticides, chemicals, and sick animals being butchered and sold to you at the local supermarket? We are too and we've been researching other options. Here are two farms we've come across that are organic and have free range animals. We have contacted these farmers and asked if we could tour to see this in person. If we're happy with what we see, we plan to purchase our meat, poultry, eggs, and produce from these farms because we believe that the only way we can contribute to putting an end to factory farming is to support our local farmers who are acting as true stewards of the land and animals in their care. Nope, we're not vegetarians. Did try it, but couldn't stick to it. But felt a need to seek out better alternatives than what's coming through the big factory-farming slaughterhouses. We hope you'll visit these farms too and support their efforts: Upper Meadows Farm and Flatbrook Farm. We would list farms that are closer to us if we could find any that are organic and free-range. If you know of one, please let us know!

Want to take your dog on vacation? Check out this website for dog friendly locations.

Please join FOHO and help them improve animal legislation in WV.

Greenies can be dangerous for your pet! CNN Article

HBO America Undercover Documentary: Dealing Dogs, the Betrayal of Man's Best Friend. The Bark magazine had an article on this in their March/April 2006 issue. Check it out at your news stand or Barnes & Noble.

Help West Virginia cats! New site for cat/kitten rescuers/adopters: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WVCats/

Happy Dog Rescue
Nazareth, PA 18064
Email us.
Click here for a list of pets at this shelter
Join our mailing list.

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