Extreme Makeover Crossroads Edition UPDATE

No. All the hoopla about Extreme Home Makeover being in Lawrence/Kansas City, KS is, sadly, NOT for us. :-(

We have the application 99% finished - just need my husband to get the measurements of our lot.  Then, early next week, when my teenage son, David, is not doing BOTH marching band and 7 hours a day of rehearsing for a Summer Youth Theater production of "West Side Story", he will be able to be a part of the video we have to make. He is extremely talented and animated, so we thought he would be just the right person to give the "tour of the house" that is required.

However, this production shindig is affecting Crossroads' in a way.  Erica and her family have been living at the Hampton Inn since her mastiff, Marla, set her house on fire.  Well, the production team of Extreme Home Makeover bought out the Hampton, and Erica has to move her family to a different hotel until they are done cleaning and repairing her house.  Justice (great dane in rescue) has been adopted, but remains in boarding until her adoptive family gets back from vacation next weekend. She is doing great at day care and healed nicely from her spay surgery.

Lawrence Landscape, from just down the street from our house, will be doing the landscaping for the project. Here is the link in the Lawrence Journal-World. 

If you are interested in volunteering for the Extreme Home Makeover project, here is the link to their volunteer page: Join Extreme

So let's make this a good experience for those involved in the production so they will want to come back to Lawrence SOON for US!!

Really? Breeder over rescue?

My soap box has come out quite a bit lately, but when it comes to animal welfare I will not apologize.

Today we received an email from a woman very interested in adopting Justice and wanted to know her age and price.  Erica responded with our adoption process, that she is just over a year old and her adoption fee is $250. (Note: The wonderful Rocky Moutain Great Dane Rescue charges $350 for a pure great dane under 2 years of age, just for comparison since we are an all breed rescue.)  Justice has been vet checked, heartworm tested (negative) and started on preventative, Capstar for fleas and flea/tick treatment, nails trimmed, updated on all vaccinations, micro-chipped and spayed.

This woman responded that there were breeders selling AKC registered Great Danes for the same price, so she would just go there.

REALLY??  Obviously she has no clue.  I am not sure what breeder she is speaking of, but I would be shocked if they are that cheap. Is the dog from the breeder current on vaccinations, vet checked, heartworm tested/on prevention or spayed? Oh well, spayed probably isn't an issue.  

Does she have any clue that if she buys a dog from a breeder for (give her the benefit of the doubt) $250 that should she choose to properly vet her dog what the cost would be?  As a rescue we get significant discounts, so the following numbers are from our vet: Heartworm test $35, Nail Trim $9, Micro-chip $40, Distemper/Parvo $20, Bordatella $20, Rabies $25, Capstar $5, spay for a great dane - anywhere from $250-$500 depending on weight.  So on top of her purchase price, she would still have to spend $400-550 plus monthly heartworm prevention and flea/tick prevention to appropriately vet the dog.  AND there is no guarantee the dog is healthy. Treating a great dane for heartworms could cost $700+ alone.  

So $250 for a healthy, sweet, loving great dane from a rescue or $250 for a great dane from a breeder with no further information?

And seriously, who can deny this face?

The Paw Wash is AWESOME!

First of all, Crossroads Dog Rescue does not benefit from the sale of The Paw Wash.  However, I was SO impressed by the results, that I just had to share.  I bought this back in April at the Pet Expo in KC.  I heard about it through various Facebook posts, but had not heard personally how well it worked.  I was leery, but my dear goldendoodle, Hannah... Her sister's mom (a dear rescue friend) and I joke about our girls and their black go-go boots (mud up to their knees). So I bought it to give it try (developed by a KU student - it had to be good, right??)

Well, to tell you how leery I was, I did not try it until today. I put a little doggie shampoo in the bottom and filled to the line with warm water, per the instructions.  I had the microfiber hand towel, but also had 2 more towels just in case.  I put Hannah's paw in and out just a couple times, and WOW!  I am glad I had the couple other towels there because of her thick hair, I needed to dry her paw quite a bit.  I did both front paws, then went and rinsed out the container. I put more warm water in to rinse the soap off.  A couple times on each paw and here are the final results:

AWESOME!! 

Cleaner than me putting her in the bath tub, I think!

To give you an idea of how dirty she was, look at her back paw times 2 or 3.  I tried to wash her right back paw, but she wouldn't stand up for me. So back paws are a challenge on her - I just towel scrubbed them down.
Basically, I am really impressed. So head on over to The Paw Wash and get yourself one!