“New York Pizza”?
“Georgia Peach”?
“Cayman Coconut”?
HUH?
People who visit Paws Crossed for the first time either laugh at our kennel cards for each adorable dog, some are just completely confused by it all … or truthfully ... both! 😀 We explain that we never "breed label" any dog, because honestly, most of the time, we do not know what their full backgrounds are. So we have ‘mixes’ … we have ‘blends’ … and they are named for the state or area they come to us from.
Many of you know that one of the favorite parts of my job is that I get to post all of the phenomenal Alumni pictures from our adopters and hear the stories from forever homes. It wasn't until I started receiving updates from a few 'Spice Drop Puppies' that I seriously realized how true it is ... You can't judge a book by it's cover ... or a pup by it's looks 😀
Let us rewind to July of 2017!
Last year, literally days before a July transport, we received a call. A dog was found wandering down by a river…. heavily pregnant and very much in need of a foster! Could Paws Crossed take her?
This was the picture we received!
Could you have said no?
SURPRISE ... neither could we!!!
When she arrived in New Jersey to meet us (which, by the way, was my first ever transport!) our wonderful partners in rescue, Animal Aid USA, thought this beautiful girl had already started to go into labor! She was nervous ... She was hesitant to leave her kennel, until she saw the caring arms of Scott... This girl had not had an easy life… and still, there was no complaining; only the most loving, trusting and grateful personality.
.
Upon arriving at Paws Crossed a few hours later, she was swept up by the most capable and loving
foster family. Within hours, all reports from foster-mom, Shawna, were that Pepper had settled in nicely and 'this girl is absolutely amazing ... I love her and so does the whole family!!!'. She was not quite in labor, but was definitely very close. Three days later, at 4:45am, texts started coming in that
"The babies are coming!!! The babies are coming!!!"
Pepper and her babies remained with Shawna and her entire animal-loving family for weeks as Pepper gained strength and the puppies continued to grow and develop their own individual looks and personalities.
Some beautiful words from her foster family:
"Every minute of being Pepper's foster family was amazing. From delivering her beautiful puppies 2 days after her arrival, to watching them grow and develop their little personalities. Then when it was time for them to find their forever families it was Peppers turn to be insanely spoiled. Watching her learn how to be loved, how to be a member of a family, how to be a dog was something we are PROUD to have experienced. It was extremely difficult to let her go. BUT..... the BEST part???!!! She found her forever family RIGHT NEXT DOOR with our very good friends the Rozmus family. We know our lives have been changed forever by Pepper and her babies and now theirs have been too. RESCUE AND ADOPT!!!!!!!!"
All were adopted in August of 2017......
Fast forward a year ... Check out these amazing siblings and their mom,
and it will be immediately clear why we never breed label:
MOMMY!!! - PEPPER!!!
THE SPICE DROPS!!!
Dill now Dexter: “...He is a honey of a dog! He loves people! There isn’t a person he doesn’t want to meet with great enthusiasm. He loves long walks, and laying in green grass and doing a commando-style belly crawl. (As pictured). Helen, our sixteen year old daughter, informed us that the act of lying on one’s belly with legs extended outward is known as “splooting”.
He is our nugget! Not so small anymore, he is around 150 lbs. I feel he was a puppy for all of ten days! We love him like crazy, with the exception of our cat Oscar, who remains unimpressed with his antics.
We think of Paws Crossed all of the time, with many mentions of the great facility and the wonderful people we’ve met there, because people want to know what kind of dog our very handsome dog is.”
Paprika now Charlie: “My little nugget no longer little.”