Our sweet Milly passed away Wednesday night. She has left a big open space in our hearts and our house. Think of her tomorrow when we will bury her in our back yard. We will plant a fruit tree over her so her sweetness will sweeten the fruit it produces.

We adopted Milly on Valentine's Day, almost five years ago, from DAWG (Dog Adoption and Welfare Group) in Santa Barbara. I asked them, "Who is your oldest dog?" and they brought me
to Milly who I knew at first sight would come home with me. She quickly adjusted to our home in the hills of Santa Barbara and fell in love with Rick and took him to be her charge for the next four years. Yes, she loved me, but when Rick came into the room her tail wagged and her whole
demeanor perked up.

She and Jack, her "kennel mate" at DAWG (who joined our family two weeks after Milly)were known as "Pancho and Lefty" by our neighbors who regularly saw them on their daily walks down our dirt roads. Milly was the leader and Jack devotedly hopped beside her as they explored Refugio Road.

Milly adjusted to Madison and grew to love her daily neighborhood leash walks, but she kept her independence, leading the way as Rick and I walked behind her. Although she became deaf her last few years, she knew our hand signals for "follow us". Her sense of smell took top billing and she could sniff out a dried up worm on the road from three feet away.

Milly passed away in our bed, lying between us. We think she was about 14 years old.

Rest in peace, Mildred.

My husband Brian and I adopted our dog Daisy (aka Merry) on October 2nd, 2007. I was going to send you all a holiday card but I didn't get around to cards this year, so for the time being I wanted to at least send this and tell you how thankful we are for everything you do. Daisy is a sweet, happy dog (almost 60 pounds now!), and she makes us laugh every day. She loves playing in the canyon behind our house...she likes to run ahead of us on the trail, hide behind a bush, and then jump out and scare us - she's hilarious. We know that part of the reason she is such an amazing dog is the time she spent at DAWG and all the great volunteers there. Thank you for taking such good care of her until we found her! I will try to send you some pictures of her one day. Thank you again for all your hard work...we love Daisy so much, and if we ever get her a little brother or sister, we will definitely come to you first! Happy Holidays!!
~Lindsey & Brian ~

Pacita's Happy Tail:
In October 2007, Pacita and her son, Tommy came to the shelter. Because Tommy was smaller and younger than his mom, he was found his new forever home very quickly. For Pacita, days turns to weeks and weeks turn to months. Pacita was still there! When people came to the shelter and said they wanted a lap dog, we would always point to Pacita and said, "Pacita is a lap dog!"
Time and time again we would hear, "oh we are looking for a younger and smaller dog". In the
meantime, Pacita's other dog buddies were also being adopted. Then 6 months later it was Pacita's time! One sunny Sat afternoon this past March, a few of us volunteers were standing outside the shelter and a car drove up and parked in front. We saw a man get out of his car and walked to the passenger side. He opened the car door and tenderly helped an elderly lady out
of the car.

I said to the other volunteers, "Here comes Pacita's future mom". We learned her name was Rose. "I am looking for a small dog that wants to sit on my lap", said Rose. By this time, Rose was sitting on a chair on the front lawn. Naturally, LeAnn got Pacita and placed Pacita on her Rose's lap. There was a connection. A few days later, Pacita went home with Rose. When Rose came back to finalized Pacita, we asked how Pacita was doing. "Since I have 4 caretakers, Pacita gets lots of love and attention. Also I have a dog walker who takes Pacita on a daily walk. But the best part is Pacita loves to sit on my lap," Rose replied.

Hi everyone!
My new folks thought that you might like to know how I am doing these days. As you can see, I have a new summer haircut. Most of the time, I am a very polite and good boy. Also, I am walking every day, and no longer pull on the leash. With my new feeding program and exercise regimen I am getting a little thinner (at least my Mom thinks so). Robbie and I are getting used to each other and still working out the boundaries thing.

I'll bet that you did not know that can shake hands. My family is so surprised that I had already learned this. What a smart boy I am.

Anyhow, I want to thank everyone at DAWG for the great care that you gave me while I was there. And I want to thank you for finding a new family for me. I really like it here. Could you please contact the nice person that brought me in and let them know that I am in a new home and doing very well.

Hugs, wags and kisses,
Your friend Barney