Beautiful Sweet Jip

Dear faithful Jip

Jip

She's been living with us for almost half a year now - large, beautiful, sweet Jip (formerly Tammy).

From the first moment we met her she was in our hearts.

What an affectionate and loyal dog!

She listens well and loves to play with other dogs.

I walk with her for an hour, three times a day, and I can see that she needs it. If I don't do that, she wanders around me all the time and then has too much energy.

When I'm walking with her people often come up to me to say what a beautiful dog, They love her and ask what breed it is. My answer; "She's nothing special, but to me she's everything."

The following story is typical - it's Jip in a nutshell:

Out walking with Jip, I came across an old gentleman with a whippet. He told me that he has adopted dogs from shelters for 50 yearsand the only thing he wants is to give them a good old age.

While I was talking with him his dog was hiding behind him. The gentleman told me that this dog was extremely anxious (he had been used for greyhound racing and was now discarded because he ran too slowly - he had been 2 seconds off the time!).

Jip waited quietly until I had finished talking, but out of the corner of my eye I saw she was very gently making contact with the other dog. She sniffed carefully at his head and put her head against his. And to the surprise of the gentleman his dog reacted and made contact with Jip.

The gentleman had tears in his eyes and told me the dog had been with him for 3 years and this was the first time it allowed another dog to approach and make contact.

I was also very touched; our great dear faithful Jip; I am so proud of you !!

Faithful friend

So gentle

A special relationship

Temptation

Miracles exist ...

Damaso and Magda .... they spent years together in the Refugio and now a miracle, they will be together forever in their forever home. We can't thank you all enough, all of you who have made this wonderul ending so happy - together forever !!!!

Miracles EXIST !!!

Jim's Journey

JIM previously called Panchito. Here's a letter from his loving new owners:-

He is now half a year with us, our Jim a.k.a. Panchito. But actually, we always call him Zoef: he goes from from 0 to 100 in a half seconds. One minute he is blissfully grunting, asleep on the couch and curled up like a donut. The next moment he standing in front of you with bright shining eyes. We call it "At the ready!"Always ready for action, this cheerful bouncing ball. As long as it's not too early in the morning because Mr. loves to sleep late.

We knew where he was coming from and what we were taking on : a dog from Spain ... from a killing station ... and then some time in the shelter .. naturally you expect some rough edges. A small behavioral problem, some difficulties with discipline, perhaps. He had already been half a year in Netherlands with forter parents who had taken very good care of  him, but still. We expected some difficulties.

But guess what? Nothing! From day one he has behaved well. Even on day two we dared to let him run free, he listened so well and always kept his eyes on us.  He didn't always do exactly what we wanted, but he obviously did incredibly his best to do well. Very touching. Within two weeks he had  already 

We were aware that he became a little excited when we went out in the car. And it's true, and this happened particularly when we arrived at our destination. The first few times we took him with us, he was shaking when we lifted him out of the car and he hardly dared cross the threshold and in his anxiety made puddles we didn't mke a great fuss, just had some sheets and mopped it up. Meanwhile the penny dropped and he started to associate a ride in the car with fun things. The beach, the woods, visits to people with other dogs to play with ...

He takes just as much pleasure running beside the bike. If he gets tired he will ride in the front in the basket. And recently we've got a boat and he goes into the water. As with all things he's hesitant to begin with, but within five minutes he becomes aclimatised, this brave dodo. We are more than a little proud of him, how easily he adapts and learns new things. At best one could say it's his survival instinct, but it could have been very different, he could have put up more resistance, shown more anxiety, had a slower learning process .. But really nothing of the sort happened. Nothing like it.

So yes, he is very happy but is there any downside? Well quite often he runs off wth shoes, preferably boots. He does not damage them, just dances around with such a happy wagging tail and then he leaves the object 'somewhere'. So you regularly walk around wearing one boot and searching the house for the other. Also in his enthusiasm he wants to jump up at people. This is fairly normal young dog behavior so that we'll also correct with time.

He is now half a year with us, our Zoef. And it should be clear: we are very happy with him. What a wonderful beast!

Jim in action

Cycling near Muiden

Sailing through the canals

At home

Urgent care sought for Gia

We are looking for a foster home for Gia or, better still, someone who wants to adopt her.

Specifically we are looking for:

- A foster family / adoptive parent with a lot of experience with dogs that are easily excited.
- A foster family / adoptive parent who has the space for an active dog.
- A foster family / adoptive parent who may have other dogs but no other pets.
- People who will persevere, even if it is difficult. There will be plenty of guidance and advice available.
- People who will not expect her to be off the lead outside. Who will help her integrate with other dogs and help her to calm down.

For information please email adopties.nederland@ace-charity.org

Update - 28th May: No Inspection Today

No inspection today but a lot of hard work, ...

We didn't have an inspection today, the nerves were strained but we are confident that we have accomplished a lot in the first 30 days. We would like to thank all the people who were here, who helped us, who have donated and have contributed in any way.

Please know that we could not have done this without you. It would not have been possible.

There is still much work to be done and people are still welcome to help if they can. We have to keep going. This is a battle we have to win.

Here are some pictures from today!

Greetings Fabienne

 

Messing about in the river ...

... Chelsea, who used to be called Moussa, was one of the only two dogs we have rehomed in the UK.
As you can see from the photos, she's grown a lot and is having a wonderful time. She has owners who adore her and gets on very well with her two doggie siblings, Frankie the GSD and Cookie, a bulldog.

I want the ball! No, I want the ball. 

Mine, mine, mine!

Come and get it!

Happy dogs! Frankie (l.) Cookie (c.) Chelsea (r.)

Spanish hunters and their dogs ...

... and this is allowed. Unbelievable!!!

The wisdom of rescue dogs ...

Update Refugio - 26th May

Dear All,

We are very busy - it's all hands on deck. We're repairing, laying concrete, plastering, painting, sanding - you name it, we are doing it. Thanks to all the donations we can, thank God, do what they are demanding of us. And the dear and couragous words of so many people are doing us so much good. A huge amount of good!!!

In an emergency you see only that there are good people out there!!! So we are enormously grateful to everyone who supports us in any and every way. It's just heart warming and, above all, we will continue to fight on, every day, for these dogs who were dumped without a chance !!

Ton, Eliane and I had a meeting with the director and his assistant, the head of the Junta. The letter had not come, tensions were running high among us all, we could not hold out. 

We, all of us, a lot of people couldn't sleep. So many sleepless nights so I got my courage up and though we had no appointment we just went there. They received us in a very pleasant and friendly manner, we had our say and told them our fears ...

Then they promised to give us an extension. They are coming on Thursday, May 28th, to undertake a further inspection to see what progress we are making.  That is when we're going to ask the inspector to give us a concrete and certain response.

There are a lot of people working here and they will be here during the inspection, and together we are going to ask this question. "Please give us a definate date".

People, we'll go for it, so again a sincere thank you,

Together we stand, together with these dogs, we will win this battle !!!!!!

Fabienne

Play the video to see the work in progress

Ivanhoe - Director of the Day

In the Directors Chair - I'm in charge!!!

Our Maries is back in action .. along with Pedro and Tequila !!!

Maries with cute Pedro, our star of the day!

Kisses.

Don't worry, little Pedro. We'll find you a forever home!

Tequila and Maries in front of the Happy Endings board. We'll make sure you get one too, little Tequila.

Puttting my best paw forward (and my ears as well)!

The epitomy of cute!

Lundie - he really wants to go home

Please! Is it you?

Will you give me a forever home and love me for ever and ever?

Harley and Davidson are growing up too ...

What a difference from a few weeks ago.

Harley on the left, Davidson on the right!

I'm nearly a big girl now.

Sweet brother and sister - they now have a future.

Chelsea is growing up fast ....

Here's a delightful photo of Chelsea (Moussa) relaxing with Frankie, one of her new brothers, in her loving forever home in the UK. Apart from being loved to pieces by her new owners, she's also lucky enough to have found her forever home with a couple who are dog trainers. So she's having a wonderful time and learning a lot.

Frankie on the left, Chelsea on the right as you look at the photo.

Mijas found his forever home

Mijas is home!

A message from the Begeer family

Mijas, who was called Noel in the Refugio, quickly learnt to recognise his new name and learnt commands just as quickly.  He soon claimed his place on our deck, and still does and spends hours watching the scenery and all the interesting creatures that move back and forth. Mijas is very social and loves to be cuddled. Also, he has become a real waterbaby and splashes only too happily in the Meuse. At first he found water a bit exciting but now he swims everywhere. And how he can swim!

Mijas is relatively insecure with other dogs. He was often bothered by them when he was on the lead, out of fear? But the moment he is loose, there is not problem and he plays just like the other dogs.  However, his fear is diminishing and we try to increase his confdence around other dogs. This took a lot of time and energy, because he was heavily bitten on his buttock by another dog. Fortunately, I can really help him to have more positive experiences with other dogs and he is going 100% in the right direction! I've been with him to Obedience GG1 and achieved successful results!

Furthermore Mijas is especially a very funny dog. He will entertain himself by throwing his ball (or Kluifje) himself, which is also really hilarious to watch! Together with other dogs, he lets his greyhound side have full rein, running plummeting laps. And the less well they keep up with him, the more he enjoys it. And kisses! Mijas love to give kisses. All day. Lots of kisses!

We are very pleased with our Mijas and I'm sure he can learn much more! I'm going to work on agility with him and together we go more often walking in the busy city and increasingly I'm socialising him with children (which is all getting better!).

Thanks again for your great work ACE!

Greetings,

The family Begeer and a paw from Bibi, Mac and Mijas

Peek-a-Boo!

Playing with my new friend.

Hmmm! Interesting smells!

Chilling!

This air smells great!