Our Models - Their stories inspire everything we do!
Dogonfunny® models are rescues. Some were strays, some were puppy mill survivors, others were given up by their owners or simply abandoned and left to live or die without a second thought. In many cases, animal rescue groups were the first on the scene to save their lives. After the initial rescue, these animals depend on the good people who wish to give them a second chance in loving homes. These are there stories. Links to the rescue groups mentioned can be found under Rescue Organization Links, found under the About tab on every page.
Ollie, our logo model and much-loved pet, was one of our earliest rescues and the inspiration for Dogonfunny®. We first spotted him on a beautiful September day at Baltimore's Inner Harbor as we sat on a balcony overlooking the water. He was a scruffy little thing, sitting at the edge of the crowd below. He seemed at home in that spot as he opened his mouth in a gigantic yawn and then hung his tongue out with a goofy grin. Everyone ignored him as they watched the street performers juggling on their unicycles, but we decided to go and see if we could pet him - assuming he was with someone. Surprisingly, no one claimed him or knew where he belonged. Some of the regular visitors from the area said that they had seen him hanging around before and that he was a stray. The little guy seemed curious and friendly and we thought he might be a terrier mix - we knew he would be going home with us almost immediately. He was skinny and quite weak from living on the street, but the little year-old pup charmed us as he meekly allowed Bill to carry him to our car. Even in his poor condition, his special personality came right through! |
Angel is also our own rescued pup. We adopted her in Maryland from a group of volunteers who routinely visited one Baltimore County Shelter to pick up dogs and cats to re-home.
Originally, Angel had been purchased at a pet store and given as a surprise Christmas gift to a young family with 3 small children and 2 working parents (obviously a bad idea all around). Only 8 months later, the father turned her in to the county shelter while the mother took the kids on a trip. Once the volunteers rescued her, she was adopted - for one day but she was returned for having an accident on the rug. Obviously this one-day-home expected only a well-trained dog and this is exactly why many dogs are given up. Unfortunately, pets are not born knowing what you expect them to do. We have now had this little sweetie for 14 years and she is still going strong! She also became a wonderful sister and part mom to our newest rescue, Patch. |
This is our boy, Snoopy. We found him - just just as we did with Patch (below) and Ollie. Snoopy was wandering on a rural road not far from our home in Maryland.
We were returning from our auto mechanic's shop in Pennsylvania on a cold February evening when we spotted him limping along. We pulled over and he came to us with only a little coaxing. He looked so very small and one of his eyes was blue. I thought that he may have been blind in that eye. We already had Ollie and another rescue named Ben, so we figured we would take him home and bring him to Animal Rescue in the morning. He was filthy and smelled of manure, so he needed a bath. He was so incredibly cute and sweet that we immediately decided to keep him. As it turned out, Snoopy was about one year old, never neutered, terribly malnourished and infested with worms. He had been limping because his feet were swollen from so much walking and that blue eye could see just as well as his brown eye! |
This is also our pup, Patch. We found her abandoned on the side of a remote but busy highway leading from Arizona into New Mexico as we were nearing our first destination on a 9 day trip. Her back left leg had been horribly injured, probably by an animal attack. She was only about 6-8 weeks old, yet she seemed in fairly good condition otherwise. As a matter of fact, we had no idea her leg had a compound fracture because she was so stoic and cried only for food and water, which she eagerly accepted. The closest animal hospital was 35 miles away, but they were able to see her immediately.
Sadly, the vet said that Patch’s leg couldn't be saved because it had been like that for a few days, but she assured us that most dogs, especially puppies, could do quite well with three legs. Again we thought that at the very least we would find a good home for her, but we feel in love with her immediately deciding that we would be adopt her provided that she and Angel, could get along. We made arrangements for her surgery and subsequent care until we could pick her up to bring her home. We needn't have worried about Angel, who was delighted and acted as if we brought her the best gift ever! Patch runs around seemingly unaware of her missing leg. Please do not hesitate to adopt a special needs pet if you are able. We feel so lucky to have found Patch and her loving devotion has already convinced us that she was meant to join our family. |
Ben was our first "rescue", although he didn't start out that way! Lucky and Penny were our first dogs, but rather than adopting them, we had purchased them from a backyard breeder. At that time, we knew nothing about puppy mills, nor did we know how many wonderful pets are in shelters in desperate need of loving homes - homes that too often they never find.
The plight of homeless pets is far more publicized today, but we did learned very early, after buying our cockers, that we could have saved two lives. We adored Lucky and Penny, of course, have never in any way regretted that we had them, but we came to realize that buying pets that are bred for sale only makes the adoption of homeless animals less likely and encourages more breeding. Ben had been adopted from a shelter by my our good friend and his little daughter, but the choice to adopt was a bit too impulsive based on the strong desire of the child without realizing that housing Ben would be a lot more difficult in the winter. |
When I found that Ben needed a temporary home, my husband and I took him in without hesitation, and when we realized that he really needed a permanent home, we gladly extended his stay - for 14 more years! The good news is that Alison, Ben's actual rescuer, knew that she could come and visit Ben any time and that he was being very well cared for. She and I are still friends today.