Zeus

We adopted Zeus from Home At Last in 2002 - he's now about 7, a middle-aged dog. He lives with 2 other dogs and 2 cats and loves to go out and walk in Tilden park. He's a gentle dog and a finicky eater and thinks he's royalty. We never changed his name since it fit him so well!

Baci (formerly Fido)

I just wanted to give you both an update on how our dear Baci is doing. Astrid, you may recall that we adopted Baci (once known as Fido) back in April. I am pleased to report that Baci is doing well as part of our family. He has grown considerably -- now weighing in at approx. 75 lbs. (He came here weighing just over 50lbs....).

Baci loves his daily walks, playing with his "brothers" (our two sons), playing with our elderly cat, Chloe and generally living up to his name - which means kiss in Italian. He also treasures his chews (which he can't wait to take outside to bury) and his black kong. You can just see the smile in his eyes as he trots through the house, tail wagging, w/ his chew in his mouth!

Baci is also an official "canine good citizen" - he passed his test several months ago. And we constantly receive comments as to his good training. A few people have even asked if we are dog trainers! (no, I attribute the training to a couple of good classes and Baci's good nature). Not to mention the folks that stop and comment about how beautiful he is! We had one person pull his car over to comment, one person interrupt his phone call... and the list goes on. People are surprised that he came to us as a rescue.

I've attached a couple of pictures for your enjoyment. Hope you are both doing well. And thanks again for letting us bring Baci into our home.

Ginger (previously Ginny)

Hello. My name is Ginny aka Ginger. Formally #A009727 from the Berkeley Animal Shelter. I have some great two legged friends at HAL who saved me and gave me shelter from January to October. On October 21st my kennel door was opened and I met two more two legged friends – Kate and Roger.

After we had a meet and greet – I’m familiar with these as it’s a must when you visit the dog park- I was led out the front door of the animal shelter. Yippee! After a long drive I arrived to find another two legged friend – Sean. My new family can’t run as fast as my four legged friends at the dog park, nor do they care to have me mouth them as my four legged friends do – but oh, do they love me – almost as much as I love them ;> We had some adjustment time – I learned my two legged family members aren’t too keen on eliminations in the house. I’m an intelligent dog and soon learned that outside is the place is for this type of activity! I’ve learned some etiquette rules for the kitchen – no paws or noses on the counter tops, and some rules for the furniture – only the two leggers are invited to put their bottoms in the chairs. Did I mention I’m a smart dog? Yes, the four of us are having a great time together.

I have a new BIG park to visit with a creek that runs along side it. Oh man, that creek is great – I love to swim. The park is a mile run from my house, and altogether I get to run 5 miles and play in the creek on these outings.

My new city has a dog park too. You haven’t lived until you’ve visited a dog park. It’s the most! And a big perk of visiting the dog park is, I get to ride in my pick up truck. I love to visit my four legged friends at the park. Every time I visit, there are new friends and I love them all. Some of the goofy ones, don’t want me to jump around or mouth them, so I quickly find another friend who is ready to expend some energy and have fun, fun, fun

One of my crazy activities is burying any kind of chew rawhide or bone. SSHH. Don’t tell anyone where they are – sometimes I have to unearth them, and re-burying them! After I’ve been given a new chew, I don’t spend more than 60 seconds finding a spot in the yard, and then quickly, and carefully I bury it!

In case you haven’t figured it out yet – I’m HOME AT LAST THANKS to all my good two legged friends at HAL ;~}

Marvelous Martina

In November of 2006 a friend sent me about 20 pictures of Pit Bulls and Pit Bull Mixes that I might be interested in adopting (I had been in love with her Pit Mix “Rhoda” for almost 2 years and I was ready for my very own). After reviewing all of the dogs, one stood out for me. “Martina” was Darling! Her biography, pictures and even a video had me spellbound from the moment a saw her.

And then I realized that she was in Berkeley, California. Uh, okay. I live in Eugene, Oregon and Martina’s foster mom made it clear that she wanted Martina to be adopted locally. Uh oh, clearly I had my work cut out for me. I immediately began an email campaign, followed by my application, pictures of my home, fenced yard, letters of recommendation from other dog owning friends and did I mention the daily phone calls to inquire about Martina?

And just so everyone knew how serious I was, I invited myself over to visit Martina at her foster mom’s house over Thanksgiving weekend. Yep, I sure did. I drove 8 hours, spent the night in a hotel, and woke up the next day to spend an hour with Martina and her foster mom Rachel. I brought gifts for both and took countless pictures. I was a one woman whirlwind on a mission.

After the brief visit, I went back to Oregon with Rachel’s advice to “think about it”. Okay, no problem, I will give it some thought… And plan for her arrival! Rachel explained to me that Martina was recovering from a surgery requiring pins in her right rear stifle (requiring weeks of recovery) and she would bring her up to me in a couple of weeks. Hmmm… I was skeptical, but Rachel brought Martina as promised on December 18th 2006.

Martina and I have been having a blast together ever since! She is such a joy, a couch potato, hiking buddy and a terrific pal. I LOVE this dog and have since become active in my area with Luv-a-Bull Pit Bull Rescue (actually I am the newly elected President).

Thank you Home at Last Rescue and Rachel for allowing me to have the most wonderful dog ever!

Boris the Wonderful

Thank you so much for saving him and bringing him to my life. Diane & Boris

Ralphie

I hope Ralphie gets a spot on this page because he reallly is a sucess story. It has been a little over 2 years since Ralphie came into our lives. At first he seemed a little nervous to be around a bouncy wild 4 year old in a new home, but my son and him have become best friends. He is a wonderful companion who is always by our son's side. When we first got him we could not bring him around small dogs because he would go ballistic. Now he can even go off leash at dog parks and PLAY WITH SMALL DOGS!!!

Not only did we help ralphie with getting a forever family but he has also helped our family get out and do more family bonding. I have never been the hiking camping type person but when you have a dog you do those things. He helped me open up to a whole new world. We have gone camping 4 times in the past 2 years with ralphie by our side the whole time. He is wonderful in cars, loves the outdoors, and just loves all children. He really has helped people change their minds about the breed. When we would take him to drop our son off at school at first people would look at me like i am a horrible mother for even having a dog like him with a young kid. But once they actually started seeing him more and more and saw How good he really was they actually started coming up to meet him and ask questions (perfect opportunity to teach about the breed). By the end of the school year all the staff and most of the parents and of course all the kids would call his name and run up to him to greet him and give him the love he so deserves. Some would even bring treats just for him when they would see him. These are people that had actually asked me "Isn't he dangerous around people? Has he ever attacked anyone?"

ralphie is just an awesome dog we love him soo much. He has only been in our lives for 2 years but feels like a life long buddy that none of us can ever imagine a life without. he has come so far. he heels when you walk him now, he is friendly to even the smallest of dogs. He used to Hate my moms cat and growl and chase her but now he sees her and tries to be friends but the cat hisses at him so he will just walk away. One time the cat scratched his nose and I thought for sure he was gonna defend himself and lunge at her just to scare her. He actually moped putting his head down and just WALKED AWAY!! I DON"T EVEN HAVE THAT MUCH RESTRAINT!!! What a good boy!!!

Thank you Home at Last for helping save this wonderful companion and countless others. These animals and the people who love them will be forever grateful for all the hard work that you do.

Khandro

Hello, I want to let the wonderful people at HomeAtLast know that Khandro (new name for Chipper) is doing very well. It wasn't easy, as Janis knows, but Khandro is greatly improving after training classes and a kindhearted private trainer who helped us voluntarily when Khandro was having trouble adapting to the 'social life on the street.' Right away, Khandro got along with our 2 other dogs, especially Nyima (on the picture). They walk side by side and sleep in my room together in their beds. Khandro was thin and never looked into our eyes. Now all that is gone and he follows us everywhere. He came from an abusive and severely neglected home, backyard to be precise, where the person who was taking care of him died several months before he was rescued. The owner of the house fed him on occasion. He was underfed with severe ear infection and bleeding all over from fleas bites. He is now 90 lbs. and in great health. Our 3 dogs are between 9 and 11 years old. Khandro is smart, sweet, affectionate and funny. He loves to be pet and brushed and his favorite activity is to go daily to the park. We still can't let him loose but we manage quite well. The first time we took him to the beach he was so joyful, he looked like he was laughing. At home his favorite place besides his beds is the porch where he lays down watching the garden. Thank you so much for rescuing him, he is our angel just like his new name, Khandro. We love him.

Thank you, Marilyn

Missy

Dear Home At Last, Thought I would say hello and thank you for the wonderful work you do. We adopted Missy in January 2007, but it seems like she's been in our lives forever. My husband and I love her like a daughter. When Missy first came into our lives, she was very submissive, didn't like toys, and hated to go on walks. You wouldn't believe how much she's changed, except for the walking... she still hates that. She loves chasing tennis balls, going to the beach, and lounging on our porch. She's been attending training classes and we hope to get Canine Good Citizen. We're so happy Missy came into our lives, she wakes us every morning with her smiling face.

Sincerely yours, Sharon