A year has past and it is time again for the Chinese Shar-Pei Club of Northern California to have their annual Breed Specialty show on Friday, May 16, 2008 at the Solano County Fairgrounds in Vallejo, CA. We have been having so much fun in the past years that we thought we would go for twice the fun this year, and have Back to Back shows that day. And at each of our shows we have included a Parade of Rescue, one during the morning show and one during the afternoon show. It is open to all rescued Shar-Pei to participate. It is free to participate, no cost to get into the Fairgrounds, just a $5.00 parking fee that the Fairgrounds charges. If you are interested in attending please contact Julie Gunn at jbgunn@pacbell.net Here is a picture of Ryan & “BoBo” Mitchell taking their turn around the ring last year.



Here is Bobo shortly after he was rescued from a puppy mill (along with many others):

We want to place dogs. Really we do. But sometimes we get adoption applications that aren't filled out and that really slows down the process. Here are some tips to help us with your application:

1) Fill the application out as completely as possible. The more detail, the better. We love our rescued Pei and don't want them to be returned because you forgot to tell us you had a cat/snake/hamster...and it became a squeaky toy.

2) Full street addresses only, please. We can't do a homecheck at a P.O. Box.

3) Listing your other pets is crucial. We have limited ability to tell if our dogs are safe around cats/snakes/hamsters, etc. Shar Pei are amazing hunters and for a lot of our dogs, cats are a no-no. We are rescuers and we hate to see a life lost due to misinformation.

4) Please list your veterinarian and a contact number. Even if you are not currently using a veterinarian, please let us know who you used in the past. It's important to us that our dogs get excellent care.

5) Please. please, please...if you rent we must have the contact information for your landlord. Like we said, we want our Pei to stay in the loving home of an adopter.

6) Be open-minded about which Pei you want to adopt. Sometimes, one of our dogs will generate a lot of applications. We have many other wonderful dogs that would love to make you the center of their universe. Please give them a chance; you will help save another life.

7) We can't take requests. If you are looking for an 8-week-old, blue, brushcoat, female meat mouth, we can't help you. Think of us as a thrift store for Pei. You know that somewhere in our facility is an amazing dog. You just have to look.

8) Please be patient. We are all volunteers and it sometimes takes a few days for us to get back to you. We really want to make sure you get the right dog and our dog gets the forever home of its dreams.

Thank you for considering adoption. Everytime one of our dogs is adopted we can save another dog from a shelter. We can't do this without you!

We received a very uplifting email from one of our adopters. By adopting one of our dogs, it seems he returned the favor...

Subject: Re: Safe by a Shar Pei

Dear Anna & Rich

It has been about 5 years since we adopted two Shar Peis ( Ming/Maude red fawn and Bix/dirty Harry cream color shar pei) from your Rescue. Both are doing well and happy with us.

I just wanted to write to tell you thank you so much for finding us our two beautiful dogs. A few weeks ago, as you know Northern California was plummeted by heavy rainfall and gusty wind about 80 miles per hour.

Our boy Bix (the cream color horse coat shar pei) who is used to sleeping with us in our bed was restless and kept pawing my husband Ray starting about 0130 and he kept at it every 15 to 20 mins. He has never done this before even on stormy nights before. We thought that he wanted to go outside to relief himself. When we open the door, he refused to go outside, even with much coaxing.

We were tired and went back to bed and he was very persistent and finally we got up and went downstairs again and then when we heard loud crashing noises outside our back yard. We saw several trees started to fall and a 70 foots cypress fell at an angle inches from our bedroom.

If the tree would have fell straight forward, it would have came down over the roof into our bedroom and on our bed. That was when we realized that Bix had sense danger and was trying to get us up and out of the bedroom. Our boy Bix was trying to save our lives. My beautiful boy is our guardian angel. I wanted to share this story with you. By rescuing a dog, you’ll never know when he’ll return the favor. Thanks for finding us our two beautiful kids. Here are some updated photos of our kids.

Sincerely

Diane Levinson

A couple of weeks ago, I transported 2 Pei from Sacramento County shelter to our wonderful folks in Redding. One was on the euthanasia list because he would try to bite anyone handling him. When I went into quarantine, I met a beautiful dog and he seemed that he wanted to interact. Then I noticed his back feet. Both were swollen and misshapen from infected dewclaws. It also turned out he had several dislocated toes. Somehow, something inside of me felt that he had it in him to be an amazing dog when he felt better. I agreed to take him. The officer wouldn’t let me walk him to my car because they were afraid of liability.

When she finally brought him out his face was bleeding from her tying a rope around his muzzle (a technique that does not work on Pei.) She was unable to get a hold on him to put him in the crate. Finally, I told her to leave him to me. I got him up and into the crate (first try) and got him out of there. Because of his messed up feet I named him Keyser (from the movie "The Usual Suspects.")

Yesterday I got the report that he was happy, grateful and pain free. Hearing that made me cry. I knew it was in there once he got past the pain. He wags his little Pei butt off at Anna and Rich. Anyone can handle him and he is one of those dogs that KNOWS he was rescued and is thankful. He will be a wonderful dog for someone someday.

They would have killed him for being in pain. I’m grateful that we could give him a new life.

Hi everyone,

The storm has hit Redding pretty hard. Anna and Rich have been without power or heat since the storm started. They managed to get out to Costco and purchase a generator to keep the dogs warm in the kennel. They were lucky, only four generators were available.

Until the power is restored (and PG&E hasn't even been out there yet), they won't be able to respond to emails or applications. If you wish to make a donation to help with the cost of the generator and fuel, we would be very grateful.

What a way to start the New Year! Be careful out there!

Agnes is recovering nicely from her surgery. She is still slow and stiff, but making good progress for a lady of advanced years. She will be going to live with one of our best volunteers.

Merrian Black has been with Shar Pei Rescue since its inception. She lives, with her husband, in a pretty rural area. They don't have internet or cellphone access (how cool is that?!) She usually takes the dogs that have little or no chance of adoption. Typically they are special needs dogs. Merrian cooks special foods for each dog and provides them with much needed love and care. Sadly, her dog Toni passed away suddenly this week. Toni was quite old, but seemed healthy. She went in her sleep and that was a blessing.

Agnes will spend the rest of her days snoozing by Merrian's always blazing woodstove. I will miss her but if I were a dog that's the place I'd like to be. Thank you Merrian for being you!

Agnes had surgery to repair a significant hernia that she arrived with. Fortunately, we have an excellent surgeon (Thanks Dr. Larry!) and she is now resting comfortably. The surgery was rather unexpected, so we could certainly use any donations to help cover the expense.

We thank you and Agnes thanks you. Merry Christmas!

Tomorrow, Agnes is getting out of the Pasadena Humane Society and heading north to Traci's Pei Palace. Here is the story that caught our attention:

Meet Agnes, an old fashioned dearie of a Shar Pei, who is bewildered to find herself at the Pasadena Humane Society this holiday season.

This timid but companionable little soul is from another era, and doesn't know what to make of her current lodgings. She stays out of the melee at the shelter, preferring to snooze in the heated back area of her kennel. She has impeccable manners, and politely gets up to greet visitors to her kennel. But she's shy and moves slowly -- in today's modern fast-paced shelter environment, this means her human visitors have often already moved on by the time she approaches the front of her kennel. We're worried about dear Agnes, because with her civilized ways she's not getting enough public attention at the shelter, and has been there almost a month.

Agnes arrived at the PHS as a stray, having lived for a short but difficult time on the streets. This poor dearie was not accustomed to street life, and managed to pick up biting flies and all manner of mud and filth. But she's a tough little girl, and incredibly she has no obvious injuries or illnesses, other than some age-related stiffness. She confided in me that the shelter vet staff was very kind, and coddled her a bit and cleaned her up, but she'd really like one more bath and a nice grooming to bring her back up to her immaculate former standards.

Agnes is friendly, shy, extremely gentle, curious, adorable, and very quiet. I've never heard her bark, but she occasionally likes to indulge her very cute hobby of singing along with fire-truck sirens. It's rare, and she sings very soft and low (I'd say alto), but she really seems to enjoy herself. See if you can catch her at it!

I spent some time visiting with Agnes in her kennel Friday, and found her to be a surprisingly companionable little cutie. She is friendly but reserved, warms up quickly, and likes to be with people. We played a little game where I'd call to her, she'd toddle over to me, look up at my face, and then toddle off again. After a couple times, she'd give me a little kiss on my chin before toddling away. After a few more times, she decided to curl up next to me, and I gave her some pets while we watched the world go by.

Agnes needs nothing more than a kind person and a cozy home to live out the rest of her years. She is cute, funny and companionable, and very easy to fall in love with. There's definitely a person out there for Agnes, the only question is will they find her in time. The shelter has unfortunately filled up again, and will remain full through the holiday season. This dear little old lady has very very limited time to find a new home.




I'm happy to say that her time is no longer limited. Agnes will get a chance to chill out as long as she wants at my house. It seems to have been raining senior Pei lately, but I'm a sucker for the oldies.

More about Agnes later. Merry Christmas!

I just want to share my sad story with all of you. It would be sad anytime, but it is especially so during this season. My previous guardian, Paul, is 81 years old and had worked as the manager of a storage unit facility for the last 20 years. He also lived next to the office so he could keep on eye on the place. I have been his constant companion for the last eight years. He took me away from his grandson who was not caring for me properly when I was about two. I had jumped out of a car window and needed hip surgery and Paul took care of that and became my new “person”. We have been best buddies ever since. That is until the owners of the storage unit facility decided to update and computerize their business. They did not want to retrain an 81 year old man, and so they fired Paul, and he lost his living arrangements. Being on a fixed income, he was limited as to where he could go, and when he did find a place, I was not allowed to go with him. Now we are both heart broken. I know Paul is happy knowing that I am safe, but I also know he misses me as much as I miss him. Here is part of the note he wrote when he gave me up:

In the eight years I’ve had Bodie, I only needed to scold him 2 times. But for the most part Bodie is a great friend. Bodie understands “no”. He is protective of his property. Signed with a tearful heart,

Paul

I know I don’t look ten years old, and I really love all people-even kids. There must be someone out there who has room in their hearts and home for an old boy like me. I’m really no trouble, and I know Paul would be so happy to know that I have another loving home since we can’t spend our last years together. Please help two old guys to know that people care by considering adopting me.

Thanks.

Bodie