A Forever Home Rescue Foundation
Finding forever homes for dogs in need
Trixie’s Story
Super sweet, super wiggly Trixie is one lucky little girl. Her previous family moved away and left her chained to a tree, ready to have her puppies any minute. When the neighbors noticed that she’d been out there for a few days with nobody coming to feed or water her and that the weather was starting to turn cold, they cut her chain and took her to the local shelter. The shelter she was taken to has an extremely high kill rate, and poor Trixie was next in line for euthanasia if someone didn’t speak for her immediately. Luckily, AFH caught wind of little Trixie’s plight, and immediately took her into foster.
Only a few days after being placed with her foster family, on Veteran’s Day, Trixie went into labor. She delivered six beautiful, healthy puppies, with the help and support of her foster parents. Now, Trixie gets to spend her days in a warm, safe foster home with plenty of people who love and dote on her while she takes excellent care of her little family. Her human foster sisters even read her a story every night before bedtime!
Trixie’s puppies will start looking for their forever homes in about six weeks, and Trixie will start looking for hers a few weeks after that when she’s able to be spayed. In the meantime, they’ll all enjoy plenty of cuddles and cookies, and get to stay out of the cold.
Learn how you can help AFH raise funds to purchase new transport vans to replace the aging ones we’re currently using. Visit our #GivingTuesday page and take action today!
Julie and her Puppies
Julie is a pretty little Beagle girl who had the bad luck of being very pregnant and being taken to a very rural, very full shelter, as part of a hoarding case. Because the shelter was already beyond capacity, Julie, along with her former housemates, were facing immediate euthanasia, but her luck was about to change.
AFH stepped in and took Julie into foster care just in the nick of time. She was only with her foster family for a few days before she delivered a beautiful, all-girl litter of five healthy puppies, right on her foster mom’s lap! Now, mommy and babies are all safe and loved, and getting bigger and stronger by the minute. In about six weeks, Julie and her babies can start looking for their forever homes.
AFH saves hundreds of momma dogs and their babies, just like Julie and her little girls, from being killed in shelters, and gives them the chance to find loving, forever homes with fabulous adopters. Every donation goes directly toward our efforts to continue this important work, and to saving little lives every day.
Learn how you can help AFH raise funds to purchase new transport vans to replace the aging ones we’re currently using. Visit our #GivingTuesday page and take action today!
Riley’s Story: Talk about lemons!
Poor Riley has been through more in her two short years than most dogs experience in a lifetime. She came from an extremely rural area in Virginia, and her people had neither the time nor the money to properly care for her. Her original family didn’t pay her much attention and kept her on a concrete slab porch, which is where she delivered her fifteen puppies. A local rescue group managed to convince her people to surrender her so she could come to A Forever Home, but disaster struck the day before she was scheduled to be moved.
Riley, ten days after delivering her puppies, was hit by a car and dragged down the street. The top of her head was scraped, one of one of her femoral heads was shorn off, and the inside of her other back leg had such extensive trauma that she was completely unable to walk. The rescue group that had convinced Riley’s people to give her up called A Forever Home to cover the cost of emergency veterinary treatment and whisked her and her puppies off to the vet. As soon as the vet wrapped her leg to keep everything together, Riley was brought to AFH’s vet, Dr. Martin Tohill, at Chantilly Animal Hospital. Once he removed Riley’s bandages, he realized the damage caused by being dragged on the road was much more extensive than originally thought, and that a specialist surgeon would need to be brought in if there was any hope of saving her leg. Dr. Tohill closed up the gaping wound on her leg and scheduled the surgeon to come. Because both of Riley’s legs were injured, her mobility was very limited. The surgeon decided to install an external fixator to stabilize the leg that was more damaged and to give her more ability to walk.
While Riley was having her surgeries, AFH fosters Debbie and Jeff bottle fed her babies and kept them warm, while everyone hoped and prayed that Riley would come out of surgery with all four of her legs.
Thankfully, that first surgery repaired enough of the damage for Riley to keep her leg, though it wasn’t repaired enough to give her back her full mobility. Debbie and Jeff would have to use slings to lift and move Riley for everything from changing her bedding, to taking her outside to use the bathroom. Even with the pain her injuries caused, and having to be physically moved by people she didn’t know, Riley was incredibly sweet and an exceptional mother to her babies through everything.
Riley eventually underwent a third surgery to remove the fixator and allow her to move her now-healed leg on her own. Now that one of Riley’s two damaged legs is healed, she’s getting ready to undergo her fourth and final surgery to remove the femoral head that was shorn off in the accident, and to spay her.
What’s even better than Riley getting ready to be done with surgeries and pain, is that she’s got a fantastic adopter waiting to take her home as soon as she’s all better! Riley truly is a miracle dog, and her vets and fosters are nothing short of miracle workers.
AFH and our dedicated volunteers give dogs like Riley, who would’ve died in the middle of the road, in the middle of nowhere, leaving fifteen tiny puppies behind to starve on a concrete slab, a shot at life. Your donation ensures that we can continue to do this work and to save lives for another day – and turn more lemons into lemonade!
Learn how you can help AFH raise funds to purchase new transport vans to replace the aging ones we’re currently using. Visit our #GivingTuesday page and take action today!
Mia’s Story: One pink cast, $800. A Forever Home, priceless!
Mia came to A Forever Home Rescue with her four siblings. These poor puppies’ owner was a preacher, who lacked the funds to care for them. He agreed to give the puppies to A Forever Home so that they could find good homes. AFH also spayed the mother dog, in order to prevent more unwanted litters. Once Mia was with the rescue, it was discovered that she had broken her little toes and that her pad was infected. The vet felt that she had most likely been stepped on.
Mia was outfitted with a beautiful pink cast and in a few short weeks, with the careful and loving care of her foster mom Jessica, she was healed. Mia is now growing up, big and strong, and surrounded by the love of her forever family. Her rough beginning in life is now just a distant memory.
Learn how you can help AFH raise funds to purchase new transport vans to replace the aging ones we’re currently using. Visit our #GivingTuesday page and take action today!
Debbie’s Story: Going full-circle with Bagle
Bagel came into my life unexpectedly, I was already fostering two dogs for AFH, Buddy
I already knew that Bagel had been tied to a barrel in someone’s front yard along with his kitty friend. Once he came into my home I knew he was smart, and loved playing with the other dogs. I could tell he had not had too much of an opportunity to play because he came out of this shell and I learned what a goof he really was. But I also learned how much be hates rain and also how very afraid of thunderstorms he is. I don’t know how he survived tied to a barrel outside for seven long years. He was extremely thin and sickly, but through help from AFH, Bagel thrived in my care.
After being with me for about six months, a family came forward and fell in love with Bagel. I was extremely happy for them both, but when Bagel left, I realized there was a hole in my heart. The family reached out to me when they needed a sitter, and I was more than happy to do so and relished the time we had together. Then in October 2016, tragedy hit Bagel’s family and I was taking care of him with food, vet bills, and lots of love to help the family out. October became February and the family returned Bagel to the Rescue because they had a lot on their plate. When AFH asked me if I wanted to adopt Bagel I did not hesitate.
Today Bagel is a happy, quirky, and well-loved dog who has developed an enlarged heart. I like to believe because he has so much love to give and to receive. Somehow he has amassed four dog beds in my small apartment and has too many toys to count. He loves my home-made treats that I bake for him, and his favorite is Peanut Butter/Bacon Honey Bites (my name for them after my late dog Honey), and his doggy peanut butter ice-cream. He went on his first vacation this summer, and we went to the Beach in Delaware. He loved the beach and had a lot of human friends by the end of the week. His favorite toy is his teddy bear that has lavender sewn into its heart to help Bagel keep calm with his heart condition. Bagel loves giving me kisses and taking walks with me. I am most thankful that AFH allowed me to foster this sweet boy, and to let him know that humans can be better than he knew for seven years.
Debbie Ewald/Bagel’s MOM
Learn how you can help AFH raise funds to purchase new transport vans to replace the aging ones we’re currently using. Visit our #GivingTuesday page and take action today!
Meadow’s Story
Meet Meadow. She is such a beautiful, happy girl, who is enjoying her warm, caring AFH foster home thoroughly. To see her now, you would never guess how her story began.
Originally Meadow was found wandering and was picked up by a Good Samaritan. She was so emaciated that every bone in her body was showing. She was in terrible shape. Her skin was in an even worse condition, with much of her fur missing, and she was covered with multiple open sores. At first, it was believed that she was a tri-colored hound, but soon it became apparent that someone had painted her sides black. Why would anyone do such a thing?
Despite her painful condition, Meadow was very friendly with everyone. Apparently, nothing could dampen her spirit. She was bathed, fed, and had medical care for her skin. Every day her condition improved, and as you can see, she has completely recovered. Her fur is thick and shiny and she has a joyous spirit. Her resiliency and love can warm any heart. Meadow is the true proof of what love and a dedicated foster can do!!!
Learn how you can help AFH raise funds to purchase new transport vans to replace the aging ones we’re currently using. Visit our #GivingTuesday page and take action today!
Romeo & Juliette – love in the fast lane
Romeo (above) and Juliette (below) came from a very rural part of Virginia. Their people left them to fend for themselves when the family’s trailer burned down. They only came back to collect and sell the pair’s puppies whenever they had a litter. These two sweet pups survived for over a year with only the burned-out shell of a trailer for shelter, and only what little food they could scrounge up on their own .
When their most recent litter was born, the neighbors decided that they couldn’t stand by and watch anymore, so they called AFH for help. It took some convincing, but Romeo and Juliette’s people finally decided to surrender them and their four new puppies to AFH, so they could be adopted into families that were better able to care for them.
AFH brought this fluffy little family into its foster program and immediately took everyone to the vet for testing and vaccines. All four puppies’ bellies were full of worms, but they were otherwise fat and healthy, thanks to their parents’ excellent care. Romeo and Juliette, however, weren’t so lucky; they both tested positive for Heartworm disease (a mosquito-borne disease), Lyme disease, and Ehrlichiosis (both are tick-borne diseases), all a result of living outdoors without appropriate protection.
All four puppies were adopted out to loving homes as soon they were old enough
Learn how you can help AFH raise funds to purchase new transport vans to replace the aging ones we’re currently using. Visit our #GivingTuesday page and take action today!
Frankie’s Story
Teeny, tiny Frankie was just eight weeks old and weighed all of three pounds when he came to AFH. He came from a breeder who had originally sold him. The buyer returned him immediately because Frankie had a heart murmur and the buyer felt that he was defective. When AFH met Frankie for the first time, he was with his breeder at a vet, getting ready to be euthanized. As it turns out Frankie had a life-threatening heart condition called Patent Ductus Arteriosus, or a PDA. PDA is when an extra vessel near the heart doesn’t close after birth, as it should. AFH was able to convince the breeder to surrender him to the rescue.
Because there are so few veterinary surgeons who perform the surgery Frankie needed, and because Frankie was so small, finding a specialist who was willing and capable of successfully performing such a delicate surgery to fix his heart was going to be a challenge. Luckily, there had been another AFH puppy with the same condition, who we treated surgically just a few years before, so our president knew exactly who to call.
AFH immediately made an appointment with that surgeon. After an exam and echocardiogram to verify the diagnosis and to get an idea of the severity of Frankie’s condition, the surgeon agreed to perform the $5,000
On Valentine’s Day, 2018, Frankie, who weighed in just shy of four pounds, underwent the incredibly risky surgery that would fix his broken heart. The surgery was a huge success, and Frankie, who just turned a year old, and is now called Mikey. His fabulous adopters spoil him rotten and take him everywhere with them. They tell us he loves going on adventures to the beach and to the mountains, and that if it weren’t for his scar, you’d never know anything had been wrong with him.
Learn how you can help AFH raise funds to purchase new transport vans to replace the aging ones we’re currently using. Visit our #GivingTuesday page and take action today!
Boots Story
Sweet, mellow Boots became homeless when her family found out they were having a baby. They decided that she was just too big to have around, so they left her at the shelter. This poor girl was in a bad way when she came to AFH; she had two severely unstable and painful knees, was almost entirely lame and was very overweight.
AFH immediately packed her up and drove her down to a veterinary orthopedic surgeon for a consult, and to get her some medication to help her pain. After an exam and x-rays, the surgeon found Boots had not one, but two very severely luxating patellae, or loose kneecaps, that were only made more unstable and painful by her being very overweight and deconditioned. To get her out of pain and increase her stability, Boots underwent two major surgeries, which cost AFH upwards of $7,000.
Boots kept her sweet, calm disposition through both surgeries and recoveries. After months of pain, patience, and lots of TLC from a wonderful AFH foster family and doggy foster brother, Boots found a phenomenal forever family of her own!
Learn how you can help AFH raise funds to purchase new transport vans to replace the aging ones we’re currently using. Visit our #GivingTuesday page and take action today!
Dear A forever home
Me and my family adopted a dog named Jake in September. We have enjoyed having him. He loves to take long walks and he likes to run. He enjoys playing with other dogs at our farm. The first time he met a horse he didn’t know what they were but over the past few weeks, he has learned to like them. He loves riding in the car. We sometimes bring him to school with us. He loves to snuggle with us on the couch. We couldn’t imagine our life without him. Jake is a great dog and is the perfect fit in our family. Thank you to A Forever Home and his foster family for taking great care of him.
From Molly H.
Age 11
Learn how you can help AFH raise funds to purchase new transport vans to replace the aging ones we’re currently using. Visit our #GivingTuesday page and take action today!