Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue February 2009 Newsletter

February: The month of Puppy Love!

Have you been looking at our website. Look at all the gorgeous puppies!

We have two litters of puppies that are up for adoption right now. Check out our Adoptable Dogs and see them and the rest of our beautiful sweet dogs that are in need of a great homes this Valentine's Day season.

2009 has been good so far for the Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue and our dogs. January saw 14 dogs find great new forever families! Including the adoption of one of our favorites Ridley! Ridley came to RMLR originally last April from Leavenworth, KS where he was really on his LAST DAY at a shelter. He's very loving, friendly and happy. He's mixed with a Border Collie and very intelligent. At his last house he loved herding cows and sheep next door. He is SUPER friendly and loves to be around people! His longterm foster family decided to adopt this lovely boy! We're so happy he's found such a great family and wish them all the best!

Events

February 14th and 15th at the Petsmart in Boulder, we will have dogs up for adoption from 12PM-4PM. We're not sure who will be there yet, but check our website on Friday Feb 13th and we'll have a list of who will be at the event! Come and meet some beautiful friendly dogs up for adoption!

Here it comes... the second annual Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue Run 5K!

May 17th at 8AM at the Louisville Dog Park in Louisville Dog Park 955 Bella Vista Dr Louisville, CO 80027. The cost of entry is $30 and that includes entry for 2 canine running buddies, a quick-dry tshirt and a fantastic goodie bag. You can register early on Active.com - There is a capacity of 200 runners, so register early!

Check out last year's race on our website!

Celebrate the Black Dogs

Another thing you might have noticed, if you're familiar with our website, is the plethoral of black dogs. We're sending out a call to help all black dogs! Black dogs seem to be the last to be adopted out and the first to be euthanized in a shelter. Did you know, a lot of rescues and shelter organizations won't accept large black dogs into their programs because it's so difficult to find them a home. A black dog in a shelter gets put down more often than any other color of dog, and they need our help. No one is really sure why exactly black dogs are put down in shelters more often than other colors, but there are several theories.

1) Superstitious: Everyone is familiar with bad luck being associated with a black cat crossing your path, but does that theory cross over to black dogs too? There are several black dogs in forklore that are portrayed negatively that might contribute to this theory.

2) Depression is sometimes called the 'black dog.' Does this negative label have anything to do with our friendly black dogs not getting adopted?

3) Is a dark dog insinuate agression and danger? Large dark dogs can seem very intimidating.

Whatever the reason, they're in dire need of help. See the Black Pearl Dog website for 10 ways to help the black dogs.

The best reasons to adopt a black dog (from La Planta Humane Society)

1) They are easy to find in the snow!

2) They absorb heat, perfect to cozy up to on a chilly evening.

3) Everyone knows black makes you look thinner!

4) They are the best at hide and seek at night!

5) They are great at hiding dirt!

6) Black goes great with any formal occasion.

7) Black is a combination of every color in the spectrum. So you actually have a dog that is red, yellow, blue, green, etc.

8) Black hair is invisible on your dark clothes!

9) Black goes with everything.

10) A black dog is just a friendly, loyal, loving and trustworthy as every other dog out there!

Success Stories

January saw 14 success adoptions. Who could ask for a better start to the new year? If you are one of these lucky families, we'd love to hear how things are going with your newest family member! If you've adopted anytime in the past we'd like to see how your Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue Lab is doing too! Send us an updated picture and story HERE, or join our Facebook Group and post a picture, tell your story on our website forum, or join our Yahoo!Group and share your latest adventures with your new pup!

Meet Scout! Here is an update on this beautiful girl from her new family: We are so happy to have her as a part of our family; she is fitting in as if she was always part of our lives.  She has been busy traveling up to the Winter Park to play in the snow which she absolutely loves.  She gets out in the snow and runs, jumps and rolls with her black lab brother, Lucky.  She loves to go snowshoeing with us and will typically stay in Lucky or our tracks because her legs short which makes is hard for her to blaze trail. When we are home, we take a lot of hikes in the dog park where they can get off leash and run. She is getting much stronger and can hike with us for over an hour before she starts to get tired. Thanks for helping us connect with Scout!

Calling All Volunteers!

Thank you so much for your help this past year! We've exceed our expectations immensly! However, we always need more help. The Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue Run 5K is going to take a lot of manpower to organize and run successfully! If you have anytime before the race to contact possible vendors, spread the word about the race, or help organize please let us know. We'll also need many hands to help us the day of the race. We'll need people to help with stuffing goodie bags, standing a long the race route, water stations, receiving lines, registration and more. If you can help with any of these please email us HERE and let us know how you'd like to help out!

There are always things to help out with around the Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue. Fostering is an ongoing need of the rescue. We are in need of Foster Homes! Please fill out a Fostering Application on our website to get the process started today. Please understand that we cannot save dogs without your help and are willing to work with you in every way possible. See the Volunteering section for details on foster requirements. Thank you!