A Wish For Every Bird Dog,......

Illinois Birddog Rescue strives to place all of our Homeless Hunters in Loving Homes,....being able to Hunt is definitely an added Bonus,.....

Enjoy this Story of two once homeless pups,.. Rusty and Gypsy,.
2 dogs that no one wanted,.....

Except a lucky guy, by the name of Rich....

Rusty was approximately 10 months old when I adopted him from IBR. Lisa let me have him for a weekend trial run and he was pointing Robins in the back yard like the National Champ, and curled up and went to sleep in the house at night.

How could I not keep him?

He's been easy to train. Although he has a lot of drive he isn't stubborn. The fact that Rusty has so much point in him made it easy to staunch him up on birds. He retrieves well also. All I had to do was throw some bumpers in the yard for him and call him back. Done. He makes me look like I can train. He's 5 years old now.

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Gypsie is a year old and I got her as a 14 week old pup from IBR.

When I first saw her she had a high snappy tail, and was launching her body into the adult dogs.

She was bold.

Gyp has all the tools. A good nose, a beautiful gait with a high snappy tail, and a lot of drive without being stubborn.

She is a work in progress, but she could be a real good one.

We have just come home from a week long hunting trip where I was lamenting a bit on the last day about not getting any good bird work from Gypsie.

Well, on the last walk of the last day she pointed a covey of prairie chickens.

I dropped one for her and she retrieved. Earlier that day I had shot a limit of 3 roosters over 3 Rusty points and now a covey for Gyp.

Needless to say, I was thrilled.

She still has a long way to go, but that was major progress.

One last note from Rich:

I told Lisa if I could have him for the rest of my days I'd be happy. I met an 80 year old guy last week that was hunting w/ a pointer and a setter. How's that for giving a guy hope! Anyway, I was describing for him how Rusty handles running roosters by outrunning them and then back pointing them pinning the bird between me and him. Some get away, but he's quite successful at it. The old gentlemen told me I may never have another dog in my life that learns to do that. Dogs don't live long enough.

Thanks again,

Rich

P.S. Rusty is not a finished dog. He is not steady to wing and shot, but he is as staunch as the day is long. He is not force broke. Most of the birds are deposited on my toe. But I'm fine with that. He's just my personal hunting dog and I think we both like it that way, although Rusty would probably hunt for anyone that will take him.

Marbles aka Polly

Marbles' history: Marbles is a tri colored American Field Bred English Setter. She was found as a stray in Southern Indiana. She is safe in foster care and this is what her foster mom has to say: "Marbles is adorable. She is quite timid but she definitely has a lot of love to give. You can tell she wants to run right in to your arms for lots of loving but she just can't quiet get over her fear. She will run right up to you doing a full body wag but stops just short of you and tentatively stretches her head out to your for a little rub. I think she will come around quickly though, and be able to cuddle the way you can tell she really wants to. As I type this she is curled up with my boyfriend, Brian, on the floor enjoying a nice neck rub. She is a little less shy with Kya (my adopted IBR Setter) than she is with us but still is a bit timid around her. They have already gotten in to a few good wrestling matches and a little game of chase in the backyard. I think Marbles is a little worn out from her journey and Kya wishes she would play a little longer but for tonight I think Marbles just wants a good sleep."

Upon arrival to Illinois and into foster care, Marbles seemed to be struggling. She also had a raging infection, although we were not sure where it came from. Her white blood cell count was very high but her tick panels were inconclusive. It was discovered thru chiropractic care that she had severe pain and issues with her lower back. It was finally established that she had blasto, an extremely nasty fungal disease that can be fatal if not diagnosed in time. Once diagnosed, Marbles could go through her treatments and fortunately has been recovering from the illness.
Update from Marbles Forever home:

Just wanted to give you all an update on Marbles, now named Polly. She
is doing just great! She came in yesterday for her follow-up chest xray
and her chest looks totally clear. She definitely recognized me but ran
right back to her daddy Mike which made me happy. She is definitely
"Home." She is best friends with her brother Zeke they play all the
time and Mike says he is teaching her to catch and she is teaching him to point birds and chipmunks in the yard!

Older sister Kaiya is a bit crabby in her old age and is fine with letting the young ones do their
own thing and leave her alone to enjoy her golden years. Polly has all
different things for breakfast each morning, one day oatmeal, the next
day quinoa mixed with yogurt, then for dinner she eats the Primal Raw
she was eating at my house. Mike says she LOVES raw chicken wings and
backs which she had never had at my house because Audrey is allergic to
chicken. It sounds like she has settled in just fine and took no time
at all to learn the Invisible Fence. I knew she wouldn't have a
problem, she is so smart. She is going to stay on the Sporanox for one
more month for the Blasto just to be sure it is totally gone. Attached
is a photo of Polly, Mike and Zeke.

-Ellen

Gertrude aka Daisy

Gertie's history: Gertie is a Setter mix about 9 months old. She was seperated from her mother--Helena-- on 2/4/06 the day she came into foster care. Her mother is so precious that her foster Mom decided to keep her & Gertrude takes after her mother. She is a treasure. We thought it would take her a while to settle in, but after the second day in our home her personality began to shine through. She was housetrained in only one day & we're working on some basic obedience. She is learning about all of the interesting things inside of the house. Everything seems like a potential toy to her right now. Gertie has the typical happy setter personality. She has a joyful look in her eyes. We do allow her to sleep in bed at night. She's a good sleeper & never makes us uncomfortable. Furniture priveledges are a must for this girl.

Check out her own foster blog: http://gertiegirlpointsetter.blogspot.com/

Update: Gertie, now called Daisy, has been at her forever home for over a year now. Here's a message from her family:

Hi Michelle, we celebrated Daisy's b-day with a day at Montrose dog beach. She had a great time swimming out and chasing Wolfgang!

Lowery

Daisy's fur brother Wolfgang.

Britney

Britney's history: "Britney has been with me about six months now, and she is a very different dog from the frightened, skinny, dull-coated stray that the Animal Control Officer from Taylor County, KY turned over to me. We do not know how long she was a stray, but she's definitely a young adult. I'd say she's around a year and a half old now. Brit is extremely intelligent. She is also an energetic girl, and I think she'd be awesome in Agility and Rally. She loves to go out to the park with me for walks, but I don't ask her to stay in close. I take her out on a 30' long line so she can cast and sniff to her heart's content. She has ton's of personality. She's a real tail-wagger, and gives little chin kisses. Belly rubs are her idea of bliss. She is also very inquisitive. Brit plays well with the other dogs, though now and then she gets bossy, and all I have to do is say, "Brit!" and she knows to settle down. She's used to eating in her crate, which is a procedure I use with multiple dogs in the household, so I can make sure everyone is getting their correct amount of food. Because she is very curious about any and everything, she's still sleeping in her crate at night. This prevents her from getting anything that might be harmful to her. I have not done a lot of obedience with her yet, as I really felt she needed to build confidence and to learn to trust people more. We have definitely accomplished those two goals. And physically, she's gorgeous! She has grown a beautiful coat, her eyes are bright and she's filled out considerably. (When she came to me, we could count every rib.) Brit would do well in a multiple dog household, but if she's in a single dog household, she will need companionship and activity with her family. She is quite gregarious."

Hi Lisa,

Britney is doing good, she had tons of energy! Still loves the birds, walks and her sister dog. Next week we start dog training class.

She has been going to my sister's doggie daycare once a week and likes that too, plus it wears her out a little. I started running a couple miles with her.
Still trying to get her to gain a little weight. She is so skinny she can slip through the side gate on one side of our fence. We are working on her barking and ability to get into the garden, but otherwise she is a great dog. Here's some pics!

-Felicia

Teddy

Teddy's history: IBR was notified of Bill (Wills Jr.) and Ted's (Teddy's)- not so excellent adventure. Here is the info from the shelter near Mt. Vernon we are pulling them from, "Pen #16 Owner surrender Two english setter males surrendered by their owner because they did not want to hunt. Friendly but scared, they are not sure where they are. Appear very healthy. We are receiving many animals daily and each animal here will have a VERY LIMITED TIME. Please do not wait to contact us about any of these animals."
Update from Teddy's forever home:

Hi Lisa,

Wanted to give you an update as Mark and I moved a few weeks ago. We bought a home in Logan Square. The best part about the home is it is on a 250 ft lot and has a great big fenced yard for Teddy . He is loving his new fenced in freedom!

I've attached some recent pictures of Teddy (our camera has been broken for the past year!). Some of them are in one of my colleague's yard with his dog 'S prite' and the others are in our backyard with my friend's dog 'Vu'.

Hope everything is well with you.

Best,

Carryn & MarkTeddy with best friend Vu

Gypsy

Gypsy's History: Gypsy is a vibrant, high energy, social dog. With consistent training she can be well behaved and is very eager to please. She loves her daily treat with her “meds” and will patiently sit and wait while you get it for her. She also loves to BUNNY JUMP!! Some may consider this obnoxious behavior but we have been working on this and she is improving.
Gypsy grows on you. She loves to be loved and shower you with kisses. She enjoys sleeping with you or lazing on the couch. When she is grumpy she will voluntarily go and sleep in her crate. She also has a bad habit of leg humping, but this is ONLY because she loves you. Gypsy loves to chase squirrels in the yard, rough-house with Winston, eat bugs and enjoys demolishing stuffed toys within an hour. I call her my Goofy Gypsy! Gypsy doesn’t like thunder storms but loves to point birds, to watch her in the field is seeing another dog.
Gypsy Update: Gypsy found a loving home with IBR volunteer Julie---who subsequently decided to move back to Australia where her family resides. After figuring out all pitfalls of quarantine regulations, she was able to have Gypsy flown to her. She's doing wonderfully.
Gypsy with sister Bella in sunny Australia.

Rupert

Rupert's History:
Rupert aka Wallace formerly Malcolm is a pure bred Field English Pointer- not a GSP. He is very friendly- great with other dogs and school-aged children. He is about 21 months old and VERY friendly and cuddly. His foster mom says he took all the covers off the couches and carried them all to one area. She just laughs and calls him a maniac. Ru Ru also sleeps on the arm of the couch like a cat with half his butt hanging off of the couch and his head on the pillows behind my mom's neck while she is sitting on the couch. He is a stitch and is so cute and so silly and a PUPPY!! He is on the smaller side- about 40lbs. Rupert will need a safe fenced in yard.

Rupert is flourishing in his forever home and here are two photos from a recent fun weekend outing:

Mom Jutta writes: Because he has been such a good boy after his surgery to remove a cyst (you can just barely make out the stitches on his left hind leg), Rupert has been allowed to lounge on my lawn chair...of course, he has been such a good boy because he HAS TO (due to lampshade around neck).  For a prince like Rupert lying on the grass is unacceptable.


A fun muddy time at Wauconda:Rupert having fun at Wauconda this past Sunday. As you can see in the first pic, he was quick at finding the mud puddle. In the second pic he's trying to get his upper half properly "mudded"

Case

Case came into IBR has an honorary birddog. See his original blog here:

http://ibr-case.blogspot.com/


Case was adopted after Christmas and had an immediate health scare when he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and an autoimmunie problem. Luckily he did recover and is doing fabulously at his forever home.

Here's what his family wrote:

Hi Karen:

We just wanted to touch base with you and wish you a happy spring
season.  Here are some current pics of Case and his sisters since we
brought him home.  He is doing better.  His liver proteins are still on
the high side.  

He is just as curious as Savannah and Pearl.  Loves to
run around in the snow--the blizzard pic--and take time a curl up with
Pearl.  He is our alarm clock in the morning reminding us to get up and
feed him.  He won't go out side until he eats.  Hope you are feeling
well and this finds you in good spirits.

Deena

Slim Jim aka Hans

A Success Story by referral. Lisa had heard about Hans needing to find a forever home and provided his information to Larry---who met up with Hans and it was a perfect match!

Hans' new daddy reports:

I don't think I could have asked for a better dog! He's polite, well-mannered, is a total ball-hound and he loves to snuggle on the couch. We went to a neighbor's 4-year-old's birthday party Monday evening and he couldn't have been better. He was calm and let all the kids pet him - no jumping up on anyone. He's greeted several dogs in the neighborhood without any signs of fear or agression - he just wants to play. Yes, he loves the rabbits and squirrels, and he gets easily distracted, but that can all be worked on. I've attached some pics I took on Monday morning. Thanks again for bringing Hans to me.

Regards,

Larry

Midge

Midge's history: Midge is a bouncy adorable pointer. She doesn't stop...her tails goes 100 miles an hour. She plays well with dogs, but very much prefers humans. She wants to be everywhere you are in or out of the house. She is a very loving sweet girl who enjoys giving kisses.

Her ABSOLUTE favorite thing to do is carry things in her mouth. If you don't watch her, you will have clothes, towels, blankets, pillows and shoes out in your backyard before you even notice. She never damages anything she carries around but just enjoys prancing with it in her mouth and following you. I believe she is probably around a year old- if that. Although she tends to have very much puppy behavior."

Update from her forever home: Dear Melissa,
Midge is doing very well- she still has that puppy energy and behavior. She loves pointing at birds and chasing squirrels in our yard, She now has full reign of the house ( since she learned to open our door handles!)- and she has been great- no damage at all. She is still a counter surfer, though. She now has a big patio door through which she can watch the action at the bird feeders.
We occasionally go to the dog park, but Midge is not very good with small, aggressive attitude dogs. She is not very good at voice commands, so it is challenging to keep her away from the small dogs.
She does have a new best friend- my neighbors recently adopted an Australian shepard/lab mix puppy. Midge and Zoe play very well together- Midge a little bit on the dominant side, bit still nice.. They play nearly every day. The puppy is slowly getting bigger than Midge. It will be interesting to see what happens when one or both dogs realize that.
I am sending you a picture of Midge and Zoe. I would like to thank you again for fostering her- our family cannot imagine life without her!
Take care
Dalia

Skeets

Skeets was one of Nala's puppies.

Breaking News: Skeets got his OA !!



In a related story, at approximately 1PM Sunday May 19th, it was reported that Hell actually froze over !!

Yes !! Skeets finished his Open Standard title with a perfect score and 1st Place !! The OA must stand for "Occasionally Attentive"...because on THIS run, he DID pay attention...to ME - GOOD BOY !!!!

Honestly, he was very good this weekend...he had a BLAST, and definitely saved his best for last . He racked up MASSIVE style-points in his other 3 runs, once again proving that "Q-ing is VASTLY over-rated" !! I am so proud of him...all joking aside, I LOVE this dog..."Reptile Dysfunction" and all !!!

Chris
Skeets has his own blog now. Make sure to check it out:
http://ibrskeets.blogspot.com/