Weekend Gone to the Dogs

First of all, I want to say Happy Birthday to our sweet grandson Mason who turned 3 years old on Sunday!   What a great big boy.... and so handsome too!

This upcoming Sunday is not only Easter (where we will see ALL the grandtots) but it is also another grandson's 3rd birthday, this time Clayton.  Why are these kids all growing up so fast???


As most of you know, my Finnegan and Binney were both adopted from the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue group.  They are a great organization and try to do a lot of fundraising events to help cover some of the costs of rescuing shelties and finding them new homes.  The vet care and transportation costs are quite expensive.  The fearless leader, Lisa Martin, comes up with some pretty creative ideas for fundraising.

Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue

With months of careful planning, she came up with renting a big coach tour bus, and setting up 10 stops for a DOG LOVER'S SHOPPING TRIP!   We were going to hit ten various places catering to the dog shopping theme in a 300 mile loop around Wisconsin.  What a fun idea!  

I offered to help with transporting some of the gift bags and tshirts for the 6 am meet-up time to get 50+ people aboard the bus by 7am takeoff!  What a fun morning to get to know a new dog-loving friend, Sue, who lives nearby that needed a ride too. 

Each store we went to was also offering discounts to the shoppers, or donated a percentage of each sale back to the rescue.  Also each shop donated a $50 basket of goodies for the silent auction coming up at the Wisconsin Sheltie Reunion Picnic in June.  Some stores even changed their signs to welcome us to their place!

Lamer's Coach supplied us with a very adept, skilled and knowledgeable driver named Terry. He maneuvered that huge coach into some of the dangedest tight places, and even paralleled parked that bad boy on a busy downtown street between two cars that was a VERY snug fit!  After driving a 40 ft motorhome like we do, I was very impressed with his skill and he never ruffled a feather when some of the parking situations were difficult if not near almost impossible.  He just did a fantastic job!

We had rock star tour type Tshirts to wear, the fronts said 

DOG LOVERS SHOPPING TOUR 2015

and the backs listed our destinations, just like rock tours do! 

We rode in comfort in a coach complete with overhead storage for our bags (which we filled to the max) under carriage storage in the basement for big things, and even a bathroom on board.  The chattering and laughter was heard for all 300 miles, with only a few times to glance at the on board movies being played (Best in Show, and Must Love Dogs)

At one point in the shopping trip, a fellow WSR adopter Deb came to meet up with the bus stop at one store.  She brought along Archie (relative of Finney and Binney!) and Theo who is an infamous rascal adoptee with a long long story.  It was so good to have shelties to cuddle and pet while on our trip. 

Lisa Martin (on the right) has a very special relationship with Theo and his littermates.  His mommy, Ruby, came to the rescue very pregnant.  We watched as all three little puppies grew up and got adopted out.  Sadly, when Ruby was brought in to get spayed, it was discovered that she had cancer all over and passed away.  So these three pups from her litter were pretty special to all of the WSR folks.

The love and care put into ALL of these rescue dogs before they even reach their fur-ever homes is special and done with unconditional love by foster people like Lisa!

As the tour went on, we shopped from store to store, buying items for our sweet fur babies. The bus wound it's way around our state, going to some cool out-of-the-way shops for us to explore.  These are places we probably would never have visited on our own.  But Lisa found so many interesting places to introduce us to.

We even went to a couple "dog bakeries" .. yes.. those are all doggie treats!   Petlicious in Pewaukee, WI welcomed us with open arms.  And wonderful discounts for us shoppers.

This bakery had three lovely large white samoyed dogs who had the free run of the place and took in all the cuddles and pats from the shoppers in the store.

It was a long long day and we didn't get home until after 9pm at night.  What a fun day, and I had a big big bag full of treats waiting for Finney and Binney when I got home.  They sure appreciated the "haul" and sniffed and snuffled their way through the pile after I snapped this pic.  

So far, their most favorite item I bought is this rubber bone toy from Bionic.  You can slide in two gobs of peanut butter with a butter knife into each end of the bone. Keeps them busy for hours while licking it out.  The holes are just deep enough for small sheltie tongues, and not so deep like the bigger Kong toys that can be filled.  That can be frustrating for a little dog tongue to not reach all the goodies inside of a Kong.  Also, with these Bionic bones being transparent, you can make sure ALL the food is licked out. It is not stinking like the solid rubber Kong toys if there is uneaten food left inside. These Bionic bones are even dishwasher safe!

It's a WINNER as far as my pooches are concerned! 

Thanks again to Lisa Martin for planning such a fun event,

and thanks for all the volunteers who helped to make it happen. 

If you are ever looking for a good cause to donate to,

 the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue makes all of their donations go a LONG way 

to rescue and care for our beloved Shetland Sheepdogs.

Shop and Donate

Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue Online Store

Where does the money go?

• 72.0% - Veterinary Care
• 18.0% - Advertising, newsletter, booth fees
• 00.8% - Shelter adoption fees
• 00.2% - Food (Thanks to the Purina Weight Circle Program)

WSR's Wish List

• Heartworm preventative (Heartguard, Interceptor, Revolution)
• Unused dog prescriptions
• Blankets, rugs, towels
• Rummage/Booksale items
• Canon L50 copier toner cartridges
• HP 932/933 black or color ink cartridges
• Gasoline gift cards (transport volunteers)
• Fleet Farm/Tractor Supply gift cards (vaccines and food)
• Sheltie-sized leashes, harnesses and snap collars