Therapy Cat, Ashton

I adopted Ashton from Gwinnett Humane Society in 2007. I had been looking for a friend for my other cat, a very playful 2 year old female named Drew. I went to GHS and explained what I was looking for ("a cat that is active and can handle being abushed by another cat from the top of the couch...) I was very quickly told, "we have just the cat for you." I was taken to meet Ashton and immediately knew he was the one. He was walking around the room tackling every cat in sight, trying to initiate play. I think the other cats were getting annoyed and were happy when I said I'd take him!

Ashton and Drew hit it off immediately. He was the PERFECT fit! His sweet personality and attention-seeking behavior earned him the love of the whole family.

I now live in Los Angeles with Ashton, Drew and one more cat, a foster kitten-turned "mine", Aaron. Ashton loves to go on walks on his harness, bird watch from the window, and play with young Aaron.

I understand that Ashton was very close to his "last day" when Gwinnett Humane Society took him in. I can't believe such an amazing cat was so near the end because he has truly been life changing. Ashton has become a certified Animal Assisted Therapy Cat with spcaLA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Los Angeles). He visits nursing homes and comes with me to work where I run a violence-prevention program for at-risk youth at spcaLA. Ashton sits with the kids, providing company and a sense of ease. Most of the kids in the program only think of cats as outdoor pests, but Ashton has changed more than one person's mind about that! In one situation, an 8th grade boy began crying when talking about being abandoned by his mother and right on cue, like he knew his job, Ashton hopped into that boy's lap and snuggled in for some petting. Ashton truly is an amazing and gifted cat!

Thank you GHS! I love my baby boy so much- you made a great recommendation when you introduced me to him!

Meaghan
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Paisley

As fitting as it is... I adopted Paisley 3 days before Valentine's Day 2011. She came to my house and met my 2 yr black lab Patsy to make sure they would get along. We went to visit Paisley in her "house" where she was staying... they got along just fine. I brought Paisley home and that's when it all started! She was shy and timid and mostly hid on her bed in my bedroom since she had broken out of 2 different crates while I wasn't home (not sure if her sister helped her but I wouldn't put it past her.. Patsy is a bit of a hooligan). She slowly came out of her shell and started to show who she truly is... such a sweet, good girl. We first had problems with counter surfing, then peeing or maybe marking, then all of a sudden it stopped. I think she started to feel comfortable in her new home. Paisley, from what I was told, started out with a pretty rough life but thankfully was taken in by GHS. I was told she soon became a favorite and there are no questions why. She listens,
is gentle even when she slowly jumps up to greet me at the door when I come home from work and she just loves and loves. She has seen and learned so many new things in 6 months. She LOVES her sister.. they play all the time. She has a extreme fondness for her dog bed. I have a lake house and even when she is there she finds "her" bed (she claimed the one in the living room the first night I brought her home and hasn't given it up yet). She swam this summer for the first time until Patsy jumped on her head and dunked her and now she gets in the water but when she sees her sister get riled up she runs to the shore and starts to play (she's pretty smart too). She has learned to boat and has shown that she is a true lab. She now gets on the boat by herself and gets VERY excited when you move the boat keys off of the key hook!! She loves to ride in the car. I sometimes think her and Patsy would rather stay in the car than in the house. She has been such a blessing and I
wouldn't change her one bit! Paisley is growing each day. It's amazing how far she has come since the day I brought her home!! I couldn't imagine not having Paisley and Patsy probably couldn't either. :) She also learned how to play with toys ... with 2 labs, we like to call it "tear it up through tug as fast as you can and whoever gets the squeaker out wins"!! Paisley is an amazing dog and we both got lucky... she and I.

Max

We adopted Max into our family from the Gwinnett Shelter when it was still on New Hope Road, approx 6 years ago. We went into the shelter looking for a small dog, well I should have know that would not be what we left with. . . . my husband saw Max and told me to come over with the kids, the moment we all looked into Max's eyes we fell in love and knew that Max belonged in our home!!!!! We have loved Max and he has been such a blessing to our family for the last 6 years. Unfortunatly yesterday we had to have Max put to sleep. You see Max had cancer and it spread to other parts of his body. I wanted to share our story with you to say Thanks for all of the GREAT years we had with Max!!!! He will always be loved and missed!!!! And we are planning on adopting again soon!!! We think that adopting a shelter dog is the best!!!!!
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Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Shy!
Aren't I beautiful! I turn 19 this month (January 22, 2011). I was adopted from GHS in April 1992. My name was Fiona, my family changed my name to Shy because I was very, very shy when I first came to live with them. I stayed under the bed for a week before I ventured out and became the Queen of my forever home.

an update from Rose and her Adopters

We are settling in nicely to a routine. We did sorta of change her name, we call her Sookie Rose Wheeler. (Sookie is the lead character in the HBO series "True Blood", which is one of mine and Brad's favorite shows.) Sookie Rose is adjusting to living in the suburbs! She isn't sure about the bus and the rest of the neighborhood traffic! We are working with her on getting more comfortable with all the new sights and sounds. She is VERY comfortable inside the house. She is turning out to be a great alarm when someone is at the door! Poor pizza guy stood out in the front yard when Rose started barking! She does sound quite ferocious! LOL! We know she is just a big lap dog!

I have attached a few pictures we have taken. All I can say is thank you for helping us complete our family. We all are head over heels for her and I think she feels the same!

Micki Wheeler

Scotty's Happily Ever After

Well, it has been a little over 24 hours since Scotty came to us and I'd have to say that it is remarkable how well he is doing. We have not had any problems, accidents in the house, or anything but positive results. In fact, he has become sort of a celebrity in the neighborhood and he seems to really enjoy his new found fame. There are 2 girls out in the back yard playing with him right now. The only question is if we will wear him out or not but he always seems to be ready to go. I walked him about 3 miles on our trails yesterday and he acted like he had been on those trails all his life. Today I walked him 2.2 miles at Little Mulberry park and it went pretty much the same way. He also got to ride in the Miata with the top down today and I don't think he knew quite what to make of that experience. He has been eating well, sleeping well, walking well, he just seems to be doing everything well. He did not want to get in his new bed at first but then we figured we wou
ld move it to where he seemed to want it to be and then he got right in it. Now he not only gets in it, he seems to dive into it. It's a little bit funny. I've never seen a dog run to their bed & then dive or crash land into their bed before but that's the way he seems to like to do it. He has an appointment tomorrow with his vet, Dr. Fish, and then he will be approved for her doggy day-care and we'll be taking him there so maybe his fan club will grow even larger & he will be the big star dog of Dacula.

We also discovered that Scotty is a very good dancer and can stay on his back legs for a long time.

I noticed today that his picture on the web site got moved to the adopted section. That looked good to me.

Thanks again for everything,

Hugh & Dianne Crossman

Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn came to my family as a foster dog in 2000 - terrified, skinny and not trust worthy. He was the first adult dog we ever fostered...our family tended to love fostering the puppies. Huck had been beaten, shot in the head, and cowered every time he saw men. For the longest time, he would pee himself when men came near to touch him.

We fostered him for 2 months and spent a lot of that time at Home Depot introducing him to his biggest fear in life. After months of socialization, he was coming around. Well, to say the least, i didn't think there was a perfect family for him and i turned down many probably adoptable homes. On my 16th birthday, i got a dog collar and 2 large dog bowls and he was mine!!!!!!

Well, it's gonna be 10 years in 1 week that i have had my best boy. Huck moved to Colorado with me to attend college and back home to GA to buy my first house with me and now he spends all day and night with me ....

He is a lucky dog, he goes to work everyday with me...well...because i think i have separation anxiety from him!!

A few yeas after adoption, i had him tested to be a GHS Pat-a-Pet dog and, of course, he passed! 

Huck is the most amazing dog i have ever had! He warms the heart of everyone that has ever met him. We have clients that come in without an appointment at the clinic where I work just to say hello to Huck...not to mention our bug man who comes monthly for Huck visits.

He is my world!

Rachael LaLiberty