Category: Happily Ever After Stories

Happily Ever After Stories

Happily Ever After: Lady Sybil and the Cunningham Family

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581b80c4f2ad1-imageOnce upon a time, Lael Cunningham wanted a cat. She really wanted a cat. She tried to convince her mom, Janel Cunningham, that she was ready to take care of one, so she drew up a contract of all the things she would do to take care of one. Last Christmas, Lael Cunningham’s gift was her contract back – notarized and signed by her mom.

Janel Cunningham says that her 11-year-old daughter was very specific about what she wanted in her cat, so the pair took to the internet to find the perfect furry friend. There, they found pictures of a kitten named Coco Puff, who was available from St. Louis Pet Rescue.

Former foster mom Lisa Ucko says that Coco Puff was orphaned at a very young age and required bottle feeding. She and her littermates, Cheerio and Cap’n Crunch, were found in a south St. Louis yard.

“Coco Puff really struggled,” Ucko says. “We really thought she was going to be miniature forever, and she was plagued by parasites. With around-the-clock care, Coco Puff was able to overcome her rough start and thrive.”

The Cunninghams have had Coco Puff for almost a year. She was renamed Lady Sybil, after Lael Cunningham’s favorite Downton Abbey character.

Janel Cunningham says Lady Sybil is “cuddly, but only when she wants to be” and is very playful. She loves to play fetch with plastic shower curtain rings.

“She’s pretty puppylike because she’ll follow you from room to room,” Janel Cunningham says. “She’s an excellent first pet.”

When Lael Cunningham gets home from school every day, she does all the things she agreed to do in her contract in order to take care of Lady Sybil. Janel Cunningham says the cat allows her daughter to be more playful, and they even do dance moves together.

One of Lady Sybil’s funny habits is her behavior when someone either leaves or comes home. Janel Cunningham says the cat will come “tearing down the hallway” to the garage door and run up into her cat tree.

“At first, we were worried about her getting out into the garage, but that’s not her objective,” she says. “She just wants to watch you come and go.”

Lael Cunningham loves to snuggle with her cat, and the two will curl up while she is watching TV or reading.

Janel Cunningham works shift work, so she likes being able to come home to an animal when her daughter is at her grandparents’.

“I don’t feel the same kind of loneliness I did before,” she says. “[Lady Sybil] is always waiting at the door.”

This story was originally published at laduenews.com. Read it on LN’s website here.

Happily Ever After Stories

Happily Ever After: Stolie and the Urda Family

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57f57bdfa2c9e-imageOnce upon a time, Emily Urda was looking for a family dog for her household. With a son with a disability, she knew the dog would have to be pretty special to fit into their family. She went to Stray Rescue of St. Louis to see if she could find one that would be a good addition to the family. While she was there, she spoke with adoption manager Valerie Strobo about service dogs. Urda had considered this option in years prior, but everything had been thousands of dollars, or her son Jackson was too young for the dog.

“Then I met Stolie,” she says. “She seemed like she’d be a great fit for our family, so we decided to go for it.”

Stolie was rescued by Stray Rescue in February and was enrolled in the Missouri Puppies for Parole program. The 2-year-old female terrier mix learned basic obedience at Missouri Eastern Correctional Center and received full training. Stolie knows “sit,” “stay” and “come,” along with being housebroken and walking great on a leash.

Urda has only had Stolie for about a month, but she says the dog’s been an exceptional addition to the family.

“It’s been so nice to see Jackson interact with her,” she says. “With his disability, he’s not really interactive with other kids and would rather be with adults. Now, he and Stolie are friends. It’s so sweet to see them together.”

One of the things they’ve been working on with Stolie’s training is a hide-and-seek-type game where Jackson hides and Stolie has to find him.

“It’s so entertaining because he’s not very good at hiding, but she’s very good at finding him,” Urda says.

Aside from her time with Jackson, Stolie enjoys hunting frogs outside and playing fetch with her ball. After Jackson’s asleep, she’ll curl up on Urda’s lap.

“She’s probably around 70 pounds, but she’ll do whatever she can to get in your lap,” Urda says. “She climbed over the armrest yesterday to get into my lap.”

Urda is still in the process of getting Stolie trained to meet Jackson’s needs, but “she’s as sweet as can be.” She says it took Jackson a few days to warm up to Stolie, but the dog is already very protective of the family.

“Stray Rescue has just been so helpful with this whole process,” Urda says. “They’ve always been there right away to help. They did a great job of finding the perfect dog for our family.”

This story was originally published at laduenews.com. Read it on LN’s website here.

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Happily Ever After Stories

Happily Ever After: Foxy and the Sehrt Family

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Once upon a time, Sue Sehrt was looking to adopt a dog – or two. Sehrt is a firm believer in having two pups at once, so each can have a friend to romp around with.

She and her mom went out to a Needy Paws Rescue adoption event at the PetSmart in Sunset Hills. Sehrt spotted a little black dog named Marigold, but her mom wasn’t too keen on Marigold since she was still a puppy. They continued looking and spotted a black-and-white dog who was very shy. Foxy, a border collie and Jack Russell terrier mix, was four years old at the time and had been feral. When she was found in Gideon, Missouri, she had heartworms and fleas. But Sehrt was immediately drawn to her.

“I thought there was something about her,” Sehrt says. “I could tell she was in need.”

Foxy is what Sehrt calls a “special needs girl,” so she wanted to give the dog a place to heal and learn to trust again. She ended up leaving the adoption event with both Foxy and Marigold.

“Our last two dogs had been rescued from terrible situations, and both shook almost to the point of convulsions, so I was hoping we could provide a nurturing environment for Foxy and help her continue to heal and trust as well as learn to love and live life to her fullest potential,” Sehrt says.

She’s had both dogs for a few months, and Foxy continues to make improvements. When she was a foster dog, Foxy didn’t want to be touched. She was scared to go outside to go to the bathroom. Sehrt credits former foster mom April Belangee for Foxy’s progress in the 13 months she had her, saying her love and patience made all the difference.

Marigold has helped Foxy come out of her shell, along with Sehrt respecting Foxy’s personal space. It didn’t take long before the two dogs were playing together. Foxy watched Marigold interact and play with Sehrt and has started to follow along sometimes.

“I let her come to me, and I’ll slowly pet her as she controls the length of contact time,” Sehrt says.

The two pups have “probably 20” toys and a very open house they can run through. Foxy’s still coming out of her shell, though, and will surrender toys to Mari without hesitation.

“She’s still coming into her own self and needs to be reassured,” Sehrt says. “She’ll get there. It just takes time.”

This story was originally published at laduenews.com. Read it on LN’s website here.

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Happily Ever After Stories

Happily Ever After: Sheldon and the Critzas Family

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Once upon a time, Sheldon waited for a forever family at the Crestwood Animal Shelter. Sometimes, he would get to leave the shelter and go places like Danielle Critzas’ house. Critzas’ mother works at the shelter and would bring Sheldon over when she was watching him.

Critzas recalls how Sheldon would fall asleep in her and her boyfriend’s laps.

“He just always wants to show you how much he loves you,” she says.

Her boyfriend had just gotten a new camera and was tasked with making a video so Sheldon could get adopted.

“I knew when we were looking back at the video that I wanted him,” Critzas says.

They’ve had Sheldon for nearly half a year, and she says he’s the “perfect dog.”

“His favorite things are cuddling and being held, but he’s 25 to 30 pounds,” she says with a laugh.

Lately, Sheldon’s weakness has been blankets. Critzas says that while he won’t destroy anything else, blankets left out stand no chance in their household.

“If he has access to a blanket, he’ll destroy it,” she says.

Sheldon is partially blind, and Critzas says he gets nervous if he can’t figure out his surroundings quickly. It took him a while to figure out the layout of their place. Critzas recalls him “crashing into everything” when they first brought him home. His solution to making sure he’s not going to walk into anything? Stomping.

“He stomps so loudly when he walks,” she says. “I think he’s hearing his feet so he knows where he is. He also snores so loudly.”

When Critzas’ mom first got him at the shelter, Sheldon had a stroller he would crawl into and ride around in. He loved to be pushed around in it, Critzas says. She thinks it made him feel safe because he didn’t have to worry about figuring out his surroundings. When she adopted Sheldon, she got a little covered trailer for her bicycle so he could ride around, too. While such trailers are usually meant for children, Critzas says Sheldon is content to “go for rides” with her.

Critzas and her boyfriend went to great lengths to adopt Sheldon. Their former place didn’t allow them to have dogs, so they moved to be able to accommodate him.

“I hadn’t had a dog for almost a year, and having a dog was such a huge part of my life,” she says. “Now I have this dog that’s totally content with lying in my arms at the end of the day.”

This story was originally published at laduenews.com. Read it on LN’s website here.

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Happily Ever After Stories

Happily Ever After: Rey and the Meadows Family

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Once upon a time, Brooke Meadows and her husband weren’t looking to adopt any animals. They had a 1-year-old baby, and it didn’t seem like the right time. However, Meadows owns a kennel and does adoption events for Gateway Pet Guardians to showcase its adoptable dogs, and she fell in love with a dog named Escalade.

“We ended up deciding to take him and go through the adoption process,” she says. “We renamed him Champion and moved into a house after renting.”

When the dog they had before Champion passed away, the family knew they were ready for two dogs again. One day, Meadows found a dog with “big bat ears” on Gateway’s website, and she just had to go meet her.

“She seemed like she had the most personality of any dog I had ever seen,” Meadows says. “We had a meeting to get her, and now we have two Gateway dogs.”

The bat-eared dog, who has been renamed Rey, was picked up off the street while in heat being chased by a male dog. Meadows says the staff at Gateway told her they wanted to get Rey off the streets before she had puppies. It’s estimated she’s about two years old.

The Meadows family has had Rey for nearly two months, and “she fits in perfectly,” Meadows says.

“Champion loves cuddling, but doesn’t always take to new dogs. They were curled up together the first night. He immediately fell in love with her,” Meadows says.

Rey’s a short dog, but absolutely loves sitting at the window and watching squirrels. Meadows says she’ll run to the back door and wait to be let out to go chase them.

“She likes the kids a lot,” Meadows says. “She’s so good with them and will give them kisses. Rey is definitely a nanny dog.”

The best part of having Rey around is the affection she gives, Meadows notes.

“She loves cuddling up to you,” she says. “She wants to run all the time, but when you’re tired and curled up on the couch, she’ll sit with you and snore. She has a great little snore.”

Rey has some allergies and gets regular baths, but Meadows says she’s gotten used to them and is very tolerant.

Overall, Meadows says Rey is the most affectionate dog she’s ever met.

“I haven’t had a single person come over that hasn’t fallen in love with her,” she says. “The other day, my mom came over, and Rey started attacking her with kisses. ‘I see why you got her,’ she said.”

This story was originally published at laduenews.com. Read it on LN’s website here.

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Happily Ever After Stories

Happily Ever After: Goose and the Krebsbach-Lucio Family

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Once upon a time, an EMT found a little black cat in East St. Louis while on a call. The cat had a broken leg that was infected and sore from dragging it. Unsure how to help or what to do, the EMT started making calls.

Tenth Life Cat Rescue was able to swoop in and get her in for surgery, but her leg had severe nerve damage and had to be amputated.

Despite the amputation, the kitty was quick to earn the name “Goose” at Tenth Life because of her happy and silly-goose nature.

Jordan Krebsbach and her partner, Cydney Lucio, discovered Tenth Life on Facebook because they bring foster pets to events to garner attention. In this case, it was the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market.

“The first cat we saw was Goose,” Krebsbach recalls. “She had just come in and was super sick. She was staying with her foster mom for a few months, and we had been seeing updates about her.”

Krebsbach says she and Lucio filled out an application to be Goose’s family, and they ended up being good friends with her foster mom. The process took a few months, since Tenth Life does vet checks and comes to houses to make sure they’re suitable for adoptive cats.

“We were second in line to be Goose’s parents,” Krebsbach says. “[The first people in line] went to meet her and [Goose] wouldn’t come out from under the couch. She was terrified.”57598ce7edf89.image

When the first family ended up backing out, Krebsbach and Lucio went to go meet her.

“She was still scared, but we just laid on the floor and petted her,” Krebsbach says. “We were probably there three hours. By the end, she was purring and happy and playing. We knew she needed more time, since she’d been through so much already.”

May 31 marked Goose’s “Gotcha Day,” which Krebsbach and Lucio fondly call her “Goose-iversary.” They’ve had her one year and a few weeks now, and they estimate she’s about two years old.

Goose is an odd little duck, since when her right leg was amputated, her shoulder had to be amputated as well. Lucio says she’s “oddly buff for a three-legged cat” and that she’s more agile than their other pets who have all their limbs. Lucio also notes how weird she is, and that she makes bird noises and has her tongue out a lot.

“We always say she’s way too good for us, and we don’t deserve her,” Krebsbach says with a laugh. “She’s so sweet and loving. She sits on top of her cat-tree throne and delegates like she’s queen of the house.”

This story was originally published at laduenews.com. Read it on LN’s website here.

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Happily Ever After Stories

Happily Ever After: Maddie and the Dill Family

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Once upon a time, Myers Dill had a bad habit of looking at Petfinder – all the time. He and his wife, Christine, had gotten their first dog, Chief, from the website, so he was always perusing it, looking for a friend for Chief.

“About once a month I’d send [Christine] links, saying, ‘Chief wants a sibling!’” Dill says. “She’d reply with a ‘ha-ha,’ and it wasn’t really something we had seriously discussed.”

He sent his wife a link to a dog named Kiwi, a pit bull terrier described as “as sweet as the fruit she shares a name with.” She was rescued in July 2015 by Even Chance Pit Bull Rescue, a St. Louis-based organization that seeks to counteract misinformation about pit bulls with factual education, communication and resources. Even Chance rescues pit bulls from area shelters and provides foster care for rescued dogs until they find their forever homes.

“Kiwi had a whole extended profile that sounded a lot like Chief’s personality,” Dill recalls. “The whole Even Chance mission was attractive to us, so we set up a meeting for Chief to meet Kiwi.”

The meeting went well, and the Dill family took Kiwi in about a week later for a trial run. Even Chance worked with them to make sure Kiwi was a good fit for their family.

“They were so accommodating in making sure the home was a right fit for her,” Christine Dill says. “They set up a training session for some things we were trying to work on and gave us a lot of great resources.”

In October 2015, Kiwi had found her forever home and was renamed Maddie.

Though they don’t know much of Maddie’s backstory, they do know that she was found in a shelter in East St. Louis. The Dills think she’s been in a home before, because she knows basic things about being in a house. But other than that, her background is murky.

57349fd9103d7.image“We think that maybe because of her squirrel obsession, she got away from someone,” Dill says.

Having two dogs has been a lot of fun for the Dill family, and Chief is enjoying his new little sister.

“It’s different having two dogs,” Dill says. “Maddie is a great playmate for Chief, but Chief is seven years old, and Maddie’s only two. She has a ton of energy.”

The Dills talk about the dogs playing in the backyard with endless energy. They say Maddie gets along great with other dogs and loves to cuddle, too.

“She wants to be on your lap all the time,” Dill says. “She’s added so much fun and excitement to our lives.”

Maddie does have a bit of a squirrel obsession, as noted, and will sit at a window and watch them for hours. Dill says she even got a few feet up in a tree one time chasing after one.

She also specializes in completely destroying all toys.

“She’s completely fearless,” Christine Dill says. “I’d say it’s one of her top qualities.”

Despite this fearlessness, Dill says Maddie’s also a diva.

“Something will fall in another room, and she’ll run in to see what happened. I carry her around over my shoulder a lot. She’s a strong, dominant dog, but she’s also a big baby,” he says.

This story was originally published at laduenews.com. Read it on LN’s website here.

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Happily Ever After Stories

Happily Ever After: Maloney and the Andrew Family

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Once upon a time, a 7-year-old terrier mix was found shivering in an abandoned garage in North City, sleeping on a bag of trash. Winter of 2014 was a cold one, and Stray Rescue of St. Louis volunteers were doing their best to get as many strays off the streets as possible. They were desperate for foster families, and Valerie Andrew answered the call for the terrier mix, named Maloney.

Andrew had fostered for Stray Rescue many years prior and had adopted her older dog, Friede, from them. Stray Rescue told her she could come down to the shelter the next day and to bring Friede to the meet-and-greet room so they could all get acquainted.

“The first thing I thought was ‘He’s so big!’” Andrew says. “He was about 60 pounds then, and he’s 70 now.”

The dogs got along just fine, and Andrew agreed to take Maloney home as a foster. He was extremely skittish. Andrew says although she doesn’t know much about his life before ending up at Stray Rescue, she’s pretty sure he had been abused in some way.

“He was afraid of everything,” she says. “He ran away down the street the first day, but the Stray Rescue folks helped get him back home.”

The first days were rough for Maloney and his new mom. Andrew worried he would never bond with her. She turned to the folks at Stray Rescue for help, and they recommended putting peanut butter on her finger.

“That did the trick,” she recalls.

While fostering Maloney, Andrew took him to a few adoption events, which is a customary practice for dogs in foster care.

“I was so afraid someone was going to be interested in him,” she says. “That’s when I knew I had to keep him.”

Maloney got to be one of the Stray Rescue All Stars at this past December’s Hope for the Holidays Gala at The Chase Park Plaza and is featured on the organization’s calendar as Mr. March.

“People are really attracted to him because of his speckled nose,” Andrew says. “Then, once they get to know him, they realize what a sweetheart he is.”

Andrew and her four-legged crew belong to the Woodson Road Dog Park in Overland, and Maloney loves getting to meet new friends there.

“He loves to chase with the other dogs, but his favorite thing is just to get a squeaky toy and parade around with it,” Andrew says.

Maloney has been a bit of a menace to Andrew’s garden. It turns out, he loves broccoli and kale, and will eat both right off the plant.

“He also loves orange slices, but only if you eat half of it and give him the other half,” she says.

Andrew describes her life as “richer” now that Maloney is in it. She has other animals that she adores, but something told her it was time to do something more and foster.

“Every day is something new and exciting,” she says. “Who rescued who?”

This story was originally published at laduenews.com. Read it on LN’s website here.

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Happily Ever After Stories

Happily Ever After: Baxter and the Mayuga Family

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Once upon a time, Ed and Ann Marie Mayuga fell in love with an English bulldog named Mr. President. They had him from a puppy, and he was a “character,” Ed Mayuga says. Mr. President became a fixture in the St. Louis English bulldog meet-up groups, and everyone loved him. The Mayugas wanted Mr. President to have a friend, so they adopted a French bulldog named Popcorn.

“They were like peas in a pod,” Mayuga says.

Unfortunately, Popcorn got cancer when he was around 8 years old. The Mayugas did a lot to try to save him, but the cancer took over, and they had to put him down in September 2013.

Mr. President was lonely. He had lost his best friend.

“We knew he needed a companion,” Mayuga says. “I was on Facebook and saw that Baxter needed a foster family.”

St. Louis English Bulldog Rescue president Diana Engeszer brought Baxter over, and he and Mr. President played all afternoon. Mr. President, a senior dog by English bulldog standards, got overheated and was uncomfortable all night. The Mayugas found out the next morning that he had passed away overnight.

“We had lost two amazing dogs in 10 days,” Mayuga says.

It was a tough time for the Mayugas, but they decided to adopt Baxter. He helped them through the loss of Mr. President and Popcorn, and they even ended up adopting another bulldog: a French one named Bonaparte.

“We owe a lot to St. Louis English Bulldog Rescue,” Mayuga says. “We don’t have any children, so our dogs are our children. A lot of times, people don’t want to adopt bulldogs because they only live about 8 or 9 years and often have health problems. But we’re so grateful for ours.”

Baxter and Bonaparte are healthy and spoiled. They wear matching outfits and get to go shopping with the Mayugas. Since the couple works out of their home, the bulldogs get a lot of attention. Baxter can be a bit mischievous at times, Mayuga says.

“We have a guest bedroom with a low bed, and if the door is left open even a crack, we’ll find Baxter in there, buried under the pillows,” Mayuga says. “He makes a nest and buries himself.”

The Mayugas speak highly of bulldogs as a breed, and Ed Mayuga says they’re like “little clowns.”

“People who don’t know bulldogs often think they’re fierce,” he says. “Nothing is further from the truth. They’re sweet little lap dogs.”

Baxter certainly has his quirks. Mayuga’s parents, who are retired and live down the street, watch the dogs from time to time. Occasionally, Baxter will get to whining, and Mayuga’s parents know just what to do.

“He wants a car ride,” he says. “They’ll put him in the car and drive him in a 10-mile loop. He loves it.”

Baxter absolutely loves Ann Marie Mayuga and will follow her all over the house, her spouse says.

“If you don’t shut the bathroom door when you shower, he’ll be asleep and snoring on the bathmat when you get out,” he says.

When all is said and done, Baxter and Bonaparte make the perfect companions to the Mayugas.

“No matter how my day goes, they’re always there and so happy to see me,” Mayuga says. “Ican’t imagine life without them.”

This story was originally published at laduenews.com. Read it on LN’s website here.

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Happily Ever After Stories

Happily Ever After: Rudy and the Hunt Family

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Once upon a time, Rudy the basset hound was accidentally hit by a vehicle. The six-year-old pup had been living in Kirksville when the collision caused a very bad break in one of his back legs.

Guardian Angel Basset Rescue, which is based out of Dwight, Illinois, but helps bassets as far south as St. Louis, got a call from an animal shelter in Kirksville about poor Rudy. The call said the break was practically inoperable, and Rudy would have to be put down.

Enter Don Hunt, a Guardian Angel volunteer. He told the animal shelter he would help Rudy, and after they transported Rudy south, Hunt took him to Creve Coeur Animal Hospital. Wanting to get a second opinion, Hunt did some research and found someone who could help Rudy avoid amputation.

Hunt and Rudy made the nearly four-hour, 250-mile journey north to Pine Bluff Animal Hospital in Morris, Illinois, where Dr. Brian Schmidt said he could help Rudy.

A plate, six screws and a wire later, “you would never know Rudy’s leg was broken,” Hunt says. Rudy’s bills have been about $5,000 so far, and that’s including the discounts Guardian Angel has received.

But that hasn’t deterred Hunt’s love for his short-legged friend. Hunt, Rudy and a few other bassets reside in Belleville, and Hunt helps out with Guardian Angel whenever he can.

“I’ve been involved [with Guardian Angel] for about four years,” he says. “I got my first basset 25 years ago.”

About four years ago, the death of one of Hunt’s bassets hit him really hard. Seeking solace, he found Guardian Angel, and members of the group brought over a dog. From there, he got involved with transporting and fostering the breed for the rescue organization.

“I’ve driven probably 55,000 miles and visited 10 states transporting dogs and taking them to their forever homes,” he says. “The longest trip was 865 miles in one day. If a basset needs help, within reason, we’ll do it.”

Citing some information from Guardian Angel, he says the organization has been able to save 4,200 bassets over the past 17 years.

As for his own pack, Hunt says they all get along very well. This could be because they’re on the older end of the age spectrum.

“I’m a sucker for senior dogs,” he says. “Rudy is the youngest of mine, at seven years old.”

Hunt says senior dogs are great because they’re very set in their ways. There are rarely fights, he says, but they occasionally get into scuffles over food.

Rudy is especially “precious” to Hunt, he says. “He’s a total love bug.”

Every year, Guardian Angel hosts a “Waddle” event for basset mixes and their owners, and Rudy was named king.

“He’s been through so much,” Hunt says. “One of these days, the plate [in his leg] will need to come out, but the doctor saw him in September and said the X-rays looked fine.”

For now, Rudy and his forever family are content to lounge around Hunt’s home, relaxing on both dog and human beds.

“He likes to sleep next to me,” Hunt says. “When I’m walking around and have sweatpants on, he’ll tug on them. He’s the cutest.”

This story was originally published at laduenews.com. Read it on LN’s website here.

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