Rescue ~ Rehab ~ Rehome

Brick Boardman

Brick came to our home with his brother in July 2013.  We were looking for a dog to adopt because we had lost our beautiful chocolate lab, Lizzie, and our other lab mix, Tugger missed her as much as we did.  We wanted another chocolate lab if possible but when we found one, he had a brother (a yellow lab from the same litter).  They were four years old and had never been separated so there was no way we were going to take just one.  That’s how we came to be the lucky owners of an awesome lab trifecta – one of each color and all amazing in their own ways.  Brick, the yellow lab, was one of the fastest dogs we ever had!  He could run down a rabbit before it could get out of the yard (we had to free more than one from his mouth).  He was also one of the sweetest dogs we ever met.  Brick had the prettiest coloring to his coat – he reminded us of a snickerdoodle cookie.  And he was the best companion ever, always by our side, at (or between) our feet or less than a foot away at all times, even in bed.  We could never say that one of our dogs was our favorite – they all have their own uniquely lovable attributes, but Brick was truly a special dog.  His passing came quickly and blindsided us.  We will miss him for a very long time.  

Petey
Hello family It is very sad at the Chesney house. I had to say goodbye to Hello family It is very sad at the Chesney house. I had to say goodbye to my beloved little Petey. He got very sick late Sunday night / early Monday morning. He would let out a high-pitched Yelp, then collapse, would lose control of his bowels and urine, and then would be completely limp for about 15 minutes. He had two of these episodes within a 4-Hour time span. I rushed him to the emergency room where the doctor told me that he had a very significant heart murmur. The doctor gave me options of running more tests, completing an echocardiogram, doing an MRI, and putting him on pain medication and heart medication. She also explained that any of these options could possibly give him a few more hours, maybe a day or two, but not much longer than that. I chose not to put my sweet little boy through any of this because of my selfishness and wanting to keep him around longer, so I chose to send him up to Doggy heaven. As you all know I got Petey the day after the hospital put my husband in a coma due to giving him too much anesthesia and then my husband passing away the next day after I got Petey. He brought so much joy and happiness to me at this awful time in my life. Petey always had a super special place in my heart because I believe that he was my last gift from my husband before my husband passed away. Petey brought me so much joy, happiness, laughter and love at this most awful time of my life. So again, I would like to thank Haven to Home for giving me the most amazing gift of my life. He will be sadly missed and always loved. Thank you for sharing this amazing sweet boy with me. Love, Lori Chesney

Dozer

On March 2013, we got Dozer from H2H.  He was a very special dog.  He loved everyone and everyone loved him.  Unfortunately, on Friday July 27, 2018, Dozers heart gave out and he passed away.

He will be forever in our hearts until the day we walk together again.

Ken and Donna

Barney
To our beloved Barney, whom we adopted from H2H in October 2015. In the 2 years and 4 months that we had him, we came to love him and he us. His life seemed to be one of perpetual challenges which we did our best to overcome for him. By all accounts, he spent some years chained to a barn, outdoors in all weathers. And when his owner died, there was no provision for him in the will, which is where H2H rescued him from the bullet of the executor of the estate. Kim fostered him for a few months until we found him in October 2015. He moved into our home as gentle and loving as any dog could be. He made friends with our cats and our dog, and with anybody he met. He rarely barked. Then in February 2016, we discovered he had cancer of the spleen, so we had his spleen removed because we just wanted to (finally) give him a chance to enjoy his senior years. He was also suspected of having liver cancer, so we gave him milk thistle every day until he died. He suffered with lyme disease too, so his hips gave him trouble (arthritis we think), but he was valiant and loving, patient and a non-complaining - ever. He also had skin growths - possibly skin cancers - which we treated as best we could and he never complained when we cleaned his lesions. He used to sing us arias when it was dinner time and he wanted people food. In November 2017 our vet advised us to prepare for the inevitable time when we would have to put him to sleep. But then, like he did every time before, he rallied. In January, he was trotting through the snow, still taking joy in sleeping, sniffing the ground for ages, and eating chicken and rice (his special diet). But on Feb 25th, the final straw came when we found an infected abscess on his hind quarters. With all he was going through - frequent falling and looking at us with a dopey look saying "pick me up, please!", inability to control his bladder or bowels (which we dealt with because he hadn't had a great life, ever and it wasn't a big deal to keep an eye on him); perpetual treatment on his skin lesions, and a definite drop in his joy in life (lack of interest in walks or sniffing every fallen leaf in the neighborhood) - we just felt we couldn't add this to his daily regimen of treatment. So we decided we needed to put him to sleep. It was the right decision but we miss him so much.

Kinzua (formerly Diva)
Nine years ago I volunteered to help bathe 18 puppies that were coming into your rescue. Little did I know that that day would change my life and many others around me. Tammy L. graciously volunteered to keep all the puppies at her boarding kennel. Weeks later friends of mine were looking for a puppy, I knew just where to take them! There were only 3 puppies left that needed forever homes. My friends fell in love with not one but two! The only puppy left was a little girl that had the most beautiful black coat. I was a foster mom so home she came. There was no way I could leave her there! My husband was not a happy camper until he held her. That moment began a love affair that lasted 9 years. Monday August 28th 2017 we had to say goodbye to our special girl. Our hearts are broken but we want to thank you for giving us the special gift named Kinzua.