Rocky Mountain Cocker Rescue

Maddie

Maddie has an adoption application pending!!

.Maddie is a nine year old Cocker Spaniel that recently lost her owner and is looking for a new home.  She is a black spayed female and came into rescue with her best pal, Flag.  She would like to be adopted with Flag, but it is not necessary.

Maddie is spayed and is up to date on her vaccinations which will be due in June 2010 except for rabies which will not be due until June of 2011.  She is good with other animals, but would prefer all of your attention if possible!  She is house trained and is in good health.

Maddie’s former owner had her own home-based business and was at home with her a lot, so she is used to having someone around.  Currently she spends 5-6 hours unsupervised and is fine.  The best home situation for her would be with owners that either work part-time, have a home-based business, or are retired.  She would really like a nice fenced yard so that she can get out and investigate.  We recommend a home without young children since she’s never lived in that environment.  She has done fine with children at adoption events.

If you are interested in meeting Maddie, please complete one of our online adoption applications.

House

House is 1-1/2 years old and is a very sweet and beautiful dog. He tends to be timid at first but he is also looking for his forever family where he can come out of his shell and show everyone how much fun he is. He really likes to play with Toby and is interested in other animals. He is happy with children. He just needs to be loved and hugged so that he no longer feels the need to be timid. 

He is house broken and will go in a crate. He shows no aggessive tendencies and submits to alphas.  He is eagerly searching for his forever family. He will provide love, care, and hugs to someone lucky enough to adopt him.

If you are interested in meeting House, please complete our online adoption application.

Sandi

Sandi is a lively, inquisitive, and affectionate two year old female coppery buff Cocker Spaniel that was found as a stray in Cortez, CO and was brought into rescue with the help of some friends from Montrose, CO. Sandi has been spayed and has all of her vaccinations. This pretty little girl is crate trained and house trained. She is a bit timid at first, but warms up quickly. We don’t know anything about her past, so we will not place her in a home with small children, though she did well while staying with a 10 year old girl. She gets along well with other dogs and cats. Once she gets to know you, she quickly becomes a “Velcro” dog. Sandi would do best in a home with experienced Cocker owners who will be patient as she learns the ropes. It appears that she has not had any experience with groomers in the past and this will need help from experienced professionals.

If you are interested in meeting Sandi, please fill out one of our online adoption applications.

The Story of “Sweet Pea”, or “Why We Do Animal Rescue”

The following story is a fictional account of a Cocker Spaniel meant to tell the greater story of why volunteers band together to accept dogs into their homes and go to the time, effort, expense and heartbreak of finding a loving forever home for an animal. If it sounds familiar, it is because it is a common story for any family that has a beloved dog, but as years pass other priorities put the dog on the back burner until the time comes when the family arrives at the difficult decision to give up their dog that has been a part of their lives for years. Names, characters, places and incidents are all fictional and any resemblance to actual people, dogs and places is entirely coincidental.

Sweet Pea was an adorable little parti colored Cocker Spaniel who was adopted by her owners when she was a young pup.  She was sweet tempered, well behaved and loved her human pack, both the adults in the beginning and the children after they were born.  Time went by and the children grew up, as children do. One day the dog was no longer their favorite toy because they were busy with their friends, school and other activities.  The adults were distracted with caring for the kids, but Sweet Pea was still fairly happy.  She had a huge box of toys and a nice bed and blanket; the problem was, her favorite playmates didn’t care about her any more.  The humans put a pretty purple nose leader on her, which was OK, but they didn’t realize it was too tight and chafed the fur off her little nose.  Her harness, a high quality nylon one in a deep shade of yellow, looked great on her, and it probably fit just fine when they first got it.  Now it was so tight that she could only breathe in shallow gasps.  Sweet Pea tried nudging them for attention: she was a good girl, but she had to let them know she was having trouble breathing.  The humans pushed her away thinking she was demanding affection—affection they simply no longer had time to give.  She tried whining.   That displeased her humans.  She tried a sort of wheezy barking: they just tightened her nose harness further.  Walking and running was very difficult for Sweet Pea with so little air getting into her constricted lungs, but she tried to play with her humans anyway.  They thought she was lazy and lost interest.  She finally, in desperation, peed on their bed.  Yes, she knew it was a BADDOG thing to do, but she had to get their attention somehow—she couldn’t breathe!  So the humans decided she really was a BADDOG and dropped her off with a rescue group, telling them that she had serious behavior problems and they didn’t have time to train her.

I was there when the family brought her by.  After the family left, Sweet Pea barked and cried to let them know she was forgotten so they would come back for her.  Anyone who resembled one of the children or the parents got Sweet Pea very excited until she realized it was another stranger.

We were to try to get her a new home at an adoption event that day: if we couldn’t, they’d take Sweet Pea back home, and maybe try again later.  We looked Sweet Pea over.  She seemed well fed, though her ears were dreadfully matted.  As soon as we removed the nose halter from her and loosened up her harness so she could get some air and drink a little water, she visibly relaxed and became a bit more cheerful.  Of course, she was still disoriented and confused: her family had, after all, driven off without her, leaving her with a bunch of strangers.  Still, she was a friendly little thing and very affectionate.  It was hard to process for her: her own humans wouldn’t even play with her, and these strangers had let her get some air, fed her, walked her, petted her…and there were so many of them, all saying what a pretty girl she was.  Maybe this day wasn’t so bad, after all.

From the other end of the parking lot came a woman, walking slowly.  She was calm and smiling, tidy in appearance.  If her eyes held a searing loneliness, she carried it well.  She had almost not come to this event, but decided she at least wanted to see the agility trials, fun dog games and obedience contests being held in the tent—a little silliness to brighten the day.   Mary visited all the various adoption booths in the parking lot, where there was a wondrous array of four-legged friends: the ghostly gray Weimeraners, the Boston Terriers with their cute little pushed-in faces, the enormous Irish Wolfhound, the mournful Bassetts, the mixed breeds, the Cockers…all  were hoping for a forever home, someone who would let them be a companion.  They asked little more than food and affection in return for their complete devotion for their entire lives.  It really doesn’t seem like too much to ask, somehow.  Mary visited them all, looking for the one that could fill the void left when her dog died of cancer the previous year, followed only three months ago by the cancer death of her husband of 28 years.  All the dogs seemed wonderful, but she just didn’t feel a special connection with any of them.

One of the volunteers had taken Sweet Pea for a little walk around the grounds of the event.  Mary spotted Sweet Pea and fell in love.  She asked if she could take their picture—the dog was just so adorable.  The volunteer told her that the dog actually was not his, but was available for adoption.  Mary followed Sweet Pea and the volunteer back to the booth.  While she was filling out the adoption application, Sweet Pea climbed into her lap.  I don’t think I saw them in any other position for the rest of the afternoon as they sat snuggled together as if made for each other.  The sweet neglected dog and the lady, who had come to the event determined not to spend another Saturday night without a dog to fill her heart, went home together.

And that, my friends, is why we do animal rescue.

JC

JC is a beautiful, 5 year old, black, male Cocker Spaniel with a white chest whose owner surrendered him to us when she got married. Apparently, JC and the new husband didn’t see eye to eye so JC had to find a new home. 

He’s been to obedience training and is familiar with basic commands. He’s house trained, does well on a leash and enjoys being outside on nice days. He loves his crate, and will initially use it as his safe place. JC does well around other dogs and shows no interest in cats at his foster home. 

As with some of us who don’t acclimate well to a lot of change in a short period of time, JC initially had some struggles when he arrived in rescue, but he has blossomed into a mellow, gentle, affectionate and friendly Cocker ready for his new home. JC cannot go to a home around small children.  JC will be a sweetheart totally devoted and loving with the right person who will treat him with patience, kindness and attention.

JC is neutered and up to date on all of his vaccinations.

If you are interested in meeting JC, please submit an application at http://www.rockymoutaincockerrescue.org/adoption-info/.

Riley’s Happy Tale

Elli, Edwin and Riley

Elli and Edwin quickly became adept at caring for a sick dog when they received their first foster dog, Riley. Within just a day or so of arrival, Riley became quite ill with hookworms. After weeks of TLC and vet visits, they couldn’t bear to part from their Cocker Spaniel fur baby and decided to adopt him. Riley is over the hump with his illnesses now and we hope that he lives a very long, healthy and happy life with his new mom and dad! Edwin and Elli have joined the ranks of proud foster failures!

Choco

My name is Choco and I am a two year old male Cocker Spaniel. I came to rescue very fearful, and afraid of being touched. I am very playful now, walk well on a leash, and am happy to say you can now pet me. My nickname is Happy Feet because I am just a happy playful boy.

Choco came to RMCR from another rescue group.  He’s been well cared-for and is beautiful.  He plays great with the other dogs, is fully house-trained and very friendly.  He is shy at first and really doesn’t like to be touched behind his forelegs: he swivels his head sharply as if to bite or nip, but keeps his mouth closed.  For this reason, we will not place Choco in a home with kids under the age of twelve.  We feel that if older kids can be trusted not to grab him there, everything should be fine.  Choco seems to do well around cats as well.  He is also crate trained.

If you are interested in adopting Choco, please fill our online adoption application.

Jasper

Jasper is a very sweet and calm seven year old Cocker boy, though he does like chasing the squirrels on occasion!  He gets along very well with other dogs and cats. He knows sit, down, come, and he’s learning “cookie” very quickly.  Jasper does well on a leash.  He does great in his crate, but hasn’t needed to be crated at all.  He only chews the things he is supposed to, and has shown no resource guarding issues.  He’s a little shy at first but warms up very quickly.  He definitely needs to lose a few pounds.  He seems to be house-broken, though he did piddle three times his first night in his new foster home.  It didn’t seem to be voluntary–it just sort of came out.  Perhaps weight or bladder issues might be in play.  He also has slight limp in the right rear which may be due to just over-exertion: he didn’t object to an examination of his joints or extending them by his foster mom.  As far as we can tell right now, he’s another nearly perfect doggie.

Stryker

Stryker is a beautiful and very sweet, black, American Cocker Spaniel who was found as a stray. He is approximately 7 months old, 20 pounds and just as good as can be. He is playful and energetic, as one would expect from a young dog, but he knows some basic commands and is quite calm for one so young.

PJ – Adopted

PJ (short for Pride and Joy) is an absolutely gorgeous, English Cocker Spaniel puppy. He was found as a stray, so our best guess for age is around 8 to 9 months since his back teeth are just starting to come in. PJ’s coloring is very unique and similar to a German Shorthair Pointer on the back, but the head is a tri colored brown, tan and white. His pictures were taken right after grooming and a bath, so he is wet. He came in as such a long coated, matted, stinky mess that we could hardly tell he was a Cocker Spaniel.

PJ is very small and under weight, so he eats very rapidly, but has no food aggression whatsoever. His foster mom has been able to stick her hand in his food dish and put her hand on his muzzle while he is eating with any issues. He loves dogs, kids, cats and people in general. Since he is very much a puppy, he is very playful and has lots of energy. He would do best in a home with another young dog to play with and help him burn off that high energy. PJ is crate trained, but not yet house trained. His foster mom says it shouldn’t take him long to learn since he follows the house trained dogs outside and mimics their behavior. PJ is up to date on his vaccinations and neutered.  If you are considering this little boy, act fast because he is sure to be adopted very quickly.