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ATTENTION HAPPY TAILS ADOPTERS! We're working on putting together a book of our Happy Tales, the success stories of your adoptive pet. We'd love to hear from you...please email a brief story about your Happy Tails adopted pet (how you found the right one, or some cute story about things they do) and a photo or two! Email to: csrahappytails@gmail.com and include "BOOK" in the subject line. Thank you!!!
    The dogs in the slideshow below are those taken in by Happy Tails Rescue in 2009 & 2010 that were found positive for heartworms and needing treatment to save their lives. 

    Although our vets frequently provide discounts, this is still an expensive treatment costing at least $200 per dog, sometimes more if additional treatments are required.  Please consider a dontation to help save these dogs lives!

   Please send your donations, with checks made out to CSRA Happy Tails Rescue, to: 
Happy Tails Rescue Inc.  
P.O. Box 211773
Augusta,Ga 30917-1773

Or make a secure online donation using your credit card via PayPal:



Click here to learn more about Canine Heartworm prevention and treatment.
TRISTAN'S TALE
DAY 1:  April 24, 2010:  Tristan is a sad sight to behold! He and his brother were found abandoned in the woods in Heard County. Sadly, his brother didn't make it.  A rescue had offered to take Tristan, but turned their back on him in his last hours.   Happy Tails stepped up to give him a chance at life, and we're doing all we can to give Tristan a fighting chance. He has severe hairloss due to untreated Demodex mange, secondary skin infections, intestinal parasites and is very emaciated.  Our vet has started him on medications to treat all of these and he's getting lots of healthy food to get his weight back on.  He has the most beautiful hazel eyes peeking out from his scab-covered sad little face.  Tristan is estimated to be 6-8  months old (though I still need to get a vet to make a more educated estimate) and possibly a Brittany Spaniel or maybe a Hound mix, difficult to tell without the hair. We can see some tufts of white coat with occasional spots of reddish hair, but over 95% of his coat is gone and he's covered in infected sores. It will take quite some time to treat his terrible condition, and get this boy to a healthy point where he can be adopted.

DAY 5:  April 28, 2010:  Tristan has probably never been inside a home before, never been on a leash and probably never had a kind hand to pet him.  He's very scared but is learning that the inside of the house is quite comfy.  Except for the bathtub part!  He weighed in at only 37 lbs.  Today for the first time...he gave a tiny wag of his tail at dinner time! 

DAY 6: April 29, 2010:   Wow, Tristan is improving in leaps and bounds.  He fully wags his tail now, and not just at dinner time.  He comes to me to be touched rather than crouching in a corner and lowering his head.  He was allowed out with the other dogs in the foster home and tried to kiss the Doberman!  Not even a week and he's really coming out of his shell!

DAY 9:  May 2, 2010:   Tristan tried to play a little with his foster "Mom", and enjoyed a Kong toy with peanut butter and is sporting a new collar (probably the first he's ever had)!  He's also found his 'voice', and will 'talk back' when he gets playful.  He's also working hard on his house training, so he woke his foster Mom up VERY early this morning for his potty break using his newly found voice.  Tristan had his first visitor today, and was quite shy but sooo much better than the first day he came to foster care.  All this in 9 short days!    

Day 12:  May 5, 2010:   Tristan is growing HAIR!   You can see some in this photo...along his chest and legs, his back has the most hair and the horrible scabs on his face & body are mostly gone!  Compare this photo of his face with Day 1, huge difference.  You can click on any of these photos for a larger view.   (But same soft caramel colored eyes!)   Another difference in the photos of his face...in Day 1 he held his had hanging low & he was soo afraid, but Day 12 his head is up and he's very releaxed (I woke him from his nap on my kitchen floor).   He's starting to act like a typical pup....cries some when you leave him alone, finds sticks and stuff in the yard to carry around and WANTS to be petted.   Unlike the first few days, he will now eat from my hands and looks forward to mealtimes.  He'll show his
impatience with my slow dinner preparations with a hound-like chatter, luckily he'll stop when I tell him 'hush'.  He also trots around the yard with his tail UP...unlike the first week when he'd 'slink' around with tail tucked up to his belly.   Tristan appears to be out of immediate danger as far as his health, so he's heading to our vet at Caremore on Friday to get his vaccines.  Tonite Tristan gave me his first kiss!

Day 13:  May 6, 2010:   Another bath time for Tristan...NOT his favorite thing!  His skin and coat are looking much better, but he'll need weekly baths with a very mild soap for a bit.  

Day 15:  May 8, 2010:   Two weeks from today three volunteers worked together to get Tristan from the shelter to the safety of our rescue group.   Today Tristan celebrated with a little 'playgroup', with two doggie visitors and two people.  He'd doing great in his socialization!   And...Tristan is starting to 'smile'.   When I get outside playing with him and get him real excited, he'll lift up just a wee bit of lip and show some teeth.  In a Doggie World, this is a smile.   Some dogs grin so big they show all their teeth & people mistake it for a snarl.  Dogs that do smile, only do it when they're happy...so that's a great sign from Tristan!   Can't wait to see if it turns into a full mouth grin someday!

Day 19:  May 12, 2010:  Tristan has had no potty accidents in over a week!  The potty pads I put down have become play toys for him to shred.  I'd much rather clean up shredded potty pad than any accidents!  He will wake me up at night if he needs to go potty...he'll finish his business outside and then quickly settle back into his bed for sleep.   He's playing more now, and loves his chew toys. 

Day 20:  May 13, 2010:   "Tristan" has a new 'foster' (who will most likely adopt) home and new name...drum roll please!  Bogart Beaufort Bennet, aka Bogey!  Chad is one of those people who sees the heart of the dog and not the surface.  Chad's ready to work on Bogey's socialization and training with lots of TLC.  Chad will keep us updated and we'll include photos here to show his progress.  This dog has hit the jackpot!

Day 24: May 17, 2010: Tristan is in he's new foster home and doing great! His coat looks better every day, he's learning how to walk on leash and be a happy family pet! Oh...and no potty accidents either!