Meet Lizzy

Barrio Dogs is happy to be participating in 2015's Clear the Shelters program with Telemundo and KPRC Click2 Houston. One of the dogs we're featuring is Lizzy, who was part of a large litter born to a homeless East End mama. Fortunately, the story ends well for the little family although Lizzy is the only family member who still needs her forever home. For more information about her, contact tauna@barriodogs.org.

Barrio Dogs' addresses Houston's stray dog overpopulation by educating residents and focusing on prevention so that fewer animals end up at the shelters. Since we don't have an actual shelter, we will be featuring some of the dogs rescued in Houston's East End with the hope of finding them forever homes on August 15th, the date of the Clear the Shelters event. 
 #cleartheshelters

Meet Jet

Barrio Dogs is happy to be participating in 2015's Clear the Shelters program with Telemundo and KPRC Click2 Houston. One of the dogs we're featuring is Jet. This young dog grew up in a foster home and needs a forever home. For more info about him, contact tauna@barriodogs.org.

Barrio Dogs' addresses Houston's stray dog overpopulation by educating residents and focusing on prevention so that fewer animals end up at the shelters. Since we don't have an actual shelter, we will be featuring some of the dogs rescued in Houston's East End with the hope of finding them forever homes on August 15th, the date of the Clear the Shelters event. 
 #cleartheshelters

Meet Ryan

Barrio Dogs is happy to be participating in 2015's Clear the Shelters program with Telemundo and KPRC Click2 Houston. One of the dogs we're featuring is Ryan. This great fellow is living in boarding and needs a foster or forever home. For more info, contact tauna@barriodogs.org.

Barrio Dogs' addresses Houston's stray dog overpopulation by educating residents and focusing on prevention so that fewer animals end up at the shelters.  Since we don't have an actual shelter, we will be featuring some of the dogs rescued in Houston's East End with the hope of finding them forever homes on August 15th, the date of the Clear the Shelters event. 
#cleartheshelters

Clear The Shelters 2015

Barrio Dogs is happy to be in the 2015 "Clear the Shelters" project. Clear the Shelters is a part of a national effort by NBC to find homes for dogs living in shelters. Here in Houston, the project will be featured on KPRC and Telemundo.

Barrio Dogs' addresses Houston's stray dog overpopulation by educating residents and focusing on prevention so that fewer animals end up at the shelters. Since Barrio Dogs does not have an actual shelter, we will be featuring some of our boarded dogs that were found in Houston's East End on this blog with the hope of finding them homes on August 15th. 

Stay tuned for some adorable doggies! #cleartheshelters

Update: May 5-21, 2013

Notes by Dulce Garcia and Lynn Rodriguez.

Do you have a little spare time, love dogs and would like to help socialize and exercise some awesome rescued dogs? If so, come on out and meet our rescues that are living in a boarding facility and need a little extra TLC.  Not only will you brighten their day but you will also help prepare them for a forever home.

Meet the rescues:

Kale

Kale loves people and lying in the sun so what's not to love about him? His nickname is "Cookie Monster" because he loves all treats but his favorite treats are peanut butter-flavored ones.  Kale suffered so much while he was living on the streets but he has moved past that and is so happy and grateful to be safe!

Lady

Lady is still living in boarding and could really benefit from a foster or better yet, a forever home. Lady has cancer on one of her hind legs but that doesn't stop her from being the happy dog that she is. Some days her leg may be bothering her so be careful and keep an eye out for that; on those days, keep her activity to a minimum. She loves to hang out in the yard or go for a walk. She is great on a leash and is a good dog to walk for beginners.

Renata

Renata would be very happy if you could do two of her favorite things: the first is spend time with her in the play yard because she loves being there. The second is go out for a walk so that she can relieve some kennel stress. Renata spent most of her life tied to a tree and neglected. No wonder this girl is so thankful when she gets lots of attention from our volunteers.

Rosebud

Rosebud is now safe and off the streets of Sunnyside. This gentle giant girl is a true sweetheart worth getting to know. She has started a new life and like all the rescues, is ready for a forever home. Due to her heartworm condition (which is being treated), her activity level must be kept low per veterinarian's orders. We encourage volunteers to only take Rosebud out for low activity play time in the yard as opposed to a walk.

Tiger

Tiger is such a handsome and happy dog! We're so glad he's off the streets of Denver Harbor. This boy is learning to cope with his new surroundings. Like Rosebud, he is being treated for heartworms so his activities need to be limited to the play yard.

Barkley

Barkley was abandoned at the boarding facility. He has been vetted, fixed and should go into a foster home soon. Since he is smaller than the other dogs, let him play on his own in the yard.

Raven

Raven has been living at the boarding facility for a while. He is not particularly friendly so we ask that none of the volunteers try to walk him or take him out of his run. He gets outside time by himself or with his friend Zoe, who belongs to the boarding facility's owners.

Tita

Mackenzie

Tita and Mackenzie have gone into foster homes although you may see them in boarding from time to time. We are grateful for our fosters who give the dogs a chance to live in a real home, sometimes for the first time ever, while we find them a forever one.

As always, we ask that if you visit the boarding facility, please check the white board for updates on all the dogs before interacting with any of them. Be sure and wear sturdy shoes and as always, keep treats to a minimum since the dogs are on a feeding schedule. There are poop bags and a pooper scooper and we would appreciate it a lot if you could help clean up the play yard after the dogs are out there. If you have questions or comments, please contact dulce@barriodogs.org and lynn@barriodogs.org. Thank you to everyone for all your help!

Update: April 10, 2013

Notes by Lynn Rodriguez

Here are some brief bios of our Barrio Dogs currently living in boarding:

Kale

Kale is an American Pit Bull Terrier, approximately 3 years old and weighs 52 pounds. He was rescued from the Hidalgo Park area in Houston in December 2012. He was starving and suffering from various ailments related to his life on the streets. After his rescue, he was vetted and treated for his medical conditions and he has recovered. He has lived in boarding since his rescue, first with another organization and since last month, with Barrio Dogs. He loves people and loves lying outside in the sun; we do not recommend that he be allowed to go near any cats.

Lady

Lady is a beautiful white and brown Pit mix. She was rescued in October 2012 by a police officer who helps some of the animals she encounters during her patrol in East Houston. She found Lady on the street and took her home but that did not work out so Lady has lived in boarding since then. She is fully vetted and spayed. In December 2012 we learned that a mass on her back leg that we initially thought was a sprang was Mast Cell II cancer. The mass was removed and the specialist we consulted gave us some options, none of which are good: amputation, radiation, or chemotherapy. The plan is to amputate Lady’s leg although a recent check revealed that the cancer has not spread. Lady will have the operation when we can find her a medical foster.
 

Mackenzie

Mackenzie is a beautiful blue Pittie with a sweet disposition. She is 3-4 years old and has been spayed and fully vetted. She was dumped in February 2013 near Broadway/Park Place off I-45 South. When we found her, she was bleeding and full of milk; she’d apparently had a litter of puppies some time recently although the puppies were nowhere to be found. Mackenzie has been in boarding since being rescued. She has an old fracture below her elbow that we initially treated with a cast; she wore the cast for several weeks but it made her arm worse. When she was evaluated by a specialist last month, the doctor removed the cast and recommended amputation. Since there is no medical foster to care for her after surgery, we have delayed it. We are also monitoring her to see if she is improving and able to use the leg.

Tita

Tita is a pit mix with a puppy personality. She is about two years old, weighs 58 pounds and has been fully vetted and spayed. She was rescued from the Hidalgo Park area in October 2012 and has been in boarding ever since. She was in bad shape when rescued with a terrible skin condition and open bleeding sores. She has fully recovered and is a joyful dog. She loves to drop and roll and get belly rubs. She is not very tall but she is compact and strong. For the past few weeks, Tita has been going into a foster home on the weekends.

Renata

Renata is a Boxer/Boston terrier mix, approximately two years old and 45 pounds. She used to be known as Princess and lived in Houston’s East End where she spent her life tied to a tree. During that time, she had many litters of puppies. After her last litter, a caring neighbor signed her up to be spayed by Barrio Dogs’ FixIt project in December 2012; after she was spayed and vetted, we decided that we simply could not return her to life tied to a tree so we asked her owner to surrender her to us which she did. Renata has lived in boarding ever since. She has a sweet disposition and gets along well with other dogs.

Parker was rescued in March 2013 when some volunteers found him in Mason Park. He was crying and appeared to be injured. After some missteps at the vet, he was diagnosed with an ear infection and neck injury. Now that he has received the proper medical treatment, he is doing well. We think he is a Corgi/Chihuahua mix and is about 3 years old and weighs 20 pounds. He's been neutered and fully vetted and is friendly and great with volunteers. We are evaluating his behavior in the event he has issues related to being abandoned or lost at the park.

Parker

  

Hidalgo

Hidalgo been in boarding a short while and is skittish and timid. He was rescued from Hidalgo Park in late March 2013. We are asking our animal behaviorist to evaluate him and will get a professional trainer to work with him. At this point, we ask volunteers to not attempt to walk or interact with him. 

Raven and Zoe are two big black dogs who are similar looking although Raven has no tail. Zoe belongs to the owners of the boarding facility and has lived there for a long time. Raven belonged to an independent rescuer who gave him to Barrio Dogs to find him a home. We agreed to let an out-of-state resident adopt Raven last year and transported him to his new home. Unfortunately, he was returned by the adopter because of behavioral issues. Raven is back in boarding and seems to be content living there. He and Zoe are good friends and keep each other company. Although Zoe can be walked, we ask that volunteers not take Raven out of his run or try to walk him. He is let out at least twice a day by the facility’s owners and by our volunteer Ernie Zenteno.

Raven and Zoe

If you have questions or comments about any of our dogs, please contact dulce@barriodogs.org or lynn@barriodogs.org. 

Spring Break Treat for Our Barrio Dogs

Lady and a new friend

Tita looks like she's in heaven with all the attention she is getting

Students from YES Prep East End recently spent their 2013 spring break helping Barrio Dogs. They had to do service days for their senior project and they chose us. Our trainer and volunteer Dulce Garcia agreed to supervise the students while they worked at the boarding facility where we house our dogs.

In addition to learning about the importance of spaying/neutering and appropriate pet care, the students interacted, played and socialized with our rescued dogs every day. They learned more about each dog and the dog’s background story.  After hearing the dogs’ stories, the students did everything they could to make our rescues happy to make up for the bad life they had before they were rescued and our dogs were overjoyed to have the students' company.

We are so grateful for the time these students spent with our dogs. We also think the students learned a valuable lesson about the conditions for animals in their community and ways to improve the lives of the animals around them.

Mackenzie is much happier now that her cast is off

The students with Parker

Lady with one of the students; we think she is smiling!

Barrio Dogs' volunteer Ernie Zenteno with Tita and the students

The students and some posters they made; we love how Tita managed to get into several pictures

Renata looks like she is having a wonderful time!

Here is Tita with a student and one of her favorite toys