Bailey (formerly Beca) & Duncan (formerly Tank)

We are Abbey's puppies fostered by Nicole Scherer. We where born Feb. 17, 2004, and adopted by 2 wonderful families in May 2004. We see each other constantly!! We are so lucky that we don't live to far from each other & that are mom's are best friends!!

Bailey beats up her BIG brother every chance she gets. It's hard to get a good action shot because we run around like crazy! As you can see it's easier to get shots of us relaxing after a hard day of play!

Thanks again for giving us such wonderful families!!!

J.D.

Hey, this is J.D. and I was adopted a little over 4 months ago by a loving girl from Illinois that I now call "mom." She spoils me rotten, because she thinks I certainly deserve it. She made a four hour trek with her family to northwestern Wisconsin to meet my foster parents (whom I still miss and love) and fell in love with me immediately. 

Together, we've walked, run, swam, played ball, and she has bought me all sorts of toys! I love plush toys the most, as you can see in my picture. She's made a great bed for me next to hers, with two beds on top of each other (so I'm on a comfortably soft surface) and two bed pillows for me to lay my sweet blocky head on. Boy, I'm lucky my foster parents saw the potential in my new mom and let her adopt me. 

The neatest thing was that I got to reunite with my foster mom and foster canine sister A.J. at the Pawgustfest a month ago, and my mom still keeps in contact with my foster parents - they're such great people. I've lost ten pounds and despite an ear infection after swimming once, have been the picture of health. My mom always says stuff like, "I don't know what I'd do without you" or "you are the best boy ever"... makes me feel good.

Thank you so much to everyone at LEARN who made my adoption possible, and especially to my foster family for loving me so much and helping find me a great family!!

Jack (formerly Harrison)

On Nov. 5, 2004, we lost our 12-year-old Husky. Our sorrow turned to joy when we adopted a 9-week-old pup (Harrison) from LEARN in March. My daughter renamed him Jack (as in Jack Sparrow from Pirates Of The Caribbean movie). He has grown from 17#'s to over 85#'s at 8 months of age.

The Vvt thinks Jack will be over 100#. Jack's heart is just a big as his body. He loves all his canine and human friends. He does have a feline adopted brother (Oblina) that he showers with kisses. He learned quickly to sit, stay and give paw. He was housebroken in three weeks.

We would like to that Pat (Harrison's foster Mom). Her summary of his likes and dislikes were right on target.

The good people at LEARN were able to rescue Harrison's (Jack) mother after she delivered three pups on Dec. 27, 2004. Her owner did not know she was pregnant and did not want to be inconvenienced. His mother Annie, brother Henry and sister Hazel were put up for adoption.

We feel very happy that Jack adopted us. Thank You!

Jan and Jennifer Cingatura
Cudahy, Wisconsin

Isaac

We adopted Isaac over the Memorial Day holiday and you'll be glad to hear that he's adjusting nicely. Isaac has given his 12 year old roommate, Sam, renewed energy. He has made friends with all the dogs in our neighborhood...his best buddy is a mastiff named Emma. They both enjoy running and swimming in our ponds everyday. He would spend every waking minute retrieving his yellow stick from the water if we would let him! He is friendly and affectionate with everyone he meets and has formed a special bond with my husband. Isaac is truly a wonderful addition to our family. We're grateful to LEARN for the opportunity to rescue such a great dog. Thank you LEARN!

Cedar

I wanted to say thank you for all the fun we had at the Pawgust Fest in Libertyville on the 6th of August. I got to bring my older sister Snickers (12 YOA) to play and have fun too. We got to chase the plastic bag and run with a bunch of neat guys and gals who had just as much fun as we did, and the highlight of the day was I got to learn how to swim for the very first time. My dad spent some time with me to make me feel comfortable with the water and MAN was it fun. I got to swim twice in the pool. The photo below is the two of us when my Mom found out where we were playing. I need to find a way to tell her...Snickers went swimming for her first time too. We had a lot of fun and wanted to say thank you to LEARN and everyone who showed up. I got to meet a lot of great labs who wanted to have fun just like me!

I got home and just wanted to chill in the back yard and relax. It was a great day! Well I need to get some rest for tomorrow. Again thank you for a great day and I am gonna get some shut eye. Hope you do not mind! I can not wait to be able to do this again!

Hi this is Cedar's Dad...Man did he have fun. Wiped the two of them out. They had a ton of fun and are the joy of our lives. Thank you again for rescuing this beautiful boy. He has grown into a sweet and wonderful addition to our family. Let’s be quite now. Cedar is sacked out!

Lucy

Hello to my LEARN family! Just some photos of me, hanging out in my new backyard. I am loving this green fuzzy thing (tennis balls) that my awesome foster parents introduced me to ... luckily they had about 42 of them at my new home. After spending the better part of my first night growling at myself in the bathroom door mirror, I have adjusted quickly to life here.  I don't chase the cats (I even kiss the one) or eat their food and I have also mastered the word "down." Turns out I can get a lot of  love with all four feet on the ground, but I do still like to get up and give big hugs sometimes. I also like sleeping on the thing called "couch" very  very much, which is ok here.

I'm going to the vet on Saturday to find out about getting spayed and the entropian surgery I need. I'll send you a new update later!

Thanks again to all my friends at LEARN; Kelly and Patrick are so very grateful to you all too for what you do!

Reilly (formerly Rusty)

This is Reilly, formerly known as "Rusty," the special needs lab with diabetes. She is pictured with her human sister Ryann, who also has insulin dependent diabetes.

Thank you so much !! We brought her home on Sunday and she has melted our hearts! We just can't thank you enough!

Sandy

Hello! We adopted Sandy (8 yr old female). We wanted to send a letter and pictures of how wonderful she is and what a great addition she makes to our family. When we originally applied to adopt, we were thinking of getting a younger lab to keep our 4 1/2 year old male company and be buddies. Well, we fell in love with Sandy the moment we met her. She might be 8yrs+ old, but she's a fiesta girl! She gives our Odie a run for his money and loves to play ball! Odie actually tires out before she does! Adopting an older dog is just as wonderful as adopting a younger one.

But there are a few extra perks that make the process much easier having an older dog - they are usually housebroken, basic command trained and give you more love than you can ever imagine because they are thankful to have found you!

Sandy has quickly adjusted to her new home and loves the attention that she gets from everyone. Her favorite activity is playing fetch and stealing Odie's bones. Attached is a photo of the "kooky kids" in action. Odie has been nothing but a gentlemen with Sandy and letting her have free reign of the toy box.

They actually follow one another around and sleep in the same room for naps during the day. Seeing the 2 of them playing together makes us realize we made the right choice in adopting her. She is everything we have hoped for and more!

Thank you very much for everything all of the LEARN volunteers have done and all the advice that we have received.

Freddie

We adopted Freddie on Feb. 5 (2005). He was a stray and due to be euthanized. Luckily L.E.A.R.N. rescued him. He knows all his commands and is a well-mannered dog. He was obviously well taken care of. He was extremely overweight, so he was either not a stray for very long, or the dog catcher found him when the local Burger King emptied their dumpster. We are working on his weight and it is coming off slowly. The only problem we have had with him is his bolting out the door. And since Freddie is not his given name, it is hard to get him to come back. We installed the Invisible Fence and he is really picking up the idea. He’s adjusting to the fence quicker than his step-sister Georgie Girl.

Georgie had a little trouble learning to trust Freddie in the beginning. She had a Dalmatian brother that used to beat her up. But after a few weeks she realized that Fred would never hurt her. They share toys and chase after each other, and it'll be fun to see then play in the yard after their fence training is finished.

Freddie has met most of the members of our family and loves them all.

We totally enjoyed the adoption process and are recommending L.E.A.R.N. to everyone we know.

Moose

A big hello from Moose! It has been a year now since I have been adopted by my foster parents. I have adjusted well living here with both them and my dog sister Shadowfax and my cat siblings.

So much has gone on during this past year but my biggest accomplishment has been reducing my separation anxiety when my parents are gone. I have worked so hard at trying to remain calm when they leave and not to get into to much mischief.

My mom and dad really spoil both my sister and I. We get to go just about anywhere with them and my mom has taken me to some real fun LEARN Meet n Greets. But my favorite place is the local dog park where I get to run around with all my doggie friends and all the local Pet Stores. I prefer the Pet Store more though. I always get free treats for looking so darn cute. Well that is what everyone tells my mom.

I am so thankful that my parents gave me the time and patience to work with my anxiety issues and a Big Thank You to LEARN for finding me a wonderful and loving family of my own.

Also here are some pictures that I would like to share with everyone. One is of both myself and my sister Shadowfax and the other is of me.