Wags and Wiggles
This page is devoted to stories of New Spirit adoptees and their human families, and we welcome updates to be featured here.
After the loss of a pet, read about how Dallas made Cris and her family feel complete
Dallas is our 3rd dog. He's our NS4AR rescue that we have had just over a year now (Mother's Day weekend last year!). He's a 7 year old blue Merle who is the sweetest boy and fits wonderfully into our pack!
It wasn't initially like that though.
We decided to adopt a 3rd dog after we had to put our old sweet rescue dog down that February. Going from 3 to 2 was weird. After awhile I decided that if I was going to get another I wanted a rescue. What better way to celebrate your old rescue love than with a new rescue love?
I started to look for a rescue Aussie.
The rescue we had was an Aussie cattle dog mix. And we had 2 Aussies already so we knew what we were getting so to speak. The interview process was awesome. We talked about Aussies. What I felt we needed in a rescue to fit in etc. oh and what color even. I said I didn't mind as much about color but didn't want a puppy and I wanted a submissive male (our female is super bossy Aussie).
We went to meet our Dallas in a 5 hour trip to Pennsylvania (we live in CT). My boyfriend laughed at me when I said we could just meet him and then decide. He told me if we were driving 5 hours you bet we were likely to bring him home.
Madeline was his foster momma and so gracious!!! The meet and greet was less than perfect but they are Aussies and sometimes cranky. For Hana (our red Merle girl), it was no problem. Our boys. Not as much. Merlin is our cranky 4-year-old man as I call him. He needs time to adjust. So home we came and the next week was tense as the boys figured out how to coexist. Then all was ok. Madeline and I have kept in touch through email and social media so she can see the 8 million dog pictures I put up (or something close to that).The house is so quiet when they are gone on occasion, It's something about the tread of 4 paws or in our case 12.
Dallas taught Merlin to pee with his leg up. It's hilarious now. The boys patrol the fence looking for squirrels and wildlife. Practically smashed against each other. I caught them sleeping together the other morning. Best buddies.
Hana my female now has her two henchmen. We take them to daycare on occasion and we have a dog walker to run them too.
The best is when my girls, myself, my boyfriend, and all 3 dogs all crawl onto the bed to play games or watch tv. It's definitely a pack cuddle.
Dallas is amazing and definitely my Velcro dog. His whole back end wags and he will sit outside the shower when I'm in the bathroom. We love him soooo much!!!
We are a lucky Aussie family!
Kancho hit the jackpot when he was adopted by the Bonasera family a little over a year ago
We just crossed our one year anniversary with Kancho in March and he has just been the sweetest, most handsome boy. Adopting from NS4AR was so great. I felt like we had a really good understanding of Kancho before we met him and felt confident about taking him home with us because of all the information that his foster dad gave us.
His favorite thing is to be outside and chase tennis balls! He's become our little guard dog since not a single person or leaf passes our house without him trying to scare them off. It's always so funny how he can be so big and tough when there's a visitor at the house, but when we go to the vet all he wants to do is hide under the chair.
He and his sister have slowly gotten used to each other and dare I say that they might even like each other sometimes! I love watching them run after each other around the house.
A huge thanks to NS4AR for being an amazing group to adopt from!
Read about how Ollie overcame Heartworm and moved from the South to The Big Apple with his adoptive family!
It was April of 2018, and after weeks of my sister sending us countless dogs available at various rescues we decided to look into adding to our family. At the time we had an 11 year old Pomeranian, Theodore, who was in heart failure but taking daily medications to manage his condition. We were hesitant at first to rescue another dog because of Theodore, but our two year old cat Eleanor was very dependent on him. We worried about her when the time came for him to pass over the rainbow bridge. After first discussing it with our vet, my boyfriend and I agreed adding a new addition beforehand would benefit all of us.
After speaking to and visiting various shelters and rescues in New York, we found New Spirit 4 Aussie Rescue. The application process and approval was faster than we expected. Everyone we spoke to involved with the rescue was dedicated, thorough, and compassionate. We spent days searching the available dogs on the site and inquired about a few different ones who either did not fit in with our family or already had a family interested in them. Then we came across Mister Bling from Tennessee. He was heart worm positive and in the process of being evaluated; he would be fostered in North Carolina. He was approximately 2-3 years old and a total sweetheart. We had doubts and concerns about the heart worm but the rescue spoke to us about the process of treatment outcomes and reassured us to not have any worries. We interviewed with his amazing foster Tracy, and impatiently waited for her pick who she thought would be the best fit. We knew we would be able to give him the best life if they chose us, but we live in New York City in a fifth floor walkup and Mister Bling needed heart worm treatment and would not be able to be placed with us until after his full treatment because he would not be able to do our stairs.
While at the time it felt like forever, the process was quick we were picked and officially on May 17, 2018 Mister Bling was listed as adoption pending! His foster gave him the best care and love sending us constant updates and photos. She told us to pick a name so she could begin to call him by it. We thought Oliver aka Ollie would be a perfect fit for this sweet smiley pup. It was not until July that we road tripped with Theodore to pick up and meet our new boy.
On July 21st, 2018 our family grew by one. It was love at first sight for all of us. Ollie adjusted well to life in the big Apple, Central Park being his favorite place to run around and explore. He learned quickly how to walk on a leash and all the necessary commands. He became his mom's favorite running partner. We've gone on many adventures, family road trips, and visit the beach very often. We taught Ollie to swim, paddle board, and to play fetch which has turned him ball obsessed. It took a little while for Eleanor and Ollie to both trust one another because he was a lot bigger than her other brother, but they soon became pals. Two months after Ollie came into our home Theodore passed away peacefully in his sleep. While adding to our family didn't make his passing easier, Ollie helped by giving us nonstop love and attention. His silly personality keeps us smiling day in and day out. He's become the best sidekick that we could've asked for and a complete mama's boy. We are ecstatic to say that one year from his treatment Ollie is heart worm negative!
It might be cliche to say "who rescued who?" but Ollie came at the perfect time and we promise to continue to give him the best life filled with adventure and lots of love. We couldn't have had a better experience with NS4AR and the foster who we keep in touch with. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for giving Ollie another chance at the life he deserves and filling our hearts with so much love.
Love,
Jillian, Jake, Eleanor and Ollie!!
Kailey had only planned on fostering Hazel but once they met she knew she had found her forever home.
I started following NS4AR on Facebook after my roommates Aussie I grew extremely close to suddenly passed. I didn't feel I was ready to commit to adopting but felt fostering could heal both me and a dog in need. I waited months for a foster opportunity. I had just returned home from vacation in New York and that very day New Spirit reached out about a 2 1/2 year old Aussie from Miami who was in need of a home. I instantly accepted. A lovely volunteer drove all the way to Miami to get Hazel out of her current situation, and drove her all the way to Orlando to bring her to me. I didn't know what to expect fostering considering she was my first ever. She immediately made herself at home. I swore the first night she would sleep in the kennel just in case she wasn't house trained, but she fell asleep snuggled in bed with me anyways.
A few months later I was on my way to class and I received the dreaded call - Hazel found a home. I sobbed in the parking lot and was late for class. The time came for her to meet the potential family and I cried the whole drive there, and embarrassingly got caught crying in my car at their house. The home decided Hazel wouldn't be a good fit and I got in the car, looked at her in my backseat and decided there was no way I could ever get that close to losing her again. This was my chance to keep her. I called New Spirit and told them my decision.
Hazel is now almost 4 and we have moved all the way to Buffalo, New York. She's my best friend and the happiest girl ever. She loves stuffed animals, hikes, naps and swimming in the creek. I'm so beyond grateful for my foster failure and to New Spirit for bringing her into my life.
Kailey Hayes
Read about how Stefanie and Ranger became the best running buddies ever!
I always love to brag about my NS4AR boy, Ranger! He is my 3rd Aussie. My first dog was a Samoyed that lived to 14. I didn't know anything about the Aussie breed but my second dog, Lacey, was a blue merle and amazing frisbee player! She lived to 16 yrs old! When Lacey was 8, I decided to rescue another Aussie because I love the energy and loyalty of the Aussie breed. I rescued Rocky, a 4 year old black tri from ARPH. He was as goofy and sweet as they come! Everybody loved Rocky!
When Rocky was 13, I decided it was time to rescue another. I googled Aussie Rescue and found NS4AR. I saw that Kim Litz was now with NS4AR (she was my Rep from ARPH). She worked with me to find my next Aussie. I was looking for a dog 1 yr to 3 yrs that would be a great running buddy as I am a big runner. We found a blue merle, but she had a soft tissue injury so that would not work. Kim emailed me would I be interested in a black tri that's 2 yrs old that was an owner surrender? I said "YES,YES,YES!" Jeanette Heideman in Apopka was fostering him. Jeanette texted me and sent me pics of Ranger for 2 weeks up until Rocky and I took the 2 hr trip to pick him up! He was as cute as can be!
I have had Ranger for almost 7 months now. I did find out he had just turned 1 when I got him, not 2, which was even better! He was scared of EVERYTHING so he looked up to Rocky as his big brother! I ran with him the next day that I picked him up and he did awesome! I could not ask for a better running buddy! We run 5 times a week. To give momma a break, the other 2 days he goes to daycare where they call him the escape artist because he runs inside to his crate area when he has had enough! At first they did not know that and couldn't find him, and there he was just sitting waiting to get into his area! He does have some anxiety issues that we are working on. One is thunder and after the first storm a couple of weeks ago and I found the poor little guy in the shower. It has been a long time since I had a "puppy" and it is a big adjustment! I am trying to get him to play with toys. I didn't even know some dogs don't play with toys! He is as Velcro as they come and I love it! He used to body slam me at night, lol, but I broke him of that. Now he just jumps gently on me and snuggles and snuggles!
Sadly, Rocky passed away from bloat 9 weeks ago at 14.5 yrs old. I still cry every day. I can tell Ranger misses him but he is doing good. He got more Velcro if that's possible!
Thank you for letting me share my story about Ranger. I really lucked out with him as I did when I rescued Rocky, working with Kim.
Stefanie and Ranger
Mark and Lisa are working with newly adopted Koal every day to help him build his confidence!
We lost both our Aussies in 2019; the last in September. As everyone who loves dogs understands, it is one of the hardest things to do, saying good bye to a beloved part of the family. The house was so quiet and not having someone there to greet you at the door is tough. Additionally, we have had dogs for 28 of the 33 years we have been married. We contemplated getting a new puppy, but knew what we had in store. Therefore, we looked to adopt and settled on Koal. The first visit Koal barked at us for 20 straight minutes and would go to Lisa, but not Mark. During our 2-hour drive home we decided that we would take him.
We went and picked him up on a Sunday and drove him to our home. For the first 2 weeks, he wouldn't come in the house when called. He would barely come to Mark, which was very frustrating. He grew to love our girls, even though they did not live with us. He could not catch a ball, nor understand the concept of bringing the ball back. He did not sit really well even for treats, and walks were more of a dog sled pull, then a walk.
After almost four months, he loves to play ball and Frisbee and is bringing them back. He looks forward to walks each day and is more responsive now on a leash. He has learned several tricks and sit, lay down, come, no, are all commands he understands. He does love all other dogs. His best friends now are his cousins Stark and Oakley. He even has gone on sleep overs at our daughter's and does great.
He greets us at the door, when he is not with us. We try and take him places to develop his social skills even more. He loves Lisa and when her alarm goes off in the morning, he is up on the bed on top of her waiting for morning loving. He loves to eat, but is good about not begging during meals. If you sit in the family room and try to eat a snack, he will be all over you.
He has learned how to stay around outside the fence and does not venture off the property. He does still have some socialization problems. He is very shy and cautious around new people. Therefore, we tell people just to leave him alone and he will eventually make his way over to you. He also has a fear plastic bags, paper towel tubes, and sometimes the dark when he goes outside at night.
Koal has been a great addition to the family and it's a blast exposing him to new things. Like our Vet said during the first visit, she told Koal he doesn't know how lucky he is. He hit family lottery when we adopted him and we are so lucky to have him in our family!
Mark and Lisa
Read about how the Hykin family adopted their first NS dog, Rocky (formerly Scooby Doo NS3133)
My husband and I live in NC with our three young boys. In early 2018, our beloved dog died at age 16. By the fall, my middle son was asking for a dog for his birthday, then for Christmas. On Christmas morning, he unwrapped a new dog door with a tag that said it's time for our family to find our dog. We started looking online as soon as presents were unwrapped. By the end of the week, we had seen the picture of Scooby Doo and fallen in love. We submitted an application to New Spirit for Aussie Rescue, spoke to someone by phone, then spoke to the foster mom who was able to answer our questions and give us a better sense of the dog's personality. It sounded like a great fit and we were so excited. Unfortunately, our basement had just flooded and our house was a construction zone and barely fit for us, much less a new dog. The foster mom held Scooby for us for several weeks until we were able to make the house livable and meet him.
That was nearly five months ago. While we all wanted a magical Disney moment at the meeting when the dog would see us and run to us knowing that we were his family, that's not the way it works in real life. Everyone was a little nervous. We took Scooby home and had a dog trainer come in to help us all communicate with him. The boys started to learn how to play with a young, energetic dog. We walked him and cuddled with him. We renamed him Rocky and worked with him more until he answers to the new name. It's taken time, but it's been good for the boys to learn that the love and trust they associate with a pet works both ways and takes time and effort.
We are so thankful that the NS4AR foster really knew the dog's personality and knew we would be a good fit and was willing to wait for us to be ready to get him. Rocky is a wonderful part of our family and we couldn't be happier with our new pup.
Read about the Balas family, and their adoption of Candie and Murphy, two lucky pups!
My wife and I first became aware of NS4AR back in 2013 after moving to Atlanta. I've been a dog person my entire life and had been toying with the idea of adopting/rescuing for a while. My wife and I conducted the "normal" search online and ran across several great organizations but never really found the right fit. I had always maintained the idea that I wanted to adopt a younger dog so that we could train and maximize the amount of time we had with our future furry friend. One afternoon while at work I received a text message from my wife telling me to check my email..."I found the perfect one". I found the email she sent, clicked on the hyperlink and up popped "Candie", a 7 year old Blue Merle Aussie and German Shepard mix being fostered by John with NS4AR. The first thing I thought was "oh man...this dog is too old for us". After some convincing, my wife finally got me in the car to head out in the suburbs for a visit with Candie. Within 5 minutes of meeting Candie we knew we wanted to adopt her. We filled out an application on the spot, John schedule our home visit, and long story short....Candie came to her forever home a few weeks later. Candie is a "once in a lifetime" dogs. She becomes instant friends with anyone she meets, goes with us to senior living facilities to spend time with the residents, comes to work with me to visit her colleagues, always up for adventure and car rides. Everywhere my wife and I go, Candie is always there with us to tag along. Unfortunately, this past March 2019, Candie passed away just before her 14th birthday. Candie was part of the family for almost 7 years and it just wasn't enough time. You'd be amazed at the number of people in our neighborhood that still talk about Candie and how much they miss her.
Before Candie passed away, we also adopted Murphy in August of '19. We had been talking about getting Candie a playmate for a while and the first place we looked was NS4AR. At the time, Murphy was being fostered by Martha MacDonald out of South Carolina. We had reached out to Martha to setup a time to meet Murphy and about a week or so later, met at a lake located about half way between each person's residence. Candie and Murphy got along great. Just like our first meeting with Candie, we filled out the application on the spot and Murphy came to his forever home a few weeks later. We've had Murphy almost a year now and the laughs just keep coming. He's very much like Candie....Always makes tons of friends, always wants to go for rides, and in general always has a great time wherever he's at. We love having Murphy around and he quickly became a integral part of our family.
NS4AR is a fantastic organization and I can't say enough nice things about you folks. I'm sure the next time we look to bring home a furry friend the only place we'll be looking is NS4AR. I've attached a few photos of Candie and Murphy.
Colin & Darla
A Wonderful Adoption Experience
My name is Jim Morgan and my wife Marion and I adopted Marisol and Sadie (formally called Swosh) in 2008- your first year of existence as a rescue group. On the happy endings page for 2008 you mention the fact that we were the first people to adopt two dogs from your organization.
We had 14 tremendous years with the girls as they traveled with us often to both NC and Florida. They had numerous walks on the beach and enjoyed romping in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
I am most proud of the fact that both girls were very well professionally trained and as a result worked together as therapy dogs representing The Bright and Beautiful Therapy Inc. in New Jersey for a period of ten years.
Both girls were very in good health until the last month and it was appropriate that their lives ended together in February 2023. This Aussie experience was the best thing that ever happened to Marion and I. We are extremely grateful for every thing that you are doing as a Aussie organization. ~ Jim and Marion Morgan
And a note from the Morgan's neighbor's kids: The Morgans are special people and if I could express how special Marisol and Sadie were to them, words would not do it justice. I wish you could see how Marion would glow and show the biggest smile when the subject of her two fur babies came up! Jim loved them equally but Marion just lit up when talking about them. These dogs brought more joy to them than can be imagined. I had the pleasure of pet sitting for them while visiting my mom in 2021. They were feisty but gentle nonetheless. I can only imagine the love and joy they provided to those who they did therapy for, and I think that is their legacy: bringing joy to many, and isn't that what matters most in life? ~ Wendy and Mark Taylor
The Wonderful Life of Taz
I am writing to tell you the sad news that we had to say goodbye to our beloved dog Taz. We picked up Taz in the Hyde Park area of NY in April of 2010. He had gotten around quite a bit before we adopted him, starting in NC, PA, moved to NY and finally living with us in MD. His NS4AR name was Mauka (a name I always wondered about).
And his foster family called him Taz. We stuck with that name but I liked to say it was short for Razmataz and nothing to do with a Tasmanian devil. We started with Taz as we intended to continue, by stopping at the FDR museum and presidential library (where he was allowed in all the buildings except the library) on our way home from the foster home. We also went for a short hike at a nearby nature center. We took Taz on many adventures through our years. Camping, hiking, geocaching, day trips, eating out and of course our family vacations to the Outer Banks. Really anywhere dogs were allowed. He was with us in TN for the eclipse. He was with us on adventures in NY, NJ, PA, DE, VA, WV,NC,GA and of course MD. On the occasions where we couldn't take him, we left him at Camp Grandmama where he was spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa.
Taz was a runner and managed to get out of the rental house at the OBX or Grandma's place once every time we went on vacation except the last. He would run until he got thirsty and then find someone who would call the number on the tag and one of his humans would come pick him up. He never showed any shame about it and I think he just figured that was the way it was supposed to go. He also ate things he wasn't supposed to almost always when he was angry that we hadn't taken him with us somewhere. It was usually something that had been there for weeks and he'd left alone. How he never had to have abdominal surgery or got hit by a car was a miracle of his existence. Other than these two things, he was a very good dog. He was a favorite of the neighborhood children up to the day he passed.
After we had had Taz for about three years, we signed him up as a Therapy dog and he made every other week visits to the local assisted living/rehab facility. The two words that became his hallmark were SOFT and SWEET. Two of our favorite stories are the time we were visiting the facility and one time when we were camping. One day at the facility the residents were in a circle of wheelchairs doing some activity. I walked Taz through the room visiting those who were interested. One lady was very clear that she was afraid of dogs and did not want to pet him. I respected her wishes but the lady next to her wanted to see him. Suddenly I hear from the fearful lady, "Oh, he's SOFT". Another time we were camping in WV and sitting around on the porch of the headquarters. A family came up to the porch and the parents went into the building. Two boys about eight years and eighteen months were on the porch. The eight year old wanted to pet Taz but the toddler was nervous. His brother and we were encouraging him to touch him. Taz took a small slow step toward him and sort of turned and leaned toward him in this slow gentle manner as if to say, " I'm really nice and soft and would never hurt you." Fear of dog overcome, smiles all around. We could tell a thousand stories.
Taz loved us all but Dad was his favorite. He was protective of our boy especially(and children in general) and we were not allowed to scold or roughhouse. He loved eggs and hotdogs were his kryptonite.
He loved chasing tennis balls. I once threw the ball 100 times in a row. He would have kept going but I couldn't. He was not a retriever though. He was a shepherd and would make little piles of the balls instead of bringing them back. He loved being patted in any way and by anyone. He was stubborn and smart, learning new 'tricks' well into his old age. He loved looooong walks and acted as our health and wellness officer during the pandemic and insisted that the whole family get their shoes on and go for two and a half mile walks every day. He loved doing math with our daughter and would sit with her while she did her homework and "check" it when she was done. He loved Halloween and Christmas and family celebrations at Grandmas.
Taz was diagnosed with an adrenal tumor just before Thanksgiving of 2021 and his health declined and rebounded in a rollercoaster fashion. There were a lot of baths and he had to be carried up and down all the stairs at the end. The walks got shorter and shorter but he still wanted to go up to a week before he passed. We were blessed to have him for 15 months after the diagnosis. We were blessed to have him for just under 13 years.
So thank you for our beloved dog. Soft, sweet, loving, handsome, pat- addicted, stubborn, trash-eating, escape artist that he was, he will be missed.
The Rapps
