Monday, February 19, 2024

It's all about Ace

Ace's intake photo at Dogtown
Ace's intake photo at Dogtown

I didn't rescue Ace. That was all on Angela Sera, my good friend and the executive director of Dogtown Ranch Sanctuary, Rescue & Rehab. Angela does some very good work. In fact, Dogtown Ranch is the last home on the block for many dogs saved from very high kill shelters. Both Angela and Reunion Rescue save California and Texas dogs. I never thought I'd see the day when California was worse off than Texas, but we have arrived, folks. It's a very sad situation.
Let's back up a little bit here. Reunion was founded in San Francisco, but we relocated back to Texas in 2005. However, I felt
Ace in California shelter

it was unfair to leave a void so continue to try and help out California dogs. Our website is also geared with the same training and health resources we've used for years to save lives. We can't save them all, but we can share easy to use and inexpensive techniques to help pet owners and fellow advocates, shelters and other rescue orgs. The goal is to get this information into the hands of the public and keep animals out of our overcrowded shelters.

Angela rescues on a much grander scale than Reunion. She has implemented a lot of the holistic practices into her own curriculum of which new rescue boy Ace is spotlighted in this blog. Ace arrived at Dogtown sick, depressed, shut down and full of fleas. He was an owner surrender and dumped in an extremely high kill shelter. Not going to mention the shelter, but all they sent along with Ace was one flea pill. He was misrepresented to Angela which caused a multitude of problems. Nobody let her know there was a bite on his record. This would've helped avoid many issues including how to set him up to begin his transition work at Dogtown. Angela is a trained and certified behaviorist and no newcomer to the rescue rodeo.

Ace had completely given up. His eyes, filled with despair, were glassed over. There was simply no way to communicate with Ace, a dog who'd turned himself off to human contact. That's when I got involved. When I saw those eyes, something inside me set off an alarm. Here was an animal who'd ceased wanting to live, who'd given up on life. Somewhere, somehow, somebody had stolen his hope. Anybody that doesn't believe dogs feel hope can look into Ace's first intake photo and reevaluate their opinion.

I sent Angela three items I use on all incoming PTSD dogs, Animal Relief, Emergency stock and CBD (each linked to our Health Page with item description and how the essences cure the body.) We'd already been through this with the Bakersfield 4 and the South Texas senior bait dogs, Floyd and Dino with great results. I'm a big believer in good dog training, but not until the body has been healed. You are basically throwing your money away, and believe me, I've been that route and am speaking from experience.
Ace does a turnaround

Patti received the gift of animal communication from Benny years ago when we pulled him from Turlock and she fostered him. He went from being a horribly abused dog to King of the Kompound at Doug the Dogwalker's spread where he spent a glorious life. Patti began a reading with Ace, but was immediately shut down. All he would acknowledge was he was done with all humans, including her. Patti is great at this work. I know, because every case has been spot on. She's helped cure so many animals of behavior and medical issues. Patti knew what to do...call on the Reunion guardians. These are beings who in some way or another have been associated with myself or with Reunion. The head honcho is Penny, my mother's dog she had for 23 years growing up. I never 'knew' Penny in the flesh as he passed on before I was born. Only recently have I found out Penny has been watching over me all these years. In fact, I'm writing a new book Penny and Me.


Ace opened up just a tiny little bit to the RR guardians. He needed White Willow Bark added to his food along with Arnica Montana, the homeopathy to address his inflammation. In addition to the healthy food he'd been getting since arriving at Dogtown thanks to Tomlinson's Lakeway and 2222. We believe that a good quality diet is responsible not only for the physical body, but also behavior issues. Amazingly, the guardians were right. Angela texted a photo the next day and you could see a remarkable change in Ace's demeanor. His eyes had hope. I'm not animal communicator, but I've seen enough shut down dogs to know what a turnaround looks like.

The RR guardians checked in daily to report Ace was opening up to their communications with him. They told him about Dogtown, about Reunion Rescue and how some people were good people and he was with the good ones now. He told them he was "cranky" from his "discomfort"...his words. The guardians stayed the course. They said they are "determined to help him" and added he was "decompressing." The also said he was "calmer tonight."

Before I could send the update messages to Angela, she sent new Ace photos and video. She moved him to a new area filled with lots of hay. He got a romp outside, with potty and lots of sniffing around. His neighbors Rottie on one side and Chunk on the other are new friends. Ace really likes Rottie. He played in the new sweet-smelling hay before bedding down last night. He is on the road to recovery, Ace is. And one more thing. He has a reason to get up in the morning. Ace has hope.