Kennels 2 Couches

11/07/2024

Hello my name is Kali❣️ I have tons of energy to play ball with my new family. I am not good with small animals like bunnies, but have much respect for a hissing cat. I love to be pet and snuggle once I am tired. I follow directions and sleep in a kennel easily. I feel more secure this way.

My foster mom says I'm a little love bug and love to romp around in the yard. I would do well with at least one other dog, yet seem somewhat content on my own if I gets enough energy out and time with my person. I like to sleep both inside and outside as the kitchen door is open on warmer nights for easy outdoor access. I'm potty trained! I want to make my people happy..

I'm about 20 months old, spayed, vaccinated and READY TO ROLL ! I'm fostering in Santa Barbara county 805-450-1010

11/06/2024

Today three boys started the next chapter of their lives. Karma from Apple Valley, Aragon from Carson, and Bruno from SEAACA all went north east. Aragon will become a Canuck 🍁, Karma hopped an early flight to New Hampshire via Boston, and Bruno is headed to Pennsylvania. Two of the adopters I have worked with before, and one is very excited and dedicated as a newer adopter and one that's never done something like this before. All three women were amazing to work with and committed to the dogs, and these dogs are so lucky that the ladies saw their posts and were willing to make the efforts and investment to give them chances at new lives. See comments for a few videos. ❣️

Thank you Memo Padilla with Home Away From Home boarding for hosting these characters!

11/04/2024

More good messages for me. Thanks Rosie Niku

11/04/2024

I recognize all on this list, and want to add the guilt I feel as a mom and wife bc I'm chronically preoccupied or busy on the phone talking with a networker, shelter, vet, foster or adopter or ordering supplies online for a new foster instead of watching my son's soccer game (yesterday 😔).

Under-talked about part of rescue….

The biggest thing no one could have prepared me for getting into rescue is the constant guilt.

Guilt for the dogs you can’t help. For walking out of a shelter with one dog and passing by a line of others just as deserving practically screaming help me. For that litter of puppies you got an email about, likely to be dumped and face a life of suffering because as so many other, we are full and have no where for them to go.

Guilt for having to tell people sometimes in the lowest points of their lives that you can’t help. For the good citizen trying to help a stray in an area without an animal shelter. For the overworked animal control staff pleading in your inbox. For simply not having the physical space, fosters, or funds to help and having to relay the bad news time and time again.

Guilt for the dogs you were too late to save. For looking in their eyes laying on that vet floor and know they never got to experience the life they deserved. For the dog in heart failure or puppies with parvo, too far gone to save. For knowing they very well may be leaving this world having only known suffering.

Guilt for missing a thank you to a donor or not saying thank you enough. For them not knowing how much you truly appreciate them and couldn’t be more grateful, but in the midst of all things rescue, you haven’t had a chance to get that thank you note out.

Guilt for always feeling like the time you spend with dogs isn’t enough. For having vet appointments, meet and greets, rescue missions that go longer than expected and cut into your time with them.

Guilt for having your own aging dogs at home who so much irreplaceable time with is given up. For watching, or missing watching, them age before your eyes because rescue takes over. For how much they have to share, cope and adjust to meet the needs of the constant revolving door of fosters.

Guilt for the mountain of emails and messages that go without a response because there’s simply only so much time in a day. For some messages going unopened because the subject line alone is enough to tell your empty tank at the end of a heartbreaking day, your heart literally could not bare it right now.

Guilt for taking a moment to do anything other than rescue knowing there’s that inbox full of unopened messages waiting, dog to walk, kennels to clean, appointments to schedule, so. much. paperwork. to do, the list goes on….

Guilt for not always immediately replying to foster or adopter texts because your hands are full of p**p covered puppies, in the middle of a rescue mission or other. For them not knowing you really did glance at the text on your watch to make sure it wasn’t an emergency, told yourself you’d reply as soon as you finished, but end up forgetting for a couple hours.

Guilt for being absent from family and friends, missing events, celebrations, time together. For holidays turning into some of the only times you spend together, and even then, there‘s always a good chance a rescue emergency will interfere then too.

Guilt for your own spouse at home getting whatever is left in your empty tank at the end of the day. For gracefully dealing with all the new dogs to show up out of the blue, jumping in to help get them set up. For the messy house, for the garage and spare bedrooms turning into storage rooms for supplies.

For me personally, it is the guilt.

I know I can’t be the only one either.

Be kind to your small rescues. Chances are… behind that rescue name and fancy licensing is just a single person or couple person team doing they best they can — and carrying an overwhelming amount of guilt already.

-Heather

11/03/2024

11/5 Bruno was picked up today and is on his way to his new home.

Fundraiser: Goal is $700
Raised: $700 ☺️ but more is appreciated for the training he'll need one he arrives. His food aggression is real. His need for space is real.

Bruno was rescued from SEAACA on his euthanasia day. The woman who wanted to save him asked me for help, & what it would cost to get him to her. She saw there were pledges for him on a certain IG post, and I told her that girl blocks me & discourages people from honoring their pledges to me. She didn't believe someone could be that determined to undermine an animal's chance when they seem dedicated otherwise. She is finding out now the truth about that girl.

Bruno is not an easy dog to find a home for, which is why no one adopted, and the adopter is able to pay for some of his costs, but she can't afford everything. We have boarding, transport and vet exam. So here we go again to raise funds for another dog to have a chance to get the hell out of CA.

www.kennels2couches.org

https://venmo.com/u/Robin-unander

https://www.paypal.me/kennels2couches

Kennels 2 Couches
PO Box 41821
Santa Barbara, CA 93140

11/03/2024

Story of my life 🙄😁😬🤦

11/01/2024

I need to get something off my heart and out of my head. I am a rescue, but I'm also a full time employee, a wife, a mom and an owner of my own animals. I have A LOT going on in my own life, and I try to balance rescue responsibilities. I'm a 1 person operation, and my family resents me doing rescue work because my attention is always diverted, my mind preoccupied. I'm trying to put on my own oxygen mask to find my balance, and then sometimes I rescue a dog that's much more critical than I bargained for (I usually avoid those bc I'm not in a position to manage it well). The family I rescued almost 2 weeks ago has been that critical situation for nearly the whole time they've been out. And it's a daily time commitment bc none of its been stable, so lots of calls and texts with foster and others who are trying to help, vet offices, pharmacies, posting for funds raisers, strategizing based on feedback, checking Care credit balance, checking my bank balance, and weighing really sh*tty choices constantly.

Today a networker that I've stood by when others were cruel to her and dismissive sent me a message that just got my heart. I'm not even sure which dog I was supposed to save yesterday, but apparently I didn't do anything and it was euthanized at a shelter where I struggle to get support for anyway because of ANOTHER networker who has blocked me and warned her followers to use "due diligence" when considering holding their pledges, and another that put a hit out on me to her followers to not honor pledges to us or help me transport dogs out of that shelter. The networker that sent me the message today, and then blocked me, knows all of this. But still the blood of the dog that was killed is apparently on my hands. SMH.

I. Just. Can't. Anymore.

10/31/2024

Update 11/7: all 5 puppies are still with us and doing GREAT! They are happily being puppies ❤️

11/2: All five puppies are still holding their own and little violet did great overnight. And she was so happy to be reunited with her litter mates when she returned from the ER that it was really wonderful to see her enthusiasm and energy as she just went through hell and back. They are moving to a new foster today where they will be for the next 4 weeks as they grow and recover. We are going to try and get these little ones adopted as soon as possible when they turn 8 weeks old because that's as long as they are welcome to stay at their new Foster. So watch for updates and we will start meet and greets in 2 weeks. I'll post more pictures as they grow and we get pictures of them.

11/1: $5000 later and little Violet is able to go home, but she and her litter mate still have a long road ahead of them. We are doing one round of fluids everyday right now, to the tune of $150 a day. There will be more chest x-rays as this progresses, which will be conservatively $400 for each round. There will be more medication likely in the future, which is probably going to be another $100. This was not a little family that was on my radar at all. I think I saw a post for her but I was not looking rescue them because I had my hands already full. I was asked to pull them, and believed that this would be not much different than any of the other families I rescued. I didn't know I was going to be in this deep, again. It's tough to say that I would have done things differently because that means is I wouldn't have rescued them at all. No other rescues were coming for them. I'm just holding my breath that the puppies continue to be stable as we transition them to a new foster who's got more experience with this now that we've gotten them to be weaned onto gruel. I so appreciate their foster mom and dad who are going to hang on to Mama for now so she can continue to recover and heal her body while the puppies move on to an opportunity where they will get lots of socialization and interactions, and hopefully continue to recover themselves.

She is still with us and I got a good report this morning from her overnight vet. She improved overall, but can't come home yet. They'll try to test her later today to see if she can maintain her oxygen level outside of her tank. She's eating, p**ping/peeing, playing and even being a little naughty by trying to chew on her catheter line. So 12 more hours we go. We are still trying to raise more funds to help cover the next shift, but it isn't looking as bad as it did yesterday for that cost.

10/31 5:30: We raised about $1,800 so far today, which buys Violet another 12 hours at the hospital with oxygen. She's hanging in there, but hasn't turned a corner yet.

This is a fundraiser post for Maddie (aka Nala on other posts) from Riverside, and her 4 weeks old puppies. We started with 8 puppies 10 days ago, but Maddie was very sick and we had to treat her aggressively with medications so we didn't lose her. That bill alone exceeds $1000. Then the puppies started to get sick, and we got them into the vet to get them medication as well. Those bills exceed $800. Ultimately we lost two of them when they were at the vet office, but we didn't have a specific diagnosis. We did do a PCR test on Mom for distemper and she came back negative. We had to get an antibiotic from a pharmacy for 3 of the puppies, which cost $200. Then 2 more puppies became sick with pneumonia, and 1 was too sick for us to save, but we spent $1,500 trying. The second, Violet, is fighting for her life now and is in better shape than the other, but she's at $3,000 for 24 hours of hospitalization, and they would like to give her another 24 hours before they release her. Meanwhile the remaining 4 puppies went to the regular vet this morning and had x-rays of their chest just to see if they were also getting pneumonia, and all 4 of them have various levels of fluid in their lungs. We are hoping that we are ahead of what is to come, and they are starting aggressive antibiotics and fluids. This was another $830 bill. I don't know what it looks like for them, but I know right now they're stable and I know I have one fighting for her life that has decent odds if she has time. What she doesn't have, what I don't have, is funding to support what she needs to have that chance.

If you would like to help support Maddie and her babies we would appreciate it. I have until later this evening to decide how to proceed with Violet when the first 24 hour payment runs out.

We are a 501c3 organization. Donations can be made as follows:

www.kennels2couches.org

https://venmo.com/u/Robin-unander

https://www.paypal.me/kennels2couches

Kennels 2 Couches
PO Box 41821
Santa Barbara, CA 93140

10/31/2024

Update 11/5: Bruno made a remarkable turnaround over the weekend. He was able to be out of his kennel and relaxed and calm, good around other dogs although he does have a bit of an alpha introduction style. Still wouldn't want to put your hand down to grab his food bowl when he's eating, but all that is workable. He did awesome though! He went to Home Depot and tractor supply and walked around like he was a boss. No issues with the kids at the home where he's hanging out right now which was a concern last week. So today he loads up with Joletta Johnson and heads east to his forever home. Thankfully I was able to raise enough money to cover the transport so the doctor can focus on covering his boarding and a trainer. I don't even think he's going to need board and train at this point, but he will need some help with his food aggression.

11/2: It was brought to my attention that Bruno was picked up by his transport in a pick up truck that had an open bed, with an impact crate secured in the back of the bed. One, I was not aware that this was how he was being transported from the shelter. Two, a certain networker was at the shelter and saw this and questioned the transporter, who has transported dogs with the same setup from several shelters throughout Southern California with no complaints from any of the shelters or any of the rescues that he transported for, but the networker didn't try to reach out to me to share concerns. Three, Bruno arrived safe and fine, and his aggression issues that we have noted with food and barriers are still there regardless of how he was transported.

Because the networker that had posted him disparaged my rescue for her own personal reasons, people are not honoring their pledges for him. Which is unfortunate because he needs to work with a trainer, and with $200 in pledges that have been used for his care so far there is no money to cover training. There is an adopter that wants him, and we are trying to find funds to help get him to her and cover some training costs, but because money that is pledged for him is being discouraged by "Sarah Elizabeth," aka on IG, we have our hands tied. How does this behavior by her benefit the dog?

So here I am back again asking for donations or pledges for the benefit of Bruno/Jude for his training or transport to get him to a home that wants him.

We rescued a gorgeous boy named Bruno (aka Jude?) from 25-03479. Would love to have pledges honored for him, but most are on IG post, which she has us blocked from. If you pledged for him and want to honor your pledge:
Pledges can be honored as follows:

www.kennels2couches.org

https://venmo.com/u/Robin-unander

https://www.paypal.me/kennels2couches

Kennels 2 Couches
PO Box 41821
Santa Barbara, CA 93140

10/31/2024

Update 11/5: Aragon has had his last handoff, and is now with his adopter. He's going to become a Canuck, eh! 🍁

This handsome hunk with the memorable smile, Aragon, from Carson shelter A5644274 was rescued by us a few weeks ago, but I'm just catching up on some updates. Aragon is doing great and is on his way to his adopter.
Pledges can be honored as follows:

www.kennels2couches.org

https://venmo.com/u/Robin-unander

https://www.paypal.me/kennels2couches

Kennels 2 Couches
PO Box 41821
Santa Barbara, CA 93140

10/24/2024

I'm so excited to share that Queen Cindy's puppies are READY for adoption. They are Rhodesian Ridgeback mixes. Fostering in (Palmdale) Southern California. Please reach out if you'd like more information. 805-450-1010

10/16/2024

If you choose to rescue animals, I am going to give you some sound advice - Grow thick skin and don't care what people think of you. I have known people to lose the battle with their minds and we just lost a kind, caring individual in my rescue network. Compassion fatigue is real, but nothing is worth your life. No pet. No rescue. No person's opinion. Nothing.

In rescue, that person that tells you what an angel you are and how wonderful you are every time you pick up a stray pet thrown at their door will also be the first person who tells people how your organization is worthless when you don't have space to pick up the 30th pet thrown off on their property. It's ok.

In rescue, the adopter that leaves you the five star review about how wonderful everyone has been will change that review quick when they return the pet even though you have spent hours trying to keep it in their home. One star reviews are ok.

In rescue, your friend will be your friend until you deny their application for a pet because they are a great friend but a terrible pet owner. That's ok too.

In rescue, you will answer 100 calls in a day. But if you miss 6 calls in a row while you are in the shower, you will be the one who "never answers their phone". It's ok.

In rescue, other rescuers and random trolls will judge everything you do but never have time to pitch in a hand to help when they see something needing more attention. They will, however, have lots of time to talk about how they’d do it better while they harass and judge you. It will be ok.

In rescue, you will have to involve animal control and the police department sometimes. The people who you take pets from will hate you - and I mean REALLY hate you. Trust me, it's ok.

In rescue, pets will be put down and pets will die at the hands of abusers. We can't save them all - and that's ok. We save the ones that we can and pray for peace for the ones we can't.

I have dealt with every problem and every situation imaginable. I used to take some things to heart, then I realized - I am doing this for the animals, not for any person in this world. I have found my joy and no person will take that. If you are in rescue, don't let anyone or anything take your joy. Find peace that you will never please everyone. Find peace that you will never save them all. Never allow something you love to turn into something that ends your life.

Be kind or get out of the way.

Thank you Tiffany Rebecca

(Copied with a few more word's)

10/14/2024

Sometimes the week gets so hectic that I don't always get a chance to post updates. This update is about dogs we welcomed into the rescue this past week that were all on euthanasia lists fom various shelters. One such dog was a mama to be who seemed ready to pop, but the shelter thought maybe she was still at least 1 to 2 weeks away. Guess what happened around 24 hours after she arrived with her foster,... Seven healthy little puppies were born. That was a close one!

So please welcome Bluey from Stanislaus shelter and her 7 babies, Ripley from SEAACA, Kali from San Bernardino City shelter. Bluey is fostering near Modesto, and I will post updates about her puppies as they get closer to being ready for meat increase. Ripley is fostering in Santa Barbara and is available for adoption. He's about 5 years old and is very sweet and was definitely someone's house pet. Kali is fostering in Santa Maria for now, but may need another foster and is definitely available for adoption. She is about 18 months old and has lots of fun energy.

If anyone is interested in more information about these dogs please reach out 805-450-1010

10/13/2024

Adoption event of Frenchie mixes, 9 weeks old. Montecito Pet Shop from 11-2 today (10/13)

10/13/2024

Update 10/16: these puppies have been waiting for their forever homes now for a few weeks and are ready to go. And so is their foster? I have until Saturday October 19th to find them either permanent homes or Foster homes while we continue to wait for a permanent home for them. There are Three boys and one girl left. They are absolutely gorgeous, and fun puppies!

Pop up adoption event NOW at Montecito Pet Shop 11-2 . Fosters also would be great if anyone is available to foster until we find homes. French bulldog mixes, 9 weeks old, first vaccinations. 805-450-1010

10/12/2024

Where are the cattle dog lovers??? I have 2 16-week puppies that are waiting for their forever homes, plus Mom. Black and white one is a boy, and the red one is a girl. They are fostering in Van Nuys. 805-450-1010

10/12/2024

Update 10/16: these puppies have been waiting for their forever homes now for a few weeks and are ready to go. And so is their foster. I have until Saturday October 19th to find them either permanent homes or Foster homes while we continue to wait for a permanent home for them. There are Three boys and one girl left. They are absolutely gorgeous, and fun puppies!

I've been waiting to show off these little ones, and now it's time! I want to share these little French bulldog mix puppies that were rescued with their mama Ella from Devore back in August. They have their first vaccinations, are about 10 weeks old, and are ready for their forever homes. One is a female and the other for are males.

We are doing a pop-up adoption event in Santa Barbara Sunday October 12th at Montecito Pet Shop located on the Mesa from 11:00 to 2:00. You can meet the puppies and apply to adopt and if approved take one home ❤️ Adoption fee is $150. Fosters would be great too!