Dogs Deserve Better is a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity serving Central Virginia - EIN # (tax ID) 03-0480223.
For general information you can contact [email protected]. For information on volunteering or fostering you can contact [email protected]. For information on getting help for dogs in need and adoption information you can contact [email protected]. To report a chained or penned dog near you and ensure information gets directly into the caretaker's hands, find the ad
dress and fill out this form at the bottom of this page: https://dogsdeservebetter.org/steps-to-take-helping-a-chained-or-penned-dog
DDB is once again humbled and in awe of our amazing volunteers!!!
19 wonderful employees at Mikro Systems Inc donated their time on a precious Saturday to build 10 dog houses.
The houses built will be essential for improving the lives of 10 dogs in our community. You are ALL amazing humans and we couldn't be more grateful to know and work with such good people 🤩
We’re taking a minute to give a shout out to ALL of our amazing DDB volunteer team members! So many work behind the scenes and do amazing work on a VOLUNTEER basis while managing their businesses, working full time jobs, raising children, taking care of their pets, and managing their home life. Today we’re highlighting Kelli Harvey and Jamie Wilkins for thier 15 + hour work day on Monday. These ladies answered our call to meet Greene County, Va. Sheriff's Office amazing animal control team to assist with getting 81 dogs out of a puppy mill situation. After working there all day they drove to Charlottesville to drop two pups to a DDB foster, then drove to Fluvanna county to deliver dogs to Green Dogs Unleashed, then drove to Richmond to deliver dogs to Sanctuary Rescue. It was after 11pm when they got back to their homes in Augusta county. We are BLESSED with so many passionate and dedicated volunteers. We are humbled and grateful to ALL of them who bring a positive attitude and light to every challenge they find in our work.
Can’t think of a better way to celebrate my 56th birthday than volunteering for DDB rescuing some pups and hanging out with Greene County, Va. Sheriff's Office’s AMAZING animal control team 💙🙌🎉🎂 Now to shower off the 💩 smell so I’ll be allowed inside the restaurant for my b-day dinner tonight. ☠️ 🤣
Update Goldie! The **suspected** pregnant kitty (a vet has not confirmed this yet) that we found on a recent community field day has arrived to her foster home in northern Virginia today. She is the sweetest!! She has a vet appointment tomorrow where we will confirm if she is indeed pregnant. She certainly looks like it.
She is loving her new life living indoors and getting all the love. No longer homeless. Thanks to Kacee Fridley for providing temporary foster and thanks to Mary Ann Redmond for taking her in as her long term foster. Now we wait for the vet report. Fingers crossed for this sweet gal to be FIV negative 💙
Today our Dogs Deserve Better community field team visited Dixie and Rook. They are both going to be spayed (dixie) and nuetered (rook) soon! Today we gave Dixie some new bedding and a new collar. All dogs on the property received flea and tick preventative and dog food. Some cats are here too so we left cat food. All cats on the property were spayed and neutered by DDB last year so no kitty litters are happening here 💙
Thank you to our DDB donors! We can’t do this without you.
DDB community field day in Craigsville and Goshen today 💙 Lots of families and pups to visit!
Today’s food drive in Churchville, Virginia was a success! The Dogs Deserve Better team met lots of nice people and their adorable pups today 🐶
Big THANK YOU and much appreciation for the volunteer team who gave their time to make this happen on a beautiful Saturday 🌞
Shout out to Carol Stanton James Tait Wanda Crothers Donna Tietjen Deb Kocher Koons Maliah Carroll Danny Link Gina Carroll Chris Waybright Chrystal Boyers….. YOU ALL ROCK 🤩🤩🤩
THANK YOU to the donors to our NEB program. Without your generous donations this could not happen.
Update Murray! On March 29th we took a very sick and skinny hound boy, Murray, into our rescue from Charlotte County, Virginia animal shelter. He weighed 38 pounds at intake. Yesterday he went to the vet for a follow up and weighed in at 50.6 pounds 🙌🙌. He is a very different pup now…he feels so much better after the outstanding care of his foster dad, Michael Wood, the last few months. Animal Health Care Center P.C. did more blood work to make sure he isn’t anemic anymore. Waiting for those results. His skin and ear infection is almost cleared up but requires one more round of antibiotics. He was healthy enough this time for his vacinnes. He should be ready for his neuter surgery soon and then available for adoption!
He is dog friendly and loves affection from his human friends too! His foster dad reports Murray is a very easy dog and a joy to have around. He is house trained and knows how to use a doggy door. He truly is the BEST GOOD BOY!!! Once he is nuetered we will promote him for adoption. “Before” photo below…what a difference 💙💙💙
LAST DAY TO ORDER!
Thank you to DogGone Candles LLC for donating a portion of May Sales to Dogs Deserve Better Blue Ridge! Learn more about them and their awesome products at www.DogGoneCandlesLLC.com
Happy Adoption Day, Storm (formerly named Jill) 💙🤩 🎉 🎂
On January 28th we took 7 Karakachan/Great Pyrenees mix puppies into our rescue. Storm recently turned 6 months old and was spayed. Today she is officially part of the Avis Winfield family! She is loving life on the farm with her canine buddy….they play, cuddle each other, and enjoy guarding thier property together from any potential shenanigans 😊. Storm adores her human family as well….spoiled and loved as it should be.
Congratulations Storm and the Winfield family! We are thrilled with this perfect match.
DDB’s Team Nelson County was out and about today.
Great Pyrenees, Happy & Stacy, got some desperately needed space and shade. The team added onto their small pen, removed debris from inside, reinforced the structure and added 2 shade tarps. As we explained to their person, it will reduce the heat without the sun beating down on them, but it’s still too hot if the weather is above 85. Their person will tether Happy & Stacy under a cool shade tree in the front yard when it’s hot outside. They had lots of fresh water…which makes us very happy! Stacy will be spayed and Happy will be neutered thanks to our friends at Almost Home: Nelson Co SPCA. Fingers crossed it’s not too late for Stacy and she is not pregnant!
After that, we visited some new friends, Alvin & Jake, a father & son duo who like to run at large. We brought each a doghouse and tether. Their person has agreed to neuter both dogs. We will look at helping with a kennel after their procedures are complete.
All dogs were treated for fleas/ticks today.
Today’s warrior’s were Theresa Tocco, Jaleen Tocco, Darlene Hinton, Jill Rydlund Shatto, and Amy Heggie. Thank you ALL for spending a hot Sunday helping animals. 👏👏👏👏
Thank you to DogGone Candles LLC for donating a portion of May Sales to Dogs Deserve Better Blue Ridge! Learn more about them and their awesome products at www.DogGoneCandlesLLC.com
Happy Gotcha Day, Deva! 🥳
This beautiful girl came to DDB in August from Patrick County Public Animal Shelter when our friends at AugustaDog Adoptions were pulling several dogs there. She was very, VERY pregnant on that journey. 😳 Amazing foster mom Darlene Waldin took Deva in and it wasn’t long until she delivered 14 little pupper-nuggets! Two little souls were called to the bridge right away but 12 were perfect and thrived. 💙 Her pups eventually moved on and then Ms. Deva went into a foster to adopt home of her own.
Deva’s person, Geoff, says Deva is the most wonderful little girl. Their affection for each other is obvious! 🥰 Geoff says her name is fitting because she lets him know what she wants and he does it. 🤣 They take long walks daily, have nearly daily play dates and she goes to work with him too! Life is bound to be full of adventures for these peas in a pod! 🫛
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So happy that our recent surrendered pups, Winter and Bear, went to our rescue partner in Northern Virginia over the weekend! Thanks to Mikah Danielle for transporting for us. Thank you Debbie Marson with Bushmans Legacy for taking them in and finding fosters. Thanks to Kari Johnson Mueller for giving them a soft place to land while they were vetted and spayed/neutered at Harrisonburg Animal Hospital! TEAMWORK!!!
Today we had the first “No Empty Bowls’ committee meeting! Since we decided to make this program permanent with DDB we have asked for volunteers to form a committee and run it for us! It was a productive meeting where everyone took on a role to help make this program more organized! After looking at our last 7 food drives we estimate the cost to be around $2,000 per month. Some months will be less if we keep getting these great deals buying pallets from Gleaning For The World!
If you would like to donate to this program specifically please notate “for No Empty Bowls” on your online donation or on your check! We are so excited to offer this to our community! Pet food prices have gone up and many folks are struggling to buy pet food in between payday. You can donate to this pet food drive here…. https://dogsdeservebetter.networkforgood.com/projects/218853-support-ddb OR mail a check to:
DDB
1155 Seminole Trail #7961
Charlottesville, VA 22906
Shout out to our NEB committee… Carol Stanton, James Tait, Danny Link, Maliah Carroll, Wanda Crothers, Deb Kocher Koons, Donna Tietjen, Minnie Pearl Spsllc, Kristi Lynn, and Lisa Benasher. With this team we are feeling super positive about the future of No Empty Bowls 💙
Thanks to all who donate to our owned community pet spay and neuter fund! This is Krasna and she is thrilled to be back home with her person 💙. She was recently spayed at Lovingston Veterinary Hospital and spent 10 days in our care while she healed from surgery since she has a large rambuntious canine brother who likes to play with her a lot 😊
Update Delaware’s pups! Today they went to DDB’s amazing rescue partner, Humble Hounds Animal Rescue💙
Thank you to foster mom, Jess, and DDB transporter, Stephanie, for getting them to their new home today!! This litter of pups don’t know it yet but they landed in a perfect and safe place and all of them will find amazing homes! Thier mom stayed behind temporarily with DDB for now. Momma dog, Delaware, requires some medical care before she goes up north. We got this! One step at a time. Thanks to Jeanne McCusker, Zoe Chop Baldino, and Charlottesville Veterinary Hospital for making sure momma dog is healthy and ready for transport soon. It takes a village for sure 😍🙌👏
DDB is excited to announce we are making our No Empty Bowls pet food drive a permanent program! 7 months ago our long time DDB team member , Carol Stanton, came to us to ask if we would consider offering this service to our community in Augusta County, VA. Our board of directors voted to do a 6 month trial run. We had to make sure we could afford to do this financially and also see if there was a big demand for it.
It’s turned out that the demand is overwhelming and our donors responded to support it. No Empty Bowls will be a regular program now and will happen the first Saturday of each month at the following locations: Churchville, Criagsville, Waynesboro, Staunton, Stuart’s Draft, and Weyers Cave.
Today we received a large amount of food for this program. Thank you to Gleaning For The World and Natural Pet Essentials & Dog Wash for your generous VERY REDUCED price for thousands of pounds of cat & dog food!!! This is how we can continue to do this thing. Shout out to our volunteers who are working hard behind the scenes to get us stocked up on food.
DDB appreciates all of you!
Happy adoption day, Lucy! Her new family calls her Lulu 💙. On January 8th DDB took her into our program after her long time owner suffered a severe and eventual fatal injury 😢. Lulu is a senior beagle girl who needed extensive medical care before she could be adopted but the day has finally come and she is officallly adopted 🙌
Her new family sent us this message before they signed the contract!
“Just want you to know that I BELIEVE Lulu (Lucy) is all set for adoption. She got through her splenectomy and extensive dental work with flying colors and really looks good. She is a sweet thing. Sally loves her and I believe the feeling is mutual! We now have an escape proof fence and that has led to stopping her “accidents”. She was never a problem with the cats…I think Sally thought she was Hick, our last beagle, who died suddenly. He kept staring at her and trying to figure it out. Thanks for taking such good care of a very worthy pet!”
So thrilled to make this perfect match! No doubt in our mind that Lucy will be pampered and loved in her senior years.
We were delighted to celebrate the one year gotcha-anniversary of Peanut yesterday! 🥳 Peanut waited two and a half years to get adopted, almost all of that in boarding because we couldn’t find the right foster for him. Those days are long gone!
Peanut is a local celebrity now! His person, Chris, says Peanut is the Welcoming Committee and Official Snack Inspector of his community. 😆 Their daily walks include visits to friends and businesses…everyone knows and loves Peanut! One business even made him a name tag. It’s Peanut’s world, we’re just living in it! 💙
We all have a special place in our hearts for this sweet boy and are so happy to see him thriving! Happy Birthday & Friendiversay, Peanut! 🎈
UPDATE! Delaware, and her 12 puppies 💙 (see coments for videos) 😍
Yesterday foster mom Jeanne McCusker took Delaware to Charlottesville Veterinary Hospital. They checked her heart murmur and reported it is a grade 3. She received 4dx blood work and is heartworm negative but ehrlichiosis positive (tick borne disease). She was treated for an ear infection, fleas/ticks, and had her eyes cleaned. Her puppies have an appointment with CVH on Monday! Next week they will travel to our awesome rescue partners, Humble Hounds Animal Rescue, where an experienced loving foster home is waiting 💙💙💙
Update from foster mom about the visit yesterday….
“Delaware was a model citizen at the vet today! She tried to jump in the car by herself, but couldn’t quite make it and once she got in the car, she settled into the dog bed and just wagged her tail. At the vet, she met many new friends and won a lot of hearts at Charlottesville Animal Hospital. As you can see, she slept through most of the visit! She was prodded, injected, had blood drawn, eyes cleaned, and ears cleaned and was absolutely perfect for everything. Seriously, whoever gets to adopt this lovely lady has won the lottery. Once she got back home she tended to her puppies, ate, and just fell right back into the routine of sleeping, eating, and nursing . She is such a good mother and the puppies are all doing really great and learning to eat and play.”
DDB is so excited to share this wonderful news!!! Today we received a DONATED transport vehicle 🤩👏🙌. This van is the perfect size for safely transporting all of our precious pups. It has very low mileage, is in excellent condition, and came with a very generous bumper to bumper warranty. Within a few hours of receiving this gift today our new van made its maiden voyage to transport old man Clyde to a new temporary foster at Lake Monticello!
We are very grateful and humbled by this generous gift! Shout out to Harrisonburg Fraternal Order Of Eagles for donating $9800 and a local anonymous donor for matching their donation to purchase this amazing vehicle for us! We can promise you this van will take thousands of animals to their new homes, vet appointments, and help get them out of shelters and off chains across the Commonwealth!!! We have an amazing generous community and could not do this work without all of you!
Thanks to Chris Crites and Chuck Ansell for delivering our new van directly to us at our warehouse today 😊
Welcome Momma dog, Delaware, and her 12 puppies to DDB! They are with us for about a week while they are vetted and settle into their new life. THANK YOU to our friends and rescue partners Humble Hounds Animal Rescue for finding an experienced loving foster family to take them into their home soon! Today they went to DDB foster extraordinaire, Jeanne McCusker, for a soft place to land for a bit. Tomorrow morning Delaware has a vet appointment with Charlottesville Veterinary Hospital where we will find out where she is with her heart murmur and she will receive a full exam. Thank you to our new DDB volunteer, MelodieJane Whitten for assisting today. She rocked it and was so helpful!! Thanks to Delaware’s family who loves her so much. It wasn’t an easy decision for the family and we are honored they trust us with her and the pups care.
Our rescue village is amazing! We are already so in love with this precious family of pups 💙💙💙💙
**** individual photos of each puppy below…hard to tell them apart. Thank goodness thier family put different color collars on them so we can tell who is who 👏👏👏
*** videos in the comments.
Thanks to our donors for supporting community owned pets spay and neuter program! This fund made it possible for Krasna to be spayed today at Lovingston Veterinary Hospital! No more litters for this sweet friendly young lady 💙💙💙
She will board at the vet until next week to heal before she goes back home to her family!
Newest Dogs Deserve Better pups! Headed to Kelli Harvey for the week before our friends at Richmond Ruff House take them in 💙💙
Joy is working her hardest to cast a Puppy Love Spell for me because she knows it is my favorite scent whether it is a candle, wax melts or a room spray! Head on over to DogGone Candles LLC and find a scent that you love! DogGone Candles' May Fundraiser will benefit Dogs Deserve Better Blue Ridge! Mother's Day and Graduation are right around the corner and these make GREAT gifts! To learn more about DGC, or just see more cute pictures of Joy and her sister, Hope, please visit their page!
To Order - www.doggonecandlesllc.com
Another amazing adoption post for your Wednesday! 🐾🥰
Gunner came to us not too long ago, and was very shy and shut down. He didn’t know much about life, was scared, young, and not in the best of health. Thankfully, DDB was able to place this baby man in a great foster home right away who not only helped him grow his confidence by getting him into the world at his own pace, but also helped him heal from the inside out! ❤️🩹
After being in their wonderful care for some time, Gunner struck the jackpot ✨yet again✨ with his amazing new fur-ever home!
A big backyard to have endless zoomies in, a deck just calling his name for a good mid-afternoon sunbathe, allllll the cozy beds (especially the human ones😍), SO many toys, and the love of his new family… nothing short of absolutely PERFECT!
Gunner has taken a liking to everyone in his new family, loves to bring them toys, and has clearly grown his confidence (and ego🤪) a lot with his love for his picture being taken! 😂
Although this sweet boy didn’t have a great beginning, it’s safe to say he will have the BEST future. Thank you to everyone who loved this angel like he was their own, and for helping us get him to exactly where he was meant to be.
We love a good happy ending ❤️
Meet Krasna! She is one of our OWNED dogs we are helping with a spay and vetting! She had a litter of 10 puppies about 11 weeks ago and all 10 were surrendered to us. Her mom loves her so much and the feeling is mutual…Krasna adores her mom 😍. We are thrilled she has agreed to work with us to get Krasna spayed! No more litters for this sweet and friendly girl.
Today she went to our vet partners, Lovingston Veterinary Hospital, for vacinnes, deworming, a general exam, and blood work. Great news…Krasna is negative for heartworm and all tick borne diseases and Dr. Jessica Ligon has approved her for her spay surgery next Wednesday! So happy to have new friends in our amazing community 💙
Shout out to our DDB Nelson County field team! They worked hard on Sunday in the heat to help a local family. Thanks to Officer Wright, outstanding Nelson County ACO, who facilitated this relationship for us.
Our field team put up a 10 x 30 pen for momma dog, Sheba, and gave her a doghouse. Three of the puppies (Sue, Paris, and Lucy) were surrendered to DDB. The owner kept one of the pups named Rudy. We will spay Sheba ASAP and Rudy will be neutered as well.
This was a collaborative effort. Thanks to Rose Farley Fariss from Almost Home: Nelson Co SPCA for taking these pups in today. Thanks to Amy Swope from Blue Ridge Canine Safehouse for giving them a soft place to land for 2 days. Thanks to Jaleen Tocco, Theresa Tocco, Jill Rydlund Shatto, and Darlene Hinton for doing the boots on the ground work. Thank you, Erin, for transporting! Photos of surrendered pups at the end of the post.
When these situations come to fruition after much networking it keeps us going. Gotta celebrate the wins 👏🙌💪🏽💙🤩
VA
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Hopefully, Dave will gain confidence as he starts to heal and feel better 💙. Until then, the DDB crew doesn’t mind carrying him from point A to point B 😊. We already love you, big boy.
Update on Darcy the Malinois that we recently took from a backyard breeder after he passed away. She is in a foster to adopt family with a local law enforcement officer who works with police dogs. She is doing good right now and look how gorgeous she is 😍 Darcy is the one with the blue collar. She’s playing with her new brother, Zulu 👏 Her “before” photos/videos in the comments below…what a difference! You got this, Darcy!! Adoption will hopefully happen soon. She is fully vetted and spayed now but we are making sure it’s a great fit before finalizing it. At first she was a little grumbly with her new brothers trying to find her place in the pack but she is starting to love them now and doing much better. Fingers crossed she has found her forever 🤞🏼
Finn…approx 60 pounds chocolate lab: 0 Popsey … approx 10 pound fluff ball: 1 😂😂😂 DDB alum, Finn, is getting schooled by the little girl in charge and really loving his #firstchristmas indoors with a family 😍😍
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We are located in Smithfield, Virginia. For general information you can contact [email protected].
For information on volunteering or fostering you can contact [email protected]. For information on getting help for dogs in need and adoption information you can contact [email protected]. To report a chained or penned dog near you and ensure information gets directly into the caretaker's hands, find the address and fill out this form: https://dogsdeservebetter.org/resources-chained/
