Bluebonnet Animal Rescue Network

01/09/2026

I've taken four different dogs to two different vets this week, and I'm pretty sure that every one of them would give the vet this kind of advice. 😄

01/08/2026

Titan is back at All Heart Veterinary Center today for re-check after his TECA (Total Ear Canal Ablation) surgery. He has been sedated (last photo as drugs were kicking in) and the ear will be cleaned and re-sutured. He has been an excellent patient throughout this entire process, not really even complaining about wearing a cone or donut for such a long time. He will go home with the cone this time, to be sure he can’t scratch his ear or rub it against the wall. Maybe another week of the cone and then hopefully he’ll be done!

01/07/2026

Yesterday I took little Benjamin Button to the oral surgeon, thinking he would be getting the jaw repair hardware removed. I dropped him off for surgery so didn't get any photos, and by the time I was able to pick him up, it was late in the day and I was in a rush to get home and do evening chores. So I didn't get any photos yesterday and didn't have time to make a post. I took a couple of photos of this cutie-pie today to go with the update. 😊

X-rays show that Benji's jaw is healing nicely but isn't yet solid enough for the surgeon to feel comfortable removing the hardware. But since he sedated Benji for x-rays, he went ahead and did the root canal that was planned for yesterday. (The same injury that broke his jaw ALSO broke one of his canine teeth.) Benji came home just as happy as always, so he clearly wasn't too bothered by the procedure.

We booked another appointment for early February, by which point we hope his jaw will be strong enough for the hardware to be removed. Until then, Benji will continue to eat a diet of only soft food that has been watered down to be a consistency somewhere between a thick pea soup and guacamole. Benji is such a good patient, but I know he'll be glad to finally have some food that's a little more solid. Every chance he gets, Benji sniffs all around Bob's bed to see if he might have dropped some kibble. (Bob is our deaf Anatolian Shepherd who is almost 13 years old, so he's allowed to eat in his bed.) One day recently, I dropped a single piece of Rice Chex cereal and Benji pounced on that like it was Wagyu steak. But he never complains about his meals, which always make me think of Tiny Tim and his bowl of gruel.

Until he's fully healed, Benji will continue to stay with us, and once the surgeon gives him the "all clear," Benji will head to his new home. Until then, we'll continue to post photos of this sweet little boy, because his sweet face can make almost anyone smile.

01/06/2026

Sweet little Ebony Jo had an appointment at All Heart Veterinary Center today to get her rabies booster. She is not available for adoption because we added her and her Jack Russell companion Ty to the Windsong Ranch family to help our barn cats keep rodents away. The barn cats were doing a good job with little field mice, but when residential development on land just beyond our south pasture drove rats through the pasture and into our barns, the cats couldn’t handle those larger rodents. Ty and Ebony don’t kill very many rodents but they help make our place much less hospitable to the rodent population. So they may be little compared to most of our dogs, but they are still working dogs who do their part. Ebony is also pretty certain that her job description includes being a welcoming committee of one, and she loves getting close to visitors.

01/04/2026

Saturday -- Please share!

Shelters all over the USA are overflowing with homeless pets -- some picked up as strays, some surrendered by their owners. Shelters and rescues in many states are in absolute crisis mode -- our home state of Texas is at the top of the list, followed by California, North Carolina, Florida, and Alabama. MANY other states are in crisis as well, including our neighbors Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas, as well as Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. ALL of these states (and many others) kill dogs and cats for no reason other than lack of space to house them all in shelters and foster homes.

You can make a difference:

✅ Spay/Neuter your pets to prevent any unplanned litters.
✅ Adopt your next pet from a shelter or rescue.
✅ Foster for a shelter or rescue.
✅ Volunteer for a shelter or rescue.
✅ Donate to a shelter or rescue.
✅ Help spread awareness and encourage your friends and neighbors to be part of the solution rather than contributing to the problem.

NOTE: One table shows the Top Ten list according to the highest number of animals killed in shelters in each state. The other table shows the list according to the percentage of animals killed as a percentage of the total animal population in each state. NONE of these numbers are good.

01/03/2026

Al Pacino (at the top of the steps) and Lady Pink (2nd photo, to the right of steps) both seem to appreciate the view afforded by being at the top of this terraced part of our yard. From here, they can look down on the Dog Den and Infirmary yards, plus other parts of our main yard. Our donkeys are in the pasture behind them, and our chickens are in their own yard out of frame, but within view of the dogs. Truly, it’s an excellent spot to just watch everything going on without actually getting involved in any of it. 😎

Al Pacino and Lady Pink are both crate-trained and house/potty-trained. Both have lived with cats in the past. Al Pacino can be an opportunist, trying to clean up any food bowl that another dog has left unfinished, so we put him in a crate at meal- times. He already needs to lose a few pounds, so he definitely doesn’t need to be eating someone else’s food! He walks nicely on a leash and would really love a home where he gets to take daily walks. He gets along with other dogs but was previously content in a home where he was the only dog. He is in great health at 8 years old.

Lady Pink is about 2.5 years old and is very shy. She’s OK on a leash but definitely needs more practice. She loves the sofa and will present her tummy for attention any time she sees us. She likes for one of us to sit down next to her and give her tummy rubs and skritches.

Both dogs occasionally go into our chicken yard and ignore the chickens but enjoy stealing some chicken food. 😋

If either of these sweeties sounds like the right dog for you, please visit our website to check out their adoption bio and complete the application. Linktree in our page bio.

01/03/2026

Sweet Genny has moved just a mile up the street for a trial run as a foster, hoping to be a “foster fail” and become a permanent member of the family. She was welcomed by Otis (Great Pyrenees) and Gravy (Doodle). It has just been 24 hours but she’s looking pretty comfortable already, so keep your fingers crossed that this will be her forever home. 💕

01/02/2026

Titan had a check-up today and Dr. Meier is pleased with how well he’s doing post-surgery. You can see how happy he was the whole time — in the exam room, in the van for the ride home, and while taking a stroll in our front pasture before going back to his “apartment.” Even after such a major surgery, he clearly feels so much better than what had been normal for him in the past. He got a laser treatment today to help with his coat, which is growing back nicely in some areas but is still very thin along his topline, where he had the most skin infection from his matted coat. The laser has a setting specifically for alopecia, and it should help stimulate hair growth. We go back again next week to see if the ear has healed enough for suture removal. In the meantime, Titan will continue taking antibiotics and pain meds. Stay tuned!

01/02/2026

01/02/2026

Every evening, Snickers from the is waiting for me to bring his supper, almost always in this pose, which never fails to make me smile. Every time I want to take a photo, I reach in my pocket for my phone, but when I do that, he jumps up and comes running because I ALSO keep treats in my pocket so he’s expecting a treat every time I reach in my pocket. 😁 Tonight I got my phone out before I went in to greet him, and I was able to get this photo before he came to greet me. He is such a handsome boy, and sweet as can be. He’s still shy, but he enjoys when I pet him and sometimes rolls over to invite tummy rubs. It will be a while before he will allow me to put a slip lead on him, but we’ll just take baby steps.

01/01/2026

Gatesville girl Jessie is getting so big! She’s just 8.5 months old but is long, lean, and tall. She is crate-trained, house/potty-trained, and better than many of her Gatesville “cousins” when it comes to walking on a leash. She needs more practice on a leash but is at least manageable and doesn’t try to eat the leash. 😊

Like most of the dogs from our Gatesville case, Jessie is most likely Akbash, though could have Great Pyrenees and/or Anatolian Shepherd in her family tree. She was born in a pasture with goats and longhorn cattle but has been raised to be a family pet who lives in the house. She’s shy with strangers and would prefer to have a crate in her new home because that’s her safe place.

Visit our website to submit your application to make Jessie part of your family! Linktree in our page bio.