Our First Annual Reunion

It was an honor to see everyone and travel back to memory lane, seeing all of the dogs again. Let’s break down the day! Judging from the sign in book, we had approximately 50-60 guests, and probably that many dogs!

Jesse: I’d like to thank Jesse for opening up his home and being a gracious host. When the party winded down, Jesse brought out a few of his fosters and we discussed their progress. We were really impressed with his invention!

Rudy’s Dawgs: Rudy’s hot dogs were a huge hit! We should’ve had a dog eating contest, Matthew would’ve won!

Holly Ryerson: Holly and Glenn enjoyed seeing their pups again. She, Glenn and Melissa with Val-u-Vet even micro-chipped some of the dogs that had not yet been!

Kim Sullivan Dahan: Kim brought some baby pools, and Big George loved it! Thanks Kim! Kim Sullivan wrote this on Facebook: ” One thing that rang true with all of the adopters I spoke to, they all agreed the dogs they adopted from The Dog Liberator were some of the best dogs they had ever owned. I know Trixie is! If I haven’t told you enough, WE LOVE TRIXIE BELLE! Thank you soooo much:)” In this photo, Ernestine holds Lady Di, while Kim marvels at Lady Di’s ability to Bark at Nothing! Timmy must have fallen into a well somewhere!

Here’s a gorgeous photo of Trixie Belle’s print by Sue McNulty.

Melissa with Val-u-Vet: Melissa took Crystal under her wing, and helped her work through some of her issues, and showed Crystal to Gary Jones for possible future adoption! Melissa also helped Glenn and Holly microchip dogs!

Amber Halsey: We were so proud to show China off to Amber and Donna! Amber works for the Camden County Humane Society. Both Sheltie Holly and Border Collie Chelsea were rescued from her shelter last year. Chelsea was adopted by our Lynn Deal.

China: China glowed, giving kisses to everyone and hanging out with the pack!

Gary Jones: Gary and his wife drove several hours just to meet Crystal and show off their ten year old Border Collie, Jaffe. What gorgeous dogs they have! Gary adopted Jaffe from us the moment he heard he was coming to our rescue and still insists he’s the best dog he’s ever had! He spoke with a few people in detail about how he wanted a Border Collie, but didn’t want the high drive that they are known for. He says Jaffe is a perfect fit for his family, and he thinks Crystal might be a fine addition to his pack! Since the writing of this blog post, Crystal has been adopted, but I’m confident that Gary will not upset one bit!

Logan & Olivia: The twins brought their new puppy Logan, now called Bandit. There were a lot of Kodak moments with these two!

Collie Girl Gisele: Gisele (now renamed Holly) was brought by Maureen and her husband John. What a healthy beauty. Heartworm positive, emaciated and sick with upper respiratory infections, she sure bounced back!

Kelly, Maureen’s daughter, along with Kelly’s husband Mike, brought their new puppy, who isn’t a puppy anymore! Sierra, now named Sadie had a great time with all of the dogs and much to my surprise, she looks a lot like China! It was obvious that Sadie remembered Holly and Glenn!

Gisele’s owner, Maureen Janousek wrote this on Facebook: “Kelly and I will will be forwarding you a few hundred photos of the reunion to post for everyone to enjoy! What an amazing group of people were at the party yesterday! If someone that didn’t know what we were all there for had seen all of us and the excellent condition all of the dogs were in, they wouldn’t believe that at one time all of these dogs had been abandoned, abused, neglected and unwanted…many sick and some within hours of being destroyed! This was truly a celebration of the power of love and what it can do to heal. It was also amazing that considering the number of dogs that were there, how mellow and relaxed they all were and how well they all played and socialized! A good time was definitely had by all! Many thanks to everyone that worked so hard to put this reunion together…hope it will be the first of many. A special thanks to Jesse for hosting this event…the grounds of your property are beautiful and it was obvious that you had put alot of time and hard work into seeing that everyone was comfotable and the dogs had everything they needed to have fun too. The country setting was peaceful and relaxed. It was great for all of us that have only known each other as online friends to finally have an opportunity to meet! Can’t wait till next year!”

Lady Arabella: Strike a pose! Lady Arabella, previously Princess Kelly, had a blast being a dog! Arabella’s owner, Cyndy Doty wrote this on Facebook: “First let me say thank you to Jesse for letting us use his beautiful grounds for the reunion! Next, Gisele and Holly you blew it out of the park again and thank you for letting us be a part of this wonderful day. Rudy’s Dawgs rocked and if they had a hot dog eating contest, I think Matthew won hands down! Can anyone top 6 hot dogs?? Now as for HRH Arabela, she is still sleeping from gettin down and dirty. Once she got off her throne and posing, she ran with the pack and had a ball! It was wonderful to finally meet everyone and I hope we get to do it again! Many thanks again from the Doty’s!”

Starbuck: Starbuck brought his mom, Laura Watson. He looked really sporty in his summer cut! I think Starbuck had a lot of fun with the pack, considering he doesn’t get a chance to play very much with such a wild bunch, he did great!

Remember Twilight and Eclipse? Well, Twilight is now named Bridgette, and she brought her new mom, Ellen to the party. She was very comfortable rubbing elbows with other Border Collies!

Cyndy Harper: Cyndy waited until the last minute trying to get our t-shirts up to the party, but it didn’t work out. She was a big help when Velveteen came late, evaluating her as a lethal white. Cyndy successfully re-homed Pippi under our rescue, and is looking forward to continuing to foster for us. Cyndy Harper wrote this on Facebook: “Thanks to all…Gisele, Holly Jessie…the guy with the 4 clover belt buckle that played frisbee with Bella!!! Tex and I needed a break and so did Evie and Bella. It was such fun to meet everyone and all those dogs. I especially like your kids Gisele. They are wonderful. Say hi to Sara for me, my new special little buddy!”

Sue McNulty: Sue proudly displayed her artwork and her new puppy, Jester. Kim Sullivan purchased a piece of Trixie Belle, and my son Ryan also asked me to purchase Trixie’s print! Sarah wanted the print of her China, so I complied, and I purchased the print of Charlie and Lola for the Bryant’s to take home along with their new puppy, Durango (see below).

Zondra: We waited for Zondra, who unfortunately came late because she was driving around shelters trying to pull dogs for Holly. She brought with her Velveteen, who she has nursed back to health. Melissa with Val-u-Vet reviewed the medical paperwork, again Cyndy reviewed her overall appearance and temperament. We discussed Jesse’s plan for her to lose weight, and improve her self-esteem with other dogs. So even though we were at a party, we were still working! Unfortunately, we were packing up, and exhausted, and I could kick myself for not getting a photo of Zondra with Velveteen. Here’s a photo of Zondra transporting injured Jetta to safety.

Ranger: Ranger brought his family, the Noreens, and they took some awesome photos and mingled with everyone!

I’d love to know what I said to make Dianna Noreen giggle!

Carter: Carter, now Carson brought his mom, Joan St. Denis to the party. He was very proud of his new title of Canine Good Citizenship, considering he came from a dingy Georgia pound, covered in ticks and had no self-esteem, I think they both have a lot to be proud of!

Carly: Carly now called Little Blue, brought her Mom Megan. Megan helped me get ready for the event, and watched over Sarah while I was busy.

Titan: Woah Titan! He put on quite a show with his disc! This boy can fly!

Flash Gordon: Flash Gordon was a major surprise for me to see. He is in excellent shape, and his leg has fully healed. Flash was one of the first dogs I received from Becky Harshman in Alabama. What an awesome dog. At one moment, we all believe that maybe, just maybe, Flash remembered me! I was in heaven!

Here, Flash is shown with Starbuck the Aussie. Thanks Erica for letting me see Flash again!

Tim Tebow: This boy literally stopped traffic! He and Kim’s Trixie Belle got to see each other again, they were transport buddies! Now named Beau, Beau is going through Good Citizenship training, and is doing fantastic! Seeing Beau again was a major highlight of my day!

Bling: Bling was a huge shock for me, I didn’t recognize her one bit! She has grown to be a very big girl, bigger than I ever expected her to be, but she is gorgeous. When I approached Dawn & Ron Sweeney, I recognized them immediately, but thought to myself, who is this dog? They knew right away that I was blank! When they said to me, “this is little Bling,” I came unglued! “What have you done to her?” I screamed! She’s HUGE!!! See for yourself!

Olivia: Our photographer Olivia buzzed around the entire time and took over 700 photos! She too was impressed with China’s progress. Here, you can see Olivia on the right, busy at work!

Dermott Dessert: My long time friend Dermott brought my Tinsel Town, and Tinsel really enjoyed the day. While Tinsel was originally my dog, once I began to rescue, she made it very clear that she was NOT happy. Her love affair with Derm made it very clear to us that she would be much happier living with him. After a family meeting one night, we all agreed that Tinsel could still be in our life, but would enjoy having a one-on-one owner, Derm!

Jigsaw: Now called Fiona had fun, and she brought her new parents, Rob & Dana!

Charlie: Charlie was the first dog I ever pulled from a kill shelter, and he was the last one out before the doors were shut and the shelter euthanized all of the animals because of a parvo threat. Charlie was known as #806. I was thrilled to see him again, and the Bryant’s, who later adopted Sundrop, now named Lola… but that’s not all!

The Bryant Family: I didn’t think the day could be any better, the Bryant’s announced that they were taking Durango home! This was the Bryant’s third adoption from us, and I thought I was going to cry!

Dana and Rob Shelton: Dana and Rob brought their two highly-talented dogs, and they provided us with a lot of entertainment! I wish I would have had more time to chat with them about their awesome dogs!

Ozzie: My Ozzie was oblivious as to where he was, who he was with, and what he was supposed to do, he just floated around being his normal self, ready to play and look for squirrels!

Ryan: Ryan had his hands full, I was constantly handing him a leash and saying, “hold this.” Eventually he figured if he hid in the backyard and played with the dogs, I’d leave him alone! It worked!

Lady Di: Lady Di walked around all day interrupting hugs and kisses from other dogs, like she usually does. She just strolls through a crowd pushing other dogs away as if to say, “coming through, step aside, collie here,” and what amazes me, is that it works every time. Fortunately for the other dogs, there were enough people there that Lady Di couldn’t possibly capatalize on all of the attention, but she got Donna away from China in just a few seconds!

Sarah: Sarah was busy all day, socializing and showing off her pack leader skills! Even though China was being very social with everyone, every time Sarah would be in sight, China would take her place, by her side!

Photos and videos are still pouring in from different sources, and as soon as I get them all, I will continue to update this blog post, but as I wait, let me say that I really enjoyed getting together with friends, but most of all, I enjoyed introducing them to each other. Oh sure, posting on Facebook and sharing stories in an email is nice, but it’s just not the same as sharing a wonderful afternoon getting to know each other in person! ~Gisele

Special thanks to Melissa, Megan, Derm, Ryan and Sarah for helping me with my pack!