Who Rescued Who?

Noah’s Ark Animal FoundationNOAH’S ARK • PO BOX 748 • FAIRFIELD, IOWA 52556 • WWW.NOAHSARK.ORG

Where Best Friends Meet • Fall 2017 Newsletter

We had no idea how life changing

that little pup would be! My name is Steve, and I am a 34-year-old dealing with at least two rare, potentially life-threatening diseases: hypophos-phatasia (HPP) and Addison’s disease. HPP makes my bones “softer” than they should be and thus prone to fractures. In my case, my bones don’t heal properly as well. Addison’s disease impacts cortisol regulation and one’s ability to fight stress.

In comes Cosmo… Cosmo is a mix of Great Pyrenees, Australian Shepherd, and Australian Cattle Dog. My wife chose him from Noah’s Ark Animal Foundation with the intent to have him trained as a service dog for his calm, gentle demeanor and his potential size. Our hope was to eventually have him serve as a balance assist dog should I continue to deteriorate

orthopedically (I’m 6’5” tall, so not a small guy!). As we did additional investigation with our dog trainer, and spoke with my geneticist, we learned that Cosmo may be able to detect the aforementioned Addison’s-related episodes before they happen and alert me, thus allowing me to take preventative action. Such an event is caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure that sends the Addi-son’s disease patient into a form of shock that, without immediate treatment, can be lethal. Prior to the start of formal scent recogni-tion training, Cosmo began to alert me at least a few minutes to an hour before I experienced the dangerous symptoms. He does so by pinning me to a chair, not letting me walk if I stand up from a seated position, or even pawing at my arms or legs to get my attention. This has occurred at least 5 times in the past 7 months. What about his ability to assist me should I start to fall, which is a real possibility with both disorders? I’ll conclude with a description of the following occurrence that happened in the middle of the night a few weeks ago, an event that I’m still trying to wrap my head around:Cosmo had been waking me up at exactly 12:30 AM every night for the past week. He wanted me to wake up and lie right down close to him on the floor for the rest of the night until it was time to wake up for work, etc. On September 4th, he again woke me up around 12:30 AM and I took him outside. We were on the sidewalk just outside the front of our home and had started to make our way inside when I suddenly be-came very dizzy, light-headed, disorient-ed, and uncoordinated. My eyes closed and I started to fall towards the cement sidewalk while still holding onto Cosmo’s leash...

Right away I felt two powerful paws on my 6’5” shoulders, which was the first event that started to bring me back to consciousness. My legs were still weak, and Cosmo, on his hind legs with his front paws still on my shoulders (I was bent over to an extent, but he is already a tall dog) was not letting go. He stayed in that position for 20 – 30 seconds until I’d re-gained enough consciousness to realize where I was and stand on my own, and then he gently took his front paws off of my shoulders. He would not, however, allow me to step forward until he knew I wouldn’t fall again. This was another 30-45 seconds. I finally regained my bearings and we were able to walk to inside, Cos-mo keeping a very close eye on me all the way after quite possibly saving my life...We had high hopes when my wife trav-eled across the state of Iowa to adopt a puppy to be my service dog, but we had no idea how life changing that little pup would be!

—Steve and Cosmo

Cosmo and Steve, best buddies

Cosmo, a life-saver

Happy EndingsThe path to happiness is paved with paw prints

PiperGood afternoon! I adopted Ginger (now Piper) from the Pet Smart in Clive back in December 2016. I just wanted to share some photos of her! She’s such a sweet-heart and loves to cuddle and purr. She’s got a loud motor! She fits in great with our other pets J She loves to be in your face (literally) and always on the go. I do catch rare moments of her sleeping though and finally caught a photo. I just want to thank you for making the adop-tion process easy and for directing me to the Pet Smart in Clive to check on the kittens there. Piper is a little terror some-times but she’s a typical happy kitten and loves to explore and play.

Thank you again! Jenny

MiaHello! Just wanted to let you know that Mia has adjusted to her new home with us fabulously! The kids are thoroughly entertained by how ornery she is! She is quite the snuggley purr box too! We are all quite smitten with her and I think she is enjoying the spoiling immensely! Thanks again for the great experience at the shelter and helping us adopt the per-fect kitten for our family!

—Ashley

Toby and TabithaHi! I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know that Toby and Tabitha are doing really well. They are so happy and loved by my husband and me and the other fur babies. The veterinarian gave them both a clean bill of health on their last exam. They love to play togeth-er and sleep by the fireplace if not on our laps or in a sunbeam in the four seasons room. I hope all is well with you and your wonderful friends and family and the whole Noah’s Ark Team in Fairfield.

—Greg and Jill

Charlotte Here is an update on Charlotte. She is do-ing really well. She loves being outside with us. She likes to roll around in the grass, I attached a few pictures of her playing outside. She is a very well-man-nered dog and is very spoiled!

—Kate

Dogs are like potato chips; it’s hard to have just one.

MurphyWe adopted Roscoe and renamed him Murphy. He’s so sweet and great with the kids. He loves napping in the middle of the couch and running like a crazy man at the dog park! Thanks so much for letting us take him home!

—Scott, Sarah, Alissa and Amelia

Murphy, great with the kids

Piper, such a sweetheart

Mia, snuggly purr box

Chewy, loves to nap

Toby and Tabitha, sleeping in a sunbeam

Charlotte, spoiled rotten

Chewy We adopted Chewy. He’s an awesome dog. We go on walks and he loves to nap lol! He’s a great dog! Good with our other dogs. Enjoying him.

—Reanea

With this money the shelter has purchased a per-manent shade screen for the dog play yard, two benches for volunteers and visitors and large cat carriers. Thank you for your on-going support.

Dallas Makes the Cut!When I first met Dallas at Noah’s Ark, I saw a dog that had no interest in meeting nor interacting with people UNLESS you had a ball for him to play with. I look at dogs for our scent detection program that have huge ball drives and what I saw that day in Dallas is that he lived for a toy! Although Dallas was young, I decided to take him to do more testing for a scent detection dog. Dallas passed the initial testing and surprised us by going

through our training at a very fast pace.As of today Dallas has completed his training and is a Narcotics Detection K9. We are waiting for an agency to select him and Dallas will begin his new career.Thank you to the Noah’s Ark Animal Shel-ter for identifying his abilities and con-tacting MidwestK9 to come look at him.

—Dennis George, Owner/Trainerwww.midwestk9.com

Happy EndingsRescued is my favorite breed

Memorial to Chloe and New Beginning for Callie

Dear Dawn, Our sincere thanks for the photo of Chloe’s memorial stone. It is just beautiful, and we appreciate you honoring the life of this special girl. We will definitely make the trip to Noah’s Ark sometime to see it in person, and also bring Callie back for a visit to the place that made it possible for us to adopt her. Noah’s Ark is now special to us for two reasons!I am sending along one of my favorite last photos of Chloe, from last summer when she was still feeling good enough to take a walk in the country air. We still miss her every day, but have all you good people at Noah’s Ark to thank for helping us make her a beloved member of our family for almost 13 years. She will always be with us in our hearts.

Also, is a photo of Callie from today. She had her second wellness check-up and medication updates this morning, and now weighs just under 20 lbs—almost twice the size she was when we first met her. She is a joyous, friendly and ener-getic girl, and we are enjoying the ener-gy of a puppy again, after over 20 years since our last one. We are also going to bed by 9:00 most nights to recharge! But she is worth all the early mornings, and is a true blessing to our home.Thank you again for the gifts of these two special dogs. We will never forget you and all the people who help make Noah’s Ark the special place that it is —to the animals you rescue, and the people who are lucky enough to bring them into their homes. You make it all happen. Bless you!

All our best, Peg and Jim

A BIG shout-out of thanks: A big shout of thanks goes to the Washington County Riverboat Foundation for awarding Noah’s Ark a mini-grant in the amount of $1,872.00.

A Big Thank You!Thank you to all of our wonderful adopt-ers, donors, foster families, volunteers, kids and groups who made toys, treats, donated and/or raised money for us. You along with our adoption partner, Clive PetSmart® and the veterinarians who work with our program: Fairfield Animal Hospital, Veterinary Clinic, PC, and the Quincy Humane Society made 2017 an amazing year for Noah’s Ark.

Dallas alerting to narcotics

Callie and Peg Enjoying the energy of a puppy again

Chloe and Jim; family for 13 years

Yes, I want to help save the lives of stray and homeless animals.100% of your donation goes directly to help the animals and

programs of Noah’s Ark Animal Foundation. o $5 o $10 o $20 o $25 o $50 o $100 o $250 o $500 o Other_____

Please indicate if you have a preference as to how your donation is used:

o Food, medicine, shelter, and care of stray and abandoned dogs and cats

o CCSNAP Community spay and neuter program—because there aren’t enough homes for them all!

o Please send me information about planned giving opportunities benefitting Noah’s Ark including endowment gifts, gifts of annuities and stocks as well as remembering Noah’s Ark in my estate planning.

Checks are made payable to Noah’s Ark Animal Foundation. Mail to P.O. Box 748, Fairfield, Iowa 52556.

If you would like to use a credit card to donate: Please go to our website at www.NoahsArk.org and click on “Donate”

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Noah’s Ark is a 501(c) (3) tax-exempt corporation founded in 1988. Donations are tax deductible. The Foundation’s officers for the year 2016 are David Sykes: Chairman and President,

Richard Sarnat: Vice President, Tom Paton: Secretary, Jill Hebert: Treasurer, and Dawn Hauck: Director.

Noah’s Ark operates an Iowa licensed animal shelter at 1986 Gear Avenue, Fairfield, IA 52556. Hours are Tues through Fri 1:00 – 5:00p.m. and Saturday 10:00 – 4:00p.m.

NonProfit Org.

U.S. Postage Paid

Noah’s Ark Animal Foundation P.O. Box 748 Fairfield, Iowa 52556

Where Best Friends Meet • Fall 2017 Newsletter

Go Green! Adopt a “recycled” pet