FREE CALENDAR FOR YOU

Enjoy this little tool as a gift from Ponder Cove. I hope you take advantage of this on-line calendar. I have used this for years and just love it. It's an easy download, doesn't take much space and can be forwarded to all of your family and friends. If you missed it go to www.dtesusa.com/pondercovedogs for the Dog Contest winner calendar and celebrate all of these cutie patooties.

Then there is our gorgeous nature calendar featuring Gary's photos that I have reissued......

Just in from our frequent guest Christine. Just in time for your e-mailing card list. Save a stamp and give your friends a big dog lick instead....http://www.sloppykisscards.com/ecards.php.
HO HO HO....martha and critters

BAD DOG! BAD DOG!

What happens to naughty dogs at PONDER COVE?? Just Kidding!!! This is just our buddy Mack checking out his big dogs in his barn. His mom and dad just can't get him to "utter" the words COW! Mack will soon be featured in our upcoming on-line calendar. When it is ready for download we will spread the news.

AND THE WINNER IS!!!

WOW! All of you wild and crazy furry friends went crazy at the last minute posting comments faster than American Idol or a last ditch effort to grab that coveted item on E-bay. I could just imagine your fluffy paws banging at the keyboard in hopes of being our guest of honor here at Ponder Cove.

To remind everyone of the rules, the cut off point was August 30. So, some of the comments could not be counted. But it is with great pleasure that I announce the Grand Prize Winner and her court of 11 dynamic canines. Trumpets please......drum roll.....

THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER IS
JO JO
the royal Chinese Crested Powder Puff

and her court

Aspen, Hunter, Ginger, Sierra, Georgia, Digby & Gryphon,
Molly & Coby, Reece, Mack, Shala, and Ginger

GEORGIA IS ON MY MIND

That Georgia says the seetest things....from her IPHONE....trendette and glamour puss that she is. We miss you Ms. G

"had a great time at ponder cove! thanks. love, Georgia"

LAZY DOGS

We used to have the DOG OF THE MONTH...but with all of our fab guests and these amazing photos coming in....it looks like we are going to have to have the DOG OF THE DAY! Check out these two on such a lazy day.

BLUE EYED BABES

Meet Alex and Maya...two local lovelies hailing from Yancey County. Their proud owners Steve and Jose can't get enough of these two and I just had to share this pic as they stare lovingly into their Pops camera.

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY

SWEETIE
Bret Marquis, Owner

Her future is so bright she had to wear shades.

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY

BO, DAWG
Lisa and Horst Hoefinger, Owners

I am a dog in appearance only. I’m 1′10″ and weigh 63 lbs. Although I’m a mutt on the outside, I’m a purebred on the inside. My good nature comes from the Golden Retriever side of the family while my stubbornness is clearly from my Chowchow bloodlines. I’ve got Rastafarian ears, or used to in my youth, a black tongue for licking and paws that should be on a dog twice my size. I’m adorable and I play that angle every day of my life. In addition, I type 60 words a minute. My name is Bo.

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY

Maizey Grace, LAB

Karen and Meredith Hall, Owners

My name is Maizey Grace and my humans caught me in the middle of one of my beauty treatments! A girl has to work hard to maintain her looks you know! A Southern lady tries not to let her secrets out but I was ambushed! I am another LFS dog. I am originally from the great state of Texas and was brought to Georgia as a Christmas gift. While my original family loved me, my parents both worked full time and crated me for 12-15 hours a day! That does not make for a happy puppy! Fortunately they found Labrador Friends of the South and asked them to find me a new forever home! My first and only adoption event was on a cold,sleety Saturday in February of 2006. I was under the table when a sweet young girl named Meredith found me. Her first Labrador Grover had passed away after ten years with her and she was looking for a new friend! We fell in love with each other immediately! Her Mom saw the love and gave in pretty easily! I joined Meredith, Divot her brother dog and her two cats Uba and Peaches! I was so happy and while I had some bad moments--what's a girl to say? I have now settled in and also have another brother Hank the Tank --another LFS friend! I am living proof that blonds really do have more fun!!!

Love, Maizey Grace and Meredith

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY

Ginger, doing the Downward Dog, Australian Shepherd
John Martin, Owner

She is a smart, devoted, energetic, and talented dog. She knows the
tricks of a circus dog, and will perform on command. Her tricks
include "beg", "shake hands", "crawl,"weave between legs", "jump
through arms", "jump onto lap","roll over", "crawl", "fetch your
ball", "bark", and sneeze on command". As you can see, she also
practices yoga.

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY

Nick, Golden Retriever/Yellow Lab mix

Scott and KellyAnn Madsen

Hi! My name is Nick and I'm a Golden Retriever/Yellow Lab mix.I was wandering through the woods on Christmas Eve morning in 2005 and I stumbled across a yard that had another Lab in it! I was really sick, very hungry, and weighed very little. Since we don't know when my birthday is, the vet says that I'm about 3 1/2 years old. After my now parents tried desperately to find my home, they decided that the best home for me was with them! I'm so happy to have a brother, a Black Lab, who always wants to play and we keep each company. Some of my best friends are from Labrador Friends of the South. I'm very laid back and love to watch the clouds go often picturing them of yummy dog treats. I love doggie ice cream, swimming, camping, chasing flies, and sleeping (that's actually what I do best). My parents always say how lucky I am that I found them, but I think the joke's on them, they are so lucky to have me.

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY

Ginger, Lab/ Pit Bull Mix
Mark, Krista, Brittany and Taylor, owners

Ginger has been a wonderful addition to our family. We were so lucky to adopt Ginger
from Labrador Friends of the South on December 31,2006. It was a wonderful way
to ring in the new year. Our entire family is crazy about her. She absolutely loves to
be with her family. She has a weak spot for squeaky toys. Ginger loves to wake our
girls. Every morning she serves as the alarm clock. She loves to shower people with
kisses. I can't imagine our life without her. We feel very lucky to have her as a member
of our family!

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY

Sierra, Sierra Tina Peters, Owner

Sierra is a 4.5 year old Chocolate Labrador and is the sister to Sam-Sam which we adopted from Labrador Friends of the South.
Sierra is spoiled rotten and goes every where with her mom. She loves to chase a ball, swim and go for rides on her mom's 4-wheeler.
This past April she become very ill to the point we thought we were going to lose her. She was taken to Auburn University where she lost all movement in her body with the exception of her eye movement. After going through extensive testing, great medical attention and A miracle from God she is back 100%. She is just as rotten if not more so than she was before her illness. Sierra loves to play with her brother and you do not see one of them without the other one is close behind. She thinks that she has to be snuggled up to her mom everynight at bedtime.

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY

Levi. Australian Shepherd
Melissa De Jong, owner

Levi just turned one a few weeks ago so in my eyes he is still my puppy. He loves to play frisbee and chase his soccer ball. He also loves to play tug of war and liter the yard with all his toys. Although he doesn't like the waves at the beach he loves water. I love this picture of him 'winking'.

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY

FRED,CLOE, HOMER, JAKE, Labs
Jenny, Owner

Fred is will be 8 years old in October, Cloe we adopted she will be 6 in October, Homer will be 3 years old 8/22 which was a foster and Jake is 3 years old which was also a foster flunkie. The picture was taken in the square in downtown Gainesville, GA.

We adopted Cloe when we first found out that Tazzie Fred's sister had Cancer. Tazzie and Fred where litter mates and very attached to each other. When the vets told us Tazzie's cancer was very rare and very strong growing. They really couldn't give us a time line on how long she would live. We decide to adopted Cloe to help Fred in the long run because he was so attached to Tazzie... Tazzie was the boss in the house.

Tazzie was so strong that out lived the time frame they thought. She had 5 cancer mass removals. The type of cancer she had that hadn't since in over 30 years and it was in such a hard spot they could never removal all of it. It was attached her spine and would grow outward past her lungs to her back. So the only course of treatment was removal, anything else could damage her lungs or effect her spine. So we only did the removals.
She fought the cancer for almost 4 years. We lost her to cancer 4/2/07.

We started fostering Jake or known as Jakerman with all this going on... and then foster Homer...they became buddies and part of the family... our two foster flunkies...

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY

Katie, Casper and Kenzie, Labs

Anne & Matt Hare, owners

Katie is a rescue dog we got because our two other labs, Casper & Kenzie, were so attached and we knew that Kenzie’s passing would devastate Casper. Needless to say, the three of them formed a wonderful pack and Kenzie tolerated Katie’s youthful energy and exuberance like a champ. Kenzie lived for a year with her little pack and though we were crushed to lose our ‘old girl’ we knew that Casper & Katie had each other. Casper is a certified therapy dog, visiting patients in a local hospital and working with patients in a rehab facility. She loves to retrieve the newspapers they throw for her, pull them in their wheelchair, or just go for a slow walk next to their walker. She never met a stranger and her full body wag delights everyone she meets. Katie filled Kenzie’s big shoes well, for she is always up for a jog whether it’s 90 degrees or 20. Summer jogs are always rewarded with an immediate dip in the pool and then a long, hard belly-up nap in the air conditioning. Casper’s always ready to reward anyone with a big, slobbery kiss, but Katie is a little more reserved - must have something to do with her previous life before rescue. We’ve only recently been able to get a quick flip of her tongue on our nose, to which we squeal with delight and she excitedly jumps in circles. She’s a real sweetie who doesn’t realize she’s outgrown the lap dog stage. We’re so lucky to have been blessed by all of these wonderful dogs.

JUDGE JUDY KNOWS ALL

I was very impressed Angela Jergler's (Reece's mom) e-mail signature. So, I decided to pass it on.

"There must be a special place in hell for people who torture animals. Until you get there, you'll deal with me."

- Judge Judy

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY

MACK, Labrador

Randall & Angela Wilson, Owner

In early 2007 we lost our nine year old Labrador, Annie to cancer. Our family (my husband, our rat terrier, Jasmine, and I) were lost and devastated. I found Labrador Friends of the South (LFS) through an internet search as we began to talk about possibly rescuing a Labrador. Last June, we decided to attend a LFS adoption day in Atlanta. I had been feverously scanning their web site, and had noticed Mack. He didn't have a foster family and had been kept in a kennel for several months.

My husband wasn't sure we were ready for another lab, so we really weren't sure that attending the adoption day would result in finding a good match. Our rat terrier, Jasmine attended the adoption day with us. She has pretty discerning taste, and she immediately let us know that some of the labs did not feel right to her - then she met Mack - a 55lb (he was a little thin) Labrador with sweet submissive energy.

Like many rescue dogs, Mack came to us with his own set of issues. He was left in a shed in Atlanta with no food or water for over a week when a landlord found him and contacted LFS. He was obviously abused and while he bonded with us from the very beginning, we soon saw signs of him not trusting people, especially if they tried to approach him.

We brought him home to our farm Hartselle, AL where he had 20 acres and a really big pond to explore, but despite the safety and comfort of a forever home, his struggles in meeting people continued. Not willing to give up on him, and with the help of LFS we took him back to Atlanta to meet with Susie Aga, the Atlanta Dog Trainer. We were complete novices in how to deal with a pooch who had not been well socialized. Since that time, we work with him constantly on being comfortable with people he doesn't know and helping him understand that WE are the alphas and its our job it is to protect the pack.

He has come such a long way. In December we took him back to Atlanta to LFS's Christmas party and fundraiser. Outside of a very rainy and cold December day, we were thrilled at how he trusted us and that he was able to be around a large group of people (we think it helped that everyone smelled like wet dogs)

As you can see from the photo, Mack loves the outdoors and would stay in the pond through all seasons, if we would let him. We chose this photo to reflect the calm silent strength and beauty of the Labrador retriever.

He has come such a long way and we would love to have him as part of your 2009 calendar.

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY, CASEY & BUDDY

Casey - Rhodesian Ridgeback-German Shepherd Mix
Buddy - Chocolate Lab Mix
Darren & Tara Gladieux - Owners

This is Casey and Buddy. Both are rescue dogs and have the biggest hearts. Casey is the more "serious" one and loves to play tug. She is so graceful and absolutely beautiful when she runs. Buddy is the "goofy" one and will do anything to play a game of catch outside. He is also the "snuggler" of the family. Both dogs are perfect for each other and have given us hours of entertainment. They have been such a joy in our lives!

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY SHALA

Shala, Siberian Husky

Owners-Phillip & Brandy Jones

Shala was rescued at the age of 4 from the Charlotte Animal Shelter in August of 2001. It was love at first sight and I couldn't wait to take her home. My beagle, Lacy, wasn't so sure of her new playmate, since she was three times her size. Eventually Shala became the protective big sister and we adopted 2 more dogs. Lacy and Chase have been to Ponder Cove twice and they LOVE it. Shala had to stay at Grandma's house with her brother because we didn't want any problems with the resident cat. She would have loved the mountains. We hiked a lot together before her hips wouldn't allow her to go with me anymore. She passed away suddenly from cancer in June of '08 and we miss her terribly. She loved her daddy and they would "woo woo" back and forth to each other. Eating was her favorite pastime and she never missed a meal. She was a therapy dog and visited nursing homes and the Ronald Mcdonald House. She walked in Christmas parades with the husky rescue and all the kids would ask if she was a "Snow Dog". Shala never met a stranger and we were lucky to have been a part of her life.