Ahnung: The inspiration behind Leech Lake Legacy ... her spirit is set free ..

Ahnung at her Final Celebration - August 25, 2013

On Sunday, August 25, 2013, surrounded by friends and a community of support, the spirit of Ahnung was set free. Ahnung (means star in 'ojibway') was a Red Lake Reservation dog, abandoned with her litter of 8 puppies, a survivor of heartworm, a couple gun shot wounds, lymes and was first diagnosed with cancer in July, 2011. She was a therapy dog and touched the hearts and healed wounded spirits of at-risk youth and put smiles on the faces of her friends in hospice as they spent their last weeks/months on earth. She was a constant at the Leech Lake spay/neuter clinics and participated and attended every clinic. Her spirit and presence remained strong at our last clinic in August where she partnered with kids at the educational sessions as they worked on 'rallying' ...

Ahnung has been the inspiration and fire behind Leech Lake Legacy. She picked Legacy to join our family in August, 2011. Ahnung and Legacy were best friends, forever bonded and through Legacy we will continue Ahnung's work of leaving a Legacy of Love.

To read more about Ahnung visit:
http://mariloureflects.blogpost.com

I have shared my journey with Ahnung, and will continue to share our journey as we move to a new way of being together on Ahnung's facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/AhnungNorthStar

Tributes to Ahnung:

My Voice T-Shirts:
http://www.myvoicetshirts.com/blogs/news/8815411-celebrating-the-life-of-ahnung-a-special-dog-that-brought-a-community-together

Sarah Beth Photography:
http://sarahbethphotography.com/2013/08/27/incredible-life-of-a-red-lake-rescue-dog-minneapolis-joy-session-photography/

Photos by Ryan of CaptureMor of Ahnung's Final Celebration:
http://capturemor.smugmug.com/Relationships/Pets/Ahnung/n-5TV6C/

Video Tribute by Jenny Fitzer (Co-Founder/LLL):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cagxzxHBgMI

Miigwech ... namaste,
Marilou/LLL Co-founder and guardian to Ahnung as she walked this earth ... she will continue to be the guiding star for many ... the next phase of our journey is yet to unfold and she continues her work through her baby brother Legacy

Legacy and Ahnung (August, 2012 - Joy Session with Sarah Beth Photography)

Update: Aiden's amazing recovery thanks to Karen Good!

Aiden on 5/1/13 at Animal Care Center, Bemidji

On 5/1/13 Leech Lake Legacy/LLL received a call from Rory, Leech Lake Community Services Officer. He had picked up a young dog who obviously had mange --- a pretty severe case of mange. We immediately gave Rory the okay to bring the pup (we named him Aiden) to our partner Animal Care Clinic in Bemidji to begin treatment on mange and to get checked out by a vet. Jenny (LLL) contacted Karen Good of Red Lake Rosie's Rescue to see if she would be able to take Aiden. With mange, we had nowhere for the little guy to go and Karen, once again, came through for us! Miigwech Karen :)

Aiden went further up north to Red Lake in early May when his other friends from the Leech Lake Impound headed south to the cities. He has been in the loving care of Karen since then and we recently got an update from Karen on the sweet boy. Aiden (now Max) is now in a foster home with All Dog Rescue.

Aiden - 4 weeks later

"Aiden a little shep arrive on May 9, 2013 at the Red Lake Rosie’s shelter.  Nancy and Tom met Karen at Animal Care Clinic to get  th little fellow with skin lesions and balding fur from the Cass Lake area.  Poor Aiden had demodex mange and had no where he could go. Leech Lake Legacy and Red Lake Rosie partnered to help Aiden get healed and get an adoption opportunity.

What a lovely boy he has become in 3 short months with daily ivermectin, antibiotics, fish oil and vitamins plus a great diet of donated grain free dog kibble. Aiden turned out to be a very lovely
dog and now has silky fur and you would never guess that he had ever had mange.

Aiden now Max left Sunday August 18th for All Dog Rescue in the foster care of John Rossakis, who made a special trip to help at the shelter, prepare for the clinic and to personally transport Aiden to
his home in Minneapolis.  I was sad to see him go as he is a very easy dog to get attached to, but so happy that he is going to a great rescue.  I want to thank John for taking many foster dogs from Red
Lake.  John said he has fostered 39 dogs from various places including Red Lake so far which is commendable.

This story is to remind us never to lose hope when it looks hopeless. Aiden is a testimony to that fact!!  We love you Aiden!

John updated us today about Aiden (now Max):

Hi Karen,
We made it back in good time and Aiden is settling in very nicely.  I re-named him Max, he likes that name.  He's getting along great with all the other animals, he's a very sweet boy.  Seems to already be
getting the hang of housetraining!"

Thank you Karen for all nursing Aiden/Max back to health, and thank you John (and All Dog Rescue) for taking this sweet boy into your program.

Aiden - 8 weeks later

Aiden and foster dad John

Aiden in his foster home <3

In memory of Roxie

Roxie ... a bright new star

This morning we received a generous donation from Luann and Frank H. Both Luann and Frank have volunteered at many of our spay/neuter clinics up at Leech Lake Reservation.

We received the following note from Luann and Frank ...

"On Friday, Frank and I had to say good-bye to Roxie, our beloved Pit Bull mix.  Roxie, at 6 mo. old, was picked up on the Fond Du Lac reservation.  It was obvious that she had suffered terrible abuse. After another 6 months at the Hibbing shelter, we adopted her in spite of warnings from a volunteer that she was an unstable dog.  Roxie became the most loving, loyal dog we have ever had.  She packed a lot of living into her nearly 12 years, and was an outstanding travel companion.  Our hearts are breaking right now; we miss those soulful eyes and wonderful Pittie smile she always had before she got sick.  Although cancer took her life, Roxie's joyful, exuberant spirit will be in our hearts forever.

Because Roxie came from a northern Minnesota reservation and her story is typical of so many of the dogs helped by Leech Lake Legacy, we thought it was fitting to make a contribution to LLL in Roxie's memory .... "

RIP sweet Roxie. Your memory and donation will continue to live on in the spirits of your fellow rez dogs.

Annabelle's beautiful spirit is shining brightly!

Annabelle on 7/23 .. only 35 lbs

Annabelle today ... now 51.2 lbs

Annabelle arrived on a mid-week emergency transport on 7/23. She was picked up by Rory, Leech Lake Community Services Officer along with her 8 pups and immediately taken to our partner vet, Animal Care Clinic in Bemidji till we could find a rescue to take her in. Jenny's first call was to Julie C, foster with our rescue partner Second Hand Hounds. Julie has been a life saver for us on so many occasions taking in nursing puppies, orphaned puppies, pregnant mamas, and pups needing special medical care. As Julie, and Second Hand Hounds, have done on many occasions, they came through for us, once again, and we set the wheels in motion to get Annabelle and her 8 pups to the cities and into Julie's loving care.  She was extremely skinny (a mere 35 lbs) and her ears were in horrible shape from fly bites. Yet, this angel continued to be an amazing mom to her 8 tiny pups. Annabelle has been in Julie's care for the past few weeks and her beautiful spirit and playfulness is coming alive .... She is now 51.2 lbs and foster mom Julie bought her a new collar to match her beautiful spirit ... the following is from Julie's facebook status post as she shared a recent photo of Annabelle: "Sweet Annabelle - you make me so happy and proud. With an adoption event this weekend I decided you needed a beautiful collar to match your beautiful spirit. We stopped over to get a weight update......51.2 lbs! This sweet girl only weighed 35 lbs when she came to me only 3 weeks ago - starving and nursing 8 puppies. You are going to make someone an amazing companion - you have so much joy and spirit, every day I am more amazed by you."

Julie ... you, like Annabelle are a beautiful spirit for all you do for these pups who so desperately need a little help. A heartfelt thanks to you (and Second Hand Hounds) for taking Annabelle and her pups in ...you are so right, she will, without a doubt, make someone an amazing companion :)

Annabelle when she arrived

Annabelle's poor ears (fly bites!)

Annabelle gives one of her pups a kiss the day she arrives in the city

Upcoming Spay/Neuter and vaccination clinic and Kids Free educational Event!

Leech Lake Legacy volunteers are gearing up for our third spay/neuter and vaccination clinic in 2013 at Leech Lake Reservation (Friday and Saturday)! We will also be hosting a free kids event on Saturday at 1:00 pm at Pike Bay Townhall (see the flyer below for more info).

A big thanks to Pet Haven Inc. of Minnesota, FAIR School of Downtown, Minnesota Spay Neuter Project, and the Leech Lake Tribal Police for being major partners/sponsors for our August spay/neuter and vaccination clinic!

 

Update: Sky (formerly Nellie) ...

Nellie when she arrived on 2/2/13

This sweet little girl came down on the 2/2/13 transport from Leech Lake Reservation along with quite a few other pups. As always, we were greeted by the staff at the Buffalo Animal Humane Society with big smiles and excitement to meet the precious animals who we knew would get lots of love, TLC, and care AND then be placed up for adoption.

Well ... it sounds like little Nellie didn't have to wait long for her perfect family. We got the following update from her family the other day and just had to share :)

Nellie/Sky's first night in her new home

"My younger daughter and I love to look at your blog and photos! We adopted Nellie, we renamed her Sky, from the Buffalo Humane Society and she was brought down from Leech Lake in early February. We spied her photo on the AHS website within hours of it being posted and zipped out immediately to meet her. We had to wait 24 hours to play with her, so we put her on hold and drove out again the next night and brought her home with us. Our beloved 7 year old dog had died a few days before Christmas, and while we thought we would wait until summertime to get another dog, we couldn’t go home without he!

She’s kooky and sweet and trouble – all in one. But just like our kids and family, we love her all the more. She definitely wants to please and learns quickly, figured out eating shoes was not a good idea, so moved to blankets, then clothes, then newspapers, then toilet paper and beanie babies! We’re working on it, it seems a tennis ball can keep her entertained for hours. The first week she was in our home, she jumped on the bed and dropped the tennis ball on my head. I knew the advice was to ignore her, so I did. After a few minutes all was quiet, success. And then…she came back with a wet tennis ball and dropped it on my head. She plopped it in her water dish and gave it another try!!

We’re so happy we adopted her!!

"Her first morning at home. Kate thought she needed a little company!"

Sky ... almost 6 months at home!

A bright new star in the skies tonight ... RIP sweet Pearl

Pearl and Heidi

On Saturday we received a call from our partner, the Animal Humane Society. They had two puppies who had broken with parvo. As we've worked together over the past 2 years to help the animals of Leech Lake Reservation we have unfortunately seen quite a few cases of parvo and we/LLL are extremely fortunate to have Heidi (who does temp fostering for LLL) and Jean (of Carver Scott Humane Society) help us nurse many of our parvo pups back to health. Jenny received the call from Anne J (site manager of the Golden Valley AHS) with her request .. was there any way LLL could help? Jenny immediately started making phone calls and within a few hours we had a plan in place: Jenny was going to take Java (whom Heidi was temp fostering till MUSHR (Minnesota's Unwanted Siberian Husky Rescue) was able to take her into their rescue; Jenny, Heidi and I met at AHS to pick up the two pups (Heidi named them Phillip and Pearl) along with meds and instructions from the AHS vets. AHS sent all necessary supplies and meds for Heidi to provide the necessary care ... the pups were both pretty skinny when they arrived at Heidi's and were showing parvo symptoms. Heidi set up a nice comfy areas for each of them ... they were to be kept separate so that she could monitor their symptoms separately.

Phillip and Heidi

It is with a heavy heart we share with you that Pearl did not make it through the night. Rest assured that the sweet little pup knew and experienced only love and kindness in the 5 days she was with Heidi. Sweet Pearl, you will be the brightest star shining in the night skies tonight and you will forever have a place in our hearts. And thank you Heidi for all you did for the sweet little girl.

Pearl's sibling Phillip is fortunately doing well .. as of this morning, Heidi shares he is bouncy puppy but definitely not in the clear. Please keep Phillip in your thoughts and prayers and send lots of positive energy his way.

And Java spent one night with Jenny, then was off to her foster home with MUSHR (thank you MUSHR for taking Java into your program ... she is one smart, bright, energetic girl ;-)

Java giving foster mom Heidi a thank you and goodbye kiss :)