Not only has Maddie Hiatt rescued all of her dogs, but she also likes to dress them up and teach them tricks. Her love of dogs goes back to her grandfather who raised Beagles. Hiatt’s family would rather rescue animals from shelters than buy them from animal stores.

Maddie Hiatt and Her Dogs B Abigail Griffin

The sound of playful growling fills the family room as a young Mutt runs in- backwards- pulling a toy rope and a 12-year-old Beagle behind her. They energetically run to the other side of the room and continue their game of tug-of-war.

Meanwhile, a 10-year-old Maltese snuggles with junior Maddie Hiatt on the couch.

Any stranger walking into the Hiatt household would see a loving family with 3 dogs.

What he doesn’t see?

He doesn’t see the history that exists under each animal’s fur coat. Doesn’t know the pain that each of these dogs has felt.

All three are rescue dogs.

Cookie

The two dogs continue playing as Val, a mutt, brings out the youth in Cookie a 12-year-old Beagle. What isn’t shown is that Cookie was living in a “sketchy”  Beagle farm in Missouri before she was saved by the Hiatts. She was fighting to survive in undesirable, dangerous conditions as the runt of the litter. In this part of Cookie’s past lies the pain that is not noticeable to many people.

Cookie may never understand why she got saved, she just knows that she is happy now, living with her family.

Maddie’s mother Cindy Hiatt would explain that she grew up with Beagles; her father bred them. As a child, she was never without at least one dog, and she fostered a special attachment to the dogs she had grown up with. Thus, she and her husband decided to go save a Beagle and give it a better life with a compassionate family. Once they saw how little Cookie was compared to the others, they knew they needed to save her.

Dood

Maddie cuddles with the Maltese, Dood. Pleasure, sanctity and comfort are obvious on both Dood’s and Maddie’s faces.

Ten years in the past, however, Dood was living in a mall pet store. On New Year’s Day, Cindy and husband Woody entered a pet store, appalled at the conditions the animals were living in. The pet store smelled of urine and was covered in filth. Cindy complained to a worker about the disgusting conditions.

Days later, they returned to the same pet store, and Cindy and Woody played with a one and a half pound Maltese in the back room. Eventually they bickered about who was going to put the tiny dog back in his prison. Neither one had the heart to do such a thing, so Dood went home with the Hiatts on Jan. 4, 2003.

They hid the tiny dog in the midst of Maddie’s stuffed animals on her bed and witnessed the look on a thrilled child’s face as young Maddie watched Dood come strutting out of the pile.

What they didn’t find out until later was that Dood had a hole in his heart and a soft spot on his head. Instead of trading Dood for his brother and sentencing Dood to sure death, they went to the University of Missouri Columbia and paid $1,000 to have Dood’s heart fixed. They made the choice to save Dood’s life.

Now, years later, his heart is healthy and his “uncloseable” soft spot is closed; he still delights Maddie and her family with his presence.

Val

At about 10 p.m., the dogs wait for their owners to creep off to their beds for a good night’s sleep. Dood follows Maddie’s parents. Cookie and Val go with Maddie to her room, and Val jumps up on Maddie’s bed to sleep with her.

Val’s story begins in the recent past, merely a few months ago, on the side of the street. Abandoned with her six puppies- only a few days old, their eyes still closed- Val fought to keep them safe.

Although she and her puppies were saved, Val had each of them taken away from her and was left in various foster homes, waiting for a home of her own.

On the fateful day, the day before Maddie was to go to Nationals for publications, the Hiatt family entered their vet clinic of 25 years, the Harvest Plaza Animal Hospital, to get Dood some food. They enter to hear the words “Oh! You guys are perfect!” exclaimed from a worker there.

They all went back to meet this dog they were “perfect” for. The Hiatts and Val fell in love immediately, but she wasn’t adopted that day. Soon after Maddie returned from Nationals, she returned home from the library to find Val in the arms of her father. Everyone knew it was meant to be.

A New Life

Now, as the dogs sleep, they await a new day. One they know will be more fulfilling than their previous lives.

Yes, currently each dog lives a normal dog life. They have a schedule. They go for walks. They play games. They receive training.

But like every human, these animals have stories of their own and histories that define who they are today.

Chowning’s Squirrles By Cynthia Cahall

Dad came home late from work
Decided to cut down trees
found babies
grabbed one of them by the tail and showed it to family

Older sister was home from college looked up website on how to take care of
At first every four hours had to be feed, sisters took turns
now it is whenever they think he is hungry

In the morning  dec 16 Mike came in from garage and found he had escaped box

Sisters were holding him
he started climbing on her
tried to feed him a grape didn’t like it
mixed up formula
sister started to feed him
dad took over
family/friends came over with the cage
they told the story
Tina and Mike Chowning walk back and forth from the kitchen and the living room, preparing one of the five or six meals Chester gets a day.

Emily and Ana Chowning take turns cradling him in a faded yellow blanket like a baby. Chester.

He snuggles down into the folds as they pet him under his chin, trying to do it just like their dad Mike does it. He is the best at it. Chester kicks his leg back and forth. They can tell he loves the attention.

Before they give him his meal, they try once more to feed him a grape. One of the things they must get him used to as he grows up. In the kitchen, puppy formula is mixed with whipped cream and water in a small cup.

Chester sits back grasping and clawing, stubbornly trying to keep his hold on the syringe. He squeaks with delight as he greedily sucks the formula out of the syringe.

Mike takes over feeding him. He is Chester’s favorite. He is comforted by the sound of his voice.
They have many memories with Chester.
Like when the sister’s mom,Tina, had a defining moment when he became a part of the family as he opened his eyes for the first time while she feed him.

Or Mike giving him warm baths everyday.

The whole family remembers the cold, dark evening Mike came home late from work and decided to cut down a 40-year-old pine tree in their front yard.

They wouldn’t have any of the fond memories of time spent with Chester if everything hadn’t worked out right.

Chester would never have known the the comfort of being held and feed by his new family.

Chester would probably be outside, fending for himself in the wild where he would probably been fed to the eagles.’

Chester wouldn’t have learned to snuggle with Ana and Emily.

And the Chowning family wouldn’t know the love of a Gray Fox squirrel.

From Abused to Rescued by Delores Lampkin

They were sitting on their tan sofa having a conversation, then a voice wasn’t fond of someone’s answer; unconsciously, someone hit the wrong vocal cord. That’s when the tension hit a climax. The Conure bird from St. Louis Avian Rescue, quickly picked up the unkind tone. He grabbed hold of his owner’s upper and bottom lips with his beak, then immediately shouted, “stop screaming!”

“I found it painful at first, but then I became amazed because he told me to be quiet without actually telling me to be quiet,” owner Karen McDonald said. “We all feel so sorry for him. The people that abused him must of told him to stop screaming almost a thousand times.”

The echo of his past startles the 10-year-old bird. A vivid recurrence of the past experience with Yago’s previous foster parents flashes in his mind, the image of how they abused and neglected him comes to life. Unfortunately, the results of the abuse left Yago with some trust issues and low self-esteem.

“Sometimes he tells himself to stop screaming,” sophomore Aly Jenkins, owner, said. “He feels as if we’re going to tell him to be quiet so he tries to beat us to the punch.”

As Yago release his owners lip, he realizes that he’s in a safe place, and it’s okay to talk loud, which is exactly what his owners want. Although Yago still has some trust issues, they’re not as bad as they were when he first came to live with the Jenkins family.

“If my bird could say one thing to me it would probably thank you for rescuing me,” sophomore Ashleigh Jenkins said.

Emma Gordon Pet Center By Carly Vossmeyer

He’s in the Gordon family’s 2004 silver Suburban, wearing his bandana that says, “Tanner Therapy Dog”.
He’s more than just a household pet.
Sophomore Emma Gordon’s Pembroke Welsh corgi who is also a therapy dog that helps elementary school kids and senior citizens.
Tanner was bought by the Gordons when he was six months old. He was tested as a therapy dog international when he was just one after special training, and was the youngest dog at the time to pass the test in Missouri.
He knows what is coming.
He’s on his way to do something incredible.
Accompanied by Emma and Emma’s mom Pat, Tanner is on his way to Becky David Elementary School to read with a kid that has a learning disability. Sometimes he even visits Breeze Park Senior Living to encourage senior citizens to overcome any obstacles they have been facing mentally, emotionally or physically.
“We have trained him to do certain things beside just being a pet, which has which has helped him in his involvement is our family,” Pat said.
To help out at home, Tanner works with foster animals that the Gordons take in. He nurtures them and helps them to become trained within a household environment.
He seems like a normal dog, but he works daily to make a difference in someone’s life.
“What he does actually makes a difference,” Emma said. “It’s the way he can handle people and kids, even though he’s a dog.”