How do you place a price tag on a life? At what point does one become so old, so ill, that they are not worth being loved, comforted, or kissed goodbye? Many of us in rescue pondered just this question in late 2005 when news of an OTI Havanese in a shelter was brought to our attention.

Spike was an older Hav, guessed at the time to be about 10. He was malnourished, covered in ticks and fleas, with cataracts, a failing heart and kidney disease. His prognosis was not good. He was given as little as a week to live.

The question was, when should rescue step in? And if it did, who would take on such a foster or adoptee knowing the creation of a new friendship could end abruptly.

Spike was lucky enough to find two very special souls in Lynn Nieto and Tom Reed. When Lynn first opened Spike's crate that day, he must have known this was to be a very special place, because he bounced out of his crate and planted a huge wet kiss on her face, sealing their fates.

The change in Spike's health and lifestyle throughout 2006 answered most of the questions some of us had asked the previous year. With the love and care lavished on him by Lynn and Tom, Spike flourished. The original diagnosis of his possibly only living a week, stretched to a month, and then miraculously to a year. Spike recently celebrated his one year anniversary with his two human friends.

Through the love Lynn and Tom have given him, Spike has enjoyed a year he would never have had if left in that shelter. He has enjoyed a year of being clean, well fed, and happy. A wonderful year, where he has made friends both human and canine across the country, and stood as the epitamy of what rescue can mean.

...Cyndi Rust

Hello, my name is Coco, short for Coconut. I was the owner turn-in from Oregon about 9 months ago ? they used to call me Oko, but I like my new name better. I was picked up somewhere in Oregon and driven all the way to Skagit Valley in WA where I lived with my foster Mom Jane and I met four new four-legged friends. I was a bit shy at first but then I fit in nicely. I was there for a couple of weeks until my forever family came for me. They drove all the way up from Lacey, WA. I really was interested in meeting their four-legged son. I was pretty sure I?d met this very big, very poofy four legged friend before. Come to find out we were both from the very same litter. We were twins! I noticed right away that my brother, Jackson, was not very interested in me. He was a bit annoyed with me at first.

When I was taken to my forever home I was pretty nervous. I stayed in my crate for a while and my new human brother and sister tried really hard to get me to come out. They really wanted to play with me but I was still trying to figure everything out.

After some time I ventured out of the crate and really have not been back inside since. After a couple weeks of disuse my Forever Mom finally put my crate outside. I now sleep in bed with her and Dad pretty much every night.

My twin brother Jackson at first didn?t really care for me. It took a few weeks for him to let me get near my Mom and Dad. Jackson would growl at me and push me away. Eventually the growling and pushing turned to licks and nips. Now we play runlikehell all the time. Sometimes we even sleep together and we are usually in the same room.

Most days I sleep at Dad?s feet while he works from his home office. Mom and Dad like to think that I play favorites with them. Dad says that I am his and Mom always talks about how she is the one that bathes and grooms me so I should hang out with her. I find that whomever is home the longest is the one I tend to hang out with, so when Dad is gone I pick Mom. Dad says that I have to settle when he travels. Ha ha.

When I came to my forever home I had very thin hair and almost no undercoat. Now I have both of my coats and they are both beautiful and shiny, or so my Mom always tells me. She tells me how sweet I am, how I always come when called and how much she loves that she never has to put me on a leash, I just stay closer to her heels. I love to curl up on her lap. She says that I was just the kind of dog she has always wanted. My human siblings love for me to sit next to them as well so they can pet me.

I noticed that soon after I moved in my human parents pulled up all their carpet on the bottom floor and put in hard wood floors. I think it might be because every time my parents come home I get so excited that I piddle all over the floor. I keep hoping that I will quit doing this but so far it is just part of who I am. The hard thing about the hard wood floors is that every time Jackson and I decide to play and run we slide all over the place. We try to stop but we usually end up sliding all the way across the living room or down the hall. It makes my Mom and Dad laugh to see us so out of control.

I love my new home and I am so glad that I have finally found the humans that I can spend the rest of my life with.

Love,
Coco

My name is Scooby. I?m 6 yrs old and my owners turned me in to HRI because I started biting the boys in the family (ages 9, 7 and 2). The ladies on the intake committee decided to take me in because starting to bite at 6 was really out of character for a Havanese.

When my foster Mom picked me up, I really wasn?t sure what was happening but I gave her lots of kisses so she?d like me. I knew she would figure out that the boys had been pulling on my back legs and tail and that?s why I was biting them; I was telling them to stop! In a very short time I found out that being touched in the rear doesn?t have to hurt. In fact, it feels pretty good!

I went to Obedience class (kind of scary, but Mom explained about my ?rear problem? and every one was very nice) and passed! I even did all of the stuff off lead and surprised Mom.

My new family figured out that I was having focal seizures when I was upset or stressed. (My other family never figured that out.) I don?t need any medication right now but we write down on the calendar when I have one so we know if they get worse.

Anyway, my foster Mom & Dad decided to adopt me since I fit in so well. Dad has seizures, too, so we?re best buddies. I watch out for him and he looks out for me. I sit on his lap every night and help him watch TV. I?m really glad that Mom & Dad flunked fostering 101. I am the winner, with a new family and other Havs to play with. I learned about bully sticks and beef bones and toys to share-sometimes (except for my goose ? he?s MINE!)

Thanks to Havanese Rescue, I don?t have to worry about being hurt and I know that my new family loves me LOTS. I love them lots, too, and show them with kisses, kisses, kisses every day.

Love, Scooby