JILL AND MIKE HAYES
with Max, Natasha, and Winchester
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When Jill and Mike adopted Max, a Basenji mix, 17 years ago from a kill shelter, he was a “skillful counter surfer, hunter, and all-around troublemaker,” as Jill describes. Nowadays, the couple keeps an eye on their old blind dog, but Jill says he still gets around. |
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KAT AND RICK DUNLAP-
Rufio Ricardo and Sugar Joy
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This past summer, Rufio, the 1 year old Neapolitan Mastiff, learned to swim. “The only problem was, we would let him out for a midnight tinkle, and we would find Rufio doing midnight laps!” Kat says their nighttime rituals are comical. Rufio, a normally laid back dog, takes an evening race throughout the house, knocking things over with his “big feet and bowling ball head…and figure eights seem to be his specialty.” |
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Marianne Hymanson with Acuna, Mariah, Trista, & Danea
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After suffering a life-threatening medical condition and being in a wheelchair for several years Marianne says that her Keeshond Acuna was there through all of it and helped comfort her. “I couldn’t go back to being a computer software engineer, and I knew there had to be something more and better I could do still facing my own limitations.” She decided that raising and training puppies for a national service dog organization was the way to go. |
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India Lipton and Shirley Lesser with Charlton Dane
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India and Shirley have wanted a Great Dane for many years but waited until their lives would be a good fit for raising one. They did a good bit of research on the breed and learned as much as they could before Charlton Dane joined their family as a puppy. Now all of India and Shirley’s days start off with “What are we going to do with Charlton today?” |
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Anastasia and Rafael Torres-Gil with daughter Crystal and dogs –
Coco, Leon, Peanut Lee, & Brownie
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Coco was Anastasia’s muse to change her career from lawyer to dog couture designer (www.myfavoritecouture.com). Anastasia’s Louis Vuitton purse had worn out, so she transformed it into a dog hoodie, which spurred her to created more dog designs for Coco. She now donates 25% of her company’s proceeds to the Santa Cruz SPCA, and the rescue dogs model the outfits to facilitate their adoptions. Anastasia, her husband Rafael, and their daughter Crystal met Coco on a donation visit to the Santa Cruz SPCA. “She looked like a cross between Yoda and a wild-haired raccoon.” The staff told her the dog was a “Porkie” (a Pug/Yorkie mix). |
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Kyla Ballesteros with Tiberius
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Kyla thought her two lovely Rottweilers, Nero and Wizz, were enough for her. Then, a friend of her sister’s took in a stray Pit Bull who was found on the side of a road. Turns out the stray Pittie, Tiberius’s mom, was pregnant! Kyla’s sister talked her into going to the friend’s house to see all the puppies, and when Tiberius was placed on her lap, “it was love at first sight,” Kyla says! |
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