My New Year's Resolution: To Beg More

Those that know me, know that my online name, BuckHawk, represents my biggest passion and basically my life. I run an animal rescue center called the BuckHawk Center. It is always full of dogs that need to find furever homes. Cats do come through here, also, but dogs are the biggest need in my community.

These dogs range in all sizes and come from just about every walk of life imaginable. Many come from abusive backgrounds, many come from neglectful backgrounds, and many come just because humans did not bother to spay their mothers.

Whatever the reason they arrive here, they are welcomed in and shown what humans can do with love, healthy food and lots of extra attention.

This is Basil, one of three puppies that was adopted in March of 2010.

You might find this strange, but I HATE the idea of begging! It just goes against all that I learned as a child. Begging interfers with my dignity. It was taught to me that you help others in need and be thankful for what you have. Therefore, you do not need to beg. Begging is for those without.

I am not without! I have a roof over my head and a great one at that. I am never without food. I may not enjoy fancy things in life, but I still have everything that makes me comfortable and happy. I am blessed to be loved by many pets and many family and friends. Begging is something that I could never do. I just knew it.

Then came the day that my biggest fear was slammed right into my face with a very loud "smash!"

I received a phone call. An injured dog really needed to be rescued. The rescued dog ended up leaving the BuckHawk Center with a huge vet bill. A bill that we could not cover in any way shape or form. My only hope was to beg. (ick!)

Bailey when I picked him up at the vet's.

As a way to help bring in more funds to the BuckHawk Center, I joined Squidoo in May of 2009. I had heard that it was possible to make money from writing online. And Squidoo liked charities. That was wonderful for me.

Our regular donations, which I didn't have to beg for incidentally, were dwindling with the economy woes. But, our rescue population was growing. The price of dog food, along with everything else, was going up. I needed to make sure we wouldn't go bankrupt! I had the responsibility of bringing in more funds to our group.

Income for the Center, without me doing any begging, that sounded perfect.

Since I was rather new to online activity at all, much less Squidoo, I was less than delighted with my first month's payout of $1.12. The remaining months of that year brought similar payouts. This was not going to keep BuckHawk Center going.

This is Brindie, a young lady who was rescued nearly a year ago and now has a home all her own.

It was April of 2010 that I was invited to join RocketMoms. And that caused a most amazing bug to bite me firmly in the center of my back - you know that place that you cannot reach to scratch! There was no hope for me but to keep making lenses as a way to scratch the ever growing welt that was forming.

Somewhere in the intervening months, I learned something more about making lenses. I learned how to make lenses that people other than my family and friends would read. Well, they only read the lenses that I sent them to say, please help me out! And, some of those lenses started earning a little bit from sales. Since, I was happily making lots of lenses, I was also discovering that Squidoo likes lots of lenses and the monthly payouts were slowly climbing.

Then came the very first, most exciting thing. Another lensmaster decided to donate of portion of her sales from one of her lenses to BuckHawk and featured a donations module to help us out! I was ecstatic. It wasn't long before another lensmaster did the same thing, then another. Wow!

This is Utah, a young mother who came to us with her pups and has now found her furever home.

As I write this, 21 dogs are completely dependent on me for their food and well-being. Of course, I have volunteers who help out, but the reality is, I am the responsible party. It is up to me to decide who gets rescued, who gets medical attention when they need it, who gets adopted out and who and when those volunteers will be assisting.

I must make the decisions about which dogs need extra attention or training to become better pets. I am the one who makes sure all the adoptable pets get seen by potential adopters. I clean, replace and refill food and water bowls. I wash blankets and bedding. And I pay the bills.

That is where I made my New Year's Resolution.

It is time for me to swallow my pride and begin begging in earnest. The animals at the BuckHawk Center deserve it. They deserve to be cared for like they have never known before. They deserve to have all the medical attention they need, without me worrying about how to pay the bill. They deserve to have toys and accessories to enrich their lives. They deserve to be spoiled and loved.

And certainly, they all deserve to have me swallow my pride and beg for the funding that is needed to keep us going and keep those wonderful animals happy.

This is happy little Ceasar, who joined us as a puppy and has grown up with us, and grown into a huge, happy boy.

Bailey may have been our toughest case, but another rescue caused me some terrible emotional pain.

A call came into the center one afternoon. A lady claimed two dogs were chasing her livestock. We had to take them. If we didn't she would just have to shoot them.

One of our volunteers raced to pick them up and then called me on the way to BuckHawk. "Susan, they are so thin. One of them I don't think will make it long. They are both sick and starving to death."

Another volunteer was at the center with me, waiting to receive these two. We quickly defrosted some chicken, boiled it and made a whole box of rice to go with it. I mixed in some dog kibble and filled two bowls with fresh water.

When I met these two boxers, I was appalled. They were only bones with skin over it. I'm sure they only inhaled their chicken and rice dinner, before they looked to me for more. When they had finally eaten enough to fill their weak stomachs, they turned to the water and drank for what seemed like hours.

After we settled the dogs in warm blankets for the night, we got a chance to talk about the situation. They would need some pretty intense care, especially the skinnier one. A trip to the vet would happen the next morning and we would go with his recommendations.

The recommendations included medicine, special food and lots of smaller meals all day long. Those volunteers came day and night to help out with the feeding and the medication-administering sessions, but I was left with how to cover the increased costs.

That was resolved quite quickly, again without me begging. I knew a woman who was a boxer lover and looking for one to join her world. She immediately fell for the sicker of the two and gave us a generous donation to help with the other one, since she couldn't take them both.

Both the boxers, Mason and Dixson, have new homes and are happily living the kind of life they deserve. But, I tear up remembering the fear and pain that I felt for those two loving beauties.

Just in case you didn't know, BuckHawk Center Animal Rescue is one of Squidoo's Official Charities. That means you have a very easy way to help us out.

Set BuckHawk Center to be the recipient of some or all of your charitable giving on Squidoo. You can chose any of your lenses and go to your Royalty Settings. Pick BuckHawk Center Animal Rescue from the drop down menu of charities and set the percentage you want to contribute. Save your changes and republish your lens. Done. Squidoo takes care of the rest! And, you will feel that wonderful warm glow that comes from knowing you have done something to help out so many animals. And, you've done it because you are a kind and generous person.

You can also add a donations module to any and all of your lenses, too. Choose BuckHawk Center from the drop down menu and write a wonderful "begging" plea for donations. I'm absolutely sure you can write a better plea than I can!

This is Bern, a delightful guy that was found tied to our vet's door one day. He has a wonderful new home.

This call came just like all the others. Sweeney had gotten very sick all of a sudden. She was the smallest of a litter of nine Black and Tan Coonhound and Black Lab mix. They were being fostered until they were old enough to join BuckHawk.

I guessed, but dealy hoped I was wrong that she had Parvo, the most terrible and deadly virus a puppy could get. The puppies had been vaccinated the day before, but she must have already had the virus in her system.

I rushed to get her and took her to the local vet there. The news was the worst. Yes, Parvo. He suggested euthanasia. When she looked into my eyes, I just couldn't do it. Instead I took her back to the BuckHawk and kept her warm, but isolated.

Another sleepless night passed as I worried about her and regularly checked her. The next morning, I rushed her to our regular vet first thing. He wasn't very encouraging either, but he graciously left the decision up to me. All I could say was we had to try.

He took her immediately to the doggie hospital section of his clinic and began the life-saving IV. She seemed to sigh as that nourishment hit her veins. Then she laid down and closed her eyes. I left not knowing if I would ever see her again.

The next day, my call to the vet was a bit more encouraging. She had made it through the night, but she wasn't out of danger just yet. When I called the following day, she was doing better, but she hadn't actually eaten any food. I was very hopeful, but worried about paying what would surely be another huge vet bill. In the meantime, an adopter had arranged to come to BuckHawk Center to meet another of our dogs. She would arrive the next afternoon.

The next morning, the vet's office called. Sweeney was ready to go home! So off I ran to pick her up. The vet met me at the door. He had to tell me how happy he was that I had made the decision I made. He had been so doubtful.

Well, to make a short story rather long, the adopter took one look at our darling Sweeney and that was it! The two of them were in love with each other. Now, Sweeney is a very large darling and spoiled just as she deserves.

This is Sweeney asleep in the arms of her new mama.