About 3 years ago my friend Kathy Pruitt got into rescue by accident.
Kathy was at the pound around Thanksgiving in November 1998 looking for her son's lost cat and there was a darling 3-4 month old Boxer pup in the pound.
Kathy, big-hearted as she can be, and knowing that Boxers are my favorite
breed of dog- gave me a call to see if she should get it for us to
rescue. I said sure and our little rescue operation was born.

Unfortunately this first dog Charity, was very sick with a parvo-type disease. $1100 later we decided we really couldn't afford to rescue dogs on our own. Charity however recovered and went on to a wonderful family. We were hooked by the rescue bug- but didn't know how we could do it!!

I was introduced to the Boxer Mailing List next. And suddenly I was getting emails about dogs that needed rescuing. I saw an email from Karla Spitzer asking for help for Boxer Rescue LA and responded - they had a white boy with a brown eye ring similar to one of my favorite pets! I spoke to Karla and we arrange d to have the boy Bogie and a sweet girl Ashley shipped by air. (I was more extravagant in those days before I became poor from rescuing dogs!) When they arrived we were so excited. We treated them like royalty and totally enjoyed making them feel loved. We ran an ad and found them both wonderful homes in one weekend. I remember the lady who has Bogie still calls to say what a great dog he is! And Ashley was there for a family who just lost their 12 year old dog - and they fell in love with her. They called to tell me she fit in like she had always been with them.

Next I saw on the BML a cry for help - a deaf white Boxer 7 years old who
was going to be put down at the Idaho Humane Society. Having had deaf
Boxers before I felt a connection and suddenly thought "Why not?" I thought an older boy would fit in with my group well at home. I called and adopted the boy over the phone. The folks at the Idaho Humane Society were wonderful, buying him a crate for shipping and making the plans to deliver him to the airport while I bought his ticket and made a reservation. When the day arrived I was so excited and a little scared. What had I done?? What if my dogs didn't like him or vice versa? Well I'd just find him a home I
thought and dismissed my fears. I was waiting at cargo for him right on time...but he never showed up! Unfortunately the Boxer boy missed his connecting flight in Salt Lake City. I was panicked - all I could think of was this deaf boy all cold and alone in a warehouse somewhere! I began calling all over to see if he was OK. I got in touch with the Idaho Humane Society volunteer who posted about him on the web and she knew a rescue person in Salt Lake City who she called on for an emergency search mission. This kind volunteer actually went to the airport and found him and saw he was OK. He was successfully put on the next flight and arrived safely in Phoenix! And guess what- he wasn't 7 years old - he was more like 7 months old!!! And a total sweetheart. I was in love at once. And he remains a special part of my family today.

So I was getting into this rescue thing. The next move was to arrange for 4 dogs to be driven over from LA. I ran an ad before they came and had families for everyone when they arrived. We met at Kathy Pruitt's house and Kathy and Steve Carter, Boxer owner friends from the dog park also helped out. Hey this was working pretty good! Then I arranged for a van load- 8 dogs. Not all the families we contacted worked out and we had to foster a few. But we managed. I had also connected with the head Rescue lady of the Boxer Club of Arizona, Darrelan Blout who helped us out and showed us the ropes. We began to work together on some rescues.

So that's how it all started. My thinking was - if the Boxers are relatively easy to place in Phoenix, why wouldn't we help out Boxer Rescue LA? I had talked to Karla Spitzer a few times and been introduced over the phone to Ursula. They were so great to work with - providing all shots, neutering, medicines if needed- plus even gave us care packages for the dogs made by Jane Clinkenbeard, a volunteer, which included dog bowls, rawhide chews and more.

My next move was to join the Boxer Club of Arizona so I could have a good relationship with them and work closely and cooperate with Darrelan Blout the current
President of BCA on Boxer Rescue here in the Phoenix area, as well as with LA. We try not to bring in too many dogs if we have a full slate of Boxers in rescue locally.
Today those of us working with BRLA are a little more organized than 3 years ago. Thanks to some generous donations from LA connections we are in the process of building a kennel to house 6 -8 dogs up in Dewey, Arizona on Kathy Pruitt's property out in the country. That way we can bring in the LA dogs and not have to worry about fosters. It gives us flexibility when we are overloaded with local rescues which we may house in Dewey also. And Darrelan and her Boxer Club volunteers foster and help place the LA dogs too. It's a great team effort. We know we have a place for them until we can get them their own family. We are so grateful for these donations.

We have some wonderful volunteers: Kathy Pruitt her man John and mascot
Clayton Darrelan & Tim Blout, Steve & Kathy Carter, Arlene Tribble, Mary Lambert, Linda Kilvinger, Jill & Roger Hans; Scott & Candice Swanson; Tammy Reeves; Sue and Andy; Cheryl Cazier; Mary Beth Tucker and always adding on! We enjoy our relationship with Ursula and the BRLA rescue team so much - it is a real privilege to work with these dedicated volunteers, who all have but one goal in mind- to help our beloved breed - the Boxers!

CAPTION for PHOTO: As you can see from the photo of me and my white Boxers- white ones are my favorites - especially deaf white Boxers. I am always happy to foster these babies and give a good sales pitch for them as I love them so much. Three of the ones pictured are mine and 2 were fosters which I placed this fall into loving homes. (l to R Sweet Pea, Ziggy, Pokey, Athena, and Pinkie)