Fences For Fido is thrilled and grateful to have already helped over 300 dogs, and each week our list of dogs being free'd by our volunteers and supporters grows and grows.  And we know every dog by name because each one is a precious soul who has touched our lives and become part of our Fences For Fido family forever.  But recently when we compiled our year-end statistics, we noticed an interesting trend that we have helped more dogs named a variation of "Bear" than any other name.  In fact, we have helped 15 dogs with a Bear name such as Oso (Spanish for "bear"), Grizzly, and even a Pooh Bear!  We are of course sad that so many dogs named Bear are chained, but we believe they are in reality very lucky as we keep finding them and changing their lives forever.  So we have turned 15 chained Bears into 15 FREE Bears and that's what Fences For Fido loves to do no matter what name a dog has!

 

We know you will enjoy meeting many of the "Bears" we've helped so far:

 

Handsome Oso had the honor of having his fence built on Fences For Fido's 1-year anniversary in June 2010.  Two special events in one fantastic morning as volunteers were happy to add this Oso to the quickly growing list of dogs we have helped.

 

 

   

Bear in Gresham - Before and after his release on July 10, 2010 - look at his joy as he runs free at last.  Bear was chained in a yard with a broken fence, and he and his family needed our help to fix it up so he could run around in the lovely green backyard.

 

 

We helped this Bear who was so lucky to be adopted by one of our FFF volunteers!  Here he is getting ready to head to his new loving home with Melanie. Doesn't he look happy?  He has a great new life with her and we are very excited for them both!

 

 

Here's a cute girl Bear we helped in Clatskanie in December 2010.

 

Here Client Outreach Coordinator Erin remembers how many ways we helped Bear and her family:

 

"Bear was a chained country girl and lived  with her chained country boy, JR.  When I first met Bear, she was pregnant and soon gave birth to 9 puppies!  When the puppies were ready to leave mom, they were all put into foster homes, except for one, who had her forever home already waiting for her.  That puppy's name became Merry.  Eventually, all 9 puppies found homes!  The next step was to get Bear spayed and build her a fence!  On a rainy Saturday morning in December, several volunteers made their way to Bear and JR's "country" and built them a fence.  Now unchained, Bear and JR have a wonderful yard to play in and two nice, dry doghouses!"

 

 

   

BearBear and his good buddy Ringo.  Both dogs were very snappy and barked at everyone while tied 10-12 hours a day.  Their Client Outreach Coordinator checked back a few weeks after the build and their people told her they had quieted down which is so good to hear!

 

 

Our special white Bear in Portland

 

We learned about Bear from a neighbor who simply said, “Please help this dog!”  Upon approaching Bear, we could see how his situation could pull at your heart strings. Bear, a gentle giant, with little spirit, and the saddest of eyes, needed our help, but his family seemed reluctant and skeptical.  It took three visits before the family finally warmed to our fence offer so thankfully on January 15, 2011 with a few small areas being touched up, this gentle man will be free in one of the bigger, more luxurious yards we’ve built in a long time. And, after 6 years on a chain in Portland, we think Bear has earned it.

 

 

Little guy Bear rescued by our Salem Chapter.

 

We found sweet little 6-month-old Bear next door to another build.  He was chained to a tree.  No dog house.  No bedding.  No water bowl.  When we talked to the family, they said they'd gotten him in the hopes of keeping him indoors.  When he had some potty-training mistakes, they put him out on the chain.  They had decided they just couldn't keep him indoors, so when the weather got bad they'd chain him in the carport or put him in the car.  We started talking about building him a fenced yard, but the family decided to let Bear find a new, more appropriate home.  That's exactly what happened, when our friends at Hope's Haven Sanctuary agreed to take him in, he met his forever family in a heartbeat.

 

 

And on an extraordinary day of November 19, 2011, we free'd an incredible three "bears" in one day--one in Washington, two in Oregon:

 

Believe it or not, Grizzly was 16 years old when he finally was un-tethered for good.

 

Grizzly and his best gal pal Chloe were spotted in Ethel, WA by client outreach volunteers while checking on another dog nearby.  It was soon discovered that the dogs were tethered 24/7 and the family quickly agreed to have us help them.  The fence was built on the snowy and cold morning of November 19, 2011.  Thanks to Smokey's Fund, Grizzly subsequently had emergency anal gland removal surgery and a neuter (yes, at his age!) to prevent testosterone from fueling more tumors.   This old gent with the spirit of a youngster recovered nicely and is enjoying his new freedom for the remainder of his days, which we hope will be a good long while yet.  He enchanted his volunteer crew with his zest for life and stoic demeanor even after spending most of his life confined to a tether.

 

Big, handsome, 92-pound Oso in Keizer had spent all of his 10 years in a small, damp kennel. When we first met the family, they thought Oso was just fine in his dog run.  But we stayed in touch, and when Oso developed serious skin and ear infections from the chronic dampness, his family reached out to Fences For Fido for help and we were so happy to provide it.  Oso got a big fenced yard on November 19, 2011 and his skin is much better now that he can run freely in his safe yard.

 

 

Teeny tiny Pooh Bear enjoys time with his volunteers who built his fence.

 

Pooh Bear in Portland was a very friendly little Pomeranian who spent too much of his time outside on a tiny chain while his human family were at school and work.  His family felt horrible about this situation so they reached out to FFF for help.  We of course answered their request for assistance and built Pooh Bear a fence on November 19, 2011 so he would no longer have to live like that.  Thanks to FFF Pooh Bear now enjoys playing with his family in his safe and secure yard. He rewarded his volunteers with lots of Pomeranian kisses.
 

 

  

BearBear                                                  Bubba

 

On October 22, 2011 Fences For Fido unchained two sweet furry brothers named Bubba and BearBear in Kalama, Washington.  Bubba is the more serious one who likes to hang out on a tree stump, and BearBear is the silly one, he likes to dance!  His front paws are always moving! These brothers sometimes quibble, so we also built a separating fence, but it has a gate so they can play when they are supervised!  Thankfully we were able to neuter both dogs soon after their fence was built, so we are hoping that will lessen the squabbles and allow both boys to just have fun together!

 

 

Finally unchained at age 14 on October 29, 2011

 

Big Oso in Gervais was spotted by volunteer Ken Alwine on the way to another build nearby. He was an elder statesman who had been chained most of his life, we were in a hurry to give him his long-awaited freedom so Oso got a giant fenced yard last summer.  More from Ken:

 

"I spotted Oso in Gervais as I was driving into town to build a fence for Maddi and her 3 Chihuahua playmates.  It was only my third build, but I knew enough to let FFF know that I spotted him.  Turns out, this gentle giant had spent 14 years faithfully guarding this property for his people.  Just a few weeks later, several great friends spent a few hours together on a Saturday morning, and FFF was able to pay 14 years of loyalty back to him with a fence and a yard of his own!  I love you, big guy, and am forever grateful for the people that came out to help me free him..."

 

 

No more chains for Oso in Hubbard on January 14, 2012.  Photo by Nick Esposti

 

At an even more special build than usual, we celebrated Rob and Derek Rupp's 50th fence build by unchaining a special dog named OSO.  Even with a loving family, he lived 24/7 on the end of a chain, with energy and love that was slowly turning into frustration and loneliness.  Fences For Fido changed that on a cold, blistery, winter morning as a happy full crew of volunteers came out to build and celebrate so much!

Here's a fantastic video of Oso's fence going up, created by Michael Thanhouser who we thank so much!  Watch Oso Video

 

 

Bear in Hopewell, Oregon before his chain was removed forever.

 

Big, lovable 9-year-old Bear has been chained most of his life. Just before Christmas he broke his chain and wandered down the road to Hope's Haven Sanctuary. When Sanctuary staff called the number on his tag and returned him to his home, they told the family about Fences For Fido. Very grateful for a chance to give their buddy a secure fenced yard, Bear's family helped our crew dig post-holes on a frozen January morning. This big Bear got his fence of freedom on January 21, 2012.

 

 

Young pup Bear (also nicknamed Monkey) on the left with his best buddy Shadow.

 

Our next lucky fuzzy Bear we will help lives in Kalama, Washington.  He and Shadow were spotted by two Fences For Fido client outreach volunteers as they were driving by to check on another case. The boys are chained to a small chain-link pen in their family's front yard which is on a rather busy rural road. Of course the car brakes were slammed down, and our volunteers quickly knocked on the door to offer a free fence, dog house and neuter surgeries--all of our gifts were instantly accepted by the grateful family! We learned that even though Shadow is much older at 6 years, he and 6-month old Bear love to play and wrestle with each other whenever they get the chance, which is pretty hard to do when chained. We don't want this young puppy or his older pal to be on a chain any longer, so their fence will soon go up on February 25, 2011--a very happy day for the boys and us as he becomes the 16th Bear we help.

 

 

Bear waiting for help in Woodburn

 

Next in line waiting for the miracle of a fence is Bear in Woodburn.  He is a furry chow mix who is living outside 24/7, and all he had was an igloo that didn't have a shred of bedding in it.  Dog House Delivery Coordinator Jennifer quickly delivered one of our sturdy insulated dog houses the next day, and reported that a senior citizen family member worked hard alongside Jennifer to assemble Bear's new dog house because she wanted to participate in making her dog's life better.  He will now be so much more comfortable while he waits for his fence to be built on April 21, 2012.  That will make him the 17th Bear that Fences For Fido builds a fence for!

 

 

We want to unchain as many dogs as we can with any name, shape, size, breed, and age, and we continue to do that every weekend.  Each dog has a special personality waiting to shine, yet hindered by isolation and frustration while living at the end of a chain.  When we build simple fences, we unleash their spirits into a better world by giving them a more comfortable life, as every dog deserves.  We are able to continue this work week after week thanks to our dedicated volunteers and donors.  We would be incredibly appreciative if you will join us by becoming a Volunteer or making a Donation so we can continue changing the lives of dogs with any name.  We love them all.

 

And if anyone is wondering, the next most popular dog names that we have helped are "Storm" and "Lilly" at 4 each, trailing far behind our Bear dogs at 15.