Hello Cortez Rescue and Outreach Team,

It is Nueces! I Miss you!

I am writing to thank all of you for taking such good care of me for so many months after you found me in Spa Buena Vista.  I miss you all, especially my foster parents and my foster canine siblings.

I now live in Salt Lake City Utah with my new parents, Brian and Liz.  I can tell they love me very much and they spoil me quite a bit.  Today one of their friends came over and thought I was their first Baja Dog – Sonrisa. I guess we look alike.  Mom and Dad have called me Sonrisa a couple of times by mistake.  I don’t mind because she sounds like a special pup too.  She came from Mira Flores and they adopted her in 2007 while dry camping at North Beach.  Maybe we are related?

When I met my parents, this year, they were camping at Playa Norte.  For about a week, I had lots of fun there, meeting new doggie and human friends, although I missed my foster parents and canine siblings (still do).

Then one day we got up really early and the house began to move ….and it did not stop! I was really scared so I curled up at Liz or Brians feet.  I guess the house is really a van. They put my special blanket from Shannon on top of another blanket and let me stay in the passenger side footwell the whole time.

I was very glad when we came finally came to a stop.  Now I refuse to get back into the van …I don’t want to do that again.  Well, maybe someday.  My parents tell me I need to get back into the van if I want to come back to Los Barriles to visit all of you all next year. And I want to do that … maybe a year is long enough to recover!

When we arrived here in SLC, it was REALLY cold.  My parents put this blue thing on my body that had pink polka dots.  They said it was to keep me warm, but I did not like it one bit! And I tried to take it off but Velcro is really strong.  They do not make we wear it anymore and I am VERY grateful.

One morning there was this white stuff all over the ground.  I guess it is called snow.  The first time I felt it, I pranced around because my feet were really cold but now I am used to it.  I LOVE running through the snow, jumping up in snowbanks and leaping back down.  It is especially fun when my dad throws a ball and I get to go find it and bring it back to him.  Sometimes I get distracted and forget where the ball is, but he always helps me find it again.

You all probably know about couches and beds?  I CANNOT believe you did not tell me how comfortable they are…My mom and dad put my dog bed on the couch and let me sleep there.  At night I get to sleep on a couch in their room. When a loud annoying noise wakes us up in the morning, I am allowed to jump up onto their bed and we all snuggle.  It is really really fun.  Please don’t judge them, they said that I am their first doggy who likes to cuddle!

After we cuddle, we drink coffee …and then I watch them do some yoga.  Sometimes they look like me when I stretch – I think they call it downward dog.

Don’t tell Shannon but I am allowed in the kitchen. Shannon would be proud of me, thought, I refused to go in for at least 5 days.  Then I realized, after my parents carried me over the kitchen floor enough times, that I must go through the kitchen to get to my parent’s bedroom and to the door with a hole and a plastic flap.  They seem to want me to go through this hole - they call it a doggy door.   But I don’t like it!  It scares me so much I am willing to forgo the treat on the other side. Who wants to go outside alone anyway!  I do miss my canine friends.  But don’t worry, I have lots of new friends here.

My parents renamed me.  My new name, Tula, it apparently means Leaping Water, Mountain Peak and Tranquil in all sorts of different languages.  I love water and I like to leap. I jumped over two of my new doggie friends yesterday. My mom and her friend were very surprised.  To be honest, I was too!  I have not been to the mountains yet, but I think I will like them.

My parents got me a new collar. It has Waves and Mountains on it, a sun, people fishing and surfing.  And I have a new name tag that has a big sun, either setting or rising, over the water to remind us all of Los Barriles, my first home, and all of you!

Thank you again!  

See you all next year!

Love, Tula (Nueces - former Cortez Rescue and Outreach dog)

If Cortez Rescue and Outreach Dogs Could Actually Tell Us Their Stories, They Might Sound Something Like This...The Journey From The Street, To Rescue, To Foster, To Forever Home...

Sick. Sick and hurting. Things crawling on me. They bite and itch. I'm hungry, thirsty and so tired. Big loud machines flying by. One hit my brother last night. There’s something wrong with his back and he can’t walk. Here comes another. It’s stopping. A human gets out and walks up to my pack. She speaks softly and touches us. No one’s ever done that before. She picks us up and puts us in her machine.

I fall asleep and when I wake we’re in a clean, warm place. There are people around. They give us food, water and they wash us. The veterinarian gave me some shots but they talk nice and it doesn’t hurt much. They’re working on my brother.

Before long I feel much better. I want to run, play and get love from the nice humans. They put me in a big yard with my pack and lots of other dogs. A long time goes by. Every day there are nice people who love us, give us food and water and play with us. We are so happy and my brother can walk again. We all sleep outside in a big cage. We all finally have our own names.

One day they took me in a machine and I thought they were going to put me by the road again. Instead we went to a house with new humans. They were nice but I was afraid. After a while I felt brave and went in. It was very nice. The new humans taught me how to live in a house, to be respectful and go outside. They held and stroked me, gave me good food and played with me. After a couple of weeks they put me in the machine again and took me back to the big yard with my pack and the other dogs. It was good to see my old friends but I missed the house with the nice humans.

Another long time goes by. One day they came and put me in a small cage. They gave me a treat and I got sleepy. When I woke up I was in a very loud big machine and fell back asleep. Someone took my cage off the machine and gave it to some more new humans. They put me in their machine and we went to another house. It is cold here but pretty and green. The new humans love me and I love them. There are two kids and another dog and we play all the time. Every day there are new adventures.

Now I am older and an honored and respected member of the household. I feel content. I will never leave. I am finally home.

Greta Gets Rescued...

Greta was rescued from a negligent home in Los Barriles. Her owner knew she was very sick and had tied her up in the back yard with no food or water just waiting for her to die. It took Cortez Rescue and Outreach numerous talks with the owner to let us take the dog. The owner finally said yes and Cortez Rescue volunteers went and picked Greta up. She was so tiny, skinny and sick. The owner told us she was about 4 months old but she looked more like 8 weeks old. We immediately got her to the vet and found out she had a terrible mite infestation. Greta started receiving medication right away and we tried to feed her as much as she could eat. After Cortez Rescue and Outreach got Greta stabilized she went to a foster home to rehabilitate.

Greta Goes To Foster...

Greta went her to her awesome Foster parents, Janice & Willy, who would be her shining light and get through her recovery. While she was in their care, her next shining light steps into Gretel's life, her adoptive family, The Henderson's. Gretel arrived at her forever home in February, she was scared of pretty much everything. She just wanted to be in bed with her blanket, which came from her amazing foster family.

Greta Settles In...

Fast forward four months later and Greta is happy and silly and playful and all the best things a dog can be. "She loves her whole family, but has become Mama’s girl and she loves when we go for walks or short rides in the car. Long rides in the car and strangers still make her quite nervous, but we have a trainer who has helped us learn how to boost her confidence and make her more comfortable.

I Will Never Be Able To Express How Grateful We Are For Our Greta Girl. Thank you for our Greta Girl, we love her dearly"!

The Henderson Family

"Warning! This post contains graphic contents"

Barely Alive, Hanna Begins Her Care With Cortez Rescue and Outreach...

Hanna came to Cortez Rescue and Outreach on October 3, 2020. She had been horribly attacked by a pack of large dogs. Her owner took her to the Vet and he stitched her back together. After a few days, the owner decided she could not care for Hanna and surrendered her to Cortez Rescue and Outreach. The rescue immediately took her into their care. Hanna was too injured and sickly to go to the rescue facility so she went to a Cortez Rescue and Outreach volunteer's home to be fostered. She was scared, barely eating and smelled of rotting flesh.

Hanna was brought back to the Vet three days later and her foster was told, "Her skin is dying. I need to remove as much skin as possible." After seeing the photos of the large, open wound, the foster mom didn't feel like she could handle taking care of such a injury so she asked the vet clinic to keep her for awhile as she required a bath and fresh bandages twice a day. Hanna went under the direct care of Dr. Gretel for the first couple of weeks.

Hanna Goes To Foster To Begin Her Recovery...

Mickey was rescued by Cortez Rescue and Outreach in June of 2019... He arrived with a "big dog fight attitude" along with a "big heart." It became our job to convince him that the world is now a safe place and other dogs are not a threat to him.

We could completely understand why he felt the way he did. Mickey had been chained up for the past two years, basically his entire life. He had a few marks that indicated he had likely been on the receiving end of some dog aggression. Mickey was ready to defend himself and make sure other dogs knew he was a tough dude.

A Long Term Rescue Resident... The average time it takes a dog to move through Cortez Rescue and Outreach from being rescued to finding their forever home is approximately 5 months. Mickey was with us for over 2 years.

During his time at Cortez Rescue we came to realize that Mickey's big heart was more dominate and truer to his nature than was his interest in a fight. We all could tell that Mickey was longing for a quieter, calmer setting than the shelter could provide so as soon as we were able to we moved Mickey to a foster home. Immediately we saw a wonderful, loving, gentle, well mannered boy emerge.

Most likely Mickey's entire life had been a stressor for him. From being chained and not being able to escape danger to the energy and chaos at the shelter - it became very clear he was stressed out.

Mickey Finds A Home... After nearly two years, Mickey thought he finally had found his family. They headed north to Portland but, unfortunately, Mickey had a negative encounter with a cat and his owners contacted the rescue to return him.

With support and love, our Cortez Rescue and Outreach community stepped up and donated money to help keep Mickey in Oregon while he searched for another adoptive home.

Some Things Are Worth Waiting For... After more than 2 years, Mickey finally found his forever home in Eugene OR and we couldn't be happier for him. We will miss our Mickey but are so elated that he has finally found someone with a heart as big as his.