The Ambassa-Dogs (AKA The Tinies)

Olive and Baci are my heartbeats, and together act as Ambassa-Dogs for the Sanctuary. They are both toy fox terriers. They have worked with me at the Farmer's Market booth (I am quite sure they have waaaay more friends than I do!), traveled across the country to help me pick up residents for Hundenruhe, and come to school to read with my students. They are even famous! Our friend Barbara Techel was kind enough to include them in her book, "Frankie - The Walk 'n' Roll Dog". I could not have been more blessed with amazing companions.
Olive came to me via a wonderful rescue group called Southern Hope in Atlanta, GA. Stacey and her daughter gave her a great start after her original owners, an elderly couple, recognized that perhaps a puppy didn't suit their lives as well as they originally anticipated. Thankfully, they gave up Olive (then Daisy) to Stacey, and eventually when Olive was nine months old, I flew down to Atlanta to adopt her and fly home. She rode in the cabin and charmed everyone! Since she came to live with us in December, Olive is named after the title character in the book, "Olive - The Other Reindeer". She is now six years old, and weighs only six pounds!
Baci (formerly Rusty) was going to be euthanized at the Wisconsin Humane Society because they thought he had a chronic skin condition. Thankfully, it was simply that he had been pulling out his hair due to stress when his owners kept him in his crate for ten hours a day while they were at work, so he soon was back to normal after coming to live here at one year of age. I commend his owners for realizing that this was not the life for him, and giving him the chance for a different kind of life. They did a wonderful job with his early life, because he came to us delightfully snuggly, housebroken, and with the cute trick of doing spins for treats! He is tiny, tiny, tiny, weighing only 3.5 pounds! His name means "kisses" in Italian (he loves both giving and receiving!), and he is named after the Perugina chocolate by that name that comes wrapped in love notes.
The tinies have their own car seats in my car, and love being packed up (yes, dressed up, too!) and taken with me whereever I can get away with bringing them! Lucky, lucky me - to have been able to have four heartdogs in my lifetime - two have passed away, and two live with me now.