Befriending man's best friend

Ashley Stuteville and her dog Holly were a perfect match thanks to the Schnauzer Love Rescue. Now, Stuteville is a part of the rescue, doing foster care, transport and computer work. (T-G Photo by Tamara Belinc) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

When Hattie Sue came into Ashley Stuteville's foster home in Shelbyville, her hair was matted to the skin. Her ears were so swollen with infection that she couldn't hear, and because her skin was so infected, she could barely stand to be touched. She was also 12 years old, too old to be adopted out.

Stuteville, who lives with her husband, Gary, and her mother Peggy Green, cleaned her up, put her on medication and got her in the best shape she could, but instead of trying to find a forever home for her, the family decided to adopt her themselves.

Hattie Sue isn't a child. She's a schnauzer, and Stuteville is a "foster" parent for the Schnauzer Love Rescue, which takes all breeds of schnauzers and finds homes for them.

The rescue was started by Marty Morgan and three other women, all of whom worked together in another rescue.

"She decided she wanted to do it because of her love of the breed," Stuteville said.

Becoming involved

Since its inception, the rescue has placed more than 800 dogs and usually has approximately 70 dogs in the program at all times. Based out of Birmingham, Ala., the group has 60 to 70 foster homes available in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida.

"We need more in middle Tennessee," she said. "Right now, there's only me and another lady in Nashville in this area."

Schnauzers come in three sizes, giant, standard and minature, and they don't shed.

"Doctors will tell you there are no hypo-allergenic dogs," she said, "but schnauzers are good for those who have allergies."

Stuteville fell in love with the breed when she was looking for a dog to adopt.

"I wanted a dog that wouldn't shed," she said. "My husband didn't like poodles and couldn't pronounce Bichon Frise."

Her sisters-in-law had schnauzers, and this helped convince her the breed was the right fit for them.

She started looking at www.petfinder.com in 2004 and found the rescue. She became really good friends with Leigh Ann Stone, the rescue's vice-president. Stuteville finally found the right dog for her, adopted her and named her Holly.

"Leigh Ann talked me into joining the rescue and becoming a foster," she said. "I got my first foster dog, Mia, in February 2005."

Mia was hard to give up, because Stuteville said she and Holly got along so well.

"Some are harder than others to give up," she said, "but I know they are going to a good home because of how we screen the applicants."

Those who wish to adopt from the rescue must fill out an application and must provide veterinarian and personal references. The rescue also does a family match program, which takes into account a dog and family's personality and need before matching up the dogs.

"Because of this, we have a less than two percent return rate," she said. "Most of the dogs we place stay in the homes we put them in."

Adding to the family

Sophie, Hattie Sue and Holly are all part of the family now, as they were all adopted by either Ashley Stuteville or her mother, Peggy Green. Schnauzers come in a variety of shapes and sizes and have many different personality types. (T-G Photo by Tamara Belinc) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Dogs come into the rescue through owner surrender, animal shelters and from puppy mills. Holly belonged to a 90-year-old woman who couldn't take care of her anymore.

"It was Holly, her mom and brother all together," she said. "The lady went into the nursing home, and she gave the dogs to her niece, who came down with liver cancer. She had to give up the three dogs."

Green adopted another miniature dog named Sophie, and she came from a breeder.

"I don't know that it was from a puppy mill or not," Stuteville said, "but she was definitely used for breeding."

Hattie Sue, the family's last adopted dog, was found wandering the greenway in Murfreesboro. The man who found her tried to find her a home and even carried her to Petco, where he was told about a couple who had just lost their dog. They adopted Hattie Sue, but she and her new owners couldn't get along.

The man who found her contacted the rescue, and Stuteville took her in.

"Gary had said we couldn't adopt any more dogs at that point," she said, "but I told him that it wasn't about me or him or my mom. It was about this dog that needed a home."

Of course, he couldn't say no to that, and Hattie Sue became a permanent member of the family.

"She's like a little old woman," Green said. "In fact, she kind of reminds me of my momma."

Green's mother, Alethea, passed away in December 2007, and they adopted Hattie Sue in August 2008.

"She even has a little of Momma's temperment," Green said.

Memorable fosters

Stuteville has had many special fosters over the years, but a few stand out in her mind. There's Quincy, who escaped from their fenced-in backyard and ran away. They searched and searched the neighborhood for him, calling his name and trying to get him to come home, but he never came.

"He wound up at the police station of all places," Green said. "We said he knew he was in trouble and was just turning himself in."

Another memorable foster was Mendy, a very small miniature Schnauzer pregnant with four puppies.

"The puppies were twice the size of a regular Schnauzer puppy," Stuteville said, "and they had to be delivered by C-section."

However, Mendy didn't take to her puppies at all. In fact, she even killed one of them at the veterinarian's office.

"We knew we were going to have to bottle feed them," Ashley said. "We brought them home with us."

The weather was nice last March when they traveled home from Murfreesboro with the puppies, but the babies were freezing.

"We had the heater on full blast, and the puppies stuffed down our shirts," Green said. "You should have seen us. We were burning up, but the puppies still felt cold."

In order for the puppies to get at least a little "mother's milk," they muzzled Mendy and held her down to allow the puppies to nurse. The stress took its toll so Mendy wasn't able to feed them very much at all. So, Stuteville and Green did round-the-clock bottle feeding for them.

"We loved taking care of the babies," Green said, "and we'd take every pregnant female if it wasn't for Gary. He just thinks it's too much on us. They might just consider us hoarders, if it wasn't for him," she said with a laugh.

The puppies have been taken into other homes, but they plan to make a visit to see one of them soon.

Foster homes needed

More foster homes are needed in the middle Tennessee area, Stuteville said.

"We need people with fenced-in back yards," she said.

Right now, she is taking a break from foster work but is still involved in the rescue by transporting animals from foster homes to their forever homes and by listing the dogs on www.petfinder.com.

Since joining the rescue, Stuteville has had over 40 foster dogs over the years. The most they ever had at once was 11, which included their own four.

"It's been totally worth it," she said. "I just like knowing I'm helping the animals go to a good home."

WHAT YOU CAN DO

For more information on adopting a Schnauzer, visit the Web site at www.schnauzerloverescue.org.