Thank you Jennifer Haggen, for being you. I have been involved with meeting many new people through this journey, and  few have been people I would want to call friend. You, are one of them. ( 3 are named Jennifer, hummmm????) 

Few people actually take the steps to do something about anything. Jennifer took advantage of being laid of work and having time on her hands. She did something to help another. This one selfish act was not about money, but about saving a life.

Jennifer was watching a dog she saw on Craig’s List. From what I understand the dog was from an Animal Control/Humane Society and her time was running out. Jennifer’s home was full of three dogs already, two were older and ailing. Her newest addition, a younger rescued dog (who needs some work to learn to trust). Her hands were full already. Jennifer, who already developed an online relationship with this dog, called to see what she could do. Jennifer knew she couldn’t adopt another dog, but with the time she had available maybe she could foster this dog until a forever home was found. Counting the months before she was called back full time to work, Jennifer decided to take that risk.

Read the rest here…

This email came to me on a day that I needed it most.
There are times during this past year where I feel exhausted, wondering if I can continue to keep this up, and for how long. All my focus, all my energy has been (almost) solely directed towards building Stiggy’s Dogs. I was reeling in my selfishness and pity one night, when I read this email from Jamey.
Jamey had been paired with a Stiggys Dog Tiger, for three months now. Listen in his words as he explains the bond between them.
I laughed and cried as I read this, cleansing my soul and gaining another new prescriptive.

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Meet Emily, a beautiful sweet 1+ year old flat-coated lab retriever mix(we think German Shepherd). We are very excited to announce our newest Foster Mom addition, Jennifer Heggan. Thank you Jennifer for taking the time to and dedication needed to try to train Emily for our organization. We are grateful for you!

In these videos,  Jennifer meets with our trainer, Donna Fournier, for their first training session.

Donna brought her video camera and was able to tape a lot of it. This is very important to us for many reasons: It will help us and the foster mom, to visually see what we/you are doing. We can watch the growth of dog, monitor successes and failures to help with how to best individually train each dog.

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Everything was it’s normal chaotic self, and we had many things to do. Our first Annual Stiggy’s Dogs Softball Tournament was the next day. Lauren Peterson, her husband Tommy and I were driving all over town to get the last minutes things finished. It was a  hot humid September day, adding to my exhaustion.  My mind was racing with many thoughts that I wasn’t really listening to the conversation. I knew we were meeting someone from the Purple Heart Chapter, where Tommy was a member. They were donating some tables and chairs for our event. We pulled up and waiting for us was John Cooney, the adjutant of the Beirut Memorial Chapter of Purple Heart. Despite the heat and direct sunlight, I wanted to thank him personally, so I got out and waited.  John and Tommy started pulling stuff out from the storage unit.  White Christmas Trees caught my attention. Odd, I thought, I can’t remember the last time I saw a White Christmas tree! Clear plastic storage bins, full of purple bulbs, were placed by my feet. The contrast was startling.

John’s question interrupted my thoughts, “You know what these are?” more of a statement than a question. “Every year we hold a Festival of Trees. Where we decorate our white tress with these purple bulbs. Each bulb has the name of a service member killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan.” He said as he held out a bulb to me.

I held it like it was made of gold. The name was written in glitter, the date underneath. I couldn’t read it because the tears started to swell up, and everything was blurry.

“We have one with Ben’s name on it” Said Tommy. “I hung it  last year. It’s in one of these boxes…”his voice trailed off as he started to open the boxes to find it for me.  Sweat combined with tears were going down my checks. I didn’t want to see it.

“We have to buy more tress this year to add the the new bulbs” John informed me. I could say nothing, but slowly shook my head taking in the visual. Stunning. Sad. Thee reality of more trees and more ornaments…….

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A Woman approached me yesterday, she was visibly upset and had a lot to say. I was dismayed and taken back but grateful because I learned a valuable lesson.

1. Have a system in palace to check your system!

Apparently our email on our website has NOT been working since September 13th. If anyone tried to email us, under our Contact Us section, we DID NOT RECEIVE IT!  My anger, embarrassment and frustration is an understatement as I  cannot begin to imagine the full impact of this.  From Veterans that may have emailed us for more information, other rescues who may have had dogs, volunteers asking how they could help, opinions and feedback that is necessary to start this correctly.

Starting any business out on a solid ground is key. For those of you who don’t know, we are a new organization, incorporated in June of this year.  Stiggy’s Dogs have learned many valuable lessons but we are committed to strive towards our goals. I ask for your patience and continued support as we grow