Army Veteran Mike Hopp has been patiently waiting for his Stiggys Dog for almost 8 months. At the time we received his initial application we were already beginning our first training class. We could only take 4 dogs through it, and Mike was the 5th person to receive one. I know this was hard for Mike, as I heard from him almost weekly. His excitement watching the other dogs and Veterans go through the program only made his rise. Mike had asked if he could come down and train, spend sometime with the Veterans and Dogs to get a feel of it. Gladly Mike came down for a few weekends and nights, working and training with the dogs that weren’t his.

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To say ‘Thank You’ seems insignificant for the gratitude I feel. It’s hard for me to put into words the outpouring of support Stiggy’s Dogs received from the Channel 4 News story and my ‘cry for help’….

It all started after the realization that Stiggy’s Dogs was in trouble, after paying the bills at the end of May, the bank account sitting at $100. How did it get to this? I tossed and turned for nights. Knowing I was doing everything I could, literally working around the clock for months, not having enough time and manpower to it all. But I knew one thing, I was NOT going to let Stiggy’s Dogs fail. I have always been very open and honest on my blog throughout this whole process.  It is important for me to show the ups and downs of starting/running a nonprofit, the struggles with the dogs and training, the highlights of seeing the results we have witnessed already from our Veterans and dogs. So why stop now? I needed to ask for help, but putting down what I needed to say was very hard. To admit (somewhat) defeat, and embarrassingly show how raw and desperate I was….for the sake of Stiggy’s future……

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His name tells his story, he is a ‘trooper’ to still be alive.  A few ‘angels’  helped him along the way to his final destination, a Service Dog for a Veteran….

I got the call from Brenda Woody of Better Life Canine Center, telling me she had a dog she thought was great for our program. Being familiar with us, as Tiger another Stiggy’s Dog also came form the same rescue group.  I went to her Facebook page and read the notes about his story, the picture of how skinny he was, no fur growth, unhealed wounds….I was instantly moved.  Here is part of the story I read:

April 2nd - His first day!

“Buddy” showed up in the yard of a concrete company in Detroit. Some of the caring employees, Joe and Jim, fed him, made a house for him, and looked for him everyday, even though “Buddy” was terrified of them at first. Soon “Buddy” let them pet his head and suddenly “Buddy” showed the love all dogs have!! Unfortunately some of the employees were not so concerned and their plan was to shoot “Buddy” and throw him in the river! Joe and Jim Better Life Canine Center and we got him into the vet! His future will be incredible! We changed his name to Trooper. We have no idea what his life has been, but we are certain he is lucky to be alive!!

Donna Fournier, or Director of Training and I went to meet Trooper the next day. It took one visit and Trooper became part of our training team.. Read the rest here…

We cannot physically, mentally, emotionally and financially continue like this. Stiggys Dogs needs help, and I am begging for it……

Looking back I realize that I am not the personality type to start a nonprofit. I have always been a ‘giver’ (which most nonprofit Directors are). However, I find it hard to ask for help. It is not my nature.  Asking for money is even more difficult.  I have painstakingly borrowed a personal loan (so far up to $6,000) to keep our organization going.  My husband brings in a great family income (obviously I do not have another job for income-which has hit us hard this last year). His income level could lead us a nice lifestyle, if we didn’t need some of it to keep our nonprofit running. We have learned to live without. The pride of our accomplishment, the success we have witnessed in these Veterans and dogs, already have made this journey worth it. I would do it all over again, no regrets. I don’t want this to sound negative….desperate would be a better choice.  We currently have $100 in our Stiggys Dogs bank account.  And we have Patton needing antibiotics (Kennel cough) which will spread through our current pack….more antibiotics needed, more money needed…. I couldn’t sleep last night…

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Here is another example of people meeting and paths crossing for a reason. This is such a great story…

I received an email from Robin Jones, saying she saw us on the News he night before and she had a dog she thought would be great for our program. Robin sits on the Board and Volunteers at the Darlington Humane Society in South Carolina. I do get many emails from people about donating their dog, most of these do not work out (see FAQ on website). However, this one struck me for some reason. Partly because we are currently the process of looking for one more dog for our current training group. We have at least 15 Veterans in waiting now, and with the facility were renting, we have only the capacity to train 4-5 dogs at a time. We were ready for the fifth.Robin said there was something special about this guy, she donated her money to adopt him for us and took him home for three days to wait for  transport…..

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