American Boston Terrier Rescue
Bostons Looking for Forever Homes
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Here you'll see all the Boston Terriers in our program that are just waiting for the right home.  Could it be yours?

For a listing of BTs available for adoption through ABTR, please click the link below:
 

Hundreds of wonderful dogs have found forever homes through American Boston Terrier Rescue. We have set up two pages to feature and honor some of these dogs. The first page, New Beginnings and Happy Endings, highlights several of our happy adoptions. The second page was specifically created to highlight our Senior Adoptees and their gracious families.

Protect your pet. ShelterCare Pet Insurance Programs

Sponsor a Homeless Boston Terrier

We realize that not everyone can foster a dog but would like to help out some of our homeless friends. The average cost to shelter/feed these dogs runs about $40 per month.

You can help us with the expenses for these homeless pets by making a contribution

Suggested sponsorship contributions are typically made monthly or yearly:

Monthly:  $20.00
Yearly:  $100.00

Of course any contributions are welcome, as no amount is too small to help our friends.

Should you choose to sponsor a Boston, your name will be included on our Supporters web page.  Of course, if you wish your contribution to be made anonymously, we will happily do that for you.

 Contributions can also be made in the form of a dedication ("in  memory/honor of") and will be included on web page, if desired.

You may either email abtrfundraiser@yahoo.com, or just send your donation and the name of the pet that you want to sponsor to:

ABTR

PO Box 1286

Little Elm, TX  75068

Or to make a secure online contribution using Paypal:

Donate securely with any major credit card through PayPal!
Pay me securely with any major credit card through PayPal!

Tray's Poem

One by one, they pass by my cage,
Too old, too worn, too broken, no way.
Way past her time, she can't run and play.
Then they shake their heads slowly and go on their way.
A little old woman, arthritic and sore.
It seems I am not wanted anymore.
I once had a home, I once had a bed,
A place that was warm, and where I was fed.
Now my muzzle is grey, and my eyes slowly fail.
Who wants a dog so old and so frail?
My family decided I didn't belong,
I got in their way, my attitude was wrong.
Whatever excuse they made in their head,
Can't justify how they left me for dead.
Now I sit in this cage, where day after day,
The younger dogs get adopted away.
When I had almost come to the end of my rope,
You saw my face, and I finally had hope.
You saw thru the grey, and the legs bent with age,
And felt I still had life beyond this cage.
You took me home, gave me food and a bed,
And shared your own pillow with my poor tired head.
We snuggle and play, and you talk to me low,
You talk to me dearly, you want me to know.
I may have lived most of my life with another,
But you outshine them with a love so much stronger.
And I promise to return all the love I can give,
To you, my dear person, as long as I live.
I may be with you for a week, or for years,
We will share many smiles, you will no doubt shed tears.
And when the time comes that God deems I must leave,
I know you will cry and your heart, it will grieve.
And when I arrive at the Rainbow Bridge, all brand new,
My thoughts and my heart will still be with you.
And I will brag to all who will hear,
Of the person who made my last days so dear.

Leslie Whalen
February 2001

A Senior Dog's Wish 

I'm waiting here in foster care
for you to come and see
The one the others have passed by -
Please stop and look at me!

I'm not alone here in my quest
to find myself a place
Where someone will have love for me
and softly stroke my face.

We're not so young in years they say,
although we're young at heart
If you'll take a chance with us -
please know we'll do our part.

Our faces have a bit of white,
our legs a slower gait
Our hearts so full of love to give -
but still we sit and wait.

A younger dog is what folks want,
one who romps and plays
They won't take time to look at us -
just think we're old and gray.

Little do they know the things
we have to offer them
Manners learned and quiet souls -
good dogs all we've been.

There are those here too
whose souls were damaged and in pain
Before they came to this safe place
and learned to trust again.

When new folks come and look at them,
they seem withdrawn and shy.
Time is all they need to learn
that new bonds they can tie.

Patience, love and gentle hands
is all they ask of you
In exchange - their hearts they give you
in their lives so new.

We may not be the perfect dogs
in everybody's eye -
Too big, too small, too brown,
too blue, too black, too old, too shy.

But, unless you sit and take the time
and see all that we can be
You'll miss the best that is right here -
Please stop - HEY - Look at ME!

Ten Good Reasons to Adopt an "Older" Dog

1. Older dogs are more easily housetrained, if they aren't housetraiend already.

2. Older dogs are not teething puppies, and won't chew your shoes and furniture while growing up.

3. Older dogs can focus better because they're more mellow. Therefore, they learn more quickly than puppies.

4. Older dogs have learned what "no" means.

5. Older dogs settle in more easily, because they've learned what it takes to get along with others and become part of a pack.

6. Older dogs are good at giving love and are grateful for the second chance they've been given.

7. What You See Is What You Get: Unlike puppies, older dogs have grown into their shape and personality. Puppies can grow up to be quite different from what you imagined they'd become.

8. Older dogs are instant companions -- ready for hiking, car trips, and other things you like to do.

9. Older dogs don't make the extra demands on your time that puppies and young dogs do.  Therefore, you have more time for yourself and a companion that only wants to be with you.

10. Older dogs let you get a good night's sleep because they're accustomed to human schedules and don't require nighttime feedings, comforting, or bathroom breaks.

**We DO NOT use Sue Sternberg's Assess-A-Pet or any other extreme temperament tests on our dogs. 
 
If we used her methods to test Boston Terriers, who are usually highly stressed in a shelter environment, most of the Bostons that we have been able to save and place would be dead dogs instead of beloved dogs in new homes. That is where rescue comes into the equation and gets them out of that environment and into a home and then see how they unwind over a few days to see their true temperment while interacting with a family and not in a pandemonium of loud noises, rough handling, strange smells, and fear. So many of my babies would have been killed for being too timid, too food aggressive from starvation, too fear aggressive, too hyperactive, too something and they would not have reached their new homes and be the beloved dogs they are today so we DO NOT USE NOR DO WE RECOMMEND THIS METHOD OF TESTING!

"If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons." - James Thurber