1. Tell us about yourself. Where do you live? Interests? Hobbies? Family?
I was born in Romania and came to the United States at the age of 22 with my two lbs. Miniature Pincher; we were inseparable. Four years later met my wonderful husband, my soulmate, Ron and yes, my MinPin was with me when we met :-) Ron was walking his Mom's Shih Tzu when he asked me: "Is that a puppy?" and the rest is history!
We reside in Gurnee, IL with our four Munchkins.
I'm very blessed to do what I love and that is running my own Pet Care business which I have been managing for the past 18 years. One can say that I'm addicted to furbabies :o)
Love technology and research; I'm a perpetual learner. Like playing chess, enjoy outdoor activities, listening to classical music, good restaurants, traveling and spending time with family.
2. How did you become interested in Yorkies?
We "inherited" our first Yorkie through our Pet Care business. Someone dropped him off to be looked after for two weeks and never picked him up. To this day I thank God for guiding that person into our direction and give him credit that at least he cared that much for his Yorkie that instead of putting him on the street he brought him to us.
Ron was perhaps the first person to hold him with love when he entered our house and from that moment on, he was infatuated with Ron.
We renamed him Sparky due to his happy personality and his fresh start on life. Sparky was 6 months old when he came into our lives and graced us with his funny and quirky personality until he went over the Rainbow Bridge at the age of 13.
3. How and when did you get involved in Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue?
After Sparky's passing on March 19th 2010 was no doubt in our minds that our next Yorkie will be adopted from a rescue organization. Started searching online and I stumbled upon YTNR and remember being so impressed with the way they care for their rescues. Found our Neeko's picture on the website and I was hooked! Talking about "A picture is worth a thousand words". Still remember calling Corrine Ellison and being so nervous and hoping that she will pick us.
4. Tell us about your Yorkies. What are their ages, names, hobbies?
~ Neeko S. Spaulding became the member of our family at the age of 9 months on April 3rd 2010. We called him our Easter bunny. He is definitely the Alpha of the Pack and manages to have his own Fanpage, own email address, a blog and is a contributor to the monthly Yorkie Times with his jokes. He is also in the process of writing his first book.
~ Aida Chi-Chi Spaulding came into our lives on July 3rd 2011 after the passing of our dear Shih Tzu girl, Chi-Chi.
Corrine Ellison told us that MaryElizabeth has two owner surrender Morkies, boy and girl and she thought that the little girl would be a good fit for us. Neeko was in desperate need of a girl in his Pack to cool off his "evil invisible twin".
Aida is very sweet and obsessed with her Daddy and sometimes calls him "the Man". She absolutely adores him.
Her personality blossomed over time because she was mistreated in her previous home by the man of the house. MaryElizabeth said that she's never seen such scared rescues in her life.
She loves dresses and her daily activities include bossing her Boys (sometimes her Daddy), diligently cleaning her many toys but her favorite one is playing fetch with her Daddy.
~ Ray M Spaulding is our rescued Tibetan Spaniel. He is a big marshmallow that gets bossed around by the Midgets (Neeko & Aida). He came into our lives on April 1st 2011. Ray is very easy going and pretty much just follows the lead of the others. His main concern is food therefore worships the kitchen. Unfortunately he is our allergy boy so he has to be on a very strict diet which of course makes no sense to him.
~ LeoT Spaulding is the King of the Pack. We rescued him off of our street in November of 2001. The Vet estimated at the time that he could be around 1 � to two years old. When he came into our lives, he was the baby of the group and our Angel Sparky became like a father figure to him. Now he is our senior and even though he could be 15 right now, he is still in great shape and good health for his age. Until recently we thought that LeoT was a Tibetan Spaniel but after we did a DNA breed testing we found out that he is actually 50% Pekingese, 25% Japanese Chin and 25% Shih Tzu.
Karin Nakashima, Kori & Ashley's Mom, said that he is a Pekchintzu which made LeoT feel very good knowing that he is a very rare breed :o)
5. What do you love about Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue?
Over the years, YTNR has become like family to me and my admiration along with great respect keep growing with each passing day. I feel so honored to be a member of such great organization.
From the very beginning I was very impressed with its core values and could not believe that they are paying for all the expensive surgeries for their rescues. Learned very quickly how thorough they are in finding forever homes for their beloved rescues and the great follow-up once those homes are found. More than that, if an adopted rescue becomes ill and the forever family cannot pay the hospital expenses, YTNR is there to offer financial help and moral support.
The organization's volunteers starting with the president, MaryElizabeth Dugmore, work tirelessly 24/7 opening their hearts and homes for the abandoned or surrendered innocent souls. Most of them need medical attention as soon as they get rescued and YTNR is always there sometimes having to drive 4 to 5 hours to get to the right hospital. The wonderful volunteers invest a lot of time in putting together fundraisers with great joy and discipline. They work with their rescues that need post-op rehabilitation and make sure that they are fully recovered before are up for adoption. Their dedication in saving as many Yorkies in need as possible is immense and commendable.
6. What else would you like us to know?
Ron and I enjoy very much our gatherings with the wonderful members of this great organization and look forward to our next one.
