You may have noticed that ABTRR is not your typical rescue. Our mission, focus, and heart has transitioned to healing and rehabilitating senior and special needs dogs. Our approach can look different at times depending on the individual dog's needs, but the end result is the same; we provide these dogs with a chance at health and wellness by healing them from the inside out.

We believe that health and wellness must start with a good foundation in biologically appropriate nutrition. You have seen our posts about how our dogs eat Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or BARF (www.barfworld.com; affiliate code 1109 at checkout).

 Many illnesses in the human and canine world can be significantly improved with proper nutrition. Dogs are their own species and when they aren’t receiving biologically and species-appropriate food, they suffer from the same medical conditions we see in the human world such as obesity, cancer, diabetes, allergies, and other inflammatory conditions.

We also believe that a correctly aligned spine helps the brain and spinal cord communicate effectively and efficiently with every system in the canine body. If this communication is interrupted due to misalignment of the spine, then bodily systems will not receive the right signals, resulting in health issues. We choose to provide our dogs with chiropractic care to aid in their journey to health and wellness. When appropriate, we utilize other healing modalities such as cold laser treatments and acupuncture.

We also utilize traditional medical treatments when needed (e.g. spay/neuter, vaccinations, wormers, microchips, etc.) We believe in treating heartworm positive dogs when they are healthy enough to undergo treatment. Great care and thought goes into determining when a dog undergoes treatment. The treatment is extremely hard on the dog since he is being given poison to kill the heartworms. Seemingly healthy dogs die during treatment and we can’t predict which dogs will make it so when we get a very sick dog, immune compromised dog, or old dog with heartworms, we have a lot of things to consider because heartworm treatment requires poisonous, synthetic injections to be effective. These treatments are very invasive and can have fatal consequences. We take great care, caution, and make educated decisions on treatment with the help of our veterinary team.

Human and canine bodies were created with the ability to heal themselves. Through poor nutrition, toxins and other environmental stressors, the body’s ability to heal has been greatly weakened. This is why the first thing we do when we get a new dog is put them on the BARF diet. It is mind blowing to see a difference in their overall health (attitude, skin, coat, mobility) within a matter of days of switching to the BARF diet.

When traveling the least invasive route to health and wellness, things don’t improve overnight. Sometimes the improvements you see are miniscule and can take months. When a body has declined so significantly (like some of our dogs, i.e. Minnie), it can take many months before their body has healed enough to regain lost body processes such as growing hair. While it may not be apparent to everyone from the outside looking in, these dogs are progressing and we celebrate their little milestones. For instance, a dog that was scratching itchy skin constantly can now go two minutes between scratches. This is an improvement - not a drastic one, nor is it an improvement that we can easily convey or show to our supporters. At ABTRR we celebrate every victory no matter how small.

Time. Such a small four letter word, but it has the greatest impact on our dogs. We knowingly take in the dogs that won’t ever be adopted, the ones who have such complex medical conditions that other rescues don’t have the resources, knowledge, or finances to help. We take in the dogs that are typically euthanized at shelters because when they come in deaf, blind, old, or broken, it’s virtually a death sentence for them. Shelters don’t always work to adopt out these dogs because everyone wants the cute, young, healthy dogs - not the dogs that they might have for only a short time before they have to say goodbye. Do the special needs and senior dogs deserve a chance at the best life possible? We believe they do, and this is where we come in. We want to give them time. Time to heal. Time get well. Time to live out the remainder of their natural life in a home where they know unconditional love and care. These precious creatures give so freely of their souls. This is the very least we can do for them.

Are some of our dogs permanent foster dogs? Yes, they are. Are some of our dogs with us for a really long time before they are available for adoption? Yes. We rehabilitate each dog based on his/her individual needs. There is no one-size-fits-all rehabilitation plan. We meet every dog's individual needs from the inside out and we begin at the cellular level by feeding the cells biologically appropriate nutrition. So yes, these dogs are with us a while. It costs money to care for them each month. We are a small rescue and we work hard to raise the funds that give these incredible souls the time they need to heal.
Our rescue isn’t for everyone. Not everyone is going to agree with the way we choose to care for our dogs, and that's okay. There are many, many rescue groups out there to choose from and you can easily find one that holds your belief on animal care. Rescues never have enough volunteers! There is a place for everyone in a rescue organization.

We truly, truly appreciate all of you who take the time to read our posts, follow our foster dogs’ stories, donate to our auctions, share our posts, participate in our fundraisers, volunteer at our events, celebrate small victories along with us, and donate your time and resources to better the lives of the Boston Terriers in our charge. We can’t do it alone. It will take all of us to make a difference in their lives.