You're manning the Assistance line today. You've got a Havanese in CA that needs a new home. Her owners are moving to a faraway country and no one in their family can take her.

Who do you call?

Kathy Patrick, of course!

Havanese Rescue, Inc. is pleased to introduce to you Kathy Patrick, our State Contact and "volunteer extraordinaire" from California. Since the day she got her first Havanese, Molly, Kathy has been "head over heels" for our breed.

Very generous with her time, Kathy has patiently spoken with families who email HRI thinking they'll never understand how to "make that puppy mind" or "stop him from peeing in the corner" or "teach her to stop barking at the UPS man." Kathy always puts her busy life on hold when she is called to help with a dog who needs us. It's her quick and dedicated action along with her excellent organizational and communication skills that have helped so many CA dogs begin their journeys to new lives - thanks to Kathy!

Kathy and her husband, Tom, have 5 children and 2 grandsons, but what makes her household busier than ever, are the black and white (well, mostly) blurs of happy, healthy, active Havs that fill their lives completely. In addition to dedication to HRI, Kathy is the Founder and recently re-elected President of the Capital Havanese Club of N. CA. She is also a member of the Havanese Club of America's Board of Directors and Chairman of the Local Clubs Committee.

If you don't think Kathy has enough involvement with our wonderful breed, her kennel, Bellatak, is the proud home of "Vallee," the first Havanese to win back to back Best In Show titles at the HCA National Specialty event!

Thank you, Kathy, for loving our Havanese and sharing your time and many talents with HRI!

Jane Hohne

One of our Intake Volunteers Jenny French

This is the first in a continuing series of articles on the committees that comprise HRI. Many thanks to Jennifer French for providing the facts for this first piece on the Intake Committee.

HRI's Intake Committee is currently comprised of 11 individuals who monitor the HRI email account at [email protected] . This is the online link people utilize if they have a dog to turn in or if they need help with a canine behavioral issue. In addition, queries about dogs listed on Petfinder or our website, questions from people who want to know if their application to adopt was received and other requests are handled here.

A different person monitors the account each day and each member "owns" the requests that come in on their day. When a member receives enough information about the dog to understand what the issues are and has contacted the breeder if that information can be obtained, a note is sent to the entire committee requesting acceptance of the dog into HRI.

Three votes are required. Following approval, the owner is referred to the appropriate State Contact for direct follow-up and coordination of pick-up and foster home placement. Any dogs with aggression issues are referred to the HRI Board of Directors for a decision.

Many on the Intake Committee will profess that some of their best work is not in surrender and fostering, but those times when they actually help someone decide to keep their Havanese instead of turning it over to rescue. Intake may be contacted by people who are just overwhelmed with an issue they're having with their dog. In some cases owners may not be terribly dog savvy, and just do not know where to begin. After getting suggestions from the Intake Committee members they often consider hiring a trainer or reading some of the information on the HRI website, and decide to keep working with their dog. This offsets requests where owners want the dogs out of their homes in a day or two – a real scramble!

Most Intake members are constantly working with owners and possible placements. This isn't as simple as just being available an assigned day because there is almost always a dog a member is working with that stays with you. In addition, Intake members also need to be available to vote on taking dogs in, and determining the adoption donation amounts, which are determined by a sliding scale that factors in the dog's age, medical and behavioral issues. Three votes to set donation fees are needed as well.

The Intake Committee is composed of the people who monitor the email account, the President, Vice-President, Dog Wrangler and Assistant Dog Wrangler, Past President and Intake Coordinator. Currently, there is quite a bit of overlap in these roles which keeps each and every member extremely busy.

I hope that this has enlightened those of you, like myself, who viewed the work of the Intake Committee from updates or the newsletter, realized they were very busy, but knew very little of the mechanics and workings of this group. As we are all aware, this is one busy bunch of hard-working and dedicated volunteers! Bravo to each and every one of you for your tireless efforts!

Suzy McQuown