Cara Sue Achterberg

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About Cara Sue Achterberg
Cara Achterberg is a writer, blogger, and shelter dog advocate who writes about real life, family drama, and, of course, dogs. She is the author of four novels, two memoirs ('dog-oirs'), and a handbook/memoir of the organic life.
Cara has fostered nearly 200 animals and writes a blog about her experiences (AnotherGoodDog.org). She is the co-founder of Who Will Let the Dogs Out (WhoWillLettheDogsOut.org), a non-profit initiative whose mission is to raise awareness and resources for shelter dogs and the people who fight for them.
Her small hillside farm in PA is home to a shuffling cast of foster dogs and foster kittens, plus her three dogs Gracie, Fanny, and Otis, two horses, a barn cat named Tonks, and plenty of chickens. Cara travels to the mountains of Virginia every chance she gets. Links to all of her blogs, pictures of her foster dogs and more information can be found at CaraWrites.com.
“Achterberg throws a blinding light. This combination of personal story and heartbreaking manifesto will shock and move readers.”--Booklist (100 Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues)
twitter: @caraachterberg
instagram: @carasueachterberg
Facebook: @carasueachterberg
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Blog postThe boys survived their ‘alterations’ this week and hopefully, two of them will be moving on soon. Chett and Poe have an adopter, they’re vaccinated, dewormed (multiple times), microchipped, combo-tested (neg), and now, neutered. They are ready to go!
The Humane Society of Shenandoah County charges $175 for kittens and $150 for cats in adoption fees. I’m pretty new to this cat game, but even I can see that adoption fees don’t begin to cover the cost of saving these kitties.
An2 days ago Read more -
Blog postThe boys survived their ‘alterations’ this week and hopefully, two of them will be moving on soon. Chett and Poe have an adopter, they’re vaccinated, dewormed (multiple times), microchipped, combo-tested (neg), and now, neutered. They are ready to go!
The Humane Society of Shenandoah County charges $175 for kittens and $150 for cats in adoption fees. I’m pretty new to this cat game, but even I can see that adoption fees don’t begin to cover the cost of saving these kitties.
An2 days ago Read more -
Blog postA few months ago, we visited Virginia Paws for Pits and had the pleasure of meeting Page Hearn, the founder and director, plus three lovely pups (all foster-fails). Page describes Paws for Pits as a low-volume, high-maintenance rescue.
Page runs Paws for Pits out of her gym, Queen City Strength, in Staunton, Virginia. PFP is so much more than a foster-based pit bull rescue. They are advocates for the breed, educating everyone in their path. They often take in desperate cases – dogs mo3 days ago Read more -
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Blog postIt’s pretty quiet here at this foster home. That’s the difference between fostering cats and fostering dogs. Dogs require a lot more attention.
But cats, kittens in this case, also require a little attention. Just like puppies, there is a lot of deworming. Plus, for the first few weeks with us, Harper needed to be bathed almost daily because she had not figured out how to take care of herself. Thankfully, she’s finally doing her own grooming. Neither of us enjoyed her baths.
K2 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postIt’s pretty quiet here at this foster home. That’s the difference between fostering cats and fostering dogs. Dogs require a lot more attention.
But cats, kittens in this case, also require a little attention. Just like puppies, there is a lot of deworming. Plus, for the first few weeks with us, Harper needed to be bathed almost daily because she had not figured out how to take care of herself. Thankfully, she’s finally doing her own grooming. Neither of us enjoyed her baths.
K2 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postEvery time we go to the shelters, I learn something. This time was no different. We’ve been to over 80 shelters now, so you’d think they would all look alike. In a few ways (dogs in need, incredible people) they are, but in so many ways they are unique.
One of the projects we are working on is creating a Resource Guide for shelters and rescues (and volunteers and advocates). This guide, which is its own tab on our website, is where we collect ideas about grants, fundraising, shelter p2 weeks ago Read more -
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Blog postMy dream came true.
I am now a steward of a Little Free Library!
Ever since the movement started in 2012, I’ve been captivated by the idea. I longed to build and manage my own little library. Whenever I read a good book, my first thought is – Everyone should read this!
When I read something that really shifts my heart, I think, “If everyone would read this book, the world would be better.”
Little Free Libraries are an opportunity to share those messages. To put4 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postI have a surprising new assistant helping me with the foster kitties.
We’ve discovered that Otis simply loves the kittens. All our foster cats/kittens usually live out on the sunporch. We haven’t added furniture or renovated the area because we need to replace the supporting posts (one is rotting) and possibly the windows (which are sagging, but once the posts are replaced that problem may correct itself).
So with its carpeting-that-can-be-ruined (because we’re getting rid of<1 month ago Read more -
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Blog postI have a surprising new assistant helping me with the foster kitties.
We’ve discovered that Otis simply loves the kittens. All our foster cats/kittens usually live out on the sunporch. We haven’t added furniture or renovated the area because we need to replace the supporting posts (one is rotting) and possibly the windows (which are sagging, but once the posts are replaced that problem may correct itself).
So with its carpeting-that-can-be-ruined (because we’re getting rid of<1 month ago Read more -
Blog postA week from now we will be on shelter tour, hitting seven shelters in six states.
As always, it will be a whirlwind, and as always I will learn something new about shelters and dog rescue and heroes and how we fix this problem of so many unwanted, adoptable animals suffering and dying senselessly.
And as always, we will meet so many dogs! Dogs who have been in a shelter for months, dogs who have serious medical needs, dogs who don’t have much time left, and dogs who have a res1 month ago Read more -
Blog postSometimes rescue sucks.
I’m sorry. I’m not usually so negative. I’m really a very positive person.
When my children were small and we talked about swear words, I told them, “People who need to use those words so often simply lack creativity.” But sometimes, those bad words fit the situation. And I muttered more than my share in the past week.
Last Thursday, we had to make the painful, but humane decision to euthanize Bippity Bop. Her condition deteriorated so fast, it1 month ago Read more -
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Blog postSometimes rescue sucks.
I’m sorry. I’m not usually so negative. I’m really a very positive person.
When my children were small and we talked about swear words, I told them, “People who need to use those words so often simply lack creativity.” But sometimes, those bad words fit the situation. And I muttered more than my share in the past week.
Last Thursday, we had to make the painful, but humane decision to euthanize Bippity Bop. Her condition deteriorated so fast, it1 month ago Read more -
Blog postOur last stop on our January shelter tour was a tiny animal control facility beside the wastewater treatment plant in Live Oak, Florida.
Mary, the sole ACO for Live Oak city shelter, was in the yard with a dog whose story haunted me the entire drive home. Mary picked up T-bone and another female dog (who could have been a mate or sister, as she looked just like him) after a woman called to say that her son had left the dogs at her house in a pen. She’d been feeding them by throwing fo1 month ago Read more -
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Blog postI don’t know what to tell you about Bippity Bop. Her health situation is a mystery. As we back off (very slowly) from the anti-seizure medications, she is still not herself. It’s like the little dog who arrived here a month ago, is gone, vanished.
In her place, is a timid pup who startles easily, is unsteady on her feet, and seems confused most of the time. X-Port Paws and I are reaching out to different doctors and rescue organizations for advice and plan to do all we can to get to t1 month ago Read more -
Blog postI don’t know what to tell you about Bippity Bop. Her health situation is a mystery. As we back off (very slowly) from the anti-seizure medications, she is still not herself. It’s like the little dog who arrived here a month ago, is gone, vanished.
In her place, is a timid pup who startles easily, is unsteady on her feet, and seems confused most of the time. X-Port Paws and I are reaching out to different doctors and rescue organizations for advice and plan to do all we can to get to t1 month ago Read more -
Blog postPolk County, Florida is ranked first in Florida and fourth in the nation for number of dogs ‘euthanized’ each year. The Polk County shelter killed 5000 dogs in 2020. Which is even more remarkable considering 2020 was the year so many shelters were emptied (momentarily).
The only way a dog labeled a bully breed can leave the Polk County Shelter alive is if a rescue pulls it. They are not allowed to adopt out any bully breeds. In 2020, the county took in 16,000 dogs; they killed nearly2 months ago Read more -
Blog postIt has been quite a rollercoaster ride with Miss Bippity Bop this past week.
The good news is that we’ve been able to get her seizures under control.
The bad news is that we still don’t know what brought them, and the medication she is taking to prevent them is having a strong effect on her.
She is docile, dopey, and a wobbly. Gone is her fiery little personality that claimed her space at this house. Now, she seems to be sleep-walking through her days, and sleep-walkin2 months ago Read more -
Blog postIt has been quite a rollercoaster ride with Miss Bippity Bop this past week.
The good news is that we’ve been able to get her seizures under control.
The bad news is that we still don’t know what brought them, and the medication she is taking to prevent them is having a strong effect on her.
She is docile, dopey, and a wobbly. Gone is her fiery little personality that claimed her space at this house. Now, she seems to be sleep-walking through her days, and sleep-walkin2 months ago Read more -
Blog postThe Redland Dog Sanctuary is only one and half years old, but its founder and director, Junior, has been helping rescue dogs ever since he emigrated to this country from Brazil twenty-five years ago. He first came to the US to get medical help for one of his triplets, but eventually brought his whole family here to stay.
Trained as a veterinarian in Brazil, he began working as a dog groomer and trainer in Redland, Florida, eventually building up his dog grooming business into a sizabl2 months ago Read more -
Blog postI put off writing this post because I wasn’t sure what was really happening to my little foster dog, Bippity. I still don’t know, but I’ve decided to write anyway.
The not knowing? That is a big part of rescue.
As I tried to answer the vet’s questions yesterday, I struggled. I don’t know really where Bippity came from except south Texas. I don’t know who she belonged to, if anyone. I don’t know her health history beyond the barest of details provided by the bill and the verbal2 months ago Read more -
Blog postI put off writing this post because I wasn’t sure what was really happening to my little foster dog, Bippity. I still don’t know, but I’ve decided to write anyway.
The not knowing? That is a big part of rescue.
As I tried to answer the vet’s questions yesterday, I struggled. I don’t know really where Bippity came from except south Texas. I don’t know who she belonged to, if anyone. I don’t know her health history beyond the barest of details provided by the bill and the verbal2 months ago Read more -
Blog postI first heard about the Redland Rock Pits Abandoned Dog Rescue when another ‘dog writer’ and friend wrote about it on her excellent blog.
I was horrified and drawn to this forgotten place on the very tip of Florida where thousands of dogs were dumped, left to fend for themselves, fight with each other, and possibly be eaten by alligators (my fear) in this remote spot next to the Everglades.
When we put together our Florida tour, I knew I had to see Redland for myself. So on a2 months ago Read more -
Blog postAfter ten days of quarantine and pumping her skinny body full of steroids, antibiotics, and as much food as she could eat, Bippity has joined our pack.
She quickly submitted to Fanny’s established leadership, will run and chase Otis but not wrestle with him (he is 3x her weight), and took no offense at Gracie’s warning snarls. She is undeterred; with her tail wagging and her happy energy, she trails all three other dogs all over the house.
She still has a faint cough, but her2 months ago Read more -
Blog postAfter ten days of quarantine and pumping her skinny body full of steroids, antibiotics, and as much food as she could eat, Bippity has joined our pack.
She quickly submitted to Fanny’s established leadership, will run and chase Otis but not wrestle with him (he is 3x her weight), and took no offense at Gracie’s warning snarls. She is undeterred; with her tail wagging and her happy energy, she trails all three other dogs all over the house.
She still has a faint cough, but her2 months ago Read more -
Blog postI often hear shelter directors say the way we fix this problem of so many unwanted dogs and the resultant neglect and cruelty is with the next generation. Well, on our last shelter tour, we had the opportunity to see it in action.
At Felix Varela High School in Miami Florida, a remarkable woman named Yleana runs the Veterinary Science magnet academy.
Not only does she teach kids how to care for horses, goats, and chickens (and show them in the FFA), but she gives them the resp2 months ago Read more -
Blog postEvery foster experience I have is the same and different. Probably because every dog is the same and different. Bottom line, dogs are dogs, and it’s important to remember that. They are not people in furry suits. They have the same needs in terms of food, safety, comfort, health, etc., but they are also individuals.… Continue reading Bippity Bop Boom: Getting Our Latest Foster on Her Feet2 months ago Read more
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Blog postEvery foster experience I have is the same and different. Probably because every dog is the same and different. Bottom line, dogs are dogs, and it’s important to remember that. They are not people in furry suits. They have the same needs in terms of food, safety, comfort, health, etc., but they are also individuals.… Continue reading Bippity Bop Boom: Getting Our Latest Foster on Her Feet2 months ago Read more
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Blog post“Are you a rescue?”
This is the first question people ask when I tell them about Who Will Let the Dogs Out?
I have to explain, that no, we aren’t a rescue, but we help rescues. We aren’t a shelter either, but we help shelters too. We don’t transport or train dogs. And we have nothing to do with cats (mostly).
Because we don’t directly handle dogs (although we meet thousands), it’s sometimes hard to explain what we do or to ask for money to help us do it.
The mo2 months ago Read more -
Blog postMy next foster, Bippity-Bop, is making her way eastward as you read this! Yesterday, she traveled from the Rio Grande Valley to San Antonio, where she was boarded overnight and this morning was placed on an east-bound transport.
She’ll arrive in Stephens City, about a half-hour north of us on Friday evening. That’s if all goes according to plan. Anyone in rescue knows that according to plan is often simply a fantasy.
Until I became involved in rescue, I had no idea that there3 months ago Read more -
Blog postMy next foster, Bippity-Bop, is making her way eastward as you read this! Yesterday, she traveled from the Rio Grande Valley to San Antonio, where she was boarded overnight and this morning was placed on an east-bound transport.
She’ll arrive in Stephens City, about a half-hour north of us on Friday evening. That’s if all goes according to plan. Anyone in rescue knows that according to plan is often simply a fantasy.
Until I became involved in rescue, I had no idea that there3 months ago Read more -
Blog postAs we walked up the drive alongside the ring where a gleaming dark bay horse cantered like a metronome, my worlds collided. Having spent fifty years loving horses, many of those years riding, teaching, and training them, today was a special treat. Before they ever became rescue heroes and movie stars, Danny and Ron were already famous in the hunter/jumper world I once inhabited.
We spent an hour talking with Danny and Ron in the dappled sunshine next to the shedrow where gorgeous anim3 months ago Read more -
Blog postIn all my years of living in the country, driving skinny back roads through the woods and past expansive cornfields, dodging deer and the occasional ground hog, I’d never actually hit an animal.
Until this past Wednesday.
In fact, miraculously (and not to jinx them) no one in my family had ever hit a deer. So maybe we were due.
And for the record, I didn’t so much hit the deer as the deer hit me.
I was driving on a crowded country highway (we’d all detoured off3 months ago Read more -
Blog postI have gotten out of the habit of writing.
And serious writing depends on just that—habit. Not waiting for inspiration or time or a good night’s sleep or a better outline or the dog to shut up or until you take some class/webinar/retreat.
Writing requires that you sit down and do it. No matter what. As often as possible, every day if you can. You start where you are and spill your jumbled thoughts, wandering storylines, and vast emotions on the page. Your fingers tap along as5 months ago Read more -
Blog postLast night I got the call.
Once again, my bad boy horse has outworn his welcome. This is the fourth time, I’ve sent him to a new home, with great hopes that this would be the one, but like a furry boomerang he is coming back. Only this time, I don’t have a pasture to put him in.
For those who don’t know about this horse of mine, True is a beautiful, slightly-feral, unrideable, but completely loveable 1200 pound pet. Eleven years ago, I wrote a book about him (but never publish8 months ago Read more -
Blog postI’m losing my gumption for writing.
Or at least for publishing.
I can’t imagine myself ever not writing. The publishing part, though, it drains my soul.
As much as I want my stories to land on the hearts that need them, I am tired of how ‘less than’ publishing makes me feel.
It’s an incredibly competitive industry and one that is skewed towards the people who
aggressively promote themselves and their writing and have a talent for doing sobegan their publish8 months ago Read more -
Blog post“Why Virginia?”
Everyone asks this.
Actually, they ask, “Why Woodstock?”
All I can say is that ever since visiting the Shenandoah Valley fifteen years ago to run a trail race, it’s had a hold of me. I came home from that first trip having run the mountains, discovered wineries, stomped divets at a polo game, meandered through tiny downtowns, and soaked up the quiet and peace, I told Nick, “You have to come to Virginia with me.”
He wasn’t hard to convince, and w10 months ago Read more -
Blog postThis past year has felt a bit surreal. As if the world was unplugged and we are collectively holding our breath, waiting for it to be plugged back in and spring to life like my laptop after a hard shut down.
Some writers I know have been absolutely unable to write. Their worlds disrupted understandably.
I was not one of those writers.
But for all the writing I’ve done, very little of it has been anything published or publishable. Instead, I’ve stayed still and listened1 year ago Read more -
Blog postHey, it’s been a minute since I last wrote, hasn’t it? Lately I’ve been distracted by a HUGE project that is exciting and scary and so, so important to me. It’s a dream I’ve had ever since the first time I stepped into a southern animal shelter and saw what was happening, and thought, “How … Continue reading "How Can You Raise 20K Really Quick When It Really Matters?"1 year ago Read more
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Blog post[This week’s blog post, take two.]
My original post I spent the past forty minutes writing laid out all the ways the publishing world is lined up against me.
But then I simply got tired of my own drivel.
Enough whining, I told myself.
I knew the odds were steeply against me before I signed Blind Turn with an independent press.
I did it anyway, so I don’t get to whine now about the unfairness of the publication world and how the big five (soon to be four1 year ago Read more -
Blog postBLIND TURN is officially out in the world today.
Thanks to the pandemic, though, it feels like any other day. There is no launch party, no celebratory signing, no champagne with friends even.
I’m planning a Facebook LIVE at lunchtime on my writer page, but I’m certain it will feel as lonely as every other LIVE I’ve done—talking into the abyss and wondering when I finish if I’ve connected with anyone.
Releasing a second book during this ‘unprecedented time’ feels like t1 year ago Read more
Titles By Cara Sue Achterberg
Maxy Awards 2021 "Book of the Year"
"When the unthinkable happens, both mother and daughter are forced to look deep within themselves for the truth. Achterberg takes you for a ride that you won't forget." –Barbara Conrey, author of Nowhere Near Goodbye
In the aftermath of a fatal texting and driving accident, a mother and daughter must come to terms with the real meaning of forgiveness.
Liz Johnson single-handedly raised an exemplary daughter. Jessica is an honor-student, track star, and all-around good kid. So how could that same teenager be responsible for the death of the high school's beloved football coach? This is Texas, where high school football ranks right up there with God, so while the legal battle wages, the public deals its own verdict.
Desperate for help, Liz turns to a lawyer whose affection she once rejected and attempts to play nice with her ex-husband. Jessica faces her angry peers and her own demons as she awaits a possible prison sentence for an accident she doesn't remember.
A tragic, emotional, ultimately uplifting story, Blind Turn is a natural book club pick.
Meet the Turners - a socially awkward genius child, an adolescent cat burglar, a philandering husband, and a doormat wife in desperate need of a backbone. The Turners are doing their best to craft a happy life and face down a history they have no control over in a neighborhood where only the houses are similar. And when relationships sprout from seemingly nowhere and secrets begin to unravel, practicing normal becomes harder than it’s ever been.
Combining her trademark combination of wit, insight, and tremendous empathy for her characters, Cara Sue Achterberg has written a novel that is at once familiar and startlingly fresh.
"Does facing the truth beat living a lie? In PRACTICING NORMAL, Cara Sue Achterberg has given us a smart story that is both a window and a mirror, about the extraordinary pain ― and the occasional gifts ― of an ordinary life."
– Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times bestselling author of THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN
"What does it really mean to have a normal life? Achterberg's stunning new novel explores how a family can fracture just trying to survive, and how what makes us different is also what can make us most divine."
– Caroline Leavitt, author of CRUEL BEAUTIFUL WORLD and the New York Times bestsellers PICTURES OF YOU and IS THIS TOMORROW
"PRACTICING NORMAL takes a deep dive into the dysfunctional dynamics of a 'picture perfect family.' A compelling story about the beautiful humanity in the most ordinary of lives: from first love to a marriage on the downward slide to an unexpected family tragedy. Achterberg handles each thread with tender care and we can't help but root for every member of the Turner family."
– Kate Moretti, New York Times bestselling author of THE VANISHING YEAR
“There is some major drama in this story as well as some great suspense and – a great ending to boot!”
– Wall-to-Wall Books
“This is a delightful look at family and all their failings.”
– Books Direct
“A riveting and engrossing story that I could not put down. I am the newest fan of Ms. Achterberg! I highly recommend this extraordinary novel!”
– CMash Reads
Harried Dani can't explain why she feels so discontented until she meets a young gallery owner who inspires her to rediscover the art that once made her happy.
Dependable Meg faces up to a grief that threatens to swallow her whole and confronts a marriage built on expectations.
Flamboyant Charlotte, frustrated with her stagnated life and marriage, pursues a playboy Irish singer and beachside business opportunities.
All three of these women thought they would be different. None of them thought they'd be facing down forty and still wondering when life starts. What they do when they realize where they're headed is both inspiring and wildly entertaining.
GIRLS' WEEKEND is a fun, yet poignant romp through the universal search of who we are, why we love, and what makes us happy by an author who is quickly emerging as one of our most incisive storytellers.
“By page three, I was hooked. If I could have, I would have read it in one sitting.”
– When I Grow Up
“Mom lit at its finest!”
– Mommy’s New Groove
“I really loved this story.”
– Country Girl Bookaholic
“Had I known I’d still be sitting in my favorite chair at 2am, racing to the finish, I probably would have put on my pajamas before I started. (Sometime before lunch…) Yeppers, it was that good. It was compelling, touching, and a bit soul-searching. Oh, and it was fun, too.”
– Momma on the Rocks
Both women are forced into lives opposite all they’ve ever known. Leann, at first thrilled to look and live like her favorite soap opera stars, discovers that the insecurities and desperation she’s grown up with don’t disappear because she looks like a model now. Fighting off the affections of a boyfriend she never chose and a controlling, plastic mother is hard enough, but she must fight off her own demons and figure out how to survive when her dreams come true.
Carin, suddenly fat, poor, meagerly employed, saddled with a kid, and married to a loser, must face her own – and the world’s – preconceived notions about life on the bottom rung. Carin spends her days avoiding the threats of Leann’s abusive husband, working two jobs to save money for her escape, and wrestling with her role as a mom to a precocious six-year-old. She is surprised to learn that life can be rich even while destitute. She is even more surprised when she falls for a stock boy who repairs juke boxes and drives a hearse in his spare time.
Both women are facing unknowable futures that neither could have imagined. Are they destined to live this way forever? And if so, where will it all lead?
A brilliant, nuanced, and surprising tale about the way the world sees us and the course we are on, I'M NOT HER is a remarkably assured first novel that introduces a profound new storyteller.
After welcoming her one hundredth foster dog (and her puppies), Cara grabs her best friend, fills a van with donations, and heads south to discover what is really happening in the rural shelters where her foster dogs originate. What she discovers will break her heart and compel her to share the story of heroes and villains and plenty of good dogs, in the hope of changing this world. Cara fosters her most challenging dog yet and she and her husband are pushed to the brink of what they will do to save a dog. Cara wonders why the need seems endless. She hatches a plan to head south on a Thelma & Louise-style road trip. Each stop exposes more of the realities of rural animal shelters. The hopelessness seems unsurmountable until they discover one shelter, deep in South Carolina that has found the answers and is truly a ‘no-kill’ shelter. One Hundred Dogs and Counting will introduce the reader to many good dogs, but also to inspirational people sacrificing personal lives and fortunes to save deserving animals. It will offer not just the entertaining stories of plenty of loveable good dogs, but the real problem of unwanted animals in our rural shelters, and how the reader can be part of the solution.