Author: Jennifer Vanderau

I was speaking to a lady the other day who said her neighbors had adopted two large breed dogs from a rescue only to return them a few days later because the dogs were “too big for the house.” I literally boggled when I heard this. I don’t think the dogs grew that much in three days! As I stood shaking my head, I had a bit of an epiphany I wanted to share. I think there’s a misconception out there that animal shelters and rescue organizations provide “trial pets.” In other words, there are people who think they can…

I’ve been in my new home for a few days now and I have to say I never thought this would happen to me. I’m not the prettiest dog. Never have been. The first people I lived with tossed me out onto the street when they moved and I never heard from them again. Street life was hard and gave me some scars and some nightmares that I can’t really shake, but one day, a nice person brought me to the animal shelter. I’m also not any kind of special breed. I’m known in certain circles as a mutt –…

A few years ago when my friend was expecting her first child, we had a conversation that has stayed with me all this time. We were having lunch and this woman is an avid animal-lover and a great supporter of the shelter. I remember talking to her about what it’s like to have a baby and she was both excited and absolutely petrified. At nine months, she was a pretty adorable mother-to-be. Having never had children myself – and the ship has pretty much sailed on that one – I asked if she was nervous about the whole thing. Having…

Okay. I’m talking about this one early, because you are going to want to be there and you need to mark your calendars. Our 22nd annual Dog Walk and Contests will be held on October 29 at the Chambersburg Mall on Black Gap Road. Every year the people who attend absolutely cannot believe the prizes that are available for participants who raise $75 or more. So get out there and get those sponsors now so you can get a chance at some amazing stuff. The top donor will get the first choice and we call names on down the line.…

It’s amazing how it’s possible to get used to something the longer it’s experienced. He has fleas. Has had them for years. Living outside, tied to a dog box like he is, it’s not unusual. He remembers early on when he was first tied out – after he’d had too many accidents in the house – the fleas used to drive him almost out of his mind. Crawling all over his skin. Making him itch. In that first year, he had scratched out huge clumps of his hair just trying to get some relief. Now it’s like the fleas have…

I found a quote online the other day that said, Joy is a power. Cultivate it. Well let me tell you, I was cultivating like crazy last weekend. The Puppy Paddle was held at the Chambersburg Municipal Pool and joy was in abundance. The Rec Department drains the chlorine from the pool and opens it up to the canine world and the day is about as incredible as you imagine it would be. I try to get there a little early (which I know shocks anyone reading this right now who really knows me) and as a result, I get…

CVAS has a real gem that helps our animals – our thrift store. The Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter Thrift Store is at 66 South Main Street in Chambersburg. Anyone who shops at or donates to our store will be directly affecting homeless animals in the shelter. You can find almost anything you can imagine at our store – from clothes to furniture to kitchenware to kids’ toys. There are treasure galore. Some of the coolest clothes I own actually came from our thrift store. Jeans for $3. Can you believe it? Three dollars! And they’re perfectly awesome jeans. I…

Chevy’s walking back and forth across the couch, demanding attention with her paws and her rather vocal meow, and he shakes his head. He can’t believe he not only has a cat, but he lets her on the furniture – the sofa wasn’t cheap and was one of the first acquisitions he’d made when he finally purchased his dream home. Chevy’s now 5 months old and he swears the little gray bundle of energy grows more every day since he found her under the shrubbery in front of his a few months ago. As much as he would never admit…

His life certainly isn’t what he thought it would be. Turns out all the beer commercials on television are just trying to sell a product to sports fans. He remembers when he was younger, the sky was the limit. He was going to graduate high school, make millions, more than keep up with the Joneses and be a big success. Like the American male is supposed to do. While he isn’t a failure by any stretch of the imagination, he’s not where he thought he would be, either. He’s got a nice house, reliable car, decent marriage and he’s not…

I will never forget a few years ago when a woman told us that she wanted to groom her dog herself because he had gotten some pretty bad mats, but she felt like the clippers she had wouldn’t do the job. So she was going to try to use an X-Acto knife. I’m going to take a bit of a breath and let that one settle in. I don’t know about you, but I cringed when I heard that. Look, I’ve seen just a plain old pair of scissors do some real damage to a dog’s skin. I cannot imagine…