help with bio

I need help with Wendi's bio. I've never done this so it is hard to know what to say and what not to say.
Can you guys read this and tell me what you would change, etc. I don't mind criticism AT ALL so say anything. I NEED HELP!!
Thanks

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Wendi is an 8 year old female pug who happens to be 100% blind and has some mobility issues due to a back injury. She is very mellow and loving. She has one tiny non-working eye and no eye at all on the other side. It just looks like she has lots of extra puggie face wrinkles, or maybe like she is permanently winking at you. With her saucy, loving attitude, I'd say she's winking!

Wendi's past was loving but difficult--she was with her first mommy for 8 years, from the time she was 8 weeks old. She did a fair amount of traveling from here to there and had lots of experiences and though she was loved, those experiences took a toll. Wendi's first mommy found out about rescue and loved her little princess enough to let her go to get medical help and a chance at a better life.

Touching is Wendi's second favorite thing. She loves tummy rubs, full body rubs, ear rubs, etc. Her first favorite thing is giving kisses! And treats, let's not forget treats. Wendi is working on losing some weight and has already lost over a pound.

A home for Wendi would understand her limitations and love her for them. She like short, easy and slow walks. Sometimes she might need to be carried, but that's okay since she loves to be close to you. She is working hard on potty training, but because of her ongoing back issues, sometimes she might not know 100% when it will happen. A home for Wendi would understand and not mind the occasional accident.

Blind dogs are easy to care for and live with, as long as you remember two things: be very verbal and don't move the furniture. A home without a lot of clutter would be best for Wendi as she feels her way with her face and will trip on items left in her normal path. Mats mark areas that she needs to know: a pad for her water dish, a pad in front of the doorways to outside, etc. She knows commands like "step down" and "step up" as well as "watch out!". She is very smart and is learning how to "sit" and "come" on command.

Wendi gets along well with other dogs as long as they aren't too playful. Other dogs will need bells or tags that make noise so that she isn't startled. Wendi likes to eat in her own area, away from other dogs. Wendi does well in human social situations, loving people and new places, as long as she isn't overwhelmed with too much stimuli. Mostly she likes to be at home with her human. She bonds with one human very strongly, loving to snuggle on the couch (as long as you pick her up and then put her down again), and will wait outside your shower in the morning. She is lovingly referred to as a Velcro dog, as she really likes to be with her person.

Wendi is already a princess but would love to be a queen in your home!

I think each rescue has their own "way" for doing bios - but, in my opinion, this bio is a little too long, and too precise about many of the intricacies of being blind. I am also not sure about starting right off with her medical limitations. Some of the requirements for the home, such as not moving furniture, etc, would be discussed during the initial phone interview.

We also try to minimize too much discussion about the dogs past.

That is only my opinion though. Your rescue may want longer, more in depth bios. I know there are a few that do very long bios, we just tend to do a little shorter ones.

gotcha. i will work up another one and repost...could you check it out?

Wendi is an 8 year old female pug who happens to be 100% blind and has some mobility issues due to a back injury. She is very mellow and loving. She has one tiny non-working eye and no eye at all on the other side. It just looks like she has lots of extra puggie face wrinkles, or maybe like she is permanently winking at you. With her saucy, loving attitude, I'd say she's winking!

Touching is Wendi's second favorite thing. She loves tummy rubs, full body rubs, ear rubs, etc. Her first favorite thing is giving kisses! And treats, let's not forget treats. Wendi is working on losing some weight and has already lost over a pound.

A home for Wendi would understand her limitations and love her for them. She like short, easy and slow walks. Sometimes she might need to be carried, but that's okay since she loves to be close to you. She is working hard on potty training, but because of her ongoing back issues, sometimes she might not know 100% when it will happen. A home for Wendi would understand and not mind the occasional accident.

Wendi is already a princess but would love to be a queen in your home!

Kim, I think your second bio is great! A bit shorter, but still full of Wendi's personality.

You may add something like, "Blind dogs come with their own set of special ways to do things. An adoption coordinator or Wendi's foster mom will be able to discuss how a new home can help Wendi settle in."

Oh, I think that second one is excellent! It tells just enough to let people know that Wendi has special needs, but it emphasizes her awesome personality even more.

I agree with Renee about minimizing info on a dog's past. In my experience, it puts people off a bit to know specific info about their dog's previous life (beyond general info like "given up due to divorce" or "found as a stray"). I think a lot of adopters, while aware that their dog had a past, like to think that they are the first people their dog ever loved. Your second bio of Wendi eliminates the previous owner stuff, and I think it's great.

Oh good! Thanks! I am learning about all this stuff and it is great to be able to pick your brains

I like the second one, too. Her personality does come through.

I think it should read:

"Wendi has found the perfect home with her foster family. No longer available for adoption."

But I'm a bit prejudiced....

Pugsavers wrote:I think it should read:

"Wendi has found the perfect home with her foster family. No longer available for adoption."

But I'm a bit prejudiced....

If you'd like to buy us a house, that would be the perfect bio!!! But since we are renters, we have a two dog maximum and if we kept her, we could no longer foster.

Kim:
We do ours a bit differently than many rescues in that we cover off the important information in bullet points and then follow up with paragraphs explaining more fully. And while we do foster updates, the requirements listed below only go on the website when the dog is actually ready for adoption.

Here's Sam's link to give you some idea of how I write foster updates:

http://www.pugalug.com/samwise.html

And here were his adopter requirements:

Adopter requirements for
Samwise

*Medical issues: Some
arthritis

*Special diet needs: Monitor
weight

*Behaviour issues: Some
initial anxiety

*Good with Kids? unknown

*Good with cats? yes

*Good with dogs? Yes, but could be an only dog or with older, sedate
small dogs

*Housing? all
housing, minimal stairs

*Crating? No

*Time dog is alone? 3 to 4
hours

*House training: excellent except in early days, when anxious

*Sleep with humans? yes, but also happy in dog bed, next to bed

This
is a very wonderful, gentle, mannerly gentleman who just wants to be loved and
love you back. A real gem.

Samwise
is the type of dog that breaks a rescuer’s heart because you know his heart was
broken when he was left at the shelter.
This dog has been loved and cared for, so how he ended up in the shelter
as a stray is a mystery. As a result, we
don’t know his true age, but guess that he is between 8 and 10 years.

Samwise
is deeply attached to his people. He is
fine with the other dogs and cats in my house, but his focus is on people. He would not do well in a home where the
humans will be gone for long stretches.
He is inclined, when anxious, to load up on water and then pee in the
house. This has improved dramatically during foster care, but an adopter must
be aware of his tendency to initial anxiety.
He doesn’t get comfort from the presence of other animals in the house
when the humans are gone.

Samwise
would be happy in almost any housing situation as long as he can be with his
people. He is not a busy or energetic
guy, but does need to get out for some exercise and fresh air. He’s not a jogging companion, but happy to go
for a stately constitutional at a refined pace.

Samwise
hasn’t been specifically tested with children, but he is generally such an easy
going guy, I can’t imagine he’d be a problem with children who are older and
gentle. If there are other dogs in the
home, he would do best in a home with older dogs who will also be gentle with
him and not bug him to play. He is a
true gentleman and has great manners.

He
has a somewhat stiff walk, but isn’t severely arthritic—it may be lack of
exercise and weight. He can do stairs,
but the ideal home would have limited stairs or a willingness for the adopter
to carry him up and down as he ages. He
is currently fine going up my stairs (which are steep and uncarpeted), but is
less confident coming down.

Blanche, that is an awesome model to follow.

But.

They will be "tweaking" the bio I wrote to sound like it is spoken from the pug's point of view.
This is cool---would have written it that way to begin with but now I know better and will do better
I should have known it from looking at their adoptables page but I go to so many rescue sites, I sometimes get them confused.

AND Samwise is cuter than a rooster in socks. Just sayin'

Pugsavers wrote:I think it should read:

"Wendi has found the perfect home with her foster family. No longer available for adoption."

But I'm a bit prejudiced....

This one got a chuckle out of me!

monkeypigs4eva wrote:Blanche, that is an awesome model to follow.

But.

They will be "tweaking" the bio I wrote to sound like it is spoken from the pug's point of view.
This is cool---would have written it that way to begin with but now I know better and will do better
I should have known it from looking at their adoptables page but I go to so many rescue sites, I sometimes get them confused.

Got it. Yeah, we don't do it that way, but I know alot of rescues do. It takes some talent to write it that way and not sound like a blithering idiot--a skill I don't have.

monkeypigs4eva wrote:AND Samwise is cuter than a rooster in socks. Just sayin'

He is indeed and has found his forever home. We're just taking our time and doing a bunch of visits so he can transition more easily.

northernwitch wrote:

monkeypigs4eva wrote:Blanche, that is an awesome model to follow.

But.

They will be "tweaking" the bio I wrote to sound like it is spoken from the pug's point of view.
This is cool---would have written it that way to begin with but now I know better and will do better
I should have known it from looking at their adoptables page but I go to so many rescue sites, I sometimes get them confused.

Got it. Yeah, we don't do it that way, but I know alot of rescues do. It takes some talent to write it that way and not sound like a blithering idiot--a skill I don't have.

I think SEPRA does the bios from the pug's point of view, and they are super cute. I have written one or two that way for us, but they are hard to do, especially when not a lot is known about the dog.

Each bio is different and unique, like the dog, but there are a few things that are consistent for us. We rarely ever talk about the past or the reason the dog was surrendered, unless it is a special case. For example, we have some dogs in from a hoarding situation. We did disclose this in their bios, because the circumstances of their past has effected them behaviorally.

We also try and avoid anything that sounds negative - such as using terms like "unfortunately" or "sadly". Everything should try to be upbeat and positive sounding.

Totally with you on the upbeat and positive thing. One of my biggest pet peeves is rescues and shelters who are judgmental on their websites of the people surrendering to them. Things like "Fluffy's beloved elderly owner died, and nobody in the family was willing to step up and take him..." or "Peaches was the forgotten victim when his owners divorced..." or "Fido's family neglected to give him the vet care he deserved, so now he's blind." Or whatever.

Do all the griping you want about how much people suck on your private mailing lists, forums, etc. But don't smear the people who surrender in public. After all, you exist to take in animals. I know of a couple of instances where folks surrendered the animal to a shelter with a very high euthanasia rate rather than deal with what they felt would be harsh judgment (in person and online) from a particular rescue, based on what they'd seen on their website.