How Second City Canine completes families

Hello from Arizona! I’m currently on vacation celebrating my husband’s birthday. Safe to say I’m not missing the grey weather I left in Chicago. I couldn’t wait to post this though because these puppies are too much. Last week, I lived my dream in a pile of seven-week-old St. Bernard puppies. I also got to meet and learn about a new organization, Second City Canine Rescue. I loved what I learned.

Second City Canine Rescue was founded in 2011 and has since adopted out more than 2,800 dogs. They’re an entirely foster-based organization that is doing incredible work in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. When SCCR first reached out to me, it was Jennifer Moreland, their Intake Coordinator, who contacted me. She told me they had just received a litter of St. Bernard puppies and wondered if I’d like to collaborate. Uh, yes.

I’m a firm believer in the fact that if you are patient enough, you can find just about any kind of dog you want in rescue. I knew this post would show that. People often tell me they didn’t adopt because they wanted a specific kind of dog. While it may take a while, your perfect dog is waiting for rescue. I can (almost) guarantee that.

I can also guarantee that if you’re looking for a particular dog, Jennifer is one of the best people to find it. While chatting, she told me she was the one who found Trout, Heather Owen’s (One Tail at a Time Founder) new pup. Jennifer also told me a story of someone looking for a small, hypoallergenic, three-legged dog. And guess what, within three weeks, she had found a dog that checked all the boxes.

Where do they find such dogs? SCCR pulls dogs from Chicago shelters and southern states. While Jennifer has a particular interest in big, fluffy dogs, SCCR is an all-breed rescue. They also happen to love senior dogs, so I may or may not have volunteered myself for a senior foster.

Second City Canine is great at finding good fits. Their tagline “Rescuing Responsibly” speaks to how they operate at their core. SCCR is super selective with dogs they place in homes. Why? Because they have a lot of families coming to them wanting to adopt. SCCR needs to be sure they’re placing dogs that will be good fits in a suburban setting.

They can evaluate dogs so well thanks to their large network of fosters. SCCR has about 100 foster homes and 200 volunteers that work hard to ensure they’re placing dogs that are family-friendly. With six Board Members and two employees, they’re working towards professionalizing their rescue. Doing so will undoubtedly mean saving more lives.

In the end, this was one of my most memorable shoots. I loved the puppies, but beyond that, I learned about a rescue that has been working hard to find animals from all over the country homes. If you’d like to support Second City Canine in their quest to find more animals homes, you can become a foster, or donate here.

A huge thank you to everyone who was involved in making this shoot happen. Two Birds Photography captured these images and are available for bookings. Plus they give a percentage of their proceeds to Second City Canine Rescue. Chicago Vintage Wedding also was gracious enough to host and style this shoot!

THE RESCUES:

Mae – Mama dog Mae is one of the sweetest pups. Her current foster mother Martha(??) couldn’t sing her praises enough. She gets along well with everyone she meets, she knows her basic skills, and she, of course, is the best mom. Her only caveat? She will require a home with a couch because she is a little snuggle bug!

Puppies – Claude and Virginia were my favorites but five out of the eight puppies will be available for adoption starting November 17. If you’re interested in adopting one of these babies, you can fill out an application here. They won’t be reviewing applications until the puppies are ready so please don’t bug them too much 🙂

THE STYLE:

This buffalo check cardigan (also available in plus size!) was quite the star when I shot it. It’s available through The Spotted Owl, one of the cutest boutiques that is owned by a friend of mine. She was kind enough to offer my readers a code too, “PUPPIES” will give you $5 off your purchase.

I’ve also been obsessed with these shoes from Alice + Whittles. They’re sustainably made eco-friendly rubber boots. The founders of the company are UN Refugee workers so you can be happy you’re money is going to a company that does good. Use code “Rescue10” for 10% off these beautiful boots!

Xoxo,

Christine