06/04/2026
Celebrating 15 Years!
From December 30, 2012
Nova Gets Her Kondo!
What an amazing day! Kane gives two big paws up to Krew Members Linda G., Jim P. and Larry C. for helping with our Kondo delivery today! Thank you to Animal Control Officer Lori for meeting with us and the family to get things started off on the right foot. It was cold and windy, but as usual, our Krew did what it took to get the job done!
What a pleasure to meet Nova's owner! He is an elderly disabled man. When we got there, he had already snowblowed the driveway for us, which was totally unexpected. He ran out of gas, went out and got some more and then snowblowed the yard for us so we would have an easier time getting the Kondo through. Nova was also in the house when we arrived. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have been trying for over a month to help Nova. Now we know what the delay was -- Nova's owner was confused about what we do and thought we were coming to take her away. Once he learned what we're all about, he was eager for our help. :-)
We had to take the chain link off of Nova's kennel to get the Kondo inside - this took quite a bit of work and also destroyed Jim's gloves. (Jim we owe you a new pair!) But once we got the Kondo in, it fit perfectly. We stuffed it with straw and also laid down a good layer of straw over Nova's kennel floor. We hooked up her heated water bucket (thank you Maureen!) and then it was time for the star herself to make an appearance. That is the big payoff for Krew members -- to see the dog engage with their Kondo for the first time. You can tell instantly that Nova is well loved. She is pleasantly plump and loves people. We gave her a big ole' knuckle bone and Larry introduced her to the Kondo, eventually luring her inside with treats.
The owner is very grateful to Kane's Krusade for helping him help his dog. We will be there for him and Nova in the future too. Our goal is to raise enough money to quadruple the size of Nova's kennel in the spring. We will continue to help with food, treats and bones. Nova is already spayed and utd with her shots.
Today is such a powerful example of how our nonjudgmental approach works. It would have been easy to label this owner, to get angry and frustrated and make him wrong. Instead, we used all the patience we had, we listened instead of lectured, we offered instead of telling him what to do. The result is a family who feels grateful that "strangers" care about his dog enough to spend 3 hours on a cold Sunday making her life better.
