Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus: Week 6’s Touchdown For Tails Chicagoland Rescue Of The Week

After four long weeks, The Chicago Bears have finally won a regular season game in 2023. Despite the odds being stacked against them going into a short week on Thursday Night Football, Chicago came out with a 40-20 victory at FedEx Field against the Washington Commanders. It was the first win of the season for the Bears. Now, they’ll be coming off a mini bye week and appear to be getting healthy at the right time. Could we see two in a row on Sunday at home against the Minnesota Vikings? Let’s hope so! This week’s featured rescue is Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus. Although they are not specific to the Chicago area, they help a lot of Dobermans and many other animals in need within the city.

As always, here’s a breakdown of how Touchdown For Tails will work.

Each week, we will be featuring a new rescue. Within that week, you’ll have a few options to “bet” on. Now, when I say bet, what I really mean is, how much you’re willing to donate to the featured animal rescue organization of the week. Here’s how it’ll work.

1. A Chicago Bears win = $25 donation
2. Three-to-five Prop Bets: Hitting on the prop = $10 donation. Missing on the prop= $5

Ultimately, what I would like to do is make the Bears winning on the field as rewarding to our featured rescues as possible! Those of you who donate nine (or more) times throughout the season will be entered into a drawing at the end of the season to win a Chicago Bears Nike “Game” Jersey. The player and sizing will be of your choice. For each Chicago Bears win, I will personally donate $25. I will also choose one prop bet (brought to you by Draft Kings) that I will also “bet” on.

The ultimate goal of this is to get Bears fans more involved with the community around them. Football season is already the best time of year, so why not make it a little better by helping become a solution to a growing problem around the country? Every single dollar donated on a weekly basis will go directly to that featured rescue.

Week 6 “Things to bet on” (Brought to you by DraftKings)

Game: Chicago Bears (+3) over Minnesota Vikings (-3) ($25 donation if the Bears win)

Non-Bettors “Bets”:

1. QB Justin Fields for more passing touchdowns that Kirk Cousins ($10 donation if you win. $5 if you lose.)
2. WR D.J. Moore to break 100 receiving for the third straight game ($10 donation if you win. $5 if you lose.)

Prop Bets:

1. Bears total team points (21.5): Over (-102)/Under (-118)
2. Bears total team touchdown (2.5): Over (+110)/Under (-150)
3. First to score in the 1st quarter: Bears (+100)/Vikings (-130)

Touchdown For Tails Week 6 Rescue of the Week: Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus

Contact: https://www.ildoberescue.com/support/contact/

Website: https://www.ildoberescue.com/

Where To Donate: https://www.ildoberescue.com/support/donate/

The Doberman breed is one of the best out there. While stoic, they are very sensitive and intuitive dogs that make for a great family pet. IDRP does the majority of their work in the Northern Illinois area, but they are a great resource for the Doberman community. They take in dogs from situations that include owner surrenders, shelters, and human societies. The primary goal of their rescue is to take endangered dogs from bad situations, get them spayed/neutered, and find their right forever home. The entire goal of this organization is to not only save them from bad situations but to find them the right homes, so they can live full, happy, and healthy lives. Despite their name, they do have other dogs, cats, etc! So please make sure to check out their website to find your newest family member.

For more on their objective, here is IDRP’s mission statement.

“Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus operates as a not-for-profit organization based in Northern Illinois. The goal of IDR+ is to rescue animals in need, to place them into responsible homes, and to educate the public about the Doberman breed. Our rescue animals come from animal control organizations, humane societies, and owner-give-up situations in Illinois and surrounding states.

After entering the program, our animals are spayed or neutered, fully vaccinated, heartworm tested (and given monthly heartworm preventative), and microchipped (a computer microchip placed in the dog’s lower neck for help with identification should the animal ever become lost). While awaiting adoption, most of our animals live in foster homes throughout Illinois where we attempt to evaluate their temperaments, learn their behavioral quirks, and work on basic manners and obedience.

We endeavor to place each animal in a home best suited for that individual dog. Some factors we take into account include the animal’s reaction to children, dogs, and cats. We carefully screen all applicants since we want to ensure that each adoption is a good match and provides a permanent home for the animal. We maintain contact with our adoptive families and encourage them to contact us in case of any questions or problems.

If for any reason the rescued animal is not working out in its new home, the adoptive home is legally required to first contact IDR+ to allow us the option to accept (or decline) the return of the animal back into the IDR+ program.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will we place our animals into a home where they will be forced to live outside or to serve as outdoor “guard” dogs. It is our most heartfelt desire that all of our “kids” be adopted into loving homes and be accepted as part of the family on a permanent basis. We only adopt to families within Illinois or the surrounding states within 4 hours of Chicago. We also do not ship our dogs.”

Featured Pets Of The Week

Please note that all animal bios are taken directly from the featured rescue’s website. These bios are put together by the animal’s current foster or someone with knowledge of each animal within the organization. For more information on a specific pet, please reach out to the rescue directly.

BARBIE (1-year-old Female)

“Barbie was found by a concerned citizen, extremely emaciated at around 35 pounds, wandering in a not-so-great area, and was taken immediately to a local vet. After seeing her deteriorated condition they took her right in and ultimately kept her for nearly a month helping her to recover and improve her health. The wonderful vet staff took incredible care of Barbie and set her on the road to recovery.

Despite her rough start, this “all-natural” fawn girl is a very happy, fun-loving, submissive, sweet girl. She’s estimated to be around a year old so there have been plenty of puppy antics in her foster home. She loves a good slipper chase or anything else that belongs to her foster mom in the mornings. She also enjoys playing and tossing her toys but she has recently discovered that the most important thing to do is keep her foster mom’s backyard free of squirrels. Squirrel Patrol Barbie!

Barbie is food-motivated to say the least. She just can’t seem to get enough, which isn’t surprising considering how she was found. She has been putting on weight and is up close to 50 pounds, the consistent meals and extra treats certainly help. Always having a nose out for food, she does do some counter surfing. Training with her will be required which should help with decreasing this. She is crate trained, almost house trained and she is learning the basics like sit and down.

Barbie has been friendly with new people on walks and has been good in the house with guests. She is waiting to find her dream house, could that be with your family?”

WIDOW (1-Year-Old Female)

“Widow is a one-year-old, energetic girl who is very curious about the world. She loves to investigate every little sound and smell every smell that there is. As she has been settling into her foster home she has been very vocal around the other dogs and might do better in a home by herself.

We are still learning about her and have found some things that she likes and others that she doesn’t.

• Things she likes: Finding anything that belongs to her foster mom to put it in her mouth and run away with it.
• Things that she doesn’t like: Listening to her foster mom say, “Come back here with that!”

She is easily overstimulated and gets mouthy at that point but she is still in the puppy chewing stage that she will eventually grow out of. Widow will need obedience training and an experienced owner who can give her a job and stand up to a strong-willed, young dog. If you have patience and can invest the time she needs to be successful, Widow will make an absolutely wonderful companion.”

CeCe (3-Year-Old Female)

“CeCe is a 3-year-old, female, brindle, Bull Terrier who was found wandering around Chicago. She found herself at a high-capacity shelter around Christmas and IDR+ answered the plea to pull her.

Nothing is known about CeCe’s past but WOW, she is sweet! She walks beautifully on harness and lead but sometimes gets a little too focused on other dogs – which she’s learning how to disengage from nicely. While she’s required a fence, she’d be a great walking partner in a quiet neighborhood but isn’t recommended for urban living.

In true Bully fashion, she loves to be close to her people and climb into your lap or curl into a ball next to you on the couch. She loves all people including children, however, due to her tendency to want to be close all the time, she’d do best with kids 10 and older who are confident, patient, and experienced with dogs. She greets nicely, takes treats gently, and takes her medicine willingly. CeCe has spondylosis in her spine which isn’t indicated for treatment aside from Gabapentin daily. It doesn’t slow her down at all and she is a peppy, happy little girl.

She is quietly crate-trained, has never had an accident in the house, and has low-moderate energy. CeCe loves bones, Kong Wubbas, squeaky toys, puzzle feeders, and any enrichment that involves licking. She loves shredding stuffed toys and thinks it’s great fun! She is curious and confident in new environments and loves to prance around the house happily, but respectfully. She is not destructive to furniture, shoes, or anything that isn’t hers. She is truly a dream to live with!

CeCe’s foster home has cats and she does well with them but is recommended, as always, for supervision during integration into a new home and is best placed with a confident and dog-savvy feline. CeCe has a rough greeting and play style with other dogs and doesn’t appreciate when they match her energy, so she’s recommended as your one and only and she’d be perfectly happy this way. She is not a candidate for dog parks, daycare, or any highly unstructured situation with lots of dogs around.

She’d thrive in a new environment committed to continuing her positive learning. For this reason, her foster mom is sponsoring a free 90-minute training session for her new adopters to help them start out on the right foot.”

BUDDY (3-Year-Old Male)

“Buddy’s story started when a kid got him from someone giving away free kittens on the street. The parents gave in after the kids brought him home and begged to save him. The family gave the kitten a lovely name, Buddy, but the family dog had a different opinion about him. The family was fearful for Buddy’s safety and opted to keep him in a closed bedroom, where he spent the first two years in isolation before finally being relinquished to a local shelter.

He was a very angry cat when he came to IDR+ from the shelter and socially awkward with both people and other cats. He is best as the only cat in the house, but he can live with other cats who are calm and friendly. He has a friendly 1-year-old cat at the foster home that will play with him and teach him how to be a cat. Buddy is also good with friendly dogs who ignore him, and he will actually run out the patio door to hang out with them in the backyard. He will probably benefit from a leash walk outside…if you can manage to put a kitty harness on him that is.

It took some time, but he finally warmed up to his foster mom and will curl up next to her for a nap. You know he is content when he starts to suck on his leg, a trait when a kitten is taken away from mom too early. He wants love and attention and enjoys the head and ear rubs, but he is still learning to trust the hand that pets him. He will jump up to the back of the couch to groom his foster mom’s head, except his grooming is more of chewing and pulling his mom’s hair. Buddy is looking for a cat-savvy family who can give him time and space to adjust to a new home, and teach him that life can be good for him to become a happy cat.”

More Resources For How To Get Involved

As a country, we have a homeless animal crisis on our hands that only seems to be getting worse by the day. Stray animals are found every day. With the volatility of the job market, more families are losing their homes and can no longer care for their pets. The list of reasons contributing to this issue runs long. That’s where we can all come in. Whether you want to volunteer, foster, or simply donate, it all makes a difference. For our family, getting involved with animal rescue has been a rewarding experience. While we might not always have the time to foster or volunteer our time, there are many ways to make an impact. Below are three links to check out if this is something you or your family might be interested in doing.

1. Benefits of adopting a shelter dog
2. Why volunteering at shelters or rescues makes a difference
3. 10 reasons to foster a pet