Sweet Dreams Pet Sanctuary’s mission to serve Guadalupe County’s senior pets & owners

Pets bring so much joy to the lives they touch. They bring small moments of peace in a busy world that can often be overwhelming. But as people age, sometimes pets (who are also aging) get lost along the way due to illness or other life circumstances that just can’t be avoided.

These forgotten pets often become the burden of family members or rescues that struggle to find appropriate homes for senior animals. That’s where Sweet Dreams Pets Sanctuary comes in with its mission to rescue elderly pets and give them a loving home for their golden years.

Sanctuary founder and executive director Carole Harrison has made it her personal mission to give these elder pets homes where they can thrive despite the circumstances that landed them at a rescue.

“So, the mission is primarily to help elderly people that can no longer care for their senior pets,” she said. “So it’s someone that maybe through a medical crisis or just aging, they can no longer live at home, and they go live with a family member or assisted living or a nursing home, and they can’t take their senior pet with them. We want to provide a loving home for the pet. I work at the hospital and I’ve seen a lot of people go through the trauma of having to give up their home and the hardest thing for them is they’ve got an old dog or cat that they’ve had forever and the family already has three and they’re already taking in dad and nobody wants the animal and they’re not going to get adopted at a shelter. Shelters are struggling as it is, and they’ve got a lot better shot of adopting out a puppy than a senior dog. So our mission is to provide care for them for the rest of their lives.”

Sweet Dreams Pet Sanctuary is located on a plot of land about 15 minutes outside Seguin. Pulling up, visitors are greeted by a pack of happily barking dogs with wagging tails at the gate. The sanctuary is a large home with a picturesque front porch and a spacious yard for dogs to roam. In the back, there’s also a large fenced acreage where the dogs get to go on hikes and excursions. But the dogs are not limited to a life at home. They go camping and on adventures with their caretakers, giving them a full, joyous life unlike anything a typical shelter can offer.

The sanctuary also includes an expansive indoor/outdoor cat run for feline residents, where they can hang out above all the hustle and bustle of the dog pack. Cats lie lounging in the warm sunlight, while others paw and meow at visitors seeking pets and attention.

Inside, the sanctuary home is warm and welcoming, with dogs quietly napping on dog beds, couches, and chairs while their caretakers live and work around them. Carole and the team of volunteers will go to any lengths to ensure new arrivals at Sweet Dreams are comfortable and settling in with as little stress as possible.

“Sassy’s first night, she had such separation anxiety. I slept outside on a mat,” she said. “She was so frantic. I couldn’t get her to settle down. She’s screaming, she’s crying, it was horrible! And everytime she did, you’ve got three or four dogs upset, so I thought we’re going to go outside and give her some space to run. And then I’m like, I’m tired, so I laid on a mat out there and slept for a little while.”

Since Carole’s night in the yard with Sassy, Sweet Dreams has added a ‘welcome home’ building where new arrivals can spend some time adjusting to life at the sanctuary.

Everything they do is to create a safe space for these animals to live while being cared for by people who truly love them. And they do the work to ensure that previous owners have the opportunity to stay connected to their pets.

“If it’s an owner that’s going to a local nursing home or assisted living, we take them to visit,” Carole said. “It’s very fun. We have some funny stories of some of the antics. The largest boy, Enoch, is a big black shepherd. His owner is at Seguin Assisted Living so we take him to see her. And it’s so good for her. It’s great for the other people who live there, too. So we try to keep that bond if they want it. Another of our residents, Boris, whose mama is in memory care, got to go to her birthday party a couple of weeks ago. It was her 90th birthday party, and she was thrilled. He even helped himself to a sandwich. She just lights up when she sees him.”

Carole and the team at the sanctuary work together to ensure the families and individuals they support get the help they need throughout the process. All pets are thoroughly vetted before starting their new lives at the sanctuary, and all residents must be approved by the non-profit’s board of directors. This process helps ensure the pets who need the most help get it, because they will ultimately spend the rest of their lives either at the sanctuary or living in a home with a Guardian Angel.

“One of our big deals is our Guardian Angel program,” Carole explained. “So a Guardian Angel is a forever foster. A lot of times, people may not want to adopt a dog because they’re a senior and may have excruciatingly high vet bills or things like that. So that’s kind of a detriment, but Sweet Dreams continues to cover the veterinarian bills for Guardian Angels and their fosters. This allows you to provide a home, food, and love.”

Guardian Angels allow Sweet Dreams to service a wider variety of dogs beyond those who do well in multi-dog households. Sometimes a dog joins the sanctuary and just doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the pack. That’s when a Guardian Angel can make a true difference.

“We had a blue heeler here named Dotty,” Carole laughed. “We had a volunteer who used to call her ‘Hotty Dotty.’ That dog was a hot mess. A blue heeler needs things to do, things to herd, and here, you’ve got a bunch of old dogs that really don’t want to be herded. So Dotty was a handful. Well, we’ve got this wonderful man with a small farm, and he’s her Guardian Angel now. She lives there, and now she gets to help feed the chickens and the goats and chases the kitties, and she is just madly in love with him –– madly. And he’s in love with her.”

As with many dogs that were originally meant to be strictly outdoor animals, Dotty the blue heeler worked her way into her Guardian Angel’s heart and home, where she is now an adored member of the family. With Sweet Dreams’ support, Dotty and her Guardian Angel are both able to live happy, enriching lives together, providing an opportunity they would not have had were it not for the sanctuary.

The many dogs and cats at Sweet Dreams have been given a second chance at life because of the sanctuary’s work in Guadalupe County. The volunteers who help run Sweet Dreams really make it all possible. They are the ones putting in the time and effort of early mornings and late evenings to get all these animals cared for. And because of all their hard work, they are making a difference in the lives of humans and pets, one rescue at a time. 

Photos by Lizz Daniels