The Grit Factor Rescue

06/04/2026

🚨 THE YARD NEEDS MORE JAIL CELLS 🚨

You know how every rescue says, “Oh, they’re such sweet dogs.”

Yeah.

They’re sweet right up until they decide rules are optional. 🙄 we’ve never encountered this but don’t want to either 😉🤭.

Many of y’all have seen The Yard, our air-conditioned building where dogs stay while they’re waiting on vet appointments, transport, fosters, adopters, or whatever comes next.

Right now inside The Yard we have:

🐾 One 8x8 kennel
🐾 One 10x10 kennel
🐾 One 6x10 kennel
🐾 One 4x6 kennel

And honestly? We need more.

Specifically, we need three more of these 8x8 covered kennels from Tractor Supply.

Now before somebody says, “Why do they need a top?”

Because dogs climb.

I don’t care what breed it is.

I don’t care how short its legs are.

I don’t care if it weighs 12 pounds.

If a dog decides it doesn’t want to be in a kennel, it will suddenly discover abilities that would qualify it for the Olympics. 🏅😂

These kennels are absolutely phenomenal.

They’re big enough for an adult dog.

They’re big enough for a litter of puppies.

They’re secure.

They’re easy to clean.

And most importantly, when you shut the door at night, everybody is still where you left them the next morning. 🤦‍♀️

The plan is to put one in each corner of The Yard so we can safely house more dogs without playing musical kennels every single day.

The good news is they’re on sale right now at Tractor Supply in Savannah.

The even better news is our favorite Tractor Supply Co. friend, Dori Anne, is giving us an additional discount because she’s awesome and she loves these dogs too. ❤️

Y’all know we’ve made some changes recently. We’re focusing more of our efforts right here at home, and these kennels will help us continue doing that.

Sometimes rescue isn’t dramatic.

Sometimes it’s not heartworm treatment.

Sometimes it’s not emergency vet bills.

Sometimes it’s just buying another kennel so a dog has a safe place to sleep.

❤️ If you’d like to help with this project, check the first comment below.

And if you’ve ever owned a dog that could somehow escape a locked room, a fenced yard, and your patience all before breakfast… you already understand why we need these. 😂🐾

Shop for Producer's Pride 8 x 8ft. Universal Poultry Pen, 24 Chicken Capacity, Black at Tractor Supply Co

06/04/2026

When we started The Grit Factor last year, our mission was clear:

🐾 Help the dogs of Hardin County, Tennessee. 🐾

That was the whole reason we started.

We were watching litters of puppies, mama dogs, babies, and perfectly good dogs sit in our local shelter with nobody coming for them. There was no rescue consistently pulling from Hardin County Animal Services, and we knew we had to do something and the director (at the time) was extremely difficult for outside rescues to work with, but she allowed us to pull because we gave no “conditions”.

But anyone who has been in rescue long enough knows it’s not just hard to say no—it’s damn near impossible. 💔

Because every time the phone rings, every time a shelter reaches out, every time somebody sends a picture of a dog that needs help, you know what’s on the other side of that request.

🐶 A dog.

🐾 A real dog.

And whether it’s in Tennessee, Arkansas or anywhere else, you don’t care where that dog lives. You just want to help.

That’s how we got here.

One yes became another yes.
Then another.
Then another.

Not because we lost sight of our mission.

💚 Because we cared too much to look away.

So over time, as we built relationships with shelters, rescue friends, and partners, we started saying yes to more. Owner surrenders. Dogs from other counties. Dogs from other states.

And while we’re proud of every dog we’ve helped and honored to have been trusted to help them, we have reached a point where trying to help everybody means we risk not being able to help the very dogs we started this rescue for.

⚠️ And that is a compromise we’re no longer willing to make.

We are not big enough.

We are not funded enough.

We are not staffed enough.

We do not have enough vans, space, hands, or hours in the day.

And the hard truth is this:

🚐 Every kennel, every crate, every transport spot, every bag of food, and every dollar spent helping dogs outside our mission is a kennel, crate, transport spot, bag of food, or dollar that isn’t available for the dogs we started The Grit Factor to serve.

Right now, Hardin County Animal Services has:

🐕 3 mama dogs with 8–9 puppies each

🐾 2 additional litters of puppies

+ approx 90 others!

🏠 Sitting in our very own shelter waiting for help.

Those are our dogs.

Those are the dogs we promised to fight for.

And when we fill transport with dogs from everywhere else, our Hardin County dogs get left behind.

❌ That cannot happen.

1) The management has changed - I encourage any rescue to seek out Hardin County Animal Services Tennessee and request to build a relationship to help these amazing dogs. The new director (Erin) is super excited to have you!!

2) Our supporters are here in Hardin County. The people who donate, volunteer, share our posts, pray for us, and cheer us on are here in Hardin County. They support us because they believe in our mission, and our mission started right here at home. 💚

So beginning July 1st, The Grit Factor Rescue will be Tennessee only.

📍 Our transport efforts will focus on Tennessee dogs going to our trusted partners in Columbia and Illinois.

To our out-of-state shelter friends, rescue partners, and people we’ve grown to love: this is not because your dogs matter less.

🐾 They don’t.

This is because we had a mission, and somewhere along the way we got stretched too thin trying to save everybody.

We are not The Asher House.

We are not a giant rescue with unlimited funding.

We are not a huge operation with multiple vans and paid staff.

We are a 2 person small Tennessee rescue trying to do big things with limited resources.

💪 Maybe one day we’ll have more vans.

💪 More people.

💪 More funding.

💪 More space.

💪 A larger reach.

But for the rest of this year, while we regroup and figure out a sustainable path forward, we have to come back to where we started.

❤️ Tennessee first.

💚 Hardin County first.

🐾 Mission first.

Because if we don’t protect the mission, we lose the mission.

And we didn’t start The Grit Factor to lose sight of the very dogs we promised to fight for.❤️🤍💙

With all our love and respect -
Sabrina & Nicole ..THE GRIT FACTOR 🇺🇸

05/31/2026

🚨🛑 BRAKES FOR THE G-WAGGIN: A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT 🛑🚨

Y’all see these dogs waving on the side of the G-WAGGIN? 👋🐶🐶

Well, they’re not waving because they’re friendly.

They’re waving because they’re terrified. 😳😂👋

Why? 🤔

Because I’ve apparently decided that “brakes are more of a suggestion than a requirement.” 🚐💨😬

For SIX MONTHS, I have been saying:

🗣️ “I need to get the brakes done.”

Then somebody needs the van. 🐾

Or a dog needs a ride. 🐕❤️

Or a transport pops up. 🚐💨

Or I convince myself I’ll find somebody who can do it sooner. 🤦🏻‍♀️

And then… I don’t. 😑

And here we are.

Again. 😂

With transport on Wednesday. 🙃🐶

So this is me officially waving the white flag. 🏳️

📢🚨 I NEED BRAKES ON THE G-WAGGIN. 🚨📢

It’s a 2017 Ford Transit XLT 150.

I can drop it off:
✅ Tonight
✅ Monday morning
✅ Monday afternoon
✅ Basically whenever you want 😂

I just need it back by about 🕔 5:00 PM Tuesday so I can load kennels Tuesday night and load dogs Wednesday morning. 🐶🐶🐶

At this point, I’ll pay extra 💵 for somebody who can squeeze me in. I’m not asking for a miracle. Well… actually, maybe I am. 🙏😂

Surely somewhere within driving distance there’s a mechanic 🔧🧰 sitting at home right now thinking:

💭 “You know what my week needs? A rescue lady who waits until the absolute last minute.”

If you’re a mechanic, own a shop, know a guy, know a guy who knows a guy, or have a cousin named Bubba with a lift and a toolbox 🛠️😂, please tag them.

Because at this point the dogs on the side of the van are waving goodbye, not hello. 👋😂🐾

And honestly, every time I hit the brakes, we’re all just trusting Jesus together. 🙏😂🐾

🚐💨❤️🐾

05/30/2026

🐾😂 Meet Cypress… or How an 80-Year-Old Mississippi Gentleman Accidentally Convinced Me I Was Getting a Lhasa Apso. 😂🐾

So today I drove to Mississippi to pick up what I believed was some sort of Lhasa Apso mix.

After all, that’s what the sweetest 80-year-old gentleman told me he had.

And honestly, looking at that face, I can see how we got here. 🤣

Let’s review the evidence. 🕵️‍♀️

✅ Long hair

✅ Lhasa-looking face

✅ Sweet as can be

✅ Looks like he should weigh about 12 pounds soaking wet

At this point, the case seemed pretty solid.

Then I looked a little closer…

❌ Approximately 12–14 weeks old

❌ Already weighs about 20 pounds

❌ Feet the size of serving platters

❌ Double rear dewclaws on BOTH back legs

Friends…

I flipped those back legs over, saw those double dewclaws, and immediately thought:

“Sir, this is not a Lhasa Apso.” 🤣🤣🤣

Now, to be fair, this gentleman absolutely adored this dog and had been taking great care of him. In fact, he even had him groomed because he thought he had a grown Lhasa Apso mix that just needed a haircut, so he had him shaved and cut like a Lhasa!

The story actually starts when he found this pup under a bridge in Mississippi. Being the good human he is, he tracked down the owners and was able to locate where the puppy came from. The owners ultimately told him he could keep the dog, so he brought him home, fed him, cared for him, got him groomed, and loved him.

At some point, though, I imagine there had to be a moment when he looked at his “little Lhasa Apso” and thought:

“Well, that’s odd. He seems to be growing at an alarming rate.” 😂

Because what we currently have is a dog with a shaved body, a giant fuzzy head, paws that belong on an entirely different dog, and enough Great Pyrenees indicators to make me start calculating future food bills.

Honestly, looking at him, he appears to be a Great Pyrenees mix that got dropped into a Lhasa Apso costume. 🤣

My best guess?

🐾 Great Pyrenees mix

🐾 Maybe Old English Sheepdog

🐾 Maybe some doodle-type shenanigans

🐾 Maybe just 100% Mississippi mystery mutt

Honestly, your guess is as good as mine.

So after much discussion, we’ve officially named him:

🌲 CYPRESS 🌲

Because if those feet are any indication, he’s going to be big, strong, and built like a tree.

And before anyone asks…

No.

I do not believe this is a 20-pound Lhasa Apso puppy.

But if it is, it is the undisputed heavyweight champion of all Lhasa Apsos and should immediately be entered into the county fair livestock competition. 🏆🤣

So let’s hear it…

What in the Mississippi Mix Breed is Cypress?

Drop your guesses below. ⬇️🐾😂

05/30/2026

🤔 👀

05/29/2026

🐶🦟 HEARTWORMS ARE NOT THE SAME THING AS “WORMS.”

After 30+ years working around animals—vet clinics, shelters, rescue, transport—I am still absolutely amazed at how little people know about heartworm disease.

Every single week, we receive hundreds of messages asking for help with dogs.

And every single week, when I ask:

“Has the dog been tested for heartworms?”

I get some version of:

👉 “They’ve been dewormed.”

Y’all… those are NOT the same thing.

Let’s talk about it.

🦟 HOW DO DOGS GET HEARTWORMS?

Heartworms are spread by mosquitoes.

Not dirty yards.
Not bad owners.
Not other dogs.

A mosquito bites an infected dog, picks up microscopic baby heartworms, then bites another dog and deposits those larvae into that dog’s bloodstream.

One mosquito bite.

That’s all it takes.

🐾 WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Those tiny larvae travel through the dog’s body and eventually grow into worms that live in the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels.

Read that again.

HEART.
LUNGS.
BLOOD VESSELS.

These worms can grow up to 12 inches long and live for years.

💔 WHAT DO HEARTWORMS DO?

At first?

Usually nothing.

That’s one of the scariest parts.

Many heartworm-positive dogs look completely normal.

As the disease progresses, you may see:

▪️ Coughing
▪️ Exercise intolerance
▪️ Weight loss
▪️ Fatigue
▪️ Difficulty breathing
▪️ Heart damage
▪️ Lung damage

In severe cases, heartworm disease can be fatal.

🩺 HOW DO YOU KNOW IF A DOG HAS HEARTWORMS?

You test them.

That’s it.

You cannot look at a dog and know.

You cannot guess.

You cannot tell by their p**p.

A simple blood test is needed.

This is why rescues ask about heartworm tests on every dog over six months old.

💰 HOW MUCH DOES TREATMENT COST?

Treatment is expensive.

Very expensive.

Depending on location and veterinary clinic, treatment can easily run hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Treatment usually involves:

💉 Multiple injections
💊 Medications
🚫 Months of strict exercise restriction

And by strict, I mean STRICT.

A dog undergoing heartworm treatment cannot be running, playing, zooming, wrestling, or acting like a normal dog because increased heart rate can increase the risk of serious complications.

🛡 HOW DO YOU PREVENT HEARTWORMS?

This is the crazy part.

Prevention is MUCH cheaper than treatment.

Monthly heartworm prevention products can prevent heartworm disease before it starts.

Many products also help control other parasites at the same time.

Talk to your veterinarian about which product is best for your dog.

❤️ THE BIG TAKEAWAY

When a rescue asks:

“Has the dog been tested for heartworms?”

And you answer:

“They’ve been dewormed.”

That tells us you may not understand what heartworms actually are.

And that’s okay.

Nobody is born knowing this stuff.

But now you do.

A dewormer and heartworm prevention are not the same thing.

Heartworm disease is serious.
Heartworm treatment is expensive.
Heartworm prevention is simple.

If you own a dog, please make heartworm prevention part of your routine care.

Your dog—and every rescue trying to help dogs—will thank you.

📚 Want to learn more about heartworm disease, prevention, testing, treatment, and why it is such a serious issue?

American Heartworm Society — Heartworm Basics
https://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/heartworm-basics

American Heartworm Society — Heartworm Prevention for Dogs
https://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/heartworm-prevention-for-dogs

American Heartworm Society — Heartworm Disease in Dogs
https://www.heartwormsociety.org/heartworms-in-dogs

These resources explain:
🦟 How dogs get heartworms
❤️ What heartworms do to the heart and lungs
🩸 How heartworm disease is diagnosed
💉 What treatment involves
🛡 How prevention works
🐶 Why year-round prevention is recommended

The American Heartworm Society is considered one of the leading authorities on heartworm disease and prevention.