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At the Home and Garden show this weekend, check out permanent generators that offer security during power outages

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Creating, refinishing, repairing and restoring are just some of the services offered by Nick’s Furniture Service

<p>HOP BOTTOM &#8212; As she planned which rescue dogs she&#8217;d bring to the 15th annual NEPA Home &amp; Garden Show, Hope Benson from Laura&#8217;s Hope Rescue in Susquehanna County said &#8220;NASCAR Nellie&#8221; likely would be among them.</p><p>&#8220;We call her NASCAR Nellie because she spins to the left. The vet said it&#8217;s a nervous condition, most likely because she was left in a crate for a long period of time and had no other way to exercise.&#8221;</p><p>Benson also plans to bring Steve, a springer spaniel who lost his sight to an eye infection. &#8220;He&#8217;s a fantastic dog,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Whenever I hear myself say &#8216;I can&#8217;t (do something)&#8217; I look at Steve and say, &#8216;Yes, you can.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>Since 2009 Benson, a school bus driver who lives on a 50-acre farm, has worked to find &#8220;the perfect family match&#8221; for many rescue dogs, most of them labs, hounds and beagles &#8212; the breeds with which she is the most familiar.</p><p>She expects to bring several dogs to the Home &amp; Garden show, which is set for Jan. 22-24 at the Mohegan Sun Arena. There people will be able to meet the friendly canines &#8212; Steve in particular likes belly rubs &#8212; and perhaps even feel the effect of what Benson calls &#8220;the dog fairy shooting an arrow into your heart.&#8221;</p><p>Named in part for the woman who used to own Benson&#8217;s farm, Laura&#8217;s Hope Rescue found new homes for more than 200 dogs in 2015. Benson said she and her helpers spend time getting to know each animal&#8217;s personality and helping it adjust to children, adults and other pets before they announce on Facebook that it&#8217;s ready to be adopted.</p><p>But some dogs are Benson&#8217;s for keeps, including a black terrier named Lily that she describes as &#8220;general manager of my dog universe. She&#8217;s in charge and she lets every dog who comes in here know it.&#8221;</p><p>She&#8217;s also fond of Zachary, a hound/shar-pei mix who runs the length of the two enclosed acres to the point where &#8220;no bird will ever enter my fly zone,&#8221; and Benjamin, &#8220;my greeter, who knows where all the toys are.&#8221;</p><p>Working in tandem with several other women who also foster dogs, Benson said she guarantees the animals people adopt from Laura&#8217;s Hope Rescue are crate-trained, housebroken and good with other pets and people.</p><p>Among her recent success stories, she was pleased to place a pit bull/American bull dog mix named Zeus with &#8220;a great home in Endicott, New York.&#8221;</p><p>Zeus had been attacked by a large mastiff that mauled one of his legs to the point where he was no longer able to use it properly. &#8220;We got him back to health,&#8221; Benson said. &#8220;He gets along well with three legs and has all those scars to prove he&#8217;s been attacked.&#8221;</p><p>Not every dog at Laura&#8217;s Hope Rescue has endured such trauma. Some simply need a good home, such as the two pets whose elderly owners moved to a retirement facility in mid-December and couldn&#8217;t take their dogs with them.</p><p>&#8220;Somebody 14 miles up the road took the two dogs,&#8221; Benson said. &#8220;You talk about a Christmas miracle.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hope Benson of Laura&#8217;s Hope Rescue in Hop Bottom, Susqehanna County, says it&#8217;s beyond satisfying to find a good home for a rescue dog. She will bring some dogs to the Home &amp; Garden Show at the Mohegan Sun Arena. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_doggies.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hope Benson of Laura&#8217;s Hope Rescue in Hop Bottom, Susqehanna County, says it&#8217;s beyond satisfying to find a good home for a rescue dog. She will bring some dogs to the Home &amp; Garden Show at the Mohegan Sun Arena. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_laurashoperescue.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dogs have plenty of room to run and play at Hope Benson&#8217;s farm, where 2 of the 50 acres are enclosed for them. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_laurashoperescue.jpg</photo1><caption1>Dogs have plenty of room to run and play at Hope Benson&#8217;s farm, where 2 of the 50 acres are enclosed for them. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

You can meet rescue dogs at the 15th annual NEPA Home & Garden Show