Our adventures as a foster dog family
Billie Jean is launched.
Gosh how I hope this time it sticks. I think it is a good match, but we never really know until she goes home.
I’m still awaiting word. I haven’t heard anything since a quick text from her adopter while they were driving home (four hours to northern New Jersey). She said Billie Jean, now Piper, was sleeping in the back seat most of the time, occasionally standing up and putting her head between the seats to give a few kisses.
Continue reading “A Dog I Once Fostered…”
We had a dog party this weekend.
We often have multiple dogs – but that usually includes a litter of puppies which inflates our numbers. This time, it was all adult dogs, and quite a few personalities.
We had our neighbor’s dog Juno, who is one of Fanny’s best friends.
Continue reading “Dog Parties and Talking Rescue”
It’s been a quiet two weeks with Billie Jean here and me busy with book stuff, but I couldn’t let another week go by without a blog post for Another Good Dog. I’ve been writing this blog for 5 and a half years! That’s quite a habit. I promise I’ll give you the scoop on Billie J, plus an update on Daisy B, but first indulge me my musing about mutts….
Having Billie Jean back with us has been really fun. She has an energy that shimmers off her and an eagerness to please that is refreshing. Like most cattle dogs, she has a lot to say and a huge repertoire of sounds. She is great company and an entertaining guest.
She is so much the dog I remember, but at the same time there is Continue reading “Our Beauty Queen Returns”
It’s another quiet week at this foster house. We’re in between foster dogs, something that feels rare for us as the dogs have generally overlapped for years now.
Tito was adopted on Sunday by a couple of ‘old hippies’ (their words!). It seems like a really great fit. They are experienced pit bull people who don’t just want to adopt, but to ‘rescue.’
They understand that Tito is a work in progress and that any dog adopted into a new home will require a significant effort on their part. At the start of this pandemic, Tito had only ever lived on a logging chain 24/7. Since then he has been in two rescues, one foster home, and now a second adoptive home. They are committed to helping him feel safe and loved, while teaching him about life in his new home.
There have been so many adoptions this spring and summer. It’s a wonderful thing, but with lots and lots of adoptions come the inevitable returns.
Making a decision as momentous as adopting a dog for the rest of its life based on pictures, maybe a few videos, a foster’s notes, an adoption coordinator’s questions, and usually only a single meeting, is definitely a gamble, albeit an educated one (the same kind my brother claims he uses to win money in Vegas).
We shouldn’t be surprised or dismayed when a dog is returned. It doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the dog or the adopter.
What’s really remarkable, I think, is Continue reading “Returned Dogs Are Inevitable”
A familiar face bounded out Katie’s jeep and wiggle-waggled her way to me. I was so happy that Mia remembered me!
We are babysitting Mama Mia this week for her foster mom, Katie. She looks so much better than the last time I saw her when Continue reading “Our Latest Babysitting Job AND Chateau Frankie is NOW Open!”
The great thing about fostering is that when your life is stuffed full and you have no extra time/energy/emotion for a dog, you can take a break.
That’s what we are doing. So this week, with no dog to tell you about, I thought I’d tell you about a cool FREE service I just learned about on a podcast.
This is SO IMPORTANT. It could save your pet’s life. Literally. Continue reading “What If You Lose Your Dog?”
Today is the RELEASE DAY for 100 Dogs & Counting.
With all the hoopla and hope, I almost didn’t post to this blog. Continue reading “My Hope and My Thanks”
It’s been a week.
Having no foster dog feels awfully strange, and I wondered if I would even post this week. This blog, though, has become habit. Plus, there is an extra dog here beyond Fanny and Gracie.
Beau is here until July 12; he’s a former-foster we’re babysitting. Since he arrived last week, we’ve said on more than one occasion—why didn’t we adopt him? He and Fanny are the perfect playmates. He’s proving what I’ve suspected for some time: Fanny could use an emotional support dog.
Fanny is a shy dog. Anyone who has ever adopted a shy dog knows Continue reading “Living With a Shy Dog”
