It’s Worth All the Poop (really)

“Ah. I can’t do this anymore!” I wailed at Nick after I cleaned up puppy diarrhea coated on every square inch of the puppy pen, every toy, every fence.

“You know,” Nick observed from where he sat with Oreo watching football with a beer in his hand, “You reach this point with every litter.”

He’s right.

I know I post all the fun and cuteness and make it look like puppies are the best thing ever, but here’s the God’s-honest truth:

Puppies are poopy.

And puppies that have been wormed (again!) are plaster-it-everywhere-poopy.

All eight need a bath. I’ve scrubbed the floor of the puppy room at least twice daily ever since we began our course of six days of safeguard wormer. And we’re only halfway finished.

My new (to me) car is coated in dog hair that does not belong to my super-short haired wubba-bubba. The seat has a stain where Oreo threw up on the hilly ride home from Hanover. The puppies head to the vet for their well check up on Monday, so it’s a good thing I bought a car that you can hose out!

I do laundry NONSTOP, have walked miles in circles in the rain, and John-Jacob ate the tops off my dog-walking shoes:

It takes an hour from when I open my eyes in the morning until I can sit down with a cup of tea and the paper because before I can do that there are three dogs to walk, twelve to feed, and a puppy pen that will require a serious scrubbing. The cat will follow me around mewling until I feed her and then the chickens are waiting to be released from their house, the horses are standing in line for hay and the barn cat is darting from corner to corner hoping I see her (but don’t see her) and fill her bowl with food.

But don’t feel sorry for me – I loaded my own plate. And despite the poop and the mess and the endless clean up, there is the love.

And the snuggles.

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And the faces of adopters when they find their dog.

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And the immense joy of knowing that I made a difference.

Don’t let the poop intimidate you – you can make a difference too. Apply to foster today.

Thanks for reading!

If you’d like to know more about my blogs and books, visit CaraWrites.com or subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter (which is rarely monthly, but I’m working at it…everybody needs a goal).

If you’d like to know more about the book, Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs, check AnotherGoodDog.org, where you can find more pictures of the dogs from the book (and some of their happily-ever-after stories), information on fostering, the schedule of signings, and what you can do right now to help shelter animals!

If you’d like to know how you can volunteer, foster, adopt or donate with OPH, click here. And if you’d like more pictures and videos of my foster dogs past and present, be sure to join the Another Good Dog facebook group.

I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to comment here on the blog, email carasueachterberg@gmail.com or connect with me on Facebook, twitter, or Instagram.

 Best,

 Cara

Released August 2018 from Pegasus Books and available for preorder now: