Ain’t Nothing But Two Hound Dogs

I’m pretty sure my neighbors know what kind of dogs we have squirreled away in our foster cottage.

Rufus and Bug sing lovely songs periodically that make me smile. I’m not even sure what gets them started or what they are singing about. The serenades rarely last long and sometimes happen shortly after I’ve left them, but sometimes two hours later.

In case you missed last week’s post, we are fostering these sweet hound dogs for the Humane Society of Shenandoah County. Rufus tested positive for Ehrlichia, but is otherwise healthy, neutered, and up to date on shots. He will need to complete a 30 day course of doxycycline before he can be adopted, but he’s available for a foster-to-adopt situation. And that would be the ideal as Rufus deserves a real home.

He is seven years old and hasn’t had much stability in his life. Considering that fact, it’s understandable that he is starved for attention. He leans in to me and watches me with sweet eyes that beg for attention. He’d never demand it, he’s much too polite for that, but if I stop and set a hand on him, he will cease whatever he was doing and revel in the attention. In fact, when I take him out, even if it’s in the morning after he’s been in his crate for 8 hours, I have to ignore him or he’ll stand next to me hoping to be petted instead of doing the business I brought him outside to do. He simply wants to be loved.

Rufus has lovely manners – doesn’t jump up, is gentle on the leash, goes in his crate without complaint, and appears to be housebroken. He loves to play with Bug and with toys and has fallen instantly in love with every person he’s met. Rufus loves stuffed toys, well, really any toy. He’s one of the few foster dogs we’ve had that doesn’t destroy stuffed toys. He hoards them in his crate, creeping in Bug’s crate to take hers if I give her one. He mouths them and pounces on them and carries them around. It’s pretty adorable.

Sometimes he and Bug play a very polite game of keep away, taking turns picking up the toy and running away while the other one chases, and then setting the toy down instead of playing tug-a-war-until-we-rip-the-toy-apart as a few other dogs I know are prone to do.

Bug is a smaller version of Rufus. She has a beagle personality – lots of spunk and cuteness, and sticking her nose into everything. She is effervescent and unreasonably happy, but it’s clear that not everyone in her life has appreciated those qualities. When you reach for her, even just to pet her, she goes to the ground, looking back with fearful eyes. Once she realizes you mean her no harm, she relaxes and even though it doesn’t seem possible, her happy ratchets up another notch or two.

Bug has a hard time containing her enthusiasm and gets the zoomies multiple times a day. She is working on self-control – learning not to jump up or counter-surf, and not to zing around like a crazy dog on the leash. Her enthusiasm for life is remarkable, especially considering the lack of stability she’s had and the fact that she is heartworm positive. HSSC is treating her for heartworm, and after that she’ll be available for adoption.

While these two make an entertaining comedy team and are well-bonded, they don’t have to be adopted together. As far as foster dogs go, they are easy, uncomplicated charges that make my job easy.

If you or anyone you know has a heart for hound dogs, or just super sweet dogs who deserve a better life, consider one or both of these darlings.

If you’d like more information reach out to me (carasueachterberg@gmail.com). If you’re interested in adopting either (or both!) dogs, contact the Humane Society of Shenandoah County.

And if you’d like to meet them in person, stop by Tractor Supply in Woodstock this Saturday to meet them between 10:30-11:30 (they may be there longer if we can sort out ride).

Until Each One Has a Home,

Cara

For information on me, my writing, and books, visit CaraWrites.com.

If you’d like regular updates of all our foster dogs past and present, plus occasional dog care/training tips, and occasional foster cat updates (!) be sure to join the Facebook group, Another Good Dog.

And if you’d like to know where all these dogs come from and how you can help solve the crisis of too many unwanted dogs in our shelters, visit WhoWillLetTheDogsOut.org and subscribe to our blog where we share stories of our travels to shelters, rescues, and dog pounds.

If you can’t get enough foster dog stories, check out my book: Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs. Or its follow up that takes you to the shelters in the south One Hundred Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues.

I love to hear from readers and dog-hearted people! Email me at carasueachterberg@gmail.com.