The House of Bark

I’m currently working in the house of bark.

It’s rarely like this, but for the next nine hours, until our temporary foster takes off for his new life, there doesn’t seem to be a way around it. I’m trying to breathe calmly and exude still energy, but nothing really helps with this particular combination of dog.

I’m fairly sure he’s a Husky mix because of his need to ‘talk’ all the time, his crazy smarts, and his style of play (chasing anything and everything but not bringing it back). At nine months, Steele is a bundle of energy and curiosity.

If Steele is not loose in my office, running in and out of the dog door (which he figured out in a flash), he’s in his crate barking for me to let him out to join the party. He does settle down and hush eventually if he doesn’t think I’m in the cottage. So I’m typing as quietly as I can and trying not to scoot my chair (his crate is covered).

That only lasts a few minutes though, because if he hears my dog’s barking outside (Gracie is a chronic barker-at-nothing) or if my newest guest who arrived this morning starts up (tell you about her in a minute), or if the puppies get to rough-housing, once again, he begins his lament.

Steele has only been here since Tuesday. I agreed to foster-sit him because he was not doing well with the cats in his previous foster home. Or I should say the cats were not doing well with him and his exuberance. I can easily imagine that scenario as I watch him manically chase after anything I throw. His adopters are due to pick him up tonight.

My newest guest is an old friend. Marley has been returned because of a bad fit. Despite a family that loved her completely and tried absolutely everything for the last six months, it has become clear that children make Marley anxious. There were no bites, but there was a lot of anxiety. And now there is heartbreak for this sweet family who are doing the right thing, even though it is hard.

Now we need to find Marley a home without kids, preferably a quiet home with at least one man in the house (she loves men, which is refreshing because Krimpet is the reverse!). I’ll give her some time to settle in and share more about Marley next week.

Here is a picture of her from last summer:

Marley and Krimpet will be a nice little pair to foster together. They are similarly sized. I’m sure Marley will be the boss of sweet Krimpet, but we won’t find that out for a while because Krimpet is in recovery from her Heartworm Treatment.

Heartworm Treatment involves injecting a powerful dewormer into a dog’s back, which is extremely painful in itself, but now the challenge is to keep her calm while the heartworms die and leave her system. If the name alone doesn’t tell you, the worms are in heart and lungs. They can grow to as big as a foot long. When they die and break up, there is a serious risk of a blockage occurring, especially if a dog exerts itself.

Krimpet has been spending a good part of her time in her large crate or sleeping on my futon. She seems exhausted. She is the only quiet guest in this cottage right now, so she’s my favorite.

Five of the seven Snack Cake puppies have gone home with their new families, and so far reports have been glowing.

Ring Ding and Kandy Kake are still here with me hoping someone picks the soon. They are darling boys and I’ve been enjoying how much easier it is to care for and play with two puppies instead of seven. They’ve been introduced to treats and are learning to sit on command and to sit calmly to be petted.

If you or anyone you know is interested in adopting one of these handsome boys, please reach out to me or apply through Humane Society of Shenandoah County. They are nine-week-old Plotthound mix puppies who are microchipped, up to date on shots, and ready to be adopted.

And please don’t forget that Gracie Lou is still looking for her forever family. She’s currently in her other foster home, but I can arrange to bring her here to meet a potential adopter (or potentially bring her to you). She’s still the best girl who is spayed, microchipped, utd on shots, house-trained, and looking for a couch to call her own. Very low maintenance dog who has a big heart for people, but needs to be the only dog.

You can learn more about the puppies, Krimpet, or Gracie Lou by paging back through this blog or visiting my Facebook group, Another Good Dog.

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.

If you’d like to support the work we do (and save the rescue and me some money), shop our Amazon wishlist.