The foster cottage is FULL!

Having four adult dogs and four two week old puppies is requiring me to refine my juggling act.

At this juncture, none of the adult dogs can be loose in the cottage at the same time. So it’s a game of crate and rotate and walk and keep track of who hasn’t been out recently to potty and who needs snuggle time with me and what the best set up is to have quiet for my zoom call.

I make myself take several deep breaths and put on my ‘calm mama’ invisible cloak before entering the cottage. That helps tremendously. In the early days of my fostering career, I used to allow my anxiety over the situation and my frustration at my inability to instantly fix things to color my world. And the dogs picked up on that.

Now I know that if I’m calm, they will be calm. If someone is whining or fussing, I ignore. When they quiet down, I pay attention and figure out what they need. This works miraculously. They catch on quickly. But sometimes, they require a little ‘time out’.

There are too many canines in the house to share everything about everybody in one post, but let me give you the run-down on the adult dog room (we’ll save Lima Bean and the puppies for another post). For real-time updates, check out my Another Good Dog facebook page or my new, Tik Tok.

Everyone is available for adoption, although only Diamond is ready to go home now. The other three have to complete heartworm treatment. If you or anyone you know is interested in adopting any of these awesome dogs, email me Cara@wwldo.org.

Diamond has been with me since last July, when I took her in for someone who was experiencing homelessness. At this point, we have decided rehoming her is the best thing to do. She is healthy, spayed, up-to-date on shots, crate-trained, house-trained, and enthusiastically LOVES everyone she meets. She is almost 8 years young. She’s a pretty low-maintenance dog, besides being endlessly entertaining, she excels at loving her people and burrowing under blankets to snuggle. She is also crazy cute and has a tail set on nonstop wag. If you or anyone you know is interested in adopting her, hit me up.

Wishbone will go for Heartworm treatment tomorrow. (Lots of prayers for him, please. Heartworm treatment is hard.) He is the sweetest, gentlest, most amazing boy. We took him with us to a winery on Saturday and he was terrified of the winery dog (a shitzu), hiding behind me every time the dog approached. That said, I’m sure he will be fine with other dogs once he gets to know them.

He’s a funny guy, who adores me, and cannot resist licking me nonstop for the first few minutes out of his crate each time. When it’s his turn to be loose in the cottage, he systematically moves all his blankets and toys out of his crate. I was cleaning and rearranging to add the third crate and discovered that he is also terrified of brooms (he retreated to the new crate I’d just set up and watched the broom warily.

I’m not sure if this is from being a stray for months, or if he’s just trying to tell me he’s ready to move out. He is approximately two years old, neutered, microchipped, up-to-date on shots, housetrained, crate-trained, excellent on a leash, loves everyone he meets, and will probably chase cats.

He’ll come home from treatment on Wednesday for two weeks of crate rest (making my juggling act a tiny bit easier). After that, he’s ready to be adopted. This one will be hard to let go. He’s finding a fan club on TikTok and if you check out some of those videos you can see how he has transformed from being peeled off the streets of Memphis weighing 32 pounds and now topping the scales at just over 60 pounds!

Dani just arrived yesterday on the Mother’s Day Transport. She was saved by Team Memphis and X-Port Paws, and flown to me in VA Pilots N Paws. This is my second transport working with this crew and, wow, can I just say—people are incredible.

Dani is supposed to be two, but I’d clock her as younger. She is spayed, but will need to go through heartworm treatment in about a month or so. She is a massive love bug – loves all people and dogs she meets. She has one ear that stands up and one that flops over, which makes her look either confused or mischievous, but also adorable. She has lots of energy, despite the telltale heartworm cough.

So far, she seems to be crate-trained and housetrained, and is pretty good on the leash. She loves to sniff, so I’m guessing there is some hound in there, and one of her eyes is partly blue, so heaven knows what other breeds are combining to make this wonderful pup.

That’s enough for now. I will post later this week about Lima Bean and the Beanie Babies. LB’s story is a really tough one, and she has a long road ahead of her. The four little pups are two weeks old today and cute butterballs whose eyes are just opening. It is good to have puppies in the puppy room again!

All of these saves have been made possible by X-Port Paws. They are a tiny rescue and these will be some big vet bills. LB is also heartworm positive, will need to be spayed, and has to have a leg amputated. If you can help at all, please consider donating to them:

And if you’d like to shop our Amazon wishlist, we need food, dewormers, laundry detergent, and treats most right now.

I’d love to get Diamond into a home sooner than later, so please share her story far and wide. This girl deserves a family all her own.

Until Each One Has a Home,

Cara

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

My newest book, Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues is a primer for those new to the cause, an invitation to get involved, and a source of inspiration for those already working tirelessly to save lives. With stories of successful shelters, innovative strategies, and the key ingredients for success—strong leadership, veterinary access, and community engagement—it’s a celebration of what’s working and a call to scale those solutions nationwide. Learn more and get your copy and/or send one to a shelter or rescue on our website. Also available in paperback and e-book on Amazon.

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 it’s a 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. We are currently in need of

• chicken-free and chicken-byproduct-free, high-quality food & treats (for Diamond
• large dog beds (or cover replacements any size – we can cut the memory foam pieces I have to fit)
• probiotics and salmon oil
• Safeguard dewormer
• Martingale collars in size Large
• Dyne (for putting on weight)
• High-quality treats and chew bones
• Indestructible toys
• laundry detergent (non-scented)

If you’d like to take a vacation with your whole pack, consider visiting one of our two dog-WELCOMING vacation rentals. Visit BringDogs.com to learn more.