Category: dog rescue

Destruction, dog rescue, Fankie, Flannery Oconnor, Gracie, Hula Hoop, puppy bowl, training

You Can’t Tell the Players without a Program

Cara Achterberg

Meet our current (about to change) roster:

Hula, who you will remember arrived deathly thin, riddled with worms and nursing three puppies, is a new dog. She has gained weight, her coat has a nice gloss, and there are no traces of her mommy-life. She is full-on puppy and always ready to play. She is also always ready to steal socks. She pilfers them out of dirty laundry baskets and from where they hide, abandoned in a ball under the couch. Once in her possession, she challenges Frankie or Flannery to a game of tug of war.

They stretch the sock into unimaginable proportions, and then, Continue reading “You Can’t Tell the Players without a Program” →

dog rescue, Flannery Oconnor, fosterdogs, Hula Hoop, poop, puppies

Our Gated Community

Cara Achterberg

Our little pack has settled in. Brady calls them my entourage, as all four dogs—our Frankie and Gracie, plus fosters Flannery and Hula, follow me from room to room. As I sit at my desk now, Hula is lounging in her crate behind me, Gracie has claimed the sun spot on the carpet near the door, and Frankie and Flannery are squeezed together on the dog bed.

Normally, we live in a gated community. One baby gate sections off the hallway to the puppy room, in addition to the fence that fills the doorway of the puppy room (the flannel sheet hanging over it traps the heat inside and keeps the room warmer, it also allows the pups to get away with all manner of naughtiness).

These gates will come down in just a week and a half when all three pups go to their forever homes.

Another baby gate separates the kitchen from the rest of the house.

 

This is where our adult foster dogs usually reside. That gate will remain closed until Continue reading “Our Gated Community” →

Daisy Duke, dog rescue, fosterdogs, fostering, Hula Hoop, puppies

Puppies Make the Best Holiday Decorations (Plus a Gem of a Foster Dog)

Cara Achterberg

For me, instead of getting crazier, Christmas is a slow down time. We don’t host a big family dinner. We don’t travel anywhere. In fact, we don’t even get invited to many parties and Nick’s work hasn’t had a holiday party in over a decade.

Without little kids bugging me to do it, I haven’t even pulled out the Christmas decorations yet. (And part of me thinks, there is so little time left, maybe I should just skip it?) We will finally get a Christmas tree this weekend when all three kids will be home on break. Maybe then I will dig out the holiday music and think about making some cookies.

One thing that is becoming a tradition for us, though, is Christmas puppies! We’ve had a litter every Christmas since we started fostering, so this is our fourth holiday litter.

As they enter their third week, the puppies Continue reading “Puppies Make the Best Holiday Decorations (Plus a Gem of a Foster Dog)” →

Dixieland, dog rescue, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering, Hula Hoop, John Coffey, oph, Oreo

What’s Better than a Houseful of Dogs for the Holidays?

Cara Achterberg

For two days there were no dogs.

At least no foster dogs.

It was weird. Frankie was so bored he managed to get Gracie to (sort of) play with him and he even went on a short run with me.

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Reports are that both Oreo and Dixie are being loved and spoiled in their new homes.  AND each of them has their own little boy. Pretty cool. This makes me beyond happy. It’s what this whole gig is all about.

Friday evening we picked up Continue reading “What’s Better than a Houseful of Dogs for the Holidays?” →

dog rescue, foster cats, foster dogs, fostering, Frankie, Gala, hard to adopt, Oreo, returned dogs, Updates

The Tears Are More Than Worth It

Cara Achterberg

Without Oreo the house feels empty.

In fact, after he left on Saturday with his new family, Frankie spent the rest of the morning looking for his pal. He ran up and down the stairs and wanted to go out in the playyard to look and then back in the house to make the rounds again. It was a good thing we had Sip for a Cause on our calendar that night to distract all of us.

Some dogs are just special. Not that I haven’t loved every dog I’ve fostered, but some of them burrow a little deeper into your heart.

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I saw something on Facebook about the pain you endure as a foster mom yesterday. It said – Continue reading “The Tears Are More Than Worth It” →

Dixieland, dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, foster cats, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering, Gala, hard to adopt, heartworms, kittens, Oreo, Spay and Neuter

We All Need a Sanctuary

Cara Achterberg

I just dropped off Dixie for her spay surgery and 4Dx test. She stood shaking beside me on the passenger side floor for the entire drive.

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I tried to explain to her that this was for the best and that it would move her a step closer to her new life – the one that won’t include puppies or horrible people who don’t take her to the vet when she breaks her leg (or who possibly broke that leg in the first place).

If her heartworm test comes back negative, Continue reading “We All Need a Sanctuary” →

dog rescue, euthanasia, foster dogs, fostering, oph, Oreo, shelters

Saving Oreo’s Life

Cara Achterberg

Oreo went to his first adoption event on Sunday. At a jewelry store!

Nelson Coleman Jewelers in Towson, MD featured OPH dogs in their holiday catalog. The pictures are gorgeous (and so are the dogs!). To celebrate, they hosted an adoption event on Sunday.

Oreo was pretty nervous at first—hair raised, clinging to me, but after he realized all that was expected of him was to sit calmly while people loved on him, he did great. He’s such a gentle, well-mannered giant, I forget that he hasn’t seen very much in his four years besides the rural countryside and the inside of a shelter.

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Which is what makes him so remarkable. For all he’s been through and the many, many ways that people have let him down, Continue reading “Saving Oreo’s Life” →

dog rescue, fostering, oph

It’s Worth All the Poop (really)

Cara Achterberg

“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: Continue reading “It’s Worth All the Poop (really)” →

Breeds, Dixieland, dog rescue, foster dogs, fostering, Labrador Retriever, puppies

Labeled

Cara Achterberg

For some reason, this current litter is not flying off the shelves like litters past.

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It could be the time of year or the fact that OPH has a slew of cute adoptable puppies on the site right now, but I’m thinking it might be their label.

SIDEBAR: I hate labels. They are restrictive and offensive and many, many times plain wrong. They conjure up assumptions which inevitably lead to judgment and disappointment. I am not just talking about dogs here.

The fabulous adoption coordinator for this litter, Kassie, messaged me after several interviews to tell me that “People want them to be bigger than they are.”

ANOTHER SIDEBAR: Adoption Coordinators (ACs) are the fabulous volunteers who do final interviews and match adopters up with dogs. They are critical to OPH’s ability to save dogs. Without them we would not be able to save nearly as many or process adoptions nearly as fast. AND we need more AC’s. So, if you’ve ever wondered how you can help save dogs from the comfort of your home (and computer and phone), HERE IT IS! Find out more here.

And why would people want my adorably perfect little puppies to be bigger than they are? Continue reading “Labeled” →

booktour, Dixieland, dog rescue, foster fail, fostering, oph, puppies, Uncategorized

Should He Stay or Should He Go Now?

Cara Achterberg

It’s hard to write about the dogs when I’m not with the dogs, but I’ll try. I’m actually in a California hotel room recovering from my brief brush with Hollywood. If you’d like to read about that adventure, you can find it on my other blog, My Life In Paragraphs.

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The drama continues with Oreo. Continue reading “Should He Stay or Should He Go Now?” →