Category: dog rescue

Barkalona, Billie Jean, Breakfast Pups, dog rescue, fostering, puppies, training

A Pup You Don’t Want to Miss

Cara Achterberg

The excitement level in this house is working its way off the charts, so having four puppies and three dogs in our midst just seems appropriate.

Dear friends stopped by Sunday night for an impromptu supper and as we talked, we had to raise our voices over the excited yipping of the breakfast pups (Grits was hiding under the raised bed again – which makes his sisters go nuts. I think maybe they believe he really is gone when he does this.).

When Snoopy jumped up on one friend to assist him with his plate, he laughed and gently nudged him away. And when Frankie’s excitement veered towards the out-of-my-control level, they waited while we crated him.

I love that I have the kind of friends who don’t bat an eye at the dog chaos that has become my life.

The Breakfast pups are sweet, goofy, houndish pups who I am truly enjoying. They are affectionate (with tongues instead of teeth!) and happy and as puppies go, pretty easy to manage. Barkalona (aka Snoopy) is still a dreamboat (although he did figure out how to wiggle under the fence yesterday and had a happy runaround, cautiously checking out the horses, but thankfully, coming when I called!)

They are finding their adopters, and as soon as we get their tummies right, they will begin leaving. (Grits is still available if you’re looking for a super-sweet pup with houndish habits!)  Amongst all the puppy-ness, Continue reading “A Pup You Don’t Want to Miss” →

Barkalona, Billie Jean, Breakfast Pups, dog rescue, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering, puppies

Crazy Dog Lady’s House

Cara Achterberg

I’m earning that crazy-dog lady label this week. The house is full to bursting – four dogs and three puppies, but remarkably, it’s a quiet crew. No serious barkers (God’s cutting me a break here).

On Friday night, we picked up three darling pups who are one half of the “Breakfast Pups”. Adding to the carb theme (the other pups are Waffles and Pancake), we have Biscuit, Muffin, and Grits. These pups are chocolate colored houndish lab-looking dogs (basically dogs with long tails and long ears and plenty of happy energy who have seriously powerful noses).

all three

Their super short, sleek coats glisten. They arrived pretty smelly, so before we’d even been properly introduced they landed in the mudroom sink. Thankfully, they like water and didn’t mind the baths at all. This was especially good as I was bathing them at 11:30 at night (two and a half hours past my bedtime).

They are joyful, sweet pups who love toys and romp, wrestle, and sometimes argue, but snuggle together in a little spoon line when they sleep.DSC_3499 (2)

 

My favorite feature of this litter Continue reading “Crazy Dog Lady’s House” →

Billie Jean, dog rescue, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering, puppies

They’re All Unicorns

Cara Achterberg

“She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene….”

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Billie Jean is our newest foster. She arrived two days after the Suess Boys, so she’s been completely upstaged by their tiny but massive presence in our rescue world (YES- they have adopters and a long list of back-up adopters!).

Billie Jean has been in OPH care for over a month but spent a good part of that time in a boarding facility in Virginia because there wasn’t a foster home available. She had several sleepovers at various foster homes and enjoyed attending adoption events where she made many fans, just no adopters. No worries, though, this is a Continue reading “They’re All Unicorns” →

Breeds, dog rescue, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering, puppies

Unicorns!

Cara Achterberg

I’ve never been a believer in unicorns, but…..I’ve got two in my puppy room right now!

suess boys

When I posted a few pictures/videos of my newest foster puppies on Facebook, another OPH volunteer commented, “You’ve got unicorns!”

So true. It is rare to see hypoallergenic dogs in rescue, rarer still to see hypoallergenic puppies. These two are miniature poodiley pups who remind me of the shitzu we had when I was a kid, but minus the bulging eyes. They are tiny and precious and without all that fluff, they’d be no bigger than large rats (but much cuter).

In the pictures, they look much larger than they are – the camera and the fluff add serious bulk. The Suess Boys are Continue reading “Unicorns!” →

adopters, dog rescue, fosterdogs, fostering, Gomer Pyle, oph

Long Distance Dog Adoption

Cara Achterberg

I’m completely dogless.

Well, that’s not quite true. I have Gracie and Frankie. And they are VERY happy to have me back from vacation.

So happy in fact, that on our first night home, Frankie broke out of his soft-sided crate to crawl in bed with me. So now I’m trying to teach him to sleep in it with no door. Took me fifteen minutes of repeatedly putting him back in it before he finally settled down, but then around 3 in the morning, he still climbed in bed with us.

I’d be more than happy to share our kingsize bed with him, but Nick is Continue reading “Long Distance Dog Adoption” →

dog rescue, foster dogs, fostering, Frankie, Gomer Pyle, hard to adopt, Pit bull

Testing My Assumptions About My Canine Good Citizens

Cara Achterberg

Assuming anything about your dog is probably a mistake.

(Same goes for most people.)

When Gomer arrived, he was a manic, frenzied force, racing around my kitchen on his noisy toenails, tongue hanging out, pausing only to leap on any persons who happened by.

We took him for a walk with Frankie and he lunged at him over and over, snarling and yipping and frothing at the mouth. And when he was on his own, he attacked the leash itself.

I tried to contain him in the kitchen, and he leaped over the gate to follow me.

I thought, Continue reading “Testing My Assumptions About My Canine Good Citizens” →

dog rescue, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering, Gomer Pyle, oph, puppies, training

Progress Can Be Noisy

Cara Achterberg

Our house is noisy.

Well, our house is normally noisy, but this past weekend, especially so.

Gomer has much to say, particularly about anyone playing without him.

Plus, two lovely ladies moved into the puppy room on Saturday. They are surprisingly quiet, but their movements are monitored by the other three canines in the house, and their fondness for squeaky toys pushes several of those canines over the edge.

The dawn chorus is really something. Yesterday Brady remarked that Gracie has a very nice quiet bark. That’s the point we’ve been driven to—we qualify all of the barking.

Frankie is LOUD. For such a gentle guy, he sounds ferocious.

Gomer is shrill. His barks are laced with excitement, he just cannot miss out on any party.

Which leaves Gracie (who initiates almost every choir rehearsal). Her bark is low and steady and I’ve begun to wonder if she doesn’t just start barking to get the other dogs in trouble.

 

DSC_1883Okay, okay, I’ll tell you about the new puppies! (it’s always about the puppies with you people!) Continue reading “Progress Can Be Noisy” →

dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, foster dogs, fostering, Gomer Pyle, heartworms, training

A Foreigner in a Foreign Land

Cara Achterberg

I got a new foster dog.

And he’s not a puppy.

And he’s not a mama (obviously).

He’s Gomer Pyle… Continue reading “A Foreigner in a Foreign Land” →

dog rescue, foster dogs, foster fail, fosterdogs, fostering, Hops, puppies

Puppy Play Yard

Cara Achterberg

My husband Nick and I are a pretty good team. I’m the ‘idea’ person and he does all the work.

This weekend, though, Frankie and I were his helpers on a project that has been on my wishlist ever since we began fostering.

I’ve been angling for a ‘dog fence’ for quite some time. Our little hillside farm has six acres, plenty of room for a dog to run, but those acres are surrounded by farmer’s field, woods, one testy neighbor, and a road. It’s rare the foster dog (like Hops) that I can allow off-leash.

I worry too much about losing a dog in the woods, the endless cornstalks, the gun-owning neighbor’s property, or chasing the goats across the road. (The goats live in an invisible fence which makes them readily accessible to the dogs. I’m pretty certain it’s only a matter of time before the wolf or coyotes that have been spotted in our area nab them.)

Ever since Frankie discovered the vultures on the top fence line, Continue reading “Puppy Play Yard” →

Amstaff, dog rescue, foster dogs, fostering, Pit bull, puppies, training

Adopter’s Remorse?

Cara Achterberg

You’ve heard of buyer’s remorse?

Every now and again I’m pretty sure some of us have adopter’s remorse.

Not that I don’t LOVE my Frankie. Not that I wouldn’t adopt him AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN. He is my wubba-bubba. I can get teary just thinking about the fact that someday he will die.

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And yet…. Continue reading “Adopter’s Remorse?” →