Category: Dogs with Issues

Dogs with Issues, Fanny, former foster dogs, training

Living With a Shy Dog

Cara Sue Achterberg

It’s been a week.

Having no foster dog feels awfully strange, and I wondered if I would even post this week. This blog, though, has become habit. Plus, there is an extra dog here beyond Fanny and Gracie.

Beau is here until July 12; he’s a former-foster we’re babysitting. Since he arrived last week, we’ve said on more than one occasion—why didn’t we adopt him? He and Fanny are the perfect playmates. He’s proving what I’ve suspected for some time: Fanny could use an emotional support dog.

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Fanny is a shy dog. Anyone who has ever adopted a shy dog knows Continue reading “Living With a Shy Dog” →

dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, foster fail, fosterdogs, fostering, heartworms

A Sick Foster Dog Changes Everything

Cara Sue Achterberg

You know what they say about plans?

Okay, I think that is actually assumptions.

And maybe I was naively assuming our plan would work.

When our newest foster dog, Tito (OPH Lieutenant Howl) arrived last week, two things became instantly clear: Continue reading “A Sick Foster Dog Changes Everything” →

adopters, dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, fostering, owner responsibility, puppies, returned dogs, training, Uncategorized

CAUTION: Puppies

Cara Sue Achterberg

Everyone wants a puppy.

I get that.

Puppies are cute and fun and at least at this age (seven weeks) they are highly entertaining.

pup with tongue out
photo by Ian Achterberg

 

These puppies are no exception and already, Continue reading “CAUTION: Puppies” →

dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, Flannery Oconnor, former foster dogs, foster dogs, fostering, Gala, hard to adopt, Long Term Dog

Sometimes it Don’t Come Easy…

Cara Sue Achterberg

Sometimes rescue is hard. Sometimes it doesn’t come easy.

As I put the final touches on my next book, due to the publisher December 1 (and if all goes well, released July 2020), I’ve spent a lot of time remembering one particular dog who changed my life. Gala was with us for over eleven months, but truly she has never left my heart.

Gala-7
photo by Nancy Slattery

The new book, One Hundred Dogs and Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues (and yes, that is a mouthful and no, it wasn’t up to me), begins with Gala. Up until Gala, fostering had been mostly fun, occasionally stressful, but ultimately a win-win for all parties involved.

Gala challenged me, not just in terms of exposing how much I don’t know about dogs, but emotionally as I wrestled Continue reading “Sometimes it Don’t Come Easy…” →

dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, Flannery Oconnor, fosterdogs, fostering, hard to adopt, Long Term Dog, oph, returned dogs, training

A Designer Dog Looking for his Designer Family

Cara Sue Achterberg

There was a time when we had two, even three new fosters each month, but for the last few years, it’s been one long-term foster after another (Gala, Flannery, Daisy…) and a few puppy litters. This weekend we had planned to welcome a much anticipated foster dog from Alabama – Houdini, whom I met while visiting Walker County Animal Shelter where OPH partners with RUFF to support the shelter and rescue dogs.

That reunion has been postponed because transport for Houdini and the other RUFF dogs fell through at the last moment. Hopefully, he will catch his freedom ride at the end of this month and we’ll welcome him then.

Meanwhile, Fanny was in need of a playmate as Flannery and Gracie easily tire of her endless puppy-like energy, so I Continue reading “A Designer Dog Looking for his Designer Family” →

dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, former foster dogs, foster dogs, fostering, hard to adopt, puppies

Here in This Kettle with the Other Frogs

Cara Sue Achterberg

My world revolves around dogs.

They eat up every extra minute in my day. I probably knew that, but it was painfully obvious last Thursday. It was just me and Gracie. The house was so very quiet and weirdly still. I had time on my hands. I even cooked a real dinner.

How is that possible you ask? Continue reading “Here in This Kettle with the Other Frogs” →

dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, foster dogs, Long Term Dog

We’re All ‘Complicated’

Cara Sue Achterberg

I’ve wondered what I will write about now that we are holding steady with the same two foster dogs. I could tell you more about Flannery and how entertaining she is—how she chases her tail on a near daily basis, how her enthusiasm for her supper knows no bounds, how she zips around outside like an oversize hummingbird and comes the moment she is called. (And don’t worry, in that second video she totally takes out my husband but he is fine). Continue reading “We’re All ‘Complicated’” →

dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, foster dogs, fostering, hard to adopt, Long Term Dog

Back to the Dogs

Cara Sue Achterberg

This morning as I began to reorient myself to life in the real world after three wonderful weeks in the mountains, I started by cleaning up and putting away the detritus of summer. School starts on Thursday. It will be the last ‘first day’ for us as our baby starts his senior year in high school.

While I was away, Thelma Continue reading “Back to the Dogs” →

Destruction, dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, foster dogs, fostering, hard to adopt, Long Term Dog, oph, training, writing

Our Trifecta of Foster Dogs

Cara Sue Achterberg

It’s felt like we have been in a holding pattern for many, many weeks here. Flannery, Daisy, and Thelma have become permanent fixtures. Our whole family has adapted to life with them.

Don’t leave the kitchen gate open or ANYTHING on the floor or Continue reading “Our Trifecta of Foster Dogs” →

Diary, dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering, hard to adopt, Long Term Dog, oph

Diary of a Rescue Week Ten: Frightened Dog Getting Braver

Cara Sue Achterberg

Daisy continues to surprise us as she gains her confidence and health. Thelma had her puppies on Tuesday and I watched Daisy, wondering if she would be bothered by the sounds in the next room, but she seemed unfazed.

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The only notable thing that happened Continue reading “Diary of a Rescue Week Ten: Frightened Dog Getting Braver” →