Category: fosterdogs

Diary, dog rescue, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering

Diary of a Rescue Week Three: Together We Rescue

Cara Achterberg

This past week taught me the truth of ‘Together We Rescue’.

Sometimes we forget the fact that none of us has to go through this life alone. It’s our choice.

Like most people, asking for help doesn’t always come naturally for me. I want to be that strong, independent, I-can-handle-it person, and more than that, I just don’t want to bother anyone. We’re all more than busy, right?

Thankfully, when a crisis rose up this week for Daisy, friends stepped in an offered help and for once, I was smart enough to take it. It was that help that got us through the week and helped Daisy to expand her own circle of trust, proving that she is more resilient than I thought.

Yes, she is still terrified of men and has yet to let my husband or son pet her or put on a leash, but as she watches Nick’s outstretched hand or creeps towards him and then scurries away, I know her mind is weighing it all. Risk versus reward. It likely took some time to inflict the emotional wounds she carries and it will take even longer to heal them, but this week proved that we are making progress.

If you’d like to follow this Diary of a Rescue in real time, you can do that on Facebook at Cara Sue Achterberg, writer. Here are this week’s entries: Continue reading “Diary of a Rescue Week Three: Together We Rescue” →

dog rescue, fosterdogs, fostering, hard to adopt, Long Term Dog, oph, Rescue Road Trip, shelters

The Long Haul

Cara Achterberg

We are settling in for the long haul with our pack.

Flannery has no applications (C’mon people! You are missing out on this super fun, super loving, super smart pup!)

and I really can’t imagine anyone Continue reading “The Long Haul” →

Diary, dog rescue, fosterdogs, fostering, pregnant dog, puppies, Uncategorized

Diary of a Rescue Week Two

Cara Achterberg

All along this journey, I have been buoyed by an outpouring of support online and by friends who have come by and brought food and company or emailed to ask what they can do. I even got a lovely gift from Arkansas!

As we lost the puppies last week, people kept saying, “I could never do that,” but somehow, I think you could and more than that, I could never do it without the support of family and friends.

If last week taught me anything, it’s that I am stronger than I know. All during that long, long night when Daisy’s labor began and it became clear that it was too soon for puppies to be born Continue reading “Diary of a Rescue Week Two” →

dog rescue, Flannery Oconnor, fostering, Gala, hard to adopt, training

Risk Worth the Reward: Long Term Dogs

Cara Achterberg

Flannery is about to enter her sixth month in OPH care which makes her a ‘long-term dog’.

2019Jan-51
photo Nancy Slattery

Currently, up to 30% of the dogs on our site are ‘long term dogs’. There’s a reason why each dog got that label and it certainly doesn’t mean those dogs aren’t good dogs.

It’s just means Continue reading “Risk Worth the Reward: Long Term Dogs” →

Darlin, Diary, dog rescue, fosterdogs, fostering, Hula Hoop, pregnant dog, puppies

The Price We Pay to Save a Dog

Cara Achterberg

I sat down at my computer to write on Monday morning and a text popped up from Hula Hoop’s adopter. She is in love with Hula, now Willow, and sent a picture of her sporting a pretty new collar and surveying her new stash of toys.

“Working from home today with my little love bug! But hardly working because I can’t stop watching her! She is such a good girl and we are blessed to have her!”

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These are the messages that make it all worthwhile.

It reminds me of moments like when Hula was a nursing mom and had exploding diarrhea for nearly three weeks. That mess? Continue reading “The Price We Pay to Save a Dog” →

Diary, dog rescue, fosterdogs, fostering, pregnant dog, puppy bowl, whelping

Diary of a Rescue: Day 1

Cara Achterberg

My next foster dog arrives tonight, a pregnant shepherd mix from South Carolina named Daisy.

shelter pic

I plan to chronicle her journey in realtime on my Facebook writer page. If you’re not on Facebook, I will collect those entries and publish them weekly on this blog.

Word of warning: there are no guarantees here. This is a shelter dog with no history, so while I hope there’s a happy ending coming, that may not be the case. Mama dogs who land in shelters have often not had any kind of prenatal care, may be undernourished, riddled with worms, and definitely not talking about who the baby daddy is. My most recent mama dog had a near textbook delivery, while the one before that was tragic. I want to be honest about this business of rescuing dogs and will share with you the story, no matter the outcome.

Shelter dogs arrive with Continue reading “Diary of a Rescue: Day 1” →

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” →

Destruction, fostering, Hula Hoop

Hey, That’s Enough, Settle Down!

Cara Achterberg

“Hey! That’s enough! Settle down!”

I find myself yelling these words again and again these days. Hula Hoop is no longer the quiet, calm, exhausted, worm-addled, nursing mama dog. Now, she is full-on puppy.

2019jan-87
photo Nancy Slattery

In the past week, she’s eaten my running gloves (luckily they went right through – eww, definitely shopping for a new pair), devoured the faux-fur edge of one of my slippers, continued the assault on my dog-walking shoes begun by John Jacob (see picture), and Continue reading “Hey, That’s Enough, Settle Down!” →

Dogs with Issues, Flannery Oconnor, fosterdogs, fostering, hard to adopt, returned dogs, training

A Dog’s Eye View

Cara Achterberg

Flannery is such an interesting dog.

The puppies are cute and Hula Hoop is a sweetheart, but Flannery is complicated and funny and just so not-your-average-dog. I adore her. Even though she is nothing like any dog I’ve ever wanted.

She’s little. Only 30 pounds.

2019jan-25
photo: Nancy Slattery

She’s a busy-body – always in the middle of whatever is happening and worming her way onto the couch or dog bed, even if there is clearly no room for her.

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She is the first dog up at the slightest noise. And weirdly, Continue reading “A Dog’s Eye View” →

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” →