Category: fostering

Edith Wharton, fostering, puppies, Uncategorized

Expecting

Cara Achterberg

Not much has gone as expected for the past few days. Okay, well, a few things. My husband took off for France. Ian won his soccer game, and Addie got the part she wanted in the school play (of course it wasn’t the part I expected she’d get as she’ll be Blackstache instead of Molly or any other part normally assigned a girl in Peter and the Starcatchers). The tomatoes continue to produce, as do the horses, and now that school has started pretty much no one puts their dishes in the dishwasher. Those things I expected and they happened. Yay, life behaving itself.

What hasn’t gone as expected is most everything having to do with our 50th foster dog.

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I’d painted this lovely romantic picture in my mind of our 50th foster dog, Edith Wharton, giving birth to a handful of puppies in our kitchen as we all watched and were amazed by the miracle. What a great experience for our milestone foster. I was so ready.

I borrowed a really nice handbuilt whelping box from my neighbors (who at this point are probably beginning to wish they lived on a different road as I hit them up for pretty much every dog dilemma I have). We set it up in our kitchen and Nick ran to the hardware store and bought foam pipe insulators to cover the top edges so Edith wouldn’t rub her heavy belly on it when she climbed in. I set down a layer of soft things and puppy pads in preparation.

I looked through my calendar for the next week or so, making sure I could be home if necessary, already preparing my excuses (“Sorry, you’re on the own. Gotta go. There’s a dog giving birth in my kitchen…”)

I read about puppy whelping and even watched a few badly made YouTube videos of it actually happening. I gathered advice from my knowledgeable dog-breeder neighbor and made a list of the supplies I’d need. A box of some of those supplies arrived from OPH (thanks Gina!) and pretty soon I was ALL READY. Edith was due to arrive in less than 24 hours!

And then I checked my email.

Apparently Edith was not made aware of my preparations and my whelping box and she gave birth to the puppies at the shelter that morning.

I was disappointed and a little bit relieved.

Here’s the other unexpected news – Continue reading “Expecting” →

adopters, fosterdogs, fostering, Lucy, Oberyn, oph, puppies, Rooney

50th Times the Charm

Cara Achterberg

Our house is much quieter. (for now)

Rooney finally went home with her new forever mom after a long wait. They met over a week ago and fell in love, but we had to wait for Rooney to finish her antibiotics and be 100% healthy so she could go home. Which she did on Friday. And we all miss her. My little brother will be very happy to know Rooney is in the Air Force now! Her mom is one of America’s finest.

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Before she left, she, Lucy, and Obie had a fun week.

Here’s Obie and Lucy sharing a stick:

And here’s Rooney and Obie not sharing a pumpkin: Continue reading “50th Times the Charm” →

adopters, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering, Lucy, Oberyn, oph, Rooney

Of Puppies and Pumpkins

Cara Achterberg

I just forced myself to stop playing with the puppy-doll and get back to my desk. Obie is VERY hard to resist. He loves to be held. I wish I’d kept my baby-sling because I’m positive he would be super happy snuggled in it accompanying me about my day. Being the lone puppy is not easy, even despite the bags of toys he received this weekend!

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It was just like Christmas for Obie this weekend when he finally got some new toys to play with! (thanks Mindy and OPH!)

This morning I lunged him in the side yard with my longest leash. If you’re a horse person, you might be familiar with that term. It’s when the person stands still and a horse on a lungeline works in a circle around the person. Obie lunges very well, also. He zooms around and around and around. When he really gets going, he almost looks like a rabbit because his hind legs are reaching in front of his front legs at times.

Kind of like a wind-up toy, this burst of energy expels itself fairly quickly. When he’s finished, he’d like you to pick him up and carry him around, thank you. All day, would be his preference. Obie is pretty much THE best snuggler I’ve encountered. I think that’s remarkable considering he’s a puppy (and most puppies prefer to keep moving). But if you’ll just hold him against your heart with his head tucked under your chin, he’ll be content forever. Yup, definitely a puppy-doll. He’s great therapy for this mom who is missing her oldest kiddo who just left for his second year in college.

Rooney has found her forever family, but is hanging out with us an extra week to complete a course of antibiotics to hopefully clear up the secondary infection she developed after her UTI. No one minds because Rooney is a most gracious guest. Ever since the end of the pee wars, she has been a model foster dog. Continue reading “Of Puppies and Pumpkins” →

dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, fosterdogs, fostering, house training, Lucy, Oberyn, oph, puppies, Rooney, Uncategorized

The Pee Wars

Cara Achterberg

I’ve had about enough of the pee wars. Unbeknownst to you, this quiet war has been waging in my kitchen for three days. I don’t know who started it. I don’t know how it will be ‘won,’ but I’ve had entirely enough of it.

So today I armed myself. I bought a doggie diaper. I’m not sure yet which dog will be wearing it, but I’ve decided to place blame on the dog who should know better, so here she is modeling it for you:

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Let me back up.

On Friday evening, I brought home two new fosters. Continue reading “The Pee Wars” →

Bambi, dog rescue, foster dogs, fostering, Gingersnap, Lucy, oph

Our Present Pack of Pups

Cara Achterberg

My trusty co-pilot and helper (read: the only kid without a driver’s license or a job this summer) and I met the Lucy train in Hagerstown last Wednesday and picked up our latest charge. She’d been riding shot-gun for the last leg with a very nice person named Terri. When I opened the hatch of my SUV, she hopped right in, settled in the crate we’d brought and went to sleep. Obviously, she wouldn’t be a high-maintenance guest.

This poor pup has been through it—I can’t say exactly what, but she is riddled with scars, the worst one being a permanent necklace from where a collar was embedded and/or she was left chained up for a long period. Despite all that, she is a happy, friendly, easy-going girl. The resilience of dogs is something to behold.

Thankfully, she doesn’t appear to be pregnant. As exciting as that would have been, the last thing this sweet girl needs is puppies. Her skin is inflamed and hot and covered in some form of eczema that requires us to keep a cone on her 24/7 so she won’t chew herself bloody. It’s a testimony to her good nature that she handles her misery so well. She scratches at the cone trying to get to her neck and chest, where the rash is worst. She chews at her side, biting the plastic cone that prevents her from a reaching her itchy skin. It may not help, but maybe the effort brings a mental relief. I remember scratching at my riding helmet covering my itchy head when I was in the middle of a competition or lesson. It’s psychological; you feel like you’re doing something. I would shake my head, too, which I’ve seen Lucy doing.

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If you’ve ever had poison ivy or hives covering your entire body, you might have some sense of what this pup is going through. The urge to itch is all-consuming and yet—she can’t reach it. She’s headed to the vet on Wednesday to confirm that she isn’t pregnant and hopefully get a prescription for some serious drugs to help her out. The vets that examined her before she came north diagnosed a flea allergy. While there are no fleas on this girl now (I’ve given her enough oatmeal baths to verify that), I would assume at some point she was infested with them. Continue reading “Our Present Pack of Pups” →

dog rescue, fosterdogs, fostering, Gingersnap, oph, Uncategorized

Revolving Door of Foster Dogs

Cara Achterberg

Wow, hang on tight, the musical chairs/foster dog switcheroo is on warp speed this week.

Friday night instead of a pregnant mama (didn’t work out this time), we picked up the two foster puppies we volunteered to host for the weekend. We planned to take them to boarding on Monday. I’m not sure why I call anything a plan since it rarely resembles one and most times ends up looking nothing like the original. So, let’s call it an idea.

I had a ‘white’ weekend (nothing on the calendar), so the idea was to give these two little girls some runaround-with-Ginger time, make sure they got their wormers and flea/tick treatments, and hope some dogs got adopted and another foster home opened up. If not, we’d take them to boarding on Monday. Great idea, right? Sure it was.

When we arrived home with our pups on Friday night, Brienne galloped around the yard, her nose on overdrive. At six months, she is all hound. Eight month old Little Lady, on the other hand, didn’t move. We pulled her from her crate and when we set her on the grass, she immediately flattened herself against it and then tried to burrow in.

When Brienne did a fly-by, Lady got up, took a few steps and then dove back into the grass, rolling and rubbing her nose and belly against the grass, as if she was trying to get as close as possible to it or maybe disappear. When I set her on the pavement, she dove for the grass and again pressed herself against it. Had she never touched grass before? Finally, I picked her up and carried her into the house.

The next morning, when I opened the crates, Brienne bounded out and smothered me with kisses, while doing the happy hound murmur. Brienne is vocal like a real hound. The only other hounds we’ve had who made such constant commentary were Carla and Whoopie. I love the sounds and the constant wagging tail. Brie is one happy girl.

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Lady hung back in her crate until I took Brienne out of the room. When I shut the door and sat down outside her crate, she cautiously crept out and then leaned into me, pressing her long nose against my side, wagging her backside (she has no tail). I was gone—hook, line and sinker. What happened to this precious pup? No matter; from here on out, there will only good things.

When I picked up a leash, she scrambled back into her crate, so I sat back down and waited.

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Continue reading “Revolving Door of Foster Dogs” →

adopters, dog rescue, Fannie, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering, Gingersnap, Nowzad dogs, Okeriete, oph, Pit bull, puppies, shelters

Getting Serious About Dog Rescue

Cara Achterberg

Are you as afraid as I am to turn on the news? I feel obligated, but at the same time a heart can only take so much. This past weekend I finally heard some GREAT news. I was privileged to attend OPH’s seminar for volunteers. I learned even more about this fabulous organization I’m a part of and left feeling motivated to do more.

The highlight for me was a presentation from two women from one of the shelters that OPH partners with in south western Virginia. I went to school in southside Virginia a million years ago, so I remember that part of the country as rural, blue-collar (when there are jobs) with field after field of tobacco. I worked at a pub in Danville where I served mill workers who called me “Yankee Girl” and never missed an opportunity to remind me that Danville was the last confederate capital of the south!

Rachel and Ashley traveled north this past weekend to share with OPH the impact our organization has had on their shelter in Scott County, VA. I couldn’t hold back tears as I listened to the statistics they shared. I think it was the best news I’ve heard all summer, actually all year, and it renewed my desire to help more dogs and my admiration for the people who work so hard to save them.

OPH began partnering with the Scott County Human Society shelter in mid 2015. Take a look at the impact we are having on this one shelter- Continue reading “Getting Serious About Dog Rescue” →

adopters, fostering, Gingersnap, oph, Whoopi

Adoption pending? Maybe. Maybe not.

Cara Achterberg

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Just picked up Whoopi and Ginger from their vacation. They are tired, fat, and happy – the way everyone should be when returning from vacation.

While we were gone they stayed with OPH superstar foster Juanita who spoiled them rotten. They had free run with her pack in Juanita’s big, shady, fenced yard; were allowed ON THE BED for naps; and even had a swimming pool to cool off in.

Ginger’s chocolate coat is shiny and sleek, with the extra pound or two she picked up, she looks much like a seal. Whoopi’s sporting an extra roll around her shoulders now. As Ian says, “You could fit another dog in all that extra skin.”

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Her nails look fabulous. Juanita took her for a mani/pedi at the local spa where they even offered ear cleaning service. (Her huge bloodhound ears are just fine. I forgot to ask what they thought about the fact that she has shotgun pellet in one ear – you can actually pick the ear up with a magnet!)

Here are a few vacation photos and videos of their adventures.

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This is the picture Juanita texted me after their first night. Oh yeah, commence spoiling!

Continue reading “Adoption pending? Maybe. Maybe not.” →

Fannie, fosterdogs, fostering, Gingersnap, oph, puppies, returned dogs, Schuyler, Schuyler puppies

Play by Play of the Foster Dog Circus that is our Life

Cara Achterberg

I really like the Facebook feature, Memories. If you aren’t familiar with it – Facebook randomly sends you private posts with pictures from posts you made on the same date in history.

Recently, this picture came up –

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It’s from a year ago when we were still relatively new to fostering. Since our foster dog, Carla, had become part of the family, we’d agreed to babysit two other foster dogs for another OPH foster who was going away for the weekend. She could have put them in boarding but both dogs were sort of special needs. Hitch was incredibly shy and prone to running away (something we got to experience first-hand when one of our teens left a door open -twice! I got a lot exercise that weekend…) and Kylie who was…well Kylie was a little like our current foster Gingersnap – super sweet and VERY active, and maybe a wee-bit manic. It turned out to be a fun weekend and the first time we’d ever had four dogs in the house at once.

Now four doesn’t seem so crazy. In fact, as we watched our merry band of four last night, I said, “I like our little herd,” and Nick said, “Me, too.”

Let me catch you up on the comings and goings of our latest fosters. I think a timeline might be in order: Continue reading “Play by Play of the Foster Dog Circus that is our Life” →

Dogs with Issues, fosterdogs, fostering, Gingersnap, oph

What’s a Week without a Dog?

Cara Achterberg

This week was supposed to be our dog-free week, but you know me. What’s the point of a week without a dog?

All nine puppies are safely set in their forever homes where reports abound that they are LOVED and ADORED and also that they are very SMART puppies a few of which are susceptible to car sickness (just like their mom).

Schuyler is having her spay operation today and then on Thursday she will go home with her forever family.

[And right here, I must do a SHOUT OUT to CAPE HORN VET in Red Lion for the excellent care and discounted rates they offer OPH for our foster dogs’ necessary medical treatments. Schuyler is my third dog I’ve taken for her spay surgery and I’m always impressed at the professional care and the friendly people. They definitely don’t treat us like discount clients.]

After Schuyler goes home, we were supposed to have four days with no dogs (except Gracie, who does count, we’ve been over that….).

No dogs would be a good thing because this weekend Nick and I are joining my brother and his wife for the annual event – Carapalooza! And before you think that there is a festival all about me – let me explain. Each May we travel to our beloved Shenandoah Valley and attend a fabulous Wine and Craft festival in Front Royal, VA. Sometimes other couples join us, sometimes it’s just us. My little brother named it Carapalooza because it almost always falls on my birthday weekend. My sister-in-law even had a sign made – I know it’s a bit over the top. (But it does make a girl feel special)

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Anyway – this weekend is Carapalooza, so no dogs would be a good thing. Except I can’t say no to some dogs. Especially foster dogs who have had three foster homes in 10 weeks and no adopters because they simply have too much happy to be contained. This is Gingersnap: Continue reading “What’s a Week without a Dog?” →