On our recent shelter tour, a director asked me, “Who would want to adopt a puppy?” (it was a rhetorical question so it wasn’t necessary, but I said, “Not me!”)
She went on to explain why she hustles puppies out the door to rescues, and only adopts out adult dogs.
Our little foster cottage is mostly quiet these days. That is unless Marley spots a squirrel daring to cross our property. Krimpet went home with an adopter after her spay surgery on Monday.
And I’m really glad I only have three as I get my puppy-raising legs back underneath me.
After several different set ups, I’ve settled on having a big area (3/4 of the room) for their awake time and a small area (1/4) for bed time, nap time, and get-them-out-of-the-way-so-I-can-clean-without-helpers time.
I have to say that if Marley and Argus were my foster dogs five years ago, they’d be adopted in a snap.
Adoptions, all over not just with OPH or HSSC, have slowed. And while it’s a little frustrating, it’s expected and might just be a good thing.
People are being a bit more careful before jumping into a new dog. As they should be. Having watched Marley mourn the people who surrendered her for her first few days, lying in her crate with a worried look, hesitant to come out, I don’t wish her situation on any dog. So, yes, you should be absolutely sure you are ready to adopt a new pet before committing to one.
Marley has bounced back, as dogs are so good at doing. She is looking much healthier now that we’ve treated her for parasites, gotten her on a healthy diet, given her probiotics, vitamins, and a fancy oil someone donated to help her skin/coat. She’s getting regular exercise, plays with Argus, and has quite definitely turned the corner to reveal her sunny personality.
Argus is still a little suspicious of doors and noises and sudden movements. His first instinct is to cower and worry, but when he feels safe and happy he’s got a serious full-body waggle that always makes me smile. He is one happy boy, slamming the sides of his crate ferociously with his tail the moment I come in the room. His big grin and lolling tongue make him look as goofy as he is happy.
Both these dogs are apartment sized. Sweet, gentle, housebroken, crate-trained, relatively quiet, easily amused with bones or toys, and play well together. All of those factors would have meant they’d get adopted quickly back before the pandemic, before everyone who’d ever considered acquiring a pet got one (and more than a few shouldn’t have).
They are both highly adoptable, easy, cute, fun dogs who will make some family very happy.
So now the trick is to be patient. As I said, they are easy fosters, so lucky me, I don’t mind them hanging around. But I’d still like to get them out my door to their real family before they become too attached. Before they decide that I am their family. Because these sweet pups should not have their hearts broken again.
They are ready. Are you out there? Come and get your pups!
Marley is a six-year-old, 40-pound darling with one blue eye belying some Husky heritage (although her size would tell you otherwise). She’s gentle and sweet and loves to go for walks and adventures. She does best on a front-leading harness. Marley loves to cuddle, take long naps, and chew on hooves/bones. She is spayed and up to date on shots. If you’re interested in Marley, contact the Humane Society of Shenandoah County.
Argus is a one-year-old lab mix (aren’t they all) who weighs close to 50 pounds (but looks much smaller). His breeding is anyone’s guess, but he’s beginning to develop spots, so hound? Dalmation? Some kind of fox terrier? Who knows. He’s a little shy at the offset, but warms up super fast and is a joyful, goofy, boy who still has a lot of puppy in him. He’s excellent at catching treats in his mouth, curious about anything that involves food, and walks really well on a leash. He’s neutered, up to date on shots, and microchipped. If you’re interested in Argus, contact Operation Paws for Homes.
If you’d like to meet either of these darling dogs, or know more about them, feel free to reach out to me directly: carasueachterberg@gmail.com.
And if you’ve ever considered fostering, now would be a great time to try it out. Shelters and rescues all over the country are overwhelmed with large numbers of intakes and the same slow adoption rate I’m experiencing. Fostering can truly save lives. By taking a dog (or cat) into your home to foster, you open up a space at a shelter or rescue for another. Reach out to me if you have questions or need convincing!
Until Each One Has a Home,
Cara
For information on me, my writing, and books, visit CaraWrites.com.
If you’d like regular updates of all our foster dogs past and present, plus occasional dog care/training tips, and occasional foster cat updates (!) be sure to join the Facebook group, Another Good Dog.
And if you’d like to know where all these dogs come from and how you can help solve the crisis of too many unwanted dogs in our shelters, visit WhoWillLetTheDogsOut.org and subscribe to our blog where we share stories of our travels to shelters, rescues, and dog pounds.
Foster dogs come and go, but our place is rarely empty. After my last post, I realized I left a few plot lines hanging…I never told you what became of Roofus and Ladybug, or updated you on the barn cat/possum outcome. So before I tell you more about Argus and our newest foster, Marley, let me end the mystery.
Ladybug and Roofus have been relocated to another foster home. Not because they aren’t wonderful dogs or because I didn’t enjoy their hounddog charms, but because I care about my neighbors.
The range of emotions on this trip swings wildly from devastation and hopelessness to joy and gratefulness. Almost every night we’ve stayed with old friends who I rarely see, but are dear to my heart. It has been wonderful to catch up with them and they’ve also proved a delightful distraction from the reality of rescue in the rural south. There hasn’t been time in the evening to dwell on what we’ve seen during the day; there also hasn’t been time to write.
I mentioned this to Lisa and she said, “But it would be really hard to go back to a dark hotel room after what we’ve seen.” And she’s right. We’ve been blessed with wonderful hosts and hostesses all week long who’ve shared their food and homes and hearts.
I’m writing this post from my second hotel night. Lisa has flown home to PA and Nick has arrived to help. He’s taken over the driving and I’m trying to ‘be Lisa’ which is a much bigger job than I realized. She has been a wonderkund at social media – tweeting and posting and tagging.
She has been the one getting the word out, which I’ve discovered is probably the most critical part of this trip. People need to know. If they don’t, they can’t help. They need to know what the shelters need, how they can help the dogs, and the truth of what we all wish was not true. So, Nick has been doing the driving and I have been doing my best to gather the pictures and put them out for you to see.
I’ve been reading a lot of dog books lately. Partly, it’s because my upcoming book will be my first in this genre, and I want to get to know what’s already out there and the writers who publish these books. But mostly, I’ve become a bit addicted. I love reading about people’s experiences with dogs. It’s not just educational and entertaining, it’s also inspiring.
In Amy Sutherland’s book, RESCUING PENNY JANE, she writes about her experiences volunteering at a shelter, sharing a perspective I’ve never heard since I meet my dogs after they’ve left the shelter. I like to think that there are volunteers like Amy at the shelters where our dogs come from. Sutherland is a shelter volunteer, walking dogs every Friday for a local Animal Rescue League. She’s also a journalist and author, so of course, she overanalyzes and writes about her experience.
While it can be momentarily dense with information on shelter dogs, Rescuing Penny Jane is an exploration of the rescue dog world, but also Sutherland’s story of adopting a difficult rescue dog and sticking it out. She writes that she won’t be one of ‘them’, confiding that in becoming a regular at the shelter she is privy to the staff’s feelings about people who return dogs. And so, even though it strains her marriage, she sticks it out with Penny Jane, a fearful and more or less, feral dog.
Sutherland’s words remind me of my own experience with more than a few of my foster dogs. I write in this blog about the funny, the touching, the messy, and occasionally the heartbreak, but each story eventually culminates in one happy ending after another. What I rarely write about is how sometimes I reach my limit and more often sometimes my husband reaches his limit. There have been teary late-night walks waiting for a foster dog to just pee, already. There have been mornings spent on my knees scrubbing carpets and grumbling mangled curse words and masked threats (who am I going to offend? The dogs?). There have been plenty of words typed and then deleted, planned posts that never materialized, and frustrations outlined in detail for my husband even as I stroke the furry head of the offender. For a few hours, sometimes a day or two, I’m done. “Once this one is gone- no more fosters!”
So when Sutherland’s husband says, “It would be easier to return Penny Jane than to get a divorce.” I don’t laugh. I know he’s not joking. Sutherland’s frustration and tears are familiar, and I read her story with a lump in my throat. I’ve thought so many of the same things.
There is one comment she makes relatively early in the book that struck me so much that I got up to find a pen so I could underline it. She wrote – Continue reading “Homeless or Humanless?”→
On Saturday December 10, our newest foster will arrive! Her name is Estelle, which means star. I named her that for two reasons.
The first is because it’s time this dog was a star and a star is what she will be at our house. She was significantly less than a star in the home that surrendered her. They had not bothered to name her or even feed her, letting her eat from the trash.
Estelle’s owners surrendered her when their landlord decided to shoot Estelle because they were told they couldn’t have a dog. The rescuer in South Carolina learned all this when she went to the home to get Estelle. Before she left the owners also offered to sell her prescription drugs and possibly their children. The enormous heartbreak of this situation still has me stunned. Continue reading “Our Newest Star”→
In 
On Saturday December 10, our newest foster will arrive! Her name is Estelle, which means star. I named her that for two reasons.
Another Good Dog™ 