Our adventures as a foster dog family
What a special week it is for ten lucky families! All of the PA Pups went home to forever families last week.
It is always fun when families come to pick up their pups – so much excitement and joy! Of course, that joy is likely tempered when they get home and the whining and housetraining and teething begins in earnest, but from my end it’s always fun! Continue reading “Who Doesn’t Love a Happy Ending?”
The countdown has begun. Puppies will begin leaving tomorrow!
Normally, we have ‘adoption day’ on a Saturday and all the puppies leave the same day. This keeps it simple for me and less disruptive for the family. I like them all to go on the same day so that I’m not left with one crying puppy.
This will be the first time the puppies leave their siblings and it will be their first experience ‘all alone.’ There tends to be a great deal of Continue reading “Last Day of Puppies!”
I’ve mentioned before that puppies are a lot of work. So I thought I’d give you a peek into a typical day of caring for ten large puppies.
5:15-5:45am
Someone, somewhere in the house flushes a toilet and the puppies wake up. The pipes run through the wall in the puppy room which is our converted mudroom. It is somewhat miraculous that they don’t seem to waken if the flush happens earlier than five. Puppies commence yipping for breakfast, pooping, fighting, and zooming through poop while yipping for breakfast and fighting.
5:45am
Nick gets up and has breakfast, completely ignoring the puppies, and more amazingly, the smell of the puppies.
6am
I accept the fact that the puppies are not going back to sleep and Continue reading “A Day in the Life of a Puppy Foster”
What can I say about the puppies? They are adorable, but a ton of work. Every time I get to this point (six weeks), I wonder why I do this and swear I will never do it again.
Like small children, I suppose, it’s the cuteness that keeps us from tossing them out on their ears. This bunch is especially cute, with something for every taste. Only four puppies are officially spoken for, so if you’re considering a puppy in your lives (and you’re ready for the work that involves), let me tell you who is still available… Continue reading “It’s the Cuteness That Saves Them”
So…..puppies! Now that Houdini is safely launched and Flannery is thriving in her new home, we can talk about puppies!
Everyone keeps asking me what breed they are and the only answer I have is 100% mutt. If you can think of a breed, I can probably find some evidence for it amongst these ten puppies. They are all so different!
Some have short hair, some long hair, and some fuzzy hair. They arrived in a rainbow of colors – black, chocolate, brown, mocha, tan, white, and gray. Some of the puppies have a thick density to them and others are light-boned. The two black puppies might look similar in photos, but one is fuzzy and stocky, and the other is short-haired and leggy. I keep color collars on them, but it’s easy to distinguish one from the other. There is something for everyone in this crowd.
Nancy was here for a photo shoot over the weekend and Continue reading “One Hundred Percent Chance of Mutt”
Almost all of the PA Pups are fat little butterballs.
It’s been a challenge to get to know them as Continue reading “Mostly Fat and Happy in PA”
We survived our record-setting weekend.
Now we just have fourteen dogs. Which we’ve had before.
Gosh, this makes me sound like a dog-raving lunatic. Which maybe I am. Or at least I feel like one after this weekend.
Saying we fostered fifteen dogs this weekend is somewhat misleading since Continue reading “Fifteen Dogs in My House”
This week, I was reminded again when it comes to rescue—you can’t predict anything.
Or, at least, I can’t predict anything.
The wild ride began last Wednesday when Continue reading “A Puppy Hero”
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”
I am still struggling on a daily basis to accept that Frankie is gone. To say I miss him doesn’t even begin to touch what I feel. Caring for the other dogs gets me out of bed, but moving forward? That seemed out of reach. I need to do something with my grief – so the trip that Ian and I have been planning since winter has been the perfect panacea.
I had hoped to share about this trip weeks ago, but like so much else in my life right now, it was pushed aside. We’ve shortened our originally planned trip in terms of days and distance, but it feels right to be doing this now and I’m grateful for the distraction and the chance to do something to honor Frankie.
Ian is my 17-year-old son, my youngest.
He’s my baby, despite the fact that Continue reading “I Just Can’t Wait to Get on the Road Again…”
Another Good Dog™ 