Our adventures as a foster dog family
My next foster, Bippity-Bop, is making her way eastward as you read this! Yesterday, she traveled from the Rio Grande Valley to San Antonio, where she was boarded overnight and this morning was placed on an east-bound transport.
She’ll arrive in Stephens City, about a half-hour north of us on Friday evening. That’s if all goes according to plan. Anyone in rescue knows that according to plan is often simply a fantasy.
Continue reading “Dog Marketing and Distribution”
I’ve come to realize that pictures are more powerful than words. And video is even more powerful than pictures. I can write and write and write about a subject, but seeing it in action always has a bigger impact.
This month marks one year since Mia entered our lives. It astounds me that she is still here. I remember watching her with her puppies and with the people she met and thinking, “It will be so easy to get this dog adopted.”
A puppy for Christmas is a pretty great present, especially if it’s these particular puppies. All of the puppies are medically cleared to go home on Christmas eve.
Lassie and Beethoven have eager adopters who have already come to meet them, who will take home their very special Christmas presents this Thursday. We are still processing adoption applications for Benji, but hopefully he will also go home.
And Otis?
Continue reading “Home for the Holidays”
I think the reason people who foster a litter of puppies agree to do it again is the same reason people have more than one child. You forget.
You forget the mess. You forget the noise. You forget the smell. You forget the laundry and the work and endlessness of it.
All you remember is the joy and the cuteness and the love.
I asked for this. I could have stuck with full-grown dogs. But no, I needed puppies.
Continue reading “Put a Little More Puppy in Your Day”
I’m pretty sure Mia will be here indefinitely.
It may take some time for her people to find her. She’s incredibly special and so her people are likely special too. She’s ceaseless entertainment for Fanny (and for us), so we don’t mind waiting.
Continue reading “Coming Soon to a Foster Home Near You: Puppies!”
It’s another quiet week at this foster house. We’re in between foster dogs, something that feels rare for us as the dogs have generally overlapped for years now.
Tito was adopted on Sunday by a couple of ‘old hippies’ (their words!). It seems like a really great fit. They are experienced pit bull people who don’t just want to adopt, but to ‘rescue.’
They understand that Tito is a work in progress and that any dog adopted into a new home will require a significant effort on their part. At the start of this pandemic, Tito had only ever lived on a logging chain 24/7. Since then he has been in two rescues, one foster home, and now a second adoptive home. They are committed to helping him feel safe and loved, while teaching him about life in his new home.
Adopting a dog is not something anyone should do on a whim. Yes, there are many times when you get that ‘feeling’ or ‘connection’ or ‘moment’ that tells you that this is the one.
But when you are a part of a family—human and canine (and feline)—adopting a dog has to be a family decision.
In this family, the opinions of the kids are important, but as far as the adoption decision, Continue reading “The Adoption Decision”
In less than a week these puppies will head to their forever homes! I surely won’t forget this crew—it has been an equally heartbreaking and heartfilling experience being their foster mom. By this time with every litter I am ready for them to go – they have outgrown our little puppy room and the work of caring for them is enormous. Still, I am trying to treasure it and working hard to give them the very best start to the very best lives.
Here are this week’s entries in their entirety. Continue reading “Diary of a Rescue: Week Six”
After spending nine days visiting shelters, rescues, dog pounds, and one awful flea market where they sold dogs and puppies, it was inevitable that I would come home from our Who Will Let the Dogs Out trip with a dog.
Mind you, I didn’t even take a crate with me on this trip. (It wouldn’t fit in our rental – Jeep’s look much bigger from the outside than the inside.)
Wednesday night, I finally hit a wall of exhaustion and emotion. I told Nancy in colorful language that I was finished with the trip, Continue reading “You Can’t Come Home Without a Dog”
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”
Another Good Dog™ 