Our adventures as a foster dog family
Are you feeling as unsettled as I am?
I waffle between let’s-just-get-through-this-and-it’ll-all-be-fine-(different-but-fine) to OMG-what-if-what-if-what-if. It really depends on how much news I’ve been reading.
Last Thursday, Nick and I took Fanny and our foster pup, Shenanigans, and Continue reading “There’s Never Been a Better Time to Foster”
If it were for nearly any other reason, I’d probably be enjoying the ‘social distancing’ as it’s giving me plenty of time to write, read, and hang out with the dogs.
As it is, the whole situation is heartbreaking as I watch my son’s senior year disappear.
His swim relay made states and was ranked number one, only to arrive for their day of competition just as the tournament was canceled. Now his track and field season, soccer season, and musical are all at least postponed and possibly canceled. Let’s not even think about prom or graduation. UGH.
To brighten his spirits, I Continue reading “Fostering Our Way Through This Crazy Time”
A week ago, I still had four foster dogs under my roof.
That’s not so odd (for me) except that on Friday I leave for a ten-day whirlwind tour of 16 rescues, shelters, and pounds in Tennessee, Mississippi, and the tail of Missouri as part of Who Will Let the Dogs Out (an initiative of Operation Paws for Homes).
Leaving foster dogs at the house for my busy husband and my even-busier son to care for in my absence isn’t really an option. Which meant Continue reading “Doing the Impossible Requires Rose-Colored Glasses (or I Believe in Adoption Magic)”
Even with two of the tiny puppies still here, the house seemed much too quiet, so on Sunday Nick and I went to visit Rockee, a hound dog in a boarding facility nearby.
Rockee (formerly known as Witch Doctor) is an OPH dog who, through no fault of his own, landed in boarding because of foster’s schedules and an unexpected return. He’s had a few faithful boarding buddies who have taken him for hikes and gotten him out to adoption events, but living in a boarding facility isn’t great for any dog’s mental state, plus it costs the rescue money that could be better spent saving dogs.
Rockee was adopted and then returned (after one day) for Continue reading “Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog (and a Nice One at That)”
I’m not a night owl, so when I saw the transport time to pick up my puppies, I joined the chorus of grumbling that came from pretty much everyone whose new foster dog was on the last stop scheduled to arrive at 11:30pm Friday. Normally, transport arrives around 9:30 (although one recent transport didn’t arrive until closer to 1am thanks to traffic on 95). I am generally sound asleep by 9:30, so that was already pushing it, but 11:30?
I registered my unhappiness but accepted that it wasn’t within my realm of control. I’ve long ago come to grips with the fact that fostering can be a lot of things and one of those is inconvenient.
Friday night, we had a nice send-off dinner for my oldest who was moving to Phoenix the next day for a job and then I settled in to binge watch Pitbulls and Paroles until it was time to go. In the end, transport arrived at 10:45; somehow like the pilots flying east, they made up time in the air. Continue reading “Meet the Pep Boys- Manny, Mo, and Jack!”
And poof! He was gone.
I warned you we wouldn’t have Bo very long. They don’t make them much nicer. We had a fun week with him and packed in as much as we could, but on Sunday Bo left for his forever home.
It’s a great home with Continue reading “Fosterless”
One of my semi-permanent foster kitties, Luna, seems to enjoy smacking our new foster dog, Bo (he is Bowflex on the OPH website and was Tick at the shelter).
Bo is like one of those overly eager to please, see-only-the-sunny-side dogs who pokes his nose into everything, including Luna’s face. He chases the reflections from the prism that hangs in my window as they waver and wander over the walls, and he quickly changes course, no hard-feelings, when Continue reading “Fostering Can Be Fun and Easy”
Bell is recovering from her spay surgery. She’s sporting the cone of shame and confined to crate or kitchen, and it’s still a challenge to keep this busy dog down. I’ve never had a mama dog bounce back from this surgery so unaffected and strong.
Thankfully, she tolerates the cone, even sitting calmly for me while I try to figure out how to feed all the plastic straps in and out of the holes to keep it in place!
Yesterday Bell had her last romps with Fanny. They played all day long, wrestling and chasing. We had nearly eight inches of snow last week and Continue reading “Three New Friends I Met This Week”
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!”
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™ 