Our adventures as a foster dog family
Love is not enough. At least when it comes to puppies (maybe when it comes to anything…).
Raising a good dog means putting in the work when they are puppies. The genes and individuality of your puppy are out of your control, but there’s lots more that is within your control.
Continue reading “Love is Not Enough When It Comes to Puppies”
What’s a girl to do when her puppy room is empty, the same foster dog has been here for months, her foster cats finally left (after more than a year with us!) and she’s itching to save animals?
Why take in a few foster kittens, of course!
Fostering kittens is a new venture. I know nothing about kittens this tiny. Lucky for me OPH has supplied me with everything I need, and their rescuer gave me lots of excellent advice. Ian is doing the bulk of the work—putting drops in their eyes, giving them their daily meds, feeding them, hanging out with them.
Continue reading “Seeing Them To Safety”
Flannery is about to enter her sixth month in OPH care which makes her a ‘long-term dog’.
Currently, up to 30% of the dogs on our site are ‘long term dogs’. There’s a reason why each dog got that label and it certainly doesn’t mean those dogs aren’t good dogs.
It’s just means Continue reading “Risk Worth the Reward: Long Term Dogs”
Flannery is such an interesting dog.
The puppies are cute and Hula Hoop is a sweetheart, but Flannery is complicated and funny and just so not-your-average-dog. I adore her. Even though she is nothing like any dog I’ve ever wanted.
She’s little. Only 30 pounds.
She’s a busy-body – always in the middle of whatever is happening and worming her way onto the couch or dog bed, even if there is clearly no room for her.
She is the first dog up at the slightest noise. And weirdly, Continue reading “A Dog’s Eye View”
All four dogs like to lounge in my office after their early morning romp in the play yard. Having four that get along so nicely is refreshing. Between that fact and the three quiet, sweet, not-quite-so-messy puppies, fostering has never been so easy.
Flannery finished her week shut-down and emerged a different dog. When she arrived she was snappy and tense, having proven to all that she will not do well in a home with young children. That wasn’t something I expected when she was adopted a few months ago by a family with five children.
Flannery is such a busy, fun, happy pup, so I was surprised to learn that Continue reading “Returning an Adopted Dog (Flannery, Flannery, Flannery…)”
Over the weekend, Nick posted a Beware of Dog sign on our driveway.
He did it in response to the fact that two of our neighbors were burglarized, but he also did it because legally it’s a good idea. You should be aware of my dogs.
It’s a sign we should have posted long ago since Lucy bit the UPS guy and Gracie tried to bite the Fed Ex man (and bit me instead when I stepped between them). And now Frankie Continue reading “Beware of Dog/s?”
I got a new foster dog.
And he’s not a puppy.
And he’s not a mama (obviously).
He’s Gomer Pyle… Continue reading “A Foreigner in a Foreign Land”
You’ve heard of buyer’s remorse?
Every now and again I’m pretty sure some of us have adopter’s remorse.
Not that I don’t LOVE my Frankie. Not that I wouldn’t adopt him AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN. He is my wubba-bubba. I can get teary just thinking about the fact that someday he will die.
And yet…. Continue reading “Adopter’s Remorse?”
Frankie’s going to school!
After searching high and low, I finally settled on a dog-training school that seemed to offer the most options, a solid reputation, and a reasonable price.
Before we could sign up for classes, we first had to attend a free orientation. This seemed like a great idea because of 1) Free! And 2) a chance to see how Frankie would react to the other students and 3) an opportunity to meet the trainers before shelling out any bucks.
Everything was looking stellar until Continue reading “Frankie Goes to School”
It is possibly Gala’s last week with us.
I say possibly, because we’ve been here before. Time and again, we’ve had a plan for Gala and it has not come to fruition. My family only rolls their eyes at me when I tell them Gala is leaving on [insert fairy-tale date].
This time she is set to move Continue reading “When Your Best Isn’t Enough”
Another Good Dog™ 