When I sat watching Roxy give birth back on May 4th, I could never have imagined the journey her second born pup would take to adoption. It has been one heck of a ride for Princess Leia.
All eight of her siblings in the May the Fourth Be With You litter were adopted, some quicker than others, but for the last month and a half, she’s been the only one left.
I honestly thought that Leia would be one of the first to go home. She is a beautiful pup with blue eyes, a happy attitude, and a serious snuggleability. In fact, she was one of the first pups spoken for.
Still fostering my two perfect pups – Princess Leia and Amelia Bedelia.
Last night, Princess Leia hosted three of her siblings for a WWF match playdate. It was fun to see Chewy (now Luka), Yoda (now Boone), and Obi (now Leo) and their adopters.
I really thought my foster cottage would be emptying out this week. But clearly, I was (as always) overly optimistic.
The last puppy Han found a wonderful adopter I’ve known for years. Amelia had a Meet & Greet schedule, and Leia’s adopter requested her records so she could set up Doggie Daycare for her in preparation for picking her up on Sunday.
Fostering is nothing if not unpredictable. For weeks I have been communicating with Leia’s adopter. She’d applied and been approved to adopt three weeks ago, but asked if it was possible for me to hang on to Leia until after an important planned trip. She would come for her on August 2.
It’s been a big week for moving dogs! Last Saturday’s adoption event was a big success thanks to the marketing prowess and enormous heart of Joy at Traveler’s Treasures. From that one event FOUR puppies found homes!
Slowly, slowly, the adoptions are happening. Five left for their forever homes this past week!
The remaining four puppies will be joining me for another adoption event this weekend at Travelers Treasures in Woodstock. Joy, the shopkeeper who lives up to her name, is a big supporter of the foster cottage.
Adopting out puppies used to be easy. Especially when you have puppies as cute, sweet, and calm as the bunch I have.
But times have changed and/or I’m fostering in a different way than I used to foster. It’s much easier to find adopters when you have the power of a large, established local rescue’s marketing prowess behind your efforts.
Since relocating to Virginia, I’ve been more of a freelance foster. I’ve fostered for six different organizations – always trying to offer help where it is most needed. Of late, that has been for X-Port Paws and Team Memphis Rescue & Support. Neither is local to me, but both are saving lives no one else will save.
This means that finding adopters is mostly on me. I couldn’t do it without the several thousand subscribers to this blog, followers on Facebook/Instagram, and of late, the multitudes on TikTok.
I know that many of you already have a dog or three (or eight), so I’m not asking you to adopt one of these amazing animals in my foster cottage.
Teenager dogs, like teenager humans, can be challenging. They test limits, can be impulsive, and sometimes seem to have multiple personalities. They overreact, can be quite dramatic, messy, noisy, and contrary—unwilling to give you their attention because of all the other things calling to them.
Blarney is a teenager. So he’s a ton of fun, always ready for an adventure, but also a lot to manage. For the most part, he’s just blasted along following Amelia and Toothless. Amelia is older, wiser, so much more steady and mature. She is quick to call him out but also loves to run and rumble with him.
Toothless was only a puppy when he was here, so he was the perfect foil and sidekick for Blarney. With him gone, I have more time to focus on Blarney and I’ve realized that I should not have just assumed he was doing fine because he was more or less compliant in going in/out to potty, quietish in his crate, and seemed very happy.
Now I see that he is also very much into his teenagerhood. So, I’ve begun working with my little guy. I know the potential here. He is smart and happy and such a positive soul. I need to build him some guiderails and teach him how to self-regulate.
We are going slow. Just like I would with a puppy. Sitting calmly gets you rewarded. Not pulling on the leash means we can move forward. We are starting to learn go-to-place, which he is picking up at remarkable speed. He is an incredibly bright and eager student. He already knows sit, down, come, crate, and place. Stay is a work-in-progress. So is leash-training.
What he needs now is a family ready to continue his training and give him the steady love he craves. I know he would be a whiz kid at agility. I spent twenty minutes on a course with him, and he conquered multiple obstacles – even tunnels on the first try.
Here is a video of that day:
At just 28 pounds, he’s a great size. And while he probably couldn’t cohabitate with a cat, he does love kids and would be a fun family dog ready for any adventure.
I welcome any ideas you have for continuing to build this teenager into a good adult dog. I want to prepare him to succeed in his future adoptive home. He’s such a special guy and I know he will make someone super happy.
Meanwhile, Amelia is still here. Still steady. Still sweet. Still needing a person to call her own. She is wicked smart and I’m sure she could be a rock star at dog sports like flyball or agility for Fast Kat. She has so much focus, you could likely train her to do anything. Also, I’ve discovered she is a wonderful hiking buddy – steady and sure, not wandering to sniff nonstop (like my other hiking buddies). I’ve run with her also, which she does well unless the cows are near the fence, then its game over.
Here is a video I made of her yesterday:
And the puppies are growing. Roxy abruptly weaned them last weekend. She refuses to nurse them and just jumps away when they try. She will head back to her Maryland foster and eventually her adoptive home next week.
A few of my favorite puppy pics from this week. To see more pictures and live videos, visit Another Good Dog on facebook.
If you are local or want to make the road trip, the puppies would love visitors. They love people and need the attention/socialization. Their personalities are really starting to show and I’ll introduce you to them in the next few weeks. Lots of individuals, but gosh, the sweetest bunch – just like their mom and dad.
If you are interested in adopting one of these precious babes, click here to apply. They are available for adoption through Team Memphis Rescue & Support.
If you are interested in adopting Blarney or Amelia, click here for the adoption application.
And, of course, feel free to contact me with questions about any of these darlings. (fosterdogcottage@gmail.com)
For information on 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, be sure to join the Facebook group, Another Good Dog. And if you’re on TikTok, you can find regular videos of my current fosters, dog news/tips, and more if you follow me there.
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, plus ideas, solutions, and resources to help shelters save lives.
If you’d like to support the work we do (and save the rescue and me some money), shop our Amazon wishlist. We are currently in need of dog vitamins, canned pate dog and puppy food, probiotics, puppy toys (always), and salmon oil.
If you’d like to take a vacation with your whole pack, consider visiting one of our two dog-WELCOMING vacation rentals. Visit BringDogs.com to learn more.
This past weekend Amelia joined two friends and me for a girls’ weekend. I was only slightly concerned about how she would handle it. She’s been an excellent guest at the foster cottage, besides jumping the fence and digging some sizeable holes in the yard.
We’ve remediated those issues by adding electric wire to the fence and throwing in the towel on the holes. We’ve long needed to sod the foster playyard. The grass has never grown well ever since routing our septic line through the area, which was formerly a gravel parking place. Amelia made the decision for us. Once she is adopted, we’ll spend the money and buy the sod.
Taking her with me to our dog-friendly rental, Gracie’s Place, to meet my friends was an opportunity to see how she does out in the world and living inside a ‘real’ home. She was perfect. Really. I’m not making it up. I have two witnesses. She explored the house but settled on hanging out on the back patio where she chased reflections every time the door opened and searched for bugs. The sandbox was a hit, too.
When I adopted/hired Hazel to join me in the foster cottage, I thought my cat rescue days were over. Hazel hates other cats. Her primary jobs beyond being beautiful and keeping me company are cat-testing the foster dogs and training the puppies to respect cats. She does both jobs very well.
So when a strange cat turned up on our property, Hazel made sure that cat did not come within striking distance of the cottage or the house. She likes her job and is not interested in an assistant.
