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.
Here is the post I had scheduled for today. I thought I’d have plenty of time to tell you about the impending (well, now present) little family in my puppy room. But if you’re curious how it happened, read on. It’s quite a story.
You may have noticed that we have a mama dog in the foster cottage! How did that happen? It’s a long, but magical story….
When I pulled Zarko, Blarney, and Amelia back in March, I posted a video telling the story of how I randomly picked them. Making the point that often, dogs get saved on whims, luck, and timing more than anything. (you can find it on my TikTok, and probably Facebook, if you’re curious)
A friend saw that post and looked into Critical Memphis Animals on Facebook, which posts the dogs scheduled for euthanasia at the city shelter (where all of my dogs have come from lately). She offered to pull a dog named Roxie on the eve of her euthanasia. I put her in touch with Team Memphis Rescue, who I work with to save dogs from the shelter.
Since Team Memphis has a policy of never leaving a kennel mate behind, I agreed to take the kennel mate, and they pulled that dog, too. At the time, I remember asking, if Roxie is not spayed, why is she in a kennel with an unneutered male? No one knew.
Things at that shelter are desperate. They euthanize for space three days a week, and all dogs get just two weeks before they are put on the euthanasia list. Likely, that was the only kennel available, and they came from the same home.
It may have been a choice between them bunking together or another dog being euthanized that day to make room. I don’t know, but please don’t demonize the shelter. They are working hard to bring in the more than twenty thousand strays still on the streets. (A result of the previous management’s practice of ‘community sheltering’ in order to obtain a No-kill status. If you want to know more about that devastating trend, hop over to Who Will Let the Dogs Out.org or watch this video.)
Anyway, back to my story. Roxie caught a transport north, and Gina fostered her at her home in Maryland. Roxie is a darling little pup (35 pounds at intake), super sweet, calm, and gentle. She quickly found an adopter.
Gina was scheduled to take Roxy for her spay surgery, but noticed that she was getting pretty fat. At the vet’s office, the vet said she definitely could be pregnant, so they canceled the spay (that vet will not do spay/abort, which is a relatively common practice in many shelters) and scheduled an ultrasound.
Meanwhile, the adopter still wanted to adopt her but was not able to whelp puppies. Gina wasn’t set up to do that either, so I volunteered. After all, it was my post that dragged them all into this. When the vet confirmed that she was six weeks pregnant, we arranged to meet up and transfer Roxie to me. And now she has taken up residence in the puppy room. And she is indeed a sweetheart, exactly as billed.
If the ultrasound is correct, I should have at least two weeks with her before the possibility of puppies. That puts the due date somewhere between May 3 and Mother’s Day.
When the puppies are born, we will likely know whether Roxie got pregnant in the shelter or before arriving there. With the animal crisis growing by the day, it seems insane that the shelter may have added to it. Maybe they assumed it was their only chance and figured if she got pregnant, she would be spayed anyway. Or maybe they assumed that since her kennel mate was only seven months old, he wouldn’t be able to impregnate her.
Who knows. All I know is that we have an impending birth and a beautiful dog whose life and puppies’ lives were saved because one woman spoke up for her.
Rescue truly is random.
Roxie continues to grow larger and sweeter. She is an easy girl to have around. We take regular laps of our back field, and she seems content to snooze her days away in the puppy room. Hazel is spending more time up in the rafters as Roxy is a serious cat chaser (so is Amelia).
If you’re local to me, I could really use more towels. Fostering puppies is towel intensive and my supply has dwindled! I need both bath and hand towels.
Meanwhile, I still have three amazing pups looking for homes of their own!
If you’d like more information about them, click on the “Foster Dogs Available for Adoption” tab I created on the blog’s main page. (and please share it!)
It’s been a long morning, so I’ll cut to the chase… (I can’t tell you how many as things are still not completed, but suffice it to say no one guessed a high enough number!)
I’ll tell you more later this week, or check Another Good Dog facebook group or my socials (FB, IG, or TT) for updates.
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 hep 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 Denta-life chews, TREATS!, dog vitamins, canned pate dog and puppy food, probiotics, training treats, soft treats, and bully sticks.
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.
My cottage is full of puppies! We went from a quiet space with just me and Nemo, to a bustling place with nonstop puppy wrestling (in two arenas), nonstop laundry, and nonstop cuteness!
First up is Sadie, a Dalmation mix puppy I am fostering for Rockingham-Harrisonburg SPCA. This is my second gig with them. I picked up Sadie from another foster who needed to move her (and also gave her red nail caps!).
The cast of foster dogs in this cottage is always changing. Here is a cheat sheet of who’s adoptable, who got adopted, and who is just passing through.
LOKI
STATUS: ADOPTABLE!
This uber puppy has been with us since I brought him home as a stowaway on our shelter tour two weeks ago. He is A-Mazing! (I know you’re already saying, “but Cara, you say that about every puppy!”)
I’ve just returned from a tour of shelters with Who Will Let the Dogs Out, and this time I came home with more than stories and connections; I brought back three new fosters!
Leo went home while I was away. He was adopted by a family local to me, so I should be able to keep tabs on him!
Have I told you recently that rescue is a rollercoaster?
Earlier this week, I was feeling quite panicked. It seemed like none of the five dogs I am currently fostering was ever going to leave. None of them had any interest or applications.
After a year with us, Diamond was able to go back home this past weekend! You can read about how she came to be with us here. From the start, we were never sure this day would come. But it finally did, and I’m thrilled for her. She has a fenced backyard of her own and is back with her mom for good.
Another Good Dog™ 