Tag: puppy

adopters, foster dogs, puppies

Knowing Where They Come From

Cara Achterberg

I don’t usually know where my foster dogs come from. Well, that’s not exactly right, I know it’s a shelter or maybe another foster home, but not much about their story.

I don’t know their parents or their previous owners.

When I foster puppies (and dogs), everyone wants to know what breed they are. But that’s another detail I don’t know and can only guess.

Not so, with the dogs and puppies I have fostered so far this year. All of them have come from local hoarding/eviction situations.

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adopters, dog rescue, fostering dogs, puppies

Puppy-palooza!

Cara Achterberg

It’s a regular puppy-palooza at this foster cottage. I was home from the latest shelter tour only a few hours when the deluge began.

Nancy and I picked up Sampson from the house of a new HSSC foster where he’d been with his mom for the last ten days. Tina told us that he’s a doll but he was driving her older dog a little nuts. She would continue to foster Sampson’s mama (Beatrix’s sister!) because she’s so easy and good, but would be grateful if I could take the youngster off her hands.

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fosterdogs, Humane Society of Shenandoah County, Long Term Dog, mama dogs, puppies

Small Dog Puppies and Big Dog Puppies

Cara Achterberg

Oh my gosh, small dog puppies are SO much easier than big dog puppies. At least in large quantities.

Clean up takes a fraction of the time and the correlating stink is also much lighter!

Maybe the best part is that I can hold three of four of them on my lap at a time (which still leaves two yelling for my attentions).

And talk about cuteness – why are small things so much cuter than large things?

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Bring on the Little Dog People!

Cara Achterberg

Who is looking for a little dog?

Nearly all the puppies I foster are large breed puppies, but for a change I’ve got some littles!

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adopters, dog rescue, fosterdogs, hound dogs, litters, mama dogs, puppies, worms

Down to the Wire with These Puppies

Cara Achterberg

We are getting down to the wire with these puppies, matching them with adopters, microchipping (tomorrow!), and I just slogged through the multi-day Safeguard deworming protocol (none of us enjoyed it). They’ll get their second set of vaccines and be ready to go home as early as December 30th.

Every day I grow more convinced that they are hound dogs. As a foster, I try very hard to dodge fostering hound dog puppies. Not because they aren’t cute, oh my gosh, they are. And not because they aren’t fun or sweet or snuggly – they’ve got that in spades. But because they are messy.

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adopters, dog rescue, fostering, Humane Society of Shenandoah County, puppies, training

Love is Not Enough When It Comes to Puppies

Cara Achterberg

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.

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