Tag: rescue

dog rescue, foster dogs, fostering, hookworms, puppies, Spay and Neuter, worms

The Reality of Rescue Hits This Foster Home Hard

Cara Achterberg

Health is sacred. We are all realizing this as we struggle together against a virus we can’t see.

I’m also realizing this as I care for our foster dogs this week. Siobhan is handling heartworm treatment beautifully so far, but I will not say she is out of the woods because I am still learning the hard way that we cannot take anything for granted when it comes to these amazing, yet fragile animals.

We lost one of our puppies on Sunday night. Continue reading “The Reality of Rescue Hits This Foster Home Hard” →

dog rescue, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering, litters, puppies

It’s the Cuteness That Saves Them

Cara Achterberg

What can I say about the puppies? They are adorable, but a ton of work. Every time I get to this point (six weeks), I wonder why I do this and swear I will never do it again.

Like small children, I suppose, it’s the cuteness that keeps us from tossing them out on their ears. This bunch is especially cute, with something for every taste. Only four puppies are officially spoken for, so if you’re considering a puppy in your lives (and you’re ready for the work that involves), let me tell you who is still available… Continue reading “It’s the Cuteness That Saves Them” →

dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, Flannery Oconnor, former foster dogs, foster dogs, fostering, Gala, hard to adopt, Long Term Dog

Sometimes it Don’t Come Easy…

Cara Achterberg

Sometimes rescue is hard. Sometimes it doesn’t come easy.

As I put the final touches on my next book, due to the publisher December 1 (and if all goes well, released July 2020), I’ve spent a lot of time remembering one particular dog who changed my life. Gala was with us for over eleven months, but truly she has never left my heart.

Gala-7
photo by Nancy Slattery

The new book, One Hundred Dogs and Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues (and yes, that is a mouthful and no, it wasn’t up to me), begins with Gala. Up until Gala, fostering had been mostly fun, occasionally stressful, but ultimately a win-win for all parties involved.

Gala challenged me, not just in terms of exposing how much I don’t know about dogs, but emotionally as I wrestled Continue reading “Sometimes it Don’t Come Easy…” →

dog rescue, emergency transport, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering, puppies, shelters

A Puppy Hero

Cara Achterberg

This week, I was reminded again when it comes to rescue—you can’t predict anything.

Or, at least, I can’t predict anything.

The wild ride began last Wednesday when Continue reading “A Puppy Hero” →

dog rescue, euthanasia, no-kill, oph, shelters

Please Don’t Forget the Dogs Still Waiting

Cara Achterberg

Today is Remember Me Thursday.

It’s a day to light a candle to remember the countless dogs who are waiting in shelters for a forever family or who have lost their lives while waiting.

Having just spent over a week visiting the shelters and Continue reading “Please Don’t Forget the Dogs Still Waiting” →

dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, foster dogs, fostering, hard to adopt, Long Term Dog

Back to the Dogs

Cara Achterberg

This morning as I began to reorient myself to life in the real world after three wonderful weeks in the mountains, I started by cleaning up and putting away the detritus of summer. School starts on Thursday. It will be the last ‘first day’ for us as our baby starts his senior year in high school.

While I was away, Thelma Continue reading “Back to the Dogs” →

Destruction, dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, foster dogs, fostering, hard to adopt, Long Term Dog, oph, training, writing

Our Trifecta of Foster Dogs

Cara Achterberg

It’s felt like we have been in a holding pattern for many, many weeks here. Flannery, Daisy, and Thelma have become permanent fixtures. Our whole family has adapted to life with them.

Don’t leave the kitchen gate open or ANYTHING on the floor or Continue reading “Our Trifecta of Foster Dogs” →

dog rescue, foster dogs, fosterdogs, fostering, Long Term Dog, Rescue Road Trip

The State of Our Pack

Cara Achterberg

I owe you an update.

From my perspective, I’ve been to the moon and back this past month emotionally. Between losing my precious pup Frankie and witnessing all that I saw in Tennessee, our foster dogs have been an afterthought, at least in terms of writing. Yet they’ve been here all along demanding care and attention, an anchor preventing me from being washed away by the sadness. So here’s what’s happening with all of them. Continue reading “The State of Our Pack” →

dog rescue, fosterdogs, fostering, puppies, Rescue Road Trip, shelters

I Just Can’t Wait to Get on the Road Again…

Cara Achterberg

I am still struggling on a daily basis to accept that Frankie is gone. To say I miss him doesn’t even begin to touch what I feel. Caring for the other dogs gets me out of bed, but moving forward? That seemed out of reach. I need to do something with my grief – so the trip that Ian and I have been planning since winter has been the perfect panacea.

I had hoped to share about this trip weeks ago, but like so much else in my life right now, it was pushed aside. We’ve shortened our originally planned trip in terms of days and distance, but it feels right to be doing this now and I’m grateful for the distraction and the chance to do something to honor Frankie.

Ian is my 17-year-old son, my youngest.

20181117_005946600_iOS (2)

He’s my baby, despite the fact that Continue reading “I Just Can’t Wait to Get on the Road Again…” →