dog rescue, foster dogs

Fostering Joy: Amelia’s Perfect Weekend with Friends

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.

Continue reading “Fostering Joy: Amelia’s Perfect Weekend with Friends”
foster fail, puppies

Buyer’s Remorse?

You know how parents tend to overreact with their first kid? How they immediately assume the worst-case scenario so that every funny bump is cancer and every new word means their child is destined to win a Pulitzer?

This is me with Frankie.

He’s actually the second puppy I’ve ever adopted, Gracie being the first. When I adopted Gracie, though, I also had three kids at home, a traveling husband, and I was co-president of the PTO. There just wasn’t time to get all worked up over her every move.

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But now I only have one kid at home and he’s bigger than me and other than stocking the refrigerator (almost daily), he needs very little from me. Which gives me plenty of time to fuss over Frankie. Continue reading “Buyer’s Remorse?”