Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Introducing Kiya and Puppies!

First, to catch up from last week.... Sam and Vala went to PetSmart on Saturday, but neither one found a home. However, two other dogs did get adopted this week. Emmy is a pug that has been in foster care for awhile. My best friend was hoping to adopt her, until she found out she's very allergic to dogs. But she did spend enough time with Emmy that I got to hear about what a sweet wonderful little dog she was. Emmy got a lot of attention at PetSmart, and was adopted right away by a family with two other pugs, so she'll have new friends to play with. Ozzie was the other dog who was adopted, and we're very happy for him. He is a very sweet bassett hound mix, and he went to a home with another bassett hound mix! So both of our adopted dogs this week found homes with families who are already familiar with their breed - always helpful!

Sam and Vala have both been getting away with too much at home lately, and I need to get them back onto a better routine. They were both spayed a week ago and were told to "take it easy" until the stitches were removed, so they haven't been able to spend a lot of time playing or going for long walks or anything. This means I felt sorry for them and let them loose in the house without keeping a close eye on them. This is not good for their housebreaking, or for my shoes that they've chewed on several times. Well, one of them - the other downside is I can't tell who the culprit is, since I haven't caught them in the act! Oh well, they're both too cute to be mad at for long. Sam (the most likely culprit) is always ready to greet me at the door and give me puppy licks to say hello. She's very easygoing, and always ready to play. Vala, on the other hand, has become a bit lazy, and doesn't jump up and down like a bouncy ball anymore. She prefers to be a lap dog, and fortunately she's only 28 pounds, because she won't hesitate to jump onto the bed or couch or wherever a person is to make herself comfortable in their lap.

As if these two foster dogs weren't enough, plus one foster cat, and my own dog and cat, I brought home a mother dog and five puppies last night. This time I asked my husband *first*. Kittens aren't too hard to hide - but six more dogs in the house is another story. ;-) Another foster mom had taken in the pregnant dog (Kiya), and she had her puppies two weeks ago. Since the foster mom had company coming into town and needed to get them out of her house for a couple of weeks, I offered to dog-sit. So she said okay, but we worked out the details through some other volunteers. Imagine her surprise when she got home last night and the dog and puppies were gone! They'd been dognapped by me - and now I may not give them back! :-) The puppies are 17 days old today - they've just started to open their eyes. They can't walk or bark, and they just look like little potatoes. Cute potatoes, but potatoes nonetheless (sorry Gina, but its true). I'll post some pictures soon so you can see for yourself. They are happily ensconced in our basement now, safely away from the rest of the animals in the house. They weigh about 2 pounds and 12 oz. I'll post more about them soon!