Nicoh was adopted, KERMIT WAS ADOPTED!

First, the not-so-surprising news that Nicoh was adopted today. I met his new family and thought they were great. Nicoh has a wonderful new mom and three boys to wrestle and play with, and a new dog who appears to be a larger version of Nicoh (roughly standard poodle size). I miss him but I'm so happy for him to be able to start his life with such a great new family. The hardest part about fostering a dog like Nicoh was fielding the many phone calls and applications we received for him. I talked to many wonderful families and it is very hard to tell them that someone else applied before them and Nicoh is no longer available. I know small dogs, especially low-shedding dogs like poodles, are harder to find than bigger dogs, and so he was in very high demand. Not only was he an adorable small breed low-shedding dog, but he was house-trained and loving and got along with everyone and everything. I even taught him to jump into my arms on command, and all he wanted was to be carried around and be petted. That was so cool. :-) Dogs like Nicoh don't come along every day.

However, for every "perfect" dog like Nicoh, there's a dog out there who's not so perfect, but who is just as wonderful. If you've read my blog for very long, you've probably heard me talk about Kermit a few times. Kermit was not one of my foster dogs, but he was a very special dog for me and for many of the Heartland volunteers. Kermit was taken in by volunteers at 8 weeks old. Many people would have chosen not to save Kermit, because he had a neurological disorder and no one really knew how serious it was. However, over time our Heartland volunteers worked with him, and taught him, and loved him. And he became this giant 70 lb dog who was house-trained and would sit on command and loved everyone, and all he needed to be happy was a belly rub and a kind word. And his neurological disorder was not a big deal - it means he bobs his head up and down in a funny way, and he has a little trouble keeping his balance so he walks funny and falls down sometimes. But because he's a large, black dog, and because he wasn't "perfect", he was passed over for adoption time after time, year after year. Until last Saturday - two years after he came into Heartland as a young puppy, he finally found his new home!! A lady saw him at PetSmart and realized he needed her, and she needed him. She is a wonderful person who has saved some other special needs animals and now Kermit is part of her family, and he will be getting a lot of belly rubs and love for the rest of his life.

In addition to the great news about Nicoh and Kermit, there were several other dogs also adopted last Saturday. Among those were the rest of the litter of adorable puppies - all six of them!! This is good, because my litter of puppies will be ready for adoption in a few weeks, and they really don't need the competition of ADORABLE puppies - they're cute, but not THAT cute. :-) Also, the puppies I talked about in my last post who need a foster home have found a place to stay with another of the Heartland foster homes. I'm so happy that someone else made room for them and now they will be saved. And once again, we have a whole lot of puppies who will soon be available for adoption, so send your friends who are looking to adopt a puppy to us! ;-)