Introducing Moose; Puppy News

I've never been one of those people who dresses up their dogs.  Well, except Ziggy.  And an occasional puppy.  But the rest of the time?  I am lucky to dress myself, much less my dogs.  But then I got a new foster dog, and he came with his own coat.  And since it is very cold out, I got to dress him up too.  This is Moose wearing his coat on the way to the vet's office.  He prefers to sit in the front passenger seat. 

Granted, Moose is slightly larger than most dogs who wear clothes.  But even Great Danes get cold sometimes!

This is Moose standing on the snowy deck without any clothes on.  Doesn't he look cold?

Just look in his eyes - you can almost see him shivering.  Or perhaps that's a look of "what's wrong with you, crazy lady?  Put down the camera and let's go inside!" 

Moose is a two-year-old Great Dane.  He is a great dog, and lets me dress him up whenever I want to. 

In other news, Izzy the Great Pyrenees puppy was adopted after only one day at my house.  She went to a home with two other dogs, a cat, some older kids, and a mom who is a veterinarian and will be able to take her to work every day.  Eventually Izzy is going to learn to be a Therapy Dog, and next time I need therapy, I know just who to call!

In other, other news, Lacey's puppies will turn 8 weeks old tomorrow!  I've started receiving adoption applications on them, and I think some of them will be gone within the next few days!  Here are a few recent puppy pictures.  I've added thoughts for each puppy, in case you can't tell what they are thinking. 

Buster Brown

"What do you mean this bone is too big for me?"

Avia

"It's a long way down to the ground from here!"

Nike

"This is my toy, and you can't have it!"

Puma


"Who me?  I didn't do anything!"

 Teva

It's not easy being green...ish-yellow.

Who Doesn't Love Fluffy White Puppies?

Today I brought home these two puppies:

They were part of an "oops" litter turned into rescue.  They are purebred Great Pyrenees, and at twelve weeks old, they already weigh over 30 pounds each.  That means they're likely to be well over 100 pounds when they are full grown.

Fluffy white puppies are fun.  I'm having a hard time putting them down.  They're sweet and cuddly and I love them.

The boy, who I've been calling Iggy, is the more outgoing of the two.  He's going to another foster home tomorrow morning.

The girl, who I named Izzy, is a bit more shy.  She will be staying with me until she gets adopted.  I'm pretty sure that'll be no more than one week, because so far we've received about 500 adoption applications for her.  Okay, maybe not quite that many.  But I know we have at least two that are pre-approved and it's just a matter of me finding time to meet with the potential adopters.

Given how adorable she is, I'm thinking whomever meets her is going to be adopting her immediately.  But the hardest part of fostering fluffy white puppies is that everyone wants to adopt them because they are adorable.  They don't think about how much 100+ pound dogs cost (some vetting is more expensive as is heartworm preventative and so on due to their weight).  Or how much they eat.  Or how much they shed.  And because these dogs were bred to guard livestock, they can be vocal.  And protective.  They need to be socialized well, and they need an owner that will keep them no matter what.  And sadly most of the applications we get are from people who don't think about those things, but just see the fluffy white puppy and think "I want that!".  So the hardest part is going through all 500 applications and doing our best to decide which homes will really be wonderful, forever homes for these guys.  And then telling the other 498 people that they weren't picked.  I'm thinking of taking some of the extra fluff on these guys and attaching it to Ziggy, to see if I can convince anyone to adopt him instead.  Think it will work?

Guest Post From Ziggy

Hi! I’m Ziggy the Adoptable Dog. I have been living here with my foster mom for a few years now, and we’ve both worked very hard during that time. My foster mom has tried to find me a home, and I have tried to find things to eat. Overall, it’s clear that I’ve been much more successful than she has. She has done things like taking me to training, teaching me tricks, and helping me with my website and Facebook page. So far I’ve only been adopted once and that only lasted three weeks. While she was working so hard to find me a home, I’ve been busy finding things to eat. My foster mom claims that I have food allergies and can only eat potatoes and ducks. So I’ve had to work hard to find other items to supplement my diet. I’ve learned to enjoy a wide variety of foods like bananas, no-chew spray, and sticks. I pray for food every chance I get, and my prayers are almost always answered. I also have made some friends that take pity on me and send me food whenever they can. One of these friends, a dog named Blueberry, had her human mom send me a care package. I think that’s what they call it when you’re stuck in foster care with a very limited amount of food to eat.


Blueberry and her mom Stephanie mailed me a box, and I couldn’t wait to eat it!

Yep, it doesn’t taste too bad!

But then my foster mom said if I opened the box, I could find stuff inside!

Helloooooo? Anything in here????

Foster mom calls these “peanuts” but they sure don’t smell like peanuts!

Oh boy, oh boy, my own chew bone!

And a Bumble! I think I’ll name him Blueberry!

AND a box of Pumpkin treats!  I’ll eat these all right now!

I also got a Frisbee and a ball and a nice card! It was such a great care package. I wonder if Blueberry’s mom wants to adopt me.

More Returns!

One of the challenges of rescue is taking back previously adopted dogs when their owners can no longer care for them.  Since I volunteer with an all-foster home group, we have no shelter building to house the dogs.  If a dog is going to be returned, we hope that the person who originally fostered the dog will take him or her back.  But if that isn't possible, then everyone in the group works together to find a place for the dog to go.  I am fortunate enough to work with a wonderful group of volunteers, and someone is always stepping up to help whenever is needed.

Returns don't happen very often, but sometimes it seems as if when one happens, it is immediately followed by many more!  In the past two weeks, we've received several returned dogs, and it seems that most of them have been mine!  The good news is that Nosey, the blind Beagle puppy who was going to be returned, ended up going to a family member of the adopter and is no longer being returned.  Also one of our new foster volunteers stepped up to help out by fostering Bogey when he was returned.  He's doing wonderful in his new foster home!  It also helped that Allie and Natasha's adoptions are both working out, and in addition Trooper the Black Lab and Libby the deaf Jack Russell Terrier were also adopted!

Jax is one of the returns that I took in last week.  He is a great little guy - only 8 months old - and already I'm forcing him to earn his keep by collecting donations at adoption events.  So far he's earned around $40 over the past two adoption events - not bad for a dog!

Jax

The other returns that ended up coming back to my house are Louie the Black Lab mix and Gemma the deaf pit bull mix. Both were returned because their owners could no longer afford to care for them.

Louie is a year and a half old, and was part of the "Donald Duck" litter.  

Louie!

He is now all grown up.  He's very nervous around new people at first, but he's quickly learned to trust me and has become my constant companion, even sleeping on my bed at night.  

Louie looking nervous during an adoption event.

Gemma is the other recent return.  She originally came from a shelter in Kansas City, where she was going to be put down without ever being made available for adoption due to being deaf and heartworm positive and having some health issues.  Fortunately the shelter has a great rescue coordinator who shared her and when I saw her on Facebook I immediately said I'd take her.  She had been hit by a car prior to being taken to the shelter and has some nerve damage in her front leg which causes her to limp.  However she completed her heartworm treatment and is in good health other than the continuing issues with her leg.  Gemma is a very sweet dog - she is affectionate and loves everyone she meets.  The other family who fostered her previously wants to take her back as soon as their current foster dog is adopted, but in the meantime she is staying here with me.  I am enjoying having her back!

Gemma

The other exciting thing that happened this week was Zara, Ziggy's littermate who was adopted out three years ago, was lost and came back for a few days until we could locate her owner.  She is now safely back home!

Zara

For those of you wondering, Ziggy and Zara used to love to play together.  I wanted to give them a chance to play together again while Zara was back, but it turns out that they're much more mature now, and Ziggy was too busy worrying about if Zara would steal his stuff to actually want to play.  So Zara played with all the other fosters for a few days and seemed to have a great time visiting everyone except Ziggy!

Catching Up

Between the holidays and recovering from a cold, I have fallen way behind. So here's a quick update on everyone, and going forward I will do my best to keep up with new pictures and stories!

When I last posted, I had ten dogs at my house. As of right now, I still have ten, but not the same ten! I still have Lacey and her five puppies, now named Nike (chocolate female), Puma (smallest black female), Buster Brown (black male), Teva (yellow female), and Avia (largest black female). The puppies continue to be brilliant and extremely advanced for their age of less than five weeks old! They already have distinct personalities. Nike is the most vocal and demanding - she's like the big sister to the rest. Puma is the quiet one, content to sit back and watch what is going on. Buster Brown is the sweet one who is the most affectionate of the bunch. Teva is the adorable one who likes to be in the middle of whatever is going on, and Avia is the hungry one who is always first to the food bowl! The pups are growing quickly and new pictures will be coming soon.

Ziggy is still at my house. He's almost completely destroyed his bachelor pad, including destuffing the dog bed, finding and eating several dewormer pills (20 times the dose he should have had - of course it had no effect on him), and managing to burn out every lightbulb except one. I'm not sure how he pulled that last one off, but I'm sure it was something he did. He received a wonderful Christmas gift from Blueberry's human, and I'll tell you all about it as soon as I download the pictures off of my camera.

Lucky the deaf dog is also still at my house. He actually went out on a trial adoption. It lasted a week, which is seven days longer than I expected. He was returned for wanting to eat the bird, among other things. Poor Lucky isn't having the best luck. Fortunately the bird was uninjured.

Allie the extremely energetic Akita mix was also adopted. She's currently on day 5 of the trial period. This is 5 days longer than I expected! If there is any dog out there that needs a home (besides Ziggy), Allie is the one. So I am praying that this trial adoption works out... and I'm considering changing my phone number just to be sure. Just kidding.

Natasha the extremely-obsessed-with-me Poodle mix also is out on a trial adoption. She has a lot better chance of success, but being that she's in a home where I don't live, there's no guarantee. This is the dog that has gone to two different homes for at least three weeks each, then come back to me and never even looked back at her previous caretaker. And yet if I take two steps away from her at an adoption event, she goes nuts. It's kind of scary.

On the other hand, Libby the deaf JRT sees me at an adoption event and looks right through me.  She's still at another foster home, where her foster mom reports she gets the same treatment.  This does not make it easy for Libby to get adopted since she ignores anyone and everyone equally, but at least it makes me feel better that it isn't just me that she treats this way.  And it sort of balances out Natasha's behavior. 

Trooper the Black Lab I found on the side of the road is back at my house now too.  He's recovered from his broken spine due to being hit by a car, and he is now available for adoption.  Trooper is a good dog and gets along with everyone except Lucky, so currently I have to keep Ziggy, Lucky, and Trooper apart from each other at all times. 

The only other dog that Trooper didn't get along with was another deaf white dog named Ozzie.  I temporarily fostered him for a few days, and Trooper and Ozzie became mortal enemies during this time.  Ozzie is a Westie mix we think, and he's the cutest little dog who is a typical terrier and willing to take on dogs three times his size.  He is now back in his original foster home and I have to admit I miss the little guy!  He is available for adoption and hopefully will find a forever home soon! 

I also have another male foster dog named Jax.  Jax was adopted out as a puppy and recently returned because he didn't do well with children.  Since Ozzie also didn't like Jax, Jax came to my house instead of going back to his original foster home.  I really like Jax - he's friendly and well-behaved and happy and easygoing and smart.  He gets along with all the other dogs too.  I'm going to take his picture one of these days and get him up on the website so he can get adopted.  Sometime soon. 

As if these five adults and five puppies weren't enough, I recently received some sad news that two of my previous foster dogs are being returned.  The first is Nosey, the blind Beagle puppy I fostered in October.  The family who adopted him have to move out of state into an apartment that doesn't allow dogs, so Nosey, now named Radar, will be coming back to me sometime soon.  The other return is Bogey, the very shy dog.  He has been in a foster-to-adopt situation for two months but the foster family finally decided that another dog would be a better fit for their home. So Bogey returns on Saturday.  In an ironic twist, I just realized that the same blog post where I introduced Bogey last February, I also announced Allie's original adoption.  Now I'm announcing Bogey's return and Allie's second potential adoption almost one year after that original post. 

If you've managed to read this far, thanks for hanging in there, and I promise to provide shorter posts in the future, along with more pictures.  You're welcome.