Long Overdue Foster Pet Updates

Ziggy the deaf pit bull is doing well.  He's attending Rally classes each week, and enjoys finding yet another way to earn treats.  I've also discovered that he and Jefferson are good playmates.  They love to play chase and wrestle with each other.

Chloe the pit bull is my girl.  She's like the best dog ever.  She started heartworm treatments and is now on strict rest for eight weeks.  She's pretty lazy though so she's happy to lay around on the couch all day.

Ace the deaf Dogo Argentino mix is now adopted!  He went to a home with another dog who is a therapy dog, and his new owner plans to train Ace to be a therapy dog as well.

Fanny the Basset Hound mix did really well in her beginning agility class.  She loved going to class, but had to cut her beginners class session short because she found her forever home!  She's even happier now to be in a home where she gets all the attention.

Maggie the deaf Old English Sheepdog is getting ready to get on a plane.  She has some aggression issues that need special help, so she's going to be traveling to Minnesota, to Midwest Old English Sheepdog Rescue.  Pilots 'N Paws will be helping her to get to her final destination.

Jefferson the Shepherd/Lab mix is his same silly self.  He has been to the vet twice in the past two weeks because he has caused his tail to start bleeding by wagging it so much.  He can't help it, he's just a happy guy!  He loves to play and wrestle with Maggie and with Ziggy - they are his two best friends.







And that's all the time we have for updates today!  More updates coming soon!

Improper Use Of a Dog Crate

Dog crates can be a huge help when raising a puppy or an adult dog who hasn't yet learned good house manners.  They are a useful tool, but they can also be used incorrectly.  Ace recently provided me with an excellent demonstration of this fact. 

"Am I doing it right, foster lady?"

So if you use a crate with your dog, make sure to give them proper instructions first!

The Flying Ace

Ace was living in Tennessee with a family who had rescued him from a bad situation.  They tried to find him a permanent home in their area but weren't able to do so.  Ace is deaf, and the family needed to find him a home with someone who was willing to take on a deaf dog.  I said if they could get him to me, I'd take him as a foster dog.  That's where the wonderful people at the Dogo Argentino Rescue Network stepped forward.  They put me in touch with a pilot from Pilots N Paws, who would use his own time, money, and his own plane to fly Ace to me.  He also took many pictures along the way so I could tell you about it.

The Flying Ace

Ace used to be named Doofus, by an uncaring owner who thought he was stupid just because he was deaf.  The family who rescued him renamed him Einstein because they quickly realized he was really smart.  Since I have fostered a dog named Einstein very recently, I decided to change his name (he's deaf, so he doesn't mind).  And since Pilot Jim told me that Einstein wanted to fly the plane on the way here, I decided he must be a great pilot so I renamed him Ace.

Ace in flight

Ace is an amazing dog.  He did great on his flight here - after supervising Pilot Jim and finding that he was a more than capable pilot, he watched out the window for awhile to make sure Pilot Jim knew where he was going, and then like any smart relief pilot, he took a nap so he'd be well rested and ready to fly if Pilot Jim needed a break.

"Wake me if you need me, Pilot Jim!"

 Fortunately for everyone involved, Pilot Jim did not need to call on Ace's untested flying skill, and they made it safely to the ground without any help from Ace.  Pilot Jim has flown many of these flights, rescuing dogs all over the country and flying them to safety.  It always amazes me how many people are out there willing to help these homeless animals.  Pilots N Paws is a non-profit agency devoted to saving innocent animals by pilots donating their time, money and talents to get these animals to rescues, shelters, and adoptive homes all over the country.  Huge thanks to Pilot Jim for helping to save Ace!

"Thanks so much Pilot Jim!"

After the flight, I met Pilot Jim and Ace at the airport, where we posed for a quick picture.  Ace looks quite proud of himself for making it through the flight.

"I flew all the way here!"

He's now at my house and settling in nicely.  He's met all the other dogs and loves to play with Jefferson and Roo.  Charlie is still being stand-offish, and Ziggy seems to think I tried to replace him while he was gone, but everyone else just loves Ace.  He was already fully vetted by the family who rescued him so he'll be ready to start training and trying to find a new home right away.  He's such a sweet dog that I think he'll have no trouble finding a home.

Kitten Adoptions

Three of my kittens have found new homes! Ace, Apollo and Taffy were all adopted on Saturday. I now just have two left from each litter. Blaze and Monkee are the slightly older kittens, and then Astro and Avalanche are the two remaining flood kittens. I'm hoping to teach Monkee and Astro to be more friendly this week, and to teach Blaze to be less friendly. Avalanche is already perfect. Monkee and Astro just aren't that interested in cuddling, so I'm trying to teach them how nice it is to be held and petted. Blaze just needs to be taught that people are not supposed to be climbed like trees - he digs his claws in and climbs from the floor to the top of my head, and then digs his claws into my head. He does this to everyone he meets unfortunately. I know a little bit about dog training and dog behavior, but nothing about cats, so it is time for me to consult one of the cat foster moms and learn some new things!

None of the dogs were adopted this week, but they did do very well at Petsmart. It's always hard to guess how a dog will do if they've never been there. Some of them are quiet and shy, some are friendly and outgoing, and some of them are loud and upset. I was afraid that Jade would be one of the loud and upset dogs - barking at every person and every dog that walked by. But she actually did very well - she turned out to be one of the friendly, outgoing dogs! We put a donation vest on her to try to get some donations, and she happily greeted all the people and dogs, and had no problems. I was very relieved about that. The puppies of course also did great, and enjoyed playing with another puppy that was there to be adopted (Yosemite Sam, the last of Molly's puppies still waiting to be adopted). We didn't get any new puppies adopted this week though - the only dog adoptions were pre-arranged ones. Now I'm hoping that someone sees one of my puppies on the website this week and decides to adopt them, so they don't have to wait until next weekend to get another chance at a new home.

Dog and Cat Pictures

The kittens have taken over the house, and the dogs are not sure what to make of it. Here are some pictures of the fun they've been having! As always, you can click on any of the pictures to see them larger size.

This is Ace attacking Remi (Ace won, of course).



Here, the kittens have taken over Samantha's dog food dish, and refuse to share with her.


George, the adult cat on the left, is thinking "where are all these kittens coming from?!"


Samantha and Apollo vye for dominance of the coffee table (as expected, Apollo wins).


Avalanche, surveying his domain!

Kitten Pictures

I took more pictures of all my kittens to get them added to the website, so I'll share them here also. Here are my cat-napped kittens...

This is Monkee - she has such a cute little face, and her fur is soooo soft!

This is Taffy - she's my favorite - she always wants to jump up on my shoulders, and just stays there while I walk around the house doing chores.


This is Blaze. He's the only boy of this litter, and he is very friendly. I found him yesterday walking on Remi's back. Remi is my 150 lb Great Dane. Remi just looked at him like "Huh?! What's going on?!".


This is Ella - she's the mom of the first three kittens I fostered a couple months ago. She is still up at Petsmart and hasn't been adopted yet. :-(


Here is a picture of Ace - he's one of my flood kittens. He loves to play with feather toys, and will growl and play tug with it!


This is Apollo. He came back from the vet with this cute little bandana, and I can't bear to take it off of him! It has little mice and cheese on it.


This is Astro - he is my attack kitten. He loves to sneak up on and attack a small stuffed dog in the kitten's playroom. (Yes, my kittens have their own playroom -- they're a little bit spoiled.)

This is Avalanche. He's the tough guy kitten - he growls at the other kittens if they try to eat while he's eating canned food. Its a good thing he's so cute - its very hard to take him seriously with his little kitten growl!




Okay, back to dog news. We went to the Rascal's baseball game last night - it was one of their "Take your Dog to the Ballpark" nights. It was a lot of fun. My husband went with me, and we took Samantha and Vala. Then he decided to go back home and bring Remi up also. All the dogs had fun. Noah wanted to go, but we thought he might change his mind once he got there. He doesn't like all the people and noise, so he stayed home and watched over the kittens while we were gone. Vala and Sam got lots of attention. We had set up a table on the concourse, where we were able to talk to many people about Heartland, and met several people who had adopted their pets from Heartland in the past! Samantha collected donations in her "Donation Dog Vest" and we made around $40 in donations. All the dogs did great at meeting the people and even the other dogs. The only difficult part was that Samantha doesn't like the mascots. She would go crazy every time one came by -- and they have several mascots at that ballpark! But in spite of that, it was overall a very nice night. Their next game where you can bring your dog to the ballpark will be on Sunday, July 13th.