A Few Quick Updates

Trixie is a Boston Terrier mix, possibly mixed with Tasmanian Devil.  She is very playful, and has a lot of energy.  Trixie loves everyone, and thinks that everyone also is very playful and has a lot of energy.  It takes four normal dogs to wear out Trixie, if she plays with them one at a time until they get tired.  I have no idea how many humans it takes to wear out Trixie because it hasn't been done yet.  Trixie does occasionally settle down after wearing out all the dogs and humans in the house, and on those occasions she is happy to cuddle up and go to sleep.  Of course by that time I've been asleep for hours, so I usually miss this exciting event.  By the time I get up in the morning, she is once again ready to play! 

Trixie showing off her cute underbite

Mickey is a Chihuahua mix who was adopted out several months ago and was just returned due to not getting along with the other dog in the home. He does very well with all the dogs at my house, but he can be a bit of a bully (all eight pounds of him) so I can understand why another dog may not have wanted to put up with that. He is very well mannered with people and has been a big hit at adoption events. He is scheduled to go to a foster-to-adopt home on Monday! 


Mickey!

All Paws recently took in five American Eskimo Dogs after their owner passed away, and two of them (Casper and Buddy) came to my house. These were the first Eskies I have ever fostered, and I fell in love with the breed. The dogs are sweet and playful and easy-going. Buddy has moved on to another foster home now, and Casper has been adopted!

American Eskimo Dogs



Flashback Friday: Bosco



Buddy at my house

Last April we were notified of two adorable white puppies at an area shelter. All Paws Rescue pulled them both, and named them Freckles and Buddy. Freckles was adopted quickly. Buddy had a bit of a harder time. He was adopted, then returned, then adopted, then returned, and then adopted. By the time he was four months old, he'd already lived with four different families (including foster families). By the time he was seven months old, it was six different families. It wasn't that he was incorrigible. Dogs that are incorrigible live with their foster familes for years without being adopted. They never even get to go live at another foster home. Not that I would know anything about dogs like Ziggy that are incorrigible.



Bosco at PetSmart last month

 Oops... I was trying so hard to get through just one blog post without mentioning you-know-who. It just couldn't happen. Anyway, Buddy was bounced around through no fault of his own. In the process he ended up with a new name (Bosco) and eventually a new family. In August he was adopted, and a few weeks ago I ran into Bosco with his family at PetSmart. The dad reports that he is doing great, never has had any house-breaking issues, and is very well behaved. Between the dad and the daughter, it was obvious that he is very well loved. I then tried to talk the dad into a second dog... one that already knows Bosco and loves to wrestle with him... but they didn't fall for it. It was worth a try.






Wrestling Match: Bosco vs. Ziggy

Remember Buddy? He was the puppy that kept getting bounced around to different foster and adoptive homes. And now he's back with me - family number four out of five so far. He's seven months old, and his last family had changed his name to Bosco, so since he now answers to that I've decided not to change it. Bosco came back because his family was having trouble getting him housetrained (to make a long story short). It's more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it. So he'll be closely supervised while I see if I can figure out what the problem is, and in the meantime, he's having a blast playing with Ziggy. He gets along great with all the dogs, but he and Ziggy are so much alike in size and play style, that they spend hours doing this:

6:32pm - Bosco initiates the play wrestling match, and Ziggy quickly accepts.

6:33pm - Ziggy bites Bosco's leg, while Bosco goes for Ziggy's neck

6:38pm - Ziggy bites Bosco's neck, while Bosco aims for Ziggy's ear

6:44pm - Ziggy calls for a time out.

6:44pm - Bosco declines the time out.

6:45pm - Ziggy takes down Bosco, then takes a time out anyway.

 6:46pm - "Time In!"

6:49pm - Ziggy goes for the neck, and finds Bosco's ticklish spot.

7:04pm - The wrestling match has moved from the concrete to the overgrown grass.

7:16pm - Ziggy holds down Bosco... "1....2....3..."

7:16pm - But Bosco breaks out of the hold while Ziggy pauses to chew on a tail.

7:34pm - Nothing outlasts the Energizer Bosco and Ziggy

7:51pm - Brief 30 second rest...

7:51pm - And they're back at it.

7:59pm - No official winner is declared, but the match is postponed in favor of a very late dinner.

Here's a short video I took of the wrestling match, just before they slammed into me and knocked me over - for the 8th time that night. Then I gave up and went and hid inside the rest of the night.

Welcome Back, Bosco!  We missed you! 

Mud – The bane of my existence

I used to look forward to the Spring. Then I got a dog. All of a sudden, Spring stopped meaning warm weather and longer days, and it started meaning rain and mud. The more dogs, the more mud in the house – there is a direct correlation. And of course the heavier the dog, the more mud gets tracked in, so having a 160 pound Great Dane is always worse in the Spring.

Even having a dog like Noelle who hates the rain and mud, and will NEVER walk through a mud puddle or voluntarily get dirty, comes with its own issues, since she has to be forced to go out into the rain and much prefers to have a not-so-accidental “accident” inside in order to avoid getting wet. I no longer look forward to the Spring, although there are occasional funny moments. Like last week when my foster dog Buddy decided to take a mud bath. And then all I could think about was when I said I liked Muddy Buddys, I was referring to the Chex snack food recipe and not an actual dog.

This kind of Muddy Buddy = GOOD.

 This kind of Muddy Buddy = NOT SO GOOD.

Oh well, I should be grateful that at least it's not waterproof mascara. 

Adoptions!

Some weeks I go to adoption events and none of the foster pets are adopted. Other weeks turn out to be amazing, wonderful, fantastic weeks that make it all worthwhile. Last week has been one of those weeks! First, on Thursday my foster dog Kirsten was adopted to the family that met her a week ago. They live on this wonderful property, have three kids and two other dogs, and Kirsten is going to be sooo spoiled there!    Then Jack/Rolo, the Yellow Lab was adopted from the shelter where he was staying.  I actually ran into his new family at the vet's office last night, and couldn't believe it was actually Jack (now named Bronx).  He looked very good, and oh so happy.  His new family seems very wonderful, and he has another yellow lab just like him for a sibling now!  Then on Saturday not only were three more of the nine puppies adopted (leaving only three still looking for homes!) but also my foster dog Rachel was adopted!!! She went home with a very nice lady who also has another dog.  The lady runs marathons and I think Rachel will make a great running partner for her!  Also on Saturday Buddy went back to his first foster home, so within three days I went from having four foster dogs in the house to only one (Ziggy - of course). The house is quiet, and I miss my fosters, but I'm also enjoying the break. Here is a brief video of what it's like to live with six dogs - four of them less than one year old. Usually noisy and hectic - always entertaining!

The Best Toy Ever (Guest Post by Buddy the Foster Dog)

Did you know that there are these things called Kongs, that are filled with food and treats?! They are SO YUMMY! And sometimes they even have CHEESE inside. Where have these things been all my life? Speaking of my life - I'm Buddy, and I'm a vagabond. I've lived with four different families so far, and I'm only four months old. The nice lady who I'm living with this week said that I could tell you about me today. But first let me say, that if you haven't seen some of these Kongs, you should ask your people to go get some for you right away. Yummmmmm. Okay, where was I. Right - my life. I started out with my brother Freckles and some other puppies. The people we lived with took the other puppies away, and then when just me and Freckles were left, they took us to a place called a shelter. It was scary there, but we had food and water and a safe place to stay.

Then my second family came and got me and took me to their house. They said I was their foster dog, and that I could live with them until I found a furever family. It was fun there. I got lots of attention from the littlest people. Then one day we went to a big store and I saw Freckles again, and I met some new people - my third family. I thought they might be my furever family when they took me home with them. I lived there for a week but they had a doggie that didn't like me very much. They finally said that I wasn't going to work out since their doggie was so unhappy, so they brought me back to the big store, where the nice lady who was with Freckles at the big store last time met me and took me home. She said my second family can't get me yet, but I get to go back to them on Saturday.

So in the meantime, I'm living with my fourth family, and the nice lady says I'm becoming a world traveler. She said Freckles is already at his furever family and she hopes I will find mine soon. In the meantime, I am having fun playing with the other dogs here. And enjoying the most awesomest toy ever - especially when the nice lady puts cheese in it!

There are a lot of other doggies here. I think the nice lady keeps getting confused because now there are three of us white doggies at once and she said that Ziggy and Noelle and I all look alike and it is hard to tell us apart. Even Noelle was confused when I came here because she seemed to think I was Ziggy at first. But Ziggy is lots bigger than me, and he's much faster at getting his Kong cleaned out. Did I mention that Kongs are the bestest toy invention ever? And now I see the nice lady is getting some more of them filled up with yummy food, so I have to go. Bye bye.