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.

My Life as a Dog Foster. (Guest Post by Rachel the Foster Dog)

Dog Foster Mom is always talking about what her life is like. But let's be honest - you don't read this blog because of her - you read it because of US - the dogs and cats who live with her. She's just the typist/photographer. Yet over and over she posts about her life instead of our lives. So today since she's whining about being too tired and busy to blog, I, Rachel the Foster Dog, am going to tell you about MY life. What its REALLY like to be a foster dog. And I have to tell ya, it ain't all that great. Sure, my sister Kirsten thinks life is a bowl of dog biscuits. But that's only because she's naive. She doesn't know how bad off she really has it. I mean come on, do you really think sharing with a bunch of other dogs and cats is easy? It's not. And then, on the weekends, Foster Mom makes us go to this giant store where all these strangers come by with their people and want to sniff us. How rude. And when I bark at them to let them know that their presence is NOT appreciated, Foster Mom gets upset and tells me to be nice. As if. Look at what she did to my sister Kirsten.

That's right - she put her in a CAGE! And she makes me go in a cage too, and even covers it up when she says I bark too much. Does she think that I won't know those other dogs are there? She's not too smart sometimes. But don't worry, I'm working on training her. Once she learns that other dogs make me bark, she won't make me to go the pet store anymore, and she won't bring home any new dogs. And then my life will be so much better. I can put up with Remi and Noelle. Remi isn't a bad chap - he takes up a lot of room, but other than that I like him okay. And Noelle has some very good characteristics - she really has her mom and dad trained, so I think I can learn a lot from her. Ziggy is another story though - the sooner she can get rid of him, the better. He is T-R-O-U-B-L-E! But back to me - I am NOT happy about being a foster dog. I even heard someone say that me and Kirsten would be better off being apart! I was shocked. I am the Girl In Charge around here, and Kirsten NEEDS me. Without me, she'd probably be happy with just dog kibble and belly rubs. She doesn't know how to stand up for what she wants - she is always just trying to please people. I know enough to hold out for the really good stuff - like cheese. Never make it too easy for your people, or they will be training YOU instead of the other way around. Uh oh - I hear Foster Mom's car. Apparently she was out picking up something called a "Return". Yet another thing that takes her away from important things like paying attention to ME.

OH NO! Remi and Noelle were watching out the window, and they said the "Return" is another DOG! I have GOT to get Foster Mom trained soon - this is getting ridiculous. 

Our Fabulous Weekend (A Guest Post by Kirsten the Foster Dog)

Hi everyone, its Kirsten here.  Our foster mom is exhausted from a busy weekend, so she's letting us foster pets post this week so she can take a break.  This is me: 

I am here to tell you about our Fabulous Weekend. It was amazing - we had so much fun!!  On Saturday morning we got up early and went to Petco - this gigantic store with lots of fun things to sniff and people to greet.  We stayed there for hours and hours.  Me and my sister Rachel were there, and our foster brother Ziggy, and lots of other dogs and even some cats!  Some nice people came and met me, but then they ended up spending a lot of time with my friend Daisy.  This is Daisy:

Then those people left, and a little while later, our foster mom said it was time to go.  I thought we had to go back home, but instead, we went to a different store called PetSmart.  I was so excited.  There were even MORE people at that store, and lots and lots of doggies.  Rachel was kind of scared of the other doggies and she kept barking at them, but I thought it was fun to meet so many new friends.  We stayed there for a long time, and finally our foster mom said it was time to go home.  So I helped her pack up the car and all the crates and supplies, and then we all went back home.  When we got home she put Ziggy and me and Rachel in the backyard while she unloaded the car, but I knew she'd need my help, so I squeeeezed through the fence and went out to help her.  Then Rachel squeeeeezed through the fence behind me, but instead of helping, she ran off to bark at the neighbor's doggy.  Foster Mom didn't seem very happy about that.  But she was sure happy to see me!  She clapped her hands and called me and ran inside with me - but then she left me inside and ran right back out to get Rachel.  I guess she didn't realize I just wanted to help her.  Anyway, once she came back with Rachel, she told us it was nap time.  So that was the end of our fun on Saturday.

However, Sunday was even BETTER!  We went BACK to PetSmart.  Foster Mom left Ziggy at home because she said she couldn't handle PetSmart with TWO difficult dogs two days in a row.  She couldn't decide if she should leave Ziggy or Rachel at home.  I was just glad she wasn't considering leaving me at home - adoption events are the best thing EVER!   So we went to PetSmart and Rachel barked at all the other dogs that went by.  Sometimes I helped her, because I do like to do whatever my sister does - but the rest of the time I did my best to get belly rubs.  This is how I do it.  I spot a friendly person, and I do this:

And then this

And then this

And almost every time they stop and give me a belly rub!  It's just GREAT! 

Those people who had met Daisy on Saturday came back on Sunday and 'dopted her!  So everyone was very happy for her.  Also there were NINE little puppies there looking for homes and three of them got 'dopted too - so everyone was happy 'bout that too.  I met some nice people on Sunday and Foster Mom said they want to 'dopt me too!  So she's going to take me out to their house to meet them later this week and maybe I'll get 'dopted and live with them forever and ever. 

Introducing Rachel and Kirsten

My stepdaughter Rachael is visiting this week from her home in Alabama.  So when she met my two newest foster dogs, I asked her for help in naming them.  She immediately began calling one of them Rachel (spelled differently than her own name, per her instructions).  Then my niece Kirsten called and said she was coming over to visit Rachael, so we decided to name the second puppy after her.  That's how these two newest foster puppies got their names.

Rachel and Kirsten came from another rescue group down in Southern Missouri.  They don't have a lot of adoptions there since it is a rural area for the most part, so when we get the chance, we try to help out by taking in some of their dogs.  These two are so cute that I can't imagine they'll take long to find homes.  And as a bonus, they are super-sweet and very "clean".  Some puppies are what we call "dirty" - they go to the bathroom in their kennel, then they walk in it, then they roll in it, then they spread it around as much as possible.  It's just so much fun to clean up after "dirty" puppies.  But some puppies are "clean" - they go in one spot, very neatly, and make sure to avoid that spot.  Even better, they hold it for as long as possible to wait until they get outside instead of just going when and where they need to.  "Clean" puppies are very easy to housetrain.  I'm very happy that Rachel and Kirsten are not only sweet and cute, but they are also "clean", and therefore a breeze to clean up after.  I have to keep them in a quarantine area for a few days just to make sure they don't get sick from anything they were exposed to previously, so its nice to let them stay together in a big kennel/ex-pen all day and not have a huge mess to clean up when I get home from work each evening. 

 The brindle puppy is Rachel.  She is a little bit more shy than her sister.  Both of the girls are encountering a lot of new things that they probably never saw before.  A lot of cars and big trucks driving by the yard.  People out walking their dogs on leashes.  It's a whole different world here in suburbia.  But they're adjusting well so far. 

The tan puppy is Kirsten.  The rescue who sent them to us had listed them as Corgi mixes.  I'm not sure what breeds they may be.  I need to come up with two breeds for their listing on the website - so I'll probably stick with Corgi for one.... what other breeds do you see in them?  I know it's hard to tell in a picture.  They're both small - at around 5 months old, they are only 15 pounds each.