Which name do you like best?

See the post below this one to learn about the two new foster dogs I brought home last night. My husband named the shepherd/rottweiler mix Samantha, so that's definite. We're trying to come up with a name for the Pitbull mix now. At the moment I'm calling her Vala, but I think I might change it. Please vote for one or more names listed in the poll at the bottom of the page, for this dog:

Of course, my husband gets final say, but I will try to persuade him of whatever the majority likes. You may ask why he gets final say -- since he doesn't read this blog, I will tell you. :-) He is not crazy about us fostering dogs. And since I work full-time, I depend on him to help me somewhat, by taking the dogs out when he gets home from work, or putting up with them when they have accidents or chew up his shoes or things like that. I think if I let him name the dogs, he becomes more attached to them and therefore likes them better. At least, this is my working theory. ;-) I thought when I got these two dogs that he would like the pit bull puppy - it would remind him of Koda, possibly. So I got the pit bull puppy for him, and the shepherd puppy for me. Samantha reminds me of Ernie, who I recently fostered. However, so far it appears that he will be more attached to Sam, and I'll be more attached to the yet-unnamed dog (because it would be unfair for both of us to be more attached to the same dog)! I've only had them less than 24 hours though, so we'll see what happens. :-)

Introducing Sage

Koda was adopted at PetSmart yesterday. Actually it was a great day for adoptions, as three other puppies also found homes, as well as Daphne and Buddy! However, my husband is very sad about Koda. Even today he's walking around the house frowning and saying "we should have adopted her". I really miss her too, but I'm glad she has a new home that I think she'll be very happy with.

So last week at this time we had 5 dogs - our dog Remi, a previous foster Murphy(Coal) who we were dog sitting for, and foster dogs Hunter, Selena and Koda. Now only Remi and Selena are left. We thought Selena might be adopted, but the people who put in an application on her decided that she would be too active for life in a condo. So I'm actually glad she's sticking around for awhile - its hard enough to miss Koda without missing both of them at the same time! I've found the best thing for feeling better when missing one of my dogs is to save another one. So today we brought home Sage. She is a beautiful dog, no idea what kind she is, but I think she'll be adopted quickly. Here is a picture of her:

and here's one more...

Baby Expo, Foster Dog Update

Selena and I attended the baby expo on Saturday, and it went very well. I was hoping someone would want to adopt Selena, and several people did, but they all either had too many dogs already, or a husband or wife who wouldn't allow it. SO, Selena didn't find a home this week. However we met several nice people, made some new contacts for Heartland, and hopefully someone who picked up one of our cards will be looking for a dog or cat very soon.

Next week, Murphy is going to return to our house for a short visit. Murphy (previously named Coal) was one of my earlier foster dogs. I've stayed in touch with his new family, and they're going to let him stay with us while they go on vacation. I'm so excited - I fell in love with Murphy the first time I saw him, and I still miss him. I can't wait to see him again.

Hunter, Selena and Koda are all doing great. We haven't had any accidents from any of them in awhile, and they aren't being crated anymore except when we aren't home. They've chosen new sleeping arrangements at home. Remi sleeps on the love seat in the living room, Koda sleeps in between my husband and I in our bed, and Hunter sleeps on the other side of me in our bed. He likes to burrow under the covers until you can't even tell that he's there! We aren't sure where Selena sleeps - or IF she sleeps. :-) Actually she seems to prefer to start off on a dog bed in our room, and then move to a dog bed in the living room later in the night. Once my alarm goes off in the morning, she's right there next to me ready to jump on the bed and give me a lot of licks to get me up. The dogs are all settling in nicely and I'm going to be sad when one of them gets adopted. They'll all three be up at PetSmart this weekend to try to find a home, and I hope for their sake that they do find their own permanent family. In the meantime, I feel lucky to get to spend a small part of life with each one of them.

Here's a new picture of Koda - she went from 16 pounds when we got her, to 31 pounds and still growing!

Update on Selena, Tulsa and Koda

Selena and Tulsa spent the day at PetSmart hoping to get adopted on Saturday. Although no one picked them to take home, we (Heartland) did get three puppies and one other dog adopted, so it was a very good day! And I didn't mind taking them back home with me - things are starting to settle down as the dogs get used to their new routine. I've heard how important routines are for dogs, and now I can attest to it myself. They are much calmer and quieter now that they know what to expect - when they get to eat, and when they get to go outside - and when playtime starts and ends. It definitely helps with the house-training too. As soon as I get them to quit chasing the poor cat, we'll be all set. ;-)

Selena is doing better every day. She's settled in quickly, and is very smart! At first she was always hyper and desparate for attention, but now she has calmed down quite a bit. She has almost completely quit jumping up on people, unless they aren't quick enough to pet her while she's sitting at their feet. :-) She listens very well and comes when called every time. We went for a hike and then to the dog park yesterday, and she had a great time with all of the other dogs. Selena is quickly becoming one of my favorites - she is very eager to please and gets along with other people and other dogs. I think she'll make a great and easy pet for someone.

Tulsa continues to be a source of entertainment and a challenge! She gets a lot of attention when we're out, due to her unique look and coloring. She looks a bit like a fox, and sometimes when she's playing, she'll get a sneaky look on her face and "stalk" her prey (one of the other dogs). Of course, as soon as she "catches" the other dog, she's ready to have them chase her! She loves to play tag, and its a lot of fun to watch. The challenge comes in due to her wanting to bark a lot -- she's very loud for such a little dog. :-) We're still working on that and she's starting to improve. I was a little worried on the hike yesterday, since she would bark at any dog that she saw. I wasn't sure how she'd do at the dog park -- barking dogs create "instability" and can precipitate dog fights. But when we got to the dog park area, she did great - no barking at all! I was very happy about that.

Koda made her first appearance at PetSmart on Saturday too. She's not ready to be adopted yet - she still needs to be spayed and get her second round of shots. But my husband brought her up for a short amount of time so I could introduce her to the other volunteers. Several people asked about her, so I hope that is a sign she will be adopted quickly when she is ready. I want her to find a great home before my husband and I decide we can't part with her! She is so cute, and loves to cuddle. My favorite thing with Koda is to watch her get stuck in our fence. Okay, I know, that's probably not something I should share - but its so darn cute!! I thought she was too big to fit through the fence, but a few days ago when I was in the garage and all the dogs were in the backyard, all of a sudden she appeared in front of me in the garage. That's how I learned she could in fact wriggle through the slats in the fence. So now she isn't in the backyard unless my husband or I am back there with her. Yesterday we spent several hours in the back yard enjoying the beautiful weather, and there were two occasions where she decided to stick her head through the slats -- and then couldn't go forward or backward! I helped her once I stopped laughing - next time I'll get a picture. :-)

Four Dogs under the age of 2!!

Technically Remi just turned 2 years old -- but we basically have four puppies of varying ages at our house right now. A 2-year-old Great Dane, a 1-year-old cattle dog/shepherd/unknown mix, a 6-month-old Australian Cattle Dog, and a 3-month-old unknown mix puppy. The one thing these dogs have in common - they LOVE to play. Here are some pictures I took recently.

Here is Tulsa, showing us how much she dislikes her dog food -- she pretends if she eats it, it kills her.

Remi and Tulsa play tag:

When playtime is over, Remi makes a great table for Tulsa to munch on her bone.



Here's an idea -- let's put one toy in the middle of three puppies, and see what happens!

Koda says "why's that big dog destroying my puppy toy?!"

Introducing Koda

That's right, we now have another foster dog, at least temporarily. My husband went up to PetSmart a few days ago and some people found a puppy across the street that they didn't know what to do with so they took it to PetSmart. My husband volunteered to bring her home - just for one night. So yesterday he took her back to PetSmart to check for a micro-chip and hopefully find the puppy's owners. No luck - no tags and no microchip! He didn't want her to get sent to a shelter and possibly put to sleep if no one ever wanted her, so he brought her back home. We've posted ads online and sent the dog's picture to area shelters, hoping to find out who she belongs to. However, if this puppy was an unwanted dog that someone just dumped, then we may be keeping her until she can be adopted out! She is a very sweet puppy - gets along great with all three of our current dogs and appears to be house-trained as well! We've named her Koda. I just hope that either Selena or Tulsa finds a new home soon, since I'm afraid four dogs will be too much for both me and my husband to handle. Anyone out there interested in fostering a puppy for a few weeks?! :-)

Here are a few pictures of Koda: