Flashback Friday: Pip

In June of 2009 I fostered this dog:

When I got him, he was a six or seven week old puppy that fit into the palm of my hand.  He was quickly adopted and recently his new dad found me at PetSmart and told me that Pip, now named Mario, is doing great.  He showed me this picture of him.  He's still small and still adorable!  His dad said that Mario is doing great and pretty much rules the house.  I love hearing updates on my previous fosters - it's great to know that they are getting to live their "happily ever after".

Pip was adopted!, Reintroducing Artemis

My little beagle puppy Pip was adopted! I knew he wouldn't take long to find a home, he's just too cute. A previous Heartland adopter actually saw him on my blog and asked to meet him when he was ready for adoption, so we did a home visit and Pip and his dog J.D. got along great. I miss my little guy, but I'm glad that he's in such good hands now.

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, or visiting Heartland at PetSmart, you may remember Artemis, the black cat who looked like a panther. He was my foster cat, adopted out in March. Unfortunately he has had some trouble adjusting to the other male cat in the household and had to be returned. Artemis (or Artie for short) still looks kind of like a panther... just a little fatter than most panthers. :-) I'll hold onto him for awhile for evaluation to make sure he doesn't have any new behavior issues, and then try to find him another home without another male cat. Here's his picture from when I had him in March:

Sedna was adopted!; Update on my fosters

It was a busy weekend for Heartland volunteers. In addition to our regular adoptions at PetSmart, we had two other events going on. Some of our volunteers went to a special off-site adoption event, and they were nice enough to take a couple of my foster cats for me. One of the cats, Sedna, found a new home at the event. Thanks to Julie, Ashley, Sue and Lisa for volunteering at this event! Other volunteers held a bake sale fundraiser at Dierberg's. They did a great job raising money for Heartland! Thanks to Brenda, Erin, Becky, Teresa, Lisa, and Michael, and all the volunteers who donated baked goods for the event.

Here's an update on my fosters. I started this blog so I could write about my foster pets and go back later to read it and remember them and things about them, so I want to write a bit about everyone I have right now (no counting please).

Noelle - She turned one year old this week! Happy Birthday my girl. Noelle is the longest term foster I've had, and the favorite foster I've had. She gets so excited to see me every time, and just comes flying at me wagging her tail as fast as she can. She had a home visit with a family this week that sounded like a perfect fit, and I was scared I would lose her - but she attacked their dog and so she came back home with me. Last night I gave her a donated stuffed animal, and she got to engage in her favorite pastime - destuffing! Tonight after work I get to go home and pick up stuffing that is spread all over the bedroom. She's worth the extra work though. :-)

Kai - Kai is a temporary foster dog that I've had a hard time letting go. Her foster mom finally convinced me she should come back to her, so later this week she'll go back to her original foster home. She's such a good dog - rather timid and shy, but she's improved so much in the past few weeks. Her favorite thing to do is to sit by the baby gate that blocks the hallway to the back rooms where the kittens are. She LOVES the kittens - a little too much. She will sit at that gate for hours, waiting for a glimpse of the kittens. Even when I have the bedroom doors shut so no kittens could possibly come out, she still sits there staring down the hall, looking for them.

Gator - Gator has improved a lot in the past couple of weeks - he no longer bites my shoes or feet or legs every second that he can. Now he only does it once every 10 or 15 seconds! He has the cutest puppy gallop, and when I call the dogs and they all come running, he is so cute always lagging behind everyone else because he's too little to keep up. I was hoping that Gator would be adopted this weekend, since he's such an adorable puppy, but he was not. I recently received an e-mail from another Heartland volunteer who's neighbor brought her a puppy that she didn't want. So in order for me to take in that puppy, another Heartland volunteer offered to take Gator and foster him. So tonight Gator goes to a new home. He's already been there to be "dog-sat" for a few hours, so I'm sure he'll do fine - actually he'll be spoiled rotten - first time foster homes are usually awesome at that. :-)

Pip - Pip is a very small beagle mix who is living in my daughter's room with some kittens. He acts JUST like a kitten - I'm a little concerned that he doesn't know how to be a dog. It would be good for him to be around other puppies or dogs right now, but he's so little that he'll get hurt playing with any of my other dogs, so he just has me and the kittens to play with. He likes to climb up on my shoulder when I hold him, and he likes to play with feather toys, and he loves to wrestle with the kittens. He sleeps in a cat bed too.

Rowdy - Rowdy hasn't been properly introduced yet, but I'll introduce him and post his picture soon. Rowdy is, well, he's the opposite of rowdy. He's very laid back for the most part. He loves to go outside and roll in the grass. He doesn't appear to care for bones or most treats. He doesn't want to play with most toys. He mostly wants to sit in your lap and be petted. Then maybe go for a walk, then straight back into the air conditioning for some more petting.

Scribbles - My foster cat who is living at PetSmart. She's kind of taken Whisper's place as the "cat with an attitude" at PetSmart now that Whisper is adopted. I hope Scribbles gets a home soon too - she is such a sweet cat when she's not at PetSmart or around other animals, but no one has been able to see that since she's kind of mean while she's there.

Marco & Polo - These guys are also living at PetSmart temporarily, and they get a lot of attention up there. They're my most laid-back cats I've had in a long time. Although that could just be because I'm used to hyper kittens all the time now. :-)

Anastasia - The last of the Disney litter, Stasi is living up at PetSmart temporarily and hopefully will be adopted quickly. She's my little complainer - she is very vocal and quick to complain if she's unhappy, but she's also quick to purr if she's happy.

Mercury & Venus - The last two of the Solar System litter - they're doing great. Both of them constantly try to sneak out of the bedroom they're in and join the rest of the house, even though Kai is stalking them on the other side of the gate. They are super affectionate and friendly and purr everytime I pick them up. These kittens are going to be big - they're about double the size of the Disney litter at the same age.

Chessie - She's the most playful of all the kittens I have. She's constantly running or climbing or jumping.

Capri - I never particularly wanted a Siamese cat - I've never been drawn to their looks, and was surprised they are always in such high demand. But I think if I adopted a cat of my own, it might be Capri. She's a Siamese mix - cream with chocolate points, and blue eyes, and she's so affectionate. I can't figure out what it is about her that makes me want to keep her so much, but I am considering the idea of adopting her.

Cabbie & Cilla - These two kittens are so funny - they're roly-poly kittens who are probably a week or two younger than Capri and Chessie. Cabbie has a cold right now, and Cilla has some missing hair so they're both quarantined from the rest of the kittens while they undergo treatment. They don't seem to mind so much though - they are playful but not as much as Chessie - and they're affectionate but not as much as Capri. They're mostly happy with each other, a few toys, someplace comfortable to sleep, and lots of canned kitten food.

Mercury, Venus, Sedna; Outtakes

I took some new pictures of Mercury, Venus and Sedna, my Solar System kittens, for the website. Mercury is so affectionate, he'll never leave me alone to let me take his picture, so here I took a picture by holding up the camera in one hand and pointing it at him, and trying to crop my face out of the picture. It was the best I could do! I can't help it that he loves me so much. :-)

Venus is so sweet. She has a bladder infection so she is on antibiotics right now, and she has to go back to the vet next week to get rechecked out. Even though she probably doesn't feel good, and doesn't like her medicine, she's always purring.


Sedna has the coolest tail. It's ringed, kind of like a raccoon. In this picture she's sitting on an awesome scratching post made by the Girl Scouts. All of the kittens love it - thanks Girl Scouts!



And now for some fun, silly pictures! Here Sedna is trying to grab a feather toy that I'm swinging in front of the camera - she's not really picking on her sister like it appears. At least not deliberately.


Remember Emma, my Newfoundland foster dog? She managed to put a nice big hole in her PetCot pet bed before she was adopted. The company said they can repair it, but since I haven't brought it in to be fixed yet, it's just sitting in the extra bedroom leaning against the wall. The kittens seem to be enjoying it the way it is...

In the other bedroom, Pip is living with Cilla, Capri, Chessie & Cabbie, and they all get along great. I swear he thinks he's a cat - he runs and plays just like they do, and they all wrestle together. He just can't figure out how to climb on top of the ex-pen or the bed like the kittens do.

Here's Pip playing with the feather toy while Capri chases the string. Puppies and kittens are so entertaining!

Introducing Gator and Pip

Since I'm limited on the number of adult dogs I'm allowed to care for, I'm going to be fostering puppies for awhile. There are no limits on puppies until they reach 12 weeks of age, so I hope to have any future puppy fosters adopted by then, but if not they can go and stay at the Heartland shelter until they're adopted. I'm excited to be able to save dogs who need help again, so I now have two new puppies to introduce!

First is Gator. Gator was rescued from a municipal shelter when he was out of time. They were going to euthanize him instead of making him available for adoption because he was a little bit growly with his food. But he went to another foster home for his quarantine period and his foster mom worked with him and hand-fed him and taught him that he doesn't have to fight to keep his food, and that its a good thing to have people around while he eats. Now he's doing great with that. After his quarantine period, I took Gator home, and introduced him to my other fosters. He loves to play tug of war and wrestle with the other dogs. He sits and waits whenever he thinks he might get a treat, and he LOVES canned food. He follows me from room to room and never sits still. He went over to another foster home yesterday for a play date with Patch and Rags, and they all had a great time wearing each other out.

Next is Pip. Pip is the puppy I talked about in my last post, that was being given away free to anyone who would take him. He is a beagle mix, possibly mixed with min-pin or some other really small dog. He fits into the palm of my hand, and he wants nothing more than to be held and petted. He sleeps pretty often, but then will wake up and run around with the uncoordinated gait of a 6-7 week old puppy. He loves to carry around stuffed animals, even those larger than himself. This does not help his coordination.

Thanks to Rhonda for the great pictures of Gator and Pip!

On my way to get a dog...

A Heartland volunteer was driving down the road today and saw a box out front of a house with a sign for free puppies. She stopped and talked to the owners, and they just had one puppy left. I don't know how many there were originally... the owners were giving them away to anyone who'd take them. The scary part about this is that they don't ask any questions or do anything to make sure the puppies are going to a safe home. In fact, they had one lady come by with three kids and take a puppy. She then returned the next day, saying something had happened to the first puppy and she needed another one. And they gave a second one to her. These dogs are unwanted, disposable, and many people don't much care what happens to them. Fortunately our volunteer rescued the last one, and I'm on my way to get the puppy now.