Skittles was adopted!

Yesterday was a great day for dog adoptions. We had several puppies and small pure-bred dogs available at PetSmart, and most of them found homes. Even a couple of our older puppies and dogs, Logan and Sage, were adopted. Skittles went home with a great family and will have an Irish Setter to play with as she grows up. Reese, Noah and Jade are still waiting for their homes. None of the cats found homes yesterday, so I hope they have some better luck today.

Sage was adopted!

Saturday was a very slow day at PetSmart, as only one dog was adopted. The good news is that dog was Sage, one of my previous fosters. I only had Sage for a short time, before she went back to her first foster mom's home. She went home to a family with kids, and I think she'll be a great fit for them. They were originally interested in Kermit, and while I know he would have been a little too much for them because of the small children, I was so happy that someone *wanted* him (besides the HHS volunteers). I really really want to foster Kermit, if I can ever get down to no other foster dogs. My only concern is how he will do with Remi, since they are both very large male dogs. But if he does okay, I want to foster him at least for a short time, and help him find a home that is perfect for him. (Read my old post on our special needs dogs, or his bio on the HHS website for info on Kermit). He's such a great dog, and if I can foster him and see how he does in a home, and find out more about what his special needs would be, it might be easier to find someone who will be able to give him his own forever home.

Vala and Sam are doing great, and will be ready for adoption in another week or so. I did decide to keep Vala's current name, since it won the most votes, and she's even starting to learn what her name is. Vala has calmed down quite a bit, and both dogs are settling in well. They're also both sleeping in our bed every night - once again, totally spoiled for whomever adopts them. But I figure that's my perogative as a foster mom. :-) They're not completely housebroken yet, but they are improving every day. They're also doing great with learning some basic obedience, and getting along well with each other, my dog Remi and the cats. In fact, the kittens came out of their room to check the dogs out, and walked around like they owned the place. It was very funny to watch.

The kittens went up to Petsmart on Saturday, but none of them were adopted. Hopefully this week they will do better! I also found out from one of the cat foster moms they're old enough to purr, but none of them ever do. So my new goal is to get them to start purring for me. Not sure how to accomplish that right now... but I'll see what I can figure out. :-)

Tulsa, Selena and Ernie!

First, the good news - Tulsa was adopted! She went to a great new home with a family who already has two Australian Cattle Dogs, so they are very familiar with her breed. I am very happy that she found her new home!

I also had my first return on Saturday. Anyone who adopts from Heartland must agree that if they cannot keep their pet, they will return it to us. We definitely want to get the animal back, but at the same time, I've been dreading my first return. In most cases, there are circumstances that we could not have known or prevented - a death in the family, allergies, a pet that couldn't get along with the other pets in the home. But the ones we hate are when we get a call about an animal we adopted out that has obviously been abused or neglected. The animals we save place their lives in our hands - and while we all do our best to make sure that our foster animals are going to good homes, the times when we fail are so difficult. This is why I've been dreading my first return. Ironically, my first return was quite possibly the shortest adoption we've ever had. Selena was adopted on Saturday around 4pm, and returned Saturday evening, just a few hours later! In this case, its more humorous than sad - my first return turned out to be not so bad after all. Selena was adopted by some very nice people who were just overwhelmed by bringing a new dog into the home - especially one as strong as she is. They had trouble walking her - she was apparently too excited to walk politely next to them as she's been learning. And she was also a bit too excited about meeting the cats at the new home, so the cats were scared and the people were worried about the cats. They decided to return Selena and try to find a smaller dog that would fit into their home a bit better. So Selena had a "field trip" and is now back at my house, enjoying the new toy she got out of the deal. ;-)

While I was at PetSmart Saturday for the adoption event, I fell in love with another dog that was there. His name is Ernie, and he is adorable. It was his first Saturday at PetSmart trying to find a family, and I was very surprised that he wasn't adopted. Since I thought Selena had a new home, I couldn't resist bringing Ernie home with me. For me, he is the cutest, softest, most loveable dog I've had since Coal(Murphy). While I love all of my foster dogs, I try not to get too attached since I know they'll be leaving me. Some of them I just can't avoid getting attached - I think its usually the shy and scared ones! So Ernie came home with me, and I've had him less than 48 hours and already I don't want to let him go. He is six-month-old puppy, probably Australian Shepherd/Rottweiler mix, very very soft fur, and so sweet. He is enjoying playing with Selena, and is very well behaved.

Sage couldn't go to PetSmart this week since she had a medical issue. She has a small mass on her jaw that the vet is going to remove later this week. Since she has to go back to the vet, and since my house is getting a bit crowded with the return of Selena, Sage went back to stay at another foster mom's house for now. I hope she'll be fine and back up at PetSmart on Saturday to find her new home.

Here is a picture of Ernie:

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...