It's the Holiday Season...

And no one is more excited than Binky, the All Paws Rescue mascot.  He not only has the requisite Santa hat, he even dresses up with tinsel.

Binky was not the only one dressed up. This is Aunt Dolly, and she's a beagle who just can't wait for Christmas.  

You see, Aunt Dolly is a retired hunting dog. She has lived outdoors her whole life, and has never experienced the life of an indoor dog. She doesn't know about decorations, or Christmas trees, or family get-togethers. She has never experienced a cozy bed next to a fireplace, or a couch where she can cuddle up next to her person. In many ways, this will be Dolly's first Christmas. She just moved from a shelter into a foster home, and has immediately fallen in love with all the comforts of home. Fortunately Binky lives at this foster home so he will be able to show her the ropes.

We're just hoping she can reign in some of her enthusiasm about the upcoming holidays. You can see she's a bit out of control.  

And once we told her about the food that comes along with Christmas, well, her excitement level was through the roof. She had to sit down, she got so excited.  

We're just hoping that Binky can be a good influence and teach Dolly how to slow down a bit. 

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.






Adoption Events are stressful

Adoption events are stressful for pretty much everyone involved. The volunteers are stressed out from getting up early, loading their vehicles with crates and supplies and foster pets, traveling to adoption events, unloading everything, taking care of their fosters in a stressful environment, interacting with the public, and then at the end of the day, once again loading their vehicles and traveling home where they have to unload all over again. This is difficult to do week after week. It is all worth it when a foster pet is adopted, but sometimes weeks or months go by with no adoptions.

Adoption events are stressful for potential adopters too. They go to these events, meet many, many different animals all needing a home, and are often trying to decided in the space of minutes or hours whether a dog or cat will be the right fit for the rest of their life. It's especially hard to do considering that the animals at the adoption event are generally more stressed than anyone else, so it's hard to get an idea of what they are truly like.

But adoption events are the worst for the foster pets. They're taken to a strange place surrounded by strange dogs or cats, and are constantly bombarded by the noise and excitement going on around them. People are constantly coming and going, stopping to pet and greet the animals. Strange dogs are barking or coming up to greet them as well. Often the foster animals are placed into an unfamiliar crate and left alone while their foster parent goes off to talk to a potential adopter or take care of other chores. It's understandable that so many pictures of animals taken at adoption events show them looking nervous or fearful.

To give you a small idea of what it's like, please watch the following video. This is Ziggy in his crate during a recent adoption event. Although he can't hear the noise going on around him, the fact that he is deaf makes him more vulnerable to someone coming up behind him and surprising him. Also, this is in the middle of the day so the stress has been mounting, and he's been placed into a crate while I go off and take pictures of other pets. When I return to him, I open the crate door and put the camera in his face to take a video to show people how stressed he gets.

On second thought, this may not be such a good example after all. Let me change the above statement. For some pets, adoption events are not at all stressful. They find a place to relax, find a good chewy, and close their eyes to block out the world around them as they focus their full attention on the joy of chewies. They easily ignore all sounds, all other pets, and even the camera in their face as they chew. Adoption events are some of their favorite places to go!

Ziggy Helps Himself

One thing I love about dogs is how they live in the moment, and they have such enthusiasm for life.  Ziggy especially can find joy in everything.  He also seems to live by the motto "Carpe Diem", or "Seize the Day".  And while he's at it, he likes to seize anything and everything else.  For example..

I made the mistake of leaving some treats on the counter while turning my back. 

Ziggy immediately decided that was an invitation to help himself.  

 And then he ran into the living room with his prize. 

Fortunately Ziggy has not yet learned to successfully play "keep away" when he has something he knows he shouldn't have.  Instead he always runs to the futon and waits for me.  This gives me the opportunity to easily take things away from him (by trading him for something he wants more!)  In this case, I decided that this was such a classic "Ziggy" event that I needed to allow him to do the same thing a second time while I took pictures.  Training versus Blogging... sometimes sacrifices must be made. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am grateful for my family, my friends, my country, and my pets.

I'm grateful for the couple who took in Gretchen as a foster dog when she was out of time and had no other chance to be saved.  I'm also grateful to the rest of the rescue volunteers who save all the dogs and cats just like Gretchen when they have nowhere else to go. 

I'm grateful for the family who adopted Gretchen, and I'm grateful for all of the other people who adopt dogs and cats - especially those who adopt the ones that are older, disabled, shy, difficult, or otherwise hard to place into permanent homes.   

I am grateful for those of you who share your life with me through your blogs.  I'm grateful for each reader that takes time to read my blog and share in my life as well.     

I'm especially grateful that you don't turn me into the ASPCA when I post pictures like the one above.  

I'm grateful for my cat Merlin, who was yesterday's DogTipper Cat Of the Day!  I'm very proud of him.  Regardless of the fact that he did nothing to earn this honor, and regardless of the fact that they have so few submissions of cats right now that I believe anyone who submits their cat will quickly see their cat become Cat of the Day as well.  I'll pretend he would have won in spite of the competition from thousands hundreds dozens of other cats.   

From Remi, me and Noelle - Happy Thanksgiving!

Vacation

I recently went on a short vacation, and as I got out the suitcases and started packing up, the dogs soon realized that we were leaving, and they were going to the petsitter.  This was their reaction. 


But how will I survive without you??

 

I know something's wrong, but I'm not sure what.

  

Please don't send me away again!  I love this couch!

 

Wait a minute... everyone is upset just because you're leaving us for a week?

 

Here, let me help you pack your bags.



I mean... I'm so sad.. I'll miss you Mom!

How to be a Successful Blogger

This is a guest post by Ziggy The Great The Dog.  I'm here to share a few secrets on how to have a successful blog.  First and foremost, have a mom or dad that will take the time to share all of your stories online.  This is crucial, because there are a lot of other dogs and cats out there that have very interesting lives, but no way to share them with the rest of the world because their mom or dad won't take the time to write or take pictures.  If your mom or dad does not blog about you, consider finding a new mom or dad.  Oh wait, mom said that wasn't nice.  Instead, consider asking them repeatedly until they give in and create a blog about you.  Sad puppy dog eyes also work sometimes.

Once your mom or dad has started a blog, it's important to give them a lot of writing material.  Otherwise you may find that they don't write very often, or even worse, they write about other things instead of you!  To make things interesting, you should try something new at least once a week.  Here are a few suggestions:

a) Develop new hobbies, like drinking or dancing.

b)  Try new foods.  A few of my favorites are bananas and bird seed. 

c) Get your mom or dad to take you interesting places, and don't let them forget their camera!

d) If all else fails, become creatively destructive. 

Then, remind your mom or dad to write about you by looking pointedly at the computer.

If this doesn't work, grab the mouse and run around until someone catches you and takes it back. 

If all else fails, you may have to take extreme measures. 

A few holes in the computer case should convince your mom or dad that everyone will be happier if they will just sit down and start typing.

Remember, the more interesting things you can come up with to do, the more successful your blog will become, so don't be afraid to experiment!

Merlin

I adopted Merlin a little over a year ago.  He was just a kitten, sitting in a cage at a shelter, surrounded by many other kittens and cats.  He chose me, and I chose him, and even though I am a "dog person", Merlin has captured my heart like no one else ever has. 



Due to pet restrictions, Merlin is temporarily living at my parents' house.  To make things easier on them, I bought some nail caps for Merlin's front paws.  This would prevent him from scratching up any furniture, without causing him any distress.  I was impressed at how well the nail caps work.  They also make him look quite stylish, don't you think?

I was a bit worried about how Merlin would adjust.  He was used to living with a lot of other animals and only two adult humans.  At my house he'd run and hide from guests.  So then he went to live in a house with no other pets, two adult humans and several young children.  I did what I could to help him adjust - gave him a safe place to hide in an empty bedroom, used Feliway to lower his stress, brought his favorite items from home and purchased several more items that I thought he would like.  It didn't take long before he settled in and then quickly took over.  Now he thinks he owns the house, and probably will hate to come back to a house filled with other dogs and cats and with no children to entertain him. 

That's how he sees it, you know. The kids are there just to play with him. They make the magic laser light appear to give him something to chase. They also run through the house carrying his favorite ribbon, and throw cat toys throughout the house for him to pick up and carry around in his mouth.

He's not going to like coming back home to just me and a bunch of other pets.  Sure, the dogs keep him busy by chasing him now and then, but it's not the same.  I won't be able to live up to Merlin's expectations, and he won't be able to continue to live the lifestyle that he has become accustomed to.  I just hope that he can forgive me someday. 

Ziggy Plays Football

I always suspected that Ziggy was a football fan.  Every time my husband would turn on a football game, Ziggy would be right there by his feet.  But since there was always food involved, I couldn't be sure if it was the football game or the food that interested him.  Until yesterday when Ziggy found a stuffed football, and I found my answer. 

Ziggy loves football.  He tried out every position and every play he's ever seen on TV.  First, he practiced hiking the ball, while giving the opposing team his best tough dog glare. 

Then he tried out being a receiver, catching long passes thrown just over his shoulder. 

He worked on his running game for awhile. 

He practiced his best feints to avoid the defense. 

And when the other team got the ball, he got a chance to practice his fumble recovery skills.

All in all, Ziggy is quite the football player.  Which may explain why he has so much fun running at people or other dogs full-speed and knocking them down.  I thought it was too much puppy exuberance.  It turns out it's just another chance for Ziggy to practice his football skills.  I think he'd make an excellent left tackle. 

Ziggy and the Photo Shoot

I decided I needed some new pictures of Ziggy for the adoption website and Ziggy's Fan Page, so at the last adoption event I took some photos of Ziggy wearing his "Adopt Me" bandana. The photo shoot went something like this.

Ziggy looks the wrong direction and ignores me for awhile.

I decide to wait him out.


Ziggy turns around but refuses to open his eyes.

More waiting on my part.


Ziggy sits down in order to better show off his stomach muscles.

I think about going home and doing some situps.


I move to the side and Ziggy tilts his head in a pose that would be adorable if he would stop closing his eyes.

I pretend to ignore him so he'll open his eyes again.


He gets up and walks away.

I use the opportunity to fix his bandana so people can actually read it. I wonder if that will encourage anyone to actually adopt him.


I back up and snap a quick photo before he has time to get his eyes completely closed.

I celebrate the possibility that I may finally have a useable picture.


Ziggy sits back down and closes his eyes again.

I wait.


He then lays down and continues to keep his eyes closed.

I contemplate taking a quick nap.


Ziggy then opens his eyes and I take another quick photo before he can move.

I decide the pictures are good enough and end the photo shoot.


Ziggy is rewarded for his excellent  mediocre less than enthusiastic performance with a trip to the Super Storm Drain.

Wordless Wednesday

Ziggy Goes To An Adoption Event

You might wonder why I'm writing an entire post about Ziggy going to an adoption event. After all, he's been going to adoption events for almost a year, and this adoption event was not much different than the rest. But some of you may not be familiar with pet adoption events, so Ziggy wanted to share the experience with you from his point of view.

Ziggy: Thanks, Mom, I'll take it from here. I do believe I'm an expert when it comes to attending adoption events. Let's start with the clothing. Many of us are forced to wear either adoption vests or bandanas or other accouterments to let people know we're available for adoption. I'm not sure I understand this cruel practice. After all, how many other dogs are hanging around in pet store parking lots with people who are wearing T-shirts with the name of a rescue group? The only dogs there that are NOT for adoption are all inside shopping with their parents, not forced to stand around outside begging for a new owner. The bandanas of shame are just one form of injustice that we face every day.

Next there are the pictures. Mom goes a bit crazy with the camera some weeks. This past week during the event she actually attached my leash to a nearby telephone pole and forced me to stare directly into the sun so she could get some good pictures for the adoption website. See how I'm squinting? She didn't care - she just kept taking pictures, and didn't even bother to reward me with treats for my time spent modeling.

Oh yeah - Mom just reminded me that instead of treats she rewarded me by letting me visit the Supreme Storm Drain. I have to admit, that made all the modeling time worth it. There were some very interesting smells in this drain.

In spite of the difficulties that we rescue dogs must put up with at these adoption events, there are some benefits. First, we get a lot of attention from people walking in and out of the store. This gives me the opportunity to play one of my favorite games - grab the bag or purse of a passing customer and see if I can find anything to eat. Second, every once in awhile the rescue group or Mom buys me a bone or a toy. And that makes these adoption events all worth it. So now I'll turn this post back over to Mom, and go enjoy my bone.


Mom Ziggy's Foster Mom: Thanks Ziggy. But you left out all the important things that happen at adoption events, like the dogs or cats that find their forever homes, and the people who donate to help with all the rescue dogs' food and vet bills, and the new friends we make.  Maybe next time you can write about those things too.

Ziggy Dresses Up For Halloween

Local Readers: Please don't forget that All Paws and Snuggle will be holding their annual spaghetti dinner and silent auction event this coming Sunday, November 7th!! The event will be at the Elks Lodge on Tom Ginnever in O'Fallon, MO. You can find out more at the Pawsta for Pets website.


As an update from my last post - all three of the adorable dinosaurs puppies have now been adopted. And a friend sent me some pictures she took of Ziggy as I tried to dress him up for Halloween. I thought you might enjoy them.

Ziggy the Alien

Ziggy stomps on my foot and tries to bite me in retaliation for turning him into an alien. 

Ziggy tries to escape so he can beam up to his alien spaceship.  Isn't his curly tail cute?

Ziggy with his devil cape, trying to chew up the leash in order to escape the crazy lady who keeps putting costumes on him. 

Ziggy realizes his best strategy is to put holes in any costumes that he is forced to wear, thus requiring me to either purchase each costume or stop dressing him up. 

Ziggy's strategy works, and I finally settle for dressing up a photo of Ziggy instead.