Introducing Kermit & Doobie; Nacho was adopted!

Nacho, my little orange guy, was adopted tonight! So all of my orange kittens have now found homes. Also, Linguini, my very affectionate black cat that I borrowed from another foster mom, was adopted yesterday. So it's been a great week for cat adoptions for me - I only have one cat foster left! His name is Doobie, and here is his picture:


I also temporarily brought home another foster dog named Kermit recently. You may have heard me talk about Kermit before - he's become my latest project. :-) Kermit is a great dog who's been waiting a really long time for his own home. He has a neurological disorder which causes him to have poor balance. That, plus the fact that he's a big black dog, means he is often overlooked. He's been at his foster home for a very long time now, so his foster mom asked me if I wanted to see how he'd do in a new environment. I am happy to report he did great. He got along well with the other dogs and cats, and he even learned to handle stairs! He had zero accidents in the house, and was an all-around great foster for me. He only stayed at my house for about a week, since I have several other foster dogs right now. But now we can update his bio online, and hopefully that information will help him to find a new home. Here are a couple of pictures of Kermit from when he was at my house this past week:



While I was downloading pictures, I once again was surprised to find that my husband took a few photos while I wasn't home. It's always interesting to see what he takes pictures of. Here are a couple of his latest pictures...



Aren't they cute? I think this is more proof that he drugs them when I'm not there. :-) That's Ginger at the top, then Pepsi, and Noelle at the bottom. They're sleeping on the mattress that we have in our bedroom to use as Remi's bed. Remi is my Great Dane - he's 150 lbs and even though he usually sleeps in our bed whenever he can get away with it, sometimes my husband makes him go over to his own mattress. :-)

Lot of cat adoptions!

Many of my cat fosters were adopted this week! Blaze and Astro were adopted on Friday night, and Jester and Cheeto were adopted on Saturday. That just leaves me with Nacho (last orange kitten), Linguini (black cat hopefully being adopted by someone tomorrow!) and Doobie - a cat that I haven't even introduced yet. :-) I talked about Doobie before - he was taken by another volunteer when he was out of time at an area shelter, and now that I have room for him, he came to live with me until he can be adopted. I just got him a few days ago so I will get his picture and tell you more about him soon.

All of my foster dogs went to PetSmart on Saturday, but none of them were chosen to be adopted. We did have a couple other very exciting adoptions - Poppy, an older dog, was adopted! It's always good when one of our older dogs finds a home. Also Taz, another long-timer, was adopted. Taz has been waiting for his own home for a very long time - although he was spoiled to death in his foster home while he waited. :-) He had some problems with his ears so it took him a little longer to find a home. So our recent pattern of special needs and harder-to-place pets being adopted continues! I hope this happens for Kermit as well. Kermie, as I call him, is a special needs dog that has been in foster care for a very long time. He has a neurological disorder that makes it hard for him to keep his balance. I took him to my house late last week to see how he'd do in a new environment, with new dogs and cats, and to see if he could handle the stairs in our house. I'm happy to report he is doing wonderful. He gets along great with all the other dogs and cats, and he can even go up and down the stairs without a problem! He's had no accidents in the house at all - have I mentioned how nice it is to bring home a dog that's already house-trained? And he is so happy and friendly and easygoing. He hasn't fallen down and even though he walks a little bit funny, he is basically just a normal dog. So that's very exciting to know how well he can do when going into a new home - even one that has stairs - and I hope that he can find his own forever home soon. I will post a new picture of Kermit soon too.

General information about Shelters/Rescues

Ever wonder about the difference between a municipal shelter and a rescue group? Or what about the difference between a no-kill group and an open admission shelter? Is it better to adopt a dog or cat from a municipal shelter or a rescue group, or does it even matter? I used to wonder about these questions, and now that I've found some answers, I thought I'd share my knowledge with those of you who are curious.
Animal control started out with dog-catchers taking stray dogs to the pound to solve a public health issue, due to concerns about rabies and other diseases. Most large cities have animal control departments that still exist for this purpose, and over time many have grown to include other animals such as cats and small creatures like rabbits and guinea pigs. They have also expanded to exist for animal care in addition to animal control. This means they provide care to the animals and try to adopt them out to the public if they can't be reunited with their original owners. Most cities have their own animal control department, or they have contracts with an independent group to provide care to the animals in that city. These shelters are generally "open admission", meaning they must take any animal that comes to them. Most take in not only strays but also animals that owners no longer want to keep. Because they are open admission, they often cannot adopt out all of the animals that come to them, so they must euthanize to make room for more animals. There are good open admission shelters, and not-so-good shelters. Some shelters will work hard to provide for the animals in their care - they will vaccinate them and give them good health care, spend time keeping their kennels and the facility clean to reduce disease, work with the animals to get them ready for adoption, use volunteers to walk dogs or provide foster homes for special needs animals, keep hours that make it easy for the public to visit to adopt, and do everything they can to help those animals in their care. Other open admission shelters are poorly funded by the government, or poorly staffed, or both. They provided minimum care and are quick to euthanize animals once they exceed the minimum holding time required by law. They don't have the resources, staff, or desire to keep the kennels clean, and they don't work to socialize the animals, start a volunteer program, or work with the public to help the animals in their care find homes.
In addition to the government-mandated municipal animal care facilities, there are other privately-funded groups created to help animals. These include non-profit 501(c)3 organizations as well as groups who have not applied for non-profit status. Groups that get 501c3 non-profit status must follow specific tax laws and requirements. The funding for privately-funded organizations may come from adoption fees, charitable contributions from the public, grants, or other non-government sources. These are generally known as rescue groups, and they may be breed-specific or non-breed specific. A breed-specific group would be a group that takes in just in one dog or cat breed - for example a German Shepherd rescue, or a Siamese Cat rescue. They will take in only German Shepherds or German Shepherd mixes, and work to place them in homes. A non-breed specific rescue will take in any breed or mixed-breed animal. Many, but not all, privately funded groups are no-kill. This means they will keep any adoptable animal until it finds a home, and will not euthanize healthy animals to make space for new ones. These groups are also called limited admission, because in order to keep the animals they have until they are adopted, they have to turn away other adoptable animals for lack of space. There are some privately-funded groups like the Humane Society of Missouri who are not limited admission - they will take in any animal that is turned in to them. However, they then have to euthanize animals to make space for new ones coming in. Some privately-funded groups have their own shelter (building to house the animals), while others utilize a foster care network to provide for the animals they take in. And just like municipal animal control facilities, there are some good and some bad privately-funded groups.
You can't tell what kind of shelter or rescue it is from the name. The Humane Society of the United States has nothing to do with the Humane Society of Missouri - they are both independent groups. Likewise, the group I volunteer with - Heartland Humane Society of Missouri - is unrelated to the Humane Society of Missouri, and unrelated to all other groups. None of these organizations have a contract with any municipality to provide animal control services - they are all privately funded organizations. Confusing, I know! But each shelter or rescue group is generally independent from the rest, and the only way to know what kind of shelter they are (open admission, limited admission, providing animal control services for a specific municipality, etc) is to ask.
So what does this mean to you? If you want to adopt a pet, the dog or cat in the worst-funded public shelter needs you just as much as the dog or cat in the best-funded rescue. It doesn't make a lot of difference to the animal-care community as a whole, because if you adopt from a rescue, that will allow them to take in another animal from the worst-funded public shelter. Either way, you're saving a homeless animal, and that will open up a space at a shelter or rescue group for another homeless animal to take its place. There are some pros and cons to you depending on where you adopt. If you adopt from your municipal shelter, you may find the adoption fees are lower. Municipal shelters are often a bit less picky about who they adopt to. Rescue groups may ask a few more questions, and may even request a home visit to be sure your home environment is a good match for the animal. However, rescue groups are nice because they can usually spend more time with the animals they care for. They often have been able to provide more medical care to the animals, so you're less likely to come home from a shelter with a sick animal, or to have to pay so much at your first vet visit for vaccines, tests, etc. This alone can often make up the difference in adoption fees between municipal shelters and privately-funded rescue groups. Also rescues that keep their animals in foster care can usually provide much more information on an animal's personality. All shelters should do temperament tests prior to placing an animal for adoption, but those animals in foster care can be more closely evaluated for a longer period of time. This means the rescue group can help you to find the right animal for your home. I think this is one area that people don't take advantage of enough when adopting from rescues. At the rescue group I volunteer with, we sometimes get a person say "what dog(s) or cat(s) would be a good match for my family?" and then we can find out about the family, and offer suggestions on pets that would fit in best with that family's lifestyle. Most of the time though, we have people who fall in love with an animal based on appearance, and that may not be the best fit for that family. For example, an active family with several children may fall in love with a shy timid dog who is afraid of noise - not the best match. So if you go to adopt an animal, take advantage of the shelter/rescue worker's knowledge and ask which animals would be a good fit. If your shelter worker doesn't know, or doesn't want to take the time to help you, go somewhere else. In the end you will be glad you did!
Here are some related articles on the subject: http://www.animalsheltering.org/resource_library/magazine_articles/nov_dec_2000/whats_in_a_word.html
http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2008/01/animal-shelters-and-the-no-kill-debate/

Introducing Molly

Now that Lacy is adopted and Murphy and Lexi are back at their own home, I don't have any big dogs that can play with Remi. I only have the three puppies - Pepsi and Ginger (3 months) and Noelle (4 months) - none of them weigh over 25 pounds, and while they get along well with Remi, they prefer to play with each other. So, I decided it was time to get an adult dog to foster. And guess who came along just at the right time? An adorable St. Bernard mix that was adopted out by Heartland as a puppy and returned this past weekend. Molly is one year old, and you may remember her from last December when her and her siblings were up at PetSmart trying to find homes. I think they were only there a couple of weeks, but they were so cute, they were hard to forget! I still have a picture I took with my camera phone from when they were puppies - I believe the one on the left is Molly.


And here is Molly now, almost one year later. As you can see she's grown a bit, but she's still as sweet as she was then. I brought her home tonight and she immediately fit right in with all the other animals. She is sleeping at my feet as I type this, and she is such a good dog. She weighs around 60 pounds right now, and she still needs to put on a little weight, so she'll probably be 75 pounds by the time she's done growing.


While I was taking pictures, I took a few of my other current fosters, just so you can keep up with which ones I have right now. :-) Here is Linguini - he's my lap cat. I'm borrowing him from PetSmart until Halloween is over, and he makes a great Halloween decoration! :-)



Next is Noelle. As much as I want to keep her, I decided it would be better for her to find a home where she can have her own family. While she is with me she has to share with so many other dogs and cats. By keeping her I also have less ability to take in the next homeless dog that needs me, and since there are a lot more adoptive homes than foster homes out there, I think it'll be better for her and for future homeless animals if she finds a permanent home with someone else. But, I'm holding out for a perfect home, and since she's a pit bull mix and deaf, that might take a very long time - I'm okay with that! :-)



And here is Noelle trying to play in the cat tree...


Next is Ginger. The puppies have been moved upstairs and are now being given the run of the house when I can watch them. They love playing with one of the fleece balls we got at Trivia Night - its one of their favorite toys!


Here is Pepsi, my little pit bull puppy. She loves to cuddle, and watched a movie with my husband and me last night, just laying on the couch between us.


And last are my two orange kittens - Cheeto and Nacho. I have a few other foster kittens (Blaze, Astro and Jester) but they're all staying up at PetSmart at least until Halloween is over trying to get homes. I'm also getting another cat named Dooby - I'll introduce him when I get him later this week. Oh, and Kermit is coming to visit! I'll introduce him later too. :-) For now, here's the last picture of my current foster. This is Cheeto, but he looks very similar to Nacho so I didn't need to take both of their pictures. :-)


Okay, now do you have all my fosters straight? If not, I don't either... I just know how many I'm supposed to have in total, and count now and then to make sure I have the right number of dogs and cats running around. Its much easier that way. :-)

Lacy and Frito were adopted!

Lacy was adopted at PetSmart today! She went to a home with a very nice couple who decided they were ready for a dog. They were "cat people" before this, so hopefully Lacy will do well with their cats, and maybe she can even convert them to becoming dog people. Hey, it happened to me once I got my first dog! :-)

Frito, one of my orange kittens was also adopted. I actually visited him in his new home this evening, and he has settled in already. He was sitting with his new family watching football - apparently he's a football fan and I never knew it - but he did fall asleep on the husband's lap while watching the game. He looked so happy in his new home with people to give him lots and lots of love.

Pepsi and Ginger made their first trip up to PetSmart this week, and they did very well. Well, Sue and Lori, two of the volunteers, may not agree - they had to clean up a few messes from the puppies! Both puppies are very young and not crate trained yet, so they haven't learned to hold it while they're in crates yet. But other than that, they did very well with all the noise and new people. Pepsi found a new best friend in Donna, another one of our dog volunteers. Ginger was a little more shy with meeting people, but she did very well overall. Jester, my newest cat, also made his first appearance at PetSmart. There was an empty cage there because Buttercup, a kitten I had at my house for awhile, was adopted today! So I left Jester there so hopefully someone will see him tomorrow or sometime soon and want to adopt him.

Last night was our Trivia Night fundraiser, and it was a lot of fun. I was happy to see a few people I knew - the people who adopted Elvis were there, and Diana - the lady who rescued Lacy, and Joanne - one of my co-workers, and several others as well. Thanks to all of you who made it out to support Heartland! And a very special thank you to Angie, the Heartland President, who puts so much effort into the event every year, and does a fabulous job. It seemed like everyone had fun, and we raised a lot of money to help us keep up with our vet bills!

Today was a crazy day for me. I should have known it was going to be a rough day when I woke up at 5:00am due to my husband's alarm clock going off. He's out of town for Army this weekend, and apparently forgot to shut off the alarm before he left. Okay, no big deal, I just hit the Off button and tried to go back to sleep. But 5 minutes later, it went off again. Hmm... apparently I hit the Snooze button, not the Off button. I can't figure out where the off button is in the dark, and if I get out of bed, the dogs will get up thinking its time to go out, and I'll have a hard time going back to sleep. Okay, I can solve this - I unplug the clock. Five minutes later, guess what - yep, the alarm goes off AGAIN. Apparently the thing has a battery backup. By this time I was NOT happy. I had to get up, turn on the light, and figure out how to end the annoying beeping sound. Remi, Lacy, Linguini and Murphy are all looking around trying to figure out what I'm doing - and of course Noelle is deaf so she slept through the whole thing! But then the dogs all get up, which wakes her up, and I end up having to go outside with them all, since Murphy doesn't like to go outside by himself, and Remi barks if left outside alone. Fifteen minutes later I go back to bed - again have to fight Remi for the covers, wait for the rest of the dogs and cat to settle in around me, and finally fall back asleep. Seems like only minutes later instead of a couple hours that my alarm goes off. So the day begins. It was then a rush to get everything done as usual - get the dogs outside, inside, fed, and outside again, then back in and crated. Quick trip to the vet to drop off stool samples and make sure the orange kittens can go to adoptions. Rush back home and pack up the crates and ex-pens, and get the dogs not going to PetSmart situated with bones or toys to keep them entertained while I'm gone. Track down the cats and pack them up. Load the cats, dogs, crates and supplies into the van, and head to PetSmart. Get there, and rush the cats inside since someone was waiting to meet my orange kittens. Set up crates, unload kittens, talk to a potential adopter, rush back to the car to unload and set up more crates outside, unload dogs, unload supplies, rush back inside to do adoption for Frito (hooray!), back outside to talk to someone about Lacy, back inside to drop off paperwork, back outside to talk to some other potential adopters, and so it goes. It finally slowed down after a bit, and by the time the day ended at 4pm, it was very quiet. We loaded back up the dogs into the cars, tore down all the crates, and headed home. Fortunately I live close - some people have to drive all the way out to Troy to take home their fosters - that makes for a very long day! After I got home and once again got the car unloaded and the dogs situated (outside, then inside, fed, then back out, then inside) I headed over to Frito's new home to drop off some medicine he needs to finish that I forgot to take to PetSmart with me. Then back home, to again let the dogs out, return some phone calls from people asking about my fosters, and then finally I could rest! Don't get me wrong, I love doing this, but days like today where I had a pet adopted (two actually!) make it so much better. Its the days that I do all this and don't get anyone adopted that are hard. I'm pretty lucky that I can foster so many animals, so I have more luck getting adoptions. Some of our foster volunteers have fewer fosters, so they might do this week after week, for cats or dogs, and not have an adoption in several months. :-( I know that has to be so disappointing. Sometimes people say "thanks for caring for these animals" or something along those lines, and it really feels good to have people recognize that. I don't know if other volunteers feel the same way, but for me if I don't have adoptions in awhile, its just nice to hear that my efforts to help these animals are appreciated. So next time you see a Heartland volunteer, please make sure to thank them for the work they put into saving animals. None of us get paid anything, and we all put in our own time, money and effort just to help animals get good homes, sometimes while listening to people complain or just exhibit a total lack of compassion for animals. So knowing there are people out there who actually appreciate what we do week after week really helps. And for those of you who haven't had an adoption in months, you know your fosters are lucky to have you, and the right home will come along! :-)

Why Dogs are Better Than Cats

Why Dogs are Better Than Cats

* Dogs will let you give them a bath without taking out a contract on your life.
* Dogs will bark to wake you up if the house is on fire. Cats will quietly sneak out the back door.
* Dogs will bring you your slippers or the evening newspaper. Cats might bring you a dead mouse.
* Dogs will play Frisbee with you all afternoon. Cats will take a three-hour nap.
* Most dogs come when you call them…cats wait till you lose your voice and come find them.
* Dogs will greet you & lick your face when you come home from work. Cats will be mad that you went to work at all.
* Dogs will sit, lie down, and heel on command. Cats will smirk and walk away.
* Dogs will tilt their heads and listen whenever you talk. Cats will yawn and close their eyes.
* Dogs will give you unconditional love forever. Cats will make you pay for every mistake you've ever made since the day you were born.

Pictures of fosters

As promised, I took pictures so I can get my new fosters on the website. However, as usual the pictures didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. Oh well, they'll do for now and maybe later I will get better ones. Here are pictures of my newest fosters:



First, here's Linguini. He's a gorgeous black cat that I fell in love with up at PetSmart. He was staying in one of the cat cages at PetSmart, hoping to find a home, but with Halloween quickly approaching, the black cats don't get to stay at PetSmart right now. So I asked his foster mom, and she kindly let me take him home with me. I put Blaze up at PetSmart instead, hoping that maybe he would find a home while Linguini is at my house. Once Halloween is over, I will take Linguini back to PetSmart, but in the meantime I am just loving having him around. I put him in the cat room and thought he might want to stay there for awhile, at least until he got used to all the other animals. But no, as soon as I left the room, he followed me out. The cat room is blocked off from the main part of the house with a baby gate, so the cats can go in and out over the gate, but the dogs can't go into the room. He immediately jumped the gate and braved all the other dogs in order to be in the same room as I am. I just love this cat! He follows me around everywhere, just like the dogs do, and jumps up on my lap whenever I sit down. All the dogs are scared of him now, which is pretty funny.







Next is my newest foster cat Jester. He's doing great. He just completely ignores all of the dogs, and he plays with the other cats, and he's so friendly. He purrs every time I pick him up. I feel a bit like the Pied Piper when I walk around the house, because now I'm followed from room to room by 4 dogs and 3 cats - every time I move! As someone who's used to not being noticed, its quite an ego trip to be so popular. :-)








Here are new pictures of Noelle. She always makes me smile, because the dog is only 4 months old and she acts like she's 10 years old! The only time I could guess she was so young is when she occasionally decides to play - she still has that puppy run and hop that is so cute. But 95% of the time she spends just laying around acting lazy. I have to admit, this is totally my speed of dog.







Here is a picture I took this morning - I was outside with the puppies, and in the window waiting for us were Lacy (basset hound), Astro (gray tabby) and Jester (cream tabby). They all wanted to come out and play too, but I didn't let them. :-)





Next is Pepsi, my little pit bull puppy. I wasn't very happy with the pictures I got of her. The only time she'd smile at me was when she was jumping up on me wanting to be picked up. I can't hold her and take a picture at the same time, so I finally put her on a tie-out so she couldn't run up to me. Then she just looked at me like "why are you mad at me?!".




And last is Ginger, my terrier mix puppy. She looks like a Jack Russell Terrier to me, but when I said this to the vet, he laughed at me. He said she's as big as a Jack Russell now, and she's only 11 weeks old! So I don't know if she has some Jack Russell in her, mixed with a bigger dog, or what - but she's a cutie!

Nice Day!

It was beautiful weather out today, and that may have been part of the reason that it was quiet at PetSmart - hopefully people were out enjoying the great weather before it ends. However it did mean that we didn't have a lot of luck at PetSmart, at least with dog adoptions. Penny, one of my favorite Heartland dogs, was adopted. She is a border collie mix, and very sweet. Also, Luke, a chocolate lab, and Hannah, a dachshund mix puppy were adopted. So all in all, it wasn't a bad day - although it would have been better (in my opinion) if Lacy or one of the lab/border collie puppies were adopted. Derby also is finally going to his new home tomorrow morning - hooray! I am hoping by next week to have Pepsi and Ginger ready for their first trip to PetSmart. Tomorrow I am determined to get pictures of them so I can get them on the website. And now I must end this, because Hunter is harassing Remi, Derby and Noelle are harassing Blaze, and I have no idea where Lacy is or what she's up to!

Orange Kitten Update

My orange kittens - Frito, Cheeto and Nacho - went to the vet yesterday to get neutered. I was hoping they'd get a clean bill of health and get to go to adoptions on Saturday, but the news wasn't so good. They have coccidia, which is a common kitten problem. So they have to get treated for a week, and won't be able to go to PetSmart tomorrow. So I'll just be taking Lacy, Blaze and Astro again this week.

Things are starting to calm down a little bit at home, now that the newcomers have learned what to expect. Jester, the new cat, is doing great. The vet estimated he is one year old. He is very playful and affectionate, and every time I go into the room where he's staying, he comes to greet me and climbs on my lap to be petted. The two puppies - Ginger and Pepsi - are estimated to be 11 weeks and 12 weeks old, respectively. They are the same size, and about the same energy level, and they have a great time playing together. The have the basement to themselves, and they're doing much better now about not destroying their kennels. I have been able to get them out to play 3 times a day, and I think that helps a lot to keep them tired. :-) Noelle is staying upstairs with Lacy and Derby, and she's doing great. She gets along with the other dogs and cats, and is just so sweet. I can never move anywhere without tripping over her, because she sticks so close to me. The vet estimated her at 4 months old.

Hunter got here last night, and fits right in! He met all the dogs, except the puppies, last night, and did fine with all of them. He really likes to play with Derby and Lacy. He misses his family though - for the first 20 minutes after they left, he kept going to the window and whining, waiting for them. But I was able to distract him with some games and treats, and he settled down after a bit. He slept on the bed right next to me last night, and seemed to be in a good mood this morning. All the dogs got Kongs filled with peanut butter, carrots, and dog food before I left... sounds pretty gross to me, but the dogs really like it! :-)

More about my new fosters

I just had to share more about my new fosters. I still haven't taken any pictures, but I did find some pictures of the dogs from when they were at the shelter, so I will post those.

This is Noelle, my deaf pit bull puppy. She is such a great dog - I'm already thinking about adopting her myself. The problem is if I do that, it will be one less dog I can foster in the future. But I'm totally in love with her, so I'm not sure I will be able to give her up. She has a pretty bad cough right now, so she's on antibiotics, and I'm taking her to the vet this afternoon to get her checked out. She is just so loving - she constantly wants to lay at my feet. She's also very low energy - I'm not sure if that's just because she's not feeling well, or if that's her normal activity level, but I'm hoping its her normal activity level. :-) She just follows me around, and every time I stop she lays down by me, and then when I move she gets up and follows me again! She never jumps up on me, and she even appears to be housetrained. Most of the dogs I get to foster haven't had any training - they jump, and bark a lot, and have other undesired behaviors. So when I get one that is either already trained, or just naturally well behaved, I am always very happy. :-) Noelle appears to be a large dog in this picture, but she's actually not very big - around 27 pounds right now.



Next is Pepsi. She's also a pit bull puppy - very young I think, but I'll have to wait for the vet to give me an estimate. She is a very happy, very hyper little girl. She is always so excited to see someone, that she tries to jump into their arms, and her tail just goes crazy wagging! Her and Ginger are about the same size, and while at first Ginger was intimidated by Pepsi, now they're best friends. I let them play together and they have a great time wrestling and playing chase. Whenever I hold Pepsi she settles down and puts her head on my shoulder and cuddles up to me - its so cute. As you can see in this picture, she was scared - see how her mouth is closed, ears back, and the worried look in her eye? I am sure the shelter was a scary place for her to be!


And last is my little Jack Russel mix puppy - Ginger. The cutest dogs are generally the most annoying, and she fits that profile. :-) She is a very loving dog - she just has the ability to destroy her kennel! I have puppy pads in there, since the puppies are not housetrained and are too little to hold it while I'm at work all day. Pepsi is very good about using the puppy pads, and making cleanup easier. Ginger on the other hand, prefers to tear up the puppy pads and newspaper and leave a huge mess everywhere in the kennel to clean up. Other than that, she's a great dog. She has very soft fur, and she loves attention. She also is hilarious to watch when she gets a stuffed toy - she picks it up and shakes it back and forth - definitely a terrier! Again, in the picture below, you can see she was scared when they took it. I will try to get some pictures of the puppies looking happy soon! :-)



Lacy and Derby are still doing well. They both went on long walks last night and walked very well on the leash - no pulling, or at least not much. They're having fun playing together, and I think Lacy will miss Derby once he's gone.

Introducing Noelle, Pepsi, Ginger and Jester

I only went to the shelter to pick out one... maybe two at the very most. Somehow in the past two days I came home with three new dogs and one cat. The two new puppies are rather time intensive, so I haven't been able to take pictures of anyone yet. I'm hoping this weekend I will have time. I spent last night and this morning getting them bathed, fed and settled in. Well, I didn't bathe the cat - i'm not that crazy. But for those of you who voted to hear more details of fostering, here's how the two days went at my house.

Noelle, my new white pit bull puppy, came home from the shelter on Monday night. I left her in the car while I went inside and let Derby and Lacy out in the backyard. Then I put Remi in the bedroom, and carried Noelle into the house, and straight to the bathtub. I like to give them baths before they touch anything just in case they're carrying any germs or viruses. She got a bath, which she didn't particularly like, and then got to come out and meet my husband. He wasn't happy about me bringing home a deaf dog, but once he met her he fell in love just like I did. She then went down to the basement to hang out with him, while I let the other dogs back in upstairs, and the night proceeded with a pretty normal schedule (feeding, playing, etc). When I went down to check on her later, she was curled up on a blanket, looking very content. The great thing about her being deaf is she is happy to hang out in the basement while my husband is working. He is finishing the basement (putting up walls, building a bar, etc) and it is a noisy place to be, but she didn't mind at all! :-)
Yesterday I left work and went to the shelter where I got Noelle to return a leash I had borrowed. I then saw five cats that were going to be put down this morning. I couldn't leave them there! But I couldn't take them either - my husband really dislikes cats. I also only had one cat playpen where I could quarantine a cat while it was being prepared for adoption. So, I picked out one that I fell in love with the moment I saw him, and took him in spite of what my husband wanted. I then cried over another cat that was so sweet and loving that I couldn't take. He was a long haired white cat, and reminded me a lot of Spock, one of my own cats that died in the past year. Another Heartland volunteer who was at the shelter with me must have felt sorry for him, and for me, and took him home with her. So thanks to her, we were able to save two of those cats that wouldn't be alive right now otherwise. I've named the cat I took home Jester. He is a cinnamon colored cat. He seems very friendly and purrs when I pet him or hold him. That's about all I know about him so far! :-)
Once I left that shelter, I went to the other shelter where I had signed up for two dogs previously. I got them both - one is a female pit bull puppy, dark brindle, with lots of energy - I've named her Pepsi. The other is a female Jack Russell Terrier mix puppy - she is super sweet, kind of shy, and so cute! The shelter had named her Ginger, so I'm keeping that name. She is white with brown patches. So the cat and both dogs came home with me last night. Once again, they waited in the car while I went in and let out the other dogs. Then Jester came in and went into the extra cat playpen. Both puppies got baths, and neither of them appreciated it very much. They are now in separate exercise pens in the basement, during their "quarantine". This is my least favorite part of bringing home new fosters - I just hate quarantining them. But, I don't want the other dogs or cats to get sick either, so I do understand the need for it. Hopefully this week will go by quickly.
Hunter will be here tomorrow night - I can't wait to see him again. I am already counting on him being my footwarmer at night - he always used to sleep at the end of the bed and keep my feet warm for me, so I'm hoping he does that again. :-) And then this weekend is PetSmart, and I'm hoping my orange kittens will be ready to go get adopted. They go to the vet tomorrow, so we'll see!

New dogs on the way!

I was going to wait until I had pictures, but I just can never wait to share happy news! I have a new foster dog, and one or two more on the way. I am so excited. :-)

Remi got his stitches out and got a clean bill of health from the vet, so he's officially back to normal now! Derby was supposed to be adopted on Sunday, but his new family decided to hold off for a few more days while they finish putting up their fence. I just hope they get it finished soon, since he's staying with me until they do! Since I only have one official foster dog (Lacy, the basset hound) I decided another trip to the shelter was needed. Of course, the adorable dogs there sucked me in and instead of leaving with one, I signed up to take two. Then after I left, another volunteer called me - she'd contacted another shelter that was going to have to euthanize animals soon, and they had a dog she thought was perfect for me. I immediately thought "oh no, I'm going to hear about this dog and have to turn it down, knowing it will be euthanized, because I just committed to these other dogs". Then she told me about this dog, and sure enough, it was perfect for me. It's a pit bull mix puppy and it is deaf. I love pit bull puppies - they've been some of the very best dogs I've fostered. And I always want to save the deaf ones. So, I decided that since she was going to that shelter anyway to look at some other dogs, I might as well meet her there and check out this puppy. So, guess who came home with me last night? An adorable, all white, deaf pit bull puppy! And she is so sweet - very calm and loving. She'd been picked up as a stray and been living at the shelter for the past month. She's about 3 months old now. I am so glad that the other volunteer called and found out about her, or she probably would have been euthanized. That shelter is not allowed to adopt pit bulls out to the public, due to city regulations, so if a rescue group doesn't take them, they are killed. There's another one there (not deaf) that I really wanted to take also, but if I did I would be homeless I think. So I'm hoping someone else will save him.

I'm going back to the first shelter this afternoon to pick up the two dogs I already signed up for. One is a brindle pit bull puppy - super high energy! The other is a jack russell terrier mix - very quiet and shy and such a cute dog. I may also end up with a cocker spaniel puppy that was there - not sure about that yet. Fortunately a volunteer offered to keep the jack russell terrier mix for a while if needed (if my husband threatens to leave me). :-) I will post pictures of everyone soon!

Great Day!

Hershe was adopted!!!

I'm so happy for her. It's surprising to everyone that she found a home, because she's been in foster care for so long, but the right people just happened to come along today. They have very well behaved children, and no other pets, and were looking for a lab that wouldn't jump up or be hyper, so it sounds like a good situation for her. I've just been smiling non-stop since they adopted her early this afternoon. :-) It's so rewarding to see a dog that had a hard time finding a home be adopted. Now if we can just get Kermit a home.... he and Hershe were best friends, and he has been depressed and not eating much since she came to my house last week. I thought he'd be better soon since she'd be going back to live with him, but now that she has her own forever home, he's going to keep being sad. I hope he feels better and finds his own home soon. I've been posting more flyers, and asking others to post them places as well, so maybe the right person is out there for him and will see one of those flyers soon. If you go to the O'Fallon Petsmart, you can help by stopping by the Love-A-Pet-Center and picking up a few flyers to hang up at work, church, school, the library, etc - any public bulletin board you see. The flyers are in a green folder in the red cart outside the LAPC. Take as many as you can hang up - I will print more if we run out. ;-)

In other great news, two other dogs were adopted today as well. Chester, a beagle mix, found a home. I always thought he was funny looking and smiled everytime I looked at him - to me his head just looked wrong on his body. But he is a wonderful dog, and the family who adopted him thinks he is perfect. He's a very sweet dog and I'm so happy he found a home. And the other dog that was adopted is Derby! He has been waiting so long for a home - not as long as Hershe, but still a long time. We could never figure out why no one adopted him - he is friendly, gets along well with everyone, and is an all-around great dog. I was actually going to foster him next, and even took him home for a weekend not long ago. He had a short "vacation" at my house. :-) Here is a picture from when he was here last.

Don't you love his big ears? He actually is here at my house again tonight, I'm just too lazy to go find the camera. I'm taking him back to PetSmart either tomorrow or Monday for his new family to get him. In the meantime, Lacy and Derby are having a blast playing together.

Speaking of Lacy, once again she wasn't adopted. And neither were any of the adorable lab/border collie puppies! I'm very glad the hard-to-adopt ones are being picked, but its always surprising that the "easy" ones get passed over. Here are some pictures of me and Lacy from the Prairie Day event we went to a few weeks ago, and then from the Diabetes Walk we went on last Sunday.

Prairie Days - Lacy howling ;-)

Me and Lacy at Prairie Days.

Me and Lacy at the JDRF walk

This is toward the beginning of the 3 mile walk - Lacy was pulling me. Toward the end of the walk, I was pulling her!

Here we are after the walk ended. That's my grandma with me - she's awesome. I'm not just saying that because she reads my blog either. Hi Grandma! ;-)

Thanks to Angie for the Prairie Day pictures and my mom for the JDRF pictures!

I'm going to try to get back up to PetSmart tomorrow afternoon and see if I can get a kitten adopted! My orange kittens won't be ready for another week, but I still have Blaze, Astro and Buttercup to get adopted. Buttercup actually stayed up at PetSmart today, in one of the permanent cat cages that are there. Hopefully someone will see her and want to adopt her soon.

Introducing Hershe, and more kittens!

First, I'd like to introduce you to my newest foster dog. Her name is Hershe, and she's a beautiful chocolate labrador retriever. She has been in foster care for a long time, and hasn't had very many people interested in her. She reminds me of Elvis because she's a bit timid in new situations. I am "borrowing" her from her previous foster home, so we can see how she would react to a new home, and if she has any problems that we need to work on. So far, she is doing great. She will take some time to settle in, so it'll be interesting to see what she's like in another week or so, but right now she seems very happy. She is the most camera shy dog I've ever met, so getting a good picture of her will be tricky, but here is the best I could do on short notice for you to see her. I might have to get out the telescopic lens for the camera so I can get her picture when she's not aware of it. Otherwise, well, I've taken many many pictures of the side of her head, or the top of her head (when she ducks down) since she runs as soon as she sees me holding the camera. :-)


And now, to introduce my new kittens - Frito, Cheeto and Nacho. We got a call from someone who's cat had kittens again (the third litter she's had) and wasn't able to give them all away through ads in the paper or at the flea market, so she wanted to know if we could take the last three kittens she had left. They're 8 weeks old, and all adorable male orange tabbies. I talked to the person who called, and was glad to hear she was getting her cat spayed after this! All our other foster homes are full, so I'm taking them. I'm going to put them on the foster website, so if you know of anyone who might be interested in fostering kittens, please direct them to http://www.hhsrescue.com/. These little guys are so cute - I forgot how completely insane kittens can be. They chase each other and are constantly moving - it's very hard to get pictures of them all together. It's also hard to tell them apart, but here's one way. Nacho, the kitten in front in the first picture below, is what is called a classic tabby. He has a kind of bulls eye swirl on his side. Frito, the kitten in the middle, is a mackeral tabby - he has the more common vertical stripes. He could maybe be called a spotted tabby since the stripes are broken up. And then Cheeto has some tabby stripes on his front legs, but no obvious tabby pattern on his body - at least not that I can tell. SO, that's how I tell them apart! Here are some pictures of them...

I'm also excited to report that Hunter, Murphy and Lexi are coming to visit! Hunter is one of my previous foster dogs, a Great Dane/Pointer/Lab mix, or something like that. :-) He's a great dog and I'm getting the chance to dogsit for his family while they're gone - I can't wait to see him again. He is a friendly easy-going dog and I have missed him! Also, later this month I get to see another one of my old fosters. Murphy, who used to be named Coal, was one of my first foster dogs that I fell in love with - he was shy and afraid of almost everything. These days he is a much more confident happy dog, and I am lucky to get to see him at PetSmart sometimes. His family knows how much I still miss him and everytime I run into them at PetSmart I beg to dogsit him again, so I was happy to find out they were going on a trip and letting Murphy stay with me. Murphy also has a new puppy sister named Lexi - she's adorable, and I can't wait to play with her! So I am really looking forward to having two of my old fosters back for a visit later this month, and a new puppy in addition!

Don't forget Trivia Night is coming up quickly - October 17th! This is Heartland's biggest fundraiser, and we could really use your support. You can click here: http://heartlandhumanemo.homestead.com/TriviaNight.html to find out all the details. If you can't attend, there are other ways you can help - click the link above for details. You don't have to be good at trivia - its just a fun way to spend the evening with friends, helping out the animals. And the silent auction and raffles are also a lot of fun! I hope to see you there!