New Puppy Pictures

Yesterday was a slow day for dog adoptions, but we did have one dog adopted - Mickey, a beautiful all white German Shepherd/Husky mix with beautiful blue eyes found his new home!

Today another foster friend came over and took pictures of my new puppies for me. They will be ready for adoption in two weeks, so I need pictures to get them on the website, so once they're ready hopefully a few of them can go to their new homes right away! Today they are eight weeks old, and they are growing quickly!

Scooby was the largest of the litter when I got them, but now he's fallen down to 5th place in size. I think its because when all the other puppies are diving for the food, he's still sitting there waiting for me to pet him some more. He is the most affectionate of the group right now - he just wants to be petted all the time.


Pebbles may be a Rottweiler/Beagle mix! At least, she has some of the features of each breed. And she's one of the most outgoing of the litter.


I think Keebler is the most unique looking. He is a funny brown/orange color, with the mask of a shepherd or husky.


Kasey is the largest of the litter now, at 9.8 lbs, and she's such a cute, happy puppy.

Gretchen is the smallest of the litter now, and one of the shyest puppies. She likes to be held and petted but she doesn't generally seek out attention.

Duchess looks a lot like her sister Pebbles, but she doesn't have the white markings. She wasn't quite sure what she was doing in a basket, or why we kept calling her name and flashing a bright light in her face, but she took it very well!

Clover was the runt of the litter when I got them, but now she's barely passed her sister Gretchen in weight and is no longer the smallest one. She's the most laid back and is usually napping while the other puppies play.

Amos is the "most improved" currently - he may be slightly TOO improved.... he gained almost 4 pounds in 10 days, and has become quite round. :-) He's just a happy puppy who enjoys his food!

One class finished....

Ten to go! I am currently attending CASI (Companion Animal Sciences Institute) to earn a diploma in Dog Training and another diploma in Shelter & Rescue Work. Today I finished my first class (with an A+, mom!) called Domestic Dog Behavior, and now I have only ten classes left. Next up is the class Principles of Learning and Behavior. I'm also taking a class called Introduction to Shelter & Rescue Work at the same time. It's taking awhile, but I am learning a lot and really enjoying it. If you're interested in learning more about these classes, visit the CASI website. Or if you don't have time to take classes and read a lot of books and articles, you can read the quick version by reviewing the papers I've written here. :-)

Tonight another foster volunteer is coming over to help me give my eight puppies their second dose of dewormer. For those of you who haven't dewormed puppies before, here's a quick (if slightly gross) lesson on how it works. Skip this if you're eating or feeling queasy. Basically the medicine part isn't bad - you weigh each puppy since the medicine is given based on weight, then you fill up the dropper with the correct dose, have someone hold the puppy if possible to make it easier, and give the puppy the medicine orally. If they won't open their mouths sometimes you have to help them. The gross part comes the next day, when instead of just picking up icky puppy poop you have to pick up really icky poop filled with worms. There are various kinds of worms and some look like spaghetti. There - aren't you glad you aren't eating right now?

On a much nicer subject, some of the workers and patients at St. Charles Sports & Physical Therapy held a supply drive and collected donations for Heartland during the holidays. They brought in all sorts of items, and it was such a nice surprise for the animals (and the foster parents!)

The truth about Noelle...

Now that Kermit has been adopted, Noelle is my newest "lost cause". It's hard to write a blog that talks about my foster dogs sometimes. I always want to be honest, but I don't want to say anything that will keep one of my foster dogs from getting adopted! But even with potential adopters, we have to be honest about our foster pets strengths and weaknesses in order to make the right match between adopter and adoptee. Therefore, I'll tell you about my foster dog Noelle.

I was speaking with a friend of mine last night about her, and I explained that "Well, she's a pit bull, and she's deaf, and she's food and bone aggressive with other animals, and she's currently got mange, and oh yeah, she's still not completely housebroken." We adopt out dogs that have one or two of these issues all the time - but ALL of these issues???? Did I mention she's my lost cause? I thought if I got her a CGC (Canine Good Citizen certificate) that would help, and she did very well with her first level of classes. It's my fault for being so busy that I haven't kept up with her training. And she really does well with being housebroken too - the few accidents she still has occasionally are also my fault (or usually my husband's fault for not keeping a close enough eye on her while I'm gone). The food thing is not a big deal - she just needs fed in her crate. And the mange is treatable, and currently being treated! Can't do much about her being a pit bull mix, or being deaf - but even those two have some advantages. Pitties are some of the most loyal and loving dogs out there. Noelle is funny because sometimes her ears stand straight up and sometimes they flop over, and sometimes just one stands up and one flops over. But no matter which it is, whenever she sees me or my husband, she puts her ears flat against her head and comes running to us, tail going crazy, as fast as she can. It doesn't matter if we were gone for 30 seconds or 3 days - her joy at seeing us is always overwhelming. In fact, like most pit bulls she does everything with her whole heart, in a single-minded pursuit of what she wants. So whether she is ripping up my husband's new pair of gloves, or giving kisses to me when I come inside from taking out the trash, she puts 100% effort into what she is doing. As for being deaf, that's a great thing when it comes to returning home after grocery shopping - I can come in, take my coat off and get all the groceries put away while she sleeps before she even knows I'm there! Of course once I wake her I have to be ready for her to show me how incredibly much she has missed me while I was gone. :-)

Noelle's favorite new trick (NOT my favorite) -- she jumps up on the coffee table when the dogs are playing! It's been hard to stop her since by the time I get to her she has usually jumped back on the floor and its too late to correct her. I did just let her get away with it one time so I could snap this picture not too long ago.



Here's a picture of her with her sometimes-floppy ears. One ear up, one ear down!


The best thing about Noelle, other than her 100% devotion to people, is her ability to cuddle. She loves to cuddle, and she has her own spot right next to me on the bed where she curls up and sleeps leaning against me with her head on the pillow. Not that she's spoiled or anything. But she just stays there even after all the other dogs are up and running around, ready to play. Every dog is different, but Noelle especially is one-of-a-kind, with her unique mix of devotion, laziness and determination.

Nicoh was adopted, KERMIT WAS ADOPTED!

First, the not-so-surprising news that Nicoh was adopted today. I met his new family and thought they were great. Nicoh has a wonderful new mom and three boys to wrestle and play with, and a new dog who appears to be a larger version of Nicoh (roughly standard poodle size). I miss him but I'm so happy for him to be able to start his life with such a great new family. The hardest part about fostering a dog like Nicoh was fielding the many phone calls and applications we received for him. I talked to many wonderful families and it is very hard to tell them that someone else applied before them and Nicoh is no longer available. I know small dogs, especially low-shedding dogs like poodles, are harder to find than bigger dogs, and so he was in very high demand. Not only was he an adorable small breed low-shedding dog, but he was house-trained and loving and got along with everyone and everything. I even taught him to jump into my arms on command, and all he wanted was to be carried around and be petted. That was so cool. :-) Dogs like Nicoh don't come along every day.

However, for every "perfect" dog like Nicoh, there's a dog out there who's not so perfect, but who is just as wonderful. If you've read my blog for very long, you've probably heard me talk about Kermit a few times. Kermit was not one of my foster dogs, but he was a very special dog for me and for many of the Heartland volunteers. Kermit was taken in by volunteers at 8 weeks old. Many people would have chosen not to save Kermit, because he had a neurological disorder and no one really knew how serious it was. However, over time our Heartland volunteers worked with him, and taught him, and loved him. And he became this giant 70 lb dog who was house-trained and would sit on command and loved everyone, and all he needed to be happy was a belly rub and a kind word. And his neurological disorder was not a big deal - it means he bobs his head up and down in a funny way, and he has a little trouble keeping his balance so he walks funny and falls down sometimes. But because he's a large, black dog, and because he wasn't "perfect", he was passed over for adoption time after time, year after year. Until last Saturday - two years after he came into Heartland as a young puppy, he finally found his new home!! A lady saw him at PetSmart and realized he needed her, and she needed him. She is a wonderful person who has saved some other special needs animals and now Kermit is part of her family, and he will be getting a lot of belly rubs and love for the rest of his life.

In addition to the great news about Nicoh and Kermit, there were several other dogs also adopted last Saturday. Among those were the rest of the litter of adorable puppies - all six of them!! This is good, because my litter of puppies will be ready for adoption in a few weeks, and they really don't need the competition of ADORABLE puppies - they're cute, but not THAT cute. :-) Also, the puppies I talked about in my last post who need a foster home have found a place to stay with another of the Heartland foster homes. I'm so happy that someone else made room for them and now they will be saved. And once again, we have a whole lot of puppies who will soon be available for adoption, so send your friends who are looking to adopt a puppy to us! ;-)

More about Nicoh

I took a few more pictures of Nicoh now that he's been groomed. I know I say this about a lot of different dogs, but Nicoh is just the best dog ever. He just wants to be held and petted all the time, and I'm happy to oblige every chance I get. He gets along well with all the other dogs, and the cat, and he's housebroken, and so cuddly!


That's Whisper in the bottom right corner of the second picture. She is doing great; she's like a totally different cat than she was at first. Now she no longer runs from the dogs, and she seems to think she owns the place. She's started jumping up on tables and counters, which my husband isn't happy about, but I'm just glad she appears so much at home finally. I know it is hard to go to a new place, and I was afraid she'd never get used to all the dogs at my house, so its nice to see her finally settle in.

We were contacted today about someone else who found a dog who had been hit by a car, and the dog was pregnant, and they need help placing the puppies into homes. There are so many needy animals out there, and I wish I could help the family who took in this injured dog, but I already have a house overfull with puppies.

My adorable eight foster puppies are doing wonderful. They are so much fun to watch - they wrestle and give these little tiny puppy growls while they play, and then they fall over, or sometimes they knock each other into the water bowl. Granted, they are very very messy, but so sweet! And then they all curl up together and nap, and I love to watch them.

Bugsy was adopted!

We had a very good day at PetSmart this past weekend. I've been so busy taking care of puppies, I hadn't had time to write about it until now. But Bugsy, my foster cat, was adopted on Saturday! Also we had several dogs adopted, including eight puppies! Four of the puppies were from the Lab/Aussie litter that are so adorable - Polly, Ozzie, Cobbler and Cheerio were all adopted. And then the remaining three yellow lab/border collie puppies were all adopted (Joker, Jersey and Jinx), and most exciting for me, the last of Kiya's puppies - Cody was adopted!!! Also Susie, a coonhound was adopted, and I think several cats may have been adopted as well, but since I spend most of my time at PetSmart helping with dog adoptions, I'm not sure how cat adoptions were this week. It is so exciting that so many dogs were adopted - many of the puppies had been waiting for several months for their own home, and now their wait is over.

Saturday was very busy, and it was wonderful to have some new volunteers step up and help - it is greatly appreciated! And for me, yesterday was just as busy, and again two other Heartland volunteers were a huge help, as we spent most of the day cleaning up puppy papers, deworming the eight new puppies and giving them their first vaccinations. That is not an easy job with so many puppies! But we got it done, and it was much easier with so much help. This morning I rushed through caring for the puppies before work - it still took about 45 minutes - and as they continue to grow it will continue to take longer each time! Either I have to get faster at cleaning up puppy paper, or I need to find another foster home to help with some of these puppies! Any takers? :-)

Boo's Bark; New Puppies

Okay, to properly enjoy this video of my foster puppy Boo, pay close attention to her ears!



The bad thing about this is I find it so funny, that I find myself going into the room and waiting to open the door of her ex-pen just so I can watch her bark and laugh at her. It is probably frustrating for her, not to mention teaching her bad habits (to bark when she wants something) but its so funny to watch that I can't help myself, at least for the next day or two. :-)

So I have three adult fosters and one new puppy - you'd think that would be plenty to keep me busy. But I heard a sad story at PetSmart yesterday. A family had taken in a dog who had been abused, and when they did it they didn't know the dog was pregnant. The dog had eight puppies and once they were weaned they had to get rid of them. So, I agreed to take them and foster them until they were ready for adoption. The puppies are about six weeks old, and they appear to be All-American Mutts - in this case, probably a mixture of pit bull, rottweiler and/or husky, with possibly a splash of beagle or shepherd thrown in for good measure. There are five girls and three boys. Here are pictures of my new foster puppies!

This is Scooby - he is the largest of the litter, at 7 pounds.

This is Pebbles, Clover and Duchess - three mostly black puppies, all females. The smallest (Clover) is 4.8 pounds!

Two tan puppies - Amos (male) and Kasey (female).

This is Gretchen she is brindle and her face looks like a husky!

This is Keebler, a tan and black puppy with beautiful blue eyes.

Group photo!

Introducing Boo (name may be changed!)

A have another foster friend (click here to read her story) who came over last night and took some pictures of my new puppy for me. Right now I'm calling the puppy Boo, because that name has the most votes - you can still vote in the post below and her name may change in the next few days! Here is Boo..

This is a great picture of the black spot at the base of her tail - the rest of her is all white.


Every time the flash started to go off, Boo would cock her head to the side, trying to figure out what was going on!


I still look at her and think she's adorable.


However, after further discussions with my foster friend, and further consideration, I have come to the realization that she may not be so much cute as she is pathetic. At only 4 pounds, she is tiny!! So she's either cute and pathetic, or so ugly she's cute, or some combination of the two. :-)

With her big black round eyes, she still reminds me of a little white rat. Hence, her nickname from me will forever be "Little Rat". Most of my foster animals get nicknames - Noelle is "Little One" even though she's not little anymore! Duncan was "dunk-dunk" - silly I know, but that's just what I call them. Anyway, my Little Rat is so funny. She is definitely not a huggable cuddly little girl - she is a super-energetic, not afraid of anything, let's see what kind of trouble I can get into kind of girl. She does not want to sit still, even when she's being held.

Is it a puppy? Or a fuzzy white rat?

A friend of mine was teasing me because I was describing this puppy, and in the same sentence called it "the cutest puppy ever" and "it looks like a hairless white rat". Somehow, I think they're both true!

I got an e-mail from a local shelter who had taken in this puppy and wanted to get it into rescue. Of course, I immediately volunteered to take her, based just on her picture. She's so much cuter in person too - I will hopefully have more pictures to show you soon. She is this little tiny puppy - she only weighs 4.2 pounds!!! And she is all white, except for a little bit of black around her nose, and one black spot at the base of her tail. She is probably around 6 or 7 weeks old right now. Giving her a bath after I brought her home was easy - I could just hold her in one hand under the faucet to bathe her! She is so affectionate, and she is very energetic and curious. I need some help naming her. It's hard to do without meeting her, but help me out please. I like names that have to do with the one little black spot on the base of her tail, so I was thinking of calling her Dot or Speck. I also included some other choices, or I'd love some suggestions. Please vote below to help me name this puppy - thanks!

Update on my fosters

Nicoh (poodle mix) - Nicoh is doing great - after just a few hours with him, I am totally in love. He is very sweet, and just wants to be held and petted. He appears to be house-trained - at least, no accidents so far! He also did well with all my dogs! He gets along best with Tulsa - they love to run and play together. He's a bit intimidated by Remi and Noelle right now. He is going in tomorrow to be groomed, and then to the vet on Friday to be neutered.

Tulsa (deaf Blue Heeler) - She's SUCH a good dog - I grow to like her more every day. She is very responsive - probably because she is deaf, she relies more on her other senses to stay attuned to what is going on, so she's always watching, and responds immediately when I call her with a hand signal. She does whatever I ask of her, and has perfect house manners. If only she would display her great personality at PetSmart - but since she is so noisy there, she's going to get to take a week off from adoptions and relax at home this Saturday. Hmmm... maybe that's been her plan all along!

Noelle (deaf pit bull mix) - Poor Noelle has demodex mange. Fortunately this is not contagious, so she doesn't have to be quarantined. But she does need daily medication, and twice weekly medicated baths. She also will not be eligible for adoption until the mange is cleared up, so my husband is happy to know she'll be around for at least another month. It will also give me time to keep working with her, and perhaps even get her started on her intermediate obedience training class during that time.

Whisper (cat) - Whisper is settling in nicely, and is even starting to come out to the rest of the house around the dogs. She's stopped bossing Tommy around, and comes out to greet me and be petted whenever she sees me.

Tommy (cat) - Tommy is moving up to PetSmart! He is so friendly and cute, and so hopefully he will be adopted quickly. By moving up to one of the cages at PetSmart, he'll have a lot better chance of being seen and adopted. So tonight is moving night for him.

Bugsy (cat) - I almost forgot Bugsy! He's been living up at PetSmart, and you know- out of sight, out of mind. :-) Seriously, I am happy to report he is doing good. He gets all sorts of attention up there - I stop by when I can, other foster volunteers stop by, the volunteers who clean the cages there twice a day all give him lots of attention, and even my mom stopped by with my niece and nephew to visit him earlier this week! No one has really forgotten him, but he is still waiting to find a perfect home. Hopefully his new family will find him soon!

Introducing Nicoh

NOkay, I will admit I like bigger dogs better than little ones. My favorite breeds are the big, easy-going dogs like Newfoundlands, Irish Wolfhounds, and the forever sought-after but never seen Black Russian Terrier. I'm also a huge fan of pit bulls - American Pit Bull Terriers and Staffordshire Terriers, for example. I used to be scared of those breeds, until we fostered a pit bull puppy that we found, and then a few more pit bull mixes, and once I realized what sweet, loving, loyal dogs they are, I fell in love with them for their personalities. But the big scruffy looking or furry dogs are my favorite - they remind me of giant teddy bears. As for small breeds - well, with a few exceptions, they're just not my favorite. Until I met Nicoh. Heartland recently took in several various dogs that were out of time at a local shelter and were about to be euthanized. They are in need of foster homes, and since Duncan was just adopted, I was able to take one home. There were several medium and large breed dogs that are already house-trained and would have been a great fit with my dogs. But who did I ask to foster? The little 16 pound poodle mix named Nicoh. May not be house-trained, may not get along with other dogs, and he's a little tiny poodle mix - but he's adorable! So I brought him home last night! The first thing he did, after coming into the house, was to greet Whisper my foster cat. He then promptly raised his leg and "marked" her. I guess she's his cat now! So, that wasn't the best start to our new relationship. :-) But once he's neutered hopefully that behavior will stop! I haven't introduced him to the other dogs yet since I just got him last night. I will introduce them tonight and we will see how it goes.


He's a cute scruffy little guy - I need to get him groomed, but probably then I won't like him as much. :-) Seriously, I am sure I will love him for his personality by then... right? I am guessing he is maybe a Shih-Poo (Shih-Tzu/Poodle), or a Malti-Poo (Maltese/Poodle), or a Bich-Poo (Bichon Frise/Poodle), or a Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle), or a Whoodle (Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier/Poodle). If you look at pictures of the various breeds, he seems like he could be any of these. I like to call him a Whoodle - just because its the most fun to say. :-)

So this is Nicoh, my adorable little fuzzy soft teddy bear poodle mix.

Introducing Tommy and Whisper

I took in two new foster cats last week. Both cats are very sweet and friendly, and they are slowly becoming accustomed to life here. This is Tommy - he is about 1 1/2 years old, and he is very playful. I am hoping as he gets used to the dogs, he will start coming out to be around me more, but right now he spends his time either in the cat's room or in Rachael's room.


This is Whisper - she is around 4 years old, and more laid back than Tommy. She bosses him around most of the time, and has claimed the bed in front of the window has her own, so she spends a lot of her time laying there and looking outside.



And since I had the camera out, I had to get another picture of Noelle.


She's so funny - a few days ago I gave her and Duncan each a raw carrot when I was preparing their Kongs (filling rubber toys with food and treats to keep them busy while I was gone). Duncan immediately ate his - he loves carrots - but Noelle decided that it made a better toy than a treat. She carried it off and started tossing it up in the air, then doing her cute puppy hop over to get it, and tossing it again. She was having a great time until Duncan finished his carrot and ran over to get hers. She tossed it up, he grabbed it when it hit the ground and took off running. She thought "oh good, a game!" and went running after him, as they usually do when they play chase and take toys from each other. But then suddenly Duncan stopped and turned around, and you could just see Noelle looking - where's the toy?! And there was Duncan, chewing as fast and furious as possible, until gulp - no more carrot. It was hilarious.

We had a few dogs adopted yesterday- one of the adorable puppies - Guinea - was adopted. Also Annie, a black lab puppy, found a new home. Hopefully we will also have some mid-week adoptions this week!

Duncan was adopted!

I'm happy and sad at the same time. I like the family who adopted him, and Duncan will have another dog to play with, and a great home where he will be very spoiled. Plus, I'll get to take in another dog who needs help now that Duncan found a home. BUT, I miss him more than I thought I would! It was very hard to leave, knowing that he was trying to follow me. I know he'll bond to his new family quickly, and he'll be very happy, but its hard to think about him being confused and scared in a new place with new people tonight. Still, I know he'll be very happy once he settles in. And now he doesn't have to compete with all those adorable puppies tomorrow. :-)

I will be bringing Noelle and Tulsa tomorrow to PetSmart. I really thought Noelle was going to be adopted after receiving two applications last week, but so far that hasn't worked out. Because Noelle is part "pit bull", some people can't adopt her because their insurance companies have rules against pit bulls. So as of right now, she still hasn't been adopted. I am hoping she will have more luck tomorrow.