Flashback Friday: Charlie

It's been awhile since I've done a Flashback Friday, but today I'm excited to share with you an update on one of my previous foster cats.


Life was never boring with Charlie around


Anyone remember Charlie?  This is the kitten I took in as an FIV+ cat, and then later learned was actually positive for FeLV - a much more serious disease.  I had Charlie for several months, and he entertained me with his sweet personality, his love of the dogs, and the enjoyment he found in life.  Then an amazing thing happened, and a wonderful family decided to adopt this special needs cat.  So it's been six months since Charlie has left, and I still think about him often.  Today I contacted his new mom to see how he is doing, and here was her reply:

Charlie is doing really well. He's healthy and doing great with our new Dog Cooper. My daughter loves him and when ever we've had people over to the house they talk about how beautiful he is and what a sweetheart he can be. I've attached a picture of him with Coop curled up next to each other.

We love him and continue to enjoy his bursts of energy and love on him every chace we get. He's giving kisses now and loves when I carry him to see the birdies thru the patio doors. He's wonderful and we are all glad he's a part of our family! 

Charlie in his new home


Thanks Tracey, for adopting Charlie and giving him such a happy life!

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.






Flashback Friday: Casey Jones

Casey is one of my previous foster dogs who was adopted a month ago.  Casey had been bounced around a lot before that - he was in a few different adoptive homes and a few different foster homes, but he's finally found that home that he was waiting for all along.  He has the best family, and she's even been kind enough to help him post a comment on a previous post on my blog!  I hope that continues, and maybe someday he'll decide to start a blog of his own.  In the meantime, I wanted to share with you the 30 Day Update that I just received from his mom.  She said...

Casey was doing great... until he was eaten by the monsters that hide under the deck.

Okay, she didn't really say that.  I just love this picture she sent of him lying under the deck, and I made up my own caption.  But she did say he is doing great.  Here is her e-mail:

---start of e-mail---

Casey Jones Top Ten List:

1. I could have not gotten a better dog had I ordered him from a Sears catalog.


2. He settled in immediately and Noel is glad to have an 'animal' friend. I forgot to mention she thinks she is a dog.

3. He lets me sleep as long as I want. In 30 days he only wanted out one time during the night. At night he beats me to the bed and stretches out across the center. He does move to give me some room when I get in bed.

(In his 'day' bed)

4. So glad I spent so much on his collapsible crate. He has not spent one minute in it. But it is being put to good use.

5. He is unbelievable about 'people' food. I have NEVER had a dog that did not sit and stare while I was eating (and who's fault was that?). Casey will be on an all dog diet.

6. Totally housebroken. He must have a bladder the size of a basketball.

7. He LOVES his outdoor space. The deck, the lower deck, the patio, under the steps or out on the grass. He can sleep anywhere.

(Lower deck)

(Under the steps)

8. Rides, hummm. All he needs to see is me getting my purse. We did have to come to an understanding with that. He would go the laundry room door and push to get out. I have trained him that "No" when I enter the laundry room, means "you are not going" and "Sit, Wait" means "you are going, but I have to open the door first". Then when given the "OK, you can come".

(His NEW ride)

9. Walking is done after the sun sets. I am not a hot day, sunshine kind of person. We move slow, you know we do have to say hello to every adult and dog along the way. Kids get special kisses.


10. He loves to be brushed, he almost purrrs. I can clean the mud off his feet with a washcloth, even between the toes and under the nail.

Thank you for bringing him into my life.


----end of e-mail---
Thank you, Dee, for giving him such a happy life!   

Flashback Friday

THEN:
Neo is a seven year old blue Neapolitan Mastiff. I fostered him last August for about three weeks before he was adopted. Neo is one of those rare dogs that we don't usually see in rescue. A rare and sought after purebred - he normally would have been easily adopted out. And in Neo's case, we did receive several applications on him once he was placed on the website. But as a giant-breed dog, Neo is approaching old age quickly. He has some health problems. And he drools. A lot.

Neapolitan Mastiffs - also known as Italian Mastiffs - are not as large as their English Mastiff counterparts (like Mango - at 230 pounds, he's the heaviest dog I know!)  Neapolitan Mastiffs have more wrinkles though - it's like a tradeoff.  I have a theory that more wrinkles = more drool.  Just look at his loose jowls - do they do doggie jowl-lifts?  All I know is he drooled everywhere.  Constantly.

Many people met him at adoption events and were immediately drawn to his many wrinkles and large size. And most were immediately repulsed by the constant drool, made worse by the fact that he was nervous. I wasn't worried about finding him a home - I just wanted to make sure it was the right home. So after a lot of thought and many e-mail conversations with one applicant, I finally set up a meeting for her to meet Neo.

Maria lives in Tennessee - I think she had about a nine hour drive just to come meet Neo. She drove here with her female Neapolitan Mastiff, who was also a rescue. She met me and Neo, and I immediately realized she was perfect for Neo. She was prepared for his medical issues, and with another Neapolitan Mastiff, was also prepared for the drool!  So I waited anxiously, hoping that she would come to the same decision. And she did!

NOW: 
So now Neo lives in Tennessee, on a farm with his mom and dad, a female Neapolitan Mastiff named Kira and a white Boxer named Chewy. Here is part of a recent e-mail from Maria, updating me on Neo.

"I thought I'd send you a couple more pictures of Neo and let you know he's doing awesome. He's such a cuddle bunny (if you can believe a bunny that weighs 130 pounds) and adores attention. He's my constant companion when I'm outdoors feeding critters or working on stuff around the farm. And loves to lay at my feet when I'm watching a movie. Probably so I'll scratch his back with my foot... LOL!"

She went on to say he's doing well on medication for his lower back inflammation, and that even though she has shown him several times that there is no back door to the chicken house, he still insists on running behind it and checking everytime she goes inside.  I love that he's so attached to her, and that he's so obviously happy in his pictures.  Thank you Maria!!

Flashback Friday

In January 2009, I had my hands full with fosters.  I had three adult foster dogs, and one hyper foster puppy.  And then I heard a sad story, and ended up with eight more foster puppies.  Because I felt sorry for them.  And because I was insane. 

This is the crate full of puppies that showed up for me to take home.  They were about six weeks old at the time, and weighed between 5 and 7 pounds each.   

So for four weeks, I cleaned up a LOT of puppy paper (yuck), and fed them, and played with them, and invited my friends over to show off socialize these adorable puppies.  Then once the puppies were old enough, they were spayed/neutered and had all their vet work done, and then they had their official puppy pictures taken and were put on the website as available for adoption. 

The puppies were quickly adopted, and I recently sent out an e-mail to the eight families who adopted these sweet puppies to find out how they were doing.  I heard back from seven of the families, and I'm relieved to tell you that not one of them said "please come get this dog - we don't want him/her anymore".  Whew.  Here is what they did say...

About Amos - now named Bubba: 

"Bubba has become a very loved member of our family! He’s very smart and behaves really well so far. He is a great little brother to our chocolate lab, Lady. Steve and I call them our kids!!!! He also gets along much better with my grandson, Jaden (5 yrs old). They’re always running around the house playing. Oh, and he still loves to eat, he’s a whopping 70+ lbs and not even fat. Between both dogs they’re eating us out of house and home but that’s okay."

Hooray for Amos!

About Kasey:
"We kept her name Kasey, she's doing really well. She's a wild one! She has lots of energy and is really smart. We take her to the dog parks and she learned how to swim at Broemmelsiek park last summer."

Wild?  Really?  I never expected that.  Here are some recent pictures of Kasey that her family sent me:

About Duchess:
"She is doing great! She's a little wld thing. Our black lab and her get along very well, they wrestle all the time.(a little too much). She is such a cuddler
and licker. We love her dearly."

Another wild one.  This one doesn't surprise me so much. 

About Gretchen:

"Gretchen is doing good still has alot of puppy in her and is digging up the yard but she is very playful and good around the kids, she also has a dog next door that she frequently plays with. Still have some work to get her better trained for when people come around so she quits jumping on them as they come throught the door."

Yep, she sounds like a wild one too.  What did I do to these puppies?!

About Keebler - now named Indiana:

"Indy is doing very well! In October we purchased a house, so he has much more room to run and play. He is no longer in a kennel, even while we are at work, he doesn't chew on or eat anything any more! thank goodness. He often enjoys pulling me around our neighborhood on my skate board (honestly enjoys it and even gets excited when I reach for it) also runs occasionally with Debbie.He is very gentle and playfull with all of our nieces and nephewes, and does very well with other dogs at the dog park, He and our other dog Mya are the best of friends After a lot of hard work he is more than the dog I hoped he would be, even though he thinks he is a lap dog sometimes he is a very lovable, cuddly, and obedient dog."

And here is a recent picture of Indy that his family sent.  What a sweet face!

About Pebbles - now named Hersheys:

"She is doing great-she seems very happy running and playing with her friends(we have two other dogs)She is healthy and gets a lot of exercise-she is definately a blessing to our family."
Hooray for Pebbles!

About Scooby - now named Sherman:

"Sherman (Scooby) is doing great. He has been a very nice addition to our family. He has certainly grown onto the name we chose. He weighed 80+ lbs at his last checkup and none of that is fat! He's a big baby though and is about as easy going as a dog can be. As you can see from the 2 pics I attached he is rather spoiled, and he loves to go for a ride in the car."

And here is Sherman - ready for his car ride!

You can also see their official puppy adoption pictures here.

Flashback Friday

THEN:

In February 2008, I fostered Benny - a senior hound mix.  He loved being petted and just relaxing on the couch.  I expected to foster him for awhile since he was an older, large dog.  But someone came into PetSmart the very first week I took him there, and they fell in love with him and adopted him. 

NOW

It's been two years since I've seen or heard from Benny, so I recently checked in with Benny's family to see how he is doing.  His mom says he is doing well, and is still a very big baby who likes to spend most of his day sprawled out on the sofa and most of the evening going in and out.  He sounds a lot like Remi.  I wonder if Benny likes to bark at school buses. 

Benny's mom says he "definitely has his forever home." Thank you, JoAnn, for giving him so much love and a great home!