Dogs have issues too...

Some dogs have normal issues. Lizzy's issue is fear of strangers - normal for a dog who wasn't socialized at a young age. My previous foster dog Murphy has a fear of the outdoors, and loud noises - still not uncommon. Dogs like Lizzy and Murphy seem to see the world as Dangerous Until Proven Otherwise. Other dogs, like my Noelle, see the world as their playground - they have no fear, and every new thing is an adventure.

Recently I met a dog with very interesting issues. He does not seem to have the normal fears of a dog picked up as a stray. He isn't afraid of people. He isn't afraid of the outdoors, or loud noises, or other dogs. This is what he is afraid of:

 This dog, named Bobby Hill (to go with the foster family's theme of a popular TV show family), is the sweetest little beagle. He was picked up as a stray and taken to a shelter. When he was brought from the shelter to an adoption event, we all remarked on how sweet he was - and how skinny. Here's Bobby Hill at the adoption event.

So of course, being the typical soft-hearted rescue people that we are, we started trying to give him treats, to help fatten him up. If there's one thing that we tend to use a lot of at adoption events, it's treats! So bring on the donations - we'll use 'em. :-) Bobby Hill ate one small piece of soft chicken treat, and ignored the dog biscuits we offered. Then he ignored the rest of the chicken treats we offered. Well no wonder he is so skinny, if he won't even eat the yummy treats, I thought. A couple of times he walked up to the water bowl, sniffed it, then walked away. Very strange. But then Kenny, one of the rescue group volunteers, realized he seemed afraid of the water bowl. He poured some water on the ground, and Bobby Hill lapped it up. So we tried giving him water from a water bottle, and he lapped that up too. After drinking an entire water bottle full of water, Bobby Hill felt much better, and even started eating treats again. He had been so dehydrated that he wasn't able to swallow the treats before that! No wonder he was so skinny - the poor guy probably had not had anything to eat or drink since being taken to the shelter. He was so afraid of the water bowl that he was literally dying of thirst with the water right in front of him all the time. He must have been living on his own for awhile, scrounging food where he could get it and drinking from puddles. I have no idea what could have caused him to identify bowls as a scary object - but fortunately Kenny figured out the problem, and then proceeded to take him home as a foster dog where he could get him fattened up, and teach him that bowls really aren't so scary after all!

It takes a lot of patience to help a dog with issues. Bobby Hill has progressed from eating dog food off of a piece of newspaper on the ground, to eating out of his foster sibling's food bowl. He's also gone from drinking out of a cupped hand, to drinking from a small clear saucer, to drinking from a larger water bowl (but only when outside). Helping a dog to overcome their fears can sometimes be a long, drawn-out process, but it's so worth it in the end to see them gain freedom as they overcome their fear. Bobby Hill is now ready for adoption, and as you can see from these pictures taken just a few short weeks after the ones above, he's already gained weight and looks much better. Thanks to his foster parents Kenny and Holly who continue to work with him and help him overcome his fear of those scary things we like to call bowls.

Puppy Update

We had a pretty good weekend at PetSmart for adoptions.  All Paws had six dogs there, and received applications on four of them - not bad!  Three of them were my puppies - Skye, Sonic and Snoopy.  Hopefully they will be going to their new homes later this week. 

Bear is gearing up for his trip to Maryland this weekend, for the taping of the Puppy Bowl.  There will be 60 puppies there, so he'll have a lot of competition.  But he's been sharpening his puppy playing skills and practicing carrying around a mini-football that a friend gave him, so he is ready to go!

Update on my fosters - Part 2

As promised, here is the update on the cats currently living in my house. 

Merlin - My orange tabby cat - I still think he's the best cat in the world. Sometimes he comes in my room at night and sleeps on my pillow, and sometimes he doesn't, and I really miss him on the nights that he finds better things to do. I found out he's afraid of children. So he has something in common with Lizzy. The only difference is when he sees children, he runs away and hides, whereas Lizzy, well, Lizzy doesn't.

Gandalf - Another orange tabby cat. He looks like Merlin, but he's not Merlin. He's very affectionate though, and he likes to stand on my keyboard and nudge my face so I can't breathe, until I pet him. If you ever get an e-mail with something like this in the text: ae;oq12a f, that was most likely Gandalf's fault.

Artemis - A gorgeous black cat. Artie is doing very well - he's finally used to all the dogs, and comes upstairs to hang out all the time. He still likes to sleep in his "cat area" downstairs though. He is the only cat I've had that my husband actually likes. I caught my husband Dave petting Artie the other day, and Dave said "Why couldn't you adopt this one instead of that other one." And it was obvious from the tone of his voice what he thought of "that other one" (Merlin).

Scribbles - My crabby cat has been getting braver lately. I feel so sorry for her in solitary confinement that I've started leaving her door open recently. So she comes out and hisses at the puppies, and then runs back to the safety of her room. The puppies are safe from her in their ex-pen - lucky for them. I never heard from the people who inquired about her, so I guess she's still waiting for someone to want her.

Orca, Penguin and Puffin - The little tuxedo kittens just don't want to grow. They have to be two pounds before they can get spayed/neutered at the vet, and last night I weighed Puffin and she was 1.91 pounds. She's so close! I've been giving them canned food every day, and they always have dry food out, so I don't know what else I can do. Well, someone suggested tying little fishing weights to their collars - but I thought that might be cheating.

 
So that's the story on my animals.  For now.  I have plenty of cats, a few too many dogs, and no space for emergency returns.  But Artemis and Dodger should be moving on to other foster homes soon, and hopefully the puppies will be ready for adoption by next week, so that will help.  I will be taking Lizzy, Dodger, Gandalf and Artemis to adoptions this weekend.  I don't have high hopes for any of them getting adopted, but stranger things have happened, and it's worth a try to find them their very own homes.

Update on my fosters - Part 1

Yep, it's time for another Foster Pet update, where I get to list all of the foster pets at my house, and you get to think I'm crazy. But it also gives those of you who want to know about a specific pet a chance to find out how they're doing, so I hope you like these updates from time to time. If nothing else, you can read this post and then feel sorry for my husband. Just remember, HE's the one who made me get a dog three years ago. Up until then, I didn't want a dog, and had been avoiding it as long as possible. So if he hadn't insisted on getting a dog, which led me to discover how many homeless dogs and cats are killed every day, which led me to want to help them, this never would have happened.

Also, as a special bonus, I'm going to include updates on my own pets. Aren't you excited?

Remi - My Great Dane, and one of the largest dogs in the city... well, maybe in our subdivision anyway. He is getting old for a Dane - he turns four this month! He plays less and sleeps more, and he backs down from little poodle/daschund mixes when they bark at him. But my wimpy 160 pound dog is still tough enough to bark at every person and bicycle and truck that goes by our fence - as long as they are on the OTHER side of the fence.

Noelle - My deaf pit bull mix is spending a lot of time lately with my husband Dave as he works on our basement. Even though I am the one who feeds her, pets her, plays with her, and takes care of her every need, she is so his dog. Okay fine, he feeds her and pets her and plays with her also. But that's only because she follows him around everywhere. Maybe she's trying to make up for the fact that she ate his cowboy boots one day last week when he wasn't home.

Lizzy - I call her my child-eating border collie. I'm sure THAT will help her get adopted. She's settled into our house great - which is good, because I have a feeling we will have her for awhile. She loves to play with Noelle, and she listens very well and always just wants attention. It's only when strangers come in the house, or when she sees children that she goes nuts. Minor issue, right?

Skye, Sonic and Snoopy - My foster puppies went to the vet this week and got spayed/neutered. They can't get adopted yet though - even though I had already dewormed them once (remember this?), when they checked at the vet they found the puppies still have hookworms, whipworms, roundworms and coccidia. Somehow I wasn't surprised. So they're stuck with me for another week at least.

Bear - As I mentioned yesterday, Bear is going to be traveling to Maryland with me in a couple of weeks to take part in Puppy Bowl VI. Anyone interested in going with me? We'll only be driving 28 hours in three days with a small puppy in the car. It should be fun!

Chenille - It turns out my sweet, loving deaf Pomeranian is about 12 years old! The shelter originally said she was six years, and I thought she was a little older than that, but not twice that age. I guess it will hurt her chances of finding a home, but senior dogs find homes all the time so hopefully she'll still be adopted. She's so sweet - she's happy just to sit on my lap and be petted.

Dodger - This funny looking guy (sorry, but he is) is starting to settle in to the new routine. Both him and Chenille get canned food instead of dry food and all the other dogs get jealous! He has a very loud bark for such a little dog, and he's not afraid to use it. But he's also playful and friendly, and he does well with the other pets. Even Noelle is getting used to having him around. He's another dog that likes to sit on my lap while I type on the computer. Unfortunately my lap already has a waiting list with the cats and Chenille, so he has to take turns which he doesn't really like. Hopefully he can soon find another home where he will get all the attention he desires.

That's it for the dogs at my house. I'll post an update on the cats tomorrow, so maybe it won't look like I have quite so many. It's worth a try.

Puppy Bowl VI

The Puppy Bowl, aired each year on Animal Planet, is shown the afternoon of the Super Bowl and features puppies at play in a model football stadium.  If you've never seen it, it's a lot of fun to watch.  And next year, my foster puppy Bear may be one of the puppy football players!  We'll be traveling in a couple of weeks to Silver Spring, Maryland, for the taping of Puppy Bowl VI, which will be aired in February 2010.  And if Bear can manage to stay awake and active enough during the taping, he'll get to be on the show!  It's a long shot, because Bear is the most laid-back, quiet puppy I've had.  A few people who have met him have even asked if he is sick, because he is so non-active.  He's not sick, just lazy.  But I'm hoping after a day in the car, driving 14 hours to Maryland, he will have stored up enough energy to go out and play some puppy football!  Now does anyone know where I can get a tiny stuffed football to start teaching him how to score touchdowns? 

Introducing Chenille and Dodger

You're not going to believe this.  I hardly believe it myself.  I took the four puppies to the vet this morning, and they all got pre-adopted!  No, not really.  The hard-to-believe news is actually that they said they can't neuter Bear yet.  They want to give him a little more time to finish, uh... maturing.  So they want me to hold onto him for three weeks and then they will recheck him at that time!  If I would have just waited one more day to talk about him, I never would have had to admit my embarrassing plan to keep him off the website.  Of course I was only planning on holding him an extra week - not an extra three weeks.  But I'm not complaining.  He's cute enough he'll still be very adoptable in three weeks, and that will give me some extra time to find him the perfect home (i.e. one who will send me regular updates on him). 

It's always scary offering to take foster pets sight-unseen.  Sometimes I am surprised by how adorable and sweet they are.  Sometimes I am surprised by how funny-looking or difficult they are. This week, I've had one of each. 

First is Chenille.  Someone who knew I have a soft spot for deaf dogs told me about a group looking for help with a deaf Pomeranian.  Of course small dogs aren't my thing, but deaf dogs are, so I said I'd take her.  I was told she was a senior dog, deaf, not house-trained, expected to be difficult to place - all in all, I expected the worst.  But then, thanks to a string of volunteers from Kansas City to St. Louis, this dog showed up. 

And not only did she turn out to be beautiful (thanks to a volunteer in Kansas City who got her groomed before sending her my way!) but also so very sweet.  She is a bit shy, and hides in her crate sometimes, but she also loves to be held and carried around.  She does great with kids, other dogs, and cats.  It's true she needs some work on house-training, but she's not going to be hard to adopt like I thought she might.  She's at the vet today being spayed and readied for adoption, so I will get her on the website and try to find her a home soon!

Sometimes the opposite happens.  A dog that sounds like a very easy adoption on paper turns out to be not so easy. I could be wrong.  I hope I'm wrong.  But when I was told a poodle mix who is already house-trained and good with other pets needed a temporary foster home, I thought I could get him adopted before he had to go to another longer-term foster home.  A poodle mix - how hard is that?  But here's Dodger, who showed up at my house last night:

 

It's not his fault he looks like a Dauschund/Poodle cross with bare spots in his thin fur.  It's not his fault he's missing a lot of teeth and has to eat soft food, or that he has allergies.  It's not his fault that he's probably younger than Chenille, but looks a lot older.  I just hope that someone can see what a great dog he really is and decide to adopt him in spite of those things! 

Quick Update

There has been a lot going on this weekend and not much time to take pictures, so I'll post more details with pictures soon.  But just because I can't wait to share news with you, I had to tell you now. 

First, I have a new foster dog named Chenille.  She's the deaf Pomeranian I was waiting for.  She came in on Saturday from Kansas City!   She's beautiful and a little bit shy and great with other animals and loves to be held.  I'm guessing she'll be adopted right away, even though she's mostly deaf and older.   

Second, my foster puppies go to the vet tomorrow so they will be ready for adoption hopefully by this weekend.  Except for Bear.  I am doing an awful thing.  I'm going to list his three littermates on the website for adoption, but not him.  Don't tell anyone.  I am ashamed of myself.  But I can't help it - he's my favorite puppy ever.  And that's saying a lot, because I've had some pretty awesome puppies, including my own dog Noelle who I got at 4 months old.  I just can't bear to put Bear on the website yet (ha).  So first I'm going to try to find a home for him with someone I know.  Someone who will keep me updated on him and let me see him from time to time.  If you know of a really good home who may be interested in adopting the cutest, sweetest puppy ever, let me know.  Otherwise I'll put him on the website as soon as his littermates are adopted.  I have to make room for more puppies, even if it means giving up the best puppy ever.  He is so laid back - he let my niece carry him around like a baby for an hour last night and never wiggled or complained.  He's fluffy and cuddly and, well, you just have to meet him and I think you'd fall in love too. I'm sure I'll have more pictures of him soon too.

Third, I'm getting a new foster dog tonight.  It's another small dog - a poodle mix.  What's the deal with me and small dogs lately?  I have never been a small dog person, and with a 160 lb dog of my own, I never expected to foster small dogs because I was afraid they would get stepped on!  And yet my four most recent foster dogs are all small dogs.  At least they're always in high demand.  And they eat less than the big dogs.  Less poop to pick up too.  (Sorry).   I'll have more news on the new foster dog tomorrow I hope.

Fourth, and most exciting for me - I got an inquiry on adopting Scribbles!!!  I never thought it would happen.  I recently made a video of her though, and I think that caught someone's attention.  It's not a great video - but how do you make a great video of a cat who doesn't do anything?  It's not easy.  So at least it helped her be noticed.  It remains to be seen if the inquiry will lead to an application or an adoption, but stay tuned and you'll know when I know!  Now I'm motivated to go make videos of all my hard-to-adopt pets.  Artemis and Lizzy are next on my list!   If you're a foster mom or dad for pets, I highly recommend making a video of your hard-to-place foster pets to help them get adopted.  Here are some tips from Petfinder.com.  And if you don't have a video camera but can get your fosters to me, I'd be glad to make a video of them for you.  I'll help any group, with any pet, as long as you promise not to expect much.  :-)

Trey and Keisha were adopted!!

Trey and Keisha each found wonderful new homes yesterday.  They of course got a lot of attention at PetSmart, but I was holding them for two people who had seen them on the All Paws website and each put in an application online.   The families were both able to come meet them at PetSmart yesterday and decided to adopt them.  Not a surprise considering how sweet they both are! 

Kitten Update
My foster kittens went to the vet on Friday but they're still too little to be spayed/neutered, so they have to wait another couple of weeks before they're ready for adoption.  I'm going to have to start giving them treats to fatten them up!  Even though they're nine weeks old, the girls only weigh 1.5 pounds and the boy only weighs 1.8 pounds - these guys are tiny!  They're doing well though.  Orca is the demanding one - she reminds me of Anastasia (previous foster kitten) because she likes to make her desires known by meowing loudly until I do what she wants.  She has me well trained.  Puffin is the quiet one - she kind of hangs back and watches the others before she tries anything new.  Penguin is the explorer of the group.  He's always the first to climb the highest or jump the farthest or explore strange new worlds (like the living room). 

Rocky and Bullwinkle

Remember these puppies?

They were named Deuce and Dusty, and they were adopted to separate families.   Of the entire litter of 9 puppies, there were only two chocolate males.  In their new homes, which don't know each other, one of the puppies has been renamed Rocky, and the other one has been renamed Bullwinkle!  

Introducing Snoopy, Skye, Sonic and Bear

Yesterday I took in four new puppies.  They were covered in fleas and had so many worms that they were coming out everywhere.  They vomited worms for 8 hours after I dewormed them, poor things.  Today they're feeling much better, and after their deworming and flea medication, they look much better too!  If you want to see really gross pictures of what I got to clean up, click here.  But I'm warning you, you really don't want to see them. 

So I'll show you pictures of adorable, clean puppies instead! 

This is Snoopy.  He's my favorite.  My husband named him.  He is sweet and cuddly and always just wants to crawl on my lap for petting. 

Next is his sister Skye.  She looks a lot like Snoopy only she has brown ears.  She's my favorite.  She's got the cutest little bark, and even though she's the smallest, she was the first to step up when the other dogs came around and bark at them to let them know she wasn't afraid. 

Next is my favorite puppy - Sonic.  He looks like he might have some German Shepherd in him.  The mom of the litter was said to be a Spaniel/Border Collie mix, and the dad was unknown.  I have no idea how big these puppies will get, or what all they're actually mixed with.  But that's part of the fun of having a pure-bred Mutt puppy - waiting to see how they turn out! 

And last (but definitely not least) is Bear. He's not my favorite. He is too cute and cuddly and roly-poly to be my favorite.  I hate it when my favorite puppy or kitten is the first in the litter to be adopted, so I am definitely not making this one my favorite. 

And just in case you clicked on the link to the really gross pictures, I'll leave you with one more picture of Bear to try to make up for it. 

She smiles...

No matter what happens, Keisha always looks happy. 

Even if Trey is about to flatten her...

yet again...  she looks happy. 

Even when surrounded by dogs who outweight her by 155 pounds, she is happy.

This is one happy dog.

And here's another happy dog.

My life...

Again I should start with a disclaimer that not all foster homes are like mine.  In fact, most of them probably aren't anything like mine.  Which is lucky for them.  Because my house is totally crazy.  So to make you feel better about the things you haven't gotten to on your "To Do" list yet, let me share some of my life with you.

The grass always needs cut.  This means I am constantly posting pictures of my foster animals being practically hidden in the tall grass.  This is another good reason to foster only big dogs - they make the grass look shorter.  Don't they?  Let's just go with yes, they do.

The carpet always needs vacuumed.  Daily.  No, more like hourly.  This is so constantly on my to-do list that I never bother crossing it off.  If it's not the inside of a stuffed animal or pillow, it's something else.  Last night Lizzy ate a piece of paper where I'd written down the e-mail address of someone interested in adopting one of my foster kittens.  Only she left small bits of it lying around to be vacuumed up.  They were too small and mangled to be put back together - I know, because I tried. 

The floor always needs mopped.  I dare not post a picture of my own kitchen floor, so I am using this picture of my parent's kitchen floor as an example of how clean my floor will never be.  Sigh - I miss having a kitchen floor that stays clean for more than 4.8 seconds.

My life is a constant cycle of feeding, cleaning, petting, scooping litterboxes, doing laundry, chasing kittens, cleaning, throwing tennis balls, escaping for 9 hours at work, returning home to feed, clean, pet, play with, scoop, chase, and clean some more.  And I love every second of it.  Except the laundry part.  I don't love that at all. 

Tomorrow Keisha and Trey go to the vet to get spayed and neutered - hooray!  I have to get them into good permanent homes before the new puppies show up, and the new foster dog.  It turns out I am getting the deaf senior Pomeranian after all!  And four puppies.  I told my husband about the Pomeranian a few days ago.  I started out with the classic "how much do you love me" line... and it worked!  So today I snuck in the news about the new puppies.  He asked why the container of puppy food was still in the kitchen since none of our fosters are eating puppy food, and I said I just hadn't had time to move it yet, and it was okay to leave it there since I may be getting more puppies in a few days.  Then I rushed to say something else and he just kind of sighed and didn't ask me anything else.  I do appreciate what a wonderful husband I have!!!

Delta was adopted!

The last of the litter of nine puppies has been adopted!  And I went the whole weekend without taking in any new fosters!  I'm not sure which one I'm more excited about at this point. :-)  I did offer to take in a deaf Pomeranian - and maybe three more puppies.  And I was hoping to find room for a St. Bernard and a Rottweiler as well.  But I think the Pomeranian found another foster home, and I'm still waiting to hear about the puppies, and so far I haven't talked my husband into fostering another big dog yet. 

Lizzy, Scribbles and Gandalf all went to adoptions on Saturday.  Scribbles was actually pretty calm, considering the circumstances.  She did very well, and one person even successfully petted her while she was there!  There's hope for her yet.  None of my fosters were adopted, but there were a few other dogs and cats adopted, so that was exciting. 

On Sunday I took Champ, another All Paws foster dog, to the JDRF walk in Forest Park.  Since Lizzy isn't really crazy about crowds, especially with lots of kids running around, I borrowed a friend's foster dog for the day.  Champ is awesome - he's a Boxer mix who was perfect for the event.  Not only did he like all the people he met, and get along with the other dogs there, but he also kept that crazy Fredbird from getting too close. :-) 

Introducing Keisha and Trey

This is Keisha.  She's much cuter in person. I'll have to get a better picture of her for the website - but I didn't want to wait to introduce her so I took a quick photo of her this morning before work.  Keisha is a Maltese, weighs just under 6 pounds, and is very sweet.  I introduced her to the rest of the dogs this morning.  It was a bit crazy with six dogs running around the living room, but everyone got along very well. 
Keisha and her brother Trey came from a family who had to give them up due to economic circumstances.  They gave them to a friend who works at PetSmart and she contacted another one of my rescue friends who told me about them and asked if I could help.  I am sure these two cuties will be adopted very quickly - the hardest part of saving these dogs is just wading through the many applications we're sure to get on them to find the best homes.  I wish that was the hardest part for all dogs who need homes! 

This is Trey.  He's a cockapoo (cocker spaniel/poodle).  He weighs about 20 pounds, and he's two years old.  He's very friendly and happy all the time.  His biggest (only?) issue is because he's not neutered, and he just came into a house with a lot of interesting dog and cat smells, he wants to mark everything in sight.  So I have to keep a close eye on him all the time.  They'll both go to the vet to get spayed and neutered as soon as possible!  In the meantime, they're getting used to the new house and the other dogs and cats.  They actually lived with two pit bulls before, so I'm glad they're used to being around bigger dogs.  And I found it interesting that Noelle did fine with them immediately.  I guess she doesn't see them as much of a threat since they're so small! 

My house is now full!  Hopefully my next several posts will be announcing some adoptions very soon!! :-)

Introducing Orca, Penguin and Puffin

I know, the names are silly.  But I like having a kitten named Penguin.  And this way all three kittens have names of sea creatures that are black and white, just like them.  At least until they're adopted, when their new families will no doubt rename them!

This is Penguin.  He's the only boy of the group.  I can tell him apart from the others because he has a little black "mustache" right under his nose.  I got these kittens from a nice lady who saved them after they were born to a feral momma cat.  Now hopefully she can get the momma cat trapped and spayed so she won't have any more babies in the future. 

This is Orca.  She has more black on her face than the other two, so it's easy to tell her apart.  Her and her littermates are very sweet and affectionate.  They're only about 7 weeks old, so I'll have to wait another week or so until they're old enough to be spayed/neutered. Right now they're very tiny!

This is Puffin.  She's my favorite of the litter (don't tell the other two!)    A friend of mine made some wonderful cat and dog bed covers for me.  They are great especially for kittens and puppies, because I can cover a dog or cat bed to give them somewhere comfortable to sleep, and then easily remove the cover for washing without having to wash the entire bed every time.  Puppies and kittens can find danger in the most innocuous things though.  Puffin somehow managed to get under the elastic edge of the cover and got stuck between the cat bed and the cover.  Poor kitten - I think she was stuck there for quite awhile before I found and untangled her. 

These three black/white kittens fit right in with most of the rest of my animals.  Do you notice a theme?

Remi - my Great Dane

Delta - my foster Lab/Boxer puppy

Noelle - my pit bull mix

Lizzy - my foster Border Collie mix

Artemis - my foster cat

 It's hard to tell from the pictures, but Noelle has some black spots on her, and even Artemis has a small patch of white on his chest.  Okay, it's probably too small to be called a patch of white.  Maybe a few stray white hairs would be more accurate.  Nonetheless, all of the above pets at my house are black and white! 

Okay fine, I admit I have a few that aren't black and white.  Non-black and white pets need love too.  So Merlin (my cat) and Gandalf and Scribbles (foster cats) are very much loved even though they aren't pictured above.  And tonight I'm picking up two more dogs that I agreed to take sight unseen, so I'm pretty sure they're going to ruin my black and white theme as well.  That's okay - I'll love them anyway.

Introducing Lizzy

I have had a lot of easy, or at least quick, adoptions lately.  I decided it was time for a difficult foster dog.  Well not really - it just happened that way.  I saw this dog at an adoption event on Saturday, and asked about her.  It turned out she was adopted out as a puppy and returned recently, and since no one had room for her at the time, she's been staying at a shelter for the past month. I thought she was beautiful and since all of my foster dogs except Delta are adopted now, I offered to take her. They said yes! so I brought her home on Saturday afternoon.

You may wonder why a dog as beautiful as Lizzy would be a difficult dog to adopt out.  She's a Border Collie mix, and I love how the tip of her tail is white while the rest of her is mostly black.  She loves other dogs (even gets along with Noelle!), does fine with cats (fortunately for my cat Merlin), and is very intelligent and well-mannered.  She's 11 months old, already house-trained and knows basic obedience commands.  She also gets a lot of attention from people at adoption events.  The reason she hasn't found a home yet is probably because of how she was raised.

Lizzy was adopted out as a puppy to a family who didn't socialize her much.  She was never around children or other adults.  She didn't learn as a puppy that people aren't scary, and that when children run to pet her, they don't want to hurt her.  So now all people are scary to her.  Especially children.  And unfortunately almost everyone out there wants a dog that will be good with children.  Even if they don't have small children of their own, they may have neighbors or grandchildren or nieces and nephews who visit often, so they want a dog who is good with kids.  So I am afraid that Lizzy may take awhile to find someone who doesn't have young children at home, and will be patient with her and help her to learn that not all people want to hurt her. 

I can relate to Lizzy - as someone said to me at PetSmart today - I trust dogs more than people too!  And I know that as quickly as she learned to trust me, she can learn to trust other people as well.  So I'll try to work with her and help her to learn to be braver, and hopefully someday she will find her very own home. 

Fighting Dogs

A friend sent me a link to this video from the stltoday.com website:  http://videos.stltoday.com/p/video?id=6165018.  It is a video supplied by the Humane Society of Missouri that shows the conditions of some of the dogs rescued during the July dog fighting raids.  I will warn you the video is graphic - it shows dogs with scars, dogs missing limbs, and so on.  It also shows the location where the dogs and puppies are being kept until they are released by the federal courts.  It's hard to watch, but I hope you'll watch it anyway.  Because it happens everyday, and if we pretend it doesn't, nothing will ever change.

Just as a reminder, my matching donation challenge ends in a few days.  I am a supporter of BAD RAP, a rescue group who works with pit bulls, including some that came from this July raid.  They're raising money to build a safe place to care for dogs in emergency situations like these dogs, and I'm going to match whatever my blog readers donate during the month of September.  Here's a link to the post with more details:  http://dogfostermom.blogspot.com/2009/08/bad-rap.html.

Introducing Delta

This is Delta.  She's the last of the litter of nine puppies - the other eight were adopted yesterday.  I took her home last night, and took her to PetSmart today but she wasn't adopted, so I'll keep her until she finds a home.  She's adorable, and very annoying at the same time, as only a puppy can be.  She is very sweet, but she misses her littermates and she hates to be alone.  So she now cries if I put her in her kennel.  I've found the easiest way to deal with this is to not put her in her kennel.  I know that's not the BEST way to deal with it - but hey, we've both had a tough weekend and she'll have to deal with being alone all day tomorrow while I'm at work.  So for now, her first day without her littermates, I'm going to give in to her.  

Because seriously, look at this face.  She's so good at looking sad and pathetic.  I think I'll put this picture on her petfinder listing - how could anyone who's looking for a puppy NOT want this dog?!  

I might put this picture on too.  Her new nickname is Fuzz-face.  I could put a Santa hat on her and she could pretend she's Santa Claus.  I don't know where the fuzz came from, but she sure did look cute with it stuck to her chin!

Puppy adoptions!

All four of my foster puppies were adopted today, and four of their littermates from another foster home were also adopted today!  It was a huge adoption day for puppies, in spite of the poor weather.  I really miss my puppies, but I was able to take the last puppy from the litter home with me.  It's so sad now that she's all alone, but I'm sure she'll be adopted soon.  I'm going to take her to PetSmart tomorrow to try to get her a home.  My foster cats also need a turn at PetSmart since they haven't been for a few weeks, so I'll take Gandalf and Artemis.  I might even get brave and take Scribbles, but I'm not sure about that yet.  I think she needs a break from the bedroom where she's living alone, but I'm not sure that going to PetSmart is her idea of a break. 

Speaking of Garfield...

Garfield has always been one of my favorite cartoons.  And I've often thought about naming one of my foster cats Garfield.  But the right cat just hasn't come along yet.  At least not for me.  A friend of mine has a foster cat she named Garfield, and I think the name is a perfect fit.  Meet Garfield...

As his bio says, he hasn't passed up any dinners - lasagna or otherwise!  Garfield weighs about 20 pounds.   Of course, no one wants Garfield to weigh quite this much - an overweight cat (or dog) is unhealthy, so we'd love to see Garfield lose some weight and feel better and live longer.  Garfield is staying up at the O'Fallon, MO PetSmart right now if you'd like to stop by and visit him. 

It's a good thing I'm not fostering this cat.  I would probably try to see how much like the cartoon character he really is.  I'd be making him lasagna (if I could cook) and letting him pick on the dogs (I'd have to name one Odie) and I'd even give him a teddy bear named Pooky.  He'd already have the cutest kitten in the world at my house to annoy him - I'd just have to change Merlin's name to Nermal.  It'd be perfect, and so much fun.  So like I said, it's a good thing I'm not the one fostering him.