Taking a break

Sampson has gone home, Quincy was adopted before he even had a chance to get settled in and Magoo, a little shih tzu who is a little old man who reminded us of Mr. Magoo, hence the name, is going to another foster tomorrow.  Sadly, my rattie boy Leo, took a turn for the worse and is no longer with us :*(  With his brother being alone and some things that are going on with me, I have to take a break. 

I will probably continue to write about my critters, but it will be a while before I can foster again.  It's time to take better care of my babies and focus on the time I have left with Butler.    He's in good health now, but being the social creatures that rats are, time will tell how he'll handle Leo being gone.  I've had many rats over the years.  Some do just fine.  Others seem to just fade away from a broken heart (at least that's what I call it.   There's no real physical explanation for their passing so soon after.) 

Me, I just feel sad.  Death is a part of life and is necessary for the cycle of life to continue as it should.  Doesn't mean it's easy to take.  I will take in fosters again sometime soon when I am able to get things together.  In the meantime, it will just be my crew for now.  That's good enough for me.

Good News!

Yay, Leo is much, much better!! He's not at 100% yet, but he's breathing better, looks better and seems much happier! Whew! For now, at least, things are good.

And more good news, Sampson the cocker spaniel has found a home:-) He is going home with a couple who have another little dog and are looking for a partner for her and for them. He'll go home after Saturday when he FINALLY is able to get groomed:-)

And as if things weren't going well enough, I got to spend the week with this little cutie in the picture! His name is Quincy and he's just about a year old. He's a little corgi boy with just about one of the cutest faces I've ever seen. He knows some commands too, sit, shake and takes treats oh, so gently. Every time I see a corgi I have to laugh. A friend of mine once said they reminded her of a loaf of bread. Well, she was right, they really do look like a loaf of bread with tiny little legs. He wags the stub of his tail so hard that his little back feet come off the ground. What a hoot! Even Squirt, who rarely let's any of the fosters get close to her likes him! The last dog she liked this well was Cody, and we all know what happened with that. Good thing there's no more permanant room at the doggie in here:-) He'll go back to his foster mama on Saturday. He is looking for a home though. I tell ya he's a doll!

So, after what was a scary, mostly depressing weekend, lucky me, I got a week of joy! I hope your week goes so well. . .

Leo

I know ,Christmas is over. I was looking through some of my pictures and ran across my holiday pics from 2008. This is my Leo looking all cute and sweet. Feisty and outgoing he was. Sadly, he's not nearly as feisty or outgoing right now. In fact, he has pneumonia. I'm hopeful that things will improve, but he's in bad shape. That's one of the problem with owning rats. Being that they are a prey species, they don't show illness until it's ready to knock them over. We went to the vet tonight and he got some antibiotics, but we'll have to wait and see. If he makes it through the next 24 hours, his chances are good that he'll be okay. After all, he is getting to be an old fart himself. At 2, he's no youngster anymore. But I do hope that he will be hopping around and giving me whiskery kisses on my cheek as he scrambles around on my shoulders before long. I'm not ready to lose any more of my buddies right now *sigh*. Realistically though, are we ever really ready?

Petfinder Challenge

We are in the running for the Petfinder Shelter Challenge again.  We've won the state challenge twice now.  Our new goal is to win the national challenge!  If you click the link below it should take you to the site.  Where it asks for the rescue name type in St. Louis Senior Dog Project, of course the state is MO.  It will find our name for you, then all you have to do is vote.  It's free and you don't have to register for anything!!  And we could potentially win 100, 000 for our group!! Can you imagine how many senior dogs and otherwise we could help with that kind of money!
 
Petfinder's Shelter Challenge


So send the link to all your friends, family, their friends and family and anybody you know that might help us with this.  Keep your fingers crossed!

What a goof!

This is Sampson, aka Sammy, Sam, Goofy, or whatever else happens to come out as this silly little guy is prancing around. He is so serious and sincere one minute, you know, the paw on your leg and the dead on look in the eye. The next second he's trying to play with you and sliding across the floor because he has no traction with his little furry bear paws:-) He's not quite as stinky as when he got here. Or maybe I just can't smell it anymore because he's rubbed it all over the furniture and carpets and me, so now I'm the stinky one! Seriously though, still waiting to get him groomed properly until his neuter is completely healed.
We are going to meet a family Tuesday night.  Who knows, I may set another Betsy/Abby record with this little guy. Oh, and I hear that Lucky has someone interested in taking him home!  Yay, Lucky.  My fingers are crossed for you buddy:-)

Part of me wants to say that spaniels of any kind are quickly becoming my favorite dogs to be around. Course that's mainly because I've had a few in the last few months:-) I guess I'm wishy-washy. I find that my favorite kinds of dogs are the ones that are currently with me. Lucky the lab made me want more labs. Abby the little black dog made me want to keep her, lol. Then there's Betsy and Buddy the shelties. Made me love that breed all the more. My girl Squirt is sheltie mix so I could be slightly biased to that breed. Love those long noses on my lap with the big eyes staring up. Or the over the shoulder look. Buddy perfected that:-) Let's see, I have never had a pit bull, never really thought I'd like them until a few years ago when my neighbor rescued one from the east side.

What a mess Aida was! But look at this face!!!  How could you not fall in love!  And just as sweet and loving as any that I've ever met.  If you want to see a dog truly frolic, this is the dog to watch!  She's doing great now!  Still proves what I believe, it's the owner not the dog that creates the problems!  Good owners, good dogs:-)  Course, there are tons of good dogs out there with cruddy owners, but we'll leave that one alone.

Anyway, I guess my point is that I love all the dogs that have come through here.  It amazes me when folks will only adopt a certain breed, but I guess everyone has their own opinion.  Give me a good ol' dog, regardless of breed and I'm happy:-)

Moving on. . .

As I thought, Lucky is happy as a bug in a rug living at Ellen's.  I don't feel quite so guilty any more:-)  I do however have another dog who is just a smidge older.  Around 3 or 4.  He doesn't seem to have any issues with stress thankfully and he is small.  Quite small.  Maybe 25lbs(I think I'm overestimating that.) He's a cute little black cocker spaniel with brown eyebrows and cheeks and just a little white on his chest.  His front paws are brown and furry and it looks like he has little slippers on.  He's a bit stinky right now.  Just got picked up and neutered a few days ago so we have to wait several more days for his stitches to heal before bathing.  He's still cute and when he kisses you on the nose, you kind of forget that he is stinky:-) 

His name is Sampson and I do have pictures on his petfinder page.  It's later than I planned and I've had things going on every night this week so I'm kinda tired and didn't think to post the pic when I started this post!  Trust me, he's adorable. As I write this he's sleeping on the floor with his big old spaniel lips and ears spread on the floor.  How is it that he can have such curly, curly ears and such a nice smooth coat on his back.  He's going to be a great companion for someone soon, I just know it!

Guilt. . .

That's what I'm feeling right now, guilt.

Lucky is such a loving boy. He has gotten to the point where he doesn't crawl around the house with his body crouched and tail down. He hops right into the back room so that he can have breakfast and dinner.(He's learned that he gets to come right back out after eating.) He thinks he's part cat and tries to curl himself up on my head when I sleep. He loves a good hug. He has not had one accident in the house when I am home. Did I mention that while he's outside he romps around like a kangaroo! (Loves the snow:-) I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty, but he's al all around great boy. With all of that being said, I had to ask Ellen to keep him instead of him staying here. I work a lot of hours. Lucky is great with my dogs. He doesn't chew up anything. But I have pet rats. Those he is terribly interested in. I mean, furry, fat, little moving squeaky toys! Just about any dog would want them. (My dogs, luckily, accepted them years ago because I had rats before I had my current dogs and that's been 10 years.) Unfortunately, it seems that Lucky stresses out badly to be left alone in a crate or closed in the back room away from the other dogs. I didn't have a choice as I feared that he would accidently knock over the cage with curiousity. I don't think he's interested in eating them, just playing with them. Unfortunately with his size (about 45lbs) that would be the last playing that they did. That's always been one of my worst fears, that I would let my guard down and my rats would get hurt. So I've always tried to be diligent about keeping them safe. By the time I would get home after crating him, Lucky was absolutely beside himself.

Hence, the request for Ellen to keep him. The crate at her home is in the open where he can easily see the other dogs. He did not seem to stress out while he was there. Sadly, I feel like I've betrayed him. I try to do everything I can to make sure that I help the animals that come into my house in any way I can. I didn't know how to fix this for him and I didn't want to make it worse so I thought it was better that he not stay.

Ugh, when I dropped him off at the adoption, everyone was happy to see him, but he gave me the saddest look when I put him in one of the crates and started to walk away. Ultimate betrayal. Ugh. Now rationally, I know that about 5 minutes after I left, if it took that long, he was interested in the other volunteers, got plenty of attention and went home with the foster dog's dream foster-Ellen! Still can't help but feel bad that I wasn't able to fix the problem.

As I write this, I am sitting here on the couch with my rats rambling around next to me. When there are no fosters, they have the freedom to come out for visits for extended periods of time. My dogs are always just a little bit happier because they don't have to share their stuff and they can settle into their normal routines. I on the other hand, just feel guilt:-(

Happy Birthday Boys!

Today my rattie boys turned 2. It's hard to believe so much time has passed by. When I brought them home, I could fit all 3 brothers in one hand with room to spare. Cute, tiny little whiskers, soft as silk and the pinky, pinkest little tails you ever did see. Now it takes two hands to properly hold just one of the 2 boys left. Course, they still have super soft fur and whiskers that tickle my cheek when they sit on my shoulders. Their tails aren't so pinky pink anymore, but long and offer them a great sense of balance (and a place to release heat from their body, just like a dog releases heat through their pads.) I sure do love my little guys:-) Happy birthday Leo and Butler!

Yes, Cody has on a sweater! I used to be one of those people that made fun of dog clothing. Now that I have a nearly naked dog, I've learned not to be so judgemental:-) He's got a hoodie sweatshirt he likes better. It makes him look tough.

Finally!

So it is 9*(F) outside with a wind chill of -4*(F) and these three don't want to come in!! All my dogs are indoor dogs, but on Sunny days, regardless of the temperature, they want to be outside!! Some days it reminds me of when I was a kid. There were 6 of us growning up together ranging in all ages. We were always in and out the back door. Used to drive my parents nuts! "In or out!" they would hollar as we slammed the back door open and closed over and over. Well I'll be doggoned (no pun intended:-) if I don't find myself saying the same thing to my dogs! They go out, then want in then out again. Lexy will cry, moan and carry on like she's dying to get her way. OY!! I guess with all the hair they have though, it's not as cold as to our naked human skin. I will say that at least I can get them to come in every once in a while. Don't like them spending so long out there. I'm sure they'd be okay, but still!!

Anyway, I finally got a couple of shots of Lucky where he doesn't look quite so scared. Of course he didn't know I got the pics. I loved looking outside and seeing these three laying in a circle. Look at his cute little ears!!! When he did see the camera he came slinking to the door. He is crying less today AND he hopped right into the bedroom to eat without hesitation this morning, yay! Since he's been here, I've had to really work to coax him into the bedroom to eat (can't eat around Lexy, remember she's food aggressive with newbies). This morning he saw me put the food in his bowl and immediately ran to the bedroom with his tail wagging. That made me soo happy!!

The toy

Lucky is still not too happy about getting his picture taken. As you can see in the first pic, he's giving me "the look". You know the one that says, "Please don't steal my soul mr. silver boxy thing with the bright light!" Then he would scoot off. In the last pic here, you can se that he figured out he can't see it if he hides his face. First he tried to hide his big ol' body behind my 16 lb Cody. Nope, too small. Next he tucked his head behind the bed and I figured he'd had enough. He's a beautiful boy. It won't be long and I'll be able to sneak a happy picture. He's perked up quite a bit but he is still scared of everything.

Speaking of scared, you will note the horrible, frightening, dangerous saw in the 2nd picture. Well, that's what Lucky thinks of it anyway. This is the one toy that has never been destroyed by a foster coming through and I've had many who were especially talented at shredding things. Where the blue handle is, if you squeeze it, it will make a fairly loud quick sawing sound that lasts probably around 15-20 seconds. (not something you want to step on in the middle of the night if you are faint of heart, let me tell you!) This morning Lucky discovered this little treasure in the toy box. He trotted over to the dog bed, gingerly chewing on the yellow part. Then to his extreme horror he managed to squeeze the blue part. At first the sawing noise shocked the puddin' outta him. Then he started trying to make it saw again. When he would get it to work, he would tilt his head and put his ears up (one stays down like a lab, the other sticks up like a shepard whose ears haven't quite learned to stand yet.) He seemed interested in it for a few minutes. Then it was almost like the thing bit him. He quickly walked away from it. Now I can't he makes a wide circle to go around it and when I picked it up to toss it in the box, he took off and hid. Strange fears, this guy. Funny it's one of the few toys that my big girl Lexy actually likes!

Lucky is a sweet boy though. He stepped up on the couch to lay beside me and snuggled his head on top of my feet. Amazing how dogs can roll themselves in to such tight balls that you would never know how big they started out. Course, Lucky's not big. At about 44 lbs, he's just a lanky fellow. He's got those long legs and a long, lean body and a big lab head. He sure has those lab eyes too. Those eyebrows going up and down are constantly on the go. He's still got some puppy in him, but mainly the curiousity part. He's an easy boy to have around and really quite gentle for as young as he is. Now if we can just help him to get over the fears he's been ingrained with, he might just be another nearly perfect dog!