Pretty Blue

Not really much to report tonight. Blue is still feeling not so hot. Her spirits are fine, but her cough still sounds painful. Better, but painful. The antibiotics seem to be helping, but I so wish they would help faster!

It's funny how you have to take tons of shots before you get a good one. And I really like this one of Blue. She may be crabby sometimes with the other dogs. But she's always a sweetheart with me:-) Love ya, you old fart! Here's to hoping you find your forever family very soon.

Dog of the Week

Sweet Ol' Blue is the dog of the week over at the Twitter SLSDP site. She has THE cutest little face. She's unfortunately feeling a little under the weather with a bad cough she can't seem to shake. She's been to the doc and on antibiotics. He seems to think she has a case of bronchitis. She sounds like a seal when she coughs, poor gal. Here she is on her donated karanda bed. It's her favorite place to hang out, next to her snuggly fleece bed. Ah, the spoiled life. Only one thing missing: a human all her own. Blue's not exactly young, but she still has tons to offer. Her health isn't always the best (she has a heart murmur and now the cough) but she doesn't complain. True to beagle form, she still eats with MAJOR gusto and pretty much is happy to see you all of the time. She still enjoys walks, though doesn't get them like she deserves because time always seems to be short and she's not exactly the first in line. (We go in order of arrival here to keep the pecking order straight. Helps keep the pack solid.) But when it comes to having her ears rubbed, her tummy scratched (if you get her in the right place her little back leg goes nuts!) and good old fashioned hugging, Blue still longs to be first. She won't be at the adoption event this weekend since she's got a bad cough right now, but if you know someone who would give this sweet old gal the attention and love she deserves, pass the word on. Once she's feeling better again we'll be bringing her in. She may not have lots of years left, but she's worth any and every minute that she does have. Remember, sometimes it's definitely quality over quantity!!

Butler has gone home

This is Butler at about 8 weeks old in this picture. Full of energy, his little feet and tail were pink, pink, pink. He was curious and bouncy and loved to snuggle up with his brothers. He would dart up and down the ramps of his big, multi level cage, barely touching anything. Given a box or a paper bag, or anything else shreddable, he and his brothers could shred anything into a fine haze:-) They were such a joy to watch.

Sadly, Butler left this weekend when his little body just couldn't hold out anymore. At nearly 3, he'd had a pretty healthy life over all. I am now ratless and I feel so off kilter.

I've always had rats, for more than 10 years now actually. With all I have going on right now, it wouldn't be right to get more. Oh, someday, I will have more rats again, but it will have to be closer to a time when there will be time in my life to give them the life I want them to have. One where they get lots of time out of the cage and I can give them, as well as my dogs, all the time and love they need. It will be a long while (as in years-time just won't allow for it now.) before I can do that again, but I look forward to the day when I bring little ratlets home again. In addition to time, my girls are not getting younger. They deserve to truly be the center of attention now.

I've said it many times before, but it is still amazing how such tiny creatures can make such a big impact on your life. They taught me how to accept death before my parents passed away. They taught me to look more closely at things, because you truly can't believe everything you hear. They taught me how to love again, even when my heart was broken. They were my companions who made me smile, even BEFORE I had my dogs (can hardly even remember that:-) And even though it's so sad that their dear little lives are so short, I wouldn't trade my time with any of them for anything. I adore my dogs, but sometimes I've thought it was my rats that keep me human, remind me to have compassion, and remind me to appriciate the small things in life, because those are the things that I will remember later and smile about.

God Bless, sweet Butler boo. I love you and all that came before you to pieces. You will be sorely missed, but never, ever forgotten.

Big girl, bigger heart

Good grief, I seriously thought I just posted and tonight I look at the date and it's been two weeks. I don't know how that happens so much! Anyhoo, Sandi is doing FABULOUSLY! She has perked up so much and become the silly little gal I imagine she must have been when she was a pup. Her energy level (or at least her happiness level) seems to increase every day. She loves going outside and has even run around the yard a bit. She can't keep up with Cody though. That little bugger is just too darn fast. But she sure does try. The big girls really like her so she's constantly getting some kind of doggy attention. Of course she's scared to pieces of Blue, lol. Just cracks me up to see this ginormous dog sitting back at the door in the kitchen waiting for me to coax her past Blue.

Blue is a sweet old gal who just has a problem with dogs walking by her lol. She has to bark and snarl like she's all tough (usually followed by a cough that makes her sound like Lola:-) But when it comes right down to it, Blue's an old softie. My dogs could care less about the barking so she doesn't even bother with it anymore. Sometimes I think she just likes to think she still has "the power" in her old age:-)

I LOVE this picture. I couldn't get it to take the way I wanted, but essentially the way they were laying her, Ginger is only slightly larger (body and all) than Sandi's head! And Sandi is so gentle with her. It's funny to see the little dogs licking her face. I suppose it's obvious I've not had a dog this size in the house. Yet even with that crazy nonstop wagging tail, not a single thing has been broken. A few eyes have been poked, but nothing broken:-) Sandi will be attending her first adoption event this weekend. Based on her overwhelming excitement of visiting a friend, I'd imagine she will be the belle of the ball. Come visit us from 12-3 on Saturday. You won't be sorry. She's a real gem of a gal:-)

Lab loves fellow lab lover

Lol, did that make sense?  A friend of mine came over to visit tonight.  She's been commuting from New York to St. Louis with her job.  She had to come in for some other things, but absolutely HAD to stop by to meet the now "famous" Sandi:-)  She's has a few stressful things going on, I mean really stressful and I told her that Sandi could help with that since she was so great with hugs.  

And did she ever.  Sandi got the "lab lover's approval":-)  Nik and Matt walked in and Sandi was the first of the pack at the door to meet and greet them.  Her tail never stopped wagging and she kept doing the lean in thing to get attention.  In fact, Squirt, my dog who loves to kill the fun of other dogs when she feels they are enjoying things too much was quite beside herself as Sandi bounced around sucking up the attention. 

Not to be outdone of course, the other dogs had to jump in and that was fine with Sandi.  After all, she is the tallest of the group so she had dibs no matter how many were standing there.  Labs are a great breed, but breed aside, Sandi is just an all around, happy to be around humans and suck up the love,  kinda girl:-) Who knows what all she went through in the past, but there's no doubt about it, the future is looking bright for her.  And it's really looking bright for whatever lucky home ends up being chosen to adopt her!  Keep Saturday, August 21st on your calendar if you'd like to meet this lovely lady.  She will be doing her debut at the Petco in Kirkwood on that day (that is if she doesn't find an outstanding home before then:-) 

Sandi loves water!!!

Okay, I know there is no water in these pictures, but these were a couple of the shots I got last night. The water part came in today. Ugh, I was so hot and tired when I got home today and my poor plants needed a drink. . .bad. I mean the kind that if I put it off another day, my tomatoes would probably have shriveled up and fallen off! I always feel better when I get home around my crazy dogs, but this took the cake. I had taken the sprayer off the hose and was just going to do my potted plants first then hook it back up to do the other stuff the "lazy way" (I'm serious, I was tired and ready for a nap!:-) As I was watering, I noticed that Sandi was trying desperately to figure out how to get to the hose and she was stuck on the other side of the plants (she could have walked around, but you know how our crazy dogs are when they want something NOW, lol.) So I put the hose forward a little, remember MY dogs will run screaming the other way near running water, but she leaned in and took a drink.

Cool, she's not afraid of water, but her desperation to get near the hose continued after that drink. After all, she was standing by a big bowl of water I had just filled up. What's the deal? Well, we humans, as usual, can be kind of slow on the uptake about figuring out what our critters are thinking. This little gal wanted to PLAY with that water and badly, let me tell ya! She was chomping at the water stream, lifting and slapping her paw down so playfully I had to laugh. And wouldn't you know it, crabby old me not only ended up watering the entire menagerie of plants veggies, flowers and all, but I did it with a grin. This funny girl, who was dumped in a pound has THE BEST PERSONALITY! She is so playful and goofy and she followed me the entire time trying to get to that water. I was able to momentarily distract her by putting some water in the little plastic pool I have for them, but there's a leak (need to get out the duct tape, lol.) and the water would only stay for a couple of minutes and she was back after the hose monster.

I gotta tell you, one of the things I love most about fostering dogs is discovering their personalities. While they all share a few things in common, they each have their own lovable traits that makes them unique. With this gal, it's only the beginning!

Meet Sandi!

Doesn't she have a great face?! She has a personality to match too! As each day passes I'm learning more and more about the wonderful qualities this girl possesses. She's a big girl, about 81lbs. You'd never know it. She's as gentle as can be and loves the other dogs. Sandi's the perfect size for a big bear hug and she loves those!

She's only been here since Thursday and she's made friends with all the dogs and has no idea what the rat is, but she doesn't seem to be worried about him. She likes to play with toys, especially the squeaky ones:-)

While at the shelter Sandi started demonstrating signs that she was "giving up hope" according to Katie and Kim, the wonderful volunteers who worked with Sandi before she came to us. It's not uncommon to see this when dogs are miserable in small cages in overcrowded animal control facilities. Once they give up hope, it can be hard to get it back. It's not unheard of for a dog, or any social living creature for that matter, do die of a broken heart. Kim and Katie were afraid that was just what would happen if they didn't get her out of there and quick.

Lucky for Sandi we had some room. It's been hard to come by lately. And believe it or not, there are still foolish people out there saying we don't need to spay or neuter because we'll eventually run out of dogs? I mean REALLY? Well, our girl is looking good and feeling much better. She has a lot of love to give and is looking for a home that will give her the love and happiness she deserves! Gosh, who wouldn't want that?

Max Goes Home:-)

Today I took Max to his new forever home! He was so excited to get there. I'm not sure who was more excited, Max or his two new little boy buds! The whole family was there and he got lots of hugs and rubs from anyone he walked by. I'm so happy for him. I love when a new foster comes here. Max was an easy boy to have. From the first day he was super outgoing and just a love. Course, my girls being older, did have a bit of a hard time around his exuberance. He is just so full of life and so joyful. That can translate into a bump here and a bounce there. What is just his natural way can be a bit stressful on my old gals. Knowing what a great home he has kept me smiling as I walked out the door.

When I got home, it was kind of strange. While I still have a housefull of pups, it was especially quiet. I even have a new girl now, Sandi, the big, beautiful, blonde lab. And what a sweetheart she is! All 80lbs of her, lol. But she's as gentle as a lamb.

Since early May I've had some really great bouncing boys come through here. Each one as adorable as the next, but definitely full of a bounce that keeps you on your toes. Now my fosters are Sweet 'ol Blue the beagle mix and Sandilab:-) Then there's my crew. It's quiet (except at dinner time) and I'm thinking I'll have fewer bruises for a while, lol. One problem with a small house and energetic dogs, you are frequently stepped on or whacked in the leg with a turning head or whipping tail. Not so with the bunch I have now. They are mellow and what's amazing is all but one are now girls! Don't know if my Lexy is finally mellowing about the female thing (she's rather aggressive with other females typically .) But with Blue she just stays away, lol. Blue definitely isn't afraid to state how she feels and there's something about Sandilab that she really seems to like. I think it's Sandi's gentle way about her. While she has the playfulness of the typical lab: loves toys, takes that paw up in the air when she's really happy and trying to get your attention, she jst has a gentle way of doing it. When I get some good pictures, I'll talk more about Sandi. She's quite the special girl who would fit in well anywhere. She has a sad background, but we're hoping for another happy ending! We won't be at adoptions again this next weekend (school is starting up again, got to get my classroom in gear!) but we will return ready to go on Aug. 21st.

I feel bad that I haven't been able to get Blue to events lately (my fault, not hers:-) She's such a nice dog. Oh, she's sassy alright, but only with the other dogs. She's a good as gold with me. And cute to boot. Sometimes I look at her and for a moment it's just hard to believe she's a senior girl. She has such a puppy face and the cutest little puppy front paws! I'll have to see if I can get a couple of good pics so you can see what I mean. She's such a nut.

So, sweet dreams, Max! I wish you a long life full of happiness and joy with your new family. Oh, I may not have mentioned that there's a bonus about his adoption. He ended up being adopted by a sister of a neighbor friend of mine, so I'll get to see him and hear about his progress as he grows. Now that's what I call a happy ending for us all:-)

What a Great Summer!

I have these great boys come into my home, separately, but at some point they've been her as a pair playing together. The first was Goldie, the shy boy who blossomed into a confidnent playful pup. Second was Pollock. Pretty much perfect from the moment he got here, he was lucky enough to find a home within 3 weeks of being with us. Pretty great for a dog who was slated to be put down. And now Max. Looks like he's found his forever home and will be going home this Saturday. And to be honest, it almost feels like this family was made for Max. At 4, Max is a loving, outgoing dog who wants nothing more than to be your buddy and give you lots of love and attention. All you have to do to get him to wag his tail, practically right off, is say his name. Potty trained, great manners, good on a leash and apparently extremely fond of children, this wonderful boy is going home with a family where he'll have two boys of his own and an "older woman" doggy that will be his bud. When we went for our home visit, Max was as comfortable as can be and in the short time we were there, he played with the boys, snuggled up with the "parents" and worked his magic to schmooze the older dog, who by they way, was quite snarky with him when we got there and by the time we left she was vying for his attention:-) Pretty good for a dog that no one wanted and was a hair's breadth of being put down as well.

Why should folks spay and neuter all their pets? Because it's a crime to know that hundreds and even thousands of these amazing creatures are being put down daily across the country (and here) because someone wanted to have "just one litter" or because I'm moving or because "my new boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife" doesn't like him, he peed on my lawn, he sheds and a host of other obnoxious "reasons" that they can no longer keep the committment they made when taking these animals in. There are very legitimate reasons, I know, that folks sometimes have to part with a beloved pet. Unfortunately, most of those are few and far between. Most of these dogs are dumped, plain and simple, whether on the street or at a kill shelter.

In the meantime, 3 lucky boys have found new homes all within a month. That's just some of the good that does go on. That's what we have to focus on. That's what keeps us going when we've seen, heard or cried over the unneccessary loss of life and the abusive treatment that all too many of these animals go through.

Congratulations boys! May you have much love, long, happy lives where you are cherished as you deserve!