Litter #4 - Australian Shepherd x Australian Cattle Dog - Rocket & Marnie

I was taking a nap with my sick toddler who had kept me up the night before from coughing and tossing and turning and the phone woke me up. It was J telling me that they really needed a foster for some puppies, could I please come get them today. Yes, of course. It was not a good day for it, but I switched some things around and we went to get them.

We pulled in and saw these two fluffy puppies in the back of someones vehicle in a crate. I said out loud to the kids "Oh! I hope those are the puppies!!!" We got up on the porch just as J came out, pointed to me and told the lady "Oh, there's your foster now!" and it was for the fluffy pups!!! I definitely did a squee!!! These are for sure our cutest fosters, yet!

They are two girls named Rocket & Marnie (they came with those names). They are australian shepherd x australian cattle dog. Rocket looks more like the cattle dog and Marnie more like the shepherd.

The story is the lady's son is a truck driver for Lowe's, was out in the country and saw a guy getting ready to shoot these puppies because he didn't want them so he took them. 1)WHO does that?!!!! 2)Why not just take some responsibility and get your dog fixed so you no longer have litters that you don't want?! 3)Another example of the human race disgusting me!!!

They are 6 weeks old right now and we have them for two weeks. They are just as sweet as can be and so fluffy! SQUEEEE!

As a side note, the poodle, Bandit, that I got from a customer got adopted to "the best home ever" according to the adoption manager. He had to have a lot of dental work (16 teeth removed! WOW!!!) and I wonder if the other people knew that and couldn't afford it and that's the true reason that they relinquished him. Either way, he got adopted within less than a week and I'm glad they are thrilled with where he went!

Goodbye Charlie & Sage

They are leaving Wednesday. The antibiotics worked well and they are feeling great. They are such great big, smooshy, cuddly goobers. We have really enjoyed having them here. It was rough when we found out that they were sick and when we realized that our poodle got the kennel cough from them, too :-( but we hope that they have a great new home soon! They are due to go be fixed Thursday morning.

I think we will be taking a little foster break after this to make sure Zoey recovers from the kennel cough completely.

How much is that doggie in the window?

Yesterday was...an interesting day at work. I am still processing. Or trying to. This has nothing to do with mail, really. It was just an avenue to enable what happened yesterday, I think. I'm still kind of feeling like I have whiplash from the events of the day.

I was near the end of a route and it's one that I've only subbed less than a handful of times. I probably had 30-45 minutes to go and I had a registered package that needed to be signed for. Wugh. So I pulled in and the lady must have been expecting me because she came right out. I will preface this by saying animals are the thing that I *always* see and comment on. I just do. Possibly because I see them and interact with them more than people...or possibly because I like them more than people. ;-)

Anyway, she was signing, I looked up and saw a puppy looking out of her window...and smiling. Seriously. Smiling, people!!! It appeared to be a poodle, like our Zoey. So I struck up a conversation, asking how old it was, etc.

"How cute! How old?"

"5 years old?

"5! Years? He's tiny!!! How sweet!"

"He's a teacup poodle...and...I'm thinking about getting rid of him if you know anyone that would want him."

*paranoid glancing around* Am I on candied camera? Is someone testing me? AGAIN? "Hmmm...my husband might kill me if I bring home another dog from work. BUT if someone *paranoid look* did want him, how much are you asking for a rehoming fee?"

"Oh hon, nothing. I just need to find a home for him."

Lesson learned. Never, ever, again, ask on the mail route, how much is that doggie in the window!

Longer longer longer story short, her kids are almost grown, her husband is a trucker and she cannot take two dogs out on the road. She has a chi that she is very attached to due to a near death experience with the neighbors dog and she has nursed the chi basically back to life from death of being ripped apart. I understand why she is more attached to the chi. I have no idea how long she had the poodle, but it didn't sound like long or that perhaps she wasn't attached to him.

It ended with me giving her my number and telling her to talk to her husband and give me a call. Because she had mentioned making sure, otherwise he would have been in my jeep immediately. She said okay, I'll call you in a few minutes.

She wasn't joking. I had time to call my sister in-law to tell her to talk me out of it, tell me I was crazy or something. You see, we've actually been looking for another poodle. But not a 2 1/2 lb stuffed toy! haha For the record, my sister in-law didn't help talk me out of it at all. *sigh* I had to hang up with her to answer the call for the lady who wanted to know how soon I could come get him.

So he's flipping adorable. He is more than SQUEEEE! worthy. He loves to play and he has a rain coat that he insists on wearing when he goes outside in the rain and he is just a funny little personality.

The problem is that by the time I got back to the post office, I had convinced myself that he was just too small for our family. My sister in-law and brother were interested in him so we brought him to visit. He had great fun with my niece poodle ;-) but ultimately they decided that they didn't want another dog at this time.

I need to decide what to do. We're more than slightly attached already. Which is crazy because I went in to this KNOWING that we were not keeping him and telling the kids that. BUT we are getting attached. Dangit, we are getting attached. AND we do not do this. We don't do it with foster dogs. I made plans on our course of action when we got home so that I wouldn't get attached. So that we would treat him like a foster dog (where we get *sort of* attached, but not the same way that we would our own pup). Yet, we are getting attached. *sigh* Whether this means that he is our next family member or not, I do not know. I'm scared to even think that, to be honest. He's just so small and cute and I'm so afraid of falling for another dog. *sigh*

What I DO know about him:
He is 5yrs old.

He is approx. 2 1/2 lbs.

He has an occasional slight limp that they have no idea why.

He is NOT neutered (that will be fixed ASAP).

He likes women more than men.

He is very cuddly.

He is potty trained.

He is so small, he has to wear a cat coller. *snicker*

He loves to play.

He has been fed people food and "potted meat" (I assume this is Spam?) and doesn't know that he is supposed to eat people food. I need help with this one. *sigh*

Good news and bad news...

The bad news is, a few nights ago, I noticed that Charlie was coughing at night. Kind of a dry cough, but often and persistent. I thought it might be hot and that was it. Or perhaps he was getting his head caught in the top of the crate at night because it is large wire holes and they like to stick their heads out of the top to look around. I thought maybe he was irritating his throat or something. I wasn't really sure. Well yesterday when I came home from work, I noticed that he had green snot on his nose. Hmmm...I was tired and went to bed soon after. In one of my middle of the night googles (yes, seriously. That's what I do in the middle of the night when I can't sleep.), I searched the symptoms and holy crud. Kennel cough. No. Flipping no. It would be one thing if it were the foster pups, though bad enough, but what about the pup that we have? We really cannot handle another loss. Yes she's almost 4 and she should be fine, but it's super contagious and there's no guarantee.

So I called the rescue (suggested if you foster) the next morning from work to let them know the symptoms and ask for suggestions. They said it sounded like kennel cough. Come get some medicine. I told them Sage did not seem sick, just Charlie. By the time I got home, Sage has green snot, too. Blargh.

They are both on antibiotics now and we will keep them longer since they need to get healthy before they can go back and they definitely cannot go back to the rescue or get their spay/neuter until they are healthy. We have a 7 day course of antibiotics to give them, but hopefully they will feel better within 48 hours.

The good news is, we had to weigh the pups to see what they needed for medicine and they are HUGE! Even the rescue representative was shocked! Sage weighs 12lbs now and Charlie weighs 16lbs! Holy crumb! I knew they had grown quite a bit, but had no idea they had grown THAT much! Wowsers!!!

My intent.

My intent for this blog is not to shame or guilt anyone in to adopting, fostering, etc. Not even to shame or guilt in to spaying or neutering (though I firmly and strongly suggest it!). I do not want you to foster or adopt if you do not want to. That would not be fair to the animals. I also do not want you to take on more than you can handle. Again, not fair to the animals.

My intent in this is to educate and show that it truly is so feasible. YOU set your limits.

For instance, I did have a negative animal adopting scenario during the Summer so I am pretty firm on what I can/will foster. Right now, we are signed up to foster young puppies or a puppy. We have 5 children and didn't feel like it was good for them for us to bring in larger unknown dogs with unknown temperaments. Once my children are grown, what I am willing and able to foster will change.

And truly, even if you cannot foster or adopt, there is something that almost anyone can do. Even if it's donating a can of food to the shelter, old blankets, helping out at an adoption event, going to pet or walk animals...I cannot even possibly cover everything that they need help with. Not just financial help, but actual working or petting hands. Even if you don't think you are able to, it doesn't hurt to give them a call and see if there is anything that you can do. Even if it's just a hour a month or dropping off bleach for them to clean with. It takes so many people to make a rescue work, some with lots of times and abilities and some that may only be able to do one thing. Reach out...see what you can do...

One of the draw backs of foster and rescue..

is that sometimes you get a "permanent". ;-) Okay, this isn't really a drawback. It just depends on who you ask.

We do not have a BIG house, but we have space. Plenty of space for another cat. That's what I told my husband, anyway. So I looked at Rutherfordton Animal Control and I saw a big fat cat on there. I showed my son, who wanted another cat. I got the "Awwwww!!!!!!!! OHHHHHH!" from all of my children which to me is akin to the "two thumbs up".

So down we went to meet Petra. Approximately 3 year old, spay, up to date on shots cat. Big, fat cat.

She is now Ivy and she is ours. :-D

Litter # 3 - Catahoula mixes

I have a problem. It's called offering myself even when I shouldn't.

So I had been sick for...three weeks, at this point. I saw the S.O.S on facebook. The rescue that I work with had puppies. CUTE SQUEEEEE!!!!! puppies!!! So being my brilliant self, I say "If you ever need help, you know where to find me!" Well...we ALWAYS need fosters. How many do you want and when can you come get them?

Tomorrow? Okay!

So began our 3rd foster. I was feeling a little better by this point. I could actually get out of bed without screaming (until the next day, anyway) so that was saying something! My daughter (9) wasn't feeling well that day so off we went to Asheville.

C goes to look in the puppy cage, comes around the corner and says "Mommy, I REALLY hope those are NOT the puppies that we are getting. They are HUGE!!!" and I think her eyes popped out of her head. haha She had made the mistake of thinking they would be in the same cage that we had gotten the other ones. Turns out they had a full grown hound and lab in the cage that day. ;-)

I must say, I love, love, love this rescue. I love walking in. I love talking to the people. I love seeing the animals. I love seeing the volunteers. I just believe in this place so very, very much. I feel "home" there. Anyway, the foster coordinator leans down to my daughter and says "These puppies could REALLY use a bath." ;-) DD bathed the last litter before we brought them back so that they would be nice and fresh before their spay/neuters. It still amazes me that the foster coordinator remembered that, with everything else that she has to remember!

So these pups were CUTE and big. Like probably catahoula/hound/pitt/anybody elses guess, but they were still puppies and the SQUEEEEE!!! came later once they were cleaned. Because when I first smelled...er...I mean...saw? them? My first thought was OH. EM. GEE!!! you guys are shmelllyyyyyy! ;-)

We got them home and I bathed them right away. Too big of a job for C! Did I mention shmellllyyyyy?! And then I put a collar on each of them. They are finally tolerating them. Next step is leashes.

They are growing like weeds. So tall. They have these big fat thick heads and they are so sweet, soft and gentle. They love cuddles. They take their big fat heads and put them right under your chin and just snuggle up. They are crate trained and good with the kids and they just love to snuggle.

We will for sure miss Sage and Charlie when they go back. We have them for two weeks.

Our second fosters...for real this time...

Chance and Molly (the abandoned pups from the first post) were snuggly at home and settling in with my family and I got the text. The real one this time. The one saying "Okay so can you come and pick up this litter of 5?"

Sure...I can, BUT I have these other two puppies here that I didn't expect to have and I know nothing about them and...and...and...yes, just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it!

So we got Chance and Molly on Tuesday, I think. Or maybe Wednesday. Honestly, it all blends together now that it's over! And we got the text asking to come and pick up the jack russel terrier/beagle mix puppies on Friday. hahaha Yeah, sure. Easy peasy, right? What's 5 more?

WELL, what I didn't know then, but know now (and this is mucho important if you plan to foster more than one litter at once!!!) is that they cannot co-mingle. No eating together, no sleeping together, no poo'ing on the lawn together!!! TOTAL separation!!! You cannot co-mingle two different litters if you do not know where they are from, if they aren't on the same place in their vaccinations, etc. You see where this is going, right? CRAZINESS!!! Utterly fun, happy, panting, licking, tail wagging craziness!!!

Also, if you don't know, many rescues provide EVERYTHING you need to foster. Not just the puppies, but the food, crates, bedding, and X pens. Oh yes, X pens are from heaven. Especially when you need to separate litters!!!

I came home from work that day and instructed everyone, get in the van quick, we are going to get the puppies!!! BTW, vans are great, but 5 kids + 1 adult + 5 puppies and all of their gear is still a lot of stuff to fit in a mini van!

We got there and the foster coordinator said "Okay, here's all of your stuff. Are you sure?! You already have 5 kids?! Are you crazy?!" Yes, yes I am. What's 5 more?!

Oh. my. gracious! Five tail wagging, squirmy, cute little puppies!!! SQUEEEEEE! (I will warn you that this is my reaction every. time. I don't think the cuteness of puppies gets old. Ever. It doesn't for me, anyway.) They were ours for a week. One was already adopted out, but couldn't go to her home because she had to be fixed first. Between you and me, I'm secretly glad that she already had dibs on her because I was slightly attached to her. She was the cutest, smartest little Spitfire. And that's what we nicknamed her. Spitfire. We rarely know their names...whether they aren't named or we don't ask...I'm really not sure. We give them nicknames while they are here, though. Which is funny because that's what my parents always said to me as a kid and what I always said to mine...don't name them! If you name them, you will not be able to let go! BUT we name them now. And it's okay. So we had spitfire, spots, bambi (my other favorite!), shady and jumper. They were fun and chaotic and it was a really fun, crazy and neat experience.

And I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I brought them back. Not because they were bad or hard or anything like that. Simply because, in case I hadn't mentioned it, having two different litters that needed to be kept separate was really, very, difficult.

And my children? Hats off to my children. I worked all of that week and was sick as well. My children were absolute troopers. They did so much. If I ever doubted their work ethic or their loves of animals, that week would have proven to me that they were perfect.

Our first fosters...or not!!!

August, we got the call! Well...the e-mail, really. It wasn't quite as spectacular as it sounds, but it was THE e-mail. "Hey Cindy...we have a litter of puppies that we are going to need a home for. Possibly two weeks. Can you do it? How many do you think you can handle?"

Yes! Yes! YES!!! We were so excited. OF COURSE we can take puppies! I don't know how many...probably no more than 10. What do you think?

Crazy Cindy! We would never give you 10 at once...how about 5?

Oh yes. 5. 5 we can do! That's one puppy for each kid! We can do that, right? Let me know when to come and get them.

So we waited. And waited. And waited. "We cannot get hold of the current foster mom. Will let you know as soon as we do."

So I worked that week. And I pulled up to a mail box. And I saw a puppy crest over the hill. And I smiled. And I saw another puppy crest over the side, running towards my Jeep. And my heart dropped. These weren't just happy, playful puppies running around their yard. These guys were rough, they had bruises, they were hungry and they were alone.

Let me preface this by saying that I have worked for the P.O for three and a half years by this point and I have ALWAYS kept an eye out for animals. I'd talked to the local rescues, I'd been told where the "drop off" points were (and this disgust me that we even live in a world that this phrase exists!!!) and I always kept an open eye and ears. I have animal food in all of my vehicles (personal and work) just in case we find strays. I had told my husband from day 1 - IF I find a stray or abandoned animal on the side of the road, it will be coming home with me. THAT is who I am, that is what I do. My kids know it, my husband knows it. That is me. That is who my parents raised me to be and for that, I am grateful. So I was prepared, yes, I was, mentally, but my heart? My heart was not prepared.

So I pull over and I grab these puppies and I put them on my lap and I drive to the nearest house. Still in my mind, not wanting to believe that someone would want to leave these sweet puppies in this so conveniently vacant little strip of road. I find a man who swears he has never seen them here before (but *wink* I saw some just like that on X road, but please don't tell anyone that I told you), that it looks like one has buck shot (later turned out was probably just bite wounds from fighting for it's food) and if they can't keep their animals safe, they shouldn't have them. Okay sir, well, I'm taking them, if anyone is looking for them, you know where to find me. *snuggles and stuck in a non-puppy approved usps container until I could take a break and bring them home*

I called home and my husband, bless him, only replied "Okay" when I said "Hon, you know how I said if I ever found puppies on the side of the road, I was bringing them home? Well, today is the day." Still freaking a little that I was doing something wrong (and how could doing the right thing, saving these pups, be wrong?!), I kept peering out the windows and worrying, but no one was looking for these puppies. No one cared. They had thrown them out on the side of the road and in their minds, they were no longer their problem. They were disposable.

I pulled in to my yard to my daughter's at the door saying "Mommy is home! Mommy is home!" and I called "Did daddy tell you why I am here? I'm not done for the day." and before I could get the fence opened completely, I was greeted by the astounding shrill of "PUPPIES!!! PUPPIES!!! DADDY MOMMY BROUGHT HOME PUPPPPPIES!!!!!!!!!"

My husband...well...he isn't exactly an animal person, but he knows who he married and he tolerates my soft heart. He just kind of gave me "the look" (I'm so familiar with this look that I can capture it in my mind, but it's pretty hard to explain, sort of an exasperated "Again? What will we do with THESE?" kind of rolly eyes look.) and I gave him the *shrug* "You know I just couldn't leave them there." look and quickly followed up with the girls, telling them what needed to be done, we were just taking care of them for a little bit, they aren't ours, don't get attached, just love them while we have them speech.

On auto pilot at that point because I did not want to stress too much about what was going on, but I knew at that point I left them in the best hands that I could. My children have been around animals since they were born. They know what needs to be done and they give the best hugs and love. :-) Only my girls (9 and 6) were home at that point as the boys were at Grandpa's. I heard later that they were pretty happy when they got home as well.

I took a break later on my route and called the owner of a local rescue that I have talked to in the past to offer myself as a foster. Thank goodness, she listened to my stressed rambling and was very sweet to offer to help. She met up with me later that evening to check them out, worm them and get them vaccinated. We still don't know what these pups were. Lab and something else...anyone's guess, really. That day began the game of "Whose your daddy?!" that we tend to play with any of our fosters.

So Chance and Molly are what they became...

Ultimately, we had Chance and Molly for three weeks. The fantastic rescue in Asheville, NC that I was on the foster list said "Sure, bring them up, we will give them their final vaccinations and get them adopted out!" Honestly, I feel like everything just came in to alignment just so for these pups. I was at the right place at the right time, I knew the right people with huge hearts that were willing to help and I had the right contacts. These pups just KNEW who they were running out in front of that day and it worked out just. right! because of the fantastic people in my life that were willing to step up and help!

And then....there were 7...continued in next post...

Who we are and why we do what we do!

Hello! You are probably here because you know me or are a friend of a friend and have some knowledge of what I do. However, I'll give a little more details, just in case someone comes upon this cold.

My name is Cindy and I am the mom of five children. They currently range (Sep. 2011) from 2 1/2 to almost 14 years old. I am a substitute mail carrier with the USPS.

I have loved children and animals for as long as I can remember. I always said that I wanted to be a mommy. Or a veterinarian. Or both. My mommy dreams came through and then some! I have always continued to love animals, as well.

I remember many days as a child, going outside and seeing that someone had dropped off yet another animal at our home. I wanted to keep them all, of course, but it just was not feasible. Unfortunately (fortunately?), I have never quite gotten over that need to help them all! As a child, I remember at one point, we had 17 cats and multiple dogs, thanks to irresponsible people abandoning them at our home in the country. In their minds, I am sure it was better for them that dropping them off at the pound, but it just left the problem in someone else's hands.

That brings us to now. I have had some form of animal the majority of my adult life. From cats and dogs to chickens and ducks! We currently have a poodle (Zoey), a cat (Cooper) that we adopted as a kitten from a family friend and an older cat (Ivy) that we adopted Sep. 2011 from a high kill shelter.

This blog will be about our adventures in fostering and rescue for various rescues and shelters. We cannot do everything, we cannot save them all, but we can do more than we think. I used to think well, I cannot save them all. I cannot save a lot of them. So maybe what I do doesn't matter at all, but it does! You can make a difference in so many lives. We can touch many lives, by fostering. Ordinary people can foster. Even short term fostering can help so very much. Can you find it in your hearts to foster? Most rescues will provide everything that you need, from food, to crates, to bowls and bedding. Find a rescue that you believe in, reach out and see if fostering is for you!