So many dogs, so little time!

It has been a while! Between being a mom to 5, working a lot and doing as much as we can for the dogs, I admit that the blog has fallen by the way side. I honestly could not even tell you how many or whom we have helped this year. I had brilliant intentions of keeping up, but it just didn't happen!


Some changes in our volunteering situation...this year, we found a rescue literally right around the corner, 1 minute from our house. It's not a big rescue and there are not many people in it so they need whatever help we can give them and it's VERY nice having them right around the corner! We are also randomly doing emergency short term foster for other areas as well as the occasional transport.


On a personal note, my oldest son has been accepted to early college (yay J!!!) and he has to acquire 150 volunteer hours before he can graduate with his associates degree in 5 years. My child TRULY love volunteering, anyway (well...the 12yr old needs a fire lit under him at times), but this will truly be a big help in acquiring those hours. We also hope to get his early college community involved so that our rescue will have even more volunteers.

So far, here are some of the animals that we have helped from Jan-July of this year...that I remember. Keeping in mind that between my kids and job, I have so many names and numbers running through my head, I *guarantee* that I have forgotten some!!! As well, some were only with us for a very short time so may not have had as much of an impact on us as those that were with us for longer. (Also, we got our own puppy this year and I took a small break during this time for his health and safety until he had several shots.)

And...gooooo...

Lily, Sandy, Annie, Molly, Bailey, Zach, Ben, Rue, Titus, Posy, Raggs, Midnight, Star, Bruno, Vita and her three pups (did not foster her pups, but did foster her)

Writing them down, it seems like we had a lot more in foster than this!

I have had many great firsts this year that I am proud to say that I was able to participate in, even if they may have been difficult at times. We picked up our first surrenders that we coordinated and picked up, a mom and three pups. All mom and pups are now in their new homes! We did several transports. We did our first connection and adoption! I learned to give shots (still not my favorite by far!). We did our first connection with breed specific rescue and did the transport for that which made us feel GREAT and he is now in his forever home!

Fostering and volunteering is not all glamorous, of course. There's poop, pee, sleepless nights, sickness, sadness and yes, sometimes, there is death. :-( I can say, after a year (wow! Has it really only been a year?!?!?) that the benefits of knowing that we are making a huge difference in these animals lives far surpasses the not so glamorous or sad things that make occur.

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!

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!