I'm tired and I feel guilty.

I brought Marnie & Rocket back yesterday. They were for sure our cutest fosters, but also our hardest. They were potty trained which was good. Unfortunately, they did not want to be inside. Like, at all. And I will not leave pups outside. That's not how they are supposed to be and we didn't get our yard fenced in just so we could leave animals outside. HOWEVER, I let them out as often as I was comfortable. More than, really. They couldn't be in long without crying to go out. Even in the rain. It was exhausting. Especially at night. As much as I don't like them to be out much during the day, I hate it at night. The big bad dark night and all things unknown out there like boogey men and scary monsters!

No, seriously, one night, Marnie cried so much that I gave in FOUR times to getting up and letting her go out to potty. FOUR TIMES!!! It was the night before they were ready to go back and I was so. dang. ready!!!

Yet they were sweet and cute and loved to cuddle and play. They weren't used to being inside and were happier outside. It was hard for all involved, I'm afraid. They weren't unhappy, I don't think. They were just happier outside. Especially Marnie.

They were due back on my 15 year wedding anniversary. My husband very sweetly suggested that I just go up by myself and he would stay home with the toddler. The rest of the crew was at school. I'm not sure I've ever dropped pups off before alone or I just don't remember. The puppies "only" woke up to go out two times that night, but it had been raining for days and they were so muddy and wet puppy stinky. I wanted them to find a home, of course so I wanted the first impression to be great and there was a guy that wanted me to call him so he could be there when we arrived back to the rescue (they had put him in touch with me). I bathed them and put pretty kerchiefs on them, etc., etc.

And we got there and I got the crate out of my van and they heard the other dogs and they got scared. And my eyes got damp. What?! No. I was okay for these pups to be going back. It had been a long two weeks and they had been harder to deal with than babies. At least with babies, I could contain them somewhat and nurse them back to sleep! BUT my eyes got damp. I'm sure it was the rain. That must have been what made my heart twinge a little, too. I got them in and stumbled and stuttered trying to explain who I was and what I brought back. The rescue coordinator came out and knew so I was able to just give some pets and cuddles and not talk so much.

And that was my hardest fostering, in more ways than way. Good luck, sweet Marnie and Rocket. May you find your forever homes very soon.

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