Oh, The Lessons We've Learned

Kobe, our 12 year old grumpy dog, is not too old to learn. In the past year he has absolutely mastered "Roll Over." Almost too well. When I say "Sit" or point to the floor he almost automatically goes into a roll. Now we're trying to correct that.

What else has Kobe learned? Well, my former food aggressive dog was caught sharing his bowl of food peacefully the other day with little Sadie, our foster. It was one of the sweetest things I have seen, as his food aggression has been a trouble spot. Now, by no means do I think the problem is permanently solved. I do, however, see that there is hope.



See? It's not just humans that learn from fosters.

Sadie, who we affectionately refer to as Smoky Edna, has found herself a wonderful home. She will be going to live with a kind woman who, I am sure, will fuss over and pamper her to no end. Smoky Edna holds a very special place in my heart, and I'm ridiculously happy that she's going to have the home she deserves. Thankfully, we have her for a few more days before her new home is ready. But, when she leaves I will miss the cuddly little bear on my lap who has such an adorable snore.

#41 - Sadie the Christmas Foster

Each year we seem to have a Christmas foster. Last year it was Matty and her babies. This year it's little Sadie.

A gentleman, Mike, from the rescue we work with was given Sadie by a family who could no longer keep her. They found themselves having to move in with family members who did not like her, and she was being kept in the garage with little to no contact. Knowing that Mike was involved with rescuing, and with his guarantee that he would find the best home possible for her, the family handed Sadie over.
Within moments of arriving at our house last Sunday, Sadie crawled into my lap. From there, I knew she'd fit right in. She warmed up quickly to both me and Cliff, and will follow us equally around the house. When she's not curled up in a little ball or cuddling, Sadie likes to get belly rubs, play with Kobe's toys, and chase her extra long tail. Yes, she chases her tail. I thought she was walking in circles the first time I saw her do it- it was a slow chase. But, sure enough...she's chasing her tail.

Kobe and Sadie are a lot alike. I know she's 7 pounds, and a Chihuahua, but they could be siblings. She loves to play and growl, get a belly rub and growl, and love on you and growl. It's not split personality, she just vocalizes with a growl- it's incredibly cute. Gentle pets, especially on the face, are met with a still body and closed eyes- like she's concentrating really hard on your love. And she has the most adorable overbite. It's just enough for the tip of her little tongue to stick out a little and make you love her all that much more.

I've heard today that applications are already coming in for her. I'm sure she won't last long with us, but during that time we sure will be kept laughing.

Happy Holidays

Cliff and I have had conversations lately about adding additional volunteering and community work to our plate. This came about during our breakfast pre-shopping extravaganza last Monday. Over his crepes and my chilaquiles, he brought up that he would like to volunteer. I had to remind him that we DO volunteer- fostering dogs- did he forget? No, it has just become such a part of our lives that the effort blends right in with the day to day. The discussion ended with a renewed energy to expand our volunteer service, but this dialog got me thinking about starting the conversation with all of you about trying your hand at fostering yourselves. Most everyone I know is a dog lover and understands the statistics of pet overpopulation. They then try to help be a part of the solution through adoption, volunteering, and donations to humane services and rescues. Fostering, though, is such a vital step in the process.

Fostering provides an animal the opportunity to feel secure and safe so they can relax and show more of their true personality- giving potential adopters a clearer picture of who they truly are. Also, foster homes provide needed structure and positive reinforcement to improve their dog manners and become a better companion. If a dog has an illness or is overcoming an injury, foster homes provide the warm and calm environment to enable recovery.

That's only some of what fostering does for animals. I can't even think of the many ways in which fostering helps us. Patience, unconditional love, commitment - just to name a few. Most of all, we are rewarded repeatedly by our fosters by the look in their eyes of gratefulness, the small steps we make repairing their spirit, and the kisses on our hands (sometimes faces) in appreciation. But, there's truly no greater reward than knowing that we have been a part of the process of saving the life of an animal.

You can have this too. The only experience we had before getting started was the experience of raising our own animals (and those of you that know Kobe- I didn't do so great with him...so my experience wasn't all that awesome). We've picked up a lot of knowledge and many skills along the way, though. And we'd be happy to share it all with any of you who wish to take on my holiday challenge:

There are so many dogs in need of a foster home - Fred is just one. I met him at an adoption event a few weeks ago and he's very sweet. He's currently boarded at a facility, but would benefit greatly from having a foster home. Any chance any of you in the DFW metroplex want to try your hand at fostering? Fred would love you for it.

Happy Birthday Dexter

Two years ago today, Dexter's brothers and sisters were born in a vacant field underneath a rusted out bed of a truck. Two days later, they were brought to our home with their mom Babe, where they stayed for several weeks. Our friend Alecia fell in love with Dexter from the get go and adopted him the moment he was available.














It's one of our great joys in life to see our babies be able to grow into happy and healthy dogs. Dexter certainly got the awesome home he deserved with Alecia and Jeff. Seriously. Look at that face:



Thanks for the photos, Alecia!

#40 - Mimi the Great

Mimi - the name calls to mind the image of a grandmother. Perhaps this is because Mimi was EJ's (my brother-in-law) grandmother. Mimi the foster dog was no granny.

When I picked her up from the vet last Friday I was expecting to receive a 'nervous' dog, as this is how she was described to me. But she was just as much nervous as she was a granny type- not at all. She bounced around my car the whole way home, and once home, she bounced happily around my back patio. Mimi was an almost instantaneous bonder who would easily crawl into my lap, jump from the floor straight into my arms, and wag her tail ferociously when petted. Cliff agreed that she was pretty awesome. Even though she would occasionally forget who he was if he'd been out of sight for too long, and bark at him (I think it's Cliff's beard). I truly think that if we'd had possession of her much longer...she would have been adopted by us. Cliff argues I say this each and every time.....and he's sorta right (but don't tell him that).
Friends Kyle and Ambre took one look at her photo and were sold. They came to meet her at an adoption event on Saturday and I took her to their home to meet their Chihuahua, Bella, yesterday. Things went so well that they finalized the adoption.

It's a real joy to be able to be a part of the process of helping a homeless animal find a new home. It doesn't always work out that we get to remain a part of a former foster's life, so it's particularly special for us when it works in our favor that we do.

So, it's on to foster #41. Stay tuned.

Sweet Sweet Cassie

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we had Cassie, a Bassett Hound mix, as a visitor. Cassie is currently in her own foster home (with Paula), but Paula was going out of town. Since Cassie is bit of an older dog, she deserved to come stay with us instead of boarding.

Usually Kobe is disagreeable with dogs bigger than him (not to mention kids, flashing lights, anything on wheels, thunder, our t.v. receiver, lately even my hair iron...you get the picture). But since Cassie is a bit older and slower, he really liked her. In Kobe's 11 years, I have never once seen him instigate play with another dog....until Cassie. It's too bad she really didn't feel much like playing.

When it was dinner time, she would wiggle and dance so much that she instantly seemed puppy like. Once done eating she would quiet down and crash out on Kobe's bed. She took over his bed actually- but he didn't seem to mind much.

Last Sunday she went back to her foster home with Paula. Hopefully she'll be adopted soon!


-thanks for the picture, Paula!

Happy Nugget

Just before Halloween, our little Miniature Pincher Helga arrived for us to foster. I picked her up at Toothacres (the boarding facility that the rescue we foster for uses for some of their dogs) and brought her directly home. She cried a bit in the car, as I am sure she was confused and a bit frightened. I thought once we got her home, she'd acclimate quickly (nervous dogs are becoming old hat for us). But, she decided to take her sweet time. In that time though, she endeared herself to us unlike most fosters. Cliff even declared her as his (gasp) favorite!

Cliff decided that she would be called Nugget. We thought long and hard about calling her Goat, but Goat just wasn't the right fit for her (we sometimes find our own nicknames for our fosters). She does answer to Helga, so we'd still call out to her with her real name. Although shy, Helga possessed a lot of personality. She loved to sit on a soft blanket next to us on the couch, and would follow us around the house room to room.

My sister Michelle's co-worker and his girlfriend just happened to be looking for a companion for their Miniature Pincher Roxy. So, Brandon and Cindy came over the night after we got Helga to meet her. Although she was still shell shocked, they could see the potential she had. It took a few weeks to happen, but when the adoption went through, Helga gained a whole new family (thanks, Brandon, for the photo):

The Begining

Hey everyone!

Most of those near and dear to us are used to getting an email update each time we have a foster. Well, I've finally figured out this blog thing and intend to keep everyone up to date via this method. Having all of the information in one place will save me a lot of time searching and searching through old emails.

I can't remember exactly how many fosters Cliff and I have had. I'll try to list them out as best I can and close to the correct order (their aka names are their actual names...Cliff and I sometimes find our own personal names for our fosters):

(Update 12/24- this list will be updated as we go.)

1. Cindy Sue
_________
2. Sister Mama
3. Bean
4. Hannah
5. Buckley
6. Georgette
7. Trooper
_________
8. Spotty Mama (now named CoCo)
9. Tuna (aka Tina)
_________
10. Chili (aka Rose)
_________
11. Hummus (aka Kendra)
12. Kenny
13. Foie Gras (aka Kent)
14. Kylie
_________
15. Jack
16. Bella
17. Pepper
18. Chewy
_________
19. Porsche
20. Maserati
21. Ferrari
_________
22. Diesel
_________
23. Juicy Juice (aka Deuce)
_________
24. Tessa
_________
25. Shorty
_________
26. Oliver (aka Alex)
_________
27. Babe
28. Sparky (now named Dexter)
29. Piggy
30. Chop Suey
31. Rolo
32. Sarah
_________
33. Matty (aka Marcia)
34. Ernie
35. Etta
36. Sue (now named Missy Sue)
37. Otis
_________
38. Nugget (aka Helga)
_________
39. Cassie
_________
40. Mimi (now named Bean)
_________
41. Smoky Edna (aka Sadie)
_________
42. Biscuit
_________
43. Remi
44. Foxy
________
45. Maybe
46
46
48
49