One Word Wednesday #4

WANT

New gig at Life With Dogs

I will be blogging at Life With Dogs at least once a week and my first introduction post went live yesterday.  You can check it out here.  Basically I say howdy and in a round about way try to get people to consider fostering a dog.

This picture of my daughter and Lady made the cut
on my first Life With Dogs post. It's one of my favorites. 

Life With Dogs is one of my favorite sites,  and I am looking forward to being part of their growth.  "Nigel Buggers" has added quite a few new featured writers besides myself and things have got even more interesting over there.

One Word Wednesday #2

YOURS? 

Dopamine drippers

Forgive me readers it has been  two weeks since my last blog post.  The end of school year has been hectic,   and I have been really busy with that thing called life.  Today, the first day of summer, is my parent's SIXTIETH wedding anniversary. On this day 60 years ago, my parents  married, and it was a Tuesday. Maybe Tuesday marriages are the secret to success?


 Excuses for not blogging in no particular order. School getting out and all that went with it, kids hogging my computer, parent's anniversary party last weekend, freelance writing projects, and  foster pups!  I placed 3 fosters in the last two weeks and currently have 2 foster siblings right now from Canine Commitment.

Now that school is out, we are  slowing  that life train down just a bit, and making extra time to  cuddle the pups.  Sister's Millie and Maggie are two very sweet pups and I mean sweet sweet sweet sweet. We just got Maggie a few days ago, but Millie has been here for  2 weeks. She has interested parties and will most likely be gone in just a few days.  (sad face!) Millie is a pup who we will all be sad to see go.  We wished that she could stay forever. Not only is she adorable, but she is sweet (redundant--- I know) and clever and cuddly.  She is just about 4 months old. If she was going to stay this size, I don't think we  could have resisted her charms.
I took Millie downtown  Sunday morning to my outdoor brunch training class, and a photographer asked to take my picture for a project he is working on, a hundred strangers in a hundred days.

Isn't she the cutiest?  A friend in training class said that Milie is like having "your own personal dopamine drip." yup.

And having two little sweeties in the house all cuddled and snuggled together, induces a contact high.  Not the trippy, magic mushroom, LSD kind of high, more like a Calgon,  serenity now, peaceful kind of high.

File under , another good reason that you should foster dogs. Free drugs!

Fosters are to child birth as I am to Hoarders

February vacation was nuts.

Remind me about this winter of the foster dogs next time I think "oh, OK, poor thing, sure I can foster just.one.more."  Don't just remind me, whack me on the head with  a mallet, or a shovel. Shake me, do something.  I am pretty sure this is a stage I needed to go through and it will soon  pass.  File under just because  you can doesn't mean you should.

For those keeping track. There are my two dogs, and 2 fosters, Beck and Stella.  Beck is still worming his way into our hearts. Every heart except for my middle daughter, so we will see.  Stella has a trial this weekend at a wonderful home of a friend of friend.  I am sure they will love her, but there are young kids, so you never know how these things will turn out. Please everyone think good thoughts for her.  It is amazing to think that she went from her last day on earth in a horrid southern shelter to a super home and new life  in Maine.




We still have puppies Lady and Lego and at 11 weeks they have reached that stage that I refer to in my puppy classes as "OMG HAVE YOU SEEN THE WORLD!!!"  That is when a light seems to click on and pups go from super snuggly, adorable, sweet, cuddly sit in your lap lumps, to pin balls.  It is normal puppy stuff, but they are getting  bold,.  They are you know,  normal pups. Oh and did I mention they sleep less and need to run more?  They are cuter than ever and in a weird twist of fate, the puppy that I returned was the first one adopted. That will teach me!

A friend's dog stayed here over vacation, and guess what, he wasn't a huge fan of the fosters, so he got separate leash walks.  Know what else?  Bryce the big puppy didn't work out in his foster to adopt placement and he came back today. Seems there was the issue with the resident Springer with  guarding .
Did I already mention that I am on my second case of paper towels?

Not looking for sympathy, after all fostering is rewarding in and of itself, but I did want a record of my insanity to remind myself not to do this again.  I think in a way, taking on new fosters is not unlike forgetting the pain of child birth.

Maybe that was why my camera broke, so I can't look back at the all the cute and want to do this again.  Maybe the universe did me a favor.  When you look into the face of a sweet puppy.....oh rats, I am not fooling anyone. I those love those little pin balls.

Day after Wordless Wednesday, we haz pups please forgive

1:55 AM

Last week I placed three wonderful puppies in less than a week. When the blurr leaves my brain, I will post pictures of them.  Tonight I sat down before bed to post pictures of Lady and Lego, but I fell asleep. 

Hold on, they are outside shivering waiting to come back in from a potty break. By the way, I was too late and just used up the last of my  paper towels.  Just a few days ago, I had  a case of paper towels.

2:00 AM

Where was I?  Oh yea....Check out Lady above with my daughter. Isn't she too adorable?  Adopt her please, tell all your friends. Please help get them out  of my house before my kid comes back from visiting her father. My youngest daughter has adopted Lady as hers. The last puppy she cared for,  Birdey (oh wait, I did already post that litter. Guess I have a bad bad case of "new Mommy brain") was a trauma and a half to give up.  She was so sad when she passed the pup to the new owners, that the woman started to mist up and nearly gave her back. I was like Hellz "NO!!! we have  had her less than a week, I do this to my kids on a regular  much too regular basis. 

2:06 AM

The little angels are fast asleep again.  Most likely I will see them again by 5:30, which is fine because I have to take my oldest son to visit a school in Massachusetts and we need to be on the road by 7:00 the latest. And guess what, Lady and Lego have to come. Even though there will be people home, no one else can care for them. Young teenagers do not understand "THE PUPPIES JUST WOKE UP, OMG THEY NEED TO GO OUT. RIGHT. NOW " and not at the end of that cool  song on You Tube you were singing. 

Crap, I am out of paper towels. 

 *contemplates getting a fast food  breakfast and a TON of napkins before we hit the road*

Lego = CUTE!

2:10AM

And this my friends is little Lego. Be still my heart.  The day I brought these pups home to foster, my camera decided it could not take one more photo of cute and died a quiet death.  All this extreme cute has been captured by my Blackberry. It is hard to see his adorable speckles, but they are there, and they call to me.

They say "please adopt me and look at me every day, you won't regret it."

I like to think of this shot as Lego, side cute.


2:16 AM

Think of me today, traveling with 2 pups in the car for 3 hours each way. With potty breaks, that will take who knows how long.  It is supposed to be warm and I will be sure to leave the tour a  few times to warm up my car and take them out.  If any one reads this and thinks they can handle them for a day, you will get a lot of karma coins. I have been saying all along that having fosters in my house gives me a fresh perspective on what my training clients go through. Aside from being tied down ( DOI!) ,  here is a view that I hadn't thought about , or read about. 

Puppies eat snow and then puppies have to pee. A lot. like all the freaking time, and there is nothing you can do about it. Maybe if I only had 1, but with two of them, water scedules are at  a 100 percent  fail and forgetaboutit.  There is no spacing out  and controling water for these two.  Especially not at 2:11 AM 

By the way, I had a third litter mate for 2 nights, but I realized quickly that even I wasn't that crazy.  He slept even less than his brother and sister and ZOMG is he adorable.

 Meet Larz.

Larz-his cute hurtz

He pushed my mental health-o- meter  near over the top. When I really got thinking about things, I came to the conclusion that there was no way I could socialize, and train 3 pups and that really at 10 active weeks, 2 pups was pushing it. In case you didn't already know, puppies need to be seperated and they need to develop their own personalites and brave.  When litter mates are together, one will be the go-er and the other will be the go -to. One pup takes the lead and the other will follow. It is a MAJOR amount of work to have two littermates and do it right.  At ten weeks they can still be together, but if they are do not adopted soon, I will have to seperate for a good portion of 24 hours.   Each pup currently  gets alone time while I take the other one out and about every day.  We are doing our  best to do the best by these two pups.  They have been on many different surfaces and met lots of people, working  hard on the house training thang and learning basic cues and manners.   Little Lady came to  Portland Stage this AM were my daughters are rehearsing for Holes . We  meet a lot of freaky people on  Forrst ave,  and  cleared meet freaky people clear  off her socializtion  check list this morning. 

So for those of you  counting. We have 2 puppies and two foster dogs Beck and Stella Luna from   

Caninecommitment.org.

Me and the kids may need therapy if when we place Beck, and StellaLuna leaves a week from Friday for a trial wekeend. Wish her luck. 

Please share. I need some peace and sleep back.

Tell everyone you know.

Do it!

spell check  2:33 AM

(if you find mistakes, please forgive-I am blurry)

send 2:49 AM

Home is where the heart and stomach are

Charlee checked  in to Kelly's Roast Beef. Revere, Ma

I had business to take care of in my home town of Revere Massachusetts yesterday and brought Charlee in the car for company. Being with me in the car, or just in the car, is pretty much Charlee's favorite thing after food. Finney has also decided that he loves the car, or just being any where I am, but like any good Mom , I have to spread my time and love around, and it was Charlee's turn. Charlee is putting up with 2 young male foster  dogs, acting foolish all over her house a good portion of every day. Today is Finney's turn to come to work with me, and with the amount of humping and violating that has been going on here, he to has earned some time off for great behavior.
Revere is the original GTL town. That's stands for gym, tan, laundry, ala Jersey Shore in case you are out of the loop.  Revere has changed quite a bit since I was a kid, but one thing that hasn't changed is Kelly's Roast Beef, and I had a craving. Both my daughter's are vegetarians and I rarely cook or eat meat. I was a vegetarian for nearly 6 years, but got horribly anemic and no amount of iron pills and spinach helped me. When the doctor told me to try to eating meat or give up some blood for a leukemia test,Kelly's roast beef was my first meal.

I have to say I still have some guilt about eating animals, and I nearly asked them where and how the beef was raised, ala Portlandia, but decided that I would take a leap of faith for my gullet's sake, and just hope the cows were treated well.




For the first time ever I have had something positive happen when I tweeted my location on Four Square, and 40 minutes later I got to meet up with my cousins and former foster Stella (Evon). My cousin mentioned that she thought the dog would be nervous and think that I had come to whisk her away from her new life. I had never heard of that. When I have re-met former foster dogs, they either collapse in a puddle of happy mush, or greet me and the kids like anyone else, then after a few minutes a light bulb seems to go off and then they collapse in a puddle of happy mush.

Before I go on, let me say that Stella hit the Jackpot. She got a great home complete with lots of trips to her grandparents house, which is where I met up with everyone yesterday. Stella is genius smart. This is the dog who figured out how to get out of a crate that no other dog has figured out. She had hit the latch with her paws, then pick it up and hold it with her  teeth and BACK UP.  That required a major amount of reasoning power.

When she met me outside, she hid behind her Mom like a little kid going to school for the first time. She absolutely knew who I was. No question. And her Mom was right. The dog thought I had come to take her. She did warm up to me, and gave me lots of gentle kisses, but the dog never took her eyes off my cousin. In this photo, she settled near me, but she is still giving me the stink eye. After I got over my slightly bruised feelings, I was thrilled for the dog and my cousin.

Kind of looks like she is saying "oh no you won't."

In case you never saw it, here is Stella and I on Good Day Maine teaching hand targeting.

Meet the fosters, Beck and Kingsley

Our two new foster dogs arrived on schedule  this past weekend. These two dogs are heart stealing super nice dogs ,and I have to admit, that either would fit in here. My girls know that no dogs can stay unless it can be a working dog.  Both dogs are sweet and smart and fun to be around, and both have big brains and either (or both!)  would love to stay here forever.


It is hard for me to pick a favorite, but my daughters had "their" dogs picked out before the dogs  even left Mississippi.

There has been no waffling, although both will admit to me in private that they do like the other dog.

Leaving the kennel, both lucky dogs already had "their"  kid. 

My youngest is square in camp Beck. Beck is about 1 years old and clearly some sort of Border Collie mix What he is mixed with is anyone's guess. Best guess is a wee bit of English Setter mixed in to the   un spayed around town wandering mutt. Beck has been in the CARA shelter since September. He is a bit goofy and has already been taken down more than a notch by my dogs. He has some growing up and maturing to do. Beck is a clean slate as far as training goes and does not even know sit. I have been hand feeding him and I expect him to know lots by the end of next week. Beck has a nice toy drive and is quite biddable. He is an excellent jumper on people. You can tell the dog spent a lot of time jumping on the kennel bars to be noticed. He can walk on his hind legs and would most likely make a nice agility prospect and fun Freestyle/obedience dog, or super cool active pet dog. As the saying goes, he is all boy, even though he is not all boy if you get my drift. Beck's signature and endearing move is to come up to you, place his back on your legs, melt into your feet in a puddle of adorable after he sits up and begs to kiss you.

Charlee tolerated Beck on her deck,
 but evil eyed him to jump off the other side,
instead of letting him  down the stairs.

You may have noticed by now that Beck  is black and white and has heavy ticking like Charlee. That is all they have in common and they do not actually look alike.


Why don't you believe me?

Who doesn't like a dog who loves a good car ride?

Middle daughter changed Buck's name to Kingsley and we think it fits him perfect. He has a wonderful temperament with people and especially other dogs -which will be really hard for me to pass up! I can't even tell you how I love to watch him be mauled by Beck one second, and then watch him turn it around to play. When he is evil eyed by Charlee, Kingsley will offer all sorts of appeasement and please let's just be pals displays. Charlee really likes him, which is not something I can say for the other rude boy. An adorable, smart dog who gets along well with kids, and dogs? I have been looking for such an animal for quite a while. Kingsley is about 2 years old and his (puke) people moved and left him outside where he sat for 2 days loyally waiting for them to come home. Today I will work on the rasta mats behind his ears.

Diamond in the ruff

Rescue dogs do not show their true selves for quite a while, so I am sure my initial assessments will evolve, but I know what I like and I really like both these guys.  Kingsley seems he would fit in to any active home, while Mr Beck (the rock and roll Becks, not the other one) will need a more careful placement. Kingsley has already generated interest, and my older daughter has already pleaded for him, which has led to "that's not fair" tears from the younger sister. Who tells me "what kind of dog trainer only has 2 dogs. You need more dogs and it has to be an even number."
Hello young daughter, we are committed to a puppy in the fall, how could you forget?

Lucy and the Potty Detective

Did you know that a large portion of any dog trainer's week consists of helping people figure out how to potty train their dogs? Once I helped a couple whose two small dogs had been pottying in the house for nearly 9 years. They woke up one day and said "time to train the dogs." And we did.

While the two most important concepts: schedule, schedule, schedule, and, management, management, management, apply to all dogs, it does not apply equally because, well let's face it, people are people and  all our lives have idiosyncrasies.

I consider myself a potty expert and when I was privy to information about Lucy, our foster dog who was ADOPTED this past weekend, I was mentally prepared to schedule schedule, scedule, and manage, manage, manage.  By the way, manage means supervise or confine. Lucy's family work schedule had changed and the dog had  found herself alone a large portion of every day. This was an important puzzle piece in figuring out was what going on with her.

Here is the thing. When you have an adult dog who is having accidents in the house, you need play potty detective. It's Dog Trainer 101 to learn to ask questions and look at things from the dog's point of view.

Whether it is aggression, barking, jumping, or whatever, finding the dog's motivation is the first step in solving any problem. It is a dog trainer's job to figure out what is going on. First we rule out physical.   Dogs may have a urinary tract infection, or possibly something more serious.

Even with schedule, schedule, schedule, and management , management, management, Lucy peed in my house in the first week. Just as the family had shared, Lucy found a pile of dirty laundry and eliminated there.. Ok, in the big scene of things, not so bad. I made a mental note of all the circumstances of that day. What she ate and drank and when, how much exercise she had, who was home etc. It is a great idea if your dog is having potty issues to keep a potty journal with as many factors written down as you can. Sometimes patterns are not clear without one. Right away the fact that I came home after being out for 2 hours, combined with the  fact that I saw the dog eliminate outside and then she came in and peed again  inside was a red flag. These are the times that owners often think their dogs pottied "out of spite".
There is no such thing as a dog who goes to  the bathroom out of spite.

I was quite sure the dog was anxious that I left, and had not totally eliminated  outside becasue she wanted to be back in with me. Plus, it was one of the coldest days of the year.

The following week, we had a poop accident in my laundry room. This time, I had been out teaching at night for the first time since Lucy had been in my house.  Same thing, I came home, the dog was excited to see me, she went outside , eliminated and came back and did it again right in front of me.

I knew my first inclination was right, and that Lucy  was stressed and  anxious that I had left her. The next day when I called Victoria from  the rescue to pass on how wonderful Lucy was and how well the dog was doing, she listened to my potty hypothesis, agreed with me and exclaimed;

"Of course, she gave you an I love you shit.  It was an I love you shit!"

Yes, I do believe it was! An I love you shit. Why had I never thought of that?

Lucy problem was based in insecurity, and she did not have any more accidents in my care. I just slightly changed my routine. The next times I came home, we just stayed out longer.
Case closed. Dog adopted! Can't wait to share that diagnosis with a future client.

Lucy is doing great in her new home.
She has  her very own boy.

Foster Poem

I am posting this poem for every person who ever fostered a homeless animal, and for every person who ever helped an animal find it's way.  I am posting this poem for every person who wonders how I can  give them up, how I can do this to my kids, and for every person who may foster an animal one day. 

I am the bridge,

Between what was and what can be.

...I am the pathway to a new life.

I am made of mush,
Because my heart melted when I saw you,
Matted and sore, limping, depressed
Lonely, unwanted, afraid to love.
For one little time you are mine.
I will feed you with my own hand.
I will love you with my whole heart.

I will make you whole.

I am made of steel.
Because when the time comes,
When you are well, and sleek,
when your eyes shine,
And your tail wags with joy

Then comes the hard part.

I will let you go-not without a tear,

But without a regret.

For you are safe forever--

A new dog needs me now.

…Author unknown…

Former foster dog Jonas.  

Looking ahead to the New Year

If you stopped by to see what my dog's New Years Resolutions are, forgetaboutit. Not gonna happen.

My kids and I have resolved to take in more dogs in 2011. We as a family are in give back mode. Cheers to our 8 fosters of last year, Donner, Toller, Stella (Evon), Marti and Rosebud, Mango,  Meggie and Sapphire. It is a pleasure working with Canine Commitment and CARA and we  look forward to helping many more dogs in 2011.


Meet new foster dog Lucy. Lucy is a 3 year old Beagle x Fox Terrier -most likely. We are still getting to know her, but first impression is that she is a sweet heart and highly adoptable. She lived with 3 kids as young as 2 years old and also with 2 cats. Her family adopted her from CC at 10 weeks old,  and relinquished her back to rescue.  Lucy's family  was overwhelmed with a new job and extended work hours. Now before you all go jumping on other people for choosing to give up a "family member" please pause to remind yourselves that these folks made a difficult choice and chose what was best for the dog. I have clients facing a life changing event who are returning one of their two dogs to the ARL (as per contract). Isn't it best that we are not selfish and stop and ask ourselves, what is best for the dog as well as ourselves?


I don't often tell people, but I gave up a dog when I was pregnant. It was heart wrenching and it was awful and sad, but I don't regret it. As it turned out, my son was born with a heart defect and if I had not done my homework and relinquished Rollo when I did, my family would have dumped him somewhere when we were in the hospital, and lord knows where he would have ended up. Now before you all go judging me to, let me say that he was my boy friends's dog who became mine over time. I trained Rollo to be a therapy dog,  but he was not cut out for life in East Boston with  no yard. No judging.

And to be clear, I am not saying it is ok for people to just "dump" dogs, but there are plenty of real life circumstances that justify  dogs being better off living elsewhere. When we add dogs to our families we are then responsible for them. That does not mean, until death do we part. It means doing right by the dog, even if it is hard on the humans.

So enough of a lecture. I am sure Lucy will be moving on to her new home soon. Except for her uncanny ability to nose whistle show tunes, she has no behavior issues that I have seen.

I will try to get some better photos of Lucy  soon and we will be updating her Petfinder bio as soon as I get to know her a bit better. 

 

 In the photo taken yesterday on my Crackberry , I am pretty sure she is searching  for her family.

All is calm, all is bright

Today is the first day since September that I did not hear the pitter patter THUMP THUMP bark bark of my two foster guests Meggie or Sapphire, just at the moment I awoke. The morning energy of adolescent foster dogs is not quite the same as my own snoozing dogs, to put it mildly.

I think the morning crated Meggie and Sapphire's thought process went something like this.

"OMD SHE IS UP, I CAN HEAR HER, SHE IS COMING, OMD IT'S HER IT'S HER IT'S REALLY HER. HERE SHE COMES!!!! HERE SHE COMES!!! LET US OUT...FEED US..FOOD FOOD FOOD, GOTTA PEE GOTTA PEE GOTTA PEE. HIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI!!!!

Of course the dogs had to be calm before they could be let out, but neither had a crate insert due to various reasons, and anytime I got up it was loud and thumpy.

Can't lie, I do kind of get off on the worship, just wished I could have turned it off now and again, like for instance when I had to pee in the middle of the night. There were times I wished I had a remote control and could have just hit a button and turned them off for a bit.  Anyone who has ever lived with adolencent dogs knows that they are the most difficult, and I know for certain that having two multiplied their youngness by a factor of at least 20 sometimes.  A snooze button feature on foster dogs would nice.


Both dogs are in wonderful homes,  and  it was all worth it.  We miss them. Really.

Meggie left on Tuesday. Lucky Meggie, now Lucy (the missing link), will be living at the base of. Sugarloaf with two Border Collies and Two Brittany Spaniels. She has 2000 acres to hike every day. I woke up on Wednesday overcome with sadness and posted this picture on Facebook. In less than one minute two friends chimed up that they knew her new family and how great they were and one of my friends is his sister!

What a relief! What a wonderful small world it is!

Sapphire left yesterday (again) to live in New Hampshire with a very nice guy.

He and his girlfriend drove up to meet her last weekend and let's just say it was a total "click".

Finney saw the vet for a lump on his leg. He was very brave for an aspiration,  which appears to be nothing to worry about, but will be removed and sent off to Idexx. While there we discussed Charlee's tumor toe and it was deemed NOT CANCER.  My vet said she would have been dead by now. 
All is calm, all is bright!

Sapphire -ADOPTED!

I am happy and hopeful for Sapphire who left for a new life with a great new Mom and wonderful 10 month old rescue sister dog on Sunday. Lucky Sapphire will be going to lots of training classes and even get to play agility! There are also 4 cats in her new home. That is a lot of new and if it isn't a good fit for her, of course I will take her back. Technically I guess you would call this a trial, although that is not what it looked like when they left.

Looked like one happy family to me!

That is a far cry from a being what is refereed to as a "lifer" dog In Mississippi, where Sapphire had little to any chance of being adopted once she past puppyhood.

Wasn't sure how Meggie would do without her BFF, but I have managed to give Meggie a lot more of my time with one less here and she seems totally fine with getting more human interaction and attention. I just re wrote Meggie's bio and I think she is very close to moving on to her new life as well.

                                                                  

I will miss them both.

Four plus 1

I have been meaning to post this photo as a wordless Wednesday shot, but I kept forgetting, so consider it a scatter brained Thursday post. A few weeks back I took care of my friend's adorable just turned 5 year old (he was 4 on this day) and we took a walk to Evergreen to feed the ducks.


Great kid, great day, great dogs.

And yes, I did tie the the fosters to a tree. They were only there for a second. Had to,  Meggie and Sapphire kept trying to kiss Oywn.
So who wants to adopt my super foster pups? They are getting too comfy here.

If you got the teen, I got the perfect dog

People have been asking about my two foster dogs. Yup, they are still here. Sapphire met a lovely family with a two year old daughter last weekend and the dog was perfect. I was all mush watching her interact with the family in such a sweet and appropriate way. Saffi, was the first dog they met, and the family plans to meet and greet quite a few more dogs before deciding which dog will join their family. That is wise and I am sure whatever dog they get will be well taken care of (come back nice people!!)

Sapphire is a super dog and she will be placed soon no doubt, because she can fit in just about anywhere. Sapphire could be a super wonderful pet for just about any family, or she could be a competition dog in a varity of sports.  She is  a nice,  smart and super athletic dog!



Anyone notice the time? It is 4:00 AM. Sapphire woke me up barking a while ago and I have had a hard time getting back to sleep.


Sapphire comes with a teen meter feature not found in many dogs. It is the if your teenager tries to sneak in after curfew, the dog will bark and wake you all up feature.

Thanks Saffi!

Good dog.
 
http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/17718179 Sapphire


http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/17400115 Meggie

Meggie and Sapphire are ready to move on-help them please!

Watching Meggie and Sapphire blossom here over the last several weeks has made me not regret my heart's decision to take them on as foster dogs. My head on the other hand knows I am meshugana. Me and the kids and the dogs need a break and with the kids back to school, I am stretched really thin these day. Who isn't right?


With that said, please help me find these two their forever homes. It is  kind of sad seeing them here. Both dogs are ready to move on and both dogs deserve a better life than I can give them.

Meggie is listed as reactive on her Pet finder bio, but I am on the verge of taking that down. She is more excitable I should say now, after I have gotten to know her, She is quick to size up and move on. Just about everyone who meets Meggie wants her, but can't take her for various reasons. She has a HUGE fan club, and I am her number one fan. When we were walking home from school,  the tree guy was so smitten with her, that he is contemplating risking a divorce, by bringing home a third dog.

She has a very sweet spirit and is just overall sugar and spice and everything nice.





In all my experience as a dog trainer, I have never seen a dog learn and grow so quickly as the transformation that I have seen in Sapphire.



Are you my Mother?



The day we met her at the kennel she was so freaked out, that her eyes were  wall eyed, and close  to 50 percent white. Yet and still, she crawled over to us to say hello. Sapphire is an incredibly resilient dog and will make someone an awesome family member. She is still bouncing off my back door and she can hit her hind foot close to 5 feet up. Not only is she sweet and cuddly and kissy, but she is super athletic. I mean off the hook athletic.





She would make an awesome Frisbee or sport dog.


Check out her turbo body. She will make a nice pet, and wow does she love kids.

On a beautiful fall day I spent a good amount of time just watching Meggie and Sapphire play and I have to say, in this regards, 2 is easier than one. They tire each other out. In case you don't know, adolescent dogs - - -.not so easy.

We really do need to take a foster break, so please, share my foster pups around!
They are fostered for Canine Commitment




Charlee thanks you!



Mrs Potatohead hits the trails with 4, yes 4

Armed with 4 cheese sticks and a pocket full of kibble I braved the woods with my 4 charges this morning. On picture perfect fall days like this, what I really want to do is gallop on horseback at breakneck speed. Given that I haven't been on a horse in about 16 years, watching dogs run flat out and enjoy being dogs is the next best thing. I do have plans to get back in the saddle in the not too distant future. For many years I lived and breathed horses, but giving birth to a kid with special health needs really changed everything. It is true that adults cannot clear their minds, and after my son was born, all I could think about when I rode horses  was how selfish I was, and what would happen to him if anything happened to me. I would not say that I was afraid so much as I had clearly lost my edge.  I am ready to get some on my selfish self back.

Meanwhile, back in the woods.

A long way from the overcrowed shelter in Mississippi!!!

Great walk this morning with all 4 dogs behaving beautifully and staying close with excellent recall. Sapphire dragged a leash just in case, and  she was the best of the 4. Of course that could change as she becomes more confident and we start to see her true self, but the dog has spent her whole in a shelter and and keen to be with me. Look for a blog post soon on "Choose to hike." Basically I apply Dawn Jeks Choose to Heel principle to everyday, all of the time, and start just as soon as the new fosters arrive. Meggie and Sapphire have spent a lot of time following me around my yard and being rewarded for it.

You know you want to adopt me!

Our walk was not totally relaxing for me at least as I was in what I tell my students "Mrs Potatohead mode," and at all times was on the look out for any other dogs, vermin, or people, but we only saw one lone gentlemen who we met on the way into the woods.


Galloping dogs, It's a good thing.

12 year old tumor ridden Charlee out ran them all!

Meet Sapphire, Meggie's workout buddy

In testing the principle are two dogs really easier than one, I agreed to take on a second foster. Well that is not totally honest. I agreed to take our latest charge, who my youngest has named Sapphire, after a plea from my good friend Victoria.  It's Victoria  who we can blame for all our recent fosters. Some of the talking points included, "she has no chance in the South, Life behind bars, she will be passed over for life, they really like her and we all want to give her a chance."

All right, enough already. Yes!


BUT I was thinking that having two young dogs would allow for them to run each other out. Last weekend, Meggie fell thougt the cracks of life. We went to the fair one day and it was quite rainy the next and on the end of the second day I ran to my car. When I came back, my sweet young pup joyfully jumped at my face and gave me two black eyes. I have since stepped up her exercise and training, but it is not the same as aerobic run run run with another young dog. So----while I tell people, "don't get a dog for your dog", looks like I am not practicing what I preach and the two dogs are having a blast. As an extra bonus Charlee and Finney are not being annoyed and in turn they like Meggie better these last 24 hours--which then in turn makes it harder to give her up.

Quite a few friends have questioned me about Meggie with other dogs and many thought she didn't like other dogs. She needs to be managed around new dogs and is leash reactive, but getting better.

Oh, she likes to play with other dogs.

Meggie is not a candidate for the dog park, and not a great choice for the horse barn I turned down. She needs to be managed closely at this time, but she is very in tune with people and takes direction well. In the right home, she will be a once in life time heart dog. I have no doubt. I am holding out for that person to find her. 

In the mean time, we are getting to know Sapphire and here is what we have learned so far:



-She is unsure about new people, but wants to be loved by them so much she will crawl on her belly like a reptile to see them.

-She  is a submissive pee-er . In the kennel when I picked her up, she soaked her plastic dog bed with pee and then swacked swack swacked the pee with her wagging tail and she soaked the kennel wall and floor. It was kind of funny in an OMG that better not happen at my house kind of way.

-Sapphire is an excellent jumper and jumped all 4 feet on my head outside yesterday, but she learned to sit in 3 morsels of cheese.

-She is wicked smart and athletic and has never done stairs, but picked them up right away. She likes girls better than boys but wants badly to trust. Oh and she loves toys.

Sapphire's personality meshes with mine. I love to tame the smart wild child and she has already had a fantastic loose leash walking session after hauling me nearly off my feet yesterday.

We are thrilled to report that the pee issue is already 99 percent better.Stay tuned, I see good things in store for this girl.

Not quite Wordless Wednesday

It appears that we have  vampire dogs in our midst.

Captions welcome.

The fostering of Mango - she is ready for a home

Still giving fostering dogs a lot of thought, still due in part to my friend Mary's journey with Aaron. (See yesterday's post or click Mary's dog blog on the sidebar.)


Currently in our home we have 4 dogs. Our two dogs,Charlee and Finney and two foster dogs Stella (formally Evon) and Mango. Stella has been adopted by my cousin and she is hanging out with us while they get their new condo in order. I am planning a very special Stella blog coming up soon, but I need to get some old photos scanned first. Stella is a lucky dog!

Mango has turned out to be an easier foster than I expected. The info from the Maine rescue was that she blew through a "home" here in Maine pretty much over night, and when I met and evaluated her at the kennel, she was a bit shell shocked, and it was hard to get an accurate read on her. Mango was the first dog ever to spend a few nights in a puppy play pen in our garage. Safety first you know. After she had a few days to chill and after I heard from people who loved her down south, she got moved upstairs. She gets on fine with the three dogs here, although she can play a little rough sometimes.

The thing about Mango that makes her different from our foster dogs of late, is that she clearly has been loved.

So here is the thinking part. For the past year or so, we have had lots of shelter dog in our house. Many of these pups had starts similar to Stella. Unwanted pups who grew up never having known a home, or the love of a family. Mango's case was a bit differnt.  She knew what she was missing. The look she gave me when I closed that garage door was heartbreaking.

Mango  was clearly a loved, treasured family member and as such, returns love to my family. She is an equal opportunity dog and loves us all pretty much equally - a lot. Mango is "not my kind of dog", but it is through no fault of her own. We all love the dog, but she is not our dog. We are partial to the herding breeds over here. If you love Labs and the beauty of a Greyhound she is perfect for you!. Mango is having a photo shoot later this week and when her new glamour shots hit the web, I expect to get overrun with applicants for my sweet, lovable, foster dog. My pictures don't do her justice.



Check out her Petfinder.com listing, http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16490347  and please pass her info along to your dog loving friends. Her bio says kids over 12, but she has lived with toddlers and for the right family I will  make an exception to this.