Blog

Why do people expect dogs to be calm and quiet when they are left outside for hours and hours, with minimal protection from the weather - or at least, a lot less than they get indoors - and nothing in particular to do? It has to be one of my top three dog-owner pet peeves. For me, there is just nothing as aggravating as listening to a dog barking incessantly. I both feel for the dog and feel murderous at the same time. Who do I want to murder? Alternately, the dog, the owner, and myself!

I've mentioned a bunch of times that I have helped find homes for a number of foster dogs, and helped friends who were looking for a certain type of dog to find one who fits into their family perfectly. As far as I know, all the dogs I've placed into homes continue to live happily in those homes - with one exception.

I could not WAIT for them to go to their forever homes, and the last one went home on Saturday... and now I miss them unbearably - their relentless exploring and fooling around, tireless curiosity, darling miniature barks and howls and growls, and cheerful learning during our many-times-a-day-for-just-one-minute training sessions. It didn't help that I let the last puppy sleep with me in my bed, the last two nights I had him.

the deworming helped

and put the plate next to the tub of icky food. I went in the house to get a camera

Do you know this expression, "foster failure"? It's meant as a humorous term, meaning someone who was fostering a dog - one who was being prepared for adoption by a shelter or rescue group - but who fell in love with the dog and decided to adopt the dog herself. And no, I'm not yet a foster failure, though many of my friends think it's about to happen, because I've been fostering a litter of the most adorable puppies for almost a month. I tell them all, "Blech! I hate puppies! Who in their right mind would want a puppy?" - another joke.

so I could keep the pups straight. The collars were also a useful tool for the shelter vet tech

I feel HORRIBLE. I hurt a puppy – on accident, true. But still. I honestly feel sick. The six puppies I'm fostering (until they are old enough and healthy enough to be brought back to the shelter to be put up for adoption) were running around my backyard; I had just cleaned out their pen, and was bringing a freshly cleaned and filled pan of water to the pen. I looked around, making sure my path to the pen was clear of puppies; they tend to run toward human feet. I was about six steps from the pen when my shoe made contact with a puppy. I heard a puppy shriek as I leaped/dodged as best as I could, flinging the water and the pan clear, but when I turned around, the puppy I had made contact with was still shrieking and was holding up one hind leg. My heart sunk.

I've been fostering a litter of six puppies, who are probably only about five weeks old. And I think I have lost my mind. I'm tired, my sleep schedule is all off, I haven't walked myself or my own dogs for a week, I've been eating at weird times (and not with my husband), and I feel alternately so full of love for and weepy about these little guys (they are all boys!) . . . and it's only been a week. Talk about that new-mom feeling!

monitored Cole long enough to see that he awoke and was going to be fine

so we had mosquitoes in the house

agility