Archive for the ‘fostering dogs’ Category
Chloe and pups preparing for adoption
As you probably know, we are a volunteer foster-dog family for an organization called H.E.L.P. (www.HelpingAnimals.org) in suburban Chicago. When dogs we foster are ready for adoption, they are listed individually on the leading pet adoption site, PetFinder.com, and on the H.E.L.P. site. In a few weeks, mama Chloe and her seven puppies will be ready for adoption to their forever families. Here are links to each of the dogs:
If you are interested in beginning the adoption application process, follow the links above for information.
Puppies first day outside
Today the puppies explored the outside world for the first time and loved it. Their resemblance to their mama’s personality is evident – these puppies are outgoing, happy, and friendly. Nice combination. Afterward they were all exhausted and crashed out. Then as I went it for the last time tonight and fed Chloe most of them woke up and were climbing out of their bed area to see what their mama was doing. I put some dry food into a few bowls and all of them were very interested. I always wonder how much of these first dry food meals actually make it into the puppies tummies…mostly they seem to just mouth the kibble and spit it out again. But everyone was very excited, with much tail wagging going on. And them, by a happy accident as two puppies were wrestling, they discovered that some of the bowls hold water! They lapped at it as they’ve learned to lap their formula.
I always love this time because it signals the move from formula and soaked kibble to just good ole dry kibble – making for a much easier to clean up meal time.
What is interesting this time around is that I’ve found myself SO much less stressed than usual. It took me awhile to remember my routine but now it is very doable and I find myself enjoying just sitting and looking at them more than I remember at 4 weeks with the other litters. I have let go of a lot of my perfectionism, as silly as that sounds. For example, I no longer change the papers immediately when a pup pees – now I wait till the papers are pretty well peed-upon and then change them. Don’t get me wrong – cleanliness is still a priority, but I don’t worry about things as much. And therefore I seem able to get a lot more done. That is a good reminder for me.
A day in the life
I took Chloe to my son’s baseball game yesterday evening. I wondered what I was thinking, given how new she is to us and everything, but my instincts were right. She showed some stress at first but as soon as we sat down she approached each of my friends and their children sweetly and asked for cuddles. She is such a friendly dog! She spent the entire game rolling around happily in the grass, glad, I think, to not have mommy duties for a spell. A friend who has a golden retriever said that she was the spitting image of her dog, so there you go. We’ll be calling her a golden retriever mix.
The puppies are HUNGRY all the time. Tonight they discovered Chloe’s food bowl and tried to eat her large kibble. They were very interested in it and spent about 15 minutes of their (more…)
Puppies are coming! Puppies are coming!
The phone rang early this morning. H.E.L.P. has a mama dog and her seven 4-week old pups in need. As is often the case, we know very little about this group, but we will soon enough – they will be here in a few hours!
Here is what we do know. The mama is believed to be a 40lb Golden Retreiver mix. She had her litter of pups four weeks ago and is coing to us via the same shelter in Fulton County Illinois that brought Sweetie and Annie into our lives. If you haven’t, you should read up on their stories here on CanineFostering.com.
So put CanineFostering.com back on your daily reading list – we will be writing, posting photos & videos of this new fostering experience!
Another to the rescue and random thoughts
Whew. That was a close one. Thankfully another rescue organization agreed to foster Nisha and her pups. And, I didn’t post this but there was ANOTHER pregnant mama looking for a place to raise her pups at the same time as Nisha and thankfully she too was rescued by someone else. I am relieved because I have so much I am doing now to get the house together. I knew that my head wouldn’t be in the game so to speak – I really need to have the rest of my life on auto pilot when I’m fostering. So now my job is to work on what is before me (painting and painting and painting ceilings…does anyone like painting ceilings?) and get that job completed.
Here are some dog related thoughts that have been bouncing around inside my head: Why do people hold so strongly to a set of beliefs, to the point that they become obstacles to understanding other’s beliefs? This doesn’t make sense to me. So many trainers hold so firmly (more…)
Why I Foster Dogs
People always say to me “you are so generous/wonderful/giving for fostering these dogs. I don’t know how you do it”
Well, here’s the real truth: Do any of you have that sort of life that takes up a lot of your time but doesn’t fill you up all that reliably? Fostering mama dogs gives me a sense of identity, purpose, and accomplishment. It meets my need to nurture little ones, LOTS of little ones. And it makes me feel important and needed. These things, while present in my life when the pups and mama dogs aren’t around, aren’t present in a large enough quantity to satisfy me. So, I foster dogs because I get so much from it. Because it is a lot of work. Because it is emotionally challenging. Because it is all consuming. So, the secret’s out. I get more from the experience than I likely give. But maybe it is equal. Either way, I’m fine with it.
