Meet puppy Oak

OakOak is a gentle giant of a pup, spunky but a big lover. His mama, Willow, looks to be part Golden Retriever/Labrador mixed with a setter or hound and is a mellow, playful, cuddly and patient dog and her pups really take after her. She is also up for adoption. Oak is a beautiful dog, with a longer, cream colored coat and the most beautiful soft blue eyes, the color of denim. He loves to be cuddled and has a lower energy level than some of his siblings. Oak is nearly house trained, having had the luxury of spending lots of time outside. He has had his first set of puppy shots, has been microchipped, and is on flea and heartworm preventative.

August 1, 2009 • Tags: , , , • Posted in: behavior, pups, Willow • 1 Comment

Meet puppy Red Bud

Red BudRed Bud is a big and beautiful girl, born to a mama who looks to be part Golden Retriever/Labrador mixed with a setter or hound. Her mama, Willow is also up for adoption and is a mellow, playful, cuddly and patient dog. Her pups really take after her. Red Bud, who I just call “Red”, really is a lover. She has a red coat, lots of wrinkles, and green eyes! What a stunner. Her energy level is lower than some of her sisters which simply means that she will stop for a second to let you pet her! She is a beauty. Red is nearly house trained, having had the luxury of spending lots of time outside. She has had her first set of puppy shots, has been microchipped, and is on flea and heartworm preventative.

Meet puppy Sugar Maple

Sugar MapleSugar Maple is a sweet, energetic little girl, born to a mama who looks to be part Golden Retriever/Labrador mixed with a setter or hound. Her mama, Willow is also up for adoption and is a mellow, playful, cuddly and patient dog. Her pups really take after her. Sugar Maple, who I just call “Sugar”, has a longer coat that is nearly white. She has a dainty look with a lot of spunk. Sugar is nearly house trained, having had the luxury of spending lots of time outside. She has had her first set of puppy shots, has been microchipped, and is on flea and heartworm preventative.

Chloe is ready for adoption

Chloe 072809cChloe is a sweet, gentle dog we had while she nursed her puppies. She is a small dog, about 45 pounds with a beautiful reddish coat. She looks like a Golden mix, maybe with some Sheltie or Border Collie..She was adopted out but her adoptive family did not meet her needs and she was very unhappy. Fortunately they released her to my house again and in just two days she is back to her sweet self.

Chloe is a dog who is very smart and she is used to getting what she wants. Therefore, an experienced dog owner would be best. She would really benefit from obedience training as a way for her to learn to use her smarts in productive ways. She has climbed my 5 foot chain link fence (once) and regularly jumps the 3 foot chicken wire fence we use to separate the yard. However, she usually just stays in the fenced yard with our other foster dog and her puppies. She is not difficult to handle and responds well to mild verbal corrections. She walks well on a leash and used to only need a buckle collar, now a prong is helpful in the beginning. She needs a daily walk of at least a half an hour, more would be best. She is fine with other dogs but sometimes shows some fear at first.

Chloe 072809bChloe is not fond of her crate and will protest with barking and clawing at it. I have found that if I ignore this and use an electric no-bark collar she settles within five minutes of my crating her and is fine on my return. I have left her no more than 3 hours at a time during the day and crate her the entire night (8+ hours). She is crated in a room with another dog and that may help her. Her adoptive family claimed she had “severe separation anxiety” but I don’t see that. She spends most of the day with other dogs in my yard and very little one on one time with me. I do think she would like more people time but she isn’t the most cuddly dog. Likely she will be more cuddly when she trusts you. She has been through a lot.

Chloe loves the puppiesShe would do best in a home with another dog and a home where people are around most of the time. She would not do well with someone who works full or even part time regularly. A stay at home parent would be best. She loves my son (6 years old) and his friends but they tend to say hello and ignore her. When she was at my home previously I categorized her as the easiest and sweetest dog I have ever had. I felt then that she could go to any sort of home and she’d be fine. Now, however, she has some baggage so trust will have to be earned by her next owner. But do not get me wrong, this dog has a ton of potential and is very sweet.

If you are interested in giving Chole a forever home, apply through H.E.L.P.

A day in the life

Chloe at baseball game 5/19/09I 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!