ADOPTED: Ciao, Bella!

Within three hours of posting Bella on Petfinder, I received emails from prospective adopters. The first turned out to be a less-than-serious inquiry. The second had a Lab that Bella did not care for when they met. But the third one was the charm. An animal-loving couple from a neighboring town fell in love with Bella. (How could you not?) And to think, she sat in a shelter for three months, and now she's on her to way to her forever home.

This adoption process was another one that made a strong case for home visits. You see, Bella chases squirrels and birds on walks like it's her full-time job. This made us skeptical of how she might be with the couple's three cats. Would she...

A) chase them and drive them crazy?
B) play too rough with them?
C) eat them for dinner?

D) None of the above, it turns out. When we did the home visit, she got nose to nose with one of the kitties. When the cat jumped, she had no interest in chasing it. She just whined a little bit. If anything, she seemed a bit afraid of the cat! But we're confident they can co-exist (or even become BFFs?) in the house together. Here's Bella's future sister, Button, warming up her crate for her arrival tomorrow evening.

Another part of the adoption process is the vet check. For those of you who don't know, the rescue will call the adopter's vet to see if their current animals are up to date with their medical needs. I'm curious to know—does your rescue have specific requirements for vet checks? Or, if you're not involved with a rescue, what requirements seem reasonable to you?

Friday Nights

What do most twenty-somethings do on Friday nights? I'm not sure I know...

Last Friday night was Karina's home visit/drop off. This Friday, the rescue attended to a local Pet Parade. We got to show off our foster dogs, answer questions from the public, and collect donations. It was great to reach an audience we might not usually reach at our adoption day events.

Bella really hit it off with another foster, Hazel, a beautiful Shar Pei mix puppy.

We found out that she's not a huge fan of larger dogs, like Quinton the lovable Great Dane foster. It gives us something to work on. (That and her fear of stairs!)

Hello, Bella!

Our new foster dog has arrived! She definitely does not respond to Chelsea. (Phew.) Something about this dog screams sweet, gentle, and beautiful, so we decided to go with "Bella" as a name. Thanks for all of your suggestions!

She was labeled a shepherd/husky mix by the shelter, but I'm not sure what she is. Take a look at these pics, and let me know what you think. She's about 35 pounds (fully grown.) I wish Petfinder would let me select "mutt" as a breed or just be happy with "dog" as the species, but that's not the case!

Meet Our New Foster, [Insert Name Here]

I think the foster coordinator knew we needed a rebound dog—and quick. After two long hauls with Jack and Karina, plus wedding day 9 weeks away, we also told her we needed a shorter-term foster. We went with our usual criteria—able to be crated during the work day, young adult, ideally under 35 pounds, and suitable for condo life.

As a result, we have a sweet, 2-year-old husky/shepherd mix headed our way this weekend. She was in a shelter in Virginia where she had a litter of puppies. All of her puppies have been adopted. Now it’s her turn.

But we need your help. Her current name is Chelsea. Don’t get me wrong, Bill and Hill, it’s a wonderful name for a girl. But I’m not so sure for a dog. [Yes, I realize Karina was no better. I know, I know.] As superficial as it is, I also know that names as they appear on Petfinder can make or break a dog’s appeal.  

The other problem is that one of the volunteers with the rescue is named Chelsea. Might adoption days get a little confusing? “How old is Chelsea? How much does Chelsea weigh? Oh no, Chelsea had an accident!”

Now, if the dog comes trotting through the door responding to the name, I don’t know if I’ll have the heart to change it. But if she doesn’t, we need to change it—pronto.

Do you have any suggestions? Please help!

Karina’s Last Hurrah

It’s Karina’s last night with us, and I’d be lying if I told you I’m not sad. Don’t get me wrong—I’m so pleased that she found such a wonderful home. But the selfish part of me wants to wrap my arms around this dog and not let her go.

She’s been such a constant and stable force in what has been a stressful few months. I had originally planned on not fostering during the semester—thinking that running from work to school and back home to take care of a dog would just be too much. It was just the opposite. We were able to work out our schedules to make sure we were home when we needed to be. (And my better human half picked up a lot of my slack.) No matter how crazy/stressful/tiring a day was, there was something comforting about knowing Karina would be at the front door, wagging her tail and flopping over for a belly rub. 

But it’s time to let go. Her upgrade is here, and she’ll give Karina so much love and attention for the rest of her life. That’s all that matters.

So we’ve spent the last week celebrating just that and enjoying our time together. We took her to the park for a Memorial Day picnic. She was so well behaved, sitting under our picnic table. We treated her to a celebratory Frosty Paws. (This seemed like a good idea at the time, but I'm not sure I would recommend them because they didn’t seem to sit well with her.)

We’ve let her run around the house like crazy with Jonathan’s soccer ball. We used to stop her when we thought she might puncture it. But this week our philosophy has been, “Go ahead, pooch, have a ball.”

And tonight, we’ll probably let her sleep on the bed, even if it means getting a horrible night’s sleep because that bed is not nearly big enough for the three of us. We’ll cuddle and tell her we love her and will miss her, but much better things are waiting for her. And, with those big brown eyes, she’ll remind us that other dogs are waiting for us.

ADOPTED: Karina for the Win!

In late February, a few days after we took Karina in, one of my colleagues popped into my cubicle and stated bluntly, "You need a win." (I think this was around the time that Charlie Sheen was walking around mumbling things about winning.) Nevertheless, she was totally right. I was buried in school work and work work, and I was still feeling badly about Jack and the switcheroo.

I thought that this win would come quickly—a week, a month at most. After all, Karina is a ready-made dog. Crate-trained, housebroken, basic commands. Just open the door, and let her in. Sure, she isn't great with cats or other dogs, but she is just a doll. She makes the case for walking into a shelter/adoption event and saying, "Give me a dog with a heart of gold. I don't care how much she weighs, what color her fur is, how old she is, or how many teeth she is missing. Give me the sweetest dog you have."

Well, 14 weeks later, we got our win. A very nice woman contacted us about Rina this week. She has a unique situation in that she can bring a dog to work with her. (How jealous am I?) As such, she needs a housebroken dog that is friendly with people, but can settle down when it's time to work.


Does she like car rides?, she asked. I have a bit of a drive to work every day.
Without a doubt, I answered. She stands by my car on our morning walks in hopes she can hop in.

Is Karina a good co-worker?, she asked. 

Unequivocally yes, I replied. I work from home on occasion and she's a better co-worker than some humans. 

She came to adoption day today with her boyfriend to meet Karina. She asked all of the right questions and more. She wasn't scared by Karina's medical history with heartworm; she understood it meant being vigilant about preventative for the rest of her life. She loved that Karina is a BBD (she had a 100 pound Rottweiler previously), and she loved Karina's one white toe. She loved everything we have come to love. And this is only the beginning of their love story.

After talking it over with her boyfriend, she came up to me and said, "She's the one." Her eyes filled with tears, and so did mine.

We'll do a home visit and drop Karina off at her forever home on Friday night. Our good-byes will be bittersweet (and I'm sure I'll cry.) Karina will always hold a special place in our hearts because she really could have been a dog we kept. But I'm glad we held out for her upgrade, as Jen at Inu Baka calls it. We simply couldn't imagine a better home for her.

Win for Karina's new family.
Win for us and the rescue.
Win for Karina.

I Am An Animal Rescuer

This video was posted on Facebook without the warning that you need a tissue box in close proximity. So here's fair warning: If you've ever rescued, fostered, or adopted an animal, go to invest some stock in Kleenex.