Grizz's turn.

Right after Gracie pulls away I get a call from a girl who would like to come look at Grizz for her boyfriend. She doesn't seem to have very good listening skills. I tell her that I've had a couple of other calls for him too and that I'll be home after I get off at 5 if she'd like to come see him. She calls me at 3:15 to tell me she's on the way and will be at my house soon. I reply that while that's cool I won't be there until after 5! She finally understands and sets up to come ......after 5.

I'm never quite comfortable with potential adoptions like this. Young people who are living together are notoriously unstable homes for dogs. When the break up happens, what happens to the dog? She shows up 30 minutes late (not a good sign) in a surprisingly big, fancy, expensive car. It's obvious she's not that into Grizz but she keeps telling me how much her boyfriend wants him. I'm liking this less and less. She leaves saying that her boyfriend should be home when she gets there and she'll bring him by. I've got my fingers crossed something else happens first, I've never had to turn down an adopter yet but I don't have confidence in this one.

Within 15 minutes after girlfriend leaves I get a call from the J's in Rifle. They are looking for a rottie mix to keep they're 2 yr old rottie mix company after they've lost their older dog. I tell them I've had a couple of calls about Grizz and someone just left after looking at him. Mrs J is in a panic! They can't come until Wednesday and she doesn't want him to be gone, what can she do? I explain that she can pay the adoption fee thru PayPal. This will hold him and if she decides he's not for them I'll refund the money. She pays the fee within 5 minutes of hanging up.

Wednesday arrives and so do the J's. Again I'm spending my lunch hour adopting out dogs. I'm a little surprised when I meet the J's because they are older than I expected to be adopting a dog that's going to weigh 100lbs when he's done growing. They love him and bring out Sadie to meet him, she's not so sure but they're sure she'll warm up to him. Grizz seems happy to have someone to chew on. The paperwork is filled out and Grizz is on his way to Rifle. I'll miss those little (ok not so little) babies, but at last I can shampoo my carpet and have it stay clean!

Gracie gets twins!

I'm surprised the puppies have been here for over a week. I really expected them to be gone in a flash based on how cute they are. Monday I get a call from a lady who would like to look at my babies. She arranges to come by during my lunch hour and shows up with her 4 year old twin boys. One twin climbs right out ready to meet and greet, the other brother stays in the car and tries to hide when I talk to him.

I've brought both kiddos out in the yard to be looked over. Grizz immediately tries to tackle the little boy, while Gracie sits quietly and watches all the hub bub. After a few minutes I take Grizz inside and let them get up close and personal with Gracie. It's love, and Gracie has won herself some boys to grow up with. I think she will be great with them. My last Newfoundland grew up with Madison and it was a very special relationship.

Grizz is sitting in the house barking when I come back in. this is the first time he's been away from his sis and he's not liking it. As the day wears on Shayla seems to take him under her wing. She plays with him and lets him chew on her more than she ever has. I think she would be wonderful with a little boy or girl of her own.

Grizz and Gracie

I drop the other volunteers a note to let them know Piper is adopted, and I mention how hard this one was. Carol, who's the official "puppy woman" for the DCHS calls and offers me a couple of puppies she's taken in that day. After work I head up to her house to pick up the new kids.

What a pair of cuties! They're lab/rottie crosses. These two have been passed around from one place to another until someone's mother finally brings them to us. At 14 weeks they don't even have names! After the ride home I decide to name the boy Grizz. He has more of a rottie head and the rottie eyebrows. I'd like to give the girl a bear name too but the only thing I can come up with is Charmin and that seems like a crappy name for a sweet puppy, so Gracie she becomes.

It's been awhile since I've had a puppy in the house. I'm loving everything about it, the clumsy galumphing around the house, the puppy breath, the all out playing followed by the all out napping. Ok, there's one thing I'm not enjoying, I swear these puppies poop more than any other puppy I've ever met. The house training is going slowly, Grizz and Gracie are together all the time, by the time you smell the problem they're both sitting there smiling at you. Who do you scold? I'm sure they've worked out this plan ahead of time!

Grizz may look more like a lab but he sure acts like a lab! His favorite position to take a nap in is with his chin on the edge of the water bowl. Every now and then he'll wake up, take a paw and KERSPLOOSH splash water all over. He's almost always wet from sitting in the kiddie pool. I wish I could of gotten a picture of he and Gracie sitting there side by side. My oldest daughter Sierra works as a life guard at the rec center. One evening after she comes home from work I ask her to keep an eye on the puppies for a bit. They seem to catch a second wind at about 9pm, unfortunately I don't! After a few minutes Sierra comes into my room. "Look" she says, "It's bad enough I have to save drowning people at work, but then I have to come home and save a drowning dog?" It seems Grizz has tried to get a drink out of the toilet and over balanced. He's fallen in head first and can't get himself back out. Sierra yanks him out. thank goodness she was there, it would have broken my heart to find a drowned puppy in the toilet. Sounds funny tho doesn't it?

Piper leaves me

I knew there would be dogs that touched me more than most. Piper has become one of those fosters. She sleeps on my bed every night and is a perfect lady about it. No bed hogging, no snoring and no kicking. Pi has even decided it's worth not chasing the cat and sharing the bed with Kitty if it means she gets to stay there too. During the day it's game on if Kitty wanders thru the room but as bedtime approaches an overnight truce is declared.

Piper is the Humane Society's featured pet in one of the local newspapers. With 24 hours I've gotten 6 calls about her, one from as far away as Colorado Springs! One couple in particular are anxious to meet her and come to the house on Thursday after seeing her in the paper on Wednesday. As per my usual practice I take Pi out in the yard by herself to meet and greet, it's just so much calmer that way. When the D's pull up the first words out of Mrs D's mouth is...."Oh this is a good dog!" She hasn't even talked to her yet. I tend to agree but wonder just how she can tell so fast. Within 15 minutes Piper is officially theirs, she calmly climbs in the back seat and prepares to leave. I'll admit it, I'm a little teary. I give her a last kiss on the nose and wave goodbye.

I'm feeling pretty blue after Piper leaves. I call Madison, who's still at her Dad's and tell her Piper is gone and I'm sad. She repeats to me, almost verbatim my lecture on why we do this. On this she listens?

Dead Time

The veteran volunteers kept telling me this was coming. It's been a couple of weeks and I haven't had one serious inquiry about the dogs. I guess I'd gotten spoiled by how easily and quickly the first several fosters were adopted. I did have one e mail about Shayla, I didn't recognize the town they said they were in. They're in Michigan! I write back and tell them all of Shayla's fine attributes, I finish the letter with, "You do realize I'm in Colorado?". It's the last I hear from them.

Much as I enjoy Shayla, Lola does not. This is the first foster that Lola has had a problem with. When I walk in the door at the end of the day both dogs want to be the first to greet me and the closest to me. The end result is always a fight that sounds so much worse than it really is. I've tried several different mediation techniques but so far I haven't figured out how to get both of them to stop this. In the beginning Shayla was the instigator but I can see that Lola has become the bully now. I keep threatening to put her up on Petfinder but I know she doesn't believe me. I've told you how smart she is haven't I?

I continue to be amazed that someone let Piper go.Whenever I come home I yell out "Hi Pi!!!" and she gives me a toothy smile. How could someone give that up? When I take her to the vet to have her checkup he tells me she's even younger than I thought, maybe 1 1/2. She's also been spayed in the not too distant past. Why spend the money to do that and then just dump her and not look for her? Piper loves to sleep on the bed with me. She'll paw at the covers until I stick one of my hands out, then she licks it a few times and rests her chin in my palm. Content, Piper drifts off to sleep.

Tonight is the 4th of July fireworks show. With all the kids out of town and 3 foster dogs in the house I'll be staying home. I'm hoping that none of them will have a problem with the noise. My small dog Duffy is terrified and I'll be giving him some herbal calming drops that really seem to work for him. Gee I hope that after the holiday people start thinking about adopting again!