Preparing for change

Right now I'm in a hotel room in Houston with absolutely no idea where I'll be in 3 months. When I started this blog it was to help promote the homeless pets in our care and outside of our fostering, I really didn't get into too much of my personal life. Seeing as I've been a terrible blogger these last few months, I might as well offer some sort of explanation. If in case you didn't know, we're a Navy family. That is until November of this year. Jeff will process out of the military after 10 years of service. I was in for 6 years myself, and...

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What's one more?

A few weeks back our neighbor informed us that she had some long work days ahead. Would we be willing to let her (recently rescued pekingese :-) dog, Brucey Bear out during the day? Of course, not a problem. He gets along great with Relay. Then came the call from NACC. Could we possibly take in a mother and her 5 kittens? Of course, not a problem....

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Introducing... Kyle!

After another trip to the vet to help Collie and Sheltie Rescue for the last sheltie from the hoarding situation and a collie that was an owner surrender (that trip totaling $630), I was cleared to take Kyle home. To hear his back story, check this post out. Isn't that face heartbreaking?  Well, my days have been filled with s-l-o-w progress....

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Sheltie rescues respond to hoarding in NOVA

What would we do without great rescues? The Humane Society of Orange County reached out to local Shetland Sheepdog rescues to help with a hoarding case. The owner lost her home and 15 shelties were turned in. Without hesitation Northern Virginia, Northern Chesapeake, and Collie and Sheltie Rescue of Southeast Virginia were there to step in. These...

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Nobody called

Well, this is the excuse I allowed myself. I'd planned on writing my next post the when I got another call to be a foster. So I waited and put off blogging. And kept putting it off. Honestly, I have no excuse. But here to distract you from my bad writing habits is the latest group to take over our spare bathroom. This is my first crack at fostering...

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Think your kids are ready for a dog? Why not borrow one first?

My friend Sara and her husband think it might be time to get a dog. Both have owned dogs in the past, but that was before kids. Choosing to adopt is a family affair and everyone in the household needs to be involved and on the same page. Too many families rush into the decision, and I've wondered: Why not take dog ownership on for a test drive, first? Fostering...

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Double the pleasure, double the fun

Ahhhhhhh. Things have been going crazy. Smokey got adopted, Jeff got sent the middle east. Relay had another bought of limping and an ear infection. But oh my goodness... puppies. Yes, puppies. 2. Shortly after we got Nutella, the pound called us up with a second displaced little girl. Introducing... Cookie! It is a nut house. But I'll skip all that...

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Consider me thankful

As you can well imagine I have my hands full with the baby Nutella, and getting Smokey ready for adoption (yay!). But when Julia asked us to watch her boy, Dante so she could run errands, we were happy to help. Errands took about an hour... and that is 60 minutes longer than Dante can stay alone. We are talking code red separation anxiety....

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7 Things to know about Smokey

1. Smokey is a sock monster. I can walk around the house and find kidnapped socks stashed around the dining room table, by the toy bin, and next to his crate. 2. He hip checks Relay to indicated he's ready to play. 3. If I'm holding the puppy, he can spring straight up in the air a good three feet to get a sniff. 4. Grooming time is...

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Introducing... Nutella!

A 3 week old chocolate lab came into my life all of about 10 minutes ago and I really couldn't wait any longer to share the news. I am just gushing!   First off I want to point out how completely rediculous Jeff and I are for naming her Nutella. In total honesty that was the first name we both thought of when we learned that the pound needed...

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Testing for food aggression

As a foster, I need to be prepared to answer questions about dogs in my care. One question not always thought of is "What can trigger an aggressive response?" Many of the dogs come with incomplete histories, so I often run the pups through a gantlet of scenarios to see how they react. Right now I want to talk about food aggression. Even the best of dogs can have some food issues, so I don't typically consider it a deal breaker. However, it is vitally important that we can paint an honest picture of dogs available for adoption to make sure the...

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Introducing... Smokey!

Our latest from Collie and Sheltie Rescue comes to us with a very similar backstory as Harley. An owner surrender, this time at Virginia Beach SPCA, Smokey could not cope with the shelter environment. A very sensitive breed, poor thing cowered in the corner and wouldn't let anyone come near. Thankfully they contacted...

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This is a foster blog, right?

Where are the fosters? When Relay was injured, we had to give up our two foster dogs, Max and Trixie. Because I wasn't being as strict about the bed rest as I needed to be, Relay took a long time to see improvement. To keep him company we had a kitten foster, Boots (really, because we can't help ourselves). But I have some happy news. All three...

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The Best of #BtC4A 1/15

Blog the Change for Animals is a time for pet bloggers to shine and put the spotlight on causes they are passionate about. Life got in the way a bit this time and I could only manage a link to an earlier post. Instead, I decided to show my support in a different way. I made sure to stop by all the submissions this today. Here are my favorite...

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2013 Pet Blogger Challenge

I just love the pet blogging community for setting up little gems like these. And just after my own first blogaversary! Even though I'm on the road (Jacksonville, FL is treating me very nicely I must say) I'll take a minute or two to answer some questions and will enjoy the rest of the week jumping around other entries and make some more friends....

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Not a bad first year

My first blogiversary. The entire things seems a bit surreal. And of course my family thinks that I'm silly. I think they expected this to be a fad that I would go through. [Well, to be fair, I may need to be a bit more diligent about my posts, there are some major revamps that I need to get through (so please be patient during the upcoming 'construcion').] But almost 20,000 views and 100+ posts, I find myself scrolling over to the Happy Tails tab and seeing the actual difference I have made in such a short time. Pets who were scared, untrained,...

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