Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Sugar and Spice Girls




I was without foster dogs for a couple weeks. Now I have more than enough. The local dog control officer picked up a couple Border Collie pups out for a walk one Sunday, just imagine. So as soon as their "stray" days were up they came home to the farm. After a bath they were more than ready to settle in for the night. I must admit I've been a very very bad foster mom this time around. I've been letting them sleep with me. They aren't that big and there are only two.....

Needless to say time at the computer is low on the to do list. The pups are 8 and 9 weeks old now so will post them on my petfinder.com page in a few days. I feel 10 weeks is a good age to place a young pup. They've had time to learn some house training and recall skills. They learn bite inhibition from their litter mate/s as well as how to act around the older dogs here. I always impress firmly the need for a puppy class asap. Most adopters think it is for them, but it is truly to continue the education of the pup in relating with its own species beyond the dogs it may or may not be living with. We love them so much we often try to turn them into little humans. A quality puppy class keeps an adopter grounded in the fact the pup is a canine animal with a whole set of canine communication skills to learn.

The pups have been coming to work with me, meeting lots of other dogs, playing with cats, and getting love from many different humans too. They are such nice pups it will be difficult to part with them for sure.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

The pains of fostering


As if you couldn't tell I fell fast and furious for Miss Hollie Berry. Monday morning after Christmas dog control called to say her owners had contacted them. That meant I had to return this lovely little girl. The worst part is I really fear for the quality of care her owners gave her or the lack of I should say. The day she came home with me she was treated for fleas, I removed numerous ticks, and gave her wormer for obvious reasons. She had many bites around her neck, a couple were deep puncture wounds. Hollie was also underweight. I guess all of that caused me to love her more. But none of it was enough to keep her from going back to her owners. When I see dogs in her condition, especially puppies, it causes such heartache. I wish the best for her. I was able to leave my card with the owners in case they ever want to part with her.