Johnnie Cash is borrowing almost this exact same post from Baxter’s search for a Valentine last year because it is just so perfect. Bax wrote this poem, and now Johnnie wants to know the same. . . will you be hers? See for yourself:
Couldn’t have said it better myself, J girl! Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone. Take this day as an excuse to tell EVERYONE you love in your life – parents, friends, significant others, pets – how much you appreciate them. I sure do love y’all!
. . . a fabulous love-tastic photo shoot of adoptable animals!
I had the pleasure of working with the extremely talented photographer Virgil Ocampo again last night (the same volunteer that took these amazing shots of adoptables a few weeks ago). We were taking pictures for an exciting upcoming Valentine’s Day event at the shelter, and we took the opportunity to go all out with cute pink and red props.
I absolutely love Valentine’s Day. I love the chance to celebrate love and to show the people I love in my life a little bit of extra appreciation for a day. That meant that I had a total blast with this shoot. I can’t wait to show you all the photos! Here’s a little behind the scenes action. . . stay tuned!
More about where these photos came from (B-More Dog’s Community Pit Bull Day to help get dogs vaccinated) later this week, but for now enjoy some happy pictures of people loving their dogs!
Hope everyone is staying safe in the hurricane!
Joanie has settled a LOT in the short week we’ve had her, and now it’s like she fits right in. It didn’t start off so easy – in fact it was kind of rocky, but we’ve both adjusted accordingly and have found a really great place. Joanie now just hangs out at home with my Dad all day while he works and she sleeps. When I get home from work we play and go for a nice long walk, then have a relaxing evening on the couch. She’s showing her true self: the perfect house dog!
We’ve crammed a lot of fun into this week. After learning that exercise was the key to success, Joanie and I enjoyed many long walks together – both in the early mornings and in the evenings. Yesterday morning we ventured out into the woods for the first time. Joanie, as you can imagine, loved all the sniffs – although she wasn’t too pleased about the extra obstacles.
When we go out at night I am always sure to deck her out in her safety vest, especially since she is a dark colored dog. Night time walks are always our most relaxing and enjoyable because there is no pressure to get home in time for work. . . again, lots of opportunities for sniff breaks!
Joanie totally won over my parents who are thrilled to have such a sweet dog in the house again. Bax and Otis were cordial and friendly, but it hasn’t really been since Zabora that we had a dog who ran to greet them at the door with an overly-wiggly butt. Joanie’s got an awesome tail wag, which she promptly turns around and sticks in your face for a good scratch. Looks pretty much like this:
Joanie never ceases to stop making us smile. Especially when she gets her bursts of energy and wants to play. She will barge into our liriope bushes and pounce around like she is deathing a bunch of jumping beans. Cutest. Thing. Ever. She also enjoys bouncing around the living room while playing with her favorite monkey toy. Today, the monkey finally met his demise. . .
Last but not least, Joanie continually surprises us with her uncanny ability to resemble a pig. Not only does she look like one, she sounds almost identical to one. Here is a video of some serious piggy snorting. Listen closely: pig or Joanie?
I know I keep gushing about this dog, but I just can’t help it. She’s so happy-go-lucky and up for anything. We get to enjoy the weekend together, then she is back to her long term foster. I don’t want to think about her leaving just yet, so you better believe we’ll find some serious trouble fun to get into this weekend!
If you’re interested in learning more about adopting Joanie, email me at peacelovefoster@gmail.com.
Today is FosterDad’s birthday! Unfortunately we can’t spend it together because I am here at AFF and he is out of the country for work, so I wanted to do a little celebration on the blog. Happy Birthday to the man who is supportive of my fostering endeavors, often stuck behind the camera, usually picking up after me and my dog, understanding of (and joins me on) my crazy dog schedule, and happy to help me in whatever way he can. I couldn’t do this without you – so happy to be on this journey with my best friend!
To continue the celebration of our One Year Blog-a-versary, here are lots (and I mean lots) of photos that I feel portray some of our most outstanding moments (or that I think are just really cute). They have all been featured on this blog, and, to the best of my ability, they tell the story of the last twelve months. Enjoy :)
August 2011
September 2011
October 2011
November 2011
December 2011
January 2012
February 2012
March 2012
April 2012
May 2012
June 2011
July 2012
August 2012
It sure makes ya miss the little stinkers, doesn’t it!? I love going back and remembering all the silly things about each dog – the things that get lost as time goes on and as new ones come into your life. I still can’t express in words what this blog means to me and what I’ve gotten out of the last year, which is why I am so grateful to have the journey documented in photos. I hope you enjoyed that recap as much as I did. Thank you all so much for your congratulations at this milestone – it means the world to me!
The exciting moment came. I woke up one morning and had the exciting realization: Otis is a totally different dog now than he was when I took him back four months ago. This is always a victory for foster families, often one that sneaks up on you out of the blue just like it did to me. It happened with Baxter as well, and it was just as gratifying.
My home is the first one for Otis where he can be completely comfortable. In his entire 1.5+ years of existence, he had always been living with something to be scared or anxious about. Because he is now able to be himself and do things he wants to do without worrying, he is opening up enormous amounts with every day that goes on.
It’s the type of thing you don’t notice because it’s happening right before your eyes. The thought hit me last week when I brought Otis into a meeting with me at work (yes, I can bring my dog to work and into meetings with me – I’m lucky!) and he spent the first ten minutes happily greeting everyone by going around the circle delivering sniffs and tail wags. He wasn’t staying right by my side, he wasn’t drooling uncontrollably, and he wasn’t miserable being surrounded by people other than me. He was happy.
I noticed it again later that week when he was in my house and spending an alarmingly large amount of time, get this… out of my sight! Instead of needing the security of me, “his person,” to be comfortable, he was out wandering the house, hanging out with my brother or checking in with my mom and dad. He was embracing his free space and expanding his limits. He was happy.
I notice things every day now that show how much Otis has grown. He wags his tail more when we’re out in public, he is more open to greeting strangers, he doesn’t cower at the site or sound of new things, he enjoys being home without me, he is relaxed, he is partaking in normal dog things like using his nose, he is extremely food motivated, he investigates more on walks, he will try new things like running up the slide at a playground… the list goes on. Even two months into his stay with me, much of that list was nowhere near do-able for Otis.
These small victories mean so much more than just a testament to his progress. They mean Otis is truly ready for a forever family of his own. He has made it clear that he will not always be the shy, withdrawn dog that he once was when I met him. He still has a ways to go, I think living with a stable family for years to come will bring out the best, happiest side of this pooch. Hopefully this is the end to his worries. “God bless the broken road,” right?
Like I said yesterday: what could be better than getting a former foster and current foster together for a play date!?
Coincidentally, Baxter and Otis have actually met before. When Baxter was in the shelter a year ago and Otis was with me for the first time, we used Otis to dog test Baxter. Crazy, right!? I obviously had no idea what impact either dog would end up having on my life a year down the road, but that was the first time I ever met Bax. Baxter didn’t feel very well for that meet and greet, so both dogs seemed like they couldn’t have cared less about each other – and you know what? Not much has changed!
I was thrilled when Baxter’s mom was happy to accept my offer to bring Otis with me to visit and hopefully have a play date with Bax (in her words, “I hoped you’d say that!” – could they get more awesome?). Baxter has been getting a little pushy with male dogs recently, so we had to be cautious when introducing the two. Otis is so “whatever” about dogs (mostly just very submissive) that Baxter had no problem with him. Baxter didn’t even mind when Otis showed some serious interest in Miss Piggy!
Here is one photo that pretty much sums up how Bax & Otis felt about each other:
Total apathy. Baxter had a “too cool for you” attitude, and Otis, well, doesn’t have very strong opinions about many things so he was fine with whatever. It actually worked out really well, and was a victory on all accounts: Baxter was accepting of another male on his turf and Otis followed Baxter’s rules to prevent conflict and everyone was able to have a healthy socialization session. Though I think Piggy and Baxter seemed to find Otis’ antics a little amusing:
They did have bouts of playing when Otis was able to convince Baxter that running around in the heat was a good idea. They played so well with each other! Even all three of them together stayed within safe and appropriate levels of play. I think the heat helped a lot with keeping everyone subdued, but still – I was proud of each one.
For the most part, they spent their time ignoring each other in the grass. Aren’t they so stinkin’ adorable together?! So many happy tongues!
I am just as thrilled about this combo as I was about being able to hang out with all the humans. Everyone got along so well and each dog was on their best behavior. If that’s not cause for victory celebrations, I don’t know what is! I can’t wait until we do it again.
For more information on adopting Honey Bunches of Otis, go to his Adopt Me page to learn more about him and how to get in touch.
Exactly one year, one month, two weeks and one day ago, Baxter was carried through the doors of the Montgomery County Humane Society.
He came in as a stray – emaciated and ragged, with scars all over his body. He was noted to be friendly but very, very scared. Baxter spent six weeks at MCHS, being looked after by staff & volunteers. His special angel Big Bruno, an MCHS volunteer, helped Baxter learn to walk out of his cage instead of crawl. Baxter was then rescued by Jasmine’s House, where two wonderful women took him into their heart and their home and helped put him back together physically and emotionally. Catalina of Jasmine’s House especially bonded with Baxter, as she has a history of helping the ones who need it most (see: The Lost Dogs by Jim Gorant).
After three months at Jasmine’s House, Baxter came to me. He was with me, learning about living in a home and being a family pet, for four wonderful months until he found the perfect forever home. Baxter was adopted into a family of three loving individuals: Diane & Lali, his new moms, and Miss Piggy, his new sister. I saw Bax off in that first week of March knowing he had an amazing future, but sad that I had to say goodbye. I knew I would see him again soon though.
I know most of you are familiar with this story, as you were here with me throughout it all (if you don’t know it, see the beginning of the story in this post and the ending in this post). But I needed to write it down again to appreciate the meeting that occurred last weekend between the amazing people I just described who were involved in Baxter’s rescue and rehabilitation: Big Bruno, Cat, Diane, and Lali (and myself, but I hardly fall into the category of the rest of the bunch). It was the first time we had all been together at once – it was the first time D & L had ever met Catalina! It was also the first time Cat, who so loved this dog and did enormous amounts in helping him recover, saw Baxter in his new home, happy with his new family. I managed to capture their reunion, and the photos are, of course, worth a thousand words.
It was an amazing evening. Baxter has now been with his new family for nearly five months! I know, I can’t believe it either. Listening to their stories of how he has opened up to them over the months, how he becomes a happier dog every day – it was just incredible. This is how I can foster, giving them up time and time again: because you hear how well they shine under the love of their new families. It’s really something.
We all sat back and reveled in the magic that is this little guy’s story. Each of the steps to his new life were there, together, enjoying the victory. For those of us who do this day in and day out, whether through a rescue or the shelter or whatever – we need to see these kinds of endings. The happy endings. They remind us WHY we rescue and why we put so much of our heart and soul into it. The fact that we have watched Baxter’s entire story unfold with such a positive outcome gives us enormous inspiration to go out and help all the other dogs like him.
I am so honored to know these people, as well as grateful to have spent some time with everyone together. Here’s to hoping it won’t be so long until we all meet again!
Make sure you tune in tomorrow to see how Baxter and Otis got along! Yes, you read the right… nothing better than getting an old foster and new foster together for a play date.
Well I am just SO BUSY playing doctor this week! FosterUncle has been taking up my couch working on getting better since the surr-gin dug into his foot last week, and I have been on 24/7 care duty with him.
Now FosterMama is ickies too! She immediately came home from work yesterday and went into her room and slept all evening, saying she had a mygrain (well if it’s my grain, why do you have it??). I knew just what to do since I’d been practicing with FosterUncle – I curled up next to Mama’s bed and kept her company all evening. You would have never known that I had been sleeping all day while she was at work the way that I snoozed away the evening with her, being sure to not interrupt her precious nap time. I am such a good dog Doctor like that.
FosterMama feels bad she wasn’t able to take any new pictures of me doing cool things, so she wanted me to stick a bunch of old, random, unedited ones on here. She says she is sorry and that she’ll be back with fun photos tomorrow hopefully! I told her it was okay and that our blog friends would understand – and then I gave her face a bath with my tongue… that’s what sick people need, right??
Anyway, here are pictures of me being me. Below is also photo documentation of me being a wonderful snuggler-pillow-watchdog for Mama while she tries to feel better.
Now will someone please adopt me so I can stop sleeping with these ick people all day and start running around outside like I would prefer!
For more information on adopting Honey Bunches of Otis, go to his Adopt Me page to learn more about him and how to get in touch.
