Amanda's Den

Moved to Vox

2006-08-01T22:08:00.001-04:00

I have moved to Vox. Check out what I have to write in my new den.

Since the closing of Vox I've moved again - to WordPress!!

Just When You Think Things are Figured Out They're Not

2006-07-20T12:13:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I posted that we'd be taking back the puppy we recently fostered. This morning I called the person who would be returning the puppy to remind her to bring the health certificate she received when she took him in. She mentioned that she was going to call me. She decided to keep him. She said that she found someone to watch the puppy while she was away and if she had to hire a dog walker she'd do that as well. She wants to see if she can make things work.

So now we're back to the original plan of taking in Shelly, Sue/Stu's mom this evening.

The Boy Named Sue becomes the Boy Named Stu

2006-07-19T14:32:00.001-04:00

I received a call this afternoon from the person who adopted Sue. She decided that she doesn't have the time to take care of a puppy and wants to do what's best for the dog so that he has a better life.

Sue is also known as Stu now so that people don't think he's a girl. Apparently Vicky was getting phone calls from people thinking that he was a girl even though his Petfinder profile states that he's a male.

We'll be picking up Stu tomorrow evening. Originally we were going to take in Shelly the beagle, Stu's mom but with the return of the puppy we'll be taking him instead.

This is the first dog we've fostered who has been adopted and then returned. Well, Sally was returned but that was after eight months or so. An older couple adopted her and found out that they were allergic. They tried for months to make it work since they really loved Sally but in the end they had to return her. So I don't count that as a "real" return. ;)

I knew that eventually one of "our" dogs would be returned. I'm happy that it took until dog 26 and 15 months for it to happen for the first time.

The Boy Named Sue Found a Home

2006-07-16T15:23:00.000-04:00

This morning I worked on an application for Sue. He was adopted this afternoon! His new owner is a med student at University of Michigan. She comes "home" to Grand Rapids every weekend. Her parents adopted a dog from Vicky a couple of years ago. So it's cool to get some repeat business so to speak.

Before we went to the adoption meeting we took pictures of us with Sue and tired him out. The first part of the ride he cried in the carrier but he eventually settled down and went to sleep.

Meet Sue!

2006-07-15T18:06:00.000-04:00

Although we were planning on waiting until sometime next week to foster again, we picked up Sue this morning. He (he's named Sue after the Johnny Cash song) is the last of his litter to be adopted and rather than be left all alone we took him in. Since he's a puppy it shouldn't take too long for him to get adopted.

We picked him up at the farm where he had been staying. We've been told that he's a stinker. I guess one of the girls in the litter was alpha but when she was adopted Sue decided that he should fill that role. People would come to look at him and end up taking another puppy in the litter because he was being mean to his brothers and sisters.

We knew that he'd get the idea that he's not alpha dog with Beacon around. And so far Beacon has been putting the smack down whenever he feels Sue is misbehaving. Sue immediately submits and tries to lick Beacon's chin, which is a sign of submission.

So far he's been pretty good for a puppy. He's 9 weeks old. His mom is a beagle and who knows what his dad is. The entire litter was a mix of colors.

As soon as we brought Sue home we went into the backyard with all of the dogs. He ran around and tried to avoid getting wet by the hose. Andrew got him a couple of times. We'll have to see how he really likes water in the kiddie pool sometime soon.

We'll see how much sleep we get tonight!

Flipper is Adopted

2006-07-14T07:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I started working on an application for Flipper that I received online. A couple in their 30s with a six month old son were interested in adopting Flipper.

I spoke with the wife and really liked her. I called a couple of references, one of which I also really liked. I asked the wife if she thought her son would be okay with Flipper as he (the son) got more mobile. She said that she plans on teaching her son early the right and wrong ways to interact with a dog.

Flipper has a pretty laidback personality so I think he'd be good around kids of all ages. He'd probably like the extra attention.

Originally we were going to plan an adoption meeting for Sunday afternoon. Andrew and I were going to be busy yesterday evening. The family was going to be busy today and tomorrow. But when I called to let the family know that they were approved I spoke with the husband. He's from England and for some reason at times over the phone I couldn't understand him! He asked if he could come and pick up Flipper and surprise his wife, who was out at the time.

So Flipper ended up going home earlier than expected. I liked this family so hopefully Flipper will like them too. The husband took the leash and collar that Flipper had on saying that he'd return it later in the day. Typically we adopt dogs without collars and leashes so that items can be reused for other dogs. I took Vicky's tag off the collar in case for some reason the items didn't come back. But when Andrew and I returned home from eating dinner and getting him some new running shoes the leash and collar were on hanging off the handle of the front door. Flipper wasn't attached so I took that as a good sign. ;)

The husband said that he'd have his wife call yesterday after they got home and surprised her. She never did call. Maybe she will today or tomorrow. If not I'll go with the no news is good news thought.

Since we didn't have Flipper for very long we'll probably take in another foster dog, if we're needed, sometime next week.

Flipper Tales

2006-07-12T14:31:00.000-04:00

Flipper continues to adjust to the routine here. Beacon and Haven continue to keep to themselves. They will all sleep in the same room, fairly close to each other but that's about it. Flipper still would rather hang out with humans than other dogs. I wonder if he hasn't gotten much human interaction and attention. He was brought into the Shelter the end of May. Vicky took him in the end of June and since then he basically has been recovering from surgery.

Yesterday Andrew took Beacon and Haven for a run in the rain. I stayed home with Flipper. We played fetch in the backyard. He does really well chasing after a ball and bringing it back.

Earlier in the day his surgery spot hit the grass as he was fetching and he yelped. It must be a little sore still. And maybe that's why he's not into playing with Beacon and Haven. Maybe he knows that he's still a little sore and he's smaller than the other dogs in the house.

For some reason today Flipper has developed a "fear" of coming down the hallway from the computer room to the rest of the house. He didn't have issues yesterday. He acts like he's nervous about something, similar to Haven not wanting to pass by grates. He'll look and get low and then sprint down the hallway and he's fine. But he doesn't have any problems going down the hall back to the computer room!

Meet Flipper

2006-07-11T07:21:00.000-04:00

Yesterday after Andrew got home from work we went to take some pictures of kittens to put on Petfinder. We also picked up Flipper, our newest foster dog.

Vicky has had Flipper for almost three weeks. She got him from the Shelter. He was born with a deformed leg. As he walked it would scrape along the ground and get cut up. In order for it not to get infected Vicky decided to have it amputated.

A little over two weeks ago his front leg was removed. He has been doing well ever since. He's now off medication and the staples were removed last Friday.

Although he only has three legs he still gets around. He runs, plays, and doesn't seem to mind or know that he's missing a leg. He's not as fast as other dogs and he gets tired faster but that's it.

Flipper is about a year and a half old. We wonder if he's got some hound in him. His ears are rounded rather than pointed at the ends like our dogs. His bark also sounds a little like a hound. He's also got shorter legs, which could come from having some hound in him.

He slept well in the crate last night. Hopefully today he'll start to get on a schedule with us. There was one family interested in him last week but that fell through. Hopefully it won't take too long to have someone else want to take a look at him.

Changing of the Dog Food

2006-07-07T10:34:00.000-04:00

We brought Beacon and Haven home in July 2003. Since then it seems like we've been on a neverending quest for the *perfect* dog food. Our dogs have tried out 10 different kinds of dog food (11 if you include the small bag of food we got to test and evaluate before it's on the market) throughout the course of their lives. It hasn't been easy finding something we like in regards to ingredients that also suits the dogs' needs (ie frequency and consistency of stools, changes in their coats, how they digest it, etc.).

When looking at dog foods the main things we take into account are ingredients, serving size, and price. After that it's a matter of trying a bag and seeing how the dogs react. We're willing to pay a little more for good food for the dogs, but it took us some time to figure out which food should be considered "good".

We knew from the start that looking at the ingredients in dog food was important. You want to avoid grains because they're not as easily digestible. The first three ingredients are important because that's what most of the food contains. So if a (non-ground) grain is one of the first three things listed as ingredients you may want to look into other options, especially if a grain is the first ingredient. You also want to avoid by-products. This means that "chicken by-product meal" is ground up chicken feet, organs, and other parts that don't contain the nutrition needed.

Most dog foods that we've looked at indicate a 2-4 cups per day feeding schedule. With this feeding schedule per day per dog, a 40 pound bag of food lasts about a month. When figuring out cost of a food we take into consideration how much we'll have to feed the dogs each day. Although one brand might cost more money, if the amount to feed each day is closer to 2.5 or 3 cups the overall cost isn't really as bad as the price sticker indicates.

Our dogs started off on Purina Puppy Chow Large Breed Formula. They were eating this before we brought them home so we continued to feed them this food for a short time. It's considered a "grocery store brand" food because it can be found at most grocery stores and is pretty cheap. We were probably paying around $15 - $20 for a 40 pound bag. The daily feeding suggested by Purina for our dogs' weight and age when we brought them home was up to 2.25 cups. But it went to 5.25 to 5.5 cups daily by the time they're 10-11 months old! The first three ingredients in this food are ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, and corn gluten meal.

A few months after we had Beacon and Haven we decided to look at other brands and ended up choosing Iams Puppy Large Breed, which cost around $25 for a 40 pound bag. They were on this for a few months before we decided to look again at food. While on Iams puppy their fur wasn't the softest but it didn't have a sticky feeling you can sometimes see when dogs are fed cheaper brands of food. The serving size for this food is 4 cups daily for puppies 8-12 months old. The first three ingredients in this food are chicken, chicken by-product meal, corn meal so we went in the right direction but would later find out that we could do a lot better.

It seems like every 3-6 months we start thinking about dog food again and wonder if there's anything better we can give the dogs. This time around we choose Diamond Large Breed Puppy (which isn't shown on their webpage so this link goes to their main site). We thought this was a "quality" food for a reasonable price (~$20 for a 40 pound bag). The dogs had nice, shiny coats which were soft while eating this food. Their stools were firm as well. The feeding guidelines for their weight and age at the time is 3.75 - 4 2/3 cups daily. The first three ingredients in this food are lamb, lamb meal, and whole grain brown rice, which I got from an old Word document we saved while researching dog food.

As the dogs approached their first birthday we started looking at adult food. Because they were doing well on Diamond we switched them to Diamond Large Breed Adult, which also isn't on Diamond's main page. I can only assume that the feeding guidelines and ingredients are similar to the Large Breed Puppy formula.

About a year and a half ago Diamond had a recall on some of their dog food. I'm wondering if since then they've been trying to reorganize the company and therefore aren't offering large breed products for puppies and adult dogs. I'll have to look next time we're out to see if it's in stores but not on their webpage for some reason. I did notice that they're offering a "naturals" line now, which is a higher quality food. In looking at the ingredients (they do offer large breed for puppies and adults) they are a little better but not as good as other foods we've found.

To date our dogs were on Diamond products for the longest amount of time. They were off Diamond food though for around six months when the recall came out. And even if they were eating Diamond food the recalled didn't reach the state of Michigan. Although the dogs were doing well on Diamond we again got the itch to see if there was anything better out there.

Canidae was our next food to try. This food costs ~$30 for a 40 pound bag. We ended up only buying one bag of this food. Although I had read good things about it and liked the ingredients it wasn't a good fit for our dogs. Their fur wasn't as nice and their stools were softer. After we finished the bag of food that we purchased we switched foods again! The daily serving for Canidae is 2-3 cups. The first three ingredients are chicken meal, turkey meal, brown rice.

After the Canidae didn't work out we decided to go back to Iams, but this time we bought Iams Large Breed Adult. Our dogs had done well on Iams puppy. The dogs were only on this food for a couple of months before we decided to switch again. Their stools were a bit softer and more frequent. Their fur was also not as soft as it was while they were on Diamond products. The feeding guideline for Iams Large Breed Adult is about 2.5 cups daily. The first three ingredients are chicken, corn meal, and ground whole grain sorghum. This is actually a slight step back from Diamond products since the second ingredient is corn meal.

Our next switch was back to Diamond (the recall at this point still hadn't happened). We tried their Lamb and Rice formula, which again isn't listed on their webpage. We had read that lamb was good for dogs with sensitive stomachs. Beacon will sometimes throw up mucus before eating if he's hungry. He also seems to be the one we judge whether or not a food is "right" by his stools. We ended up only purchasing one bag of the Diamond Lamb and Rice because this too wasn't a good fit for our dogs.

A friend of mine used to work for the dog food section of Proctor and Gamble (they make Iams). She sent me a coupon for a free bag of Eukanuba Large Breed, which is this company's higher end food. A 40 pound bag usually runs around $37 but we've been able to get it on sale for $30 - $33 most of the time. Aside from Diamond our dogs were on Eukanuba the longest amount of time. They had soft, shiny coats and firm stools while eating this food. The daily serving size is 2.75 cups. The first three ingredients are chicken, corn meal, ground whole grain sorghum. Although the second ingredient is corn meal they didn't have any problems with this food. They were on this food for around six months.

About a month ago the dog food bug hit again. I started researching foods again. We picked up a bag of Nutro Natural Choice Adult Lamb Meal and Rice. This food didn't last long. We typically mix old food with new for a few days before giving the dogs 100% new food. Once Beacon got to being on 100% of this food he started throwing up. The first day I just thought he had his usually tummy issues. But after the second and third day straight I wondered if it was the food. We switched him back to the Eukanuba that we still had (cold turkey) and he stopped throwing up. So for a short time Beacon ate Eukanuba and Haven had the Nutro so it wouldn't go to waste. She didn't have any issues with it other than more frequent and softer stools. Although lamb is said to be better for sensitive digestive tracts Beacon hasn't done well with either lamb products we've used. The daily serving size for this food is 3 2/3 - 4.5 cups daily. The first three ingredients are lamb meal, ground rice, and rice flour.

With our wanting to try something other than Eukanuba and the Nutro not working out I had to do more research. I really like the ingredients in Wellness and especially Innova. But both cost $40+ for a 33 pound bag. Even with the smaller daily feeding recommendation we haven't felt that spending more than $40 for less than 40 pounds of food is worth it.

I also researched Eagle Pack Large Breed and we found a 40 pound bag on sale for $30 so we tried it out. I'm not sure what the not-on-sale price is but so far this food is good all around. The dogs haven't had any problems with it at all. The daily serving size is 2-3 cups. The first three ingredients are chicken meal, ground brown rice, and oatmeal. For now we will be sticking with this food. I'm sure at some point I'll look again to make sure there's not something better out there. But I also think that I've researched most of the brands out there so there's not much more to choose from!

Early on in our research for dog food we realized that it's best to do your own research. Many vets tout Science Diet. This food is considered "high quality" and costs the same as premium foods. But the daily serving size for large breed adults the size of Beacon and Haven is 3-5 cups. And the first three ingredients are ground whole grain corn, chicken by-product meal, soybean meal, certainly not what I'd consider "high quality".

As with many things (both for dogs and people) what works for one dog may or may not work for another. We've found that just with our two dogs. So ultimately it's important to do research with a minimum of looking at ingredients and daily serving size. From there it's a matter of what you want to afford because we've found that for the most part you do get what you pay for when it comes to dog food. The rest is up to the dog. He or she really gets final say because they're the ones eating and reacting to the food.

Bella's Adopted

2006-07-03T20:16:00.000-04:00

We met with a family this evening who adopted Bella. They were orginally interested in a puppy but Vicky convinced them that they should look at Bella. They totally loved her.

The family has two kids (8 and 6), both were really excited and eager to take Bella home and teach her new things. I think Bella will enjoy having kids to play with her.

The family bought her a purple leash and collar, both had fake diamond studs. Hopefully she learned how to be a princess from Haven while she was here. Although Bella won't have other dogs to play with in her new home it seems like she'll get a lot of attention from the kids as well as the parents. And she might even like being an only dog getting all of the attention in the long run.

Originally we were going to meet the family and fill out paperwork today but I received a call a couple hours before our meeting time and they said that they wanted to take Bella home tonight. They thought they'd be gone all day tomorrow and were going to pick her up at our house Wednesday morning. But they're not going to be gone as long so they wanted to have Bella as soon as possible.

Bella will also be renamed Zoe! There's a dog named Belle already in the family so they wanted something different. I think the new name fits. Hopefully she'll pick up on it soon. The family is also taking Bella/Zoe to obedience training, which I think will she'll do really well with.

We'll take a week or so off and then I'm sure Vicky will have another dog for us to foster.

More Play Time

2006-06-29T09:40:00.000-04:00

This morning Beacon decided to instigate play time. He got everyone riled up. Bella still likes to do her dive across the ground moves. She also likes to go under the dogs as she's playing, especially Haven (as seen here). Haven doesn't like this move of Bella's. Sometimes Haven will just lie down on top of Bella when she does this.

I also took a video. Bella likes to run around from the family room to the livinging room and then into the dining room before coming through the kitchen back to where she started. Sometimes one of our dogs will chase her. Other times they'll just wait for her to return before trying to put on any moves.

Beacon continues to be a loud player. His thing is barking. He'll put on some moves and bark in the background as Haven actually puts the smack down. Haven makes noise but for the most part she's more concerned with finding a way to pin Bella (or any foster dog) to the ground.

Local Animal Rescue Volunteering

2006-06-28T08:18:00.000-04:00

Andrew and I have been volunteering with Vicky's Pet Connection for a little over a year. In April 2005 we fostered our first dog for Vicky. Since then we've had 22 different foster dogs through VPC.

Over the course of our volunteering we've picked up various administrative tasks as well. Now we do a little bit of everything. I created a database for their mailing list. I print off labels and put them on newsletters whenever they go out. We've volunteered at adoption events numerous times and have done one-on-one adoptions for many of the dogs we've fostered. I've even helped out with approving dog applications. We also worked on redoing the adoption application.

In recent months we've been taking pictures of cats and dogs. I then put photos and a brief description on Petfinder. The more up to date Petfinder listings are the more likely animals are to get adopted. It's interesting seeing how easy or difficult is it to photograph a cat or a dog. Dogs that we've fostered are a lot easier to photograph because we're with them all of the time.

For the past two weeks I've also been keeping track of online things for Vicky and Nancy (Vicky is the primary dog person and Nancy takes care of the cats). Any online application submissions come to me. I've also been fielding questions received via email. We set up an old fax machine so that I can send applications to Vicky and Nancy. They don't have internet access at home so they rely on volunteers to keep that stuff running. The person who usually takes care of the online stuff is pretty busy this summer so I volunteered to help out.

It has been fun and interesting seeing various sides of running a rescue. There's definitely a lot of work involved and you have to be organized to keep everything running smoothly. Andrew and I have had some ideas to make things even more organized. Some of our ideas have even been put into action. We know that our volunteer work is appreciated by Vicky and Nancy. They're always commenting on how they don't know how they functioned without us. We certainly enjoy volunteering and helping out in any way that we can.

The Cost of Adopting and Owning a Dog

2006-06-27T21:07:00.000-04:00

I received a call from the family we were going to show Bella to on Thursday. The wife said that her husband was laid off today and they didn't want to adopt a dog, which I can understand. Hopefully once they get things back on track and figure out their finances they'll consider looking again.

This got me thinking about how much it costs to adopt and own a dog. Andrew and I have kept track of our finances using an Excel spreadsheet since 2001. We have things broken down into categories, one of which is "puppies". So it was easy to go back and see yearly as well as monthly expenses related to the dogs.

Before we even started looking to adopt dogs we did reseach on the start up cost of adopting. We priced crates, food, toys, vet visits for shots, getting a dog fixed, etc. We wanted to know before we adopted approximately how much it would cost to raise a dog or two. We estimated that the first year would cost around $1,000 per dog. This included vet visits, getting fixed, a crate, toys, food, collar, leash, and any other essentials we didn't have becuase this would be our first pet. In 2003 we spent $2,330 on the dogs. This includes a $200 emergency visit to the vet with Beacon shortly after we brought him home.

It definitely is worth your money to adopt from an animal rescue or shelter. And if you adopt a dog old enough to have had all of its shots it's an even better deal. We spent $475 for vaccinations and spay/neuter surgery for the dogs combined by the time they were four months old. The adoption fee for dogs in Vicky's Pet Connection (for which I volunteer) is $150, which includes spay/neuter and age appropriate vaccinations. We had to tack on an additional adoption fee for our dogs of $450 and we got a "buy one get one free" deal.

Once a dog has all of its shots, is fixed, and essential things are puchased like leashes, collars, and beds the cost of owning a dog goes down. We spend about $1,500 a year on our dogs. I'd consider this to be on the high end. Our dogs are fairly spoiled with toys and treats. We've also purchased three sets of beds over the years! Our dogs started off on somewhat cheap dog food as well. We fed them Diamond, which is a decent brand and good cost. In the past year and a half though we've upgraded though. Our yearly dog cost also includes unplanned trips to the vet for sickness and / or injury. We have two leashes, a Gentle Leader, a Halti, two car seatbelts, two kinds of slip collars, and numerous collars for each dog, which also puts our yearly cost to own a dog above the average person.

I'm thinking about writing an article about the start up cost of owning a dog to put on Vicky's webpage. I think it would be interesting for those looking to adopt to see how adopting an animal from a rescue group or shelter will save money in the long run, not to mention help with the overpopulation of unwanted pets.

Play Time

2006-06-26T07:33:00.000-04:00

Most evenings the dogs go into play mode shortly before we go to bed. This is good because they're tired and don't complain about going to bed. With Bella Beacon has gotten into the fun.

With the last few foster dogs we've had Haven has become a lot more dominent. She'll play to "win" rather than just play and be too nice to foster dogs. She has developed a pin move where she'll practically squish the foster dog beneath her.

I think Bella is learning some of Haven's moves. In the beginning Bella would just scoot herself along the ground trying to under-cut our dogs as she played. Now she's trying to get on top of Haven as they play. Haven can still win though because she has better moves.

There have been times when Haven has taken her paw and taken Bella out as she's running or leaping. All three dogs get crazy looks in their eyes as they play. They'll take time outs for drinks and in the end collapse on the ground because they're so tired.

Bella's Still Here

2006-06-25T09:35:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Andrew and I were at the Humane Society from 11-2 with Vicky. A person from the Animal Shelter was also there. We arrived a little early so we took Bella for a walk around the lake. She seemed to have fun.

At 11 we went into the training room and waited for Vicky to arrive. She was running a little late. Once she got there and we set things up we waited. Vicky had a litter of five puppies, a 10 month old Rat Terrier (Lucky, who I took a picture of for Petfinder), and Bella.

There weren't many people around at all. Most of the people who came into the room were just looking. I'm not sure if people weren't out because it was a nice day or something else. Nothing was adopted!

So we took Bella back home. There was an application waiting for Puck, a black lab mix the same age as Bella. They look like they could be littermates! It turns out Nancy knows these people. Vicky was going to see if they'd be interested in Bella because she's calmer than Puck and would probably do better in a home with a 9 and 5 year old. Vicky called this morning and said that this family wants to look at Puck and Bella so we'll see when they call to set up a meeting and where this possible lead goes.

At least Bella seems to like it here and Beacon and Haven don't seem to mind her. Beacon continues to try and play with her so that's a good sign that he not only is tolerating her but actually likes her.

Thursday I started teaching Bella "sit". She's not completely consistent but she does know the command now. This week I might start with "stay" and "come". She's really smart and learns quickly.

Stop! Digger Time

2006-06-24T17:23:00.000-04:00

Since we moved into our house a little over three years ago we've had a resident groundhog. We've named her Digger. Each year we see her babies, which we've named Baby Digger(s).

The mulberry tree along our driveway now has fruit. It's a frequent stop for deer passing through as well as the Baby Diggers. I noticed that one of the babies was at the base of the tree and hopped "into" the base of the tree. I kept mowing not thinking too much of it. I figured that it would run away when I wasn't looking.

By the time I got tot he side of the yard with the tree on it I noticed that the Baby Digger was still there! I guess it was afraid of the mower sound and never left. So I had to go inside and get Andrew and the camera.

Andrew took pictures. At one point he threw in a twig that had some unripe berries on it and got hissed at, as you can see. This Baby Digger stayed here until I was done mowing.

Andrew went back inside. I continued on mowing. As I was going around the box elder tree I saw another Baby Digger! This one didn't have a hiding spot as well as the other. Even though I kept going up and down the yard it stayed there. Since it was staying I once again had to go inside and get Andrew and the camera. As I was going inside I saw a third Baby Digger going into the carport!

I took some pictures (one seen here) of the box elder Digger and then went to look at the third baby in the carport. I guess from now on if we leave the garage door open we'll have to make sure that we don't have any visitors in there too!

This is the closest I've gotten to any of the Baby Digger we've seen over the years. It'll probably be a long time before I'm this close again.

Around Town with Bella

2006-06-23T14:35:00.000-04:00

Last night we took Bella for a walk. The second summer concert by the showboat was going on. We started off at the boat launch. Bella wasn't too interested in getting her feet wet. I think where was too much going on around her.

There were lots of people around and a few dogs. At one point a man with a two year old St. Bernard was standing behind us. His dog wanted to play with Bella. He ended up walking past us and both dogs sniffed. He said that his dog is a big teddy bear and loves playing with smaller dogs. Bella sniffed and got submissive. Andrew and talked about how Haven would have liked playing with a huge dog like that.

We then took Bella and walked along Main Street and then to Richards Park. By the time we got home we walked between two and a half and three miles. Bella was acting tired but as soon as we got in the house she was ready to play with Haven.

Earlier in the day Andrew was doing some hill work. I ended up taking Haven out and she rans a couple hill reps with him. I left and went home without Haven. When I got home and let Bella out of the crate she went running around the hosue checking each room looking for Haven! Bella missed her playmate.

We'll be taking Bella to the Humane Society in the morning. Vicky's going there with a litter of puppies, Bella, and another dog around Bella's age. Hopefully there will be some interest in her!

Updated Chip Picture

2006-06-22T10:58:00.000-04:00

One of Vicky's volunteers forwarded me an email. It included an updated picture of Chip. We fostered Chip from Oct. 24 - Nov. 7 last year. He was a 7-8 week old beagle weighing in at 2.5 pounds!

He was adopted by a family who had experience with beagles. While he was with us his eye clouded over. We don't know if it was from trauma or something else. But with some medication the vet thought that he would recover. From the looks of the updated picture he has grown a lot and doesn't have any eye problems.

He doesn't look like the same dog! His eyes now have more brown around them than black. He looks healthy and happy.

Bella's Best Friend

2006-06-21T12:02:00.000-04:00

Bella loves Haven. She's always trying to get Haven to play. This morning the two were sleeping next to each other, which is a first. Haven likes playing with foster dogs but doesn't often let them sleep near her. I guess she likes her space unless she's sharing it with Beacon.

Bella and Haven are a lot alike. They like chasing and being chased. They both act a little silly and crazy.

Bella seems to copy what Haven's doing quite a bit. In the evening if we're watching TV Bella will bark at something (and sometimes nothing) and get the other two dogs riled up. Haven does this to Beacon, especially when she wants to move in on a toy he has or take his spot next to us.

Bella's hit and miss as to whether she'll eat her food out of the bowl. Sometimes it takes flicking pieces of food across the floor for her to chase and then eat. Sometimes it takes feeding her from your hand. If you wait long enough she usually will eat on her own out of the bowl but with Beacon and Haven waiting for an opportunity to scavenge we usually try and get Bella to finish her food as quickly as possible. She usually doesn't even start eating until our dogs have finished even though she is given her food first. We've wondered if she purposely waits until they're done because they're both higher in the pecking order.

Splashing in the Pool

2006-06-19T12:38:00.000-04:00

Earlier today I had the dogs out playing in the kiddie pool. We were out with all of them a few times over the weekend. It was the first time this year we had the pool out for our dogs. I wonder if this was the first time ever that Bella has been able to play in water.

Bella loves to splash around in the water. She'll "dig" at the water stream as the pool fills us. She'll get frustrated and start barking at it. She also likes to stick her nose under the water and blow bubbles.

When the pool has been empty but still in the backyard all three dogs have stood in the pool and looked at us like they're wondering where the water is. All three of them will run around the yard and then go back into the pool to cool off. If Beacon and Haven are really hot they'll even plop down in the water!

Meet Bella

2006-06-16T20:23:00.000-04:00

We picked up Bella at 5:30. Andrew rode his bike to work today so I picked him up and we went out to eat before going to Chow Hound. Bella's owner is moving and can't take Bella with her so she's give her back to Vicky. I think Bella was adopted out when she was a puppy.

She's a really sweet dog. She reminds us of Haven. They've got similar faces and they both can act goofy. As soon as we got home we took out the kiddie pool and filled it with water. This is the first this year that our dogs have had it out. All three dogs loved splashing around and then chasing each other in the backyard.

Bella's almost nine months old. She likes to play but she also seems pretty laid back too. So far she hasn't tried getting into anything. Hopefully she'll sleep well in the crate overnight. Her previous owner said that she's used to being in a crate.

Pasta Salad

2006-06-13T10:03:00.000-04:00

One of the things I did on Sunday while Andrew was out on his long run was make pasta salad. When I was in college I discovered a mozerella pasta salad at Meijer. It's sort of expensive so I don't get it very often. After my attempt to duplicate the Meijer stuff I may never have to buy it again!

I wasn't sure exactly what covered the pasta, olives, tomatoes, and broccoli so I had to guess. I used some red wine vinegarette and italian salad dressings along with a little mayo then added a little garlic salt and onion powder. I didn't use olives and added green peppers and a little onion. I forgot to get mozerella to cube. I finished all that I made by Monday afternoon!

Since we were out last night I had to stop and get ingredients to make more. I forgot broccoli this time
but remembered mozerella. We'll see how long this lasts.

What's a Wigglet?

2006-06-11T18:14:00.000-04:00

This probably should have been my first post here! But it's close enough to the beginning.

I had to come up with a user name for this account. The "dogpack" that I had been using wasn't available. I tried things like "lilrunt" and "puppypack" without any luck. Finally it was Andrew who came up with "wigglets".

It goes right along with Andrew using "havybeaks". One of Haven's nicknames is Wiggles. One of Beacon's nicknames is Inlets. Wigglets is created!

A Fluffy Visitor

2006-06-10T19:18:00.000-04:00

Although we weren't looking to foster until the end of the week we got a call from Vicky while we were out running errands today. She was at an adoption event at the Humane Society and all of her available puppies were adopted. But she had one who was adopted that needed a place to stay for a short time. I guess the family who adopted her are doing some sporting events today and tomorrow and didn't want to bring her home just to leave her in a crate.

So we've got Fluffy with us. At least I think that's her name! Vicky mentioned that she thought her name was Fluffy but didn't feel to confident. I looked online at the old Petfinder profiles and it does look like we've got Fluffy (at least one of her littermates!).

We got home with Fluffy a little before three and all she has done is sleep! I don't know if she's that laid back or if she's tired from a long day at the Humane Society. Beacon and Haven don't even seem to care about her because she doesn't do anything. She's around 8 or 9 weeks old.

She now holds the record for the shortest length of time we've had a dog! We got her home just before 3 and will be dropping her off around 8:30!!!

Lucky Dog

2006-06-10T09:16:00.000-04:00

This is Lucky. Another volunteer with Vicky stopped by so that I could take a picture of him and put his info on Petfinder. Lucky's a neglect / abuse case. Apparently his previous owner sprayed something in his eyes. It's not known what it was but when Vicky first got him his eyes were shut and oozing. The vet didn't know if he would make it. But he has been getting drops in his eyes, can see, and is expected to make a full recovery.

The earliest we will be fostering again is the end of next week. Since we've had so many different dogs recently we wanted to give Beacon and Haven some extra time to "recover". They're a lot more relaxed when it's just the two of them, especially right after a foster dog is adopted.

There's a chance we'll be getting a 30lb dog. He or she is a return. The person or family who has this dog now will be moving in a month or two and either can't or don't want to take the dog with them. A busy schedule doesn't allow for spending much time with the dog.

Of course between now and the end of next week who knows what will be going on with Vicky. She's always having to juggle what dogs are coming in and where they'll be placed.

There has been a string of returned dogs lately. The only good thing about this is that Vicky gets multiple adoption fees for one dog and often gets some supplies that are returned with the dog, which helps offset costs.

Birthday Party

2006-06-10T09:13:00.000-04:00

Although we didn't have time to get stuff for the dogs prior to their June 8th birthday, Andrew stopped on his way home from work and got them a big treat and party attire.They were both good sports when it came to taking pictures. Beacon was the best, which surprised me. He didn't try and paw at the hat or mask much at all. And Haven didn't look too sad either! But they were both happy when they finally got their treat and didn't have to wear silly things.