Monday, September 27, 2010

Meet Landon!

I picked Landon up Wednesday afternoon.  He came to us from Chicago Animal Care and Control (just like Talia did).  He's about a year and a half old and we think some sort of Sheltie mix. 


Maybe a little Chow?  Or Shepherd?  Hard to say, but no matter what there's no denying he's cute!  He weighs about 40 pounds and is getting along quite well with Dash and the cats. 


He hasn't been allowed to hang out with them much though because the poor little dude is sick with a wicked cough.  This isn't uncommon in rescue dogs as they often are not up to date on vaccines when they arrive initially at a shelter and then of course there are so many animals in such a small space, any kind of illness can spread quite easily (think kindergartners who pass the same cold around all year).  But hopefully his antibiotics will do the trick and he'll be good as new in a week.



Oh, and did I mention Landon's not neutered yet?  Yeah, Landon's not neutered.  But you can bet I'm getting his cute little butt to the vet as soon as he's recovered from his cough, because this adorable little guy seems to think it's okay to mark things in the house.  And chasing after a dog to clean up his, um, scent, all evening is not my idea of fun, so for the time being Landon is going to be spending a lot of time in the kitchen, where apparently nothing is worth marking (and the floor is easy to clean just in case he changes his mind!).


In any event, he's a total sweetheart and gives great hugs.  He's also fabulous at posing for pictures.  He held all these poses, on his own, for nearly a minute!  Much easier to photograph than the usual milliseconds most dogs give me before they get distracted!


Welcome, Landon!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Lickety Split

Talia got adopted in record time - I think our fastest adoption so far - clocking in at just under 48 hours!

I took her to the adoption show on Saturday and of course all of the other volunteers and passersbys loved her (how could you not love that fluffy freckled face?).  But no one was really asking any questions about her or seeming genuinely interested in her; they just wanted to pet her and then go about their days.


One of the other volunteers really seemed to like her a lot - but it's not unusual for us to have favorites that are up for adoption.  And even though she called her husband to come over and meet Talia I didn't really think twice about it.  More than once I've dragged Thomas around one of our shows to make him meet some of my favorite dogs that I had absolutely no intention of adopting.  Granted, I only did this if he was already at the show with me, but it still didn't seem odd.


But then they just hung out with Talia and watched the whole time as she got groomed (she had some mats on her tummy and between her paws that needed to be shaved off and one of the store groomers generously offered to do it for free).  They started talking about how their dog usually interacts with other dogs.  And they were asking more detailed questions about her. 

That's when it finally sunk in that they were not just toying with the idea of adopting Talia but were really serious about it.  So they filled out the application and contract and I took Talia over to their house to make sure that she and their dog would get along.

looking pretty in her new living room

Talia and their dog, Boomer, got along fine.  Boomer mostly ignored her, which is a great response.

she looks quite happy and at home on her new couch

So Talia is now named Penny and is enjoying life in her new home.  And since her new mom is a regular volunteer with this rescue we're guaranteed updates and might get to see her once in a while.  Awesome!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Cyrene Didn't Go Far

Her new family lives just 10 short minutes away from us - our closest adoption to date!  Cyrene's adoption happened in kind of a round about way.


Two weeks ago the hubs and I did a home check for the rescue Cyrene is with.  This rescue has potential adopters fill out an application and have a home check that must be cleared before they are able to meet any of the dogs up for adoption.

We took Cyrene along with us because we like to see how the people interact with a dog, particularly if there are kids, of which this family has three.

The home check went fine.  The family was really nice and the kids were excited about getting a dog but were very well behaved around Cyrene (impressive for kids under 7!).  The family was approved for adoption.

A few days later I got an email from a different approved adopter interested in meeting Cyrene.  The application said that they were runners, which I thought would be a good match for Cyrene, so we made arrangements for them to come over and meet her.  But when I spoke to them on the phone I had a funny feeling like this wasn't the right fit.  Nothing I could pinpoint - just a gut reaction.  But I decided to reserve judgement until meeting them, hoping they would woo me in person.


Meanwhile, I had begun thinking that the family we had done the home visit for might be a good fit with Cyrene and planned on trying to match them up if the other adopter didn't work out.

Last Sunday the people interested in Cyrene came over to our house.  They liked her, but you could tell there wasn't a connection.  The husband seemed to like Cyrene well enough but was leaving the final decision to his wife.  Basically, she wanted a dog like Cyrene in every way except for with a fluffier, fuller coat.

Which quite frankly I was happy to hear, because shortly before they arrived at our home I got a message from the other family saying they had really liked Cyrene and that they were wondering if she was available for adoption!  As soon as the other couple confirmed that they would not be adopting Cyrene I called to give them the good news.  They came over on Tuesday so we could tell them more about her and so they could see Cyrene in her home environment.  They loved her and but asked if they could wait until Friday to bring her home so they could have the weekend all together (which we didn't mind at all because it meant we could have a few more days with Cyrene).


So on Friday they came over and did the necessary paperwork and Cyrene went home with her new family.  We're hoping since they live so close by we'll run into them from time to time!


Enjoy your new family, Cyrene!  We know they're going to love you to pieces!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Overnight Overlap

This evening I picked up our next foster, Talia.  We think she might be a Duck Tolling Retriever mix, but it's hard to say for sure.  Whatever she is, she's super fluffy and soft.

All tuckered out after a big day


And tomorrow Cyrene is getting adopted!  Since her new family already met her they'll just be filling out the paperwork and then off they'll go.

So for tonight and most of tomorrow we've got three dogs, which means the house is full because we only have 2 crates (Dash has graduated from his crate to being closed in the kitchen).  All of the animals are getting along really well, which is a huge relief.  Even when you've been told your new foster is good with other animals it can still be a gamble and you never really know until you get them home.



 Contrary to the pictures, Talia actually does do more than just lay around

More on Talia's arrival and Cyrene's adoption coming soon!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Blast From the Past

Last week we had a visitor in the house for a few days.  Thomas' co-worker Mike was going out of town and their original dog sitter fell ill so he took us up on our standing offer to watch their family pooch.  Their dog actually lived with us for about a month last year because he was one of our fosters.  Mike's family fell for Gilligan when they watched him for a weekend for us while we were out of town and he's been with them ever since.


Now named Ukui (pronouced oo-koy), we get to hear all about Gilligan's shenanigans whenever Thomas and Mike run into each other at the office.  And shenanigans there are!

I guess we shouldn't be too surprised.  This is what happened last year when I somehow had a major brainfart and left him loose in the house while I went out




In Ukui's defense, there were old ribs in the trash, so we couldn't really blame him and figured it was a one time incident.

Turns out this was just the tip of the iceberg.  Ukui is apparently a master at opening bottom freezers on fridges.  This surprised us because we have the same fridge as Mike's family and Ukui never once tried to get into ours.  I guess he was waiting for a forever family to show his true colors!  Anyway, once he gets the freezer open he eats pretty much everything in there.  Frozen meats, ice cream and his apparent favorite, Tombstone Classic Sausage Pizza. 


Ukui's family literally uses The Club to keep the stuff they put in the freezer in the freezer instead of in Ukui's belly!


In any event, Ukui was very well behaved during his visit with us and didn't even try to break into our freezer.  Although he may or may not have eaten a box of pop tarts I accidentally left out.  But I'll never tell.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Saying Goodbye

Remember Smiley from earlier in the summer?  Here's when we brought him home and when he switched to a different foster home when we went on vacation. 

I got an email last week from his foster mom.  She was going to be taking him to the vet to look at a growth on his tail.  He was also eating much less than normal in the previous week and was vomiting bile.  She wanted to know if he had ever done that when he was with us.  Well, when we had him he was eating like a champ and rarely even burped, nevermind threw up, so she was going to have the vet see what could be done to remedy his tummy aches in addition to the growth on his tail.  Smiley's foster mom promised to keep me updated on the results.

This afternoon I got my follow up email from her and it's what I had been dreading:

Smiley didn't make it through surgery today.  He was full of cancer inside.  At least he is at peace now.  No more poking and prodding.  I know between you and I he had the best life any dog could.  I wanted to let you know I told him you loved him this morning, I told him how much EVERYONE loved him.

It means so much to me that she told Smiley that I loved him since I didn't get a chance to see him before his surgery.  I knew that one day I would hear about one of my fosters crossing over the Rainbow Bridge, but I didn't think it would be so soon.  At least I know that Smiley was well loved in his last few months of life.  But it still hurts to know he's gone, leaving me a crying mess for most of the afternoon.  So in honor of Smiley I'm going to go snuggle and kiss all of my pets (foster included), because that was Smiley's favorite thing and I always want all of them to know how loved they are.

Goodbye, Smiley.  We'll miss you.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Join the Club!

After patiently checking our mailbox for the last few weeks I finally got notice that I am officially in the National Marrow Donor Program!  Woohoo!  The hubs actually got his notice in the mail quite a while ago, so I guess my cheek cells were just way more interesting than his or something and that's why mine took longer.  Or something like that anyway.


It's pretty exciting to be listed in the registry.  At any time Thomas or I could be contacted and asked to make good on our promise to donate if we're identified as a potential bone marrow match for someone.  It could be next week, next year or even many years from now since you stay on the registry until you're 61 years old.  Every day doctors search the registry for patients in need of a bone marrow transplant to save their lives.  Every day holds the possibility to give someone new life.  And knowing that gives that much more meaning to my own life every day.

Interested in learning more or joining the amazing program yourself?

Check out the official website here.


Read about how the hubs and I joined the registry here and here.  It's so easy and so worth it!


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