Nova Update!

Looky what I got!

Pictures of Nova (now Baxter) from his mommy.  These are scanned because they got sent via snail mail, but a little while later I got this fabulous e-mail (you all know how much I love updates!):

Baxter is such a joy to me; I can't tell you enough how happy I am to have found him.  We do spend a lot of time at the beach.  At first, he was apprehensive about going in, but once he saw the other dogs venture into the water, away he went and I can't keep him out of it. 

I take him to a dog park everyday to play with other dogs.  In a short time, he has become the park favorite.  Everyone always comments on his beautiful markings and he really gets along with the other dogs.   And he attracts at least one suitor everyday.  I don't know what it is about him, but everytime we go to the beach or at the park, one dog will become enamored with him and follow him around until the owner leaves.

He also comes to my softball games and he just sits there and watches.  He has a very good disposition, as you know, and always attracts people to sit by him and just love on him.

I'll keep you updated.  I just wanted you to know he's in a very good home and gets lots of love.

Isn't that awesome?  I'm cracking up thinking about Nova having his own little entourage at the dog park (I guess Casanova was an appropriate name for him!).  It really does my heart good to know how happy and loved he is, especially because it was so hard to let him go.

Nova in the Windy City!

This past Saturday was a big day for Nova!  He had his neuter stitches removed and (finally!) got to ditch the cone of destruction.  But more importantly, Nova met his new mommy and on Sunday we took him over to her apartment downtown.  Nova (now Baxter) has a great view of Lake Michigan from his high rise home and is just a hop skip and a jump away from a dog beach. 

When we arrived to drop Nova off it was clear that his new mom was totally in love with him and it seems like he's going to settle in nicely.  He'll be going for lots of walks on the lake front, supervising his mom's softball games and hanging out with other pooches on the water.

But I have a little confession.  Leaving Nova after his home check was one of the hardest home checks/drop offs I've done in a long time.  I'm usually a little sad when I drop off a foster with their new family, but after doing it so many times I am equally excited about saving another dog, so the emotions tend to balance out a bit.  But I had let my guard down with Nova, thinking that maybe we would keep him but wanting a little more time to decide, and so he snuck a little deeper into my heart.  After we handed off the leash to Nova's new mom, she walked us to the elevator and brought him along.  At first Nova didn't want to leave my side, but after a goodbye kiss from me and a little encouragement from his mom he happily walked away to his new life, never looking back.  I had to turn away as he reached his door to hide my tears.

There will be more dogs; there's always another dog.  One of the (unfortunate) things I've learned volunteering in animal rescue is that there is an endless supply of homeless animals.  Eventually we'll find the right one for us and I'm guessing when we do we won't feel the need to wait it out to decide.  It's just that right now it still hurts a little.  But I'm also sure that Nova's mom knows how lucky she is to have him and will give him a wonderful life.

Just an hour or two after dropping him off, Nova's new mom texted me to say they had gone for a nice walk and he had already made three new friends.  Hopefully this means lots of updates in the future on one of our all time favorite fosters.  Here are some pictures we took of him on Sunday afternoon.

Wrestlemania has moved indoors

A few days ago Hancock and Nova finally started playing together outside in the yard.  It' super funny to watch; Hancock uses his size to his advantage and will grab Nova's legs, but since Nova can't really use his mouth because of the cone, he flips over on to his back to use his legs against Hancock.  And as of a few minutes ago, my once peaceful household full of sleeping cats and dogs is no more.  The pups have decided that the living room is now center stage for their wrestling matches.  It's nice to see them settling in some more, and at least they're not chewing on the furniture (even if they are knocking some things over)!

Meet Hancock and Casanova!

Last Saturday was a very busy day over here.  In addition to making a faboo birthday cake for a good friend (more on that later) we brought home not one, but two brand spankin' new foster dogs.  Since they were arriving on separate transports at the same time, the hubs and I planned to tag team this one and each retrieve a dog.

First to arrive home was Hancock.  He's a red merle (mini?) Australian Shepherd and is about two years old.  He made a nearly 300 mile journey from Hamilton, Illinois to arrive with us via nine very awesome people who assisted in transporting him and several other dogs from certain death in a kill shelter to safety in various rescues.  He was picked up as a stray, but is clearly used to living in a home.  He is very sweet and likes to give hugs and kisses.  He's housebroken and doesn't mind the cats.  The cutest thing about his is the way he lays down, with his little back legs splayed out behind him!  Maybe Hamhocks would be a better name than Hancock!

Scheduled to arrive not long after Hancock was Casanova.  When I went to get him some of the other volunteers at my rescue informed me that my new guy had ripped out the stitches from his recent neutering and that he would (obviously) need to get sewn up again before I could take him home.  Apparently he chose not to play car games with the other dogs on the trip over from Winchester, Kentucky and thought undoing some surgery would be more fun. 

Despite the open wound, Casanova was living up to his name by giving out kisses and taking belly rubs from anyone who would give them.  He's an Australian Shepherd, I think with a little Rottweiler mixed in.  So while he was getting sewn up again I headed back home to finish the aforementioned cake and Thomas went to pick him up when he was done.  The poor guy was still so knocked out when Thomas got him home that he couldn't even stand, just lay there are wag his tail.  But Nova (Casanova is really too long, so we're shortening it) is feeling much better and now proudly wears his cone of shame.  Although we're thinking about renaming it the cone of destruction, because he is constantly knocking things over with it!  Nova's got a great personality; he's very confident and friendly and loves everybody (and may love the cats just a little too much, but at least he knows they're not snacks!).

Yesterday Hancock and Nova actually started wrestling and playing the yard together instead of just coexisting.  It's very exciting to see them settling in and having some fun!