Jetts New Life

                                                    Jett at the Shelter in SC  May 2010

                                                           Jett when he arrived in NY  August 2010
                  Jett at Petco Family Fun Day May 2011- now a whopping 82 pounds
Jett is a big black lab that I finally got to foster last August.  He was brought into the shelter we pull from in South Carolina in May and I asked to have him sent to our rescue then.  I was told another rescue was taking him so I pulled several more dogs over the next three months and then I saw his picture on the Urgent list.  I sent a not to happy e-mail to find out what happened and was told his rescue fell thru.  So finally after almost four months I got Jett to New York.He was just shy of one year old and  was the happiest dog. I took him to an adoption event at Petco the first week I had him.  An older retired couple had seen him on petfinder and came from about an hour away to see him and they immediately wanted him.  Their application was good and everything checked out, but I knew I was going to have a problem getting it ok'd by the head of the rescue because of their age.  I was a little concerned too, but I just had this feeling that they would give him a great home.  So I got it ok'd and my husband and I took Jett down to do the home visit.  The first thing he did was potty all over their livingroom carpet.  I figured they would toss us out on our ears, but no, they still wanted him. Jett now lives like a king.  He goes to their summer camp, rides around in a golf cart and goes to lots of doggie birthday parties.  They keep in touch and send pics all the time.  I could not have asked for a better home for Jett.  He came to an event at Petco we did at the end of May and he was the best behaved dog there.  He is truly loved.

Waiting for Delilah

Delilah playing in her foster home in South Carolina

Finally got confirmation that Stephie whom we are going to call Delilah is coming on Sunday.  Can't wait to get her as I have not had a young pup since last August.  I am hoping my big dogs do not scare her as they can be overwhelming. She is still healing from all her injuries and they said there might be a problem with her eye.I hope it is not serious.

Lexi and Whitley have been driving me crazy the past few days with their craziness.  They play so rough and I always have to intervene so things don't get out of hand.  I bought Whitley a front hook harness yesterday and took him for a walk - he didn't do as good as he does on the halti and I was not as comfortable either as I have no way to control his head if we run into trouble.  I try to be calm and relaxed when I am walking him, but I am always on Alert for other dogs or kids running around or on bikes.  He really needs a lot more work before he is adoptable.

Whitely goes to Nanny's House

I spend a good part of every day with my mother.  She has dementia and I quit my job last November to take care of her as she was not liking her caregiver too much (part of the dementia).  So the one good thing about it is I get to spend more time with the dogs and I usually take one with me as my mom likes dogs.  Lexi and Lacey are still to jumpy to take and Maddison will whine the whole time we are there to go out and play ball.  So right now I alternate Missy, Dutchess and Whitley.  My mom has a huge yard with woods in the back so we have alot of wildlife wandering around.  Today was Whitley's turn and he got to hang out with me all day while I cleaned the enclosed porch.  We did some clicker training and took several walks.  Unfortunately, he can't be off-leash as his recall is not so good.  We did flush out several squirrels, a couple bunnies and the same deer twice.  I think it was a good day for Whitley.

Tennis Balls and Dogs Teeth

Last night at training class for Lexi I was told that chewing on tennis balls will wear a dogs teeth down to nothing.   I had never heard of this, but my 10 year old Maddison has the worst teeth - many worn down to nubs- and guess what? She was always a tennis ball maniac. She will chase a ball until she drops. When she brings it back she always chomps on it several times before she drops it for me to throw again.  She loves the air kong squeaker toys.  I did some research on the internet and only found a few articles about this.  I feel bad that I let my Maddison ruin her teeth.  Has anyone had any similar problems like this with their dogs?

New Puppy Coming

I am lucky in that the rescue I foster for allows us to pick what dogs we want to bring into our homes.  Occasionally we are sent e-mails asking us to take a dog for a couple weeks, but most of the time we check the shelters we pull from and choose which dog we want.  I saw this sweet puppy that had been attacked by some bigger dogs and just could not resist.  I am told she is doing better now and just needs some time to heal.  I hope her ordeal has not made her afraid of other dogs.

A Year with Lexi

                                                           Lexi with her sister Allie June 2010

Lexi came to us a year ago as a foster puppy.  There were 5 pups that came up from Darlington SC, and we took Lexi who was the only black puppy in the litter and her sister Allie who was chocolate. Allie was adopted out within a week.  Lexi is now ours.  She is suppose to be my daughters dog, but since she is away at college most of the time, most of the work of raising her went to me.  This dog has been a challenge since the day I took her out of the crate at the transport pick up.  She is not a bad dog - just very, very busy.  She wants to play all the time.  She jumps, counter surfs and barks her coonhound bark when she wants your attention.  We tended to overlook all these things because she is a love and she gets along with every dog she meets.  Every dog is her friend and she will stand still and let them sniff her and then turn around and play bow to them.  She has gotten along with all the other fosters that have come and gone.  However, I did get to the point of being annoyed with her all the time so I started taking her to clicker training.  This was one of the best things I ever did, for her and for myself.  I have learned so much and after the initial 6 weeks of classes I signed up for 20 more classes just because I had so much fun and I still learn something new every week.   She is learning, but at just a little over a year old we have a ways to go.

                                                                Lexi  May 2011

Whitley the Foster Dog

Whitley is my 14th foster dog since I started fostering in May 2010.  He has been here since Thanksgiving and he has only had a couple of people interested in him.  I feel bad for him because Lilly #15 foster dog came and had her leg amputated and was adopted pretty quick.  Whitley is a big boy and 5 years old.  I normally get in pups that are between 5 -8 months and they all go fast.  For some reason I stepped out of my box and took Whit and it looks like he might be here forever.  He is fine with all five of my girls, but if you put him on leash or he sees a dog on the other side of our fence he turns into dogzilla.  We have been going to clicker training and working on his issues.  I don't think he will ever be reliable, but I have learned ways to manage him.  He is very good in the house, rides well in the car and walks good on the leash as long as another dog does not get too close.  He minds me and is a very loving dog.  Good thing since it looks like no one wants him.

About my girls

 

Maddison and Missy

 Dutchess

Lacey Jane

Lexi

Here is a little info on the girls.  Missy -12, Maddison - 10, Dutchess -5, Lacey Jane - 2 and Lexi -1. Missy and Maddison came from a tiny little pet store that took in unwanted litters. Dutchess and Lacey Jane were adopted thru rescues and Lexi came to us as a foster puppy.  Lexi was very aloof as a puppy. Friendly, but she just wanted to do her own thing. So she was not adopted and by the time we had her for four months, my daughter wanted to keep her and her daddy said yes.  So she goes back to college and guess who gets to take care of Lexi - yep, that would be me.

Figuring this out

New to blogging.  I wanted to have a place to write about my dogs - five female black lab mixes and also about my fostering adventures - a male shep mix at the moment.  Also interested in sharing info on all kinds of dog issues.  Will post some pics as soon as I get this blog thing figured out.