new Planned Pethood website!

This is how I've been spending most of my time over the past few months. We had the website professionally designed with a software program that the volunteers can use to create and maintain the pages. As it turned out, being an art major years ago finally paid off (LOL) and I designed many of the pages on here. It was a lot of fun and we're all very excited by the final product!

Planned Pethood

More cute pictures

I have to post these. I was getting pictures for the (coming soon!!!) new Planned Pethood website.

This is Cody, our grouchy old man rescue dog, meeting Calypso the Jack Russell terrier mix puppy. Remind me to blog about Cody next.



Calypso and Emory, the stray kitten who never left (and who thinks he's a dog.)


And last but not least, one where my daughter, who ends up helping with most of the pictures around here, isn't chopped off.
(Emory is the sweetest kitten, really. He's not as demonic as he looks in these pictures!)

November Dogs

On any given day, I think "I'm going to blog about this!" and before I know it, another week has gone by, and then another. Sometimes just keeping up with the dogs is as much as I can manage. Keeping track of the dogs is another story entirely. Every year I start a list, and usually I lose track before the year is out on that project too.

(This year's list ends on June 20, with the 90th dog. I don't know how many more since then. I'll have to figure it out when I get time. That's a lot of dogs. I take some credit, sure, but most of it goes to the rescues who save them. Planned Pethood has taken most of them but other rescues have helped many times as well. Everyone plays a part.)

I try to get pictures of the dogs I pick up, before they're on their way to somewhere else. Here are the dogs from November.

How Many Dogs Do You Have? Julio

When we first started fostering, my son informed us that chihuahuas were his favorite dogs. I've never been a little dog person, so he had to deal with some abuse over that, but we let him foster an occasional chihuahua as they came along.

Julio originally came from the pound I get dogs from, over four years ago. Back then I was still naming dogs after every friend I've ever had, as well as every friend's dog I could think of, and so Julio got his name from someone I knew a long time ago.

We all enjoyed having him here. My son always took "his" fosters for walks and they slept in his room. Julio was soon adopted by an older woman. When we did the adoption she managed to leave with him before my kids got the chance to say goodbye. I think I was more heartbroken over that small omission than my son was, but we all agreed, he was a very nice dog. For a chihuahua.

Fast forward a few months and we find out that Julio is being returned. Apparently he is door dashing, and taking off on romps through the neighborhood, with his senior citizen owner running behind. His return to our home was a joyful reunion for all. We joked he kept taking off so he could come back, since my kids didn't get the chance to say goodbye.

My kids have always been pretty stoic about the dogs that come and go here. They understand the idea of fostering is saving more dogs and if we kept them, then we wouldn't be able to continue to help. Still, I couldn't make my son give that little dog up twice, and so I told him we would adopt Julio.

I have to admit, I love that dog. He's all chihuahua. When we go on walks in the park, he always has to play tough guy, barking and snarling at whoever crosses our path. He knows better. I say "Julio, knock it off!" and he gives one more little snarl, just to let them know he could take 'em if he had to. It's embarassing; everyone laughs. When I pick him up outside, he growls and then I growl back and then he gives me a kiss. He has to sleep under the covers.

We didn't have any problems with him trying to run away from here, except twice a few months ago, when he escaped from the yard. The first time, the gate wasn't shut all the way and he squeezed his body through and took off, with us in hot pursuit. We ran through a couple of neighbors' yards and then across the road, and then something must have clicked with him because he stopped and let us get him. On the way home, I lectured him in no uncertain terms about trucks and little dogs and how sad we would be if something happened to him. A few days later, he shoved his fat little body through again. This time he made it as far as the neighbor's driveway when I yelled JULIO and he stopped in his tracks and sheepishly came back. I do believe that part about missing him hit home!

With as many dogs as he's helped save over the years, it's only fair that my son have a dog of his own, and Julio is a great dog. I can't imagine what it would be like here without him. And I think I'll always have a chihuahua. Just for my son, of course!