dogs dogs dogs

Wow I've realized this blogging thing has to become a routine but I didn't realize I'd gone this long without updating. It's not like I don't have time exactly. I am online a lot. It's more a matter of what I do with it when I have it, like choosing to read a book rather than mop the floor then complaining my house is never clean.
Anyhow, I haven't stopped rescuing dogs. It's been crazy at the pound for a while now but I've been pretty lucky (or many of the dogs have) and a lot of nice dogs have gotten a second chance.
This puppy was there this week and available to go so rather than leave her in a scary pound to sleep on concrete, I brought her here until I could find someplace for her. Oh man, puppies are way more work than I'm used to and this one seems to be a littermate to some I got from there a few months ago, which means her mom was a Jack Russell terror....er, terrier. And now that she's older I suspect she's mixed with bassett hound too. She's a bundle of cuteness and energy. Her favorite thing seems to be taking flying leaps into my lap when I'm on the computer. She's leaving tomorrow, thank god.

A roomful of puppies

"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face." Bernard Williams

I can't sleep at night when there's baby puppies at the pound. It's not the worst place on earth for puppies to be but the thought of them sleeping on cold stainless steel or concrete floors in kennel runs, divided up from each other, just makes me sad.

This week someone dropped off six 5 week old Weimaraner mix puppies (and now for the first time in my life, I can actually spell "Weimaraner.") I saw them there yesterday and went back and got them today. They'll just have to stay here for a week or so until we can make room for them somewhere else. How hard can it be? Well, here's how you take care of a roomful of puppies.

Get a bucket, a mop, a stack of newspapers, garbage bags and a gallon of bleach. Then an hour later, get more newspapers, more bleach, and most likely a new mop soon too. Puppies are messy!! Still they seem to get the hang of using the area with the newspapers before too long. And they're puppies! They bite on your ankles with their little sharp teeth and make little grunting puppy noises when you pick them up. They run and wrestle each other, then suddenly collapse for a nap right where they're standing. And don't forget puppy breath and little puppy kisses! There's not much that competes with the fun of playing with a litter of puppies!

My kids love having them here too. I let them choose their names. We have Ruthie,
Rigby,
Rover,
Rufus,
Rusty
and Rocket.
Did you see, Rocket has a white star on his chest!


They'll be available for adoption in about 3 weeks.

One day's haul: more dogs

Yesterday I was set to pick up 3 dogs from "my" pound. The night before, I got an email from the dog warden, said he had 2 golden mix puppies and another terrier. So I contacted the intake coordinator for the rescue I work with the most, she worked a few more miracles and we found space for those too.

So my 9 year old and I head off to the pound in my pitiful dog-mangled Saturn wagon. In the far back goes the big female yellow lab who has been there close to 2 weeks already. We thought she had been claimed, someone called and was looking for a female yellow lab, lost around the same time and in the same general area but it wasn't their dog. With her I put the new little male terrier. Mixing up dogs who don't know each other isn't something I do if I can avoid it. So far, knock on wood, I have yet to have to deal with a dog fight at 60 MPH on a country road, but in this case they both seemed pretty friendly and it was a chance I had to take.



Then I bring out the puppies, and drop those in my daughter's lap. Everyone in this family lives and breathes dogs (and dog fur) but she is my most loyal helper. For all the dogs and puppies she meets, she falls in love with every one of them. Next comes the little Jack Russell terrier who is sweet as can be, so she gets tossed in the backseat too. And we're off!




As if the car loading isn't enough, I have to bring them here first for a few hours. That means unloading all 5 dogs and stashing them in various crates outside in the shade (adult dogs) or inside my house (puppies.) I live in a rural area but I do have neighbors, who I'm sure wonder sometimes why I have crates of dogs sitting outside but so far anyhow, I've managed to get them back in the car before the dog warden's ever showed up.

This is a busier week than most but all of these are super nice dogs who will be adopted in no time. All someone else's rubbish. I'm about as unlikely a hero as anyone can be but these dogs really have no one else, and to them I'm a lifeline. When you wonder why I do what I do, it's for each and every one of these wonderful dogs, to give them another chance.