Petey - he was a good foster

Petey - he was a good foster, but we had some difficult times with Petey. I drove all the way to Tomah to pick Petey up. Some volunteers in Chippewa Falls sprung him from the shelter up there and transported him down to Tomah to meet me. I brought my friend with to keep me company for the ride. Well, Petey decided to crap all over the back of my Jeep Cherokee. It smelled SO bad, like a dead animal. And of course, he didn't crap near Madison, but one exit after we jumped on 90 right outside Tomah. We had to drive almost 2 hours with the windows down, in cold weather, smelling bad shelter dog crap. I will never forget that day. Neither will my friend. She hasn't gone on a GABR road trip with me since.

Well, Petey had a nickname, or 2. His first nickname was Petey Houdini. This was because I crated him before I left for work in a wire crate and threw a blanket on the top of the crate for darkness and warmth. When I came home for lunch to check on Petey, I walked over to the crate, lifted the balnket and Petey was gone. GONE! Where is the world was he. My heart stated to beat fast, I was in shock. I turned around, and there was Petey, sitting behind me wagging his tail. It was amazing to me that he could escape the crate and the blanket, and leave it all in tact. I think somehow he squeezed through the corner opening. It must have hurt.

Petey's other nickname was , Space Petey. This is an unforgettable story about Petey. Well, my other foster at the time was Beau. Beau and Petey were playing pretty hard in the living room. All of a sudden I was splattered with a little bit of blood. I was like, what?!? Beau had caught the end of Petey's ear and spilt it. There was blood everywhere. I called the vet and got him in right away. He got 5 stitches on his ear. Then they wrapped his ear in medical gauze and tape. Well, he kept itching his ear and skaing it and the tape and gauze did not stay. So, because I had no other choice, I duct taped his ear down to his head, so that it would heal faster, without him shaking it all the time. The duct tape was silver, hence, "Space Petey" (see the pic below). After a week, I was supposed to check his ear to see if it had healed. I was sure that Petey was going to bite me as I pulled the tape off. I mean I ripped off half his fur with the tape. But, no he just wiggled and gave out alot of kisses.

I do miss Petey. He was beautiful, reverse brindle. He currently lives in Depere with a mom, dad and 4 fur-less brothers who love him very much.

BOB, oh how I miss him

BOB (shown above), the love of my life, well, the foster of my life, my number one. The most perfect Boxer for me (besides Sadie) is on my mind lately. I think because my current foster, Humphrey is my number 2. Well, BOB, heres the BOB story. I met another rescue volunteer to pick up BOB. He was taken from a shelter in Milwaukee. When I met BOB, we hadn't given him a name yet, so my friend said, "y'know I think he looks like a BOB". So, thats how he got his name. BOB was the best foster I have ever had. I fell in love. He was handsome, well behaved and we had this spark between us. I had this feeling that I needed to be with him forever. I asked A if we could adopt him. A said if we did, we would not be able to foster anymore. We couldn't afford it.... I was heartbroken and cried for 2 days. Well, thankfully a good home came along and adopted him. I bawled all the way home, after dropping BOB off at his new home, which was a good hour and a half. BOB looked so sad when I left, I could hear him whining. I felt so bad, thinking I had this bond with him and now I was leaving him. I felt like his new person wasn't good enough, didn't have enough love that he needed, even though he was. His new owner called and said that BOB had been peeing all over the house. Then, I heard nothing for years. I contacted BOB's owner a few months ago, and he e-mailed me back and said that BOB was doing great. Now, I know you may be thinking that I probably feel that way about all my fosters, but I definitely DO NOT! I have only cried hard for BOB. I have had tears for a couple of fosters as I drive away, but they last a few minutes. Nothing like the BOB crying. And BOB wasn't even my first foster.

Well, what makes me want to write about BOB, he reminds me of Humphrey. Not in the physical appearance or even personality but just the connection. And that Humpy is my number 2. He melts my heart because his head is crooked, his tongue sticks out, he is blind in one eye. I cannot imagine the life he had before the shelter, where I picked him up. He just loves life, he has a thing for me. A just mentioned how every time he comes home from work (usually before me) Humpy runs to the door to see if I am here too. When I come home, Humpy spring up in the air like a bucking bronco about ten times before I work on settling him down. I feel like he needs me, he lives to be with me. I think its just because he is handicapped, in a way. I will always feel a special connection with Humphrey; I still do with BOB.

It has been a LONG weekend

It has been a long weekend. A's mom came to stay with us Friday afternoon and left this afternoon. It was nice visiting with her. She came because she had a board meeting in Madison on Saturday and stayed with us, instead of at a hotel. We took her to Tutto Pasta on saturday night for a late birthday dinner. It was good, the restaurant was pretty busy, as the Gophers were playing the Badgers in hockey this weekend. Then, Saturday Humphrey and I had a date with some friends and boxers to play. We had a lot of fun and my car did not break down this time. We played and played and Humphrey had a great time with Nipsey and Buggie. They are such great dogs. Then, our friends came over to drop off their Vizsla Riley to stay with us Sat - Sun. They were off to see some friends and a play in Chicago. Riley is a dog with ALOT of energy. He gave humphrey a run for his money. Humphrey and Riley played so much, he got bit on his tongue and it bled and bled and bled. He bled all over the backyard, on the kitchen floor, on my sweatshirt, on the bedroom wall. It was great fun cleaning up lots of blood. But, everything was OK after an hour or so....

Then today, we had a visit from a family interested in out foster Bert. Bert liked their schnauzer TOO much, and it wasn't a good match. I think Bert had a prey 'thing' for the schnauzer. The family was nice, a little annoying. Especially the older daughter. She kept pounding on our piano and she was in the bathroom for a long time. I was beginning to wonder if she was going through my medicine cabinet. They were all a little rough, but would be a good home for the right Boxer, and that wasn't Bert.

Now, I am chilling on the couch, surfing the internet, watching good shows and blogging. Oh - and eating an ice cream sundae - much deserved. It was either an ice cream sundae or a whole bottle of wine.....

The best money I ever spent

There are somethings in life that we discover that we wish we had known about in the past. There are 2 dog things I wish I would have known about since I began fostering. So, I do not go shopping enough for dog toys or bed for my dog and the fosters, but I have some friends that seem to know all the secrets. Drs Foster and Smith snuggle balls and a toy that I recently discovered both thanks to some awesome friends of mine. The Dr.s Foster and Smith snuggle balls are like dog crack. When A and I settle down for the evening, I always worried about the fosters, where they would relax and lay, as they are not allowed on our furniture. But, with the snuggle ball, the dogs usually settle down before we do, its great. They are made very well, 2-3 dogs can fit on one bed, if needed and easy to clean. They are worth every penny!

The second thing, is a recent discovery, that I am very excited about. It is a toy that contains little toys inside that dogs can de-fluff by taking the smaller toys from the inside. Very clever. Well, Sadie is obsessed with squirrels and the one toy I bought is a tree with 3 little squirrels inside that can be removed by the dog. The other one i purchased is a turtle and inside is 3 "eggs" and they squeek. I purchased extra eggs, as I am sure they will get lost underneath furniture in no time at all. See a previous post, Hump-free the mink-coated special foster, where I talk about Sadie guarding an egg that my awesome friends gave us to try out.




Sometimes a purchase can be priceless, as it can save so much time and trouble. I think both of these things is so worth the purchase!

TGIF!

I am so glad its Friday - what a crappy week. Not at home or with the fosters, but at work. I really need to find a new job. I am miserable. Anyway - this weekend should be fun. I may meet up with my friends again to have the dogs play together. Its not supposed to be really cold, but it will be fun to get the dogs to play again. Humphrey misses his girlfriend.

We may be getting another foster, temporarily. He is a stray at the shelter. VERY handsome. Well, Bert and Humphrey may be going soon anyway, if their visits go well.

Heres a picture of how me and humphrey feel today.

Cabin Fever

It's cold, very cold. This high today was 8 degrees. The dogs hate to go outside. They have been really good though, no accidents in the house because of the cold. But - the cold broke my car. My radiator was cracked this weekend. Today is Wed and I FINALLY got it back this evening. Well, A is working late, so by the time I got home the dogs have been crated for 10 hours. EEK! I feel so bad, but with unforseen workload and car issues, I couldn't get home sooner. But, to my delight, there were no accidents in the crates, NO accidents! I am very proud of Humphrey. He has pottied in his crate when we are at work, but not today! It has been challenging to potty train him, but we are working on it. He has a visit tomorrow afternoon. I am excited. And my other foster Bert has a visit on Sunday. Yeay! I am very excited. It is a quiet night, except the dogs have a bit of cabin fever, I think. Especially Humphrey. Maybe my friends will want to invite him to play this weekend. He could use some lovin' from his boxer girlfriend!

Sunday, the Packers lot to the Giants. We had friends over to watch the playoff game. 2 kids were here, a 2 yr old and a 9 month old. Humphrey and Bert did SOOO well with all the people (8 adults) and 2 kids. I am very happy. It is stressful when we have company, non-dog people, but our friends are pretty understanding. I am thankful for that. They did try and beg a bit for some food. But, thats kinda expected when there are 8 people eating. My friends 9 month old was eating veggies and he was throwing some over to the floor for the dogs. They thought that was great. The 2 yr old almost lost his cracker about ten times.

I am very excited for our wonderful fosters.

Bert

So, our other foster is Bert ( the Boxer with cropped ears in the middle). He is a 6 yr old male boxer. He is a wonderful guy, he came into rescue from another rescue who could not keep him. Before the other rescue, he was at a shelter. Poor guy, he just deserves a nice home, lots of food and a warm bed. We have only had him a few weeks. He does not like Humphrey, as he can be really annoying and he wants to play all the time. Bert really needs some TLC. He is itchy, thirsty and hungry all the time. His skin and fur is course and his ears bother him all the time. He may have allergies, but maybe not. He came in with a UTI and intestinal parasites. I am going to take him to the vet next week.

Well, Bert went on the website today and he already has one inquiry. A woman and her family from Milwaukee are interested in meeting him and may come to meet him next weekend. Hooray! I am not going to get my hopes up, though. He is an older guy and needs lots of TLC. We will se what happens!

Hump-free the mink coated 'special' foster

So, we are fostering Humphrey (sometimes I call him Humpy). He was a stray on Northside of Madison, and picked up by the city as a stray. He was held at the shelter for over 40 days. He is a sweet, ~1 yr old boy. My heart just melts for him. His hips and back legs are wobbly and he has webbed from paws. This was probably from beign crated 24-7 since his birth. The has a detatched cornea in his right eye and he is mostly blind in that eye. He has a beautiful coat, brindle and very soft. He loves all animals and people. His jaw is crooked which causes him slight eating issues. His tongue is also WAY too big for his mouth. But, really, all these things are why he makes me melt. He hates being away from people, but he does not have SA. He loves to play, and I didn;t have much problems when we had our last foster, Wesley, with Humphrey. They played and played. Sadie just watched, and sometimes refereed. But, Wesley has been adopted and the new foster is a little bit older and not so tolerant of Humphrey's advances for playing. So, Humophrey tried to play alot with Sadie, and most of the time she is not in the mood. But, she will play with him occasionally.

Well, my friends have been kind enough to let Humphrey come over and play with their foster, who LOVES Humpy. So, yesterday I packed up Humpy to go pick up my friend and 3 boxers and go play in his large 3 floor office building. We did this once before and it was loads of fun. Humpy got to ride the elevator. The reason why we go to the office is becuase it is -5ºC outside. Way too cold for walks. Well, I go to their house, packed up 4 dogs, me and my friend and we got a block away and my Jeep started smoking. Like CRAZY! So, we went back to the house and tried to figure it all out. Well, I was out of coolant. Yeah. So, my friend went to the store and got me some coolant (my hero!) and I called A. A came to follow me to the repair place, in case my car overheated again. We assumed that there is a leak somewhere in the radiator or tubes or something. So, Humphrey got to play with his g-friend, and I got to visit with my friends, even though the car ruined the day. But, my friends did give me some plush toy 'eggs' from some toys they have. Huphrey was enamoured by these 'eggs'. So we brought 2 home. Sadie thought that they were hers and went into her crate and guarded the 'egg'. It was kind of funny.

About me, sassy Sadie's Mom

This is my first blog, ever. I really enjoy reading my friends' blogs. It gets so hectic with all the work we do on a day to day basis to keep in contact with all the friends we would like to, so I think that reading their blogs is a good way to know what friends are doing. So, here is my first post. Not sure what I want to accomplish, regarding my blog. It will probably morph into something else as time goes on.

I am am married, living in Madison WI, and I am a foster mom for a resuce organization. I usually have at least 2 fosters, plus my own girl, Sadie. As I am getting older, I find it hard to remeber all the fosters that we have had, that is, A, my husband and I. I would like to talk about my fosters on this blog.

Sadie is a female boxer, probably about 6 or 7 years old. I am not sure, as she was a stray in Madison about 5 years ago. I was working at the local animal shelter at the time and I have always had a love for boxers. I grew up with a white female boxer named Frosty. She passed away in Feb 2004 at 11 years old. As I was working at the shelter, I knew of many resuce organizations that would come and take the purebred dogs and cats to foster homes, so that they did not have to stay in cold, lonely shelters. Thats when I became aware of the recue organization that I currently volunteer for. Well, I fell in love with Sadie and wanted to adopt her. I was living in an apartment at the time that did not allow dogs, so I was going to have my mom adopt her so that I coulkd keep her. Well, I made a note in her file. I had previously scheduled a vacation in CA, and when I returned Sadie was gone, the shlter folks ignored my note and called the rescue organization. I was FURIOUS! However, looking back it has been one of the best things to happen in my life. A and I moved into an apartment July 1, 2003 and previously submitted an application to the resuce group to adopt Sadie. We adopted her on July6, 2003. We love her so much. She is very sassy though, but thats OK. A year later, A and I bough Sadie a house, a real house and we moved in May 2004. She has a HUGE backyard to run in and chase squirrels and bunnies. She is such a good girl, I just wish I knew exactly how old she is. We celebrate her birthday on 7/6 every year. She will always be my Sassy Sadie.