Sunday, January 18, 2009

Great weekend for adoptions!



















Great news: my four pet-sitting puppies were altered last week, and all four were adopted this weekend! It was wonderful to see them again, and see how much they had grown. They were an exceptionally sweet litter of puppies, and my favorite little girl, the one that always asked to climb in my lap and snuggle, was adopted first. No surprise there. We had three other adoptions this weekend: Beast, a 102 lb. Rottie pup; this was his first day up for adoption, so although we were happy for him, we weren't nearly as excited as we were when Nala and Oscar found their forever homes.

Nala is a brindle pit bull mix who was dumped at the pound with her 8 little pups back in March. All 8 of her pups were adopted long ago, and poor Nala's original foster home didn't work out, so she spent several months at a boarding kennel. Her second foster home also didn't work out... she chewed a shoe, and that was that. (This foster was not asked to foster any more dogs for us.) She had been in her last foster home for a long time, and her foster mom did a great job working with her quirky personality. Nala was very fearful at first, and when she felt overwhelmed, she would simply plop down on her belly, legs partially splayed, and refuse to budge. Her foster mom carried this 60 lb. dog from the car and all the way into PetSmart to attend adoption events. We all celebrated the first time Nala walked all the way from the car to her crate at the adoption center without having to be carried. Despite her fearful nature, she is a sweet, submissive girl who will crawl into your lap for cuddles, given the chance. She is great with small children and other dogs, and has a smile and soft eyes that can melt ice. I couldn't understand why she was passed over weekend after weekend. We were overjoyed when she and her new owner fell in love with one another at first sight.

Oscar has only been with us since October, but he has been bounced around too much and desperately needed to find his true home. A woman gave him away because he was marking in her house; he was taken by a gentleman whose phychiatrist had recommended he get a dog. He tried his best, enrolling Oscar in a comprehensive vet care program and a training class, but after several months he felt overwhelmed by the responsibilities of pet ownership, and had not bonded with Oscar. We offered to help him place Oscar in a new home, but after about a month of trying, he gave up and took Oscar to the pound. A friend of his found out and called us immediately. Oscar's chances at the pound were slim, since he will occaisionally growl at strangers who approach him when he's in a cage, and his legs are deformed from a car accident early in his life. I adored Oscar, as did everyone who got to know him, and bailed him out of doggie jail the next day. His new foster took excellent care of him, and made sure he got pain medication when his old injuries were hurting him. He got along beautifully with her own dogs, and was house trained in a week. Despite the fact that he's small and cute (we think he's a Chihuahua/Jack Russel Terrier mix), not many people are willing to adopt a dog with visible deformities that require medication for pain management. The woman who adopted him today was specifically looking for a special needs to dog love. She brought her two small dogs to meet him, and they got along as if they were old friends. He trotted out of the store with them like he'd been part of their pack forever.

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