Roscoe starts clicker training

Roscoe had his first clicker training session tonight. He did remarkably well and picked up the sit cue rather easily. He connected the click and treat in the first few minutes of the session and then successfully moved on to connecting his sitting with a click and treat. His first training session was a huge success. Roscoe shared his room with Daisy overnight and spent the whole day with her. They seem to enjoy each others company and attention. He spent the rest of the evening playing with his teenage friend Zach. He should sleep well tonight and be ready to play again in the morning.

Introducing Roscoe to Daisy

Roscoe hasn’t had any opportunity to interact with the other dogs. He behaves himself around the caged animals, he chases cats but we hadn’t given him the chance yet to meet any of the other dogs. Today he was given the opportunity to meet and hang with Daisy. They spent the afternoon together and Daisy decided to continue to hang with him tonight. We wanted Roscoe to have some dog social time. He seems quite interested in meeting Bella. Roscoe, Reese and Daisy went on a walk to the stream. Roscoe on a long line and Reese being walked. Roscoe was very excited and had a good time trying to absorb all the new smells. Reese had a ton of energy walking out but walked very sweet and dainty on the way back. This boy is one sweet bundle of energy and joy.

Bella, Roscoe, Reese and Harley define the word fun

This is one of the best group of dogs we have had. They are so good natured and fun loving. They are happy doing just about anything! Roscoe loves to play, run and spend time with people. He is very cat like and will pounce good naturedly on feet and is always on the lookout of someone to snuggle with and spend time with. Harley is such a good sport that he will play with each and every dog for as long as they want to play. If no one is needing playtime he will settle in for some people time. He loves attention and is quick to learn. Reese is quiet and reserved but if you are gentle with her you can catch her playing a game of hide and seek. She craves people time and will sit statue like near you while you work. Bella is very low maintenance and is content lying in her crate chewing on a bone or chew toy. She likes to go outside for short jaunts. She is great for alerting us when we have fox or coyote heading towards the barn to feast on chicken.

Reese Gallery

Welcome Reese!

Reese is a beautiful white husky mix who looks like she is straight out of the arctic tundra. She has been in county lockup for almost three months. She has charisma and charm. Stay tuned for more on this gal!

Gypsy Heads off to her new home

 
 

We wish Gypsy and her new family many years of happiness.

The Foster Dog Chronicles

Fattening the new kids up

In this day in age we are used to slimming people and animals down but rarely do we have to fatten them up. Harley and Hailey weighed in at 42 lbs a piece. We started their weight gain program yesterday with our monthly deworming. Every day we will gradually increase the amount of food they receive until we see some significant weight gain. Not having a starting point to gauge how much food (or more accurately how little food) they were receiving every day we wanted to start them at a point that wouldn’t tax their system.  And best of all they are happy with the program and cannot seem to stop wagging their tails! 

Gypsy prances into surgery

Gypsy, with her free spirit and happy go lucky ways pranced her way into the vet’s office today. She was excited and happy and ready for the next adventure. Her spay surgery was successful and she was recovering well. Tomorrow we will have the honor of picking her up and spending some time with her before she moves on to her next phase in life. She is being adopted by a wonderful family with two beautiful girls. She has been searching for those girls since she came back. Gypsy has no idea how great a life she will have. Gypsy’s two concerns are “Where are my girls?” and “When is dinnertime?”.  The simple things in life that make all the difference.

New additions

We have three new additions who came to us from kill shelters in the south.  The plight of these dogs is heartbreaking. They have been on death row, forgotten for months on end in boarding facilities, pushed out of loving homes due to breed bans, malnourished and devoid of love. They do all have one thing in common. At every point in their plight, people have stepped forward and tried to help. This help came in many forms. Sometimes it was the rescuer who pulled them from the shelter, the rescuer that opened their home temporarily, the volunteer who took a day to take them for a walk and give them a little love, the list goes on but every person who crossed paths with these dogs has contributed to giving these dogs a chance to find love, give love and make a difference. If you are reading this and you have made a difference in the lives of the dogs that pass through here, we thank you. We take care of these dogs on a daily basis, but our supporters are the backbone of this operation. Let’s introduce our new arrivals:

Roscoe: A pit bull mix (male, neutered) who was rescued from a gas chamber in Georgia. He was living happily in a foster home in Tennessee when he became the latest casualty to a breed ban. Roscoe, faced with death row for a second time, was given up by his foster family to ensure his safety. He is wonderfully polite, sweet and playful. He is hoping after a year in limbo he will finally have a home to call his own, forever. Thank you to Kathy and her family for all their love and care they gave to him while he was entrusted to them. If you know someone who would can give Roscoe the home he deserves, please pass this on to them.

 

Harley is a year old male lab/shepherd mix. He is neutered. Harley was pulled from a kill shelter in Georgia by Coweta Kids. He has been in a boarding facility for most of his life. He is a warm, loving dog. He is great with other dogs, children and people. Harley is a people pleaser. Despite his rough start in life, Harley is everything you could ask for in a dog.

Hailey will be two years old in March. She is a spayed black lab mix. She is charming and sweet. Hailey tested positive for heartworm, underwent treatment and retested negative. She has been in boarding for the better part of a year. She is great with dogs, kids and people. Hailey has the sweetest disposition and tons of love to share.

 

 

Gypsy returns from her travels

Gypsy is back with us for the short term. She came back from her preadoptive home for her spay scheduled for next week. She is looking great! She is one happy go lucky dog. She reunited with Molly and played in the snow for a little while before settling in for a quiet afternoon of bone chewing.

Some Snow fun

Today was a day of fun in the snow. We broke out the skis and kick sled to see if we could teach the dogs to pull and work off some energy.

Here are some videos of the fun we had.

They are all still learning...so far we are more than happy with our results.