Kids and Dogs…Dogs and Kids!!

I’ve had a crazy foster dog life over the last week. Add to that several days with grandkids and a meet-up with Ray and everyone and I’m whooped. On Thursday the grandkids that were staying overnight slept in until 8:30 am and happily, that left me a chance to sleep in until 7:30. That doesn’t happen for me!!

So let me tell you all about the dogs…but first the kids!!

I met Lora to pick up my son Buck’s kids on Monday late afternoon at the halfway point between my house and theirs. On the way down I stopped at the Amish store where I got my German Shepherd foster pup, Sadie. She went to her new home a couple of weeks ago. No pups there but I did see a kennel at one farm at the end of the driveway that had a kennel with puppies in it and a sign that said, “Puppies for sale”. I drove past. I can’t pay for puppies…I can’t pay for puppies…I can’t pay for puppies…I kept telling myself. It was so hard. They were in the sun in a kennel. The foster I volunteer with is loaded with dogs right now. Many aren’t listed as we working on vet appointments and a few have special circumstances that go with them.

It’s so hard to see a need and not be able to do anything.

I kept going and picked up the kids. After they all got transferred into my vehicle, the first thing the kids asked was “Do you have puppies at your house?” I said no…what I didn’t tell them was that some would be arriving early the next morning. Likely while they were still sleeping.

On the way home I planned to go by that place again to see if the puppies were still out there but someone ended up needing to go to the bathroom so we went a different way. I forgot about it because I can’t do anything about it anyway…right?

So Tuesday morning was puppy day!!

Lucy was so happy to wake up to puppies. SO HAPPY!! I got two Bernese Mountain Dog puppies…a boy and a girl.

Lucy babysat the puppies while I bathed a 2 1/2-year-old mini Australian Shepherd I got along with the puppies. I am fostering this girl. The puppies I was keeping long enough to get them vetted.

Everyone came from a puppy mill. This gal has had way too many litters in her short 2 1/2 years. She is very shy and timid. After her bath, I brushed and brushed and brushed her. Look at all of that hair.

I am naming her Simone. She needed a calm, quiet name. At this point, she is really unsure of things. The right person who is patient and slow is exactly what she needs.

I call this kind of dog a project dog. That might not sound nice but that’s what she is. In three months, after she has been with the right person, she’s going to be a whole new dog. And honestly, I think the human will be a new person too. It’s so gratifying to see a dog come out of its shell. But she’s a project. I have to get on the ground in front of the kennel to get her to come out. I have to move slowly so she doesn’t startle. I can see her improving daily though…and that is so rewarding. I can totally see the work paying off. This may sound silly but I can physically see her starting to trust me.

I have a friend who is super kind and patient. She is one of the gentlest people with animals that I know. She recently lost he husband and I’ve been trying to talk her into adopting Simone. Truly, they would be perfect together. Simone is a great size- not too big, not too small. She’s not demanding and high energy. I know they would be so good for each other.

There are a few different kinds of scared in dogs. Simone is the scared shy type…not at all the scared aggressive type. I totally love her but my house is too active for her.

By the time this blog post publishes, she’ll likely be up for adoption.

After I was done bathing and brushing Simone, it was puppy time. The kids had so much fun with these puppies.

It’s totally cuteness overload.

It was hard to see the complete difference between Simone and the puppies. I so wish Simone could have some of this love and affection in her life.

Here are a couple of pictures from bath time.

The puppies were either being played with….

..or were

totally zonked out sleeping!!

When dogs and puppies come in, we have a long list of things that have to be done and hurdles we have to cross before they are considered adoptable. The rescue is hoping to list these guys soon.

My puppy stories don’t end there but part two of the story is a saga too so I’ll leave you here. I can tell you that Wednesday the puppies and Simone all went to the vet and they are all vetted and that part of their time here at HEART Animal Rescue is complete.

Stop back tonight for the rest of the puppy story.