June, the Calico Kitten

Last night was one of the worst nights of my life for sleeping. June, a kitten, decided that she must sleep by my face. I don't mind her being by my face or even on top of my head , but she wanted to sniff my eyes and groom me, I really don't need that when I'm trying to sleep. I put her on the ground at least 20 times but she jumped back on the bed and back to my face with her cold wet nose. I tried moving her to another spot on the bed, but she came back to my face.. This was at least 20 times too. Finally I just covered my head with the sheet. She tried to get under there, but I'm to smart. Ha ha little June. I won! She finally relented to sleeping above my head like a good girl.

Blaze, the foster

I still have Blaze. We have been going to adoption days and no one wants to adopt her. It's sad. She is such a sweet dog. Unfortunately people don't want adults or black dogs. She's only 6 months old, but to most people that's not a puppy. 6 months is a perfect age. She's housebroken. She has stopped her submissive urination. It took a lot of patience to ignore her peeing all over the place and build up her confidence and trust to be a house dog. We have been working on her trust of strangers. A nice young woman has been coming to walk her alone without my girls. Once the leash is on she is happy to go on her walk, but she still won't let anyone other than me catch her. This is a huge problem as far as being adoptable goes. If she isn't adopted this week, she will go to another foster home to get used to new people. I wish she could stay, but the week I originally agreed to has turned into 5 months. The new foster mom is always out and about with her animals and Blaze will have an opportunity to meet many new people. It will be good for her. Blaze is a pest to the kittens at times, but she loves them and won't hurt them. Blaze is constantly picking them up and taking them somewhere so she can lick them from head to toe without me hollering at her to leave them alone. Half the time she takes them outside. The problem is that they are wet from her spit and get covered in dirt from the garden. The adult cats or the big kittens have to give them another bath to get the dirt off. The little kittens are easy for Blaze to carry around, but she also wants to carry the 6 month old kittens around like babies too. They are a bit to big for that. One of these days she will get a swat on her nose for trying. That will teach her to show cats some respect. The last batch of kittens are weened and ready for homes. My job is done. They will be going to their next foster home this week. That's good because they are driving me nuts. They are active and jump on me all the rime. I can't get anything done. Yea I'm free until next spring. It's endless. Every year I get 3 or 4 litters to raise. I wish people would spay their cats. I know it's expensive, but it's a one time thing.

Naughty Kitties

It's been a busy week. The kittens are driving me bonkers. The female kitty, June, is fine most of the time except when she decides to sleep on my head. It not that I mind her on my head, but she sticks her wet little nose into my eyes, nose and mouth. Sniff, sniff, she has to sniff me. It tickles. It's hard to sleep with that. Of course her purr motor is going the whole time. That is OK. I'm used to cats purring in my face. The boys Wally and Theodore have turned into thieves. I catch them stealing my things and dragging them here and there. Today one of them took a sweat jacket from a bag of cloths I'm giving away and drug it out to the yard. Naughty boys.

Successful Adoption Day

Today was a great successful day. I went to an adoption day with Arad l'chai. We had 2 adult dogs and 3 puppies adopted. Unfortunately Blaze wasn't adopted yet, but I'm happy 5 of our dogs found good homes, plus many of the other groups dogs.


Among the other dogs there there was a Shar Pei and a French Bull Dog. The Frenchie was obviously pure bred, but being a pure bred didn't keep him from loosing his home or get him a new forever home. I didn't get a chance to find out what his story was because he threw a tantrum right after I walked up. The people with him had to deal with it so they couldn't talk to me. He obviously still has issues that still need working on. The right home can deal with it and help him become a great well balanced dog.

The Shar Pei was only 1 year old and looked like she had been used as a bait dog, but she wasn't. It was neglect. Poor thing had a really hard start in life. She was dumped along with her litter of puppies. Her rescue people did a great job with her. The puppies are raised and gone and momma dog is healthy calm and friendly. Her fur still needs to grow back in spots, but that is just cosmetic. I've been there before with an abandoned malnourished dog. It takes a very long time for the bald patches of fur to fully grow back and regain its beauty.

What is astonishing is how many people we have to turn down for adoption. Some of these people have no idea what is involved in raising a dog. We turned down a lot who think a dog can live in a yard. Nope. The dog must live inside with the family. Sure, a yard is great to play in, but not to live in. Would these people make their kids live in the yard? I think not.

Others don't realize that a dog is a 10-20 year commitment. They think it's fine to get a dog until... and then they can give it away. NOT! These people will never get a dog from any rescue.

Some well meaning folks don't realize that you can't get a puppy if you are out of the house 8-10 hours a day. The puppy can't hold it that long and will make in the house if not taken out every few hours. These people are the easiest to deal with. We just give them a reality check about what will happen if the puppy needs out and no one is there to take him. They usually realize real quick that it's not the right time for a puppy. They are willing to wait until their life situation is different.

Another Hedghog

Today was a lazy day due to the heat. I didn't get up early enough to walk the dog. I shouldn't take them out during the heat of the day. It might burn their pads. They are lounging around waiting to go to bed. LOL What a life.

I let them out about a half hour ago and heard a commotion. It was the hedgehog again. Or a different one. This one looked bigger than the last one I saw. I put out water and kibble and let it be. They are shy creatures and don't like to be bothered. I took a picture and will post it when I find my card reader. Someone furry absconded with it. My little thief usually takes clothing, so I don't know who swiped it or what piece of furniture it is under.

Chica

I have the best Canaan Dog/Saluki mix in the world. Chica was a wild unsocialised tripawd (3 legs) puppy when I got her. The Saluki (greyhound) part made learning recall very difficult, but her recall is perfect. She had food aggression due to being born in the wild and having to fight for her food, but that is history. She was deathly afraid of people and cars, but that is ancient history. I could go on, but she is now an obedient, well socialized dog. In addition to being well behaved, she helps me to socialize and train other dogs with problems. With hard work and consistent training Chica overcame every problem she had.

Puppy won't walk, but dogs will

I took my dogs for a very long walk today. I tried to get Blaze the foster puppy to come, but she refused to walk. It's fear, but I have to deal with it and not give in. A fearful dog does not make a good pet.

I practically dragged her down the driveway and to the bench out front. She has a body harness because she won't walk on a leash. I don't want to pull on her neck. It killed my back lifting her and moving her foot by foot. She was one angry camper, but we made it down the driveway. It's part of her therapy. She must be able to walk on a leash if she is to be adopted.

After I rested, I turned around and she slowly almost followed me back home. I still had to lift her part of the way. I put her in the yard and locked the gate. My dogs wanted their walk. Poor Blaze started whimpering when she realized she was being left behind. I hope tomorrow is easier.

It was a nice long walk. We went to Spice's old owners home to visit. I really should bring her to visit seeing how I kinda stole her from him. It was a nice visit and it made both very happy.

On the way back home we cut through the park and met a huge friendly Doberman. The dogs were in heaven. They all got to know each other a bit then we continued home. Of course on the way home we had to deal with passing all the unsocialized dog in their yards barking and fence fighting. Grrr it's annoying. Chica knows to ignore it and doesn't even bat an eye at them, but Spice is still learning. I have to tell her to ignore it.

The good news on Spice is that she has learned to tolerate the Halti head harness. She is no longer trying to remove it and she is doing so much better on walks. When I got her, she had no idea how to heel. Spice is so much better now. She has stopped pulling on the lead altogether. Occasionally she will try to get in front of me, but it's nothing like when she first came to live with me. Such a good girl.

I know to many people it might seem like I'm being harsh and petty by not letting them walk in front seeing how they don't pull, but it is part of their training. In the dog world, the pack leader walks in front and the lower ranking dogs follow. I'm the pack leader.