First Fosters

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#99CC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0968dfc3.jpg"> <div> <B>Unless otherwise noted, all images and text on this site are my own creations.</B></div> <div> <B>Please do not infringe.<IMG SRC="0cfa00f0.png" border=0 width="160" height="15" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Please sign one of our Guest Registers </B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://pub39.bravenet.com/guestbook/show.php?usernum=3286124372&cpv=1/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://pub39.bravenet.com/guestbook/show"><U><B>Bravenet Guest Register</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://htmlgear.lycos.com/guest/control.guest?u=thisildorealm&i=2&a=sign" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://htmlgear.lycos.com/guest/control."><U><B>htmlGear Guest Register</B></U></A><B><IMG SRC="314960f0.png" border=0 width="150" height="15" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="7c264b30.jpg" border=0 width="100" height="179" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=116 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0978dfe1esnpes.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#336633" FACE="Arial" ><B>Thisildo Realm</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Thisildo Realm"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>First Fosters</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="First Fosters Photo Album"><U>First Fosters Photo Album</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ben Fred"><U>Ben & Fred</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lady"><U>Lady</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Spudster"><U>The Spudster</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id129.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="How Could You?"><U>How Could You?</U></A></div> <bR> <div> back to   <A HREF="id325.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Realm Animal Kingdom"><U><B>Realm Animal Kingdom</B></U></A><B>       </B> <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Foster Village 2001"><U><B>Foster Village 2001</B></U></A><B>      </B><A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Map"><U><B>Site Map</B></U></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=364 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0978dfc3.jpg"> <div> <B>First Fosters</B></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="2" WIDTH="654" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 337 WIDTH="646"><div>      Four of the most adorable balls of fluff with noses arrived 18 June 2001 and have had me laughing and smiling constantly since they got here!</div> <bR> <div>      What luck to have my first fostering adventure be with four seven-week old part (mostly!) Australian Shepherd puppies! Such delightful balls of fur! </div> <bR> <div>      The structure of these little guys is amazing. They have the stoutest little legs I've ever seen on a puppy. </div> <bR> <div>      Of course, there's the mouths! LOL Four little mouths loaded with sharp little teeth that just must be wrapped around anything ... fingers to begin with, but it's not long before they are trying to nibble toes, wrists and even knees! :D</div> <bR> <div>      These puppies were born 28 April 2001. There were fourteen in the litter, seven failed, and three have already been adopted. They are active, playful puppies and love attention! :D </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="2" WIDTH="654" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1165 WIDTH="646"><div> <B>A Journal of Sorts...</B> </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>18 June 2001</B> ~ The Adventure Begins! :D </div> <bR> <div>      I got four of the fluffiest little puppies you ever did see! :D Four of 'em! :D </div> <bR> <div>      They say "Three's the charm" and it paid off this time! Friday I got a call from a Humane Society rep wondering if I'd be interested in fostering four puppies. Again I said, sure, but with much less enthusiasm than I'd had when the first two requests came in. I figured this was gonna be another flop so I didn't give it another thought. </div> <bR> <div>      The HS rep kept in touch with me all weekend about these pups, so by yesterday I figured this really was a "go". They were in a foster home with an 80+ year old couple, the wife was in the hospital, he needed hip surgery and he was just wore out from dealing with the pups, his wife in the hospital and his job. At 9 this morning the man calls and is it okay if he brings them by before noon! I'm sooo glad I decided to "puppy proof" the front porch last night! At 10:30 he and his wife, just out of the hospital, pull up. The pups were in a carrier in the back seat along with bags of puppy chow and treats. </div> <bR> <div>      The couple is keeping the mama dog, Angel until she's spayed and healed, then maybe (aren't too sure yet, cause they really love her) put her up for adoption. They have been fostering Angel since she got pregnant and they've become attached to her. </div> <bR> <div>      Balls of fluff with little noses! And phew! First order of the day was a bath! LOL I'm so glad my neighbor and her eight year old daughter were visiting!!! Lisa held a puppy while I lathered it up and rinsed it off and Holly took the drying and soothing. What a team! :D We had all four puppies bathed in less than 30 minutes! Of course, we were bathed as well! </div> <bR> <div>      The word is they are part Australian Shepherd. One of 'em looks full blown AS. She is sooo pretty with such blue eyes! Mercy. I already told the HS rep that if I wind up falling in love with *any* of these critters and adopting them, I was gonna have to hurt her! LOL </div> <bR> <div>      I've already taken a mess of pictures of them, which isn't easy... they don't stop for an instant! :D They've ventured into the back yard a few times, but that was when I was with them. They follow me "like puppies"! LOL I never realized how much of a challenge just walking with four puppies at your feet could be! They were born 28 April. The litter was 14, seven failed, and three have been adopted already. These remaining four are so adorable! One little guy looks like a brown bear. One little girl has shorter fur and great tan markings on her brown body. They are all so huggable! </div> <bR> <div>      Of course I'm only two hours into this! But it is such fun! And their feeding time is perfect with my girls! Speaking of which... you know my girls are going nuts!! I haven't let them get closer than sniffing through the fence, and they seem to be satisfied with that - for the moment. Buffy and Billie commiserated with the pups when we were giving them their baths! LOL The pups were whining and Buffy and Billie started howling in sympathy! </div> <bR> <div>      The pups are going to need another bath before they go for the adoption showing on the weekend... got most of the dirt off them, but they still have a bit of a smell to them. Their fur is sooo fluffy, it's like cotton... and thick! Whew! All but one of these pups is going to be high maintenance! And even the one with the short, velvety fur needs a lot of rinsing when she's bathed!</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="2" WIDTH="654" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 468 WIDTH="646"><div> ~ 7 p.m. :D I've been grinning all day! These puppies are such a delight! </div> <bR> <div>      My girls are sooo jealous!! LOL Every time Buffy sniffs at them she starts growling. Billie is just curious, but I'm not trusting my girls any further than I can throw them! The pups have the sharpest little teeth! And <I>everything</I> is fair game for their mouths... fingers, toes, elbows - even knees! LOL They seem to think my ratty yard tennies are on my feet just so they can teeth on them! :D </div> <bR> <div>      The water bowl is getting to be such fun! LOL The short-haired little girl just <I>has</I> to get in the bowl! So there's little puppy prints all over the porch! They are all so lovable! What a riot to watch them getting up and down from the porch! It's only about 6" from the ground but invariably, they miss coming and going and wind up toppling over! They're such fat little pups, they waddle and wobble everywhere! </div> <bR> <div>      I'm glad it's me fostering them, too! I've got the time to put into dealing with babies, so it's not nearly as nuts as it would be if I had to work outside the home. They venture into the back yard, but only as a group. The boys are more aggressive than the girls and there's been a couple of yelps when one is getting too rough. </div> <bR> <div>      This is really neat and I'm having a ball! :D</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="2" WIDTH="654" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 869 WIDTH="646"><div> <B>19 June 2001</B> ~ 10 a.m.</div> <bR> <div>      What have they discovered next...?? hmmm... In less than 24 hours they've discovered that they can strip bark from Mimosa trees, that they can pull plants through the welded wire fence, that they can worry one of those six-packs plants come in right "under" the fence and totally destroy it, and that they can turn a bowl of sparkling clean water into mud in less than 30 seconds! Oh yeah, they can pull the towels off the fence and drag them into the dirt! Commands mean absolutely nothing to them! LOL </div> <bR> <div>      Oh yeah, puppies are fun! It would help a lot if I had about four times the energy I have! </div> <bR> <div>      Seems they can't take a drink of water without getting in the bowl and pawing at the water! Then they hit the yard and flop down in the dirt (yep, we got a digger in the group). Their bellies are always wet! </div> <bR> <div>      The pups have taken care of one of my gardening concerns! I don't have to be concerned about my Sunflowers this season... I had them planted by the fence to give them some support - they were the 8' tall kind. Seems the puppies got bored... :o) And what IS it with Mimosa trees that dogs just <I>have</I> to chew them?!! When Billie was a pup, she stripped the bark from the Mimosas in the back yard and now I'm watching as these puppies attack every sapling Mimosa in the yard!!! Strange. </div> <bR> <div>      We in trouble... Smidge has "adopted" me! No matter where she is in the yard or what she's doing, the instant I step through the front door, she comes wobbling! What a little lover she is! She wants her face right in my neck and almost wraps her stout little legs around my neck! It's too sweet. You can really tell the boys from The Girls! The boys are forever rough housing while The Girls are busy walking through the water bowl (they gotta be clean donchakno!). </div> <bR> <div>      They're beginning to growl and it's sooo cute! hee hee Buffy started growling at the pups and Smidge has started growling back! :D </div> <bR> <div>      From my knees to my toes are tiny scratches from the pups paws (and teeth) and this morning the black & white (really blended mottled coloring) decided my ankle should be tested for tastiness and nearly drew blood! Yikes! </div> <bR> <div>      Gotta tell ya, though, they have kept a smile on my face since the moment they arrived!</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="2" WIDTH="654" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 743 WIDTH="646"><div> ~ 3:30 p.m. ~~ I guess I don't have to be concerned about "too many baths"! LOL These little guys cannot just get a drink of water. They need to climb into the water bowl and paw at it, splashing water onto their bellies while they're trying to "bail out the boat"! They can make mud out of sparkling clean water in less than thirty seconds. Most times it doesn't last nearly that long as there's at least two with front paws in the water while I'm trying to pour! </div> <bR> <div>      I've also learned (the hard way, of course) that my morning shower comes <I>after</I> the morning visit/feeding with the puppies! LOL Went out there this morning all squeaky clean and in about three minutes I looked like I'd been rolling in the mud!</div> <bR> <div>      Then there was poop patrol... Oh such joy! From past experience with Billie when she was a pup, I learned that just because they've got an entire back yard to do their business in is no indication that they will. So, there I am... pail of lime in one hand and four playful pups tangled in my feet trying to move slowly so I don't step on a little paw and still keep my eyes watching for doggie do. </div> <bR> <div>      Aha! I spy a little pile - my God! That IS a little pile! Mercy.! I'm so used to banana sized stuff and here's this wee little thing that I had to look twice at to be sure. LOL Then of course, I'm trying to get it dusted with the lime and scooped up while the four fur balls are totally ignorant of my endeavors and only want to get near my hands for loving while I'm laughing "get out of the way you little idiots!" and trying to keep them from tramping all through it. </div> <bR> <div>      I push one away and the fat little critter just rolls half way down the hill, scrambles back to her feet and wobbles back for more. LOL I finally managed to get the area cleaned up and was relieved to discover the others had decided they didn't want to mess up the walkway and deposited their treasures under the trees. Bless their little hearts. (Probably just lucky that the "call" came to them while they were already in the trees. :D) </div> <bR> <div>      Brushing. Hmmm... now that was an exercise in futility! LOL These little guys want no part of it unless they can get their mouths wrapped around it!  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="2" WIDTH="654" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1017 WIDTH="646"><div> ~ 7:30 p.m. Okay... I'm loving these little puppies like you wouldn't believe! Wallowing in the pure joy of my very first fostering experience being with the most adorable, fat, happy, fuzzy puppies has blinded me to exactly what has been going on over the past... God! It's only been 24 hours! I'm suddenly realizing that these little balls of fluff with sharp teeth have completely taken me over and are running my butt into the ground! </div> <bR> <div>      Go ahead - laugh, it's okay. My turn will come one day where there's a rookie puppy mom or dad out there doing the same thing and I can ROFLMBO, too! Hee Hee</div> <bR> <div>      I cannot believe how totally different this experience is from when Billie was a pup their age. I didn't realize how easy I had it with Buffy being "in charge" of Billie! I actually caught myself growling at the pups this afternoon! Dang! They were like little rats nipping at every available flesh they could find! ~~~Boy, you can believe I'm in long pants AND long sleeves anymore! </div> <bR> <div>      I discovered I simply cannot outrun these little guys - and that blows my mind! I mean for pity sake, the little beggars only have 3" long legs! How in blazes can they do that?!!! I can average a 4' pace when I'm jogging and more when I'm running, but these little fur balls --- that's it! They roll!!!! That's how they do it! LOL </div> <bR> <div>      The major attraction today has been the water pot. I think they want a swimming pool. They will come wobbling from the back yard at the first sound of water being poured into their pot. And does anybody want a drink. No. Oh yeah, there's some laps at the water, but all I see are these oars trying to bail out the boat! </div> <bR> <div>      Now you've got to understand the structure of these little guys... they're built different from any puppy I've ever been around (which really doesn't say much cause I've not been around a whole lot of dogs). The pups I've loved on in the past have been fuzzy, fat little fur balls with teeth, but when it comes to their legs and paws, these little ones are way different. They remind me of bear cubs. They've got short stout legs and no wrist at all. It's a straight line from their elbow to their pads. When you put your hand around their leg and draw down toward their paws, there's virtually no difference in diameter, about 1.25" - 1.5" (the little bear boy is the biggest and the little short hair girl is the smallest). </div> <bR> <div>      Keeping this in mind you can visualize these fur balls clustered around the water pot (a gallon size) first with faces in the water and then one by one they start climbing into the pot. Of course it won't hold all of them and one by one they begin losing interest... except for one of them. And you gotta know it's not the same one every time! The little fur balls take turns! The remaining pup then begins methodically pawing at the water with these oars until the pot is empty. Empty. They don't turn the pot over. They bail until the thing is empty.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="2" WIDTH="654" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 299 WIDTH="646"><div>      I've been going out every hour to refill their water because it's so hot outside and now I'm a bit concerned about this monster I've (of course it's my fault!) created by quickly refilling the water pot. But, :::Sigh::: they're just babies and they gotta have water! I had the fleeting thought of taking the pups down to the creek but then intelligence slammed me up side the head with "Are you <I>crazy?!</I>" LOL </div> <bR> <div>      I really enjoy playing in the dirt with planting things and stuff, but no matter how much dirt I've shoveled or logs I've toted, I've never gotten as dirty as I have playing with four little puppies! I've got a digger in the group and mixing sopping wet puppy paws with digging ... it's a mess when they come wobbling up and try to climb all over me. My T-shirt actually has puppy prints up my back! Oh yeah, I really had it easy with pup Billie! Buffy taught her well. :D </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="2" WIDTH="654" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 638 WIDTH="646"><div> <B>20 June 2001</B> ~ 10:30 a.m. </div> <bR> <div>      Yep! They are getting their own "pool" today! Hee Hee It's not really a pool, it's a huge galvanized tub that I got to give Buffy and Billie baths in - yeah, right. But it's perfect for the pups to play in! </div> <bR> <div>      So I'm about to take my clean self outside and get a rock for the water bowl and some blocks for the water pool... they're still too little to climb in or out of it! :D </div> <bR> <div> ~~ 3:00 p.m. Well, the pool idea was a flop. Methinks it's because the tub is just too big for them. All four could fit inside it easy but it's more like they don't want to be <I>in</I> the water, they just want to play <I>with</I> the water and they can't do that in the big galvanized tub. They sure can't bail it out!</div> <bR> <div> <B>23 June 2001</B> ~ The puppers went to the Adoption Show this morning and at the end of the day three of the four were adopted! Yay!!! Smidge is the only one left. My heart skipped a beat when I learned this... Smidge snuck in and stole my heart, so of course, my mind went through all the possibilities! LOL </div> <bR> <div> <B>27 June 2001</B> ~ 100% Success! Yippee!!! All the puppers are in their forever homes! A couple had seen Smidge at the show on Saturday, but never made a decision. Monday morning there was a message at the Humane Society from the couple hoping Smidge was still available! :D </div> <bR> <div>      My first fostering adventure was a huge success! Of course it's now the benchmark for future fosters... (vbg) The puppies were wonderful to have around in spite of the extra work, which didn't really seem like <I><B>work</B></I><B> </B>with all the laughing and fun I was having! I'm really looking forward to the Second Fosters!</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Bring on the puppers!</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>