Wednesday, November 23, 2005
What time is it?
Oh, dear god, it’s been a month since I’ve updated this. That just goes to show you that I have been BUSY!!
I have been doing some more volunteering with 1atatime Rescue. And Rob and I are fostering a dog from 1atatime, as well. We have fostered out some dogs with friends, which is great, and are looking for more fosters and adoptive homes. I’m also working with 1atatime on some fundraising, which is very important since the rescue dogs that we got from Louisiana had some extreme vet bills. They’re all healthy now, which is great, but the coffers are dry. We are planning a fundraiser for late January, and hope to do a silent auction and possibly wine-tasting and doggie fashion show.
I also worked the Pet Expo booth for 1atatime in early November. We created a DVD of pictures to display on a TV screen (our camper TV!). And I staffed the booth from Friday afternoon to the end of Sunday. I brought the NoodleDog with me, of course, on Friday and Saturday as a sort of mascot. He hammed it up at the booth and managed to get about as much attention as any dog could want. Man, that dog loves attention. He would lie out on the concrete floor in front of the booth, on his side, as though he was the most forlorn dog in the world. If someone looked at him, the tip of his tail would start to wag. If they came over, the tail went into full wag mode, and if they knelt down to pet him, he would jump up and lick their face, and demand pats and congratulations from them. People were more than happy to oblige, and I nearly lost him to a number of families who thought he was up for adoption. I am hoping that the attention he drew will result in some foster or adoptive homes for the Hurricane Rescue dogs.
I gave him Sunday off, and brought Penny to the show so the people could see a real Hurricane Dog. Penny was tireless. Unlike the NoodleDog, who tired on Saturday and started to get confused and too tired to do much, Penny looked at everyone with her bright eyes the entire time, and wagged her little tail. She also barked a few times at some of the other dogs at the show who were causing a commotion, and since I’d never heard her bark before, it was neat. Alissa brought her own rescued dog, Adora, who is one of the prettiest dogs I’ve seen. She’s a Catahoula-Whippet cross, and has the most beautiful eyes and markings.
The little dog we brought home to foster is a red Catahoula cross. We are calling him Beau, and he is fantastic. Such a snuggler! And he loves to play with Cooter. Cooter won’t let him have a toy, so any toy Beau picks up to play with, Cooter takes away, and then shoves in his face as if to say “these are MY toys, and you can’t have them!”, and then they chase all around the house or the yard.
Beau is a terror. He has broken into the cats’ area several times, and it seemed like we would never be able to keep him out until Rob built a little gate that only the cats can fit through. Beau also likes to run from one end of the house to the other and back again, and jump onto the sofa and then onto the bed, and then onto the spare bed and then back onto the sofa again. He just goes crazy when he gets inside from being outside. It has been unseasonably warm here for the past couple of weeks, so they’ve been staying outside during the daytime. When I get home from work, Beau acts like a crazy dog when he gets inside. He is just so happy to be in the house and running around!
Beau doesn’t like huskies at all. We’re not sure why, and postulate that perhaps he was attacked in the past by a husky type of dog. He gets aggressive around them and snaps at them, which is completely ridiculous, because he weighs all of 35 lbs, and most of them are in the 100 lb range. Most of the huskies we have encountered just look at him and turn their backs when he snaps, as though he were a gnat or some other inconsequential nuisance.
But Beau is lovely. He is learning so quickly – he has caught on to “sit” in under a week, and I’m working on “lie down” with him. Then, we will attempt “stay”, which I think will be a challenge because his attention span is only so large…
The NoodleDog and Cooter were a bit jealous of him at first. He demands attention at all times. Now that we’ve had him for a couple of weeks, though, everyone is settling into a routine.
We also took in the feral cat that was brought back from Louisiana. The poor feral cat… When they brought him here, he was unapproachable. He still is, for the most part, but doesn’t go into a fit when you look at him now. He stayed in an office at the Pet Planet kennels for a while, and sure enough, no one ever turned out the lights until one of the volunteer workers figured out that the poor cat had been in perpetual daylight for three weeks… they then switched the lights to 7a on, 7p off. And Pet Planet wanted their empty room back, so the feral cat had to go. Somewhere.
He (and I only say “he” for ease, because we don’t know his gender at all) is now living in our garage. Our garage can be heated if it’s cold out, and there are lots of places for him to hide. There is the occasional bout of loud noise when Rob is working in the garage on the truck, but for the most part, it is a good safe place for the feral cat. He is a beautiful cat – grey tabby – and looks pretty healthy. He has a vet appointment in early December and will then have to find a more permanent place to live. Our garage is fine for now, and Rob surprised me by agreeing to the arrangement, but figures that the feral cat may cancel out the mice we have had in the garage. I would guess the cat will make very short work of them, and that’s a pretty fair trade for us. Heaven knows MY cats aren’t catching them (unless they come in the house).
So for now, all is well. Except for Rob’s toe… When we were cleaning out the garage last night, and moving stuff around so we could re-release the feral cat, Rob dropped a large piece of metal on his foot. More precisely, his second and third toes. His second toe may be broken at the tip, and the nail is certainly gone – the crushing impact of the metal landing on his nail exploded it off the toe (although it’s hanging on by a few threads), and blew open the skin. The third toe incurred incidental damage and he only lost the tip of the nail and some skin on that one. I bandaged them up as best I could at the time, but we’ll have to look at them again today when I get home. He can’t wear a shoe now, but the weather is nice enough (surprisingly) that he can wear a sandal.
And with that, I will hope that the weather holds on for a few more days, and that Rob’s toe gets better, and that all the rescue dogs find adoptive homes (or at least good fosters) before Christmas.
I have been doing some more volunteering with 1atatime Rescue. And Rob and I are fostering a dog from 1atatime, as well. We have fostered out some dogs with friends, which is great, and are looking for more fosters and adoptive homes. I’m also working with 1atatime on some fundraising, which is very important since the rescue dogs that we got from Louisiana had some extreme vet bills. They’re all healthy now, which is great, but the coffers are dry. We are planning a fundraiser for late January, and hope to do a silent auction and possibly wine-tasting and doggie fashion show.
I also worked the Pet Expo booth for 1atatime in early November. We created a DVD of pictures to display on a TV screen (our camper TV!). And I staffed the booth from Friday afternoon to the end of Sunday. I brought the NoodleDog with me, of course, on Friday and Saturday as a sort of mascot. He hammed it up at the booth and managed to get about as much attention as any dog could want. Man, that dog loves attention. He would lie out on the concrete floor in front of the booth, on his side, as though he was the most forlorn dog in the world. If someone looked at him, the tip of his tail would start to wag. If they came over, the tail went into full wag mode, and if they knelt down to pet him, he would jump up and lick their face, and demand pats and congratulations from them. People were more than happy to oblige, and I nearly lost him to a number of families who thought he was up for adoption. I am hoping that the attention he drew will result in some foster or adoptive homes for the Hurricane Rescue dogs.
I gave him Sunday off, and brought Penny to the show so the people could see a real Hurricane Dog. Penny was tireless. Unlike the NoodleDog, who tired on Saturday and started to get confused and too tired to do much, Penny looked at everyone with her bright eyes the entire time, and wagged her little tail. She also barked a few times at some of the other dogs at the show who were causing a commotion, and since I’d never heard her bark before, it was neat. Alissa brought her own rescued dog, Adora, who is one of the prettiest dogs I’ve seen. She’s a Catahoula-Whippet cross, and has the most beautiful eyes and markings.
The little dog we brought home to foster is a red Catahoula cross. We are calling him Beau, and he is fantastic. Such a snuggler! And he loves to play with Cooter. Cooter won’t let him have a toy, so any toy Beau picks up to play with, Cooter takes away, and then shoves in his face as if to say “these are MY toys, and you can’t have them!”, and then they chase all around the house or the yard.
Beau is a terror. He has broken into the cats’ area several times, and it seemed like we would never be able to keep him out until Rob built a little gate that only the cats can fit through. Beau also likes to run from one end of the house to the other and back again, and jump onto the sofa and then onto the bed, and then onto the spare bed and then back onto the sofa again. He just goes crazy when he gets inside from being outside. It has been unseasonably warm here for the past couple of weeks, so they’ve been staying outside during the daytime. When I get home from work, Beau acts like a crazy dog when he gets inside. He is just so happy to be in the house and running around!
Beau doesn’t like huskies at all. We’re not sure why, and postulate that perhaps he was attacked in the past by a husky type of dog. He gets aggressive around them and snaps at them, which is completely ridiculous, because he weighs all of 35 lbs, and most of them are in the 100 lb range. Most of the huskies we have encountered just look at him and turn their backs when he snaps, as though he were a gnat or some other inconsequential nuisance.
But Beau is lovely. He is learning so quickly – he has caught on to “sit” in under a week, and I’m working on “lie down” with him. Then, we will attempt “stay”, which I think will be a challenge because his attention span is only so large…
The NoodleDog and Cooter were a bit jealous of him at first. He demands attention at all times. Now that we’ve had him for a couple of weeks, though, everyone is settling into a routine.
We also took in the feral cat that was brought back from Louisiana. The poor feral cat… When they brought him here, he was unapproachable. He still is, for the most part, but doesn’t go into a fit when you look at him now. He stayed in an office at the Pet Planet kennels for a while, and sure enough, no one ever turned out the lights until one of the volunteer workers figured out that the poor cat had been in perpetual daylight for three weeks… they then switched the lights to 7a on, 7p off. And Pet Planet wanted their empty room back, so the feral cat had to go. Somewhere.
He (and I only say “he” for ease, because we don’t know his gender at all) is now living in our garage. Our garage can be heated if it’s cold out, and there are lots of places for him to hide. There is the occasional bout of loud noise when Rob is working in the garage on the truck, but for the most part, it is a good safe place for the feral cat. He is a beautiful cat – grey tabby – and looks pretty healthy. He has a vet appointment in early December and will then have to find a more permanent place to live. Our garage is fine for now, and Rob surprised me by agreeing to the arrangement, but figures that the feral cat may cancel out the mice we have had in the garage. I would guess the cat will make very short work of them, and that’s a pretty fair trade for us. Heaven knows MY cats aren’t catching them (unless they come in the house).
So for now, all is well. Except for Rob’s toe… When we were cleaning out the garage last night, and moving stuff around so we could re-release the feral cat, Rob dropped a large piece of metal on his foot. More precisely, his second and third toes. His second toe may be broken at the tip, and the nail is certainly gone – the crushing impact of the metal landing on his nail exploded it off the toe (although it’s hanging on by a few threads), and blew open the skin. The third toe incurred incidental damage and he only lost the tip of the nail and some skin on that one. I bandaged them up as best I could at the time, but we’ll have to look at them again today when I get home. He can’t wear a shoe now, but the weather is nice enough (surprisingly) that he can wear a sandal.
And with that, I will hope that the weather holds on for a few more days, and that Rob’s toe gets better, and that all the rescue dogs find adoptive homes (or at least good fosters) before Christmas.
