The Crazy Dog Lady

So our foster, Mindy has a date with a potential adopter tomorrow evening. And so the fostering process continues. Nothing is for sure of course and tomorrow is just a first step. Not sure how I feel about all of it. We love this girl and we think she likes it here with us. She fits in so nicely here. At the same time I know she will be a great addition to a family in search of a dog that loves to snuggle, loves to run, loves to chew her bone and loves to fetch. She is a sweetheart. Sweetheart. That's been my word I've used describe her since we rescued her. BossMan's phrase to describe her has simply been "good girl", which is perfect. She really is both of those. BossMan and I are sitting on the couch right now with Bruce and Mindy, watching The Wonder Years on Netflix (our favorite right now) and I think about how these two pups get along and even how their names fit together so perfectly. I think about how hard they play and how peacefully they sn

I try to not get flustered by people being ignorant so this is what I have to say about the breed labeled a monster.... Pit bulls and all that the name enTAILs (see what I did there?) are dogs like any other dog you see walking down the street. They have their issues like any other dog. They also have their strong points and weak points like any other dog. Like any other dog, they aren't born monsters and they aren't born fighters. They can, however, be molded into such a creature. Pit bulls do have strength, physically. They need exercise and they need training ... well like any other dog. They need guidance and in that they need a leader. In that leader they need love, patience, tenderness and sterness not abuse or harm. All of this is like any other dog. And that brings me to the next kind of strength. A pit bull has... Mental strength. A pit bull can go through horrid abuses and grotesque treatment like any other dog. They can come out of that abuse and fully reco

Ugh! Crate training can be the best thing or it can be the worst thing. It's the best thing if the dog being trained isn't a total and complete spaz. It's the absolute worst thing for a dog with separation anxiety and a pure panic that causes the crate to somehow move 10 feet across the dining room floor. I introduce to you the Big Bad Crate Monster that seems to scare the crap out of every dog I've brought into a home. I honestly feel like a failure. The first dog I tried to crate train was our dear Mr. Moe. We got Moe in 2001, when I was in 8th grade. We were introduced to crate training and all of its potential glories so my mom bought a big crate and that first night I put poor Moe in, what he must have thought was, a dungeon. Well like most puppies, he started whimpering and then crying and then that noise right before they get to barking. I was in 8th grade! I was weak! I needed to sleep! I was a 14 year old who needed some snuggle time with a cute puppy becau

So here is the story of our Bruce and how he became part of our new, little family... Foster Failure...I've seen this term used around the Blog-a-verse and it definitely applies to me and BossMan. It simply means that we are weak humans who selfishly keep a foster dog for their own pleasure. PATHETIC I tell you, just PATHETIC! Ok well all kidding aside, our first foster turned into our furrever baby (see what I did there) after only 2 days. The blame can be handed out evenly, 50/50. I can't blame BossMan because honestly he didn't even know what hit him when this all started. He was DUPED, HOODWINKED, SWINDLED, etc. We blame Bruce because he was such a good foster and because he seemed to make himself at home quite quickly. He just fit in with us. The rest of the blame goes to me. I take only half of the responsibility. Yes, I indeed conned BossMan into "fostering" with the underlying intent to get a dog. It's not like I had this planned for a long time.

BossMan and I are 4 days in with our second foster dog and it's been an eye-opener, to say the least. As some of you might know our first foster, Bruce made us both "foster failures". I'll go into that in a later post. Back to the purpose of this post. Four days into our second foster experience and boy has it been interesting. I picked up Missy, now Mindy (1. she wasn't attached to the name Missy and 2. we weren't fond of the name Missy for her and let's be honest, IN GENERAL), from the shelter on my way home from work. We had a nice little car ride back home (love a good car canine), met Bruce and BossMan outside in neutral zone and went for a quick walk. The two had already met the night before and they got along so well but we didn't want anyone to feel threatened in the house. If you are introducing two dogs for the first time and your dog might be a tiny bit skittish or territorial please do this! It will do wonders for them. The first nigh