Since Haven left (she is doing wonderfully in her new home by the way) we have had Boo come and go. Boo has been in our rescue for over 3 months now. His foster mom went on a 3 week vacation out of the country and instead of boarding, he came to stay with us. Boo is deaf and has some major issues. The poor boy spent an entire year in a shelter. That is both horrendous and miraculous. Extended shelter life is incredibly hard on any dog, let alone a special needs dog. The miraculous part is that after all that time, he actually made it out alive. He was finally adopted and not a year later his adopter became critically ill and poor Boo faced homelessness yet again. That is when he came to our rescue, along with his little pal, a miniature schnauzer, who was adopted almost instantly. Boo, like many deaf dogs, struggles with extreme anxiety. He came to us to work on some training and to learn some dog play manners. He had only been around females and most of them were small. His play was quite aggressive. Dixie loves difficult dogs because it gives her a job. She got to work on him right away, spending literally hours the first night encouraging play and correcting anything that got out of hand. In the short time he was here, his manners improved incredibly. Boo's foster mom is new to fostering and I applaud her for not giving up on him. He is a lot to handle, even for someone with experience. We offered to keep him, but she absolutely adores him and couldn't wait to have him back. She asked only for my advice and I sent him back to her with all I could think of. She swears that she won't adopt him, but only because she is older and she feels he needs someone young. She says that he will likely outlive her. She doesn't trust her family with the responsibility of him and doesn't want him to lose another home. Of course, our little rescue family would make sure that he always had a good home, but I understand and respect her decision. She even decided to foster another dog so that Boo would have a companion. Anxiety issues aside, what an amazing temperament he has. He was awesome with Livi, my 2 year old niece. He was gentle and adored the attention she covered him in. I don't often recommend deaf dogs to families with small children, but Boo Boo is an exception to the "rule".
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| Handsome Boo Boo! |
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| Spending time with Livi. |
We also got a special visitor over Memorial Day weekend. Bella! Oh, and she brought Jen with her;-) This was the first time that we have had a former foster back to visit. Although Bella was with us for 6 months, she had already been gone for 8. I wondered if she would remember us, the dogs, her former home. And with certainty, the answer is yes. She sure did! It was a fun reunion. Dixie went absolutely crazy, to the point of obsessing. (Of all the fosters, Bella's departure was by far the most traumatic for Dixie and I will never forget the mournful howling. I had never heard her do it before, and I haven't heard it since.) After the initial excitement, Bella made her self quite at home. It was neat to see how she remembered little things, like that the best place for hunting is behind the shed and that the robot pool cleaner is her nemesis. We had a nice long weekend of eating, drinking and relaxing. Our biggest decisions were whether to lounge on the couch or out by the pool. It was great! As you can see by the pictures, the dogs had fun too! It was just a big blur of white fur when they got to playing.
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| Little Bella all tuckered out. |
I expect our next foster, Harley, this coming weekend. It will have been two full weeks of no foster dog in the house, the biggest gap we've had in a long time.
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