Bye, Bye 13; Hello, Double Seven!

“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and man.” ~ Mark Twain

Opal Hound, our first foster,
now happily adopted in New York

Could it be that AnniePie, Beano and I are only two months into fostering rescue dogs for transport down the Road to Forever? I'd hardly believe it after three dogs, but the record of blog posts since we first brought Opal home tells the story in no uncertain terms.

One fact that is not at all hard to believe; fostering is the best thing we did in all of 2013. We've been "empty nesters" scarcely more than 24 hours now--Fenway, an adolescent male border collie and our third foster, boarded the Dog Runner yesterday afternoon--and we're feeling the "hole" left in our household. Even after vacuuming the bedroom carpet to get out maybe 85% of the dark black hair Fen left behind!

Annie: With the leaving of each dog, I have experienced different emotions. I have fallen in love with each one and letting them go has been so difficult, but each parting has been such a contrast. 

We will be taking a bit of break. The next transport from Wichita Falls is not scheduled until Jan 30. We will be using the off time to get the house back into shape and to select the right dog for us and for Beano.

Charlie Beagle, our 2nd, also happily adopted.

As we've mentioned before in these posts, Beano, our 4-year-old male beagle/Boston terrier mix, has some rather strong possessiveness issues around food, treats and toys. Being an "only" dog since birth (until two months ago), he also has a strong sense of ranking as top dog around our house.

Opal, an American coon hound, challenged him only slightly in that Opal was totally laid back and willing to let Beano have his way. Oh, they had a brush up over food that raised our concern somewhat, but they resolved their differences on their own the next day.

Often all Beano needs is time to sulk and pout in his crate. Of course, we never "send" him there when squabbles erupt; he takes to his den on his own.

Annie: Opal was such a dear, sweet girl. Several days before she boarded the transport, I began missing her. I cried and cried when we brought her to the Walmart parking lot to say goodbye. I knew she would get an excellent home in New York. I  just didn't want her to go. Fortunately, Opal got her forever home almost right away.

Charlie Beagle, our 2nd foster, was a good fit. Charlie not only had an easy going manner, like Opal, he also was nearer Beano's size. These guys actually enjoyed one another's companionship.

Annie: Charlie is also a big love, but we had issues about occupied space. Charlie loved taking over my warm spot on the bed  - and he was darn near impossible for me to move. Stubborn and oh, so sweet. He has perfected the 'sad-eye' look and I am a total pushover. With Charlie, I was worried about how long it would be before he got adopted. I wanted him to get a forever home as quickly as possible. I was thrilled to pieces when we got a photo of Charlie and his new parents!

Fenway, now in transit to Helping Hounds.

Then came Fenway, a nine-months-old male border collie, who needs nothing quite so much as he needs a full time job! That goes with his breed.

There was not a thing wrong with Fenway that a 5-acre pasture would not have cured. True to his breed, Fen was 40 pounds of perpetual motion confined by a hard spell of winter weather inside a house much too small for his near boundless energy.

Fenway was a challenge for us all and a particular challenge for Beano who, on the whole, spent much more time in his crate than he did when we had Opal and Charlie. Fen's constant activity wore on Beano. Rarely in the last few days of Fenway's stay was Beano willing to play.

Annie: Fenway is a big, goofy, lovable kid. He always has a smile on his face and I believe, his only aim in life is to please. We had him the longest - almost the entire month of December. I can't think of him without tearing up ... I love this dog. Jim had to work the afternoon the transport was leaving, so one of the other foster parents picked Fen up from our house. I had been crying on and off since the previous evening, so it was probably for the best I wasn't going to actually see him loaded up and taking off. Fenway needs lots of room and would love some cooperative animals to herd (our cats just weren't up for it!). Until we get news of Fenway, I'll be worrying like a mom who has sent her first born off to college. 

As much as we loved Fenway and his exuberant personality, it became clear that dogs much larger than Beano are not a good mix.

Each dog that comes through our home teaches us a little bit more. While it may feel to us like we've been fostering forever, we are still very much newbies with much more to learn.

Here's looking forward to a great 2014 and many more super dogs helped along the Road to Forever!

Dogs Don't Do Christmas

Dogs don't do Christmas, you see,
All dogs know is "NOW!"
Dogs couldn't care less about a Christmas tree, 'cause
It's just one more place he's not allowed to pee.
And chocolate and nuts and Aunt Jude's fruitcake
Just poison his system, for goodness sake!

Dogs don't do Christmas, you know,
It's just not in their cards.
Warm beds and good kibble are all dogs' want.
Oh yeah, and a good romp across the yard.
And some kind hand to scratch that spot
Where a dog's tail starts and his reach stops!

Dogs don't do Christmas, y'all;
Special days are not their thing.
Our customs just confirm to dogs
What foolishness humans bring.
For dogs, love is eternal. What more is there to say?
Love your dog. That's all he asks. And it will be Christmas every day!

Third Foster a Charming Handful

He's 42 pounds of unbridled, uncollared, seemingly limitless energy, and he wants nothing more than to share all that hyper-kinetic activity with anyone and everyone who comes within sight. Other dogs, cats, people, mourning doves. Doesn't matter. This nine-month-old border collie has room in his heart and games for all!   

Fenway enjoys a moment in the sun.

We can't help but speculate that this combination of size and energy led to Fenway's being abandoned. 

I want to stress we only can speculate Fenway was abandoned. No one actually witnessed this beautiful dog being dumped. Yet Fenway's profile fits with why some four million dogs are abandoned in the U.S. each year. He is a royal handful with an appetite!

Fenway's known story only goes back a few months when he was picked up and held by animal control. After no one came to claim him, Fen was tagged for shelter placement by the Humane Society of Wichita County. As weeks passed with no one showing interest in adopting, Fen was selected for transport to Helping Hounds Dog Rescue in New York.

Within days of his scheduled departure date, Fenway came down with an upper respiratory infection. He had to be bumped from the Road to Forever.

Meds cleared his infection, and before he could be rescheduled for New York, Fen was adopted! Within two weeks, however, he was returned to the shelter as "not a good fit" with the adopting family.

Always alert for the next game!

Fenway certainly is true to breed:

The Border Collie is very intelligent and aware of its surroundings... able to be trained to a high degree. This is one of the hardest working dogs thriving on praise.... The Border Collie is highly energetic with great stamina. Provided they get sufficient activity to keep them occupied and ample exercise.... This breed can be sensitive and should be very well socialized as a puppy to prevent shyness.... These dogs are too intelligent to lie around the house all day with nothing to do. [dogbreedinfo.com]

In other words, all Fenway needs is his own flock of sheep and a five-acre patch!

The Beagle's Tale, Part 2

Old English Beagle

About the time of the Norman Conquest and the arrival in Britain of the Talbot hound that odd notes begin to appear regarding an All-English hunting hound known as the North Country Beagle. The written record, however, is scant in the extreme regarding the origin of this dog since this was before huntsmen and kennel masters began keeping detailed, written records concerning their breeding activities.

One minority school of thought contends that the North Country beagle was among the oldest of dogs known to man, originating in the British Isles and coming down through the ages from the Celts. Another majority school holds that the Northern was a smaller, faster off shoot of the Southern hound, also a descendant of the Talbots brought over by the Normans. Whichever way you choose to vote, the term beagle begins to appear in the literature in the 11th century.

Being an English minor as well as a journalist, of course, I can’t help but muse on the etymology of beagle. A quick check with ancestry.com on possible origins of the English sir name reveals it was either a variant of Beadle OR originally a nickname relating to the English hunting hound. However, we also find the old French term begueulle, meaning a noisy shouting person.

Whatever the origin, by the time of Henry IV and Elizabeth I, beagle was applied to any hound dog in England. The above mentioned royals both were particularly fond of a quite diminutive breed known as a pocket beagle. Rather than a novelty, huntsmen bred these pocket-sized hounds to go after game that had taken refuge in dense thickets and undergrowth where the larger dogs could not follow. Common practice was for the hunter to carry one or two of these pint-sized demons in his pocket or saddle bags until needed.

WARNING! The true old English pocket beagle went extinct well over 100 years ago! Today's so-called pocket, or teacup, beagles are relatively new breeding creations, often achieved by breeding litter runts. Such breeding is little more than abuse. These dogs display a whole host of abnormalities directly resulting from being bred to be small.

By the 1700s fox hunting was gaining in popularity, and some clever kennel master thought of breeding a North Country Beagle with a Foxhound. The result was a nearly "perfect" fox hunting hound and pretty near the dog we today know and love as the beagle.

Mere months before a young biologist embarked on a world-changing voyage aboard the

From the Journals of Charles Darwin

HMS Beagle, Reverend Phillip Honeywood  established a formal breeding program. His dogs were nearly pure white, smaller yet than the North Country and were known as Honeywood Beagles. One Thomas Johnson further refined the breed to devise rough-coat and smooth-coat varieties.

Beagle varieties abounded by the 1840s with four distinct types being the most popular. They were the medium beagle, the lapdog beagle, the fox beagle and the terrier beagle. Less than 50 years later, however, beagles were in danger of vanishing entirely from England as had their forerunner Southern and Northern hounds. Records for 1887 revealed only 18 packs of beagles remaining in the country.

The Beagle Club formed in 1890, and the first true standard for the beagle breed was written. A dozen years later 44 beagle packs were registered in Britain.

General Richard Rowett is credited with importing some exceptional beagles from England and breeding them in the United States about 1876. Rowett's beagles generally are credited as the first models for an American breed standard. That American beagle was formally recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1884.

Today the beagle rank 4th in popularity with Americans.

Our own Charlie Beagle, our 2nd foster on the Road to Forever, literally is somewhere along that road tonight as this is published. Good Lord willing and the snow doesn't get too deep in the Northeast, he and the rest of Dog Runner's charges will arrive in DeWitt, New York, some time Saturday.

God speed, Charlie!

The Beagle's Tale, Part 1

"For persevering chase and headlong leaps,

True beagle as the staunchest hound he keeps”

William Cowper, The Progress of Error (1782)

Can there be any doubt that the late American cartoonist Charles Shulz lived with beagles? Schulz's iconic comic strip may have been called Peanuts and may have featured that round-headed kid, but Snoopy and entire generations of fans knew who the strip really was about. From WWI Ace to Joe Cool, Snoopy epitomizes the All-American Beagle.

While the beagle has a solid claim to being an All-American dog--holding firmly to 4th place in popularity ranking the past several years according to the American Kennel Club--the ancestral hound that would be beagle is lost in the far distant mists of antiquity.

Greek grammarian Julius Pollux referenced dogs [Onomasticon circa 180 C.E.] being used as hunting companions as early as 1300 B.C.E. Xenophon, one of Socrates' students, also wrote about small hounds used to hunt rabbits and hares in the ancient world. 

Contemporary studies on the origins of dogs and domestication generally agree that proto dog, as yet unknown offsprings of the grey wolf and other wild canids, was the first animal to link up with prehistoric hunter-gatherer humans some time before the beginnings of agriculture and civilization. Until further scientific data is unearthed, it remains to be seen exactly who domesticated whom, dog or man.

From it prehistoric origins as a survival skill, hunting gradually evolved over thousands of years into sport. England’s landed gentry and nobility engaged in blood sports socially as early as the 14th century. Mounted on horses, these huntsmen employed large packs of large and small hounds and terriers to run down deer, fox, badger and hare. Additionally, these to the manor born Brits employed kennel masters whose task it was to selectively breed hounds specifically for the local hunt conditions, i.e., larger, swifter hounds where the countryside was more open; smaller, tenacious hounds where the woods and thickets were more dense.

Scent hounds

Selective breeding in scent hounds began in St. Hubert's monastery in Belgium during the Middle Ages. Celtic dogs from Gaul were used by the monks to develop a large-boned, medium-sized dog. Rather slow as a hunter, the St. Hubert Hound proved to be doggedly determined with a melodic voice and superior nose.

A direct ancestor of today’s Bloodhound, the St. Hubert spread throughout Europe to become a progenitor of several scent hound breeds, among them the Talbot Hound. 

Exactly how and when the Talbot came to the British Isles is not known with any degree of certainty. Prevailing legend and anecdotal history claims William the Conqueror brought the Talbot to England in the 11th century where it was bred with the Greyhound in an attempt to improve the dog's speed. This new hound mix was dubbed the Southern Hound, or so the story goes. 

Southern Hound

Snowed Under & Iced Over...NOT!

Dear Friends & Followers,

Just a few dozen lines to let everyone know that we have not been abducted by aliens, fallen off the edge of the Earth nor found religion and ran off to join the Tea Party cult (NOT EVEN A REMOTE POSSIBILITY!). We cannot blame our absence from this blog on the weather, either, since we are not iced in all that deeply--I mean, I did get up and make it to my day job by 7:05 this morning. Certainly we were not hit as hard as our friends down in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for which I hope we are truly thankful.

Charlie is great. Antibiotics knocked out his cough, and he has learned to tolerate spending the night in his crate, at least. Given time, I actually think he will come to appreciate having a cozy, enclosed space all his own. For now, however, he still prefers Annie's side of our bed. Last word we heard on Dog Runner, Charlie will be heading for New York Monday evening, barring any further delays due to weather and/or road conditions.

Beano is ... well ... tolerable, I suppose. He has been somewhat green, shall we say, these past several days. Seems he is jealous of Charlie in spite of our best efforts to engage both dogs equally.

The boys had a dust up over a rawhide chew a couple of days ago. Hackles were raised, teeth were bared, guttural growls were voiced. In the end, however, the only injuries sustained were to feelings. No physical harm was done to or by either party, and Beano immediately confined himself to his crate for the remainder of the evening, pouting.

Consequently all rawhide chews have been confiscated and hidden away. Charlie's will be packed with his other belongings, and Beano will get his back after Charlie has left the house. But the incident also has prompted Annie and I to reconsider and reevaluate just how we will continue to foster rescue dogs.

Annie: To be fair to Beano, he has always exhibited a jealous side, so his disdain of Charlie is really nothing new. He is very protective of his toys and food. Opal just ignored him, and, as she was larger, he pretty much (had to) let her have her way. Charlie, on the other hand, is his size (albeit not as heavy) and more laid back in disposition - Beano may consider him more of a threat. He does try to engage Charlie in play often - sometimes to Charlie's chagrin. They each have their moments. Again, I believe this is due to their similarities rather than differences.

Interestingly, he knows when he's pushed it too far. And I swear, he practices his scowl when we aren't home! I do find it amusing that he now knows when he needs confinement. He doesn't think twice, just goes directly to his crate and stares out until given the nod that he can rejoin us.

Meanwhile, I've been working on a blog post about beagles, and frankly, the research has taken longer than I expected. At least, that's my excuse for being absent since Saturday last and I'm sticking to it. Until next time, then, stay off the roads, keep your dogs close and share the blankets with someone you love!

Weekend Update

News from New York!

Opal Hound arrived in New York

We believed Opal Hound, our first foster, to be mostly American black-and-tan coon hound. Word comes from Helping Hounds in DeWitt, NY, however, that Opal is ALL smooch hound!

Dog Runner arrived in New York today on schedule and all passengers safe and apparently happy. Several of our Texas dogs were met on arrival by eager adopting families. These lucky dogs will be spending their first nights in New York in their new permanent homes.

Wish I could say Opal was among this fortunate group, but apparently that was not the case. She did, nonetheless, immediately win over several of the Helping Hound volunteers who fell in love with her as hard as Annie and I. We are satisfied "our" Opal is in good hands and hearts tonight.

New Title & Masthead

Readers may have notice (I hope!) a revised masthead (above) on this blog. Response to Fostering Opal has been so enthusiastically positive, we felt we had little choice but to continue the blog, even as we continue to foster rescue dogs along the Road to Forever. Thank you for your kind and generous support!!

While we changed the blog title and teaser, we left the URL web address the same so your bookmark will still bring you to this blog.

As for Char...SQUIRREL!!

Charlie discovers squirrels!

After a full 24 hours-plus on a round of antibiotics, Charlie Beagle was all but symptom free from kennel cough today. He was not quite as listless as he was yesterday, although he did pass most of his Saturday lounging on our bed and pointedly ignoring Beano's invitations to play.

Late in the afternoon I realized he had been out in the backyard on his own for a bit longer than usual. I thought it best to go check on him, becoming concerned when I could not find him!

Not quite ready to panic (I had spent part of Thanksgiving afternoon reinforcing a potentially vulnerable back corner of our fence), I finally spotted him. Charlie was absolutely motionless beside the east fence gazing up into the neighbor lady's cedar trees. So perfect was his hunter's posture, he had become all but invisible! 

I know it's in there somewhere!

Charlie had discovered squirrels!

Apparently, he had spotted a squirrel--we have a healthy population of them in our neighborhood--and was determined to find this strange tree critter. The squirrel, obviously having pressing business elsewhere, had departed; but that mattered not in the least to Charlie. He spent a good 20 minutes or better looking for the bushy-tailed tree runner.

Meanwhile, back at the crate...

 Progress has been made today with the crate training. We re-positioned Charlie's crate next to our bedroom and Beano's crate and moved his dinner dish into the crate. Charlie made a few tentative visits to grab a bite or two of kibble, especially when he discovered he could score a few morsels of leftover turkey!

Our sincere thanks to everyone who offered tips and suggestions on Charlie's crate training program! We shall see how the night goes.

Kennel Cough & Crate Issues

Charlie feeling off his feed with kennel cough

Dry hacking and runny nose

Seems the latest bout of winter weather this past week is taking its toll on dogs as well as we two-leggeds. Charlie started hacking with what we suspected to be kennel cough.

Kennel cough actually is tracheobronchitis and also known as Bordetella. The infection is highly contagious and commonly flairs up in dog kennels, shelters, animal control centers and other areas where numbers of dogs share close quarters.

Antibiotics typically are called for as treatment, and Dr. Brookings, our shelter vet, was quick to prescribe a round for Charlie. This should have Charlie in the pink for his health certification check-up next week and a green light for his travels to New York.

Crate avoidance behavior

I'm not budging, and you can't make me.

Somewhat more serious, in terms of making the Dog Runner transport next week, is Charlie's adamant stubbornness against taking to his crate.

Crate training is a top priority for our New York bound hounds as they will be living in crates for five days on the road. The dedicated dog wranglers may handle dozens of dogs each trip, and a traveler who doesn't do well with crates typically is dropped from the program.

That first night here Charlie fell for the old treat-lure trick to get him in his crate. He tolerated the box for about an hour before cutting loose with persistent, loud beagle baying!

Perhaps we gave in too easily, but the neighbors are jealous of their sleep. Anyway, we let Charlie out that night, and he proved to be a perfect bed mate, soundly sleeping through the night without any tossing and turning.

Clearly, this dog had a home where he was loved before falling on hard times and ending up on the streets.

Night Two: The tempting treat was offered, but Charlie was having none of it. Not only did he ignore the canine candy, he even snapped at me when I tried physically moving him from the bed.

Night Three: Canine Candy was replaced with a tempting morsel of Thanksgiving ham. Having had what may well have been his first taste of ham only a couple of hours earlier, Charlie was definitely interested. I held it just beyond his reach at the edge of our bed. Charlie snatched it quick as a frog nailing a dragonfly!

So we are reaching out to our fellow fosters and other dog friends who follow this blog. What tricks have you found effective in successfully dealing with crate avoidance issues? We would be grateful for any suggestions you care to share in the comments space below or on our Facebook page. 

Where Did Dogs Come From?

Chauvet cave in the Ardeche valley of southern France is renown for wall art dating back to 30,000 B.C.E. Often overlooked by the world at large and overshadowed by the spectacular paintings of animals of the day, is a track of footprints on the cave floor. Archaeologists have dated the tracks back some 26,000 years, making them a prime candidate for the oldest human footprints in Europe.

The footprints were made by a boy about nine years old. Trailing along side the boy's steps are the prints of a largish canine judged to be about midway between a wolf and a dog.

DNA evidence strongly suggests that today's dogs evolved from several various species of wolves once populating Europe, Asia and northern Africa. Not surprising given the rise of the first human civilizations in the Fertile Crescent region of present-day Iraq and Iran. However, DNA and archaeological evidence indicate proto-dog also originated in China. It is highly likely that several lines of proto-dogs evolved from various species of wolves, jackals and other wild canids at numerous geographical sites and at various times.

Artist impression of a Mesolithic Village
source: bettercaninehealth.org.uk

One notable exception is North America's timber wolf. Scientists have not found any evidence of any kind that timber wolves evolved an American dog species.

These observations seemingly point to one inevitable conclusion: modern humans and modern dogs evolved together, forming the oldest human-companion animal bond known to man. Seems we did not domesticate the dog so much as dog and man cooperatively domesticated one another.

Little wonder that we love our dog companions so!

The Second Time Around

(Comments made in blue text are Annie's thoughts)

Isn't that the way it goes? The first gets all the pictures taken, one or three albums dedicated exclusively to their special moments. They're the focus of post after post daily on half a dozen social networking outlets. Heck, entire blog entries go on and on about the nature of their poop, for cryin' out loud!

Charlie Beagle

Then the second comes along, maybe even a third, and...well...the bloom tends to fade from the lily, so to speak.

Lord, don't we treat our pets just like our children, often in more ways than we are comfortable owning up to!

By accident of birth, I happen to be the first born of four. I would be the last one to suggest that our mom loved any one of us more than any other, for her love was unconditional across the board. Yet, everyone knew; Mom liked me best.

So it goes with foster dogs, as well. If it hasn't happened to you yet, I dare say that it will, sooner or later.

Our first foster, Opal Hound, was...is...special to us. We came within a breath of adopting her ourselves, and it purely was knowing that we could not give her the physical space and exercise a hound her size needs that prevented us from keeping her. So off Opal went to Helping Hounds in New York where someone would give her a home to fit her particular needs.

With Opal, it truly was a case of love at first sight on my part. She had me from the moment I laid eyes on her face in a Facebook posting.

Now comes Charlie Beagle; an older, calmer, smaller addition to our family of two humans, a house dog, four cats and a bird. Love at first sight with Charlie? Mmmm, not so much.  

I beg to differ. Beano and I are smitten.

Please understand, I like Charlie. I like Charlie a lot, in fact. I just do not love Charlie with an intensity to match my love for Opal.

Charlie will make some family an outstanding, loving pet. He is bright, attentive when he wants to be, house trained, well mannered, maybe a little sloppy with his dining habits, well behaved on a leash, comfortable in a crate (except at night, alone in a strange room) and is not excessively vocal. 

He is a Beagle after all, so his bark is quite distinctive and when he bays, the Beagle hound in Beano perks right up!

Beano and Charlie take a break between wrestling bouts.

Moreover, he is a great companion for our beagle/Boston, Beano, as they share some common breed traits, are well matched in size and are about the same age. Charlie is curious concerning the cats, but he does not chase nor otherwise antagonize them. As for the bird, he's is fairly ambivalent. 

Beano seems to have taken to Charlie and vice versa. I think Opal, as much as Jim and I were infatuated with her, intimidated our older pup. She was taller and livelier than he was used to, and could easily wrest away his favorite toys. He can be quite selfish! Charlie, so far, has shown absolutely NO interest in cow, Beano's best inanimate buddy. That makes Charlie A-OK in Beano's books!

And while we have not had an opportunity to introduce Charlie to small children, we have no reason to believe he would be tempted to eat one, even if they did deserve it.

Charlie is a great dog. If it were not so, I would tell you, because that's my job. But when it comes to puppy love, the chemistry simply isn't there this time around. And I can tell you, this is a much more comfortable place from which to foster a deserving dog along the Road to Forever. 

Charlie had my heart from our first meeting, several days before we picked him up. I too, think he will be a wonderful addition as some family's forever dog. Beano and I intend to enjoy the heck out of him while he visits with us.

So it is that while Charlie is our second foster, he certainly does not rate second-best!

UPDATE: Morning of Day One

This just in

After beginning his first night in a strange house bunking down in a strange crate, Charlie Beagle passed a quiet night of deep slumber...between Annie and this blogger.

All doubt seems put to bed, following this latest development. Charlie once had a home where he enjoyed master bed privileges.

Stay tuned to this blog for further developments, and have a good day.

A Bit of Hair of the Dog

 Sending Opal on her way

The toughest thing we did today, saying So long! to Opal.

 Someone in New York state may not know it yet, but a beautiful black and tan princess is headed their way. Whoever you are, rest assured this gal will steal your heart in a heartbeat.

Nothing about fostering rescue dogs is tougher than that final day. When it came down to it, all I could do was lead Opal into Dog Runner's capable hands, turn and walk away. 

Even as I type, I can't look at the picture here on the right. Somehow, these lines are blurry on the screen.

This, I suppose, is the selfish side of fostering. Damn dog!

We would have liked more time to visit with Dog Runner and to learn a bit more about the road trip our Texas hounds are taking to DeWitt, NY. DR's transport can handle up to 60 dogs, each with their own private travel crate. The logistics of potty stops, exercise breaks, meals and the unloading-loading required with each must be a wonder to behold! However, Departure Day is not exactly the ideal time to go for an interview.

One of these days, though, we intend to make the trip down to visit the good folks in Flower Mound who ramrod this canine wagon train. Stay tuned!

 Charlie Beagle on board!

Co-pilot Charlie Beagle on my shoulder.

We put Opal on Dog Runner's transport at 4:30 this afternoon, then headed the Blazer over to the HSWC shelter. Seems the best cure for foster separation anguish is hair of the dog, i.e., the next fostering challenge!

Shelter director Cheryl Miller had tagged this 4-year-old male beagle mix named Charlie for us last week. In fact, we met Charlie briefly while at the shelter for Opal's final medical exam.

Charlie remained calm at my approach, sniffing politely at my proffered hand. He was shivering, shifting weight from one foreleg to the other as he sat on the cold concrete floor. With the softest of whimpers, his eyes begged, "Take me out of here, please, sir!"

We know next to nothing about Charlie. He came to the shelter after being "arrested" as a homeless stray. Apparently, he carried no identification.

Charlie demonstrated immediately that he had not been homeless all his life. He patiently allowed me into his enclosure, nor did he make a fuss as I placed a collar on him. On leash he showed no signs of leash training, but neither did he fight the lead. Charlie simply put his nose to the ground and set at at a determined pace, his tail signalling Let's GO!

Our bed feels a lot like home!

In the shelter office he remained curious, sniffing at everything and everyone calmly and methodically. When Annie opened the door to leave, Charlie was the first one out.

Charlie showed not the slightest anxiety riding in the Blazer. This obviously was not a new experience. In fact, he showed a marked and determined preference for riding in the front seat! We struck a compromise, and Charlie rode most of the way home on my left shoulder.

Arriving at the house, Charlie eagerly walked with me to the back yard while Annie went inside. We thought it best to let Charlie meet his Lead Trainer, Beano, outside.

Both dogs took to one another from the get-go. Cautiously at first, to be sure, but with much mutual circling and sniffing of respective nether regions, as dogs are want to do. And while Charlie was cordial, shall we say? It was clear to see that he was more interested in sniffing out and marking his new patch.

Annie: I was curious how Beano would take to another male in the house, so was very pleased to see them getting on so well. I wonder if this may have something to do with the fact that they are a similar breed and size.  It was almost as if they were taking turns to see who was the dominant dog with some amusing dance moves displayed. In any case, the next couple of weeks will be most interesting.

Inside the house, Charlie was curious about the cats, but only mildly so. He showed no aggression whatsoever. As with the yard, his first priority was thoroughly sniffing out all nooks, crannies and corners of all rooms open to him. He showed no interest at all in jumping on furniture other than our bed, the exploration of which brilliantly he saved for last and immediately curled up and made himself quite comfortable.

So after some initial playing, a couple of trips back to the yard, more inside play, a little begging for a taste or two of people food, another exploratory sniff around the house, and a quick bath, both beagle boys claimed respective spots near one another on our bed and quietly passed out.

They are softly snoring still.

A Few Lessons Learned

My "adopted" brother, Dean Porter, and I were chilling in the back yard the other day. While we watched Beano and Opal Hound tussle over an old tennis ball, our talk roamed back to our black-and-white days of distant youth, when both boys and dogs pretty much had free run of their neighborhoods. 

From left: Allen Dean Porter, James Brian Miller,
author and (front) grillminder Beano Boglen Miller

As boys we had freedoms that kids today cannot imagine. Not that it was all that easy to get away with anything. We had such freedom because everyone else in the neighborhood knew who we were and to whom we belonged and would not hesitate to drop a dime on us if they suspected we might be up to no good. 

The same, pretty much, was true for our dogs.

Sadly, often tragically, those days of innocence are no more and may well never return. I'd like to think I'm wrong, but I doubt it. I'd like to think we can rebuild communities where residents of all ages enjoy the freedoms we once experienced and took for granted. Until such time as we do rebuild the true American Dream of equitable, sustainable security for all creatures, two-legged and four-legged alike, we will continue to have a need for rescue and foster programs.

Time Out, dude! Somethin' bit me!!

Why foster 

Five to seven million pets enter animal shelters every year in this country.

Three to four million companion animals are executed each year because of a lack of shelter space and not enough people to adopt these homeless ones.

For every homeless person in America there are five homeless animals.

Only one in ten puppies born today will find a permanent, lasting home. 

Deciding to foster

Two NEVERs in which I believe whole-heartedly: NEVER give a puppy or kitten as a special-occasion or holiday gift, and NEVER rush to foster--or adopt--because you saw a cute photo on Facebook!

The decision to foster an animal is loaded with consequences, many of which arrive unforeseen unless you've done extensive homework. Taking in a strange dog, even if it is "only two weeks", is a life-altering event on so-o-o-o many levels! Horror stories abound about that cute little puppy that chewed its way through sheetrock, fiberboard and electrical wiring to get from the garage into the house in ONE afternoon!!

First and foremost, everyone in the household--animals as well people--must be given full consideration in the decision. All humans concerned certainly should be in agreement on fostering. Certainly consider any other animals already established in the home. Discuss division of labor and responsibilities for the "guest" animal, and do NOT overlook the considerable amount of time needed for play and social interaction with your sleep-over dog.

Second most, be dead on sure about your commitment. Rescue and shelter dogs already have been kicked to the curb at least once in their lives. DO NOT BE THE REASON THEY GET KICKED AGAIN!

Please, sir, may I stay?

If I haven't scared you off by this point, the third thing to do is get thee to your nearest animal shelter. Visit with as many staff members and volunteers as you can (without getting in the way!), ask questions, observe and thoroughly discuss the pros and cons of fostering with the folks working the program day in and day out.

IF--Big IF--for whatever reason you do not have good feelings about the shelter or the folks working there, politely tell them "Thank You" and WALK AWAY! No doubt you can find two or three other shelters to visit within an hours' drive of your residence.

I say this for one crucial reason. A successful fostering program depends on absolute trust and full cooperation between your family and the shelter family. Say, for example, you do not feel comfortable calling up your shelter contact person at 2:37 a.m. because your foster dog woke you "wheezing funny", then you need to be working with a different shelter.

In the Wichita County, Texas, area I cannot recommend highly enough Cheryl Miller's crew at the Humane Society of Wichita County and their Foster Babies program.

There are any number of good websites you can check out while considering fostering. One good place to start is 20 Questions to Ask Before You Foster a Dog at Petfinder.com.

One chapter ends, another begins

Waiting out the weather...

Just in from letting the dogs have a romp on the ice-crusted back yard. They had a time of it -- Chase!, Tug-O-Tennis Ball, Top Dawg Championship Wrasslin' -- in spite of the 30F degrees.

Opal Hound seems much less mindful of the cold than does Beano. His mamma's folk, Boston terriers, are not for not liking temperature extremes, and in that regard the Bean favors his mamma.

Beano Miller

This is a transition weekend. A winter weather advisory in effect through Monday is icing on the cake--not to mention roads, bridges and overpasses. Two to four inches of snow and/or sleet is forecast for our neck of the Rolling Plains in the next two days. Opal's scheduled departure Sunday afternoon has been pushed back to Monday afternoon. All fosters are on "stand-by" for further delays as this storm system moves east, covering at least the first few hundred miles of the Road to Forever and Helping Hounds.

Make room for Charlie!

Our next guest was scheduled to check in Sunday, and that has been reset for Monday, as well. Yes, Anniepie and I decided to stay in the HSWC Foster Babies program for another go 'round. Besides the overwhelming need for folks to foster shelter pets, I think a huge factor in our decision is Beano!

Annie and I both will miss Opal. She had us from that first anxious moment at the shelter. Knowing that she is bound for Helping Hounds and an excellent shot at adoption is why our hearts are aching but not breaking.

But what about Beano? This little spoiled terrier had to overcome some tough jealousy and possessiveness issues in those first several days. So much so, in fact, that allowing Opal to remain with us was in jeopardy. By this final week, though, Beano and Opal Hound had bonded like true siblings, in spirit if not in blood. How, we wondered, would Beano take Opal's absence?

John Brandshaw clued me in to a little of what I've come to call Dog Zen, seeing the world and events through the heart and mind of a dog.

    The new canine science reveals that dogs are both smarter and
    dumber than we think they are. For example, they have an almost
    uncanny ability to guess what humans are about to do, because of
    their extreme sensitivity to our body language, but they are also
    trapped in the moment, incapable of projecting the consequences of
    their actions backward or forward in time.

Dog Sense, p. xxii

Dogs may indeed be creatures locked in "the Now." Yet hundreds of years, and even more hundreds of generations of dogs and humans, of codependent relations provide abundant anecdotal evidence that dogs "miss" close friends who have passed on.

I, for one, have no doubt Beano is going to feel the loss of his sister. Better, I believe, to bring in the next foster dog sooner rather than later. Beano will have little time to pine as Charlie, a beauty of a beagle Beano's age (4), is set to check in even as Opal departs.

Putting 'The Dread' to Bed

Doesn't have to hurt to say 'Good bye!'

Don't ask me to explain it. I can't. All I know is I woke up this morning feeling 100% okay with Opal Hound leaving Sunday.

That is mine, right?

Yes, both Annie and I seriously considered adopting our first foster rather than packing her off to New York. That's one way to get around the heart aches of separation, I suppose, but one old--excuse me, mature--couple can only adopt so many critters. We're at our limit with Beano, four cats and a noisy bird!

We could have, would have made room for Opal somehow, and therein lies the rub. Room. Space. Our little quarter-acre lot simply is not big enough for a hound who needs room--lots of room--to bound and romp. Opal Hound at the very least needs a small farm, a country home with space and distances to unlimber those glorious, long legs of hers!

Preparing a dog for this journey halfway across the continent is almost as bad as getting a kid ready for sleep-away camp! Five days' worth of food in daily meals baggies, blanket, collar and leash, KONG, treats, favorite toy(s) and all packed in a travel bag appropriately labelled with the dog's name.

Again, there is the health certification exam tomorrow that Opal must pass before she get's her ticket stamped for Sunday. She's ready. So are we. Well, we will be...after the packing!