Dog Say the Darnedest Things

Lady cat-watching

NOTE: Lady, our sixth and longest in-residence foster, left Texas en route to New York yesterday. She challenged us, brought us to question our methods and in so doing worked her way deeper into our hearts than any other foster to date. She is greatly missed.

Ever wonder what your fosters say about you behind your back? Oh trust me, they do talk amongst themselves when we aren't around.

Lady, our most recent foster, was in her final stage of crate training. For those few readers unfamiliar with the sport, Crate Training is convincing your dog partner that being caged is a good thing! Some dogs, like Lady, take more convincing than others.

We were leaving Lady caged for longer periods of time and at different times during daylight hours. To be fair, we confine Beano to his crate as well, sort of a remedial refresher course for him, too.

Lady being a “talker” ~ she has a wide range of vocalizations which she’s not shy about using. we know she and Beano must be swapping tales of woe betwixt their respective cells….

Lady: WELLOFALLTHENERVE!! CANYOUBELIEVETHEYJUSTWALKEDOUT!!

Beano: Put a sock in it, sister, no one’s around to hear your “Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me” routine.

Lady: HOW Could THEY??

Beano: Easy, kid, they don’t LIKE you that much.

Lady: Oh, Really!

Beano: Trust me, they’re counting the days until YOU, dear sister, are out of here!

Lady: Aw, come on. You’re just trying to frighten me because YOU’RE Jealous!

Beano: Fine. [BIG YAWNING SOUND] Don’t listen to me. No hair off my tail, honey.

Let’s see….Opal, as I recall, was the first. I kinda liked her a little bit. How long did she stay? Two weeks?  

YOU're still here?

Lady: What are you going on about???

Beano: Oh, nothing. I was just thinking back to the beginning of this Open-Your-Home-To-All-Comers catcrap “they” call FOSTERING.

Beano:  You know they're never coming back, don't you?

Lady:  WHAT? You're kidding, right?

Beano:  Oh, heck no! They do this to me ALL the time!

Lady:  What are we going to do? I have no food ... no toys! Arrrrgggh!

Beano:  Oh? No toys or food? My, oh my. They left plenty for me.  I even have your squirrel!

Lady:  I'm NEVER speaking to them again! NEVER. EVER. AGAIN!

Beano: Geez, I've never known them to let one of us STARVE to death…

Lady: What do you mean, starve!!

Beano: Leaving you locked up with no food and all. Dog, they must really be down on you!

Lady: They saved me from starving once! They will save me again!!

Beano: [SOUND OF CRUNCHING] Didn’t leave you so much as a pig stick, huh. Guess they’re having a tough time finding some place to dump you.

Lady: That’s it! I’m NOT listening to YOU anymore!! OHMYDOGWHEREARETHEY!!!

[SOUND OF KEYS AND DOOR OPENING]

Lady:  YOU'RE HOME YOU'RE HOME YOU'RE HOME!! LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT!! Oh, I love you so much! I knew you'd be back!

Beano: YOU'RE HOME YOU'RE HOME YOU'RE HOME!! LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT!! Oh, I love you so much! I knew you'd be back!

Lady & Beano February 18, 2014

The Lady & The Scamp

With some five days remaining until Lady, our big red foster, boards an eastbound transport to New York, our resident bad boy Beano is finding out that girls don't carry cooties!

"Take a picture; it'll last longer!!"

And Lady, for her part, has learned a thing or two since landing in our laps with five puppies a month ago. Mainly, I think, she has learned that...

YES! There IS life after childbirth!!

Cats are NOWHERE near as much fun as they look like they SHOULD be! Once you get to know them, in fact, they're down right boring.

ALERT when they wave a pig stick under your nose and start cooing that ridiculous language of theirs: YOU ARE BOUND FOR THE BOX!!

Annie:  Kidding aside, Lady has become such a big part of our lives. She had such a rocky beginning with us - emaciated and still dealing with her five puppies - she has grown into such a wonderful addition. 

She is so intelligent and lively. When she wants attention she will sit beside you and slowly start her high pitched yip. If you continue to ignore her, the yips become longer, like a song, and the nudging begins.

Nap buddy

Although she is crated at night, she loves to snuggle ... and let me tell you, it's like cuddling with a pony! She likes lap sitting, or resting her head on some part of you and there is no getting up to move without effort, unless she decides she wants to shift position too!

I don't want to think about her leaving. It brings such a lump. I will worry about her from the moment she steps onto that transport until we hear she has found her forever home with some lucky New York family. I want the best for Lady, because she SO deserves it!

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CREDITS:

Still Photographer ~ Annie Miller

                         follow Annie Miller on FACEBOOK

Proofreader        ~ AnniePie Miller

Co-Writer          ~ Ann E. Miller

Co-Writer          ~ J.W. Miller

Videographer       ~ JimTXMiller

Off-Camera

  Commentator      ~ Allen Dean Porter

Sunday Snow With Lady

Writing with Lady is like having a 55-pound tumor on my right hip.

Lady looking for a home.

A female American "brown dog" and recovering first-time mom, Lady insists on sharing my ottoman seat at our south-facing window where we pass a quiet Sunday morning, watching snow softly blanket our drought brown front yard.

Lady is our first emergency rescue, a response to a post on Facebook. She and her five puppies had been found in a house several days after her human partner had died. I can imagine her instincts alerting her when her human died. Something was not right. Something possibly threatening. No doubt she remained fearful, particularly for her pups, when she heard strangers entering the home. She silently kept her brood close to her and, as a result, mom and pups were left behind, undiscovered.

Days passed without food or water for her. She continued to allow her babies to suckle, her body converting everything it could to milk, until she had nothing left to give. When she was found, her pups were fat and frisky. She, however, had wasted to a proverbial bag of bones.

A neighbor removed the dogs' from the home. She had dogs of her own, and six more mouths to feed was more than she could manage. The plea for help went out on Facebook, a FB friend put us in telephone contact with the rescuer, and we picked up Lady and her puppies the following morning.

Other caring folks stepped up as well. We brought the dogs home on a Sunday morning, and a volunteer with Texas Pit Crew (TPC) showed up that afternoon with a huge bag of puppy chow and a basket full of chew toys and treats. Before leaving, the volunteer had picked out the two pups she wanted to foster.

So it went. All the pups received a thorough check up and shots by Tuesday, again thanks to TPC. By the

following day all five pups had been placed with TPC fosters.

Meanwhile, mom was making a quick rebound on a steady, ample diet of puppy chow and no puppies nagging for a teat. She, too, had a visit with a vet for a complete series of shots, heartworm testing and prevention. The Lady even had her nails done.

But when it came to fosters for an adult dog, TPC was tapped out. Like virtually everywhere in this country, there simply are not enough fosters to meet the needs of all rescue dogs. Lady, it seems, is destined to remain with us until she can be placed in a permanent home.

That presents some sizable challenges in a house already possessed of a strongly temperamental, highly territorial boglen terrier and four cats!

But as of this writing, it's a snowy Sunday morning. The Lady and I are at our south windows, watching the large flakes drift down and spotting squirrels as they dart from tree to tree. It's all good.

 Fancy Update...

Fancy, our fifth foster, left us last Monday and arrived safely at Helping Hounds Dog Rescue in New York Friday evening. We expect to hear of her adoption into a permanent home any day now.