New Kids on the Block

From left to right we have:  Renea, Katherine, Sara and sweet Hannah in the background.  Renea is the leader of this pack with Katherine and Sara falling in as her second-in-command.  These three are energetic and bouncy.  Sara is a hugger once she gets into your lap but Renea and Katharine are rarely still for that long and would much rather you play with them.  Hannah is super sweet and shy.  When you earn her trust, it feels like a gift.  She is also a hugger and would happily spend any available moment in your lap.  Hannah enjoys more quiet time than the others, and when it's time to go to sleep she is at the middle of the puppy pile!  All of them enjoy Kong balls and couldn't care less whether or not they're stuffed with goodies but each of them are still learning how to play after growing up in a crate.  These little girls are all well on their way to being housebroken and are not subtle about letting you know that they need to go nownownow!  Because of being raised in a crate for much of their life, everything is still exciting and new for them and it's both a joy and a wonder to watch them learn about all of the good that the world has to offer!

puppies'r'us

Today, we completed our first successful foster and sent Mustang on his way.  I imagine that there were plenty of folks out there that imagined we'd find a way or a reason to keep him with us (because that certainly wouldn't be unheard of!), but no -- as I type this, he is just a few hours away from his brand new forever home.  I'm going to get teary-eyed (AGAIN) if I start writing about goodbyes, but suffice it to say that he made a place in our hearts and he will be missed. 

We'd no more than gotten him loaded up before we started loading in four 9-month old puppies.  They are littermates and completely adorable and terribly shy...and  our only job for the week that we have them is to give them all of the attention that they can stand.  It's kind of hard to go wrong there!

Is it wrong to want to throw myself a baby shower?  'Cause I kinda do.  I mean, there's the obvious reason:  every animal that comes through this house gets a leash and a bowl and woobies and chewies and whatever their little hearts desire while they reside here.  Some of those things are recyclable and some of them are not and none of those things come cheap.  The not so obvious reason is pride:  I feel *proud* of what we're doing here; I'm *proud* of the progress that Mustang made while he was with us and I'm proud of these little girls for not chewing apart their soft crate after a hella morning.  I look at my sweet bottle-baby, Renny, and I think, "you are one of my greatest accomplishments."  I want to celebrate all of those triumphs and milestones with other people who *get it*.  Or....maybe I just want to see the look on peoples' face when I hand them a shower announcement.  ;-)