04/01

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Cat-a-Tonic

April

Sunday, 04/29 It's been a busy month. First, the updates.

Mom and Dad adopted Gus. I'm really glad - he's a very good match for them and they've fallen in love with him. Mom called last week just to tell me "he's so sweet!" I asked what he'd done that made her feel that way and she replied, "nothing special - he's just so sweet!" Yep, he is. My sis came out the Saturday before Easter to visit, and on Easter we went up to have dinner with mom and dad. Gus was so excited to see me that he took off running for me and pulled the leash right out of Dad's hand. Mom says "Gee, that's the most active I've seen him in two weeks! I hope he doesn't want to go home with you, too!" He's been there a month now, and I think he's brought a lot of joy into their lives. Gives them something other than each other to focus on, and walking him gives them some much needed exercise. (Gus won't poop until he's been walked a little, so they have to get out every day and take him for a little walk. The exercise is very good for both of them.)

Gruffydd got adopted to a single woman who absolutely adores him. He adores her too - she lets him nap in her lap, sleep with her, and she even takes him into work with her sometimes. (He curls up under her desk and naps.) She had a private obedience session with Chris on Friday and I talked to Chris afterward; she says he's doing really well there, and getting royally spoiled. This was a really good match, and I'm happy for both of them. He'll be coming back to stay for a week at the end of May - his new owner has to go overseas for a wedding and doesn't want to kennel him; I told her he's welcome here any time, so he'll be staying with me while she's gone instead of going into a kennel.

Raggs the English Setter/Border Collie mix met a potential adopter Friday night. This woman has a 2-year old Rottie mix she wanted to do agility with, but the dog has bad legs and can't do any jumping. She'd been thinking about getting another dog as a companion for her Rottie, and wanted a dog she could do agility with. Raggs has a lot of potential as a performance dog - he's energetic, bright, eager to please, and loves to play. The woman (and her friend and trainer who came with her) both like Raggs, and Raggs and the Rottie hit it off big time the instant they set eyes on each other, both of them immediately going into play-bows and then playplayplaying like a couple of pups. They've got 2 more dogs to look at, but I'll bet she ends up taking Raggs. I hope so - I think this would be a really good placement for him. He's a sweetheart and I really like him. This woman lives not too far from Mom and Dad, so I'd be able to stop by and visit him on my way up to visit the folks. And I hope someday that Blizzard will be competing against him in agility trials. *smile*

The day after Gus went home with mom and dad, I got a 5-year old foster beagle named Fred. He met his new family yesterday. They were originally interested in Rhys, the 3-year old Irish Red and White Setter, but I knew he wasn't a good match for them. They wanted to meet him anyway, and I figured that when they met him they'd realize that he wouldn't be a good fit. So when I went to meet them I took Fred along and they fell in love. Their references were great but when a rescuer friend did a homecheck she found a couple of holes in the fence. They're going to fix the holes quickly, we'll get a re-check done, and then they'll come to adoptions next Sunday and pick him up. So, Fred's going and it looks like Raggs may be going out soon, and that'll leave just Rhys.

I've told the rescue group that I want to keep the foster population down to 1 or 2. I'll emergency foster, if necessary, but don't want to have more than 4 dogs here (including my two) for more than a couple of days. (BTW, Corinne, there are 5 dogs here right now; you don't even have to take off your shoes and socks and use your toes to count, you can count them on one hand. That ought to make counting correctly a little easier for you!)

And Terry, just a little note to you: I contacted Cindy and offered to temp foster Louie while transport to you could be arranged, if the plans in place at that time fell through. Regardless of my personal feelings about you, you'd probably provide a good home for that dog and I wanted to a) give him a temporary safe place to stay when he needed to get out of a bad situation and b) help get him to you. My concern is always and ever, first and foremost, for the animal in need. If you want to believe the anti-Noofies garbage being whispered in your ear by a vicious, malicious, unbalanced old nutcase that's your prerogative; just keep in mind that there are always two sides to every story, and in this case there are more than two sides - there was someone else here at the same time your moo friend was who saw things completely differently. There have been others here since then who also feel differently. But hey, if it makes you feel better to have me as a whipping post to focus your anger on, have at it. I really don't give a rat's ass what you think of me. But if your slander ever interferes with me helping an animal in need, there's going to be trouble. Count on it.