Making herself at home

just chill'n

Bonding time...

Victoria getting acquainted...

I adopted Victoria yesterday. She wasn't happy about the cardboard crate they give you but we made it. She has started to really come out of her shell and I think she actually likes attention! She slept on the bed with me and Rusty and I heard her purr for the first time. I had her for 9 weeks and never heard it so I think she's happy here. She could do without the dogs but she'll adjust. She is a good addition to the family we all think. Well, maybe not crotchity Boona but he too will adjust!

Meet Maggie...

Meet Maggie, my new foster kitten. So far, she's been a great kitten. I was concerned she might not know how to use the litter box since she's so young, but luckily that instinct kicked in and she's doing her business where she should be.

Poor Madison had to come back to dry up and has been looking for her babies ever since. She cried all night long and paced the house in search of the kittens. I let her in the kitten room and she started to lick and clean Maggie as if she was her own. I can't keep them together though, Maggie is supposed to be isolated for 10 days in case she picked something up at the shelter.

All she's done is eat so far!

My new foster kitten

She doesn't have a name yet so let me know if you think of something clever. She is about 4 weeks old and I'll have her for 5 weeks. Her fur is as soft as silk and she loves to purr.

On our way to the Humane Society

Kittens go back today

Well, the time has come, the kittens go back to the Humane Society today. They will fix them and then call the new owners to go and pick them up. I'm still deciding whether to keep Madison and Victoria. Madison really does NOT like my dogs or cats and I think she might be better off in another home where she doesn't hate her roommates. I really want to keep Victoria but fear she will be the same way with the other animals. She's so shy that I'm not sure if she'll ever come out of her shell. I have a couple hours left to decide...

On another note, Ditto is fitting in nicely. He is making himself at home and hasn't had an accident in over two weeks. He is letting himself out through the dog door and enjoys spending time playing with Rusty and the stuffed animals. Rusty seems to like having some company too so that's a good thing. Martini and Boona still would rather be the only children around here but they're tolerating all the new animals and changes.

Portland and Kona on their last night...

Diego on top the door!

Making the most of his last night at my house. I'd say!

I wanna play too!

They'll never find us in here!

Kona and Niagara playing

Diego climbing the shower curtain!

Sydney and Vegas

All the kittens will have homes!

Good news, I have homes for all the kittens I am fostering! The last kitten Sydney will be going home with his sister Vegas thanks to Buffy and friend! Kona and Diego will be going home with David, and Portland and Niagara will be calling Ron's house home. I am going to keep Victoria and Madison so that's everyone. I took Ron and David to Walmart to get the startup items required for kitten parenthood and we filled the basket... : ) They are excited to get started with them and they should have them next week. I am waiting for Vegas and Sydney to weigh 2 pounds before they can be fixed, then they'll go to their new homes. Wonder who my next foster will be...

Aren't we sweet?!

Back off Mister!

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How do I wipe if I can't reach?!

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Finally, a new toy!

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Is that a mixing bowl?!

Victoria

She's finally coming out and enjoying some pets and play time!

On an adventure...

Kittens exploring while Ditto looks on. He reallllly wants to play with them!

Ditto's big adventure...

Ditto and I made the 6 hour journey to San Diego this past weekend while Rusty visited his other family at Amanda's house. Ditto did very well in the car. He pretty much just relaxed on his bed in the backseat and welcomed the two stops I made for potty breaks. He stayed in a kennel at Sea World while Jen and I enjoyed the park. It was Jen's first trip to Sea World so it was great showing her around and rushing from show to show. Doo Wah was playing there also so it was the best of both worlds sort of weekend. We made it back in record time yesterday and Ditto and Rusty are back at home enjoying each others company.

Cristy and family watched the kittens while I was away and they did fine. I think they gained 3 pounds each though! : ) I have at least 3 of them adopted and hopefully 2-3 more. I am still keeping Madison (the mother) and am considering keeping Victoria as well. She is finally opening up to me and grabbed my attention from day 1 so we'll see. The Humane Society is having a smoking deal on cats and kittens this month so that might help with the decision. What am I thinking?!

Ditto relaxing in Rusty's spot

He seems comfy at his new casa

Almost big enough to be adopted...

Disciple is at his new foster home. I think he'll be very happy, there are 8 other greyhounds and a huge grassy yard for them to play in. The woman that took him is pretty hard core tho, she didn't like it that he was excited to see her and said they'd have to work on calming him down. What?! He just met you, let him be a little excited about it!! Anyways, she is very experienced with greyhounds and will give him a good home (I hope). Ditto and Rusty didn't seem to mind that they are the lone dogs left in the house. We went for a nice walk last night and this morning and they enjoyed playing as if nothing happened. It wasn't that Disciple played much anyways so maybe they didn't have much adjusting to do. Now, get Ditto trained so they can have the run of the house...

Sad day...

I will be bringing Disciple to his new foster home today. It'll be sad to see him go, but at least now I don't have to worry about him escaping the confines while I am gone and marking around the house. He is a great dog and I hope he finds a home with lots of love. This isn't a goodbye to greyhound fostering or adopting, I just need to wait until my life slows down some so I can give them the time they require, especially in the beginning.

The boys hanging out on night one.

I told ya he was bleeding on the way home!

Dog Update

Well, I turned Atlanta back in last night. I can't have a dog that jumps the baby gate and has full reign of the house until it is completely potty trained. Unfortunately, Disciple has started to do just the same thing and will be turned back the Adopt a Greyhound next. I don't have a date of when he will go back, but again, I can't have a jumper. That, and he still has separation anxiety issues when he is the only dog home.

On another note, meet my new permanent addition!

His name was Rusty at the Humane Society, and since I already have a Rusty, his new name is Ditto. Kinda fitting I think. He is a lab mix and about 11 months old. Not sure he's that old because he's pretty small, but I'll go with that age. He was a stray that was picked up by Maricopa County, then turned over to the Humane Society. I brought him home today and we have already been to the vet, even before we got him home! I had a micro-chip implanted when I adopted him and it started bleeding bad. Since I was so close to my vet, I called them and they fixed him up. I guess they didn't put enough glue on when they chipped him. He's also already fallen into the pool, and was able to get himself out. I think it scared him a bit and hope he stays out of it from now on! He played hard with Rusty and Disciple and is currently napping on a dog bed here in the office. I think he's going to be a great addition to our family, don't you?

Kitten Update

Yippee, all of the kittens are eating! I had to convince the last hold-out with baby food, but whatever it took was fine by me. She's getting more friendly now too, and comes out to get lovin like the rest of the gang. They got their first set of shots today and will go back to the Humane Society for adoption in about a month. I will be adopting the mother cat after she has been fixed. The kittens are really cruising around and jumping and playing on everything. They're a whole lot of fun and it'll be sad to see them go. The concilation to that is that I will be picking up another cat or mother with kittens that need my help too. They say it'll get easier to give them back, we'll see about that!

Atlanta the Jumper

Greyhound Update

Well, I picked up a second greyhound on Friday named Atlanta. I thought that if I got a second one, the two greyhounds could stay home while Rusty and I went running or hiking or whatever and we wouldn't have any separation anxiety issues. It was a good thought but it isn't going to turn out that way I'm afraid. Atlanta is a beautiful red dog (actually is the color of a deer) that is just about the same size as Disciple, but with one main difference, he's a jumper. He learned very early that he can jump the baby gates and spent a few hours on Saturday with the run of the house while I was at the Humane Society. As you can guess, he didn't find it necessary to jump the gate to get back outside to do his business. That wasn't the problem though because I expected a mess or two while they were learning that the house is their XXL crate. The problem is that I don't foresee him stopping the jumping and that causes an issue. I setup the baby gates in the hallway so that the dogs would have more room to access the house and air conditioning. Given that I can't use the gates, they'd be forced into just the laundry room. If you've seen my laundry room, you know that it's not big enough for 3 dogs! I have made the very difficult decision to give up both greyhounds. I can't keep Disciple if he's going to freak every time he's home alone, and he's not built to hike and/or run the distances that I'd ask of him. I am not going to stop taking Rusty on the things he's enjoyed for nearly 3 years so that only leaves me one choice, and that's to give up the fosters. I hate that I can't make things work with these guys because I'm really attached to them, but it has to be right for all of us, and given the current situation, it's not. I am not sure when I will be returning them, I'm waiting to hear back from the AZ Adopt a Greyhound people. Sad day...

Good news, Martini is finally accepting the new addition! He slept on the bed like he used to, and is roaming around the house like usual. How much room does one Pit Bull, one Maine Coon, and one Greyhound take up on the bed?? ALL OF IT!

Disciple hanging on the bed...

As you can see, the new addition has made himself at home! He's doing pretty well and is adjusting nicely. He isn't showing too many more signs of separation anxiety so that's a good thing. The only bad thing about having him is that Martini won't come out of the bathroom sink. If he doesn't start coming out in the next couple days, he might just be too traumatized and I may need to send Disciple back. It'll be a shame, but I can't have a disturbed cat either. After all, he was here first.

Night One With Disciple Was A Doooozy!

Well, I sure hope night two goes better with Disciple then night one did. The poor guy had no idea where he was and whined, barked, and cried the ENTIRE night. Not true, he finally passed out from exhaustion at about 3am and slept until 5am. I did the same! I tried everything to calm him down. I gave him a bed, his crate, and lots of floor space in my bedroom, I gave him the entire bedroom, I tried to lay down on the floor with him, I put him on the bed with Rusty and I, I went into a different room, nothing seemed to calm him down. I'm not sure what finally did the trick but at least we got a couple hours sleep.

This morning wasn't much better either. I made the mistake of taking Rusty for a run and putting Disciple in his crate for an hour. When I got back, he had torn up Rusty's sleeping bag and had gone to the bathroom inside the crate. This is a tell-tale sign of separation anxiety so I called the Greyhound Society to find out what to do. She basically scolded me for taking Rusty away from Disciple so soon. How the hell was I supposed to know how he'd react! Anyways, she was going to take him to her house but I decided to give it a few more days and see what happens. I will be leaving Rusty with him when I'm gone and next weekend I'll try to get Rusty out for another run and see if Disciple still has anxiety. If so, I'll either have to foster a second greyhound to stay with Disciple, or bring him back. Rusty can't be punished and forced to stay home just because Disciple can't handle a bit of time alone. We'll see how things go this week.

On the good side, he learned the dog door in less then an hour and is doing his business outside. He tried to mark a few things when he first got here but hasn't done that today. He knows the word NO really well, and is a pretty good listener over all. I hope he starts to enjoy his new digs soon because he's a pretty good dog.

Wish me luck with my new friend!

Disciple on the way to my house

Rusty & Disciple on day 1. They seem to be getting along just fine, although Rusty keeps trying to "show his dominance"

Disciples Pedigree and Race Info

Disciple was born in June '03 and was 1 of 11 puppies. He ran in 110 races from December '04 to June '07. He won 17 races and came in 2nd 16 times. Most of his 550 yard races were run in just over 30 seconds. http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?i=1044468 in case you want to check it out for yourselves...enjoy!

Kitten Update...

The kittens and mom are doing well. They're getting more and more fun each day! Last night 4 of the 7 decided it was time to venture out of their room and down the hall. They would get about 6-8 feet out and come running back to the room. They thought they were pretty cool. I have gotten 5 of the 7 to eat, including the 2 young ones. I was worried that mom would kick them off her so I kept tempting them with yummy smelling viddles, it worked! Now I just need the last two to start eating and we're all set. It'll be really hard to give them back to the Humane Society, but unlike what people are saying, I'm not going to become the cat lady!! And besides, they're kittens and should be adopted out pretty quickly, at least that's what I'm telling myself every day.

A temporary addition to the family.

Well, I decided to start fostering Greyhounds so I talked with the AZ Adopt a Greyhound Society last week and got accepted. They gave us a tour of the track, history on the breed, and lots of information that I had never heard of before. It was a great time and I look forward to my new adventure. Did you know that the winner of each race is rewarded with a Twinkee?! Neither did I...

I pick up my first dog tonight and I am pretty excited. His name is Disciple (What, a religious dog?! I know, it doesn't suit me!). I don't know much about him except that he's a smaller chocolate colored male. Pretty sure he was a racer too.

As some of you know, I have wanted to adopt a Greyhound for some time now. It wasn't until Rusty picked me that I thought I was ready for a dog at all. The last two and a half years has been awesome with Rusty around and I think we're all ready for an addition to the family. Hopefully Disciple will get along with everyone, he passed his cat test at the Shelter so it should be fine. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I'll post some pictures after I have him. Wish me luck!

Kona eating.

Rusty bored from just having to watch and not play with the kittens.

Madison enjoying a bit of time alone.

Emily and Janelle having fun with the kittens! The kittens look forward to them visiting again real soon.

Where are those little kittens!

Kitten Update

The kittens got to meet Rusty this week and boy was that fun. Rusty couldn't understand what these little meowing creatures were until they came up to him and hissed and scared him. It's pretty interesting to see a tiny hissing and arched backed kitten push a 80 pound Pit Bull out of the room! The 5 older kittens have started to get used to Rusty now and don't hiss anymore, but the two little ones (Vegas and Sydney) are still a bit ornery with him. They just started venturing out of the kennel and are starting to climb the scratching post ramp and play with toys a bit. Madison is staying out of the kennel more and more so I expect the kittens to start eating soft food pretty soon. They sure have the chompers for solid food! Yes, I've been used as a chew toy a time or two this week. Kona is always the first kitten to run out of the kennel and greet me and climb up on my lap when I enter the room. He's usually followed by Niagara and Diego, then Portland. Victoria is still pretty shy, but once she's out of the kennel she is more social. Portland is my little climber, he was able to scale the blanket that is on the kennel and get to the top. His approach for getting down was to do a belly flop onto the scratching post and roll down the rest of the way. Luckily he didn't get hurt because it's about a 2 foot high kennel. I think Madison needs to teach him the art of landing on his feet soon! Martini and Boona have both come to the room but only Boona has been brave enough to enter. The first time he didn't have a clue that there was a mom and 7 kittens in the kennel. The next time he was greeted by a hissing protective mother cat but that didn't phase him a bit. Martini hasn't stepped foot in the room yet, and that's probably a good thing because he's kind of nasty to newcomers. Enjoy the pics and keep coming back. These guys are growing like weeds and I'll try to post each week.

4 Weeks Old & Playing Hard