Happy New Year!

It's been a pretty busy holiday, so sorry for not posting sooner. Mom has been really busy making curtains for the bedroom so that she and I can sleep in without the light waking us up. Since I get her up at 4:30 every morning to go to the bathroom and do early squirrel patrol, I figure that letting her sew curtains instead of blogging is the least I can do.


I have a lot of things to tell you about.

First: Newman is getting a home! He has had MANY suitors and should be going home with one of them this week! We sent him back home with Yvette (the nice lady in charge of Lost Paws) so that he could meet his fur-ever family while we are in Arkansas.

Which leads me to my second note: We are going to visit my grandparents in Arkansas tomorrow. It's been pretty cold there lately, so I'm going to dress for the occasion:


Just kidding. That would never keep me warm. It's just to attract the chicks (or as we say in the 'hood, the chicas). I am an Akitador - I'm made for the cold weather! Plus, Nana will make sure that I come in to "sample" each meal while it's being prepared, so I can't possibly be out there long enough to get chilled.

Mom and Dad took us to Cafe Brazil on Monday. It wasn't too cold, but it would have been nice to have a heater like my super fave - Beckley Brewhouse. Newman had never been to a restaurant before, so he was a little antsy. In fact, the only way Mom got a picture of him is because she has super-duper camera. He was still for about a millisecond. I got to lay on the blankie that my Auntie Cheri made me. It is zoo animals because she says my name is "Zoooooos".


As if hanging out with wiggly, stinky Newman in a public place wasn't embarrassing enough, THIS happened:


See that little white spot on my head??? Someone DRIPPED ice cream on me!


I was minding my own business, sniffing under the table for tidbits when my klutzy Mom dropped ice cream on my head. And did she apologize right away and clean it up?? NO. She took a picture first. And did I at least get to eat the drip?? NO. She said ice cream isn't good for dogs.

Sheesh.

Newman Stinks

Lucy here -

First, I have to say that Newman is nice, but he is stinky. Mom says that he just needs a couple more baths and he'll be fine. I probably wouldn't have noticed except that he did THIS:

Here I was, minding my own business on MY BED and he just climbs on in! Dad ran to get the camera. Mom wasn't even watching because she didn't think I would ever stay with another dog in MY BED. She was almost right, too. Here's what happened the first time he got into my bed:

I had to evacuate to the tiny cat perch that I curl up on when I'm very scared. I'm not sure why Mom keeps insisting on calling me "Toadstool". Obviously I move around plenty. And NO, I don't think this particular picture makes me look like a spotted toadstool either. You people are all nuts.

New Foster Bro - Newman

Mom dragged me to adoption day on Sunday - AGAIN. She says that it was the last weekend of having Saturday and Sunday adoption events. Something about Santa doing pictures to help raise money for our rescue. I'm trying to talk her into burning that picture Toadstool and I were forced to endure. I mean, Santa is nice and all, but I have my street cred to maintain. As it is, I was forced to wear THISThat's not just a holiday collar, folks. It has JINGLE BELLS and there are more on my feet. It was totally embarrassing. I jingled when I walked and all sorts of people came up to me to tell me what a "cutie wootie doggy" I was. Humiliating.

Anyway...

I suppose I should introduce my new foster bro, Newman. He's a Brussels Griffon. He's pretty cool. He likes to cuddle with mom on the couch. He tries to cuddle with Toadstool, but she's not really into that. He's nice to my pet cats and doesn't try to steal my bed, so I guess I'll let him stay a while.

Newman:

Mom says I should start putting my foster sibs on my blog.  After all, they ARE in the "about me" section.  I can't promise I'll always say nice things, but I generally like most of them.  My latest foster sis is Darby.  She comes from a stupid breeder that was trying to create a new designer dog - terrier poodle mixes.  Like most of the dogs that come from the breeders, she doesn't have very good dog manners.  She growled at me and jumped on Toadstool.  I had to use my tough-guy-growl-bark to tell her that she was being rude.  I hate having to do that, but she just wouldn't stop running around being mean.  Mom told me she was sorry.  She brought Darby home from adoption day because she reminded her of one of our first fosters, Spike.   Spike and I loved to play chase and bitey-face.  Spike liked to cuddle and never stole my bed.  I guess I don't pay much attention to what a dog looks like - I just remember how they act.  Maybe Mom should try that...

Here are their pics:

Darby:

Spike:

Introducing Lucy (aka Toadstool)

Hi All,

I would like to introduce my new "forever" sister, Lucy.  As sibs go, she is pretty cool.  She doesn't cramp my style by stealing my bed or eating my food.  In fact, she doesn't really move around all that much when she's in the house (mom will tell you about that in a minute).  She likes to go on squirrel patrol with me and will hangout with me at our lookout spot in the back corner of the yard.  She also likes to howl with me when the fire trucks come by.  She is definitely a soprano.   Okay, okay... mom wants to butt in and tell you more about Lucy.

Mom here...  Lucy came to us through the rescue we work with - Lost Paws Rescue of Texas.  We fostered Lucy for a while before finding her a home with a nice lady in North Dallas.  She came from a breeder in Oklahoma where she was part of the breeding stock.  We also fostered her mom, Annie, and managed to help her overcome most of her shyness.  Lucy, however, takes fear to a whole 'nother level.  She lived most of her life in a crate and is very scared of people and other dogs.  I had lots of hope for her first placement.  She was a very nice lady who was retired and looking for a companion.  Since she was home all day, I was hoping that this intensive attention would help Lucy come out of her shell.  Unfortunately, Lucy figured out that she could avoid human interaction altogether by dodging this nice lady in the backyard.  After being forced to let Lucy sleep in the backyard for a couple of nights in a row, the nice lady had no choice but to call us to come pick her up.  

I've nicknamed Lucy "Toadstool" because she is too scared to do much else besides sit on her bed.  At first, I just felt sorry for Lucy.  She was yet another dog from a breeder that was unsocialized because she did nothing but live in a cage and have babies.  Unlike her mom, Annie, Lucy never came out of her shell.  She'd been with the rescue for almost a year and was still scared shitless of EVERYTHING.  After her placement failed, we brought her back to live with us.  After a couple of weeks, it was clear that she wasn't going to blossom very quickly (or at all).  We had to really think about whether or not it was more kind to let her live in a constant state of panic or euthanize her.  I am generally against euthanasia for behavior issues unless they are extreme.  This, however, was pretty close to my "extreme" boundary.  Lucy was so scared most of the time that all of her little muscles were clenched.  I joked that she probably has .5% body fat, but it was really no joking matter.  I'm still afraid that she might develop heart problems because of the severe stress she was (and is) under.  

After much deliberation, we decided that we would give Lucy a little more time.  That was in October.  After two months, we celebrate every little victory.  The first time she changed beds in the living room.  The first time she chewed on a hoof.  The first time she barked in the backyard.  I'm sure you'll be hearing about each and every one of these "firsts".  I'm really like a new mother in this respect.  I did the happy dance when she went up to a new dog and sniffed his butt.  It was a victory because he was much larger than her and she actually had to stand up on her back legs to do it.  So, brace yourself for more stories about Toadstool.  Zeus might even let her write in his blog once and a while.  : )

Here are some pics:

I had an okay time at Bark in the Park in Hickory Creek last weekend.  My mom was a little bummed because they wouldn't allow adoptions of her Lost Paws rescue dogs.  She perked up a little when she realized that sending dogs for our two week foster-to-adopt probably didn't "technically" count as adoption.  Since my mom is a total girl scout when it comes to following rules, I figured she must have been pretty desperate.  The little lady that wanted to take Ashlyn home was REALLY nice.  She even gave me a pat.

There weren't as many people there as I thought there would be.... which was fine with me because mom made me wear an orange apron from the Home Depot kids table.  Sure I looked all manly and handy and everything - but sheesh!  Thankfully, her camera battery ran out before she could take a picture of me.