Smudge finds his forever home

After a very rough beginning to his little life, Smudge has found his happy ending. Yesterday he was welcomed into his new home where he will enjoy the good life along with his 2 new canine brothers, Maxwell and Milo.

We went home and I cried all day - he was such a sweetheart that I became WAY too attached to him. But today's a new day and I've bounced back and am ready for our next foster dog. Smudge will always hold a special place in our heart as our first foster dog and we still miss him, but there are more little guys out there that need a home so it's time to give them a chance of the same happy ending that Smudge had.

In the photo you can see Smudge meeting his new big brother, 12 year old Maxwell. He was a bit perplexed as to why we were there at first, but I hear that by the end of the day he was happily playing with his brothers.

Smudge is getting ready to go home

It looks like Smudge will be neutered sometime this week and then he'll be ready for his forever home. He has continued to fill out and to boss around his foster brother, Frodo. His coat is now a rich, shiny black and his cough and ear infection are gone. It is bittersweet for us because he's such a wonderful little dog that we are going to be heartbroken when we have to say goodbye, but we also know that he is going to a wonderful home that is equally in love with him, so he will lead the life of a happy, well loved dog - the life we wish all dogs got to live.

There are already other puppies lined up who need a foster home to get them healthy and adoptable, so it's time to send the healthy little Smudge on to his new home and to take in another dog in need of rescue. Smudge will always hold a special place in our heart though, as the first dog we helped rescue.

Tanya the Texan

Tanya was flown into Sea-Tac airport last week thanks to the help of some wonderful Horizon Air employees. We coordinated with a volunteer in Texas who removed Tanya from a kill shelter near Dallas/Fort Worth. She had been there awhile and didn't have a lot of time left. The Texas volunteer handed her off to the son of the Horizon Air employee at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport at five in the morning and she flew home to Seattle with him. Then we picked the sweet little girl up at the airport and took her home until the state coordinator picked her up to take her to her foster home. She already has a couple of prospective homes interested in her.

She was an absolute doll, who loves to cuddle and dance. YES, dance! The people in Texas nicknamed her "the dancing queen" and thought she should be named Abba. Thanks to everyone who participated in this well orchestrated hand off. Not only did the folks at Horizon help us save Tanya, but the money that we saved from not having to pay for her transport can now go to rescue another dog - so they actually saved two dogs!

A Ratbone Santa at PetSmart

This weekend we volunteered to help out the Ratbone Rescuers take Santa photos at PetSmart in Federal Way. As much work as it was, we had a lot of fun and made a lot of memories. Along with the many, many dogs there were also a few cats, a couple of rabbits, a ferret, a parrot and a hedgehog that came to sit with Santa. It was wonderful to see so many people who truly care about and take care of their animals and it was great to help them record special memories of their pets.

Two special stories that made it worthwhile: One was a man who came to get Santa pictures of his golden retriever puppy for his wife who was just deployed to Iraq. She will miss seeing the little guy's puppy days since she won't be back in the States until February 2009, so he wanted to send her the Santa photo. Another special moment was photographing an elderly dog who has recently started having seizures. Her owner didn't think she'd make it another Christmas and wanted a special Santa photo to remember this one. The little papillon fluffed out her ears and posed for the camera and the photo came out wonderful.

PetSmart pays rescue groups $5 for each photo sold and in the two days we ended up making over $700. That's going to be able to save a few dogs so the time was well spent.

The photo above is of Frodo and Santa. He was not at all happy about being in PetSmart, let alone sitting on some stranger's lap, as you can tell by his tail.

Smudge's New Splint

Smudge made a trip to the vet yesterday and the good news is that he's in great health and his leg should heal to be as good as new. The bad news is that he needs to keep the splint on for at least four more weeks. As you can see in the photo, the splint that he came from the shelter with was rewrapped. The way it was wrapped before, it was rubbing a sore on his elbow area. Now the wrapping extends above the joint to better immobilize the leg and also to stop the movement that was causing the sore. He'll head back to the vet's in 2 weeks to have everything rechecked.

Another piece of good news is that both he and Frodo's kennel cough is doing a bit better today. We're crossing our fingers for a full recovery by next week so Smudge's active foster brother, Frodo, can get back to his daily hour at the dog park. Everyone, not just Frodo, will be much happier once he gets his off dog park time back.

Smudge and Frodo: Wrestling time! 12/7/2007

Smudge - 12/5/2007

Smudge exploring his foster home

Smudge is coming into his own

Smudge is just your typical happy-go-lucky little puppy and he's finally won over the affections of our family dog, Frodo. Today they romped and played so much that I was worried it might be too much activity for Smudge's injured leg, so I put him back in his crate for a little time out.

He still hasn't had any accidents in his crate, which is a great sign. There was an accident in the house, but he did go to the door and use the small rectangular rug, which leads me to believe that his previous family might have been paper training him. I caught him mid squat though, so I 'm going to look at it as a teaching moment for him rather than an accident on the entry rug. :)

The photo above is of Frodo and Smudge, when Frodo first decided that Smudge might need some checking out.

Smudge - a smidge of a guy

Meet Smudge. Although we typically only foster rat terriers through Ratbone Rescues, the state coordinator just couldn't let this tiny chihuahua-rat terrier mix be put down. He is such a little lover - full of kisses - and his favorite thing in the world is to lay in someone's lap and get a good belly rub.

Smudge's start to life involved sharing a home with a couple of doberman's who ran over the top of him one too many times and injured his leg. The owner took him to a shelter and it was overcrowded so he was scheduled to be put down. A kind-hearted shelter employee couldn't bear to see this happen so she talked our state rescue coordinator into fostering him and finding him a home. He was flown to Washington State and is now being loved and cared for. Currently his leg is splinted, but should be fine in a couple of weeks. He's gaining weight and his coat is starting to shine. Although he is supposed to be a mix, this little guy is mostly Chihuahua and likely won't be more than 4-5 pounds when full grown.

He does great around other dogs, but would need to find a home with dogs under 20 pounds and kids over 12 years, just to make sure that he doesn't get "over-loved" again. We are hoping to find a home for him in Washington state so he doesn't need to go through the stress of another long transport at so young an age.

I'll try to keep people posted here about how Smudge is doing and what the smart little guy is up to.