Opposites: Mango and Nutmeg

Twinkie, the sweet sister of Astro and Nova that we were puppy sitting for another foster parent, has gone back to her foster home today and in exchange we received two new fosters who are as different as night and day.

Nutmeg is a 3 year old rat terrier/Chihuahua mix who we think may have had puppies recently. She's tiny and wants nothing more than to sit in someone's lap to be pet. I'm guessing she'd do best in a home without small children as she is a bit snippy with the other dogs when they get too close to her. However, she doesn't seem to be feeling well and she did just go through a plane ride to get here. She is a lucky girl - the Ratbone volunteer said that it was so close that they were just about taking her off the table before she was going to be PTS.

Mango is 5 month old rat terrier/beagle mix and I swear that she has a little bit of "Tigger" mixed in there too. She doesn't walk, she gallops. She doesn't wag, she just swings her whole butt. You can't help but smile when you see her exuberance. She's the biggest foster we've had so far and is between 15 and 20 pounds. I'm wondering if the rattie part of her was a Decker terrier (giant rat terrier.) She'll still be a small to medium dog, but she's no petite flower, that's for sure.

The two are like oil and vinegar, but so far seem to be able to keep to their separate corners. Even as gangly and full of the puppy crazies as Mango is, she knows what a lip snarl means and steers clear of Nutmeg.

At the top you see Nutmeg, and below is Mango.

New fosters: flying home with us?

We are headed out for a short vacation on the East Coast and there's a possibility that we may bring back our fosters with us. It's just an idea at this point as I believe the dogs are in Tennessee and there would have to be a transport formed to get them to Baltimore. They are 8 month old little gals and sound pretty sweet. Both were pulled from a high kill shelter and right now Ratbone is just trying to figure out a way to get them to Washington, as we are the only open foster home at this point.

This photo was taken at the shelter of one of the 8 month old pups. She looks like she's got some beagle in her. The second dog is all white, I believe, but has the same head shape as this girl. There was a third rattie at the shelter with them, 5 years old and deaf, who will likely be heading to Oregon or Arizona.

Young female dogs go super fast in Washington and I'm sure that someone on our adoption waiting list will want these girls. We will likely only have them for two weeks is my guess.

Goodbye, Astro and Nova

After 2 short weeks, puppies Astro and Nova left for their forever homes this morning. It was tough having to say goodbye to not one but two loveable little furballs on the same day. As half rat terrier, 1/2 mystery breed these little guys were even-tempered, laid back, pack oriented dogs without the typical prey instinct that we are used to with terriers. Let's just say their personality was a lot more from the mystery side of their lineage than the terrier side, that's for sure. Rat terriers are my favorite breed of dog, however it's nice to have mellow little mutts around every once in awhile.

Both puppies are going to wonderful homes where they'll have an older fur-sibling to hang out with and learn the ropes from. This made me so happy because I worried about separating the two of them. They were inseparable at home and even would groom each other like cats! It will take them a little bit of time, but they'll adjust.


Their other 6 brothers and sisters have all been adopted or have multiple applications on them as well. That's the thing about puppies - everyone wants one so they go fast. Of course our fearless state coordinator already has several more pups who'll be headed north from a kill shelter in California soon. Their time is up and California doesn't have open foster homes at the moment so they'll be coming to some of the open homes up here in Washington state. Our family is going to take a couple weeks off from fostering and head out for a short vacation. Then we'll be back to introduce you to our next batch of fosters.

All three of these photos were taken this morning before the pups headed home. Astro went home first and Nova moped a bit, sniffing around for her brother and then finally settling down for a nap until it was her turn to head for home.

Busy Weekend

Well, it was a busy weekend. Kathy and I showed off puppies and told people about Ratbone's mission at the Pet Market at Dash Point and at PetSmart, both in Federal Way, Washington. We had 6 puppies with us, so there was a lot of wiping up of pee to be done. Thank goodness a past adopter stopped by with a bag of towels that she was donating because we hadn't brought anything but their blankets. The puppies are all very well socialized and so everyone had a chance to snuggle a puppy and get a few puppy kisses if they felt like it.

We have multiple applications on all 8 of the puppies and the majority of them look really good, so once these little guys get spayed or neutered, they should be ready to head to their forever homes. They are great little dogs (who will be great medium sized dogs in a few months) and whomever ends up being the approved applicants are very lucky indeed. Already they have pretty even, calm temperments and they are only puppies.

Their mom arrives next week, I believe, and she will be doing the heartworm treatment here and not in Texas, so wish her luck as she undergoes this dangerous stage of getting rid of mature heartworms. The treatment kills the heartworms, but because the mature heartworms are lodged in the heart and even at times the lungs, as they die and release into the bloodstream there is a time period that the dog is at risk for heart failure if the worms clog veins. If you live in an area that has heartworm, PLEASE keep your dog on heartworm preventative. It will eventually kill a dog if not treated and treatment and possible lasting health problems are a lot more expensive than a monthly dose of Heartguard plus or Advantage Multi, that's for sure.