The latest

So sweet little Tess has come and gone. She was only here for 2 weeks before heading to her loving home! We still have Franny but it will be another week before our next foster arrives.

Washington has 3 fosters coming from the Midwest and South next week. Two females will be fostered by our Yakima foster mom and a male will stay with me. We are planning some vacation time in June so getting someone to stay at the house with the dogs has taken some doing. Actually, the new foster will be watched by a previous adopter and then someone will stay with Franny, Tilly and Frodo and watch the house for us.

Right now I don't have photos of the new WA kiddoes because we aren't totally positive which will end up here but as soon as we have pics they will be posted. They are scheduled to fly here on on Thursday the 3rd so the Midwest team better get moving and find us the 3rd rescue we need! It shouldn't be hard because unfortunately this time of year is what us rescues call the dumping season. Sadly there are always plenty of dogs to choose from at the high kill shelters.

VOTE...but not for New Rattitude

New Rattitude is in a great place financially right now and we thought it would be nice to put our votes for the bi-annual theanimalrescuesite.com grant contest towards a sister rat terrier organization, Rat Terrier ResQ in Arkansas.

So each day go to www.theanimalrescuesite.com , click to give, then click on the "vote today" link. Choose Rat Terrier ResQ as your shelter and Arkansas as the state. Repeat on every computer you have access to daily.

Thanks so much, guys!

Tess

So, I've been a bit slow posting about little Tess' arrival in WA and now she already has a good application! Ends up little Tess is house-trained and extremely social with both dogs and people. She's just about as close to perfect as they come and I'm really happy she got a chance to pick out her own mom.

I took Tess to work with me on Saturday and that morning a customer came in who always checks out my latest foster. She picked up Tess and it they both just knew. She held Tess for about 45 minutes, making herself late for an appt. and Tess whined when she put her down. I can't be happier that Tess picked herself out such a great home. Plus, they are close so I'll get to see her occasionally!

I took little Miss into the vet last week to check out the lump on her side and also her knees (she pulls them up sometimes when running in the back yard. Happily her knees were fine - no luxating patella. The lump was a foreign object, likely a small bit of buckshot was the vet's guess, knowing the area that she originally was from. He said it doesn't seem to be bothering her so it can just stay in. So now that we know she is healthy she'll be going in for her spay surgery this week and will be ready for her new home when all the paperwork is out of the way.

Home Visit needed in Bellingham!

I'll post an update about the fosters later, but right now I wanted to check to see if any of you folks in WA have any dog crazy friends up in Bellingham? We need a home visit done to check out an applicant for a New Rattitude foster. Anyone out there who can help us out?

Tess and the power of online networking

Wow. Who would've thought that Facebook networking would work. Well, yeah, millions think it works but I'm not that social. However, about a month ago I finally was talked into joining and have learned once again the value of online networking.

A friend of a friend of a Facebook friend posted a photo of a dog in Henry County, Georgia who only had a few days left before euthanasia. It just so happens that my foster Quixote has a great app and will be going home soon so I have a foster spot open. I E-mailed the New Rattitude Georgia team to see if someone would go and evaluate her and possibly get her on a plane to me here in Washington.

Happily, this morning one of our volunteers who lives near the shelter pulled her and took her to a temp foster home in Atlanta. They then took her to the vet and had her vaccinated, microchipped, heartworm tested and a health certificate written up so she could fly. She will be put on a plane in Atlanta tomorrow and we will pick her up at Sea-Tac airport in the evening.

She is 7.2 pounds, loves the other dogs at her temp foster home, does well on a leash and wearing a collar and so far seems to be house-trained. She loves all people and has a great temperment. The only thing we will have tested is her rear knee, just in case she has luxating patella since she pulls up one of her legs on occasion.

So welcome Tess to the New Rattitude family.

UPDATE: Claire won the inspiring stories contest and is one step closer to getting her cataract surgery, thanks to the $1,000 prize.