Guess who's looking all grown up - it's Mesquite! His mom sent me a photo and let me know his ears popped up all of a sudden and have stayed up for the last several days. Isn't he just the cutest little guy!
I have a lot of plush type toys that are kept in the hall closet and only brought out when I have time to closely supervise play. The reason? Well, a terrier being a terrier, it's not long until they decide they want to play the ultimate terrier game and gut the poor stuffie.
Salinas and Chima inspect the turtle
So these nice tough plushies (and by tough I mean that they would last 3 minutes in a toy killing spree as opposed to 30 seconds) are extra special to the dogs and yesterday I decided to let the girls have a turn with the Velcro turtle who is full of all kinds of great sounds.
Once Chima found the "grunter" in the head she really went to town on keeping the noise going
The cool thing about turtle is his back Velcros on and off so the dog can rip the back off and it's all good. And then there was the plus that the Velcro stuck to the carpet a little too so Chima got to pull it off the carpet occasionally too.
There are 9 squeakers in the turtle's back, and 4 in it's legs and then the head has a "grunter" which made Chima step back and tilt her head when she found it.
Sal giving me a very pathetic look and wondering when it will be her turn and why I won't put the camera away
All in all she had a ton of fun and can't wait until I pull out the next surprise toy. Salinas was interested but a little shy so later with Chima crated and the camera tucked away she got her own turn to kill the turtle and had her chance at fun.
While the girls definitely have their bursts of energy and both love to play and hunt, one of their most practiced of activities is the "power nap." This nap typically follows a mouse hunt and a "power chew" and requires mounds of soft blankets, a few throw pillows and preferably a human working on a laptop nearby.
Little Skeeter's new parents just adore him. While they are at work he gets puppysat by his grandma and hangs out with her pack, but at home he gets plenty of attention from mom and dad.
Over the last weekend they took him on his very first camping trip and he had a blast - tents, campfires, fishing, lots of laptime and plenty of his favorite game: fetch!
Mesquite had a blast and check out his cute little coat!
He has his own little tent to kick back in and warm up under the blankets
Or at night he snoozed in the tent with mom and dad
Fishing was pretty interesting
And so was sniffing along the lakeshore
Of course he made sure fetch was regularly played
Although he's a plenty active pup, he's also an expert snuggler. Here he is with his dad.
So happy this great little dog ended up in a family who has made him a beloved member of their family and part of all their adventures.
Adoptions have really been slow so it seems like a long time since I've been able to do a "Rescue Railroad" post. Well I'm happy to say that tonight we have two new foster dogs who will be arriving for Washington foster homes.
First up is Domino. She's an active ten month old female Rat Terrier with very cute markings and a spunky little personality. Gotta love her curly little tail. She's about 14 pounds and she'll be fostered with our wonderful new foster parents in Gig Harbor, Washington.
And our other new rescue is Timken. Little Tim is about 2 years old and weighs 14 or 15 pounds. He was living in a house where the four other dogs there bullied him and will be working with his foster parents to gain confidence. He's a sweet guy who's never spent any time outside of the house he lived in so will also be working on getting used to being around people too. We can't wait to watch this guy blossom in his foster home.
I'm pleased to share a recent update I received from Langley's dad Bruce. The guys have successfully moved from Redmond to a cabin in the San Juan Islands. Initially Langley had a rough time with all the changes going on (he actually lived at the Marriott Hotel with his dad for a week while the move was underway!) but once he realized that the cabin was home he settled and is doing great.
There is a lot of wildlife on the Island so he is having to learn to not get so excited when he spots deer, turkey, and even some llamas that live near him. He is taking training classes with a great positive trainer and even visits the off leash dog park on occasion although recently he and a Norwich Terrier had a fight there recently.
So it sounds like they are really enjoying life together and other than having to regularly hide his treats under cushions because he doesn't trust his dad not to steal one, he's doing great!
I sure love how comfortable the girls are getting during evening television time on the couch. Chima likes to turn Salinas into a pillow and Sal will put up with it for quite awhile. Last night though she got her turn to use Chima as her butt pillow.
Our family fosters for "New Rattitude Rat Terrier Rescue." This blog keeps a record of the wonderful dogs that we foster and of our current ratties' progress on their road to adoption.
Be sure to join us on Facebook. "Like" us on the New Rattitude Northwest community page to follow the NR foster dogs of the Northwest as well as hear about local Rat Terrier events and training information.
New Rattitude is an all volunteer group so any donation you make will be fully used to rescue and treat a rat terrier in need. Donations can also be mailed to New Rattitude at P.O. Box 14064; Lansing, Michigan, 48901. Thanks for your assistance. Woof woof!