Settling In

Rigby joined our family as a foster dog on Sunday evening and he quickly settled right in like he'd always been here.

Potty break after finally finishing his road trip to Washington

Bath time! He was not a fan but he didn't try to get out of the tub even once. Good boy!

Hanging out on the bed after his bath

We have a few things to work on but they are minor and typical for any dog who hasn't spent much time living in a house. He is great with other dogs, very intent on pleasing his people, and super snugly. He loves belly rubs, and tug and just kicking back on the couch with his people. He doesn't tolerate rudeness in other dogs but isn't a jerk about it - he just gives a quick growl to let them know to take it down a notch. We've only heard this once when Sal jumped up on the couch and almost landed on him and I'd growl too in that case. There was a wild terrier pup on the transport that supposedly he growled at a lot, however, from what I saw the pup was a typical adolescent terrier and was very pushy and not respecting the other dogs' space.

Healthwise he seems like a much younger dog. I am still somewhat dubious that he is 9 years old since my Frodo is 6 months younger than he is and Frodo has almost fully gone white whereas Rigby doesn't have any white mixed in with the tan on his head.

Anyhow, I look forward to fostering this guy because he is just so easy and very fun to have around.  Stay tuned for more Rigby posts.

Goodbye, Gorky - Hello, Rigby

Sweet Gorky went home today and boy is it quiet here. Chima and Sal are really going to miss him. Frodo, not so much. But the girls had a blast with him and he's been here since November so he felt like one of the pack.

Waiting in the parking lot to meet up with his new mom

Ready to head home in his new harness. First thing he did is tear over and give his new sister kisses.

Tomorrow evening our new boy Rigby arrives and we'll be back in action. He's 8 years old so I'm guessing that Frodo might like him a little better than Gork. He prefers the more sedate terriers. And in this house, sedate is relative because we are used to a quite rowdy crew.

Rigby on the road, getting a new toy on transport and wearing his Gettin' 'Em Home transport bandana.

Mardi Gras!

It was Barkbox day at our house the other day and there was a very fun Mardi Gras theme this month. The jester ball and carnival mask toys are pretty much shreds of fabric at this point but the dogs had fun destroying them.

Chima, waiting her turn while Gorky squeaks the jester ball

Gorky loved the squeakie jester ball and is still managing to get a few squeaks out of it, even though it's lost its tassles. Chima had her typical wrestling match with the toys and I loved the video I caught of her, completely still, waiting to see if Gorky would come and take it. For most of the video, the only way you know it is video is because Gorky's tail is wagging full speed.

We used the catfish po'boy treats at Nose Work class for Chima and she found them delicious. Of course she occasionally eats poop so it's not like she's picky or anything.

Introducing Rigby!

Meet our first new foster dog for 2015 - Rigby!  Rigby is 8 years old and weighs about 24 pounds but could stand to lose a couple pounds. He is a purebred Rat Terrier and is definitely a handsome guy. He has a bit of a long story and I will try to relate the bits and pieces that I know of his past here.

Rigby, formerly known as Davey, was surrendered to a no kill shelter in Central CA with his brother Harley. I believe it was a case of an elderly owner moving or something. Anyhow, the boys were adopted out together since they had spent their whole lives together. Then at no fault of their own, the person who adopted them moved, I believe, and she brought them back to the no-kill shelter about a year or two later. Well that shelter charged a high fee to return dogs so somehow my friend Lynn got involved so she could keep them out of the regional animal control shelter.

Rigby (L) with his brother Harley

Lynn, working with another rescue, found a home who was interested in both boys and they went home. Then, about a month later the person contacted them and said that two dogs was too much and they were returning Rigby. Supposedly he had peed in the house a couple times and they were not going to tolerate that. He basically was just dumped into a house and expected to be perfect and no one taught him where the potty was at that house. Dog's don't generalize well so even the most house trained dogs need a bit of a refresher when they move. Rigby also itched a lot and they found that annoying.

So back Rigby came and sadly, he was separated from his brother. The itching was quickly worked through by switching him to a good quality grain-free food and he's doing great with his house training. When he came back my friend asked me if New Rattitude could take him and I jumped at the chance. I love the bigger Rat Terriers and am always excited to foster them.

Rigby will be arriving here on Sunday thanks to Gettin' 'Em Home Rescue Transport. Thanks also to Lynn Bonham for keeping him out of the shelter and Dalinda Langley for temping him while we waited for a foster spot to open up. We can't wait to get to know him!

Rigby is of course named for the Beatles song "Eleanor Rigby" which was released in 1966 on the "Revolver" album.

2015 Foster Dog Naming Theme

Each year we have a theme to the names of our foster dogs. I'm not sure how much longer we will stick to having themes but while we can come of with ideas we will continue to have fun with it.

Gorky, named after painter Arshile Gorky, was part of our 2014 artist themed year.

Chima (named for Chimayo, NM) and Salinas (named for the Salinas Pueblos National Monument) were fostered in 2013 when our theme was New Mexico

Some past themes we've had are literature, food, outer space, Washington and New Mexico, and last year we chose visual artists as our theme.

So what is our 2015 theme?

Stay tuned for an introduction of our first 2015 foster dog.

Spring Time!

We had a rare day that was both dry AND had blue skies. The dogs and I took advantage of that and while I did a bit of clean up in the yard, they explored and sniffed.

Gorky and the daffodils

The daffodils overcame the fact that Chima occasionally likes to poop right in the middle of them and are looking great. Not long now...

Gorky sniffing the fuchsia 

Tilly was over all this green fun before the rest of us and was not happy about the other girls sniffing her so much. She wanted to be picked up and taken inside! She had rolled in the mud already so was ready to go back to sleep.

Tilly had enough of the big girls sniffing her

Queen Tilly is ready to be carried back inside

While it may be awhile until we get our next day with blue skies, it's great to see the birds coming back and the shrubs and trees starting to bud.

Gorky's Beloved Squirrel

We have these Hugglehound brand plush squirrel toys that the dogs enjoy. Plush toys tend to only come out for short lengths of time here since Frodo, Tilly and Salinas immediately shred them. Gorky and Chima LOVE to play with them though. Chima likes to roll around on her back while she holds the toy in her mouth and Gorky, well Gorky likes the squeak. Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak... On and on it goes with the occasional shake thrown in.

During one of those play sessions he had the squirrel and he squeaked it for a good 10 minutes while Chima followed him around, waiting her turn. Once he let his guard down she had it in a flash and he begrudgingly watched her roll around for a few minutes before she got bored and he had his chance to squeak again.

I'll be sending Gorky to his forever home with lots of plush toys since they tend to accumulate here and he actually plays with them. And of course he will get to take his squirrel home.

Gorky tells Chima, "Don't even think of it, lady"

But Chima did think of it and eventually her patience as she stalked him won her a turn with the squirrel