Almost time for the Jamboree!

Only a few days left until Rat Terrier Jamboree time and I'm SOOOO excited. Even the nasty overnight plane ride that I'll have to take to get there Thursday morning isn't getting me down. It's all part of the adventure.

Little Vivi (see her pics on Flickr) will be catching a ride home with me from the Jamboree. I wasn't going to take in anymore fosters until we are back from our vacation but since Vivi is a young pup she will be adopted long before we leave. Vivi (named after a character in the book "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood") is a sweet little 10 week old girl who started out her life in a puppymill and from there ended up in a pet store. She was purchased from the store by someone who hadn't done their homework because when baby Vivi wasn't immediately house trained she was dropped off at an animal shelter. The shelter employee told the owner that they should probably stick to stuffed animals in the future if they didn't want to deal with dog pee.

The shelter notified New Rattitude and she was pulled by the Indiana state coordinator who is temporarily fostering her until Jamboree. I will take delivery of little Viv at the Jamboree and happily this year I will actually have a rat terrier with me and not be the "lady without a dog".

The photo above is from last year's Jamboree. Newman the dog is discussing the merits of the cow vs. the dog bottle buddy toy with his mom at the New Rattitude ReTail booth. I'll be working the booth again this year so stop by and say hi. For more photos of last years event and to see day by day photos posted of this years event while it happens, check out the SE Rat Terrier Jamboree Website.

Quixote

Mr. Q is the lovingest dog ever! Although he can be a bit cranky about his feet being touched (someone must have quicked his nails badly - they are all black so easier to cut off too much) this guy just loves to snuggle. If a lap isn't available he will just curl up on top of someones feet.

We have had some clear weather and he and the gang are loving play time in the back yard. He loves to explore and chase Frodo around and especially liked playing with foster pup, Jake, before he went to his new home.

Quixote has an application so we are crossing our fingers that it will be a good home for him. Hopefully they will want to meet him this weekend. If things work out he might go home before I get back from the Rat Terrier Jamboree in Tennessee next week. I'll likely be bringing a foster puppy back with me on the plane so this might be a good thing. :)

The Latest

So all sorts of stuff has happened since I last blogged and life has been getting in the way of me keeping the blog up to date.

Quixote arrived and is the best little guy. He had his knee surgery and this week the bandages were removed. Now the challenge is getting him to start putting weight on the leg again since he's a bit of a wuss and avoids any chance of pain at all costs. It's only been a few days though so we'll see how he's doing in another week. In the photo above you can see him all wrapped up and enjoying a cone-free moment.

Franny took awhile to get used to Quixote but with 2 weeks of slow introduction they now are actually wrestling and playing tug together. This is going to be key in getting Franny acclimated in a new home. She just needs someone who is calm and patient and will slowly let her adjust. When it comes to people though she is quick to adopt you as her new best friend, especially if you pet her and hand her a few treats. Then her nub starts wagging so fast it just looks like a blur.

Sweet little Jake has an application all the way over in Edmonton, Alberta. He will have a rattie brother and sister to keep him company up there and get to spend lots of time hiking, the lucky little guy.

Frodo had a lesion removed from his left front armpit. We were pretty scared about it, but thankfully it was just a benign histiocytoma so there's nothing to worry about now. Both he and Quixote are very happy that they are now cone-free.

Only a couple weeks until the Rat Terrier Jamboree in Sweetwater, Tennessee. I'll be flying there to hang out and enjoy all the other rat terrier fans and getting a chance to meet the rescuers that I spend so much time communicating online about. It is absolutely beautiful country-side there in SE Tennessee and the April weather in gorgeous. If you ever have some vacation time in April I highly recommend attending.

The good boy

Mr. Jake has settled in fine and is still a great little guy. He's only had a couple of accidents in the house and although he's still going through his puppy chewing stage he prefers bones and JW squeakie toys to anything else so the furniture is safe. lol. Honestly, I'm flabbergasted that I haven't gotten an application for this guy because he's such a mellow little pup. Typically the youngsters get adopted almost as soon as they are listed on Petfinder.com.

We will have a full house pretty soon as Quixote is finally over his cough and will likely be flying to Washington by this Saturday at the latest. Quixote is 2 years old and will be having knee surgery on one of his hind legs before he is ready to be adopted. We'll post photos and a report as soon as he arrives.

Jake

Quixote is working his way through kennel cough and is unable to fly to WA until he gets better so while we are waiting for him we decided to take on another guy. Jake is 8 months old and had been in an Atlanta no kill shelter/rescue that closed its doors. New Rattitude took on Jake's mom, dad and his sister Lilly. Mom stayed at a foster home in Atlanta, dad went to Florida and Lilly and Jake flew to open spots in Washington.

He's a very sweet tempered guy who loves dogs and people of all ages. All the dogs here are enjoying him and they practically fight over whose turn it is to play with Jake.

Since he's young, sweet and already neutered and up to date on vaccinations I'm guessing that we won't have this sweet boy for long.

Anxiously awaiting Quixote!

It looks like our next foster will be Quixote, a 2 year old type B (teddy) male rat terrier. Quixote was in a Michigan shelter and was deemed unadoptable because of a grade 4 luxating patella. New Rattitude was desperately looking for a spot for this guy - the shelter notified us about him on a Saturday and gave us until Monday to find a spot for him. We said we would take him and the shelter was contacted but they were only willing to hold him until Wednesday and we had to rush to figure out a way to get him transported to a temporary foster home in Michigan until he is able to fly out of Chicago to Seattle.

Once he gets here he'll have his knee surgery and after a few weeks of recuperation will be ready to find a home of his own. His temporary foster home says that he's a sweet little guy who loves snuggling and playing with both humans and other dogs alike. We hope that he'll be able to fly here next week sometime.

The photo above was taken at the Michigan shelter that Quixote was originally at.

New Rattitude on Facebook

Okay, I have to admit that I am one of those behind the times people who have never bothered with creating a Facebook account. However, if you are not as backwards as I am and have an account, consider connecting up with our group on Facebook. There you'll learn the latest happenings with New Rattitude and some very cool dog stories, so consider becoming a fan.