carasueachterberg

[carasueachterberg]

Pretty Perfect Puppies Still Here!

I’ve fostered a lot of puppies. But never this long. I look at them sometimes and wonder if they’ll still be here at Christmas. I know they won’t be. Eventually, they will find homes. I’m certain. I suppose the best part (from a potential adopter’s point of view) is that out of necessity, they are now crate-trained, more-or-less housebroken (except when I get busy and forget how long it’s been…

[carasueachterberg]

A Doghouse-Full of Foster Dogs

The foster cottage is filling back up! After a year with us, Diamond was able to go back home this past weekend! You can read about how she came to be with us here. From the start, we were never sure this day would come. But it finally did, and I’m thrilled for her. She has a fenced backyard of her own and is back with her mom for good. Continue reading A Doghouse-Full of Foster Dogs

[carasueachterberg]

Dogs Are Backing Up

Things are moving very slowly in the dog adoption world. Which means dogs are backed up at shelters all over. And we all know what that means. My adorable, sweet, smart, healthy puppies are twelve weeks old today, and neither has any interested adopters. This seems crazy to me. But it speaks to the times. It seems unlikely that everyone who had ever planned to adopt a puppy has adopted one.…

[carasueachterberg]

Hesitation is the Hallmark of Mediocrity

Nick showed me a picture on his phone. “Hesitation is the hallmark of mediocrity,” I said, mostly in jest. (I looked up where I found this quote and realized I’d paraphrased something Elizabeth Benton had written in her book, Chasing Cupcakes. She’d actually said it was the ‘cornerstone of mediocrity’) We had been talking about buying a car for months. Currently, we have his pickup truck and…

[carasueachterberg]

Roster Report from the Foster Cottage

Things are a bit busy here in the foster cottage, so here’s the rundown: Lima Bean had her amputation surgery on Wednesday and is doing really well. She’s back to wearing toddler shirts to protect the huge incision and keep her from messing with it. When I picked her up, they recommended she wear a cone, but this poor girl is miserable, so we’re going with shirts instead. So far, so…

[carasueachterberg]

Time to Find Homes for these Puppies!

It is time to find homes for these puppies! They are more than ready for forever families. The Beanie Babies are now eight weeks old, age-appropriately vaccinated, and microchipped. And I need your help finding those homes! Please share this blog post (or any of the Facebook posts I’ve put up on Another Good Dog) with anyone and everyone. Continue reading Time to Find Homes for these Puppies!

[carasueachterberg]

Rescue is a Roller Coaster

Rescue is a roller coaster, and this past week it was a doozy. On Monday morning, Lima Bean would not move or eat. Her belly seemed enlarged and she’d peed all over her bedding (something she had never done before). Her allergies, which had been getting steadily better with a change of diet, were raging and she had scratched her ears bloody overnight. Otherwise, her temp was normal, and her gums…

[carasueachterberg]

Writing Discipline in the Chaos of Life

It’s summertime and the living is not so easy, at least in this foster dog home. With my office cottage filled with three dogs and three puppies, plus a serious medical (possibly hospice) foster dog, my office cat Hazel, and I are both overwhelmed by the dogs, their needs, and their noise. Which means that I am not getting a lot of writing done. Sigh. I seem to get myself into these situations…

[carasueachterberg]

I Could Really Use Your Help

I could really use your help. Up until now, pretty much every one of my fosters has belonged to a local rescue organization, like the Humane Society of Shenandoah County or Operation Paws for Homes. With the current crew in my foster cottage, I am fostering for X-Port Paws. They are mainly a transport rescue organization. They save animals marked for euthanasia from shelters, find a receiving…

[carasueachterberg]

Diamond is a Diamond

[carasueachterberg]

Sometimes Fostering is Hard on the Heart

Fostering is often a lot of work, and always rewarding, but sometimes it’s also just plain heartbreaking. Every time we welcome foster dogs or puppies, they are a mystery. They are most often strays, and lately, most have been pulled from the euthanasia list at an overcrowded shelter. We don’t know their medical histories before the day of their intake at the shelter, but we do know they have…

[carasueachterberg]

My Viral Moment on TikTok

For years, I have resisted TikTok. Facebook and Instagram seemed like plenty. Who needs one more social media platform to suck my soul? But then…. Continue reading My Viral Moment on TikTok

[carasueachterberg]

The foster cottage is FULL!

Having four adult dogs and four two week old puppies is requiring me to refine my juggling act. At this juncture, none of the adult dogs can be loose in the cottage at the same time. So it’s a game of crate and rotate and walk and keep track of who hasn’t been out recently to potty and who needs snuggle time with me and what the best set up is to have quiet for my zoom call. I make myself take…

[carasueachterberg]

Have I Gotten Myself in Over My Head?

Have I gotten myself in over my head? This is the question that rolled across my mind early this morning when I couldn’t sleep. The last time I had this many dogs in the foster cottage, I was overwhelmed. In fact, it was also four dogs and four puppies. Of course, those were basically feral dogs and worm-riddled puppies, so the physical work was overwhelming. After the seventh or eighth…

[carasueachterberg]

Rescue is a Roller Coaster

Rescue is always a roller coaster. But I tend to go with the most death-defying coasters (at least when it comes to rescuing, definitely not on real coasters!). Lately, there have been too many situations that have made me angry, sad, and/or heart-broken because I am powerless to do anything about them. I wallow briefly, but then rally and look for situations where I can have an impact. So, as…

[carasueachterberg]

What a Difference Security Can Make

Wishbone is transforming before my eyes. Security makes all the difference. When he first arrived, he was skeletal and skittish and focused inward, curling up in a ball in his crate whenever he wasn’t eating. I took him for very short walks, trying to venture further from the cottage each day, but going at his pace. In the foster cottage, we kept things quiet. He and Diamond take turns being…

[carasueachterberg]

Put Down the Phone and Read a Book