Sunday, October 14, 2012

Two months went flying by--part 1

Where do I start?

First of all: Name change. I started this blog a few years ago primarily as a place to talk about the things I was knitting, and now that I'm using it as more of an expanded general blog, it needed to be renamed. Obviously, if you're reading this, you're not still looking for my blog on the other address.

I'm on my third foster dog (and that may be changing to my fourth soon). Katie went to jail--quite literally. She's been taken up by a program that works with prisoners in the Kentucky State Penitentiary. The prisoners take care of the dogs and put them through quite a rigorous obedience training program, and it's a win-win all around. The dogs enjoy the work, and they "graduate" from the program well-trained and are much more adoptable. The prisoners are learning job skills that could help them find work when they are released, not to mention the benefits of being able to focus on and care for something other than themselves while in prison.

Dog #2 was Heart. She was a terrified, malnourished little thing when I got her, so frightened of everything that she wouldn't even walk on a leash; you had to carry her from the car to the house. I only had her for a couple of weeks before someone called to adopt her (and I hear she's doing GREAT!), but she had totally come out of her shell and was beginning to fatten up.

Untitled Heart
Heart's coloring is proof that eyeliner does make your eyes look bigger!

Current foster dog is Badger, a short little senior mutt who loves attention. His name is definitely appropriate, because he's got really fuzzy stiff fur and shuffles around like I imagine a badger might. I've also got a foster cat named Kiwi. She has beautiful big eyes and she's a snuggler: if you pick her up and hold her against your chest, she'll tuck her head up under your chin and put her paws on either side of your neck like a hug and purr and knead. *melt*

BadgerKiwi--up for adoption!

Badger may be moving on soon. Someone had expressed interest in adopting him last week, but hasn't returned my phone call lately. Or I may be trading dogs with another foster family; they have one that doesn't get along with kids as well as they'd like, but since there are no kids at my house, it's not a problem.

I enjoy fostering these dogs and cats. Especially in Heart's case--it was so rewarding to see her fatten up and it made me ridiculously happy to watch her come running from across the yard when I called, remembering how she wouldn't even walk with me when I first got her. So...if you're looking for a dog or a cat, I know people who can hook you up.

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