Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Day 17/24 Alley's Been Adopted!

The family that came to visit Alley on Friday decided that they would like to adopt her.  She'll have lots of fun playing with two little girls and get tonnes of love from the whole family.  It's always a good sign when there are ohhhs and awwws before everyone gets in the door.  Alley's new family will be picking her up on Friday so we've still got a few days to spend with Alley.  The good thing is the cone is off and Alley seems much happier.  I've never had to wear a cone (I think I've mentioned this before, pugs aren't very bendy.  So when I was neuter....well, you get the picture) so I don't know what it's like, but some of the fosters say it's not that much fun. 

Alley's always been fond of lying on a chair under the table so now she can get back onto them.  Mom pulled out all the chairs when she had the cone on, but it's just not the same if it's not under the table.  Maybe later there'll be a bit of sunshine and Alley will like that even more.









Speaking of sunshine, the weather has been very nice here.  The -30 degree cold is gone and while there's still snow (at least in our yard) we're all enjoying going outside.

Yesterday Sierra and I spent some quality time together on my Mom's lounge chair.  This is my favorite place to be in the summer and yesterday was just like summer...well minus the white stuff on the ground.  But it was still really warm and sunny!








Mom also talked to Nicky last night.  Y'all remember Nicky?  She helped us when we had Willie so that he would learn it's OK to be on his own.  Sierra is still showing fear when greeted by unfamiliar dogs. Mom thought she could use some advice about how to best introduce Sierra to new dogs.   Mom wants Sierra to be comfortable around new dogs because she sees how much fun Sierra has playing with me and wants her to experience this with other dogs as well.  Mom got some tips to work on with Sierra so we are going to go on lots of walks to practice and help Sierra get over her fears.  Sierra is pretty smart so lets hope she learns quickly that new dogs are great to be around!




Friday, January 27, 2012

Day 13/20/39 Goodbye Gio

Today Gio went to his forever home.  He's was with us for 39 days.  It sure doesn't seem like it was that long.

I'm going to miss Gio.  Mostly because he liked to play with me.  He was really great at playing chase around the coffee table or dining room table.  Some times I did the chasing, but sometimes Gio would chase me too.  I didn't like it so much when he tried to chew on my tail when I was sleeping but overall he was fun to have around.  Mom says she'll miss him too...and not just the fact that she'll be able to open and close a door without removing him from the other side of the door.
 
Of course Mom took some pics of our last few days with Gio.  This is Gio, Alley and I sleeping on the bed.  Mom says it's a good thing we're all small and sleep in a straight line or there would be no room on the bed for her.













Gio likes to share to love and spent some time with Sierra too.  Even though Sierra would chase Gio when he was acting crazy, Gio still liked to hang out with her.  I think Gio liked Sierra because Sierra knows how to open the patio door by herself and Gio was hoping he'd get a chance to run outside.  Mom knows this trick and gets to the door before Gio.





A nice family came to see Alley last night.  There were two adults, two young girls and they even brought their dog.  It's good that the whole family gets to meet Alley and agree on her so the more the merrier.  They all seemed to like her, but who wouldn't.  She's very pretty (for a cat...oops, Mom says cats are just as good as dogs) and Alley turned on the charm.  She was very playful and friendly with them all.  Alley has really come out of her shell the past few days so it's good that she showed off her true personality for the family.  We're still waiting to hear back from them so stayed tuned for the next update.




Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Day 9/17/36 Alley has an Adoption Application

Alley went to the Vet on Saturday morning because her incision didn't look very good.  The Vet said it was infected so Alley got some antibiotics and a cone.  Mom wanted to take a picture of her with her cone on but we took a vote and decided it was bad enough that she has to walk around the house all day with the cone on, we don't need to document it for all eternity.

The Vet also checked out Alley's ears.  Alley had ear mites so we all got some topical medication so we don't get them too.  Because ear mites can spread with any physical contact with other animals the Vet suggested that neither Alley nor Sierra go to the Adoptathon. Mom still went to the adoptathon to check it out and there were lots of AARCS cats and dogs there.  Mom also heard that there were some adoptions so it's too bad neither Alley nor Sierra were able to go.  However, we got an adoption application for Alley today!  Mom hasn't heard from the family interested in her, but she's hoping they contact her soon.

I have decided that I really like the cat bed.  I've never, ever laid on a bed before; cat or dog, even though we've had lots of each.  This one is very comfortable and just the right size for me to snuggle up in.










Sierra has been practicing her squeaker removal skills.  She can get a squeaker out of a toy at lightening speed.  Once it's out she's done with the toy and she moves on to the next one.  Mom has stitched up most of the toys but sometimes Sierra has taken out so much of the stuffing that Mom won't put them back together again.  Now we have a lot of stuffing-less toys to play with.  (They're not as good though!)





Stay tuned for an update on Alley's adoption application.






Friday, January 20, 2012

Day 5/13/32 Gio has an Adoption Application

It's been a busy week around the house.  Mom as been doing some renovations and we've been helping.

As you can see it's mostly inspection and supervisory work that we've been helping with.  Once we see the day is off to a good start we all go and do our own thing.  Which is sleeping for Alley and Gio or monitoring the neighbourhood for Sierra and I.








On Wednesday Mom got an adoption application for Gio!  The man looking to adopt him is coming by this afternoon for a visit.  I really like Gio because he plays with me so I'm going to make sure this guy is extra special.  Gio and Alley are completely opposite to one another; both in their looks and personality.  Mom figures if AC doesn't like Gio then he might like Alley.

Tomorrow Sierra, Gio and Alley are going to the AARCS adoptathon at the Pet Valu Southland Crossing, 9737 MacLeod Trail SW, Calgary, AB from 10-4.

Hold the presses.....

AC arrived early so we've already got an update on Gio's Adoption Application.  Gio's been adopted!!  Yay for Gio!  AC has to get prepared for Gio's arrival so he's going to pick him up next Friday.  I gave AC my stamp of approval by trying to jump all over him.  Mom says I really need to work on my polite greetings.  I tell her I can't help it if I'm really excited when someone new comes to visit but she's not buying that excuse.  

Back to the adoptathon.  Now only Sierra and Alley will be going.  I wish I could go but Mom says I'm so cute I'd steal the spot light from all the other dogs and cats that are looking for their forever homes.  This sounds like a valid reason so I guess I'll spend the day catching up on my sleep.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Day 1/9/28 Welcome Alley

Last night Mom when out with Sierra and Gio and come home with a new foster kitten named Alley. 

All they could talk about today was a photo shoot they went to last night with Holly at BrindleBerry Photography  As you can see Alley is a beautiful kitten.  Lots of fluffy grey calico fur with some darker grey stripes.















Alley has settled in very quickly.  She is far more laid back that Gio and is putting him in his place when he tries to play to rough ie. he's practicing his ninja skills.  This morning Mom set her up downstairs but with access to me and Sierra if she felt like visiting with us.  It was no time and she was upstairs for a visit. 

Gio is still trying to type and tried this technique today.  He got in trouble for being on the table but I bet he tries again tomorrow!











Sierra has been been very good with both kittens.  Sometimes she feels the need to break up the play, but Mom has been stopping her before she tries to goes up to either of them.  Sierra seems to be OK with the fact that someone is stopping the craziness and settles back down.

Mom says this is it for the fosters...she thinks.  Ike is coming to stay with us in a few weeks so our house is getting full.  Stay tuned as I'm sure there'll be lots of stories with so many fosters in the house.





Saturday, January 14, 2012

Day 7/Day 26

It's been an uneventful week around our house...not that anyone is complaining!  Sierra is settling in quite well and so far there haven't been any issues.  Well, one small issue.  Sometimes Sierra likes to lunge at Gio when he's acting all crazy.  She doesn't try to hurt him and Gio doesn't even run away from her.  It's more at night when Gio is running around in the dark.  Still, Mom thought she should tell AARCS about it because her profile says she is good with cats.  Sierra has been a really great dog and we don't want to see her adopted only to come back again.

Then there are times like this where Sierra is so tolerant of Gio's shenanigans that it shows she is OK with cats. 



When Mom went into the office this week we all had free reign of the house.  I showed Sierra that we should spend the day monitoring the neighbourhood and sure enough, when Mom got home there we were in the front window.  Mom could also see that Sierra was quite comfortable lounging on the chair in front of the window.  Mom thought this was funny because Sierra has never even attempted to get on the furniture when she's been home.  I reminded her that there's really not much room to stand by the window what with the chairs and the ottoman that I sit on.  Plus, it would be hard to stand all day!

We went to the dog park this week too.  Mom thought Sierra would be OK off leash because she really likes Mom and comes when she's called around the house.  Sierra was a little unsure around the other dogs.  She didn't like them coming up and sniffing her butt.  She snapped a bit to tell the other dogs to back off.  Mom could tell she was afraid and we're going to work on boosting her confidence around other dogs.  She did love the people though!  She also loved going off leash.  Sierra is a wanderer so it's a good thing that we were in a fully enclosed area.  She went much further away from Mom than I ever do but of course I had to follow her and explored some areas of the park I'd never been in before.  Sierra did come back when Mom called her so that's all that really matters.


Sunday, January 8, 2012

Day 1/Day 20 Welcome Sierra

dioa aasd lse uivnalse aoeoe wasa lsosn!!












OK, Gio wanted to type the blog today, but clearly his typing skills are worse than mine.  Therefore, Mom has taken over typing.

Yesterday afternoon Sierra came to stay with us.  Sierra is a little over 2 years old and is already up for adoption














Sierra was adopted before, but the people who adopted her returned her.  They said that she wanted too much attention and that she jumped a lot.  Mom says that she hasn't exibited either of these, but she's only been here a short while.  What Sierra has already shown us is that she's a great dog.  She already knows which door to go to to be let outside, knows how to sit, doesn't get on the furniture or the bed.  Sierra even seems to like Gio.  She's a little unsure of him when she's lying down and he comes up, but she hasn't shown any aggression towards him.  Best of all, Sierra started to play with me within the first hour of coming into the house!  I think I like her the best of all the foster dogs so far.

Because Sierra is a bit older than the other fosters we've had she is much more calm.  There's been lots of lying around, which is fine because I certainly appreciate the value of a good nap. 











Mom says later, if the wind dies down, we'll go for a walk and she how Sierra is on a leash.  Maybe soon we'll get to go to the dog park too, but Mom says we have to wait until she knows Sierra will come back when she's called.



Thursday, January 5, 2012

Day 17 Happy Anniversary!!

Can you believe that it's been a year since I started working on my Wish and started my blog!  Time sure does fly when you're helping others and having fun. 

It doesn't seem like a year has passed since our first foster dog, Nanook, came to stay with us.  And what a great first foster dog he was!










We have had some ups and downs with our fosters (remember The Fluffies that dug a hole through the wall?) but over all Mom and I have had a great time fostering and have no plans on stopping now!  As you can see by the recent posts, I've extended by wish to includes cats.  Gio has been a great addition to have around but I think Mom might spend a bit too much time snuggling with him.  She still leaves room on her lap for me so I guess it's OK.

Bonnie and Gio had some great play time together.  Bonnie went back to her foster family on December 26th so it was just Gio and I for a few days.












Diesel came back to stay with us over New Year's Eve.  I was really excited to see my new friend back and we had lots of fun together.  

Now it's back to just Gio and I.  As you can see we get along great.  Gio really loves this water dish.  He plays in it, drops his toy in it and he drinks out of it too.  He had his own water dish for awhile, but was always drinking out of mine so now we share it.  Some days I think he'd like me to share my food as well but that's not going to happen!






Gio has been exploring the house.  This picture was taken when Diesel was still here and Gio was watching him outside.












Gio would really like to go outside. When Mom goes to the door and asks if anyone wants to go outside Gio is the first one there.  I don't think that cats are as smart as dogs because if I didn't have to go outside in the cold to go to the bathroom than I sure wouldn't be going outside!