Quickie - Foster Girls

My house smells like dog pee. BLEGH. I don't like it. The fact alone that I notice it says something. I've been living with a zoo for the past few years, but after a while the smells just smell like home. That may sound gross, but I clean cages every week and I keep the rest of my house pretty tidy. It's not like we live in filth. But the animal smells just lose their smelliness... I imagine much like a smoker's house doesn't smell like smoke to a smoker. I swear - I was going somewhere with this...

OH, yeah. I think I might start crating the foster girls this weekend to try to break them from peeing everywhere. They're not all that bad (I'm sure they pee outside at least some), but if I just let it go, then I'm condoning it. Not only that, but they'll have to be crated after their heartworm treatments and if that freaks them out then it will defeat the purpose - which is to keep them calm. They may as well get used to it now. I kind of hate to do that to them, but for the sake of my nose and their hearts I guess it's probably best.

Quickie - Work

I noticed that I'm blogging more lately. I think it's because I've been going to work earlier and getting off work earlier so I have more free time in the afternoons. Not quite enough to go walking like I want to, but enough that I have time to get my chores and stuff done and still have a few extra minutes to myself.

I've been SUPER busy at work and that's fun. I'm finally nearing the end of a project that I started on over a year ago: LINE SHEETS. Line sheets were meant to make everyone's life easier - except mine, I guess. 😂 We've started and stopped and changed the way we were doing it... then I got close to done and we decided to do price changes so then I had to start over again. We finally found the way that would work best for us and I've learned so much from doing them over and over that it's not taking me forever. SO THAT'S COOL! 😁 (Btw, I am SO not complaining. I love my job. It's fun and I'm constantly learning new things.)

Anyway I've only got handbags and earrings left to do... maybe I can knock out one or both of them this week; I guess we'll just have to see how it fits in among the many other things waiting for me. If not I'm sure I'll have them done and up on our site by next week. And that will be a relief for me. I hate to leave things unfinished and these have been in the works for over a year. I have to say - considering that I had very limited knowledge about photography, Photoshop, and making web pages - these aren't half-bad. 😊 Very basic, I know, but functionality is the purpose here.

Here is a PDF (16MB) of necklaces that I made. (I didn't make the necklaces - the PDF, goofyhead.) 😀 If you like what you see show some love and become a fan on Facebook. My boss would probably love that. 😀

The Foster Doggies

This is Faith (aka Freckles, aka Ginger) (check out that tail action!)

And this is Sandy (The LOWrider, aka Bread)

I am quite aware that those are crappy pictures... my house has fluorescent lighting and I didn't bother trying to adjust my camera. These were taken spur-of-the-moment like. I think their cuteness shines through, though. 😀

So far things are going pretty well. As well as you could expect from dogs who have lived in a shelter for over a year, anyway. They have no house manners and do not know they rules yet, but they are quick learners. Most dogs are. I haven't met many who were not eager to please.

No squabbles over food or anything. They don't ever want to go outside, though. I guess they're still not sure that I will let them back in. But they're catching on. Faith will go out, but immediately tries to run back in. Sandy will run to the door, but stops short. I have to push her out. 😂

Also, they pee in the floor. I bought some dog pads in hopes to make my cleanup easier, but when I put them in the floor they both laid down on them. I could practically hear them thinking "Ooh, this is softer than the concrete!" 😂 I started mopping up the puddles with the pads and then turning them over for them to pee on. Today when I came home one was full, but Sandy was still laid out on the others. She's conked out in the middle of them right now as I type.

I've ordered some more Kuranda dog beds... I was hoping that they would be in this week, but if not I will have them early the next I'm sure. (They have different colors than the last time I ordered so that's SUPER-cool!) I'll be up to 4 beds and 6 dogs. I guess I'm still short two, but that's ok. The beds are big enough for more than one dog.

Faith is a CLOWN. She is too funny. Very energetic - and she can JUMP! Not long after her arrival I found her perched atop the Shop Vac. Over the next day or two she realized that she could jump even higher to sit on the desk. I just wonder how long it will be before she realizes that she can clear the gate... 😳 Other than that she is very submissive which means that she's getting along great with everyone. I've had absolutely no problems out of her.

Sandy, on the other hand has more of a dominant personality. She's humping everyone (yes, females do it, too - to show dominance) and that has caused a few small fights. Once when Natasha decided to break up Emma and Sandy Emma ended up with bit of a bloody nose. Not cool. More recently Sandy is behaving, but Emma reminds her OFTEN who humps who in this house. I think it's finally sinking in.

All in all I'm very happy with the dogs. I think that they are good girls who deserve a nice forever home. It will be great to know that they're going to a shelter that is not so crowded where more homes are available. I hope we make it through the spaying and heartworm treatment without a hitch. While they're here we're going to learn some things. They're going to be the most adoptable dogs up there! 😁 I'm really glad that I've had the opportunity to meet them and help them on their journey. I will try to keep you posted on their progress.

Dogs

I'm just being lazy and hanging out with mine right now. I guess I'll enjoy the peace and quiet of being down to my own 4 for another day or so. My foster doggie, Bug, made the trek to Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago. I hear that he's settling in quite nicely. He lives in a house with a few pugs and a bunch of cats. He like cats toys so he's probably happy about that. 😀 The only thing he has a problem with is the cold... I knew that he wouldn't like it. When the weather got chilly here I had to push him out the door and leave him for a while so that he'd use the bathroom out there instead of inside. The cold is just not his thing. Oh well - better to be in a nice home that only makes you go out occasionally than to be homeless and stuck out in the weather always. Bugs still WINS (although, they did change his name to Dudley). 😂

Anyway after Bug left Shadow and I decided that we'd like to foster another dog so we checked The Animal Shelter's PetFinder page and found one who seemed to need out. She'd been there for over a year and had become withdrawn and sad. Believe it or not a lot of dogs just view the shelter as home and are not unhappy to be there. It's all they know. But some of them just don't do well in that environment - especially not over an extended period. Cara was one of them. We wanted to help her so I contacted the shelter.

That did not go as planned. 😕 Technically, Bug was a part of Hope's Rescue and not The Animal Shelter. The difference between Hope's Rescue and The Animal Shelter is that Hope's Rescue can afford to pay for Heartworm and flea medication for the fostered dog and The Animal Shelter cannot. (Unfortunately, neither can I.) The similarities between the shelter and the rescue is that they are both run by the same person, but they are not related. She started Hope's Rescue before taking on the responsibilities of The Animal Shelter.

So I was bummed out about that. My dogs have a nice big room and a fenced-in yard. They all get plenty of attention and are all pretty well-behaved. I was kind of upset that my finances could really prevent me from helping out. I mean I buy all of that junk for my dogs yearly, but it's a stretch. That's the main reason I'm holding at 4 of my own - I don't want to get in over my head.

Anyway, a few days ago I got a call back from the shelter. The Animal Shelter is working with a shelter up north who will take up to 120 ADOPTABLE dogs per year from us which will greatly help with the overcrowding here. (Up north, they have laws that prevent unwanted litters and animal neglect so they do not have problems like we do. Btw, we're trying to get similar laws passed. We NEED them.) So The Animal Shelter has been picking dogs to go north. Of the first 5 they sent 4 were adopted in the first week. How's that for exciting? 😊 Apparently, though, a few of the one's they'd like to send have Heartworms which prevents them from being "adoptable." That blows.

Fortunately Heartworms are treatable, but depending on how you do it it can be very hard on the dog. The easy way (which is what Bug is going through) is to give them Heartgard or some other preventative treatment so that no new worms will be able to grow. The downside to that is that takes from 18 months - 2 years before the adult Heartworms die so they can still be in there causing damage that whole time. The hard way is to give the dog 2 very painful injections (2 months apart) into the muscles of the back. They will be sore and they will not feel good. Also, you have to keep them quiet and calm for at least 2 weeks after the injections; crating is often recommended. If they get excited and get their heart rate up they can die from a blockage from all of the dead worms or worm eggs. That sounds pretty scary to me. 😟 On the plus side, though, they should be free and clear of Heartworms within 5 months.

Anyway, now I can tell you what I'm trying to tell you. The shelter asked if I'd be interested in fostering dogs while they go through Heartworm treatment. The lady with the heart big enough to run both shelters has generously offered to pay for their flea treatments while they are in my care. SO HELL YEAH! I'll be happy to do it. I'm a little nervous about them going through the treatments since I don't have any experience doing things the hard way, but I'm excited, too. I get to pick up 2 dogs on Saturday. I'm not sure when they will get their first injections, but they need to feel comfortable here before that happens anyway. Whenever my dogs meet new dogs it's always a cause for celebration. 😁

So yeah. More doggies! 😍😍😍

I've been pretty quiet...

My animals are dying off and I am at peace with that. It's mostly the smaller ones with shorter life spans and they're all pretty elderly. I've lost quite a few this year and I imagine that in the next year or two I'll be down to mainly my dogs and the cat. I think I've only got about 20 right now down from 49 in the last couple of years. It's not like I WANT them to die or that I'm looking forward to it, but I know that none of them will live forever. I haven't taken in very many (in comparison to years past), because I AM looking forward to having less responsibility. It's a big job (and quite expensive) to care for so many little creatures properly.

In other animal news I've been fostering a dog for a few months now and he's finally going to his forever-home this week - in WISCONSIN. His name is Bug and he's a sweetie and SO funny to play with. He likes to chase the cat laser and when he rolls around playing with the other dogs he makes a REALLY funny sound. Maybe I'll put him up in my album for all to see. I can't say that I won't miss him - I'm sure I will, but I'll be glad to have one less. Shadow is pretty bummed that he's going away - he cried about it even though I told him up front that we weren't keeping him. I think fostering might not be my thing if he's going to get attached so easily. I feel terrible when he's sad over things like that. 😟

So anyway this is BugBug...

He's a sweet and handsome fella. 😊

I guess I've been pretty quiet. This might be a long post.

I used to tell the internet everything and I just don't anymore. I feel like a lot of me sharing so much with the internet was due to the newness of it all (it was pretty fun at first) and the fact that I was probably lonely on some level. It was also cool to find people that I'd lost touch with and it was certainly handy to stalk people with (to cure boredom or otherwise - don't act like you've never. 😂) Now I guess I've just lost interest with a lot of that - not to mention that a lot has changed with me over the last year or so. I'm not complaining, though.

Anyway, I'm awake tonight doing my laundry. I ended up sleeping A LOT this weekend so I'm not even a little tired right now. My bestie is probably doing things to his house, or sleeping, so I'm not going to disturb him. Nope - I'm going to blog. I've kept to mostly to myself so I have plenty I can say.

In Shadow-ish news - he's still a good kid. But he's getting an attitude. He's approaching double-digits - the "tweens" I believe it's now called. Holy shit and whatnot. These are the years that I've been scared of and I'm no less scared now that it's here. I've never really felt that I was cut out to be a parent, but I've always tried. And now I'm starting to feel like I'm in over my head. When he gets an attitude with me I usually yell at him. Which either a) makes him cry, or b) makes him angry. So I've been trying not to do that lately and talking to him calmly seems to work better, but I have to REALLY try hard to make that happen.

Not only that, but he's got this thing with video games - he likes them a lot and he gets upset when one stumps him. Also, that's pretty much all he talks about and that's kind of annoying. I'm starting to feel like I want to just get rid of all of them completely and let him find something else to be interested in, but I don't know. It's not like his grades are slipping or that he never plays with his other toys or picks up a book or anything. He does. I guess it's just a matter of how much is too much, ya know?

Along the lines of Shadow, but not really:   Pooh. I hear that he's back in town, but he hasn't contacted us. I sent him an honest (and probably somewhat hurtful) email at the end of last year and haven't heard from him since (well - until he admitted recently in a comment on one of my status updates that he was sort of stalking me). I don't really know what the deal with that is, although I suppose if I REALLY wanted to know I could ask. But I don't care to make contact.

I hear (which means it could just be some BS that was passed along to me) that he came back to be a part of Shadow's life... but after almost 10 years? Are you kidding? He's got 3 other kids in another state who are probably somewhat used to having him around so I can't wrap my head around ditching them and coming here to wreck the life that Shadow's gotten used to. But like I said I don't know the story - it may not be true at all.

Anyway, I've got a claim form that I need to fill out and send to Norfolk Southern - the railroad company who owns the tracks. The county met with them and they still say that there are no problems back here, but they did give a number to file a claim for damaged property. The county sent me a copy of the letter with that number on there so I've passed it on to my neighbors. I've gotta check and make sure that they file claims, too, so that those idiots at the railroad company might take us seriously. I have a feeling that if more than one of us speaks up we have a shot at getting something done with that ditch back there. Wish us luck.

So I just realized that it's been about a year-ish ago that me and my lover became "official." For those who are not all up in my business I will just tell you: As of about September of last year me and Nick were no longer together. We had a lot of issues and I'm just going to say that we were largely incompatible and leave it at that. We talk occasionally and I think it's safe to say that we don't hate each other's guts, so I'm ok with that. He doesn't like to be blogged about so that's as far into it as I'm going.

Back to what I was saying... it's been about a year and I've yet to be all, "Shaun is my boyfriend" in a public place (such as the internet). I think part of it is that we work together, but if the coworkers don't have a clue by now then they're probably not going to. It's never been a secret that we spend time together and stuff like that, but unless you're one of my close friends I doubt it's really come up. So anyway:  Shaun is my boyfriend and he is THE AWESOME-EST. I feel so lucky to have him in my life. He's so kind and thoughtful and helpful. And beautiful. And nice to Shadow and my dogs. And fun to be around. And SNUGGLY, OMG. I love him from his head to his toes - even the way he picks his nose. (I'm dead serious - it's so clean I'd eat out of there when he's done. I can't stand snotty noses).

I realize that I probably sound crazy, but he makes my life better. It's kind of a big deal. We get along so well and like doing a lot of the same stuff. I guess it's not that we have a ton of specific interests in common, but more that we're both up for doing / trying whatever most of the time. Even when we're working around our houses and stuff it doesn't really feel like work. I don't know. I just find it absolutely amazing that I mesh so well with another person. My heart feels all glowy and I am HAPPY. 😊

I guess I'm done with laundry for the night and I can't think of anything else that I haven't already posted. I'm going to get ready for bed because I don't want to be late for work in the morning. I guess I'll catch all of yous later. ❤

Quickie... (Part 2)

I'd like to put it out there (and NO, this is not an open invitation to start flinging animals my way) that I'm down to 20 of my own + a foster dog. Nick finally took his hedgehog the other day, my last mouse died, and I did something I've never done before: I sent an animal away that I'd planned to keep. Fostering is one thing... I've done that a few times. But when I have plans to keep an animal I will usually keep them no matter what. If there are issues I'll train them or work around it somehow. But that just didn't happen this time and I can't say that I didn't try.

We have a kitten named Midna and she's a good girl. I went to my mom's and picked up one of her cats, Twilight, to keep Midna company (Midna was SO playful that she was driving me nuts!) Twilight had been outside all of her life, although she was only 5 or 6 weeks old - the same age as Midna. Well, this cat had litter box issues from the start. We cleaned the box every day and that didn't work. So I bought another one and that didn't work. So I confined her and I just felt bad about it. But it didn't work either. Not only that, but she wouldn't stay off the table or counters and she never cleaned her butt. She smelled TERRIBLE.

After the last few months of her peeing in my shoes, any available Wal-Mart bag, Shadow's bed, the floor, and the carpet, she finally peed on the love seat that I'd just steam cleaned. And that was the last straw. I really think that that cat might have been mentally stunted because she just made no progress in all the time she was here. I have a spray bottle that I squirt them with to keep them off the table and counters and Midna just won't go up there anymore. But Twilight would no matter what. I just really think she would be more suited to live outdoors and she can't do that here. I live too close to the road. So I sent her back to my mother's house. Shadow and Midna are taking it pretty well, (Midna seems happy, even), but I feel guilty. I've never just given up on an animal like that. Not even when Emma ripped up my floor and I was furious over that.

Well, Midna just jumped up in my lap and smells surprisingly sweet. I want to lick her, but I won't. I might try to find out what she's been into, though. I might be up for rolling around in it, too. 😛 Laters.