I'm blessed.

No, I didn't dye Shiloh's hair black, it's just a guest appearance from Andy.

Starting off, I'll say that I'm not a very religious person, more spiritual I guess. I also rarely talk about it, except for instances where I can only feel truly blessed. Some may find it strange, but my previous pets tend to visit me in my dreams. It doesn't happen all that often, and when it does, it is truly magical. Last night Harper woke me up at some point and and then I slept lighter for the rest of the night and had extremely vivid dreams, one which involved the best friend I've ever known. Andy walked into my room at my mom's house, approached my bed and rested his head against it and I told him, "you better be getting up on this bed." He never hesitated once permission was granted, and last night was no exception. In a heartbeat, he was in my lap, as best a 90lb dog could be, and I looked up and said, "Thank you Jesus. I take advantage of every minute I can spend with him." After dreams like that, I wake up so refreshed. He's been gone for about a year and a half at this point, but it's as if I just spent a few minutes with him. It's a gift and I never take them for granted.

I'm also incredibly blessed to be surrounded by such beauty in the animals I keep in my company. Harper started out as this ugly little thing that weighed a pound and was covered in ticks and fleas. His eyes were popping out of his head, and his ribs out of his sides. Now he's so beautiful that he can do no wrong in my eyes, (well, he can, but he is quickly forgiven.) Here's a snap of him last night while I was typing that post.

And Shiloh is beautiful too. For the record, he still had his cone on this morning. I was so pleased that I downgraded his gear to Finn's recreation cone. I'm hoping it is as effective on him, but he rarely goes for his undercarriage unless he's alone in the bathroom.

Here Shiloh is after I "tucked him in" for bed tonight in his suite. lol. I had a great day animal wise. We'll end with a smile.

No news is mostly good news

I feel bad saying it, but there will never be another Finn. He was my first foster and the whole experience was all new and thrilling to me. That being said, I'm also glad that no two dogs are alike. Shiloh has been a breeze compared to the little two-pint I had for 6 weeks, but in Finn's defense, it wasn't all his fault.

Now that I've had a second boy fixed by the same vet and he doesn't seem to be in any pain, I'm convinced that they did something wrong with Finn. Of course, at the time, I pet web-md-ed it all and told myself they could have had a stitch too tight. If I remember correctly, they said that didn't happen. As a person that never stepped foot in vet, school, I can't argue, nor can I accurately accuse. I just know that something was not right. I'll never forget Finn's scurry. He didn't just plain ol' walk for days after his surgery and he wouldn't leave the incision site alone long enough to get from the sidewalk to the back yard. He would scurry, then sit, ready to lick, but blocked by his lovely e-collar that he so adored...enough to destroy. When they suggested I put diaper rash cream on him, I was ready to do whatever it took to give him some relief. I put a small amount on the tip of my finger and tried to get it close enough to his skin to transfer some on without pressure and he would scream. Thank you vet for not doing whatever you did to Shiloh. He's pretty chill about the whole thing. I tried the e-collar the first night home and he howled and whined when I left him for bed. In the morning, he was free of his plastic cone and happy to see me. I was happy to see that he wasn't hanging wide open like a certain dog named Andy once was the morning after.

So, two nights later, we've spent a few hours with cone training. He's not happy to have it on, but he finally learned that he can lay down with it on. He still flips out if he runs it into anything other than me with it though.

On a better topic, he's been pretty easy. I've really enjoyed seeing him open up and do a lot of the behaviors Finn did when he became more trusting. He's moving faster at some things, slower at others. Last Monday, only about a week after I've had him, he wants to take off running in the back yard and is jumping in the air and even barking at me. No play-bows though. Finn was and still is very well-known for those. He always jumps into the car on the many trips I take him on, although he is not so eager to get out once we arrive. In the last week or so, we visited Petsmart, my dad's house, the bank, and the vet just to name a few. He does pretty great! He may not walk in like he owns the place or even wag his tail, but I'm satisfied with the fact that he doesn't hide behind me. He does cling to me slightly and occasionally looks to me and lightens up for a second, but hey, I'm happy with it. Shiloh wiggles with excitement when we get home and wrinkles his nose up to smile until he sneezes and kills me with kisses.

Here's a pic of him quietly snoozin yesterday afternoon in the living room. That is somewhere he and Finn are very different. At this point, that is as far as Shiloh has made it out of the kitchen. It isn't necessarily because of his lack of house-breaking. I've invited him out of the kitchen and upstairs a few times and he made it half-way up the stairs once before bailing and retreating to the kitchen. I want to push him past his boundaries, but at the same time, I see it as a blessing in disguise. If he doesn't come upstairs with me, he doesn't know all of the fun he's missing out on and happily sleeps in the bathroom with a baby gate. He has never chewed up anything, other than his handful of rawhides. He has found a few empty dog food cans and licked them clean, but no harm-no foul. He also finished off a bag of treats that I must have left laying too low, but they are all dog related items.

I'm still not complaining. Shiloh hasn't been over to the BF's house for more than a few minutes for a visit either. Part of this is b/c BF hasn't been there for more than a few minutes in the past week. sucks. Bed time has now passed the remedial cone training that we did does not seem to have helped. I hear him in the bathroom banging around like a bull in a china shop and now he's crying. It stopped on Friday after a little while, so I'm hoping for the same tonight. If I'm really lucky, the cone will still be on in the morning, but I'm not so optimistic about that. Wouldn't it be great if my next foster was already fixed? *dreaming*

This dog walks like a grandpa

Shiloh and Finn started their journeys with me very much the same. I saw both at the Humane Society and they were shut down from their surroundings and probably (definitely for Finn) not getting adopted. I brought both of them home in my toy SUV and that's when their stories stopped showing similarities. Finn went in the crate the first night, Shiloh did not. Finn learned from the first time he lifted his leg in the house that it was not allowed, Shiloh did not. Finn had made it past the kitchen at this point, Shiloh has not (mostly for the last quality I mentioned). Finn loved his toys (and hoarded them), Shiloh has no interest. They both found the best hiding places, both happened to be behind a chair the first night.

My new goldie is coming around more and more everyday. He wags his tail a little more when we come home, he plays his favorite game of "time out" where he lays in the corner, facing the wall, a little less. He's been walking like an old grandpa on our daily walks. I mean like a 13 year old dog with some serious arthritis, but I'm told he's only 4. Today, he got a little more bounce to his step and started walking a little faster, but only for a minute here and there. He's getting better about the leaves crunching under his feet and doesn't freak at the sound of the toaster. He snores when he sleeps and I think may have some allergies because he often has the sniffles. Shi-dog also had his first rawhide at the house today. The first one that I gave him was in the line of fire during a marking rampage, I think. And yes, this also means that he took treats out of my hand for the first time today. He's also catching onto things like learning which side of the door opens (he has been going to the wrong side very consistently up until today) and that the sound of food hitting his bowl is something to come out of the corner for.

But just like Finn, he melts my heart. He looks up with those big beautiful eyes that haven't been treated right in the past. He licks my hand if I hold it out and comes closer with every pet he gets. He wants to be close and he's learning that it's okay. All of these things are going to make it so much easier on both he, and his new family come adoption time. Hopefully the marking in the house thing will get better come neuter time...next Friday! :)

The beginning always starts with phone pics

Thanks to our veterans and my wonderful job that doesn't pay much, but at least gives me paid holidays, I had Monday off all to myself last week. I took the opportunity to stop by the humane society to drop off some pine-sol that I picked up at Target with my BFF a few weeks ago. I think deep down inside when I bought it, I was thinking, hmmm, this would be a good excuse to stop by. Then I asked to browse through the dogs. There were only a few in the large dog kennels, I think about 4 or 5. They were all at gates of their enclosures vying for my attention, except one. I bent down to take a peek at him as he lay without making eye contact through the doggie door in the opposite side of his kennel. I made a mental note that I wanted him and kept on walking. Back in the lobby, I asked for more details from the lovely ladies that care for the dogs. They said he had been there a few weeks and in that time had made significant progress. One girl offered to take him outside so I could see him. His eyes were terrified the entire visit.

As I headed home, I realized that I was almost in a blur while I was there and forgot to ask some of the important questions, like has he ever shown any signs of aggression to humans, dogs, or cats. I couldn't dare bring him home if something would happen to my diva, Harper. I decided instead of calling and having them take a note and forget to call back or pestering them in person, I'd send a polite facebook message and identical e-mail to them and hoped they'd get back to me when they had my answers. Tuesday, they said that he was not aggressive to people or dogs and they'd test him with cats that day. Luckily, they have a huge supply of them in the next room. Wednesday I got a facebook message saying that he did great with cats and he tried to lick them like they were babies. For the remainder of the day, I had a huge cheesy grin on my face and everyone in my office shared in my excitement. I drove straight to the shelter that I volunteer with after work (and how convenient, I was actually scheduled to get off before they close for like the 3rd time ever). I didn't want to fool with phone calls and e-mails and delays and misunderstandings. As I told everyone at work that afternoon, I repeated to them: I can't make any promises like I did with Finn that I won't keep this dog. I asked for a little time to get to know him before he's all over the internet for adoption. They looked at each other and repeated, are you okay with it? I'm okay if you're okay. They called the humane society while I was sitting there and together we made the arrangements for me to pick him up on Friday. I even stopped by a few minutes before the humane society closed and measured him for a harness and collar.

Things were falling into place perfectly at this point. My dad was going to be out of town on Friday night and he offered for me to stay the night with the new dog at his place so we'd have some peace and quiet. I talked to a veterinarian friend of mine and he was able to find a sample of some flea medication that I could have since I'm volunteering. I ran around like a crazy person Thursday night, setting a crate up at my dad's, tackling some clutter at my mom's, and taking a good long shower since I knew I wouldn't be able to fit one in for myself the following night. I was hoping to pick him up between 5:30 and 6 on Friday, after the staff meeting at the humane society, but it went very late...I didn't manage to get this super shy dog into my car until about 6:30. I called my vet friend, his office now closed at this point, and met up with him in our tiny town for the very generous donation. To give my house and other pets the best chance of not becoming infested with fleas, I immediately gave him a bath at my mom's. Problem was, the bathtub is upstairs. The dog was completely freaked beyond being cooperative and going into the great unknown upstairs, so I carried him up when he was dry, and down when he was wet, and we headed to my dad's.

Guess who forgot about the alarm...Thankfully I had left the dog in the car for my first trip into the house because I completely forgot about his alarm system. I was searching through my phone for the code as it's blaring in my ears, and probably throughout the entire neighborhood. I put my hand over the box to try to quiet it and I think it knew. It got louder and louder and more vicious with each beep. Finally, I found the code and silenced it, hoping that my ears would stop ringing at some point that night.

Now feels about the right time to stop referring to him as "the dog" and tell you his real name, Shiloh. The humane society named him this and I'm not a huge fan, but also don't see a huge need to change it. It's not like it's Mister Vanilla Teddy Bear. He might actually respond to this name.

Here he is at my dad's on that first night. He looks pretty normal in the picture, but this is one of the only times he sat out in the open. He did the usual pacing, feared being cornered, and found some safe hiding places. He did not want to go in the crate at any point, so I figured, lets take a chance. I didn't want to create a crate-fearing beast like I did with Finn at one point, so I thought we could practice it over the weekend some more and work up to it for Monday morning. I left the tv on and a light on so I'd practically be sleeping with one eye open in case he decided to get into trouble. I woke up through-out the night and found him sleeping in his crate a few times and snoring in the corner behind a chair. He would come over to me now and then while I was laying on the couch, but only when he felt like it. I finally woke up for the last time around 7 and inspected the house for any sign of Shiloh damage. Nothing chewed and no accidents. Wonderful. I ran to the bathroom before I prepared to take him on a little walk and he followed several feet behind. I guess he thought if I was going to the bathroom, he should too, and lifted his leg on the corner of the wall. NOOOO! Not house-trained. We took a long walk around the neighborhood, Shiloh cautious of each step. He walks like a 12-year old dog with arthritis, even though I'm told he's only 4. His fear has a good hold over him, and I can't wait to see it loosen it's grip. I'm sure he'll get better with time. I took him back home to my mom's and so began the weekend of new adoption blues. I had a dog that didn't like me and peed in the house. More on that later.

Petfinder and I are BFFs

Since Finn got adopted a little over a month ago, I've been back in the swing of a regular ol' volunteer instead of the esteemed foster mom. Nothing wrong with that. It definitely means a lot more time out in the real world with a mix of dogs instead of cuddling with one very handsome little man.

The Animal Welfare Society had an event at Tractor Supply Company in Charles Town last month and I went along with 2 other volunteers and picked out the best of all of their, very not my style, t-shirts and tinkered with the toy tractors for 3 hours. Of course, we also told everyone that showed an interest about our 3 beautiful dogs, Xena, a pit bull, Carson, a hound pup, and Ozzie, some sort of collie mix they say. Here are a few snaps from the event, including the ride over with Xena snoozin in my car.

By the way, the only dog still for adoption of those three, is Xena, the pit-bull.

Then, last weekend, b/f and I went to the 9th annual Home for the Holidays event in Reston which is a HUGE adoption drive to, well, get dogs in homes in time for the holidays. There were tons of rescues with dogs of every shape and size and color. It was a lot of fun to see them all, but dang was the weather nasty. It was overcast and very windy...Hurricane Sandy was still sending her swirls above us. My favorite of all the dogs we saw was what the rescue called a Carolina Dog/Corgi Mix. Hunter

was so so so cute, but he was still under a year old and still needs lots of training and someone home most of the day according to the rescuers, so he's still in their procession. How freakin cute though? I've been having a hard time finding a new dog to foster. Frankly, I'm spoiled. Finn may not have been perfect by any means, but dag-on-it he was so stinkin cute. He new mom, Jess says he gets cuter every time she looks at him. I know exactly what she means. He was the perfect size, too. I loved picking him up and babying him, but at the same time, he was a sturdy little guy. Yeah, he was small enough to trip on, but chances are, you didn't hurt him. And chances are, unless you name is Emily or Jess, he's not gonna be close enough to trip you up anyway. I also miss my Andy. I dream of what it would be like having another dog like him and I just don't see him in the dogs that I meet. I know it takes time for a dog to adapt to changes and learn a routine, and heck, I got Andy when he was 12 weeks old so he grew up under my influence. I don't know what I need to be looking for in an adult dog to get somewhat similar results in my house. I guess I'm being too picky and I just need to go for it. I think I'll know when my help is truly needed and I'll bring another one to my half-way house. For now I'll just keep volunteering at adoption events, rabies clinics, and marching in a Christmas parade next month!

Oh, and I'm addicted to Petfinder again. I was for about a year before I had Finn. The 6 weeks I spent with him, my plate was full and I barely stepped foot on their website, if only to see if the humane society I rescued him from had removed him from their line-up and the shelter where I volunteer had added him. Now, I'm back in full-on addict mode. I browse most of the free minutes I have at work. Someone, somewhere is monitoring every step I take on my work computer, but seriously...you can't get mad over puppies and kittens. It's not like I'm on amazon and e-bay.

Anyway, I found this Andy doggelganger at a place in PA yesterday. Obviously, I went to meet her as soon as I possibly could, which was, ding-ding, today. She is around 6 years old and a large black dog in a sea of dogs that need homes so she doesn't have a huge chance of getting adopted. Luckily, Molly as she is called, has a great, lively, outgoing personality. We took her into a play room where she immediately sat on my lap when I posed cross-legged on the floor. She also chased a Kong around the room as it bounced unpredictably. When I realized how much energy she had stored up, I followed one of the volunteers out to the fenced play yard and got down to business with her. We ran around and played tug with a rope we found in the yard.

She was very stuck on the volunteer, who said that he feeds her, (so, duh, no wonder) and he also kept his hand on the door handle so she always thought we were about to go somewhere which kept her undivided attention. Regardless, I'm horribly spoiled and as soon as I met her, I knew she is not "the one". I still wanted to give her a shot and give her some love and we had a lot of fun playing together. I lead her back inside and she knew all the correct turns to make to get back to her kennel and gladly walked right in as soon as the gate was opened. She'll make a great pet for someone I'm sure. Obviously, the shelter is not a high kill shelter (or I'd be in the process of taking her in through AWS as a foster) and she'll have all of the time she needs for the right people to find her.

Whoops, I totally almost forgot to post the bread and butter of my day today, Pickle! lol. Pickle is a Chihuahua that was found as a stray and brought to the AWS recently. He's young, and a very typical specimen of a Chihuahua. He is shy at first, but picks a person and eventually gets protective of them. He was really into me after about an hour and would beg for me to pick him back up if I put him down. He'd get snappy if a bigger dog stepped on him and played my guard dog for the rest of the afternoon. Sorry for Pickle, the relationship was one-sided. I'm not a little dog person. At all. I want a dog-park dog! I joked that Harper would toss him around like a mouse! I will admit he was rather cute though, if you're into that sort of thing. He'll make someone a very loyal lap dog.

Holy crap, what a long day and what an enormous amount of dog hair I was covered in by the end.

If you miss Finn as much as I do, check out Jess's blog. It's awesome X's 1,000,000.
You'll find it in the right hand column under My Blog List.

Finished with Finn

I cannot explain how awesome it feels to know that Finn is thriving in his new home. His new mom, Jessica has me spoiled with updates and pictures and even a new blog for him! I'm going to expect this out of all of my foster's new homes!

Jess has kept me in the loop with many of his ups and downs. Everything from vomiting and hoarding toys, to destroying mattress toppers and eating sticks, she has described them all with her colorful writing style. It sounds like he's going through the same motions that he did while I had him, but at a slightly quicker pace. He's taught her how he likes to play chase, shown her how he collects his belongings, and even has started to play-bite with her. Here are some of the gorgeous photos that she has been capturing of him:

One night while Jessica was e-mailing me some Finn stories, she also told me what was going on as she was typing. Finn was running by her every now and then, tail held high, with a toy of his (or maybe her cat's) and disappearing into her room. This is what she found when she was finished typing, Finn in her bed, surrounded by toys. The best part is, until this point, he had her convinced that he couldn't physically jump in her bed.

This one also has a cute story...but you'll have to check out Jess's blog to read it because she tells it so much better than I ever could. http://rationalizing-irrationality.blogspot.com

Finn was adopted yesterday

Our last morning walk/Finn finds a stick to eat

A great home found Finn a couple weeks ago and yesterday, that great home took him home. His new mom's name is Jessica and she sounds like exactly what he needs. She's going to be home with him more than I was able to and I'm sure she'll probably end up spoiling him even more than I did. I tried to keep his rules pretty strict so she could decide how lax she wants his boundaries. It's always easy to give them more privileges, but's its very difficult to take them away.

The last night I had my little 2 pint, we had a sleepover. We were planning on sleeping with my best friend in the living room, but Finn turned out to be afraid of her just the same as any other stranger. I took Finn upstairs and made a little bed on my floor out of cushions and put Finn in it with me. The next morning, my hips, back, and neck were a little sore, but I had an awesome night cuddling with the little guy.

We had one last play session with Wrigley, but it didn't last too long. Finn was a little on edge because of my best friend being present, but we all enjoyed him being around a few more minutes and were thankful the rain held off and the sun peeked out for a few hours. 2 o'clock rolled around and we found ourselves at the shelter right on time. They were doing some fall "spring" cleaning and were closed to the public, so we did the adoption out of the back of my car. The original park was to drive to the park next door to officially hand him over, but last minute, I decided to rip the band-aid off and gat it done with. Finn had a new life to get to and my time with him was up.

I didn't hear from his new home last night, so I was a little worried sick. I was assuming the worst, like maybe he ran away and she was afraid to say any thing. Thank goodness my BFF was around to distract me and luckily, Finn went to a great home. I received the most wonderful e-mail from his new mom this morning. "So far, Finn's doing remarkably well compared to what I was expecting, but I'm sure that is namely because of all the things demanding his attention at moments notice. Once he settles, I'm expecting difficulties, but I'm prepared." She's totally ready for him to be a little dis-functional for a while. "Other than that, everything else is neither here nor there. It's too early to say or for me to help him gain confidence yet. Mostly, I just wanted him to take a load off after yesterday's emotionally taxing events. Because I know he misses you dearly. And rightly so :)" She's also a huge sweetheart. I couldn't be happier with the person who took him home, but I still miss my little Finn.

Everything came full circle yesterday after we left the shelter. I suggested to the BFF that we stop at the humane society that I pulled Finn from and I could show him a video of him being a real dog and let them know he's gone to a good home. They were all in disbelief at the transformation they could see from the videos and pictures. One girl even blurted, "We almost put him to sleep because he wouldn't come out of his kennel for anyone." wow. He'd be dead if it weren't for myself and my support system and the shelter. Thanks to my family and friends for supporting my decisions and thanks to Jessica for scooping him up. I can't wait until you can experience the pure loyalty, gratitude, trust, and love he is capable of.

I'm anxious about fostering another dog because Finn set the bar very high.

Finn's morning-after grin. :D

Saying our good-byes

The last one is of Finn in the car during our very unconventional adoption out
of the back of my car. I'm looking forward to more pictures of him from his new mom and will surely share of few. Thanks for reading! Until another dog steals my heart...

been spending too much time with Finn and not enough time with my computer

What a week. It was so great to see Finn when we got home from our little tiny beach trip. He was excited to see me until he saw B/F behind me and he went straight to my room as usual. He was fine the rest of the week, really great Thursday night actually. I didn't hear a peep out of him til 5:15 and Matt was getting up at 5:30 so it was no biggie. Friday night was a different story. I don't know what the problem was, but it was a major one. B/F and I went to bed around 10ish, his mom stayed out front until about 1, and that's when it started. I whisper-yelled at him for about 40 minutes, right around the corner from where his crate is so he can't see me. That did no good, so I figured that it must be time to just ignore him. That didn't last too long b/c B/F's mom got up and yelled at him next. Didn't do a bit of good. I thought, hmmm, maybe he needs to go out. Never has before in the middle of the night, but I was willing to try. I got to his crate where he was practically hyperventilating, took him straight outside and put him right back without much speaking and completely in the dark. That didn't work either. Then B/F tries things his way. He got out Wrigley's treats and bones and gave Finn a little bit of everything including filling both Kongs with peanut butter. He still was whiney after that, so he suggested that I take both dogs out and try to wear them out...at 3 a.m. I let them romp and play til about 3:30 when Finn was COVERED in burrs. They were also both soaking wet from the grass they rolled in. I put Finn to bed for the umpteinth time and he was still a little whiney. I asked b/f if I should just go sleep on the couch and he said no to bother, he was headed out to play video games because he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep at that point. Finn was quiet enough for me to sleep (with the cat) til about 7 when we sneaked out of the sound asleep house so I could go home and get ready for work! Lovely, right? I'm glad they at least got to catch up on their sleep; thank goodness this did not happen on a weeknight!

I worked til one on Saturday, then home to try to get the burrs out of Finn's fur before we headed to our first meet and greet with a potential adopter. It went completely as I expected. The shelter forgot to meet us, so I abided by their rules and didn't let Finn out of my car until they were present, in case he would decide to bite. The person we met was great and has a lot more free time to devote for Finn. Finn paced a lot at the very end of his leash and near the end of the hour we spent together, I sat next to the woman so that Finn would too (he actually perched up on my lap), and she was able to get a few pets in. She's up for the challenge of tackling his issues and that is just what he needs. I'd love to keep him, but this will be better for us both in the long-run if it works out. It'll be tough for a while for all of us, but the B/F and I are already talking about picking out the next foster sometime after my birthday. I swung by the shelter after the meeting to see what comes next and Finn freaked as usual, but even went to the extent as to poop himself! Poor little guy. This is why I requested that we NOT meet at the shelter. He is not a fan. I got an e-mail from the woman we met later that night that I loved. She was so sweet and said she was up to taking home Finn as long as I was okay with it. Kinda made me tear up how much she cared. Her family also drove 75 miles to get to us, so it shows that they are dedicated. If everything with the adoption process goes smoothly, I may be saying good-bye on Friday or Saturday.

Finn made a new buddy on Sunday, the B/F's friend's dog, Zeus. We babysat him for the day while his "dad" was at a baseball game. I feel kinda bad because we took Zeus shopping at the outlet mall with us and left our own dogs at home. Sunday night, I was hoping Finn could just sleep loose in B/F's room, but he was not convinced that Finn wouldn't chew something and I can't blame him. He is known to chew whatever is closest at times, whether it's a sock or the carpet or the wood trim. I let him sleep on the floor right next to the bed til 1 a.m. and then I put him out in his crate. He was not a happy camper, as usual, so I caved and went to sleep on a couch out in that part of the house so I could whisper yell before got to the point of hyperventilating like he did Friday night. It worked pretty well, just had to get him to settle down initially and not again until 5:15 a.m. Everyone got pretty optimal sleep I'd say! Now, to start the week...

Let me see if I can find some un-posted photos first. oooo goodie...I never did the goofy play time ones

missing little Finny

Blogging while on vacation...can't complain. We are having a wonderful little vacation in Rehoboth Beach, staying with my dad and his girlfriend. I wish we could have brought Finn, but it just didn't work logistically. I know he wouldn't have been very happy anyway though walking on the boardwalk this morning or on the beach. Too many strangers. Never fear Finn, we'll be home tomorrow! Here are some of those awesome action shots I snapped of the boys playing on Friday evening. Wrigley wears little Finn out more than I ever could. They are just wonderful together.

my new favorite model

I should say 2nd favorite...can't forget Andy Ty. I've healed a lot in the past year after losing him and Finn has been doing a good job of filling that little spot in my heart for dogs. I feel like Andy should be on this blog somewhere because he was such a huge part of my life for 8 years. Miss you tan.

Little boy wonder started rough-housing with me today and even more than before with Wrigley. I swear Finn gets more playful every day. He was hyper when I got out of bed this morning and went nuts doing the play bow and jumping all over the place. His personality has been so vibrant lately. I'm heading out of town for 2 nights soon and I'm not looking forward to it. He was supposed to come to the beach with us, but we have a wedding to go to that is setting our departure time back a day, so we have to get to the beach right after the wedding or else drive an hour home in the wrong direction to get him. I would totally do that if the wedding wasn't already at 5:30. It is what it is, but I'm sad to leave him with my mom. She doesn't spend much time with him, and when she does, it doesn't appear to be very responsible. It's going to be a long 2 days for all of us, but this trip has been planned since May and by golly, I'm getting my feet in the sand and I'm going to eat the best crepes ever made by the french man in the little alley. Back to Finn. He's adorable if you haven't gathered. Here's more pics!

He is so cute when he runs

This is this weird thing he does with his tongue...lol He barely sticks it out while his mouth is closed. Makes him look like a huge goof.

And what the heck, I'm in a picture mood today. Here's my beautiful diva boy Harper

I took my dog to work again

Finn and I actually spent a lot of the day together and I even managed to work 7 hours. We started the day with going to the vet for a follow up on his ear infections and his neuter incision needed a good look in my opinion. His ears are doing better and they hooked us up with some Flush for me to do at home and some amazing chewable antibiotics! I wish all doggie meds could be made that way. We stopped in the bank afterwards for some public interaction and I asked my boss if she cared if I brought him to work with me the last 2 hours of my shift while the lobby was closed. She didn't care. I took a late lunch and picked him up and he picked the spot right at my feet to camp out for 2 hours unless I left my post and he was right on my heels.

Here's my view from working at lane one of the drive thru:

We went home for a little while to catch up with my mom and then headed over to the b/f's for the night. He's really making progress! Today he licked my b/f and is very curious about how he and his dog play together. He's not sure he's ready to join in, but I have a feeling it won't be long.

Finn may not be perfect...he had his escaping the e-collar and his crate episodes at the end of last week, and he does have an accident once in a great while, but I can't be mad at him. A friend of me reminded me of the dog commandments the other day "Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as punishment, I am not capable of understanding why. I only know I have been rejected, you have your work, entertainment, and friends. I only have you. " It's very true; all Finn has is me. Right now, I'm the only person he trusts in the world and I feel honored. He has come so far in the last 3 1/2 weeks. Before I brought him home, he was practically a feral dog. I have to remember where he came from: 133 dogs, 9 cats, and 2 humans. Think he had much human interaction? Think any of it was positive? He may not be outgoing in new places or with new people at first, but once he is comfortable, this is one happy little pup.

Finn has a mentor

I've had Finn with me at the b/f's house all weekend and it has been GREAT for him! He is still a little unsure about b/f, but he manages. Wrigley (b/f's dog) is really teaching him how to be a dog! He barked for the first time last night, and I mean a real bark. We had left for about an hour and upon our arrival home, Wrigley let out a few barks as usual and Finn joined it. It's absolutely adorable and one more thing we can check of his list of things he's accomplished. He also has fun chasing Wrigley while he plays fetch. Wriggs is a lab mix, so he is very fixated on his chuck-it balls. Finn doesn't get it, but he has fun running up and down the yard with Wrigley. They have also been learning about sharing the good things in life, like attention, treats, and Kongs full of peanut butter. I'm sure in his previous life with 132 other dogs, he didn't get any of those things. He also did good with Sunday football. Andy always got uncomfortable with all of the yelling and clapping going on...Finn slept through most of it. Oh, and speaking of sleeping, he does occasionally snore for a minute or two. Wrigley freaked. He went up next to him and watching him and jolted confused every time Finn made a noise. Sooo funny. Sorry I don't have any pictures today to provide the proof of all of the fun we've been having. Time for bed!

meet Cone Dog

So Finn has an issue with not having any self control when it comes to licking himself. I let him do it for a hot second now and then because it's only natural, especially after the surgery for him to try to keep it clean. If I let him have his way though, he would be licking his insides because he'd have no skin left. He has been all around pretty darn pathetic since the surgery. Walk is no longer in his list of actions, it's run run run sit run sit scoot sit. So lets say I were to walk down the hall way at my house. Finn stays at the starting point and then when I'm about halfway down, he comes tearing through the hall, nearly knocking me down or something else in his path and sits anxiously at the other end to see which direction I'm heading next so he can scurry to it and sit again. I CANNOT WAIT until he is back to feeling normal between his legs so he doesn't have to wear a cone and hopefully he'll start walking again.

It may sound like his life right now sucks, and it does for the most part. I would hate not having any peripheral vision as well and having a cone in the way of my legs. (if anything, it has taught him to walk with his head held high...so he doesn't trip on the cone. lol) He life isn't completely terrible though. When he's outside, you'd never be able to tell anything is wrong with him, except when he stops to try to lick. Other than that, he runs and runs and runs. He shouldn't be, but he looks so darn happy doing it, I can't slow him down. Yesterday I was egging him on while he was running and trying to get me to come after him. He got so excited, HE BARKED! It was a cute, playful bark. Not sure if he'll ever do it again or in another setting, but I'm so happy he did it! One more thing he didn't do checked off the list.