New Pup for Sylvia from Halfway Home-

Meet Malik (now Magic) adopted by Sylvia from Designs By Sylvia. His bio on Halfway Home -"Malik will work his way into your life and heart! He is a very handsome, mellow guy that takes everything in stride. He is not cat safe and has one registered race. Offspring of Trent Lee and Scarlet." Born December 15th, 2007.

"Malik transformed into MAGIC during his 4 hour trip to his Forever Home with his new Mommie....he told me he wanted a new name to go with his new home.....and he is definately BLACK Magic! More news about his settling in with Skye and Tink when I get home from work tonight....gotta run!Thanks for 'drooling' over my BEE-U-T-FULL babies!"

Later....Sylvia

I love his new collar she embroidered with his name and her telephone number!

New Foster Girl At Our House-

Meet Carly the toy gathering hound. She arrived on Oct. 17th, two weeks before her second birthday which is on Halloween. Her right back leg had been broken and according to NGA her tats show her as an unnamed female. She is busy gathering every stuffie we have to her crate. Dean puts them back in the basket and one by one she puts them in the crate again. For such a young dog she behaves well. Although this afternoon I heard her barking in the guest bedroom. The bed is close enough to the wall that she couldn't turn around once she got in there. I'm assuming the cat jumped down beside the bed and she went to investigate. By the time I arrived the cat was standing at the foot of the bed looking like a Halloween cat with his back hunched up and hair standing on end. He was just standing there looking at Carly stuck behind the bed. After a little coaxing she jumped up on the bed, walked across and jumped down. For two years that cat would not be in the same room with the dogs. He has discovered some of the foster dogs are afraid of him. If he can get the upper paw he will take advantage of the situation.

Carly is still busy with her new environment but stopped long enough for a hug. While I was hugging her she licked my arm. So she may turn out to be a big love bug.

Carly left for Alberta, Canada on October 28th. She arrived and is in a new foster home and doing well.

Abandoned Kitten Found a Great Home

On Friday, September 3rd while Judy S. and I were talking on my front porch a little kitten came along. She would run away if you tried to catch her but kept coming back. I asked Dean to get some cat food and when he came out with the food she got a whiff and went crazy. She was just starving. We didn't see her again until the following Thursday night. Dean's band was practicing in the garage about 8 in the evening. Once again I fed her and played with her for awhile. After that she came back every evening once it was dark. She was hiding in the neighborhood but I could not find her during the day. She was very loving and super playful. She would show up and eat and then want to play.

The week of the 12th we put an ad on Craig's list. I had hoped to get a photo of her during the day. Finally a flash photo at night was the best I could do. The first email from Craig's list was a bit unsettling. The lady had three kids and one cat. She said, "Grammy wanted my four year son's cat back." She wasn't going there! There were three other calls that faded away. Then a lady called, Friday, September 16th and wanted the kitten. We made arrangements to meet at the Andover turnpike exit once I could catch the kitty that evening. She lived in ElDorado and worked in Andover. I was so relieved when I met her and to see how thrilled she was to get kitty. She said she had bought flea shampoo, toys and had a name for the kitten, Willow. She also told me her co-workers had offered to find her a kitten if she didn't get this one. I WANT THIS ONE! Well she got THIS one. This morning I received an update on Willow and a wonderful photo too.

"HI!!! She is really doing well! If I'm right she is a girl! She uses the litter box and is eating good! She is very loving and playful! She is easily scared, though! I have noticed she doesn't like being picked up much. She is fine coming up to me if I am sitting down. But, she tries to get away if picked up! Little noises seem to scare her a lot. But, otherwise she is a lot of fun and a joy to have in my house. I will keep you updated!"
Click on her photo and you will see a larger image that is so sweet.

Sassy Elana On Her Way To Her Forever Home

Sassy arrived on July 14th and left for Tulsa on September 7th. She will be heading to Colorado in a week. Sassy was very shy but during her time here she did loosen up some and would come over for neck rubs. Her favorite times were meal time and walks. At feeding time she would walk over to Dean and stare at him. When he went downstairs to fill the dishes she would always follow him. Then it was time for her happy dance and tail wagging until she received her bowl. Even though fosters are not allowed on the furniture she insisted on napping on the sofa with Magnus.

Of course she enjoyed her dog beds and cookies too!









Hanging out on the front porch was her most comfortable spot. She loved being out there and would always come over for neck rubs.

Morning and evening walks were worth a tail wag too.

And then comes the sad day......... Time to head out. If she didn't want to be lead some where she would just freeze. So Dean picked her up and loaded her in Krista's car for the ride south. Goodbye, Sassy we love you! We hope you find the perfect forever home.


Thank you Pat B. for this goodbye photo.

Update: Sassy was adopted 11-14-2010 to a family in Colorado. She is with another greyhound, two cats and a thirteen year old girl.

Oh What A Night!

Never, NEVER have I had a pickle like this to sort out at 1:30 in the morning and even now I am amazed that my sweet Fable found a way to stop my heart. Cold. In its tracks. Mid-pump. Arteries seized completely.

Dear sweet Fable (racing name Bohemian Fable but don't let the word 'racing' fool you) came up to Nova Scotia on a puppy haul last week and Rusty met her on Saturday for the first time. No, I hadn't planned on getting another greyhound so soon. No, I wasn't prepared for her arrival. No, I don't feel confident that I can manage two big dogs way out here in the middle of nowhere all by myself. So of course she came home with us that night. And of course she cried all night because whatever had worked to settle in Rusty ten months ago (has it been that long already?) wasn't going to work with her. Clearly I had to find another way, a better way, to get through night number two.

Martha suggested that perhaps she wanted to be with Rusty in my bedroom and not all alone on the main floor so I decided that's what I'd try. Of course, she doesn't do stairs and I don't lift 70-pound dogs but we'll leave THAT part out and get to the real story. Once upstairs she paced and she paced and I kept repositioning her cushion until she was (sort of) satisfied and since she likes to be close to me, I set her up beside my bed. That way I could reach down and reassure her if she became disoriented in the night. I wish that was all that had happened.

My bed is a queen-sized one on a metal frame with castors. I chose that type of frame because it's easier for me to pull it out to dust behind. Well, at about 1:15 I was awakened from a sound sleep by the sound of something that sounded like a race of sorts, except that it was coming from under my bed. I swear, with the scrambling and scratching that was going on you'd have thought there was a caged animal trying to escape. I turned the bedside lamp on and looked down at Fable's pillow to see what could be happening but she wasn't there. In fact, all I could see on the floor was her tail. The rest of the dog had somehow disappeared under the bed, and in the process she managed to wedge herself in as tightly as she could, slipping in beneath the heavy metal frame. But she couldn't get back out again because her ribs wouldn't compress. She simply couldn't move, she was stuck, and all that scrambling was her spinning like car tires on dry sand but not going anywhere. Even with me using all my strength and ingenuity there was no way I could get her into a position where she could slide out the way she'd (apparently) slid in. And she was scared.

Picture it. 1:30 in the morning, Sunday night, not a person around that I could call for help, and Rusty (the CAD!) pretending he couldn't hear us. Can you imagine? So what I did with my poor sore arthritic fingers is I took apart my bed, dragging off the top mattress (and those double thick ones weigh a TON!) and the box spring so I could finally lift the frame so Fable could get out. And the little worm - as I was trying to put the bed back together again so that I could at least pretend to be going back to sleep she just walked over to where I'd moved her cushion and laid down on it as if getting wedged under the metal frame of a queen-sized bed was something she did all the time, like a midnight snack or a post-bedtime treat. I swear, I could see it in her eyes, "When is that woman going to settle down so I can finally get some sleep?"
Sent from Brenda in Canada

Nothing Comes Easy- by Rusty, Our Canadian Friend

There I was, minding my own business,
when gradually I detected the delicious
aroma of fresh fish wafting by.
How could I ignore a temptation like that?
So I barked and I barked but the fishing boat people just waved at me and kept on going.






I tried to get Mom to make
them come back but all she
did was laugh at me. Then she
took a picture. (Sigh . . . nobody
ever listens to me . . . )










Then I laid down in my favourite tidal pool, hoping to see a crayfish. I could lay there all day, it's so much fun, and sometimes a minnow will wiggle by and nibble my paw. They're so friendly!









But it wasn't a lucky day - not a fish in sight. I guess it was just too hot for them. Or maybe that boat caught them all. Oh no!!!! Oh well, maybe it just isn't a good day for fish. Maybe I'll just lay here in the buttercups and something interesting will come by.
Maybe . . .

New Fosters to Report

We have had a few new fosters recently. Jean Boyd had Festivity a black eight year old beauty. Pat and Tina had Oh Pear (brindle) that was a personality plus girl. She is now in Pennsylvania at her next foster home before adoption. Dean and I just received a black lady, Sassy Elana who turned four last month and ended her racing career on June 15th. She's very shy. Annie and Andy have the pleasure of fostering B's Miss Thang an eight year brindle old that has settled in nicely.