Friday Fix (8/31/2012) - End of Summer

By Christy Hess

I can't believe that it is already the last day of August. I don't know where the time goes.

Labor Day weekend symbolically represents the end of summer. Here are some pictures of our puppies with some of their favorite weekend activities.

Watch some football - Go Broncos!

Spend some time with your friend.

Play some soccer.

Take a holiday in Hawaii, or just wear a leis and pretend.

Go swimming before the pools close.

Fetch a good stick.

Frisbee, 'nuf said.

Aloha!

Stop and smell (or sit in) the flowers.

Party animal.

Listen to me! Have a great weekend.

Pack your bag and I am ready to go!

I am ready for a dude ranch!

Feel free to take a nap or two, I just could find any napping puppy pictures. Enjoy an nice, safe, relaxing weekend.

Friday Fix (8/24/2012) - First Foster

By Guest Foster

Our First Foster Experience 

We got our puppy on a Saturday after an adoption event. Wow were we happy to help. Thought we had all the digs we needed (we have two pups ourselves so toys are no problem) and then realized we had nothing at all (no bowls or extra padding for him to feel safe in his crate, no sound proof room, nothing). Needless to say the kids were excited to pick up our pup. 

Upon our return home our very spoiled dogs smell him before we even pull up to the driveway, I think they smelled him the day before. All wiggles and wags aside the three seemed to be happy as can be (after some sniffing time if you know what I'm saying). We decided to give him a quick name (no one wants to be known by a number...oh come here 123, just doesn't have a great ring to it) so Buddy became our first baby boy (quick and easy, doesn't mean it stuck). The name fits trust me. He doesn't listen, although he does a great job with going potty outside. Got to love owning a carpet cleaner just in case.

So we go to bed, he sleeps through the night (miracle of god) and all is well till Sunday evening. We decide we'll see how he does on a leash. Thankfully our dogs are pretty good on a leash so they should help him get around. We get out of the front door, half way down the street, and all of the sudden Buddy hears a "big dog bark". Faster than you can reach down to help him feel safe, he's half way out of his leash, back peddling ready to run. I get him gathered up, carry him a bit so he can feel safe, walk him some more, and of course another bark, same problem, same results I'm carrying him on his first walk. Get about three houses and put him back down. Finally coming home for the last half block to the house (less than a 15 minute walk mind you) a little tiny Chihuahua named Killer comes flying out to his backyard barking (yipping) at my three pups. My two other dogs are fine, walking along no problem. Buddy decided this is one he might take on. He growls as we walk by, tail held high. He gets home, happy that he stood his ground. Such a proud puppy who can take on all those little dogs...happy tails all around and a second good night of sleep. Such a great experience with our little Buddy, enjoy the pictures of him, he's a great pup and will be wonderful for anyone who is lucky enough to have this little Buddy (name is certainly optional).

Respectfully, 

A loving foster family

Thank you so much for sharing your stories - Christy Hess

Friday Fix (8/17/2012) - Foster

By Regina Lane 

As I sit here and watch our current foster puppies playing in our yard with my son and dogs, I realize how much there is about fostering that I love. I wonder about other fosters, why they foster and what they like about it. So I’ve put together a top ten list:

10. Puppy naps! There’s nothing better than a sleeping puppy on your lap.

9. To go along with 10, a great excuse why you can’t get your house work done. “Don’t want to wake a sleeping puppy.”
8. They wear the kids out, and the kids wear the puppies out. It’s a symbiotic relationship!
7. Three days out of my life, can mean a whole new life for a puppy.
6. Watching your full grown dog turn into a puppy again.
5. You never have cold toes with little, fluffy puppies laying/ playing with them.
4. I call this one the “Grandparent clause”. Fosters get to spoil the puppies rotten and then give them to their new parents.
3. A great chance to see if your kids will keep their word and take care of the puppy. What parent has not heard that promise? “Please can we get it, I promise I’ll take care of it. You won’t have to do anything.”
2. Watching my big, tough husband turn into Jell-o with a puppy in his lap.
1. PUPPY KISSES!! Nothing better than the sweet breath that comes with those kisses of pure love. 

I’ve been fostering puppies for Colorado Puppy Recue for almost five years now and love every minute of it. I started because my son really wanted a puppy. In his words “Mommy & Daddy have their own puppies why can’t I have one too?” So I decided to look into finding a program where we could bring puppies home and let him see how much work they really are. He learned really fast and I was hooked on the program just as fast.

Around 300 puppies have gone through my house. Of those only two have stayed. But the one question that I get asked the most by people looking into being a foster is “How do you give them up?” If truth be known most times it’s hard, but there are those puppies that I can’t drop off at an adoption event fast enough. But one of the great things about the rescue is that I can be a foster and a volunteer at the same time. What’s so great about that is that I get to see and meet the families that are adopting. Seeing the smiles and joy on not only the families faces but the puppy’s makes me feel so glad. That is why I do what I do. Just knowing that I have helped a family grow, or a single person become a family there is nothing better. Beside if I kept every puppy that I fell in love with then they would have a T.V. show about me. LOL

Friday Fix (8/10/2012) - Katz

By Christy Hess

This week seems like it has just dragged on. So for everyone who is looking forward to a relaxing weekend, I thought I would give book recommendation. This is a very light read (no tears were shed by me).

A Dog Year by Jon Katz

Border Collies are great, smart dogs, but they can be a bit on the crazy side and this author captured that wonderfully. Jon Katz starts the book off by telling what a great life he has with his two older yellow Labrador retrievers, Julius and Stanley. A breeder who’d read his book contacted Katz to say she had a dog that was meant for him—a two-year-old border collie named Devon, well bred but high-strung and homeless. Shortly thereafter he brought Devon home. A Dog Year shows how a man discovered much about himself through one dog (and then another), whose temperament seemed as different from his own as day from night. It is a story of trust and understanding, of life and death, of continuity and change. It is by turns insightful, hilarious, and deeply moving. 

This author has actually written a number of dog books that dog lovers might find fun. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Friday Fix (8/3/2012) - Olympics

By Christy Hess

One of the most difficult things to capture in a photo is a playful puppy. In honor of the Summer Olympic games I wanted to share some of our puppies in "action".

Running

Jumping

Swimming

Playing

All Around Cuteness (If it were an Olympic event these would be contenders)

Gold medals to all!!!!