Where in the World is Tinker Bell?

She nearly gave me a heart attack last night as I was looking for her before bed time. I looked every where in the house and was trying to consider how she possible could have gotten outside of the apartment when Nick found her...

Can you find her in the above picture?

Yup, she totally decided to use my 1/2 unpacked bag as a comfy bed

After the initial relief of finding her, Nick & I laughed hysterically

She didn't want to get up either. Complete dead weight

Completely comfortable.
Finding her here made my whole evening last night!

Molly update 8-25-09

So Molly has been with us about a week and a half already. It feels like she has been here so much longer (in a positive way). She fits in so well and is such an easy girl to take care of. She crates beautifully, walks on a leash wonderfully, I can walk the 2 girls together if Nick's not around without fearing for any of our lives or safety : ) She is the easiest foster yet.

She loves to chew (although that has settled down a bit.) Her first weekend here she took an afternoon and went through the toy box. She pulled every bone and hoof out of it and tasted each one. So adorable.

I think she prefers Nick slightly over me...it's better that way though. Nick won't get too jealous! It's 3 to 1 now on the gender ratio, we should go easy on him : )

Her poop has finally become normal and predictable and she is loving the home cooked food. I gave her a bath before we went to the cabin and the difference is dramatic. Her coat is so shiny and soft; I just love to touch her and pat her. She's not acting as hungry nor is she drinking nearly as much as when she first arrived. Between the 2 dogs, they're not drinking more than 2.5 cups of water each day. Dr. Haver was very pleased with that information.

She's currently laying on my feet while I update the blog! Yay for amazing fosters!

Cabin Pictures!

So the 2 girls made the trip to the cabin with us and some of our life group this past weekend. Both were dolls, minus Tink going into Molly's crate and immediately peeing on her bed. They both enjoyed the R & R up there so much that they came home and promptly crashed only for a brief dinner break!

Tink nested into Molly's crate

Tink had no idea where she was at first....

Molly had to get herself in the picture

Tinker working hard to get her bed just right

Chewing: One of Molly's passions in life

Molly & her buddy Nick

Sleeping on the job

Molly seems to really like this guy....

Yup, good buds

Nick is sad...Molly left him, for a BONE!!

Tinker butt! Can you see her stately peppering?!?!

Snuggling!

Ok, so as close to snuggling as Tink will probably get

Yup, just hanging out

Pretty Molly face! (begging of course!)

I will will you to share that cookie....

Sleepy Tinker

mmm, so soft and comfy...

The epitome of the cabin....lots of R & R

So it was a fabulous weekend filled with good food, fun, and friends. And of course our 2 little Golden Girls!

NEBTR on Facebook

I have so much to update about Molly and just how awesome she is, but for now we must settle with a facebook link to the NEBTR page!! Hopefully, we'll be adding some pics of the dogs and getting more awareness out there for the group and of course the dogs.

Northeast Boston Terrier Rescue on Facebook

Finding routine....

Molly came into our home on Saturday and fortunately, for all of us, Molly has been transitioning fairly easily. She's a basic Boston love and just wants to be where the people are, but not in an anxious I'm-going-to-chew-your-furniture-if-you-leave-me kind of way or anything. Both of the girls are sleeping through the night, although 7am rolls around and Molly definitely has to go out. But that's totally ok as most nights that means she's made it almost 9 hrs.

Tinker totally didn't want to get out of bed this morning. She actually went back to her bed before breakfast. I guess she didn't want to wait while I put together the turkey, sweet potato, jasmine rice (her fav!), carrots, cabbage, and cottage cheese. I had to go get her and as soon as she finished she was back to bed. Slightly unusual for her, but not completely. She didn't finish her dinner last night, but I gave her a healthy portion. Maybe she's just missing the venison....lol, it's a tough life being a dog in this house.

I look at Tink compared to Molly and Tink looks years younger. Her coat is beautiful, she's well muscled, and she's obviously well taken care of. To be honest, I was embarrassed to have Molly in Petsmart with us when we were getting a tag for her because of her condition. I am totally aware though, that given a few weeks, a nice bath and cleaning, consistent exercise, and a routine, that Molly will look and act years younger herself. All good things take time and I must be patient. I've been slowly cleaning the gunkiness off Molly's face and she seems to be enjoying the rubs and getting years of dirty fur off her face (smart girl.) I'll probably wait to bathe her until after we come back from camp, so as not to totally traumatize her. I'm hoping with some nice walks that Molly's back end with get some strength and tone to it.

We have a vet appt for Molly on thursday to take care of a host of things from heartworm testing, to checking her cushing's meds to checking for worms.

She really is a darling little girl. I don't want to say that she's going to be a permanent foster because there may be some family that falls in love with her and wants to care for her in her final years, but I am also trying to be realistic. I don't want to deprive Molly of a forever home in her final years but if the perfect one doesn't come around, we will gladly be that home for her. Nick and I joke saying that we hope we have a doggie retirement community rather than a hospice care center. It's kind of a sick joke, but we just try to keep the humor around here, and the little golden girls don't seem to mind : )

Both are peacefully sleeping at the moment. Nick and I are totally enjoying this adventure we have been given!

Pics of Molly

Here are some quick pics of Molly.... the camera really helped her out in a few of these!

I'm cute, feed me!

Please?

Mmm, love da bones!

Cushings belly

Pretty girl!

cookie please!

I said please...

Waiting

I'm a cutie!

Molly has arrived

So our newest foster form NEBTR is finally here... Molly. She's an owner surrender and I think she's going to fit in nicely.

She's a little cutie... mostly boston mixed with a little bit of something else. She's almost 11 (birthday on Aug 29th) and I think she's going to fit in pretty well over here. She has cushing's so she's going to need some medication and be closely monitored, but other than that she seems like a pretty laid back and easy going girl.

She definitely is drinking a lot, which will mean more potty trips. Her meds are almost where there need to be, so when we get those straightened out and upped to where they need to be, her drinking (and hunger) should subside.

She was a quiet little angel on the 1.5 hr ride home this evening in her crate. Her little ears were perked, but she relaxed the entire ride. As soon as we shut the car off, she was up and ready to go. She was given a light dinner when we got home and then the 4 of us were off on our first walk.

Her back end it a little weak (which could be because of the Cushings or just lack of exercise). We hope to improve that with some consistent exercise. Starting slowly and then systematically building her up.

Our introductions are as slow as we can muster in this house. Some walking together and then Molly stayed with one of us in the house while Tink bumped around. Now Tink's on the couch and Molly is exploring the living area and is chewing on a bone. We have a harness and leash on her, but the leash will probably come off in the next day or so. A vet appointment this week to see where we're at with her health and condition and away we go!

It appears our little retirement community is growing and thriving! Pics to follow soon!

Tinker Loves her Mommy!

So I had the privilege of joining 70 5th graders on their summer Survivor Camp experience. It was an absolute blast! Tink however, didn't appreciate that I left her with her Daddy for 2.5 days (and a transport dog that spent 2 nights here, but that's another story!)

Nick came to pick me up at the church sunday evening and brought the little Stinker along with him. She was so content to let me hold her in my arms : ) She glued herself to me the rest of the night. Bedtime came around and she refused to settle on her bed. I didn't even get her all the way on the bed and she was down glued to my side ALL NIGHT LONG! She didn't move from me. We had the best night sleep in such a long while! She was just making sure that I wasn't going any where!

On another positive note, Tink continues to do very well. We've been feeding Tink mostly a homemade diet which she loves; in addition, her calcium and her Kidney supplement came last week. We've been adding them slowly to her diet but they appear to be helping as we've had no accidents in the house in the past 4 days or so and she is making it through the night with much more regularity! She is doing so well and seems happy too. Now if we could just get rid of some of this humidity she would be even more thrilled as walks are pretty torturous even to the dumpster and back.

It's sooo good to be home with my Nicholas and of course with my little Tinker too.

Tinker and her quest for venison meatloaf

So Nick and I were up late on Friday night preparing food for his grad party and then he watched the Philly's game while I researched kidney failure and ordered a few supplements for Tink. While we're up, a post comes across on freecycle: venison meat for dog food. We reply stating we're interested and can pick up on Saturday morning. Great. It's ours.

We were just talking about cooking more for Tink to help her body out which is why I was buying more supplements (calcium and a Wysong Biotic PH plus.) Nick and I were thinking 5, maybe 10lbs of meat. We were excited because no sooner had we discussed a plan, God was already helping to provide an affordable way to do this.

We showed up saturday morning and had 4 bags full of meat. Nick weighed it all when we came home. Over 50 lbs of venison is shoved in our freezer (ok, 45, we cooked with 5 lbs this weekend.) I did some research about how long meat can be frozen and we should be just fine. Everything smells and tastes fine and she is LOVING it! here are some pictures we took just after her meatloafs came out of the oven. As you will see Tink is IN the kitchen. She doesn't venture in there very often unless something VERY yummy is in there and she can't wait! She was even nudging my leg like "will you hurry up, Mom!"

Wrong way baby girl

I'm waiting mom....

mmmm! That's the stuff!

Of course everything had to be Tinker tested and approved!

She hasn't come up for air yet, i think she approves!

She has been so excited about her food! We still give a tiny bit of kibble, but with all the research and reading, it seems home cooked is the way to go. And with venison, why not? We substituted rice instead of oats in the meatloaf because i guess oats are high in phosphorus and that is what I am trying to avoid! The venison was already ground and appears to be a bit greasy, again which is better for her and her kidneys. Lots of cabbage, carrots, some fennel too! Mix a little cottage cheese and her longevity and voila! A tasty treat fit for Tinker!

Her body especially needs more calcium now, so a supplement is a must! (they should be here by friday.) She's making it through some nights and not others. But some is better than none! She seems pretty content, although getting comfy this evening is proving a little challenging for her : ) My little heart dog is such a joy in our lives.

New Tink Pics 8-4-09

Nick took some pics of Tink sleeping over by the TV last week.... she's been lounging wherever quite contently it seems...

The eye is watching.

Beautiful Little One

So Content.

Dad, just cause I'm sleeping doesn't mean I don't know you're here!

Look at that squishy little face : )

my grandma, what a big nose you have....

Last Pics with Parker, Part 2

Parker apparently likes to snuggle with me better than sit and stay for Nick : )

Just love on me....

Cookie?

playing with his legs : )

Happy Smiles

Last Pics with Parker, Part 1

So per tradition, the last week of our foster being with us, we try to take some nice pics of him.... not so successful with Parker Baby....

I think Nick is mid "stay".... not sure how successful that was

Yeah, all they wanted was the food.... and yes Tink is wearing Mardi Gras beads....
Nick's idea, don't ask. Isn't she pretty?

Parker Shark.....