Fat Butt and Frog Legs....

Ok, so I know the nick name "fat butt" isn't the greatest but it makes me laugh. I was still groggy in bed Saturday or Sunday morning and Macy got out of bed just as Nick was walking back into the bedroom looking for her. I mumbled something like "fat butt just left" or "fat butt jumped out of bed already" and rolled over to go back to sleep....

This picture doesn't do her body justice as she's definitely looking better weight wise. She has a little waist now and her coat is looking great! She is going to make this little lady a very happy woman and fabulous companion : )

Posing with a bone

Macy loves to chew too. We've caught both of them chewing next to each other in chewy heaven togetherness, and it is stinkin' adorable. Fortunately neither of them are food aggressive in any sense. I do watch them carefully though as they both love their food. Of course they love to tease each other if 1 has a bone that the other 1 wants.... oh darling sisters, enjoy it now as Macy is taking a trip to the Finger Lakes on Friday...with another foster planning to come home with us on Saturday...

Frog Legs!!!

It's not very often that I get to see Molly with a full set of frog legs so I grabbed the camera quickly when I saw these. Isn't she adorable?!?!

On a not so adorable note, Molly was sick again on Sunday night....all down the hallway. Nick found it with his foot on the way to the bathroom. (YUCK!!) I will take pee in the house ANY day Moo over messy poo! Please remember that! Nick being the absolute darling that he is began cleaning it up without a peep (After we both stood their staring in disbelief for almost 5 minutes...). Unfortunately for Molly, she slept in the kitchen that night and has been spending her days in their just in case as linoleum is much nicer to clean than carpet... The vet thinks it's colitis of some form. We had to fast her yesterday. Poor Molly, I felt so badly for her. But she made it and graduated to turkey and rice until her belly is completely healed. (which is hopefully before Friday when we leave her with Nate....) Fortunately for us, Nick did a great job cleaning the carpet. Phew!

Molly and Macy are both currently on the couch with me sleeping, Molly directly next to me and Macy on top of my leg and partially on top of Molly.... I don't understand these girls, but I sure do love them!!!!

Bring Lola Home!

Let's bring Lola home for Thanksgiving. Her Mom misses her very much. Please crosspost/forward/email to anyone you can think of that may be able to help!

Molly & Macy Update

So the girls seem to be friends again for the most part...ok maybe more like sisters with an occasional squabble. Nick and I THINK that Molly is actually trying to play with Macy occasionally but none of us are sure, not even poor Macy! It's funny and we watch closely. Sometimes it's just safer to distract them and "break it up" (ie: walk into the kitchen : )

Molly loves the kong so much. When we come home, she literally books it down the hall and kicks Macy out of her crate so she can get Macy's kong. Macy could care less because she is booking it down the hall in the other direction to get a bone and/or go outside. Silly girls...

Oh so food motivated....
doesn't she look beautiful in her new shirt? I love the yellow on her!

Blanket backdrop. "give me the kong or else lady!"
Molly's been sleeping a bit more on occasion and has definitely been making more noises in the past few weeks. More whining, chicken sounds, even more sounds while sleeping.
She seems ok, but it does make us wonder....

Miss Macy really enjoys chewing on bones over here too. Both girls enjoyed a marrow bone yesterday afternoon (one in the dining room, one in the living room just in case). They both did fine. Molly got a bit goofy at the end when Mace finished hers first, but other than that, a good deal for everyone!

Couch potato! Macy is definitely getting more energy and her spunk is coming through, but she loves the couch! She also loves our bed and has been jumping up more frequently... We crate her at night and used to whine around 6:30am. I'd wait until she stopped whining and then let her out and have her climb into bed for the last hour. Well 6:30 turned into 4:30 and I didn't realize it the first night. The next night it was 2:30. I told her to forget it and rolled over to sleep. Smart little girl!

It amazes me the things that these dogs remember. Macy remembers where she saw every squirrel in the last week. Molly remembers where we put up a bone from 3 days prior, yet she can't go to the right apartment door... They are certainly lots of fun to have around. The weather has been unseasonably warm and Nick and I have been taking advantage of that going for walks together with the girls twice a day, providing we're both around.

Nick and I have been making plans to bring Macy to her forever home the friday after Thanksgiving. Nothing is definite until it's definite, but I'm very excited both for Macy and for the lady that is adopting her. It sounds like a nice fit and I am truly happy for everyone. Her potential new mom lives up in the finger lakes so Nick and I are making plans for an overnight up there. A night away, how fun!!! Hopefully things continue to go smoothly during this process for both Macy and our travels....

I have more pictures to post, but I'll post them throughout the week when I need a break from the rest of life : )

Thank you Karen!!!

Karen, a fellow woofer and owner of a "Molly" herself, has been amazingly generous to our little girls. She wanted to send a gift to Molly as a welcome home gift to her. In the meantime we took in Macy. This past week a package from Karen and her crew brought not 1 beautiful quilted blanket and hand-made shirt, but 2!!! 1 for each girl! Nick and I were dumbfounded at the generosity and kindness displayed through Karen.

I can't even adequately describe how beautiful these garments and blankets are. Here are some pictures of our girls new clothes and blankets!!

This is an up close shot of Molly's blanket.
I LOVE all the patterns and colors for her!

This is the quilt in half.
It fits beautifully over her at bed time : )

Here is Macy's quilt.
You can see the pink fleece that is on the underside in this pic.

Here is a picture of the 2 t-shirts. They're stretchy and look oh so comfy on them!
You can clearly tell that Karen has Bostons herself as they fit both their bully chests!

Here's a picture of the 2 of them in their shirts.
We have many more pictures to share soon!!!

Every time I look at the blankets this week, I smile and thank God for his kindness demonstrated through people here on earth. It's been an incredibly busy week or so and I'm grateful for the time now to sit and post some of the fun events of the week!

Happy Tails and Tink

Tink's story is being featured on Happy Tails website. It's still not too late to order a copy of any of the 5 breed books that are now in print. Thank you Kyla for thinking of us and Miss Tink.

We've had more good days than sad days, but it did hit us hard Friday evening sitting on the couch with the 2 girls we have now just thinking about how Tink would be snuggled up on the couch with us...

Rest in peace my darling Tinker. You and your love will never be forgotten.

And So It Goes...

So no sooner do I say the girls are getting along, they begin to have these little tiffs. It all started on wed (?) night when Macy pawed up to Nick for attention and Molly sniffed her and then Molly pawed up at Nick for attention and Macy sniffed her...yeah...then they gave each other the hairy eye ball and stared at each other waiting for the other to make the first move. They were kind of goofy but nothing major on Thursday. Friday evening there was a small scuffle. Fortunately for me, both of them fear my voice more than each other and as soon as I got "HEY" outta my mouth they were done. Then Molly sat on the couch sulking and Macy sat on a bed sulking. Blah. Silly girls. They seem to be working it out of their system though.

Macy is coming to life! She is chasing squirrels outside, chewing on bones, and wanting to be more active. She stood watch out on the back deck for 15 min or so this afternoon. She's looking better. Unfortunately due to an initial calculating error, we don't know how much, if any, weight she has lost. All we know is her body is acquiring some shape to it (especially compared to the side pic we took last week.)

Molly is doing ok...we've noticed a small potbelly on her so we're giving her meds to her every day instead of 6 on, 1 off. Her coat isn't as shiny as it has been, but we're working on it. I just hope that her Cushing's is still stabilized and that we're not running into any other complications as a result of it... I really enjoy and love that little girl. We laugh because she is who she is. She can be so aloof and silly with seemingly little brains one moment and then the next she is demonstrating some long term memory! This cracks us up because she still doesn't go to the right apartment door...Anyways, I really enjoy her and her antics. I love that she talks to me in the kitchen.

I have definitely hit another cycle of the grief process over my beautiful little girl. There has been so much going on in friend's lives as well which has just added layers to all of this. My heart feels heavy for so many people. I think of Tink and all that is inside just seems to pour out. I was going through all the dog clothing that we have and was reminded of just how little and wonderful miss Tink was. I came across her red hoodie, the very one that her Godmamma Charli gave her when we picked her up. Sigh, such good memories, but still so fresh and raw.

Christy gave us 2 of Zoey's old coats when she was a puppy. The red sweater actually fits Macy beautifully! Thank you Christy! I'll have to post pictures soon. The tan coat looked like it would fit Moo, but it is just a bit too tight (as usual with most clothing I have for her) in the chest. Go figure.

We've had Macy 1 week now. I gotta start looking through apps and seeing if we can find her forever home and get her rolling. She is going to be a great family dog and may actually have some energy and not only be a couch potato! Maybe YOU would like to fill out an NEBTR app and adopt her!

M & M musings...

...or just my random thoughts about them. First of all, the names Molly and Macy are tongue twisters and I struggle to get the right M sound out at the right time. Second of all their marking are so similar and Macy is moving more quickly that now I can't tell them apart at a quick glance or when I don't have my contacts in. So I confuse the 2 of them all the time in all sorts of ways... it makes for an interesting time for sure : )

Both girls, we're learning, have a lousy sense of direction. We're not sure if it's monkey see monkey do or what, but man, those 2 could get lost in a small closet. What they lack in sense of direction though, they more than make up for in cuteness. I love that both of them are on the couch sprawled out together, sleeping away. Macy snores and it makes me smile (and sometimes cry). She crates up fabulously and is quiet as a church mouse.

We have a vet appt for Macy on Monday and hopefully we can get some minor issues cleared up and taken care of. She's been much more active these past 2 days or so. Walking with energy and continually moving on our walks and running around the house a little bit. Her tummy is starting to tuck in just a bit and I think she's going to trim down with some time. More time than I want, but I know I can't do this too fast. She's certainly not hungry though as she turns down some food options which Molly promptly takes of Macy's paws. She does seem a bit fussy, but I'm ok with that. She doesn't NEED the food for sure.

Molly is such a different type of dog...she reminds me of my Aby in some ways...she's aloof and does things on her own terms. But as a result, she misses out on a lot. She's funny and goofy and she helps us laugh. She's certainly not the brightest crayon in the box, but man she is a special little lady. I know this sounds bad, but at night, when we're going back to bed and all the lights are off, Molly bumps into the walls. The mean part is, I laugh every time.

I love that the 2 of them snuggle in the bed in the morning. We all made it to 7am today and rather than taking them out, I hoisted Macy up into bed and then we slept until 8...Macy under the comforter, Molly on top, and me without any comforter! Macy is so reluctant to get up in the morning...we have a lot in common in the sleep category! It's so hard to wake up when I have a BT who doesn't want to get up either.

Tink was so different from these 2 girls, yet in some ways I can feel parts of her in them. Sometimes it's a fleeting feeling and other times it stays just a while longer. I'm not sure how else to describe it. Sometimes it makes me smile and other times I cry. Molly looks so sad and pathetic when I bawl my eyes out. Macy looks sad too, but almost in a "I know how you feel" kinda way... Tink's legacy continues to live on in our house each day and I am very thankful for that.

More pictures...

I love these 2 little girls together. They appear to love each other already...

Too cute... look at those beautiful eyes!

We realized today that Macy and Molly have similar markings.
Their half white collar on their neck is almost identical with similar blazes and white on their hiney! Nick and I were considering this morning that they could be related... they both came from local pet stores. Their poor mother could have been pushing out puppies for both stores...

Chunky Monkey, but man did she go for a fabulous and energetic walk for the first time this evening! She continues to come more and more alive and active- so wonderful to see!!!

Isn't that a beautiful (and peaceful) face?

I LOVE this picture of the 2 of them!

I took them out at 6:37 this morning and put them both in bed. They literally curled up together and the 4 of us slept in until just before 8 this morning.... I was in heaven! I do smile and feel alive with these 2 little girls in the house. It doesn't take the pain of losing Tink away, but it does remind me of our purpose here on earth....

The right family has gotta be here for Macy some where. Are YOU her forever family?!?! Send in an application to NEBTR today!!!

An M & M Morning

Yesterday morning Nick took some pics of the 2 lovelies on the couch. Molly, as usual, has her nose covered in a blankie.

Aren't they sweet?

Sorry about the blurriness.

Molly reminds me of Tink in this picture.

Molly jumped up into bed about 6 and about 6:30 I heard Macy sniffle and snort in her crate. I know that her bladder isn't quite as strong as Molly's, so I took her out (of course Molly followed). I picked Macy up and put her in bed so we could sleep for another hour. Molly slept on top of the blankets and Macy slept under them. I worked well...for a while. They act like we starve them, so to keep them happy we petted and loved on them. They're both such characters. I was going to say "little" characters, but, you know!

So I finally did feed the girls this morning. I feel like a sous chef in the kitchen. Heating up some green beans to add some bulk to the turkey and rice, boiling some water to warm up the meals, supplements mixed in, Molly gets her home cooked turkey, veggies, rice, sweet potato mixture, just a little bit of fat free cottage cheese on top of the mixtures... (Molly and Nick agree that the fat free stuff doesn't taste so good, but it's better for the fluffy one, I guess!) They both ate peacefully. Macy lets me touch her while she's eating. No problems with any of that.

Currently Mace is on the couch and Molly is sleeping in Macy's bed. It's funny : )

Macy already seems to be walking better. We're getting the longest nails clipped and I think she feels the difference. I can't believe how similar Macy's behaviors are to Molly's. I don't know if it's monkey see, monkey do, but both will drink at the same time, both tilt their heads and sit there together (like they know there is strength in sad looking faces to get food!), and other things too. Both dogs are eating up the attention which is good.

Ok, we gotta walk the dogs, get ready for church and get rolling this morning. Boy do Nick and I love these little older ladies! They are true gems!

Meeet Macy Black

Meet Miss Macy! We picked her up friday evening. What a sad event that was. We brought her back and she was so miserable. We kept her in the kitchen area for the evening as Molly acted as though she wanted to kill her. We walked together, fed them in shifts, then later in the evening opened the gate and let Macy explore while we kept Molly on the couch. Eventually Molly and Mace worked it out and now they seem just fine : )

The beached whale look

Macy in her bed

The ahhh, "fluffy" look

Ok, she's fat, there's no nice way to say that!

But isn't she adorable?!?!

She weighs in at 29 lbs. I figure she needs to loose 5-9 lbs. I have to dig to feel her ribs and her frame is sturdy, but not huge. She's loving the turkey and rice mixture with a bit of cottage cheese but isn't quite impressed with the portions... Her nails are so long that some of them are almost going into her pads : ( I'm managed to cut the worse offenders, of course I bled 1 something fierce (Stupid black evil nail.) She didn't even flinch when it happened. We moved her into the kitchen and had blood all over the place. We'll get the others a little at a time. I figured getting these nails cut is better than the pain that's gotta come from walking on her nails on her pads!

She is such a love. She really loves her Auntie Lindsay. She let her pet her for over 30 min last night and pawing at her if she stopped for more than 1/2 a second! She's crate trained, house trained, good with kids and other dogs....she is really a gently soul, but an old 7. Nick and I have started working our magic. We hope to get her weight down and clean her up in the next few weeks. Lots of walks, going up and down the stairs, good food, and watching treats.... I think she'll be fine!

She came up on the couch last night and rolled over for a belly rub...Nick and I had a good laugh over that while we obliged her! Molly is hanging in there just fine. She was so bent last night and then of course so needy. Then she barked at Macy this morning when I took her out of her crate. Silly girl. She likes her just fine now though.

Do you have the perfect home and heart for the gentle and sweet little girl? Fill out an app with NEBTR today!

Today Marks 1 month...

...on the passing of a beautiful little life.
I bought another yellow rose in honor of her this morning.

Sweet dreams my darling Tinker... you will always be in my heart

Sadness

My heart is sad for so much this evening, I don't know how to clearly articulate much of it. From the people I serve at work to the dogs and people I volunteer for and with... We have so many dogs that need to come into the rescue from a puppymill mama with medical conditions to older ones with little vision, to owner surrenders due to divorce...

I only work the home visit end of things and foster when we can (more on that soon....), but even this side of things has been extra busy, but not necessarily with approved homes. I wish potential adopters would stop and consider all the parts that go together in an all volunteer based rescue. This is a multi-pronged process including applications, reference checks, initial phone calls, home visits, matching the dog to the family, etc etc. Each volunteer works a paying job in addition to the volunteer job. I know that within the home visit side of things, I need to find a local volunteer who returns a phone call or email that is local to the applicant. If that person hasn't done a visit before, there is some training and information sharing on the process. The home visit volunteer is connected with the foster parent for any specific information they might be looking for at the home. This information gets relayed to the board and the foster dog coordinators as best as possible. It can be time consuming and take longer than any of us want it to take.

We had one app that came in and went from application to initial phone call to home visit set up in less than a week and yet that was too long for the family and they withdrew their app. Sigh, but we don't do what we do for applicants like that. We do this for the dogs and for the families that truly want them and are willing to wait a little bit if needed and put the time and energy into the dogs appropriately. Can you imagine an impatient person trying to work with a rescue dog who is trying to adjust (again) to a new home and living environment? Ikes...

My heart is sad for Tink tonight. I get these waves, not as often any more, but they wash over me and at times I can barely breathe at the thought that she is gone forever. The pain feels sharp and is suffocating, but usually just as quickly as it comes, it leaves. I wish like anything that she was snuggled up tight next to me tonight...I'd be rubbing her little velvety ears and smooch her soft little noggin'.

I wanted to get a new rose for her this evening, but was totally side tracked with rescue stuff... tomorrow morning. I want to go and find another beautiful reminder of the beautiful life that was lived. The same beautiful life that will live inside of my heart for as long as I live.

I wasn't this sad all day. I actually had a nice day at work today....nice sessions, time to do some paperwork and planning....Everything came to a point this evening and now I sit here and think which is so incredibly dangerous.

We'll make it through, just taking 1 step at a time (and towards the bedroom to go to sleep!!!)

Nothing's final until it's final

So Binx was picked up by her owners at the Philly shelter yesterday afternoon. No Binx for us. I hope this is the best for Binx. Sheryl assured me that we have plenty of dogs that need to come in... I've got my bid in for one, but I'll refrain from any details until he/she is in our house : )

Jodi may be coming over tonight with her little foster girl Mitzy. There's a good chance I may fall completely in love....we shall see. Either way, it's a great way for Jodi to see how Mitzy interacts with a dog that doesn't play (Molly). It sounds like even though Mitzy's 4, she may do better with an older dog or one that doesn't like to play as much. Hey, i'll take one for the team and spend some time with Mitzy and Jodi (and Wilbs too if we must : ) to figure the darling out.

More later for sure : )

Binx....

New foster coming in on tuesday from Philly shelter... little girl, 3-5, named Binx. We're finally ready for a project and we're still getting swamped at NEBTR. 16 dogs came in alone in October. She sounds like she should be fairly easy and easy to place... pictures to come as we get her and she gets settled. Miss Moo's world is going to be rocked, but it will be good for her : ) Nothing like a little socialization for the girl : )

Hoops of Hope

There are many things that I love about LCBC and how we serve there. One of the things I love is the fact that we encourage our middle schoolers to make a difference in this world both in their own communities and throughout the world. We encourage them to dream big! Last year over 300 5th-8th graders shot free throws and raised over $150,00 so a community in Kenya Africa called Tseikuru could have clean drinking water.

This year the mission is to raise $120,00 to build a school for 350-500 Dalit children in Sattur India. The Dalit are a group of people that live in Sattur and are considered sub-human. They are impoverished, lack health care, aren't given an education, and many are sold into slavery. All because they are born as a Dalit in this caste system.

Who Are The Dalit People of India…
- 1 out of every 4 people in India is a Dalit.
- Dalit people are considered sub-human.
- Dalit children are forced to become slaves.
- Dalit children have no hope for education.

We want to change this social injustice and we can, one school at a time. We are helping our the 5th-8th graders in Lancaster County make a difference in the lives of children in India.

Would you consider helping, no matter the amount? There's a link below to our fundraising page as well as a widget on the side. Together we can bring light into the darkness and bring hope and love to one child at a time.