Welcome Flower

Flower has been a guest at our house for a few weekends this summer when her foster family has travelled out of town for family events.  We've had some great experiences with Flower so I thought I'd share them on this blog.

Flower loves people.  She's been great with all our family members (myself, husband, daughter 1 (17 yrs) and daughter 2 (15 years) and their friends.  She greets people with a happy tail wag and a cheerful, but not pushy, attitude.

She is great in the car and has taken a few rides with us.  We took her to my daughter's softball game this last weekend and she did great.  All the cheering, talking, running and commotion did not bother her at all.  She was curious about the happenings and watched politely.  She eventually settled onto the blanket (okay it was a towel) that I brought for her.

Flower does pull on a leash but about about 20 pounds she's certainly not going to pull you off your feet.  With a harness and practice going for walks she would pull less.

She has good house manners and has not chewed anything or had any accidents while she's stayed with us.

She enjoys toys and especially likes the fluffy ones.  If there are other dogs around Flower might try to protect the toys.  This might not bother some dogs but might bother others.  She's done well with our group of 4 other dogs but I keep an eye on things and if it looks like Flower is guarding a toy from one of the others I either take the toy away or shift her attention to something else.  Flower does not guard her toys from people, just other canines.  It's not uncommon for one of our Fluffy Dogs to want to protect their toys.  It's understandable in my opinion.  They are all rescues from Alabama and probably did not have much of anything before they came to us.  When you've lived a life without it's understandable that you might want to protect what you have.

Flower is good in the crate and will go in nicely with a treat.  She might fuss for a couple minutes but then settles in to nap.

She's been sleeping in my daughter's room at night and waits for me to wake her up in the morning to go potty and have some breakfast.  Before bedtime Flower is happy to cuddle with us on the sofa.

As you may have gathered from the web-site many of the dogs get unusual names.  You absolutely can change their names.  They all adapt!

Thanks for reading and thanks for thinking rescue!

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF FLOWER

Flower and some flowers!  

At the softball game

A selfie in the car

Enjoying the fresh air

Sitting on my daughter's lap during a portion of the game

Ah...taking a rest

Flower and two of my crew

Flower and our foster dog Obie taking a nap on a rainy Sunday while my husband folds some laundry

Trent Adopted

Trent has been adopted.  He'll be living in the city with a wonderful family of 5 and near a beautiful park

Welcome Trent

Welcome!  Enjoy some additional pictures and video of Trent.  So, what's the story with Trent?  Well, he was found as a stray in Birmingham Alabama.  No owner came forward.  This the typical story for our Fluffy Dogs.  Unfortunately Trent was also heartworm positive.  So, whom ever owned him was neglectful in many ways.  Fortunately for Trent Fluffy Dog Rescue got word of his situation and said "yes!"  We will treat Trent for those heart worms and he'll be ready to move to his forever home at the end of June.   After treatment is complete Trent will just need to stay on a monthly heartworm preventative, like Heartgard, for at least 24 months.  After 24 months if you'd prefer to give heartworm preventative just during the warm months then that's an option.  That's it!  No other restrictions or preventative measures for him.  Easy peasy!  Someone asked about shedding...I would say he's a light shedder.  His hair is soft and I do get a small amount of hair on the brush when I groom him.  Is he housebroken?  I'm going to guess no.  He's a young boy and did some marking his first day here but that's common for boy dogs.  He's a happy and smart boy so with a consistent schedule and reinforcement she should get the hang of it.  He's a happy and friendly guy as you can see from these pictures and videos (click the links below for the videos).  We absolutely love him!  So friendly with everyone, human and canine!

Thanks for thinking rescue!

Trent Fetching

Trent getting some love

Trent getting treats

Runt Adopted

Runt has been adopted.  Now it's just Ally who is waiting for her forever home to find her.

Below is the blog about Ally when she was with us here in Illinois.  She's now in a  foster home in Wisconsin.  The rescue had other dogs they wanted to take who needed some TLC so Ally and Runt moved on up to WI and into foster homes there.

Ally is a gorgeous girl and I know she'll have a home of her own soon.  Keep reading the prior blog posts for some pictures and video of her while she was here.

Thanks for reading and thanks for thinking rescue!

Ally and Runt

Ally and Runt recently arrived from Alabama.  They and their brother Bama were owned by a family who have decided to get rid of them because the kids are no longer interested in playing with the dogs.  Ally and Runt lived their entire lives outside.  They are 1/2 Dachshund, 1/4 Pomeranian and 1/4 Poodle.

They are staying with me for a few weeks while they are being treated for heartworm.  Having lived outside their whole lives and not on heartworm meds they became heartworm positive.  While this is unfortunate it is treatable.  The girls have received their treatments already and now just need to take a monthly heartworm preventative like any other dog.  Heartgard Plus is the most common preventative.  It's a chewable tablet that the dogs eat just like a treat and it costs less than $10 a month.  Such an easy thing it's unfortunate their family didn't ensure they were protected.

Runt is a super, super sweet girl.  She is quiet and a little reserved at first.  She loves to cuddle and stare into your eyes.  She is really a love!  She has been doing her potties outside since she's been here.  She goes into the crate nicely with a treat.  She sleeps all night in the crate without a peep.

Ally is a little more bouncy.  She is outgoing and happy to meet everyone with a smile.  Really, she does smile!   She is also very sweet and loves to cuddle and share kisses.  She's had a few accidents but seems to be getting the hang of our schedule and is doing better.  She also crates easily and sleeps through the night.  She will fuss if she's in the crate and we're still in the house.  She protests because she wants to be out with the family but with a bone she's content.

Both girls have fabulous hair.  It's soft and slightly curly.  They are good about being brushed.  They do shed some but will need grooming occasionally to keep the hair out of the eyes.

They are fantastic girls and are each looking for a home of their own.  They do like each other but are not bonded and will be just fine in their own homes.  Their new families will be very lucky!

Thanks for reading and thanks for thinking rescue!

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF ALLY AND RUNT

Welcome O'Hara!

We've been anxiously awaiting Miss O'Hara's arrival from Alabama and she's here!  We've found her to be a fantastic dog just like her Alabama foster mom said.  She's a great size at about 27 pounds and about 16-17 inches to the shoulder.

O'Hara stayed with me for a week during which she had her spay surgery.  I've got another foster, Hillary, so O'Hara is now with a foster mom who lives just a few blocks from me.  Here's what I can tell you about O'Hara in the week she was with me.

She met dogs Trina (7 pounds) and Holly (28 pounds) and was wonderful with both of them.   She is wonderful with all the people she has met.  She greets everyone with a wagging tail and a happy approach.  She is very good about being brushed and seems to really enjoy it.

She does like to be around people or other dogs.  We put her in a crate downstairs by herself her first night here and she fussed (cried and barked some).  Since then she's been sleeping at the foot of my daughter's bed.  She finds a comfy spot and sleeps soundly until my daughter gets up...or until I wake them both up which is usually the case.   Teenagers and summer time means lots of sleeping late.

As she was healing from her spay surgery we kept her in the guest room if we left the house.  We wanted to keep her contained so she wouldn't run or jump and upset her sutures.   She did fuss some in the guest room too.  I do think that she likes having another dog or person around and that she can get anxious if she's completely alone.  Perhaps if we had given her the run of the house she wouldn't have fussed.  It could also have been that she hadn't had enough time to get comfortable in our house.  Her Alabama foster mom says O'Hara never fussed, but there were other dogs in the house.

O'Hara's Alabama foster mom said that O'Hara doesn't care for walking on a leash.  I'd say that O'Hara loves the freedom of the backyard but that she actually walks very nicely on a leash.  She and I walked about a mile today and she was wonderful.  She is a terrier though and if she sees a squirrel or a rabbit she will pull.  But, that's common for terriers...hey, even my own dogs do it.   I'll add that her first day here I took her for a walk early in the morning and of all things we saw a coyote about 20 yards in front of us.  O'Hara just stopped and stared as the coyote didn't skip a beat and continued trotting towards us and then into the brush near the creek.  She didn't bark, didn't pull, didn't get anxious, just watched.  Good girl.

Outside of fussing when we have left her we haven't heard her bark.  She hasn't barked when the doorbell rang or when the other dogs have barked.

Granted she was recovering from her spay most of the days she was here so her activity level was lower than normal she was pretty content to just hang out next to my desk while I worked during the day.  In the evening she'll find an open dog bed and relax while the family watches TV.

She does like to be in the yard and likes to look for chipmunks under the bushes.  Her Alabama foster mom  says that O'Hara would sit patiently still and wait and wait for action in the bushes.  She never actually caught anything though.

For the week that O'Hara was here she never had one accident in the house and for the three weeks that O'Hara was with her Alabama foster mom she never had one accident either.  We can safely say she is housebroken.  She is very good about doing all her potties outside.

I don't have cats so I can't tell you how she does with them but her Alabama foster mom reported that O'Hara ignored the cats during the three weeks she was there.

O'Hara has a beautiful soft coat.  She is a gorgeous dog.  The vet who examined her believes she is a West Highland White Terrier mix.  I would completely agree.  She has those adorable Westie ears and wonderfully soft coat of white.  There are a fewspots of tan towards her back end.  We don't know what she is mixed with but likely something bigger than a Westie as she is larger and more athletic than a typical Westie.  She does shed some.

We have found that O'Hara likes canned food.  She will eat dry kibble but prefers it mixed with some canned.  She shows no food aggression and is fine being fed around other dogs.  She took her post-spay medicine easily when it was wrapped in a  small bit of turkey or hot dog.  She takes treats politely.

The story we understand is that O'Hara's original owners moved and left her with a woman who looked after her for a few weeks but realized that she could not afford to keep her.  That woman then turned her into a shelter.  Fortunately, almost all Fluffy Dogs come from shelters in Alabama and our partners down there found out about O'Hara and quickly got her into a foster home until she could make the journey up north.  Now here she waits, waiting for her forever family to come for her.

Here's a little more about what O'Hara's Alabama foster mom had to say-
"I love all my fosters but some are more special.  O'Hara is one of the more special ones.  I would be begging to keep her if I didn't already have 6 dog-children.  I am really going to miss Miss O'Hara"

Thanks for reading and thanks for thinking rescue!

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF O'HARA

With Holly and Trina

Such a gorgeous girl

Diva and all her pups have been adopted

Diva and all three of her pups have been adopted.  Two pups are living in the Chicago area while Diva and the third pup are living with families in Wisconsin.  Congratulations to all.