Here comes Trouble!

You knew we couldn't go puppy-less for long! Tomorrow we're taking in a puppy that, of course, was dumped by the side of the road in Rock Hill, SC. Who could do that to an 8 week old puppy?
Well, anyway, the people that found her nicknamed her Trouble. We'll probably re-name her so's not to give her a bad reputation. She's a black lab mix with a white dot on her nose, a white streak on her head, white chest and white paws. Sounds adorable, and I'm sure she is!

Today was Jim's birthday. We had a nice dinner with friends, a quiet day, and this evening Helen invited the neighbors for cake and coffee. We love our neighborhood, and have made some great friends here, so it was good fun.

I also heard from Simon's mom, too!

"Here's some great news for you! He didn't cry Monday or last night at all. We took him out at 10:30 for his last walk and then put him in the crate and said good night. He was pooped for sure :-) We didn't hear a peep from him until morning. I came downstairs and he was standing up waiting for me and we went outside and took care of business. That was about 5:00 am. The early morning is when I do my devotion time, so he then cuddled up on the couch with me after breakfast and chewed on a bone while I read... of course then the kids get up and quiet time is over! He's done great during the days as well. There's been no accidents in his crate and only one in that puppy bed that you saw (such as it is with life... remember we said that we were fine if he messed up the carpet because it was old and coming up soon... so he pees on the NEW bed. Oh, well, that's what they make deodorizer for!) We are doing great! I will send pictures this weekend for sure :-) I can't thank you enough for taking such good care of him for us. He's a joy!"

It's so good to hear that he's doing well. He's destined for a wonderful life! :-)

Coming up - another happy/sad day

Tomorrow morning I'm helping Mari transport 5 puppies to a vet in York, SC, that are on their way to be transported to New York. We'll probably cover a few hundred miles.

Then I'll get home, play with our foster puppy Simon for a while, then Jim and I have the honor/pleasure/sad task of taking him to his new home. The good news is he's being adopted by a wonderful family. The sad news is that our time with him has reached an end.

He has been a wonderful house guest, sweet, funny, bouncy little puppy. Probably a Jack Russell/yellow lab mix. He's a little guy. Took to his crate and house training right away. Always tells us when he needs to go out. Loves to play with balls and stuffed toys, and most of all, loves to play with his Aunt Casey and Aunt Noir.

Tomorrow evening will be quiet. I know I'll cry tomorrow night and wonder if he is scared to be in a strange place where the mom and dad and aunts he's known are no longer there.

And soon there will be another need... another homeless, cast-off puppy will need our help. And the crate will come back into the dining room and we'll be smothered in puppy kisses again.
Here are some photos and a movie of Simon:

Life's never dull where Houlihans linger...

In case you're wondering about the title of this blog, my maiden name is Houlihan. And that's what my friends used to say about the exciting things that always seemed to happen to me. If only they knew....

Today I was up at 5:30AM. Not for a transport this time. I was going to set up a booth at "Fur Festival" in Belmont, NC, a benefit for a local rescue group where I would be selling my all natural soy candles and Nussentials health products. Here's some photos of my booth:







While there, we had a visit from our former foster puppy, Marvelous Marvin. He's been with his new family for a month and he's GROWN!! But what a sweet puppy. He looks great, and seemed to recognize Jim and I. Here's a photo of Jim and our little buddy:

I had the best smelling booth at the festival! It was a hot day, in the 90's, and I sweated away another pound! About 6 PM we had packed up and were on our way home, exhausted.
We hadn't been in the house more than 30 minutes, and the doorbell rang. "Can you help us... we picked this little dog up running along the road and he almost got hit." It was a dachshund. ANOTHER one! This little boy was only about 2-3 months old and appears to be pure doxie. "Of course." Jim set up the crate and now we have "Sidney" living with us temporarily while we make connections with doxie rescue. Jim said that's what Casey and Noir wanted to call him! He is ADORABLE!!

So even though I didn't participate in a transport, the day was filled with rescue events - past, present, and future! Life really is never dull where this Houlihan lingers!

The stray who couldn't stay

Last Monday started the transport week from hell that ended up with the reunion of Sam and Jessie, a GSD/Rottie mix and a GSD.

Monday evening my friend and next-door neighbor called me. "Edie, there's a dog out here that looks lost!" We met in the front yard. Helen grabbed her finest china dish and filled it with water for our guest, a huge old yellow lab that was as sweet as could be. I found out later that he had been wandering the neighborhood all day, which would explain how tired and dehydrated he looked. It's been in the mid-90's every day here.

He willingly jumped into my car Helen and I drove him through the neighborhood asking everyone who was out if they recognized him. No one did. We did learn that he had apparently been dumped in our neighborhood. Back at my house, we tried to keep him in the laundry room but he kept knocking down the baby gate. He just wanted to be where we were. Our girls Casey and Noir were not thrilled with him being in the house. I think they were intimidated by his size, about 85 pounds.

I took some photos of him and started blasting emails around to see if anyone could hold him while I trid to find his owner, in case there was an owner. I couldn't get an appointment at our vet's office until Wednesday. Mari and I were on our second transport of the week when we got the call from the vet that he had a microchip. They gave us the 2 numbers, both of which were no longer in service. We figured we could find a good home for him in Charlotte, a lot of people were responding to the email blast.

You can imagine how puzzled I was that afternoon when I called the vet to see if he was ready to be picked up and they said they were waiting to hear back from his owner! Apparently they tried changing the area code and got a hold of someone who used to own the dog. We also found out his name: "Clyde".

Several phone calls later, we were in touch with the owner. She was not a pleasant person, but insisted she wanted the dog back. We explained that our rescue organization had incurred some vet and boarding expenses and we would like to be reimbursed. She waited a day and a half then told us it would be a "hardship" to come up with the money. A board member of our group decided to let her have the dog back when she promised to make payments to pay it back. Of couse everyone knows she has no intention of doing it.

Finally Friday came and I arranged with her to meet at the vet's office (though the office was closed) so she could get Clyde. When I got there, her boyfriend was already there. He got right in my face and tried to intimidate me. She came flying in, nearly hit my car, and could not have been ruder to me. No thank you, no nothing. Poor Clyde slowly got out of my car and shot me a look. He didn't wag his tail once when he saw her. She insinuated that his ear infection started while I had him, and said he gets goomed every other week. I also noticed she was driving a late model Tahoe, so apparently she wasn't as strapped for cash as she claimed if she can drive a car like that and [ay from grooming twice a month..

I could've cried. I feel like I sent him back to a life outside on a chain in this heat. That's probably why he slipped out of his collar and ran away in the first place.

So I did the right thing, which felt very much like the wrong thing. I can't get this big old guy off my mind. I only hope he manages to slip away and find me again. The outcome will likely be different.