Scratch a Dog and You'll Find a Permanent Job

Oh my, a lot sure has happened recently! We've taken in a few more dogs, a few of our bigger dogs have found forever homes (including a long-term resident Blondie), and the best news of all: our little Allegan County dogs are starting to find homes, too!

Jasper was the first to go, having been the model student and all! Then not long after him, Randy found himself cuddled up with his new family after being taken to an adoption event at the Pet Emporium.

Such great news for our little buggers! But also a little sad for selfish Sabrina. It's so difficult to not want to take them all home and keep them for myself!

I have a feeling Buttercup will be the next to go. Every time I go to the rescue she wags her long, hairy tail and waits for me to come in and snuggle her. She's not a hyper, excitable little thing like a lot of small dogs, but she is just as affectionate, made obvious by her not wanting you to put her down or leave her kennel. A little more socialization and learning how to walk on a leash and she'll be ready for an awesome family!

Skeeter, Randy (back), Jasper, and Junior's belly

I also have a little bit of other good news! We were getting pretty worried about Mopsy as she still sits in the corner shaking all day. We were worried that the stress of everything would affect the development of her puppies, so an ultrasound was scheduled to make sure things were alright and I think a foster was lined up so she could get out of the kennel and spend one-on-one time in a home. Well, come to find out, Mopsy isn't pregnant! She must have gotten mixed up with another one of the 350+ dogs seized from the house in Allegan County (which I'm sure is easy to do with that much chaos!). This is very good news, as it was looking like any puppies she may have been carrying weren't going to make it. Oooh I'm so happy for our little girl! She's got a long way to go but at least she's healthy!

Now that Jasper and Randy are gone, the kennel arrangements have switched around a bit so that some of the shyer dogs are with more outgoing dogs to hopefully help them become as comfortable with people as their kennel mate.

Skeeter, who was alone, is now paired up with Junior, who was the shy one when he was with Randy. It's so funny to see how Junior has now taken on Randy's personality with Skeeter and is more dominant, trying to get shy Skeeter to play with him. It's adorably hilarious the way Junior will nip Skeeter's ear and jump back, antagonizing him into a bout of puppy bitey-face! Junior is still shy of people, but if you can nab him he'll willingly go into a harness and leash for a walk. He doesn't walk walk very much yet - he's still exploring his surroundings - but he's doing very well outside the walls and fences of the rescue.

Kind of shy Cindi is now paired up with super shy Mopsy, seeing as we now know she isn't pregnant. Cindi was with Greta, who is super shy and growly, so hopefully beeing with meek little Mopsy will keep Cindi calm and receptive to human interaction (Mopsy is receptive, but she just sits there and lets you pet her).

Mike & I

And finally, shy and growly Greta is paired up with happy and snuggly Buttercup (formerly by herself). It's so funny because they look almost identical. I think being with Buttercup is really warming Greta up, as when I go into their kennel and am greeted by Buttercup, Greta will maybe growl a little growl but she'll sniff my hand on and off. And she no longer poos when we try to nab her to give her her ear drops, which is good.

I've found that I definitely lean more toward the smaller dogs and medium sized dogs that have a gentler nature. I think a lot of it has to do with growing up with a little Maltese. All of these white and tan puppies are just tugging at my heartstrings!

On a side note, I'd like to extend a very large, and very heartfelt "thank you" to my amazing boyfriend, Mike. Not only has he been a good sport in giving up some of our Saturday morning snuggle time, but he hasn't complained once when I slide back into bed with him, spending the next hour telling him everything that went on that morning with every single dog. I am so, so lucky to be with someone who is so concerned with the things that make me happy!