Visitors

Cooper, right, was one of my fosters from several years back. He was originally named Hydro. I always loved Coop, in part because he's the most like our Cabell of any dog we've ever fostered. He's got a big head, big face, big heart. Gypsy must think so too, because he's the only foster dog, before or since that time, that she's allowed as part of her pack.

Cassie, the rottie, was originally named Sable. She was one of two rotties we've had who were named Sable.

Coop was adopted first, as a result of a meeting at the Vegetarian Festival several years ago. A young woman, a UVA nursing student who was living in Richmond, wanted him. She soon became engaged to a young man, a UVA law student. I liked them in spite of their age, unsettled situation, and the fact that they were of childbearing age and inclination. (See, my prejudices are not absolute.)

We worked out an arrangement whereby I kept Cooper during the week and they took him on weekends until they had a place where they could take him full time and permanently.

It wasn't long after that that they adopted Sable, now called Cassie. They had a baby, moved to Georgia, and later moved back to Virginia, (I'm not sure about the order of all that) keeping the dogs and thereby confirming my judgment about their character.

Cassie turned out to have very strong maternal instincts and she and the daughter (now about 2 years old?) have formed a strong bond.

The young woman is about to deliver twins via c-section one day this week. Mom and dad will obviously have their hands full for a while. Daughter #1 is farmed out to a grandmother and Coop and Cassie have come here for a while to make life easier at home.

It's a smart plan, a good plan for all concerned, including the dogs. They are great dogs and great people so I'm glad we could help out.

We've had another visitor for the past 10 days or so as well. Austin is a shepherd mix that I adopted out through Animal Connections several years ago. After getting into some trouble with a newly adopted border collie involving some lambs, Austin has become his dad's constant companion, even going to work with him.

Dad had to go out of town for a while and had no one who could be trusted to keep Austin out of trouble at home. He's a sweet boy and has been no trouble here. When the rain started a few days ago, he decided it was rather nice having a comfortable bed in a crate upstairs in my office.

Rocky's propsective adopter and her other dog will probably arrive today, so I'm going to be juggling dogs a lot to keep everyone happy, relieved, and exercised. Austin should be going home tomorrow. He was a little lost for the first few days here and has been better with Clay than with me. He will be thrilled to see his dad again.



(p.s. It has been brought to my attention that my writing can be offensive to some. That doesn't really come as a surprise, and it's not always unintentional. I think people should be challenged and occasionally confronted with things that make them uncomfortable. Dog knows, I certainly am. I write this blog for myself, not for an audience. Even so, I hold back a lot, a hell of a lot, believe me. I foster for three organizations but I speak for none of them, only for myself. Still, if I manage to offend you, I invite you to click the red x in the upper right hand corner of the screen you are viewing. I don't force anyone to read this, not even Clay.)