For the Love of Dogs

We love dogs. We absolutely love them and the bigger, the better. Actually, we don't so much like little dogs. Chihuahuas in particular. I'm sorry to offend any Chihuahua lovers, but seriously, shouldn't they really be cats? Typically, they're mean and won't let you near their owners. Truthfully, they scare me, though I admit I have encountered a small number of them I thought were cool. I could probably count those on one hand. We're just more of a big dog kind of family.

I know I've whined about the dogs being in the house since Ike and still being without a fence, but my biggest complaint is that we can't ever really have a dog break. For one, they can escape from one of the neighbor's yard's, and Jaxon thinks our back neighbor is a meter reader and tends to bark at him when the neighbor is outside in his own yard doing his own thing. Not to mention that Abby is now 12-years-old and she often leaves us surprises due to her lack of bowel and bladder control as she begins to show her age.

Now we also have Charlie staying here. He's Lauren's new adoptee/rescue from College Station. Unfortunately, she started the adoption process and bonded with him prior to fully investigating the pet policy at her apartment complex and learning that he weighed 11 pounds more than they will allow. Call me crazy but we have volunteered to house Charlie for her until her lease is up in the late summer and she's able to move into a more pet friendly complex. However, the offer is only good as long as our fence is back in place and we have a fully functioning back yard to utilize prior to her returning to school in mid-January.

About a six weeks ago I started receiving emails from a co-worker about a local animal rescue organization and some rescued dogs needing homes. Those emails have completely torn at my heart strings and since those emails started coming my way, I've learned that there is such a thing as foster parents for dogs and cats. Who knew? As a result of effortlessly forwarding on the emails, my sister-in-law has been approved to adopt a rescue from them and will be bringing her new dog home soon.

I've also signed up with them to volunteer. Tomorrow the kids and I will be going to help clean kennels and play with five rescues that are currently being housed at Pet Paradise, a boarding facility for animals to stay while their owners are away. They are generous enough to donate a number of their spaces to help house animals for this organization while they're awaiting adoption and aren't fortunate enough to be placed with a foster family.

I'm excited and looking forward to it. As a matter of fact, we're on "Holiday Hours", since we're all out of school/work, but everyone is willing to be up tomorrow by 8am in order to meet and play with Luke, Peaches, Paco, Bingo and Chance. That speaks volumes because we're not morning people! Without doubt, I know we'll have more fun than the dogs will, and we'll probably leave wishing we could take them all home with us. If only we lived on a farm!

Dakota Rescue.

Take a look at Charlie. Doesn't he have a face that would be hard to turn away? I'm proud of Lauren for saving him. Oh, and we all just love saying, "Sorry, Charlie" and also talking to him in a British accent like in the hilarious video featured here.