I rarely watch the news, I find it so depressing and sad. Yesterday on my phone’s news feed there were two stories that caught my eye:

Beagle shot in the head 6 times, found in critical condition; and

48 dogs found in Northern Alberta.

Seriously, these stories are what make me hate mankind, which obviously is unhealthy and unfair, considering I truly believe there is more good than bad in the world but it’s hard to remember that.

But it’s also these stories that bring attention to rescue and hopefully encourage people to step forward and help.  There’s never a shortage of animals in need, and there is no such thing as doing do little.

Tess was a foster of mine a few months ago, she is a Redbone Coonhound.  When she entered into rescue she was approximately 18 months.

The rescue named her Sally, but to me she was Tess, although she didn’t really get to know either name before being adopted (her forever family kept the name Sally).  Tess  had been kept outside in a cage and had no socialization with humans. She would be allowed out only for hunting and if you saw the energy this young dog had, you’d know what a sad life that must have been for her.

She was out on a hunting expedition and battled a wild boar, needless to say the boar won.  Tess had a gash in her neck, part of her ear bit off and some scars along her body.  Realizing she was not going to be the dog they had hoped for, the owners called a rescue and said they were going to shoot Tess unless they wanted to come get her and find her a home.

This was in Florida, the rescue did go get Tess,  and when she arrived in Canada I was set to be her foster mom.

You could literally count the ribs on this young dog, she was so skinny and despite her lack of socialization, she was very sweet but timid.  When Tess entered my home, she found her safe place, under my dining room table.  I set up a bed and put bowls of food and water there for her.

I had Tess for two weeks and during that time she would come out of her safe spot for periods of time and then retreat back to it.  She liked sleeping on the floor in a dog bed, and although she would sometimes run up to me to get some love and attention, for the most part she kept her distance.

It was not a surprise for me when a family came to meet Tess and took her home that same day. Although she was nervous and unsure, they saw the same beautiful potential that I saw in her.

It took Tess a while to come out of her shell with her family but they remained patient. I received a text this week telling me how Sally (aka Tess) loves to cuddle on the couch and is a bed hog at night.

I cannot tell you how it warms my heart to hear that this amazing dog who wouldn’t dream of getting too close to humans has taken over her family’s couch, bed and hearts!

Lucy is adorable, she’s a 2 year old Jack Russell Terrier (JRT) mix.  I’ve been fostering her since August and she’s had no hits for adoption.  For the life of me I can’t figure out why, she’s young, great with dogs, cats and kids, but it was suggested to me it may be the time of year.

When I received Lucy everyone was heading back to school and now everyone is focused on the holidays, hopefully in the New Year we’ll find this sweet girl a home, if not before the holidays.

Lucy is really fun, she loves to play with Flipflop, go on long walks and really enjoys days at daycare.  And she’s so good inside, she snuggles and sleeps and is quite calm, except every now and then she reminds me she’s a young JRTx!

This morning she has an hour walk, including some off leash fun so she could run out her energy.  But I had a longer than usual day at work and when Lucy gets bored, she doesn’t chew the furniture or anything of value, she goes to the bathroom and toilet papers my place.

This evening I came home to half a roll of toilet paper on the holder and by half a roll, I mean she chewed half the roll vertically off the holder. I then noticed one of my favourite stuffed Christmas decorations missing off the shelf I put it on.  Fortunately it was on my bedroom floor no worse for the wear!

Lucy is not a bad dog, she is a dog with high energy and that’s what happens when a high energy dog is bored.  They find mischief!

If you have a high energy dog, you are best to either crate it during the day (safely so it can’t get hurt), hire a dog walker, and/or take it to a daycare.  I have been fortunate that Lucy rarely toilet papers the house, but when she does, I know its from boredom and I shouldn’t have left her as long as I did.

I believe it may be Lucy’s energy that is keeping her from finding a forever family.  JRT’s require a lot of mental stimulation and are not for the inexperienced owner.  That said, they make wonderful pets when they properly socialized and exercised!!!

Weeks from sending my first book to be published and taking the advice of my coach to start a blog.

A little about me, I am a fur mom to cats and dogs (all rescued) and a foster mom to dogs.  I always knew I loved animals and had a great respect for them, and I always have been a supporter of rescue, but it wasn’t until I started fostering that I had a feeling I never had before.

This was what I am supposed to be doing with my life, I am meant to foster dogs and help them find their way to forever homes.  I can’t explain it and it sounds ridiculous to some, I’m sure, but when I have a foster dog, I feel complete.  I know I’m helping, in the best way I can.

I have two beautiful forever dogs.  One who was previously a foster, Dahlia and Flipflop.  I won’t share too much about them on this post, you’ll have to read my book for their stories!

This blog will be about my fosters mainly, my journeys and all things rescue!  Thank you for stopping by and as the weeks, months and years go by, I hope you find inspiration in some of my posts to get involved.