2012 brought many wonderful changes to my life. My husband and I purchased our first house and finally got out of apartments after ten years. Only a few weeks after moving in I raised my hand to take on my first foster, and New Rattitude sent me a very special boy, Inca!
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| Inca in the shelter. |
Inca came to me mostly housetrained, never marked, barked only once, and he and Maya became best buddies. He is a gem to walk and is so full of wriggly love that his entire backend would swing back and forth in greeting. A family in BC, Canada applied for him and we met up for a couple hours and they immediately fell for his congenial nature and sweet face.
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| Working that face for the treats! |
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| Looking quite majestic. You're not fooling me, Skagit! |
Now this wonderful boy, renamed Skagit, lives a charmed life in Canada with his Mom, Dad, two-legged brother and sister, and he even has a Grandma who hand-knits sweaters for him!
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| Lucia and her beautiful "KEES ME!" face. |
Next came another very special dog. Lucia had been in foster care for 13 months, but her foster parents didn't have the training to start working with Lucia's canine reactivity. I met with them several times, and during that period I became very fond of Lucia. I let the foster parents know I would gladly take her, and they made the hard decision to let her come to me for training and fostering. It took several weeks to integrate Lucia with my pack, but she contains so much charm and is such a funny little girl that I never begrudged her stay with me. After a far too short 10 weeks, Lucia went home to an incredible woman devoted to helping undersocialized dogs.
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| Laying in her donut bed. |
Lucia's adopter had another rat terrier, a 9 year old standard rattie named Ray. While efforts are on-going to help Lucia and Ray bond and be more comfortable with each other, they live mostly peacefully together. Lucia has met a couple more folks that she has claimed as her own and bestowed her love and trust onto, and she goes to school with her Professor Momma each Tuesday.
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| Lucia and one of her great loves - feet! |
All of my fosters have a special place in my heart, but Lucia is extra special. I call her "my heart dog that got away." I never intended to keep Lucia, although I had discussed it with my husband. She is a dog who burrows into your heart and makes herself a nest there, and I am so grateful she went to such a wonderful person who is even more in love and devoted to this beautiful girl.
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