9 posts tagged “foster betty”
The family that adopted Betty gave me this pin. The wife makes jewelry out of paper that's then sealed so it's protected. She brought a few pieces for me to choose from. I liked this because it's brown and white like Betty. So now I'll remember the family and Betty whenever I wear this pin.
This is a sad and a happy day in our house for the same reason. Betty was adopted today! Tomorrow would have marked her third full week with us. But this morning she started her life in her forever home.
Friday I stopped by the Critter Cottage to fill out my time card. Vicky happened to be there and she was talking with a woman and her three kids (ages 10, 7, and 4). They have an English Pointer. Vicky was telling them about Betty. The woman asked me some questions about Betty and said that she'd talk to her husband and might fill out an application.
After having Betty at the Critter Cottage with me for a few days I was used to people saying that they really liked Betty, but no one was interested enough to fill out an application. I wondered if this family would decide they were interested enough to want to meet Betty. Turns out they were.
Saturday morning there was an application from the family for Betty. I printed it off and took it with me to The Legend 5 mile race that Andrew was running. My plan was to do a vet check and call references while I waited for Andrew to finish racing. I knew I'd have around 40 minutes to kill. But I couldn't work on things during the race. I wasn't able to get cell phone reception in the state park. That and Andrew's brother Ryan, his new wife Megan, and Megan's mom came to watch Andrew race. They also brought Megan's family dog, Mini. So I actually had people to talk to and hang out with while waiting for Andrew to finish. Because of this I don't have many photos other than Andrew's finish (I videoed the start).
On our way home (we had an hour drive) I processed the application for Betty. It was approved. When I called the family they were heading out to the lake for the day. They were going to call in the evening to see if they'd be able to meet, otherwise we'd meet sometime on Sunday. They called around 7 and asked if we could meet in the morning because the kids were pretty tired. They wanted everyone to have a fresh start when they met Betty.
This morning at 9:30 we met the family at the Critter Cottage. The kids loved Betty. She also liked them. They were gentle with her. Actually, they were very well mannered, behaved, and listened to their parents and each other. After the family met Betty their dog, Misty was brought in. Misty and Betty look a lot alike. Misty has a brown patch over both of her eyes and is a little bigger and bulkier, but otherwise they have similar markings.
The two dogs did the typical dog sniff. We then let them off leash in the dog room at the Critter Cottage. They did more sniffing and eventually started playing. They also were both licking each other's chin. It was pretty clear that they got along well. Andrew and I answered some questions and left the family have some alone time to discuss Betty and make a decision.
Andrew and I didn't have to wait too long before we were told that they wanted to adopt Betty. We both liked the family and felt comfortable with Betty going with them. They kids were looking forward to having a dog that they can walk because Misty tends to pull. Betty will like having three kids giving her a lot of attention. She'll have another dog of similar personality to play with. We also liked that the family asked us if we had any questions for them. They wanted to make sure that we felt like Betty was a good match for them.
The wife makes jewelry and pins. I don't know if they're all animal related but she brought a selection of dog stuff and said that I could have one for taking the time to work with them! I thought that was really cool. Vicky's planning on having a featured artist each month at the Critter Cottage. The artist can display and sell items for that month and on Saturdays be there to talk to people about their work. Vicky talked to this person about being one of the people she uses. After seeing her work I think she'd be a great person to help promote.
Betty's last week with us she really opened up. She would play with our dogs, had an interest in toys, and was more outgoing. She enjoyed hanging out with Haven in the backyard sunbathing. She even jumped into the car on her own rather than having to be picked up whenever we took her somewhere. She even started going into the crate on her own at night, picking up on the nightly routine.
It seems odd without Betty in the house after she was here for so long. I hope that I'll be able to keep in touch with this family so that I know how she's doing as time goes on. I saw two volunteers that either had or really liked Betty and we joked about having a panel interview with this family because we all wanted Betty to have an extra special good home. We said that we'd require a sleepover for all of us to be able to check out the house and how they treat their kids and current dog.
Beacon and Haven will now enjoy some time without a foster dog. They didn't mind Betty and even liked her. But they still like their time without an extra dog in the house. We took the dogs out to get a new toy. We also took them to the river where we waded with them. They're tired and happy dogs now. We also bought some of the treats that Vicky makes and sells as a late (almost a month!) Gotchya Day celebration for them. We didn't do anything special for them last month to mark the anniversary of the day we brought them home. I celebrate my Gotchya Day, HavyBeaks should too! Andrew and I will join them by having strawberry smoothies.
While at the Critter Cottage today I was playing with the cats in one of the cat rooms. Betty looked a little dejected even though most of the day she got a lot more attention than any of the cats. Ted went to the door to rub it in that for once he was the center of attention.
Betty has been with us for two weeks as of today. She will not be a store dog for the bike shop. I can't remember if I mentioned that the person that was looking at her is concerned that she'll try and get out of open doors. It's a valid concern and something Vicky and I wondered about too. The bike shop is a lot bigger than the Critter Cottage. It's easy for me to make sure she stays inside. We're usually not crowded enough for the door to be opening and closing so much that she would be able to sneak out. Things are different at the bike shop.
But another person from the bike shop saw Betty and might be interested in her. He's moving into a house today that has a fenced in yard. We'll see if that lead pans out, but for now there's nothing else going on for Betty.
I take that back, one of Vicky's volunteers that takes litters of puppies when they're ready for adoption (she had Betty's puppies, who have all been adopted) took Betty home for a short time on Saturday. She was going to try and convince her husband to adopt her. They already have two beagles. But Betty was naughty. I guess she barked and growled at the beagles. I don't know if she just didn't click with them or what. She hasn't ever barked at Beacon or Haven. Or maybe she's being bad so that she'll be able to stay with us longer. ;)
I'll be taking Betty to the Critter Cottage again tomorrow. She likes hanging out there and is easy to look after. It also gives her something to do since if she were left at our house she would be crated. I suspect that she'll sleep most of the evening and night tomorrow as she has done after previous days with me.
Betty has started chewing. She likes the Double Action Chew Nylabones as well as this Galileo Nylabone. She's really showing her personality now. It's fun to see.
We have a cedar chest and two magazine racks in front of the bay window so that our dogs (and in theory foster dogs) don't get near the windows. If there's something outside we don't want the dogs to paw at the windows and break them.
Beacon and Haven respect these boundaries. They still look outside, usually one on each side of the cedar chest. They'll still bark if they see something worth barking at and sometimes when they think they see something worth barking at.
Most of our non-puppy foster dogs however like to climb over the magazine racks and stand in the bay window. Betty is no exception. She likes to hang out and watch things outside. We'll hear her growl and bark when she sees something she's interested in. Sometimes our dogs will go to see what the fuss is about but most of the time they ignore the noise coming from Betty.
We've tried to keep her off of this spot. But I think she has won. Today Andrew even put a towel there for her to have some softness! Who's training who? ;)
After being spayed on Monday she was pretty out of it but back to normal by Tuesday morning. Betty has come out of her shell more and is interested a little in toys and playing with our dogs. She gets more excited about things now too.
Betty will likely be accompanying me to the Critter Cottage tomorrow. She does really well there so I might as well continue taking her to get some exposure as well as let our dogs have the house to themselves for a while.
We had the kiddie pool out for our dogs yesterday since this week temps are in the 90s. Betty's not a fan of water. She showed no interest in getting near the pool. I wonder if she'd care about water if a deer, squirrel, or rabbit were in the pool. Since discovering them outside she's always looking out the window and will bark if she sees something that interests her. Oddly enough she'll look for and point at birds when she's outside but doesn't care if she sees them at the feeder or in the grass.
I had hoped we'd have a cool dog as our 50th foster dog and was not let down. Betty fits in pretty well in our house, has adjusted well, and our dogs don't mind her at all.
Betty is doing well. I don't have to watch her every second of the day to make sure she's not getting into things. She likes just hanging out. Like Haven she seeks out soft things to sleep on.
Last night and this morning I gave all of the dogs cooked food (I'm doing more dog food research after finding out Innova could have some issues!) and she loved that. Although she doesn't like carrots. Even though I chopped up some baby carrot she picked around them and left them in the bowl. She'd even put them in her mouth and suck off the rice and spit the carrot back out!
I took Betty with me on my walk this morning. She loved seeing the birds, rabbits, squirrels, and ducks. She never pulled. She stopped and pointed a few times. She was on alert and looking all around the entire time. She really liked watching the ducks at the river.
Betty's smart but she learns out of necessity. She doesn't appear to know "sit" or "come" or any of the other basic commands. Although when you call her name to come inside she generally comes when she realizes that we're going inside. She won't always come if you just call her from one place to another. I'll have to work to see if I can teach her any commands while she's here.
Like most of the dogs we foster, especially the moms, Betty seems to enjoy being spoiled and part of a pack in a home. And of course we wonder what kind of life she had before getting pregnant and why someone would want to give such a sweet dog up. She's fun to have around. Our dogs don't mind her and don't have a stressed look about them. Although Haven seems to stay away a little. Ever since Daisy growled at her she has been a bit leery about making friends with foster dogs. She doesn't like conflict!
I'll be volunteering at the Critter Cottage (it opened on Monday!) tomorrow and will be bringing Betty with me. I'm sure she'll like hanging out all day with me getting one-on-one attention.
We picked Betty up yesterday evening. :D She's still really sweet. Our dogs don't mind her at all. During meeting time in the backyard she got low and submitted right away when Beacon and Haven came up to her. Since then all three dogs will hang out in the same room and sniff the perimeter of the fence together.
Betty was quiet in the crate overnight. She loves being on soft things like Haven, but she doesn't try to get on the furniture. She also loves getting attention. She'll follow us around looking for pets and itches.
So far she's an easy dog to foster and just goes with the flow. She likes wandering around the edge of the fence looking for all of the noises she hears. There are usually quite a few birds flitting here and there. I'm still waiting to see her point.
