Dog Days of Summer - 2016

Two of the three puppies have been adopted. Hammie is still waiting for his forever home. I wanted to make a photo book as a birthday present to Emma to remember our journey. The link below is to the book. You can click to make it full screen.

Dog Days of Summer

It's much quieter around here! We had to pick up a couple of small dog dishes because it really didn't make sense to feed them with the larger communal dish anymore. And what happened? Neither puppy would touch his food last night. I forget, they don't like change.

Still, it seems Bertie and Franklin are adapting well to their new homes. Franklin (now called Leroy) is the one with the cleft paw, a major birth defect that doesn't seem to hamper his movements at all. In fact, when they visited yesterday, Leroy was running around the house so fast, Emma said she was waiting for him to stop suddenly and go "BEEP BEEP" before zooming off again. And while all the puppies sound rather ferocious when they play, add Leroy to the mix and all we can think of is the Tasmanian devil from the old cartoons - a force to be reckoned with.

Bertie (now called Cooper) is still new in his home, but from the photos, we know he's quite taken with the other two dogs in the household. His people are wonderful and we know he's got the best home we could possibly have wanted for him.

During the month the grandkids were away, Bennie suddenly turned into a dachshund, at least mostly. He's a chihuahua mix and now it's obvious what the mix is.

Hammie (aka Alvin) will be adopted before too long, I'm sure. Just in case you're looking for a great small dog, here he is on his adoption page:

Alvin is a 2.5 month old chihuahua mix puppy that was saved as a day old newborn after he had been found under a dumpster. He and his siblings were bottle fed and have been hand raised by a wonderful foster family. As such, they have experience with kids, rabbits, chickens, and are all the way around very outgoing and don't act or think like chihuahuas. Alvin is neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and has been dewormed. He is working on crate and house training, but has had pretty amazing start and has been loved so completely that he is ready to start a great forever with a family! Alvin is $300 to adopt.

Hammie (Alvin) looks more chihuahua than dachshund. He's curious and loves to explore. He's been working on making friends with our rabbits and the chickens. The latter don't quite know what to do about it, but he keeps on trying.

Then we'll be a one dog household and my job as the chihuahua mama will be officially over. Yeah, we'll still have Bennie. He'll just be our dog. This has been quite an adventure. Amazing, really. It wasn't easy, but compared to raising human children, it was a breeze. Three months and 5 days after they came into our care they're old enough to leave home.

I'm glad humans can take their time to grow up. Of course, the puppies aren't really grown up, they're more like 4-year-olds. This means it's time to teach some manners.

The best things in life are rescued. If you're looking for a wonderful addition to your family, pet-wise, check out your local rescue organizations. They do amazing work. You're also getting a bargain. I did a price comparison on the services which are provided for these puppies by the rescue group and found if you take your dog to a low-cost veterinary clinic, these services would have cost a minimum of $170. A more upscale clinic would run well over $300 for the spay/neuter surgery, vaccinations, deworming, and microchip.

Definitely a win for everyone!