Dog Days

I thought we had an adoptive home for our foster Emmy and that I would be transporting her to her new home today, but they changed their minds at the last minute. She appears to be part pit bull and they decided that was not something they wanted in a dog. I'm very sad for her (and for us!) because she deserves a family of her own to love her, and we are ready to move forward with some other aspects of our lives that are on hold until we are no longer fostering. We had asked the rescue to move her to another foster home if she wasn't adopted by the end of February, but things just haven't fallen into place for her yet. She is a handful and needs someone who knows what they are doing with dogs and is not good with small animls, in other words...she needs an experienced foster home with no small dogs or cats, and probably no small kids...not the easiet to find. So she is still with us. I don't want to send her anywhere until I feel like she will be in better hands than she is with us, and that hasn't come along just yet. My fingers are still crossed that the perfect forever home will come along for her in the next few weeks. She has some issues with other dogs. She did so wonderfully with our 3 when we brought her in that we thought she was fine with other big dogs but it turns out she does have some dog aggression. I have called a trainer who has agreed to meet with us for a free consultation. I know she can be okay with friendly dogs her own size, she just needs more socialization and will need her new owners to understand her and be willing to take their time and do introductions properly. I just want the best for her and for her to be the best dog she can be.


Yesterday before work, I transported a dog from the Charleston Animal Society to Orangeburg, SC on a leg of a long transport to get her to a vet and new foster home in North Carolina. Her story is a sad one. She was found by animal control officers chained under a shed, her owners had left her there to die. She had been in the shelter for 10 days and had gained several pounds by the time I got her, but she is still severely emaciated. She is dirty, has a broken tail and many cuts and scrapes on her bony body. Her spirits, amazingly, couldn't be better. She is such a happy dog, she literally drug me out of the shelter and jumped right up into the back of the Xterra like "Get me the heck outta here, and feed me a cheeseburger!" (I did both:)) It is so wonderful to know that she will never be alone and hungry again. She will get all the vet care she needs to get her body healthy and she will be adopted by a family that she can actually live inside with and be a part of. The rescue named her Charleston in honor of her roots.

Here is skinny-minny Charleston, 10 days after animal control brought her to the shelter.

Such a sweet baby girl,

but painfully thin. I was afraid I would hurt her when I petted her.

Look at that face, how could anyone chain her up and leave her with no food or water.

Today before work I did another transport, but this one was a little different. The dog is Penny, a stunning 8 month old flashy fawn female, who belonged to a twenty-something single guy living in Charleston. I don't know the whole background, but I think basically he was just working a lot and didn't have the time to devote to an energetic, needy boxer puppy. He did a great thing by contacting the rescue instead of just neglecting her or giving her to a bad home or taking her to a shelter. A family in upstate SC recently lost their 3 year old boxer to cancer and were looking for a new dog when they ran across our website and Miss Penny. While it was sad when the guy dropped her off this morning, it was awesome to see how happy her new family was to get her. They immediately got down on the ground and started loving on her, and they've already sent a long email about how much they love her and how happy they are to have her in their lives. That's what rescue is all about, and I am honored to have been a part of their special day. Here is a pic of Penny and her new mom and dad, isn't that the sweetest thing!