...and we're back...

What a great vacation. Much relaxation, no pressing responsibilities, and an endless supply of nothingness.

Rusty spent a lot of time doing this...


and this...


and a little of this...

Oops, that was a cattle type animal doing what he does. But Rusty did that, too.

I spent a fair amount of time cooking our meals, chasing after the Rusta Bibble, playing various guitar hero's with Suzanne (our band !+*=AAA rocked so hard!), and we watched the whole first season of Rock of Love (yeah, that's right, Rock of Love.)

Some other highlights included a wonderful tour of our immediate part of the ocean with Suzanne in a small blow up kayak that needed constant bailing (we should have brought a cup)...

We visited the Point Prim Lighthouse and got eaten by mosquitoes so bad that I had to do the slappy shakey run back to the car.

We drove around the southeastern most part of the island and stopped at a winery...the vineyard was beautiful, the wine we got left some taste to the imagination...sorry Rossignol.


and we got totally turned around, but not before we found this most gorgeous out of the way cliff.

...and a pic from the other side...


After the 13 hour drive home (we made great time) it was all worth the drive. Even though the weather didn't cooperate the whole two weeks, PEI is the most gorgeous place I have ever been and I am blessed to be able to go there each and every summer.

Ahhh the life.

The Toaster relaxing in the grass on an overcast day.



Rusty with one of his humans.

The Toaster

I didn't do it.

Perry's old bed which Buster (Rusty Shackleford) has completely ignored, until last night.

I guess he wanted it gone.

Funny Face

What a mug.



Too bad he has no manners.
We got his adoption papers in the mail this week. If he is lucky we will sign them and send them back.

Some Buster goodness

We had a playdate over at Raven's house, but Raven didn't feel like playing rough, Jape did however...

What a cutie pie!

Time for some frogging.

Thirsty!

Buster says 'Hi'!

Meowing kitties

Buster's stomach has been making so much noise, I am convinced that he has kittens in there. I never noticed him swallowing kittens alive, but I guess anything is possible.

I don't think he feels so good, he hasn't eaten any food today except for some scrambled eggs I made him. Also, he has been eating grass outside, I don't like that one bit.

Kittens are loud when they are stuck in a dogs stomach.

Just a curious Observation

Buster has been with us for 25 days.

When Buster had been with us for enough time that a bit of trust had been rooted (really only a day), I did a little check on his physical well being. I noticed that one ear was fine, and one had some rips and a lot of cauliflowering for lack of a better term, on the outer edge of that earlobe. I attributed this to his being on the streets in the past, and most likely fighting with other strays or other creatures for that matter. I never thought that those wounds were fresh.

Tonight I had this pup sleeping peacefully by my side on the couch, and I started looking and playing with his ears in a sort of unconscious way. I went back and forth from ear to ear touching, stroking and just massaging while he slept and I watched SuperNanny. All of a sudden I realized that there was hardly a difference between the ears, except for one rather small rip in the right ear. His cauliflowering has healed. His right ear is just as smooth around the rim as the left, except for that one little rip.

I am so glad to see some sort of physical healing for this little neglected pooch. It makes the bad behavior easier to deal with. We are working on the biting/nipping, it is getting fewer and farther between attacks. I think he will heal emotionally just as fine as his cauliflower ear has healed. Wish us luck!

Play Date

Buster and I just got home from Raven's house. He wants to play a little rougher than she would like, but she was very patient with him...thanks Raven! Jape instructed a little class of 'sit and wait' I am so pleased that Buster doesn't have any sort of food aggression, he did great! He does like to hog Raven's toys and play with them as if they are his own...he is hard on his plushies. It was so funny watching them play in the yard. Raven is so good, she knows he is still only a puppy, and a playful one at that. These two are going to be great friends, I know it!

It's a Dog's Life

I took Buster to the groomer's today.

I had called about 1/2 a dozen groomer's in the area, and they were all booked 3 weeks out. Then I got smart and told Buster's story to the last place I called, they took him instantly. He did great, and we have our next appointment in 8 weeks.

Hubby and I washed him when we got home with him on Saturday, but there is only so much you can do in a tub with a cup. He definitely needed the power wash. He did great, the people there loved him, he was sweet and now he smells sweet, too.

Yay for It's a Dog's Life in Sharon, MA. They really care for the rescues to take him so fast like that. They also were very accommodating to post the Boxer Rescue flyer that Jane gave me. I thought this may be a better spot than the gallery to post this flyer, hopefully more successful rescues will come of it.

I think he may have eaten some soap at the groomers, because he had a tummy ache when he got home (actually his stomach was audibly churning), but he is all better now. I had called Jane to see if I should take him to the vet, but she said that Boxer's are notorious for eating soap, she told me to feed him some scrambled eggs and some yogurt, I did, and he feels better now.

He continues to settle in easily, I really couldn't have asked for a better dog. It's funny, when I left him at the groomer's (I didn't know I had to leave him), I went home with an empty feeling and worried the whole time he was there. When they called my cell phone to tell me he was ready to go home, I flew out of the house and was there to pick him up in ten minutes flat!

Here is a very clean Buster totally curled up in a ball...

An artsy photo, I took lots and this one was the best. He was sound asleep actually snoring quietly, so I know I wasn't bothering him in my artsy endeavors...unless he is a really good faker!

The groomer's gave him back to me with a silly bandana around his neck. I left it on for a while until he started to try to rip it up while it was still on his neck. Ultimately, I took it off, he played with it as if it was a pully toy with me for a while but now it is forgotten and a toy no more...he likes to be au naturale.

Buster settles in.

Buster is settling in nicely. He has not shown a bit of aggression.
Yesterday Scott had to take his Sunday nap alone on the couch, so Buster was banished to the floor. Crappy picture, but so cute, I couldn't resist posting it.

Later Sunday night, Buster and I just hanging on the couch watching TV. Who could resist this face?


Today, I took him to work with me. He spent most of the day in the classroom playing with his pink rabbit (who sadly died today, and now is an empty shell). Mom came over 1/2 way through the day and spent a lot of time with him. She brought him a kong toy, he ran around with it like crazy. She gave him lots of treats and pets, they got along very well!

I had some extra work to get done so after I locked the gallery door, I let him have his way with the place. He just ran around in circles with his new toy in his mouth. He is so funny!

By the way, I found out today that he can jump 45" over a dog gate from the standing position! He is springloaded!

Introducing...Buster

It was a long drive, but we are home!

Buster is the sweetest thing! He took to us instantly, and showed no vicious behaviour at all. We got home and he took his time sniffing everywhere and running around the backyard. He even let us give him a bath!

Our first walk, this is somewhere in the Berkshires, Scott walking him with the longest leash I had ever seen.


Sniffing around...

Coming straight to me

And we are home in his new yard, he ran around like crazy for a while

On the back porch

I had to sit next to him for a picture, but I think he wants the spotlight alone...heehee

He got a pink rabbit as a gift from Jane, he was trying to kill it.

I think he killed it.

So there is your introduction.
He is such a loving dog, I can't believe he was treated like a vicious animal.

And...he's a dribbler after he drinks.

He's almost here.

So, the lastest is that Buster is doing fine, he is in the quarantine facility right now.
Jane dropped him there yesterday, and felt good about the place. He has a space of about 20 feet square with a bed and has some toys that he is tossing around all by himself.

If he got there before 5pm yesterday, we would have been able to get him on friday, but since he needs a vet check before we can take him home, he will be there until Saturday. He has an appointment at 10:45am Saturday morning, in Great Barrington very close to the quarantine shelter, so we are meeting Jane there then. He still needs a bath, she said he was extremely dirty, and he has some stress baldness. He spent 3 weeks and 1 day in a facility that treated him as if he was a criminal. My heart still bleeds for him, for what he went through, but he will be here soon, and I will take lots of pictures!

Thanks for all the prayers from everyone, I think they worked, and he is over his suffering now, bath notwithstanding.

Buster's been Sprung!

I just talked to Pam!

She told me that Jane is on her way back up from Delaware, and has Buster sprawled out on her backseat! And she will call Pam again as soon as she crosses the Massachusetts border.

So, Jane was appalled with the shelter. Buster was in the last cage, he is very underweight, extremely dirty and knew he was saved as soon as he saw Jane. He did the Boxer wiggle! I imagine he could sense her kindness, and was acting accordingly.

A big burly man (who was also dirty) grabbed a noose on a long stick to get Buster for Jane and she told him "Get away from the cage!" He did. She tossed Buster a treat, and he let her put a collar and leash on him. She said he was such a good dog, she brought him a toy and he took it in his mouth and they walked to the car and never looked back.

He is on his way!!!!
He will spend his 48 hour quarantine in western MA, and Scott and I will make the 2.5 hour drive to get him the instant it is over. Hopefully he will be with us Friday evening or Saturday morning!

I am just so happy he is out of there and can start his emotional healing, and gain some weight, and get clean

Buster update

This is really hard for me to report, especially because of all the magic that happened last night.

Last night was a truley incredible experience for me. I had a friend reach out to some friends of hers and a snowball effect took place. This was so fast and furious that I was overwhelmed with emails and convo's and forum posts, it was so hard to keep up with it all. I went to sleep last night with the comfort knowing that I had a woman in Maryland (Chris) who was going to pick Buster up at the shelter and drive him up to Staten Island, NY. Then I had a woman in Brooklyn (Francine) who would pick him up from Chris in Staten Island and transport him as close to me as she could...probably somewhere in Connecticut. I was giddy.

I could barely sleep last night thinking about Busters trip, and wanting to get up as early as possible to call Jane and give her the good news. I left a message at 8am on her answering machine, called my two angels who were all ready to go as soon as I gave the word, and tried to do some busy work waiting for my call back from Jane.

10am rolls around and Jane has not called, so I called Pam, my other Northeastern Boxer Rescue contact. Pam was so happy with the news, but told me that the last time she spoke to Jane, she got the feeling that Jane was prepared to make the drive down to get him by herself. So I called my angels again, thanked them up and down and told them I would keep them posted, but for now it is on hold until I hear from Jane.

I spent most of today getting totally stressed out waiting, and not knowing if she drove down to Delaware or not, and not knowing if I was getting Buster today or not, but deep down inside I really was thinking that she just drove down there to get him.

At about 3:30pm, I got a call from Jane's husband. He said that Jane was going to drive down to get him, but that Massachusetts requires that all shelter strays be quarantined for 48 hours in a state approved facility before they can be fostered or adopted here. I had never heard of anything like this before.

So, now it looks like the earliest he will be with us is Wednesday or Thursday.

I feel defeated, depressed and just totally worn out emotionally right now. But I am still hopeful, and I just know that this will eventually end in Buster's favor...he needs to get out of there!

Buster's Hell

I spoke to Jane from the Boxer Rescue a couple of times today.
The first conversation was very disturbing to me, in fact, I find myself completely disgusted with the Kent County SPCA. Jane told me that she put a call in to them earlier this week and they just returned her call today. They say that no one can get close to Buster, he is acting aggressive. She did find one woman who works there who can pet him through the bars of his cage, but she is terribly afraid of the woman who runs the place and the rules there are that you 'do not pet the animals'. I also found out that this shelter does kill, so that is why they do not want their employees getting close to any of the animals. Jane is paying them NOT to kill Buster.

This is especially disturbing, since Buster was doing so well in his previous foster home before he was pushed from behind to get back into his kennel. He was getting into it with no problem following a treat thrown in. I fear his stay at this shelter is doing more damage to him than even being left on the street to fend for himself. So, in trying to make me understand how this shelter works, Jane told me that they shake the cage doors to get the dogs to move to the back when they feed and water the dogs. I'll tell you, if my cage door was being rattled, I would not be so happy with my keepers either.

Now this brings us to the snafu. Delaware is so far out of the area of volunteers that NBR has, it is proving almost impossible to find someone to drive him out of there. Jane actually asked the only girl at the shelter who can pet him, if she would be willing to drive Buster for a distance, with pay. She is so scared of her boss that I am worried she won't do it. I am hopeful tho, Jane said the woman is working on Sunday and Jane will plead with her again. I will pick him up as far away as I have to, hopefully no farther than New Jersey. Obviously this shelter is not out to rehabilitate dogs, they are nasty and disgusting and I am appalled.


Picture of Buster lifted from NBR, photographed by previous foster person.

Buster WILL be a good doggie. He will gain trust, have security and love here. He will eventually give love back, and I am eager and willing to work with him until he can.
The word 'Rescue' has new meaning to me now.

My Impatience is epic!

I can think of nothing more than a dog in Delaware.
A dog that I have not even met.

Impatience is a virtue. No, that's not right, it is patience that is a virtue...anyhoo....impatience is what I have right now, and I am virtuously waiting.
I am just about ready to take the next two days off and go pick him up myself. Too bad I cannot do that right now. If this was last week, I could have totally packed up and made the drive down there...oh well. I will remain virtuous in my waiting.

This is really hard. The waiting, that is.

Home Visit

The home visit with the Boxer Rescue volunteers went so well!
If Buster turns out to be even half of the great dog Winslow turned into, I will be a very happy girl!
I didn't want to let Winslow go home with them. What a great dog!
The couple and their two dogs stayed here for a little over an hour, we talked dogs, played with dogs, petted dogs, and got kisses.
When they were ready to leave, they asked us when we would be ready for Buster. We said as soon as possible, so they think they are going to collect a bunch of volunteers from Delaware to Boston, and make a driving train to get him here. Currently the Rescue is spending $50 a day to keep him in a no kill shelter, so I assume they will do it quick.
I am so excited! I really can't wait. I know he is going to be trouble at first, but I think we can do our magic and turn him into a trusting and loving member of our family.

And our new bed is just AWESOME!!!!! Scott's already had a couple of naps on it, I layed down for a while, but it was before the volunteers got here, so I couldn't sleep.

Oh, and it's a beautiful day, sunny in the 40's...Life is good!
Yay for Saturday!!!

Buster

As some of you may already know, I have been in contact with the Northeastern Boxer Rescue recently.
I had been hoping to adopt a dog, but after a few conversations with some of the volunteers, and learning of Buster's situation, we are going to try fostering him.
He was in a foster home in Delaware, but seems to have gotten himself back into a shelter. This is heartbreaking to me. He will need a lot of work, including training, but I think I am up for the challenge. I think that after some love, affection and training, he will turn out to be a great addition to our family.

Picture of Buster lifted from NBR, photographed by previous foster person.
How cute is he?
Saturday we will have a home visit with a couple who volunteer for NBR and they will be bringing Winslow with them. Winslow has a very similar background as Buster, so they want to show us how much he has improved. They fostered him and recently adopted him. Winslow is a lucky pup!