It's Official

Penny is officially adoptable. She was spayed last week and she is current on all her shots and preventatives. She is about 3 years old and weighs 11 pounds which is the perfect size for any one's lap! She is a sweet and loving little girl although she is easily overwhelmed by too much activity. Penny's ideal home would be a quiet place where someone is home often to spend lots of time with her. She would be fine with other dogs, cats or children as long as they are calm. She is currently being crate trained and she is working on becoming housebroken. If you are interested in Penny please contact me. She would love to find her furever home just in time for the holidays!

He's a good boy!

Jake is still with me and boy is he a handful! He gives true meaning to the phrase "no home training". He not only wasn't potty trained, but he had no indoor manners at all. He was constantly counter surfing, up on the furniture, chasing the cats, playing with shoes....ugh! Well, I'm proud to say he is getting better! He is still having a few accidents here and there but we are going days without any problems. He has learned that he is not allowed on the furniture and now (thanks to the webcam) the only time I catch him on the couch is when I'm at work. He knows "off" means off and he obeys really well. He has been learning to sit, and lay down and we are working on stay. He is a high energy dog and he needs lots of attention and exercise, and he needs a home with a yard, but he really is a good boy and he really just wants to be loved. He has started to understand when I am happy or displeased with him and I can see the learning in his face. I'm not giving up on him and I have all the confidence in the world that he will one day make a perfect pet for some lucky family out there. If you interested in Jake, please contact me.

Here a doxie, there a doxie, everywhere a doxie!

My friend, Kristy, and I decided to start up our own non-profit since we seem to have an endless stream of needy pets at our doors. Just as we were getting our feet wet with this idea along came a dachshund breeder ready to surrender most of her dogs. We took in 10 and while our organization, NOLA Rejects, has no money, no PetFinder account, not even a logo we feel confident that these little beauties will be easy to re-home. They are all a bit shy but they appear to be healthy. Most of them seem to have good associations with people but they don't seem to have been handled very much. We managed to get a few into foster homes and we are working on getting them spayed and neutered.

We have not had a chance to take decent pictures, but here are a few. As you can see we have many varieties to choose from! If you are interested in adopting or if you want to help us out by fostering or making a donation of funds or items contact me! We need all the help we can get!

Socializing

Just like children, puppies have different critical stages of development. These begin at birth and continue through puppyhood. From three to twelve weeks of age is a critical time for socializing your puppy. This means you want to expose your puppy to as many different surroundings, people and animals as possible. While you may handle your puppy a lot, if he never sees anyone but you he will likely develop a fear of strangers. The same idea applies to surroundings. You want to expose your puppy to the different sounds, smells, sights and any other stimuli now so that he can be a well rounded dog with little or no fear later in his life.

Eli is about nine weeks old and we have taken every opportunity to expose him to different things, people, places. On Saturday we took him and my son to the feed store where he was met by other patrons with great enthusiasm (everyone loves a puppy!). He walked next to my son's wagon, and he rode in the wagon. We walked along a very busy street with lots of noisy traffic, and we took quiet side streets where there were other dogs, children and fire hydrants to spark Eli's interest. He did great and if I had to guess, his favorite part of the day was being in the feed store with all those wonderful smells!

Doing the Happy Dance!

Dexter got adopted last Saturday! WoooHoooo! He's such a great cat and I know he's giving a whole lotta love to his new family. Congratulations Dexter!

On another note, Buster, the pit foster puppy has left us :( He developed a cough and needed vet care. He has gone back to the shelter where he is awaiting a home visit to approve his new forever home. Apparently he had an application in and if approved he would not go to Chicago on October 2. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but it looks promising.

In exchange, we now have an 8 week old lab puppy. His name is Eli and he is an owner surrender. He was purchased from a breeder and the family kept him for a few days and then decided he was too much....typical story I guess. If it had been a reputable breeder he would have gone back there by terms of contract. Instead he ended up at the shelter. So...if anyone is searching for a purebred dog to bring home please read this and at least visit the shelter! I have living, breathing proof you CAN get a purebred puppy there!