TERRIER, SILKY

Dogs should have their make first and then their model.   We don't say a Ranger Ford...we say Ford Ranger...and I think dogs should be the same so we don't forget that they are more than just a cute "Silky".  Percy is adorable!  His personality is very cute too, but underneath the bangs that really need something frou-frou done to them, he is also a terrier.  He is more than just a pretty face...he is very smart and learns quickly, is cuddly, walks pretty good on the leash so far and can fetch anything you're willing to throw for him.   "Terrier" is not a negative...as long as it's in the right hands.  Percy needs someone to adopt him because they love his feisty personality and someone who will give him the boundaries he needs so he never gets the chance to take over the house.  He has given me lots of reasons to smile so far...he is an entertainer.  When he wandered into the bathroom yesterday he made 4 or 5 attempts at jumping into the empty bathtub.  When he finally got over the edge he wandered around and licked around the drain.   I wonder if at bath time he will be so happy to jump in.  In the yard tonight he tackled a 3" stump, growling at it and knawing on the end, like he was trying to pull it out of the ground.  So, I went inside and came back out with a rope toy to play some fetch (something a little more productive).  When he really wants to keep playing and you don't throw it for him again, he stomps his feet like a little mechanical dog shuffling around and dropping the toy closer and closer to you.

He really likes the toys, especially a knotted ball that I have and a knotted rope toy.  With the rope he shakes the heck out of it and is happy to fetch it as many times as you'll throw it.  On his first night I was surprised to see that not only does he know how to fetch but he brings it back and stands a couple of feet away and tosses the ball back in my direction.   I made things more interesting, so when he came back to me and wanted to fetch again he had to come sit beside me and wait.  After about 5 or 6 times of showing him what I wanted he was doing that on his own.  He works things out very fast.  



Yesterday, after I picked him up from the Airport, we went to the beach so he could stretch his legs before riding home.   It was spitting outside a little bit and the beach was mostly deserted.   It took until the end of the walk before Percy really looked up at me and wagged his tail.  He's got the funniest little flag of a tail which I'm seeing alot more wags out of on day two.   Here are a few pictures from our first beach outting.  



Wet, sandy dog....sorry Vicky I ruined
all your hard work to send him down
looking clean and brushed.



I know...I know....I see all that hair hanging in his eyes too.  I tried to trim it tonight but some things are definitely a two person job, or one person with a way better pair of scissors than what I have.  Besides, maybe someone who adopts Percy will prefer the elastic pom pom.  Either way he's a great little dog for some lucky adopter.

Today was his first day at dog daycare, and so far so good.  The staff said he did very well and claim he is a great cuddler.  He must have had fun as he crashed on his dog bed pretty quickly on the ride home. 

MEET PERCY

Just when I thought I would have nothing to blog about until later in June, I'm getting another foster dog via Turtle Garden's foster in Smithers.   Vicky will send Percy down by plane on Monday (thank you Vicky!) which will make more room in her foster home for another little guy or two from Turtle Gardens.

Percy is an approximately 4 year old Silky Terrier who has had a couple of failed homes already.  He's a nice boy but maybe just didn't have the boundaries he needed and ended up with the small dog attitude?  Who knows what the whole story is.  He's in the TG fold now and will get his turn at a city home forever. Vicky says that he's quite cute and does the spins when you talk to him.   I will post my own pictures tomorrow or Tuesday, but in the meantime, here are Vicky's pictures:

MAXIE'S WEEK WITH ME AND AN ADOPTION

A little behind in my blogging, but nothing I can't catch everyone up to date on.  I had a fun week with Maxie...but typical of such a cute little thing...there were applications and one in particular that were were waiting for a home visit on.  I had plans to go away for the long weekend and didn't want to take Maxie with me in case the home visit went well and she could go 'home'.  So Maxie went on to Aunty Gloria's foster home and was then adopted on Monday.  It was quite strange to drop a dog off somewhere other than an adoptive home and then to know I might not get to see her again before adoption, which was sad.  But considering she was a bit distraught when I left her behind at Gloria's it was all for the best that she didn't have to come back to me before adoption, as we avoided one more transition.  Here are a few pictures from my brief time with Maxie.  



The ride to the beach...carefully watching my every move.



Guess who loves the water?



I didn't catch it...but I think she even swam
a bit after this pic was taken.



What a great smiling face!!



The ride home....the pic says it all!

 

A little blurry but a wink good-bye from little Maxie.



DARRYN GOES HOME AND MAXIE ARRIVES

Darryn went on his merry way with Brian and Dave today to meet up with Chris from Kamloops.   I already called her to see how the pick up went and she said it all went well and she's definitely not disappointed. From his pictures she had thought he looked like a 'party waiting to happen' and she said that's exactly who she met today. 

Maxie came on this dog run and what a cute personality she is.  Gentle, sweet and playful.   When TG took her to the vet for spaying...low and behold she already had a spay scar so she was vaccinated and without the spay she wasn't sedated or shaved down.  I was quite happy to have the honor of helping this little girl transform. 

I took her to the groomers in Tsawwassen as Linda D's daughter Bonnie had agreed to help this little sheep lose her coat.  I am so grateful for the time Bonnie and her co-workers put in as Maxie was really less than impressed with the buzzing and vibration from the trimmers and it was a challenge to give her the long overdue haircut.  Bonnie finished the process with a nice bath with special shampoo and then finished trimming the hair on her feet, ears, head, etc....she wasn't stopping until Maxie was 100% beautiful!  Thankfully part way through the process Maxie started to resign herself to it and she stood on the table at the end like a trooper.   Studio One Dog Grooming's Facebook page has their contact info in case you're ever looking for a great professional groomer with awesome staff http://www.facebook.com/pages/Studio-One-Dog-Grooming/191391002448.

After leaving the groomers, I was so happy to see Maxie wagging her tail and feeling pretty good about her new look.  Sporting a nice doggy perfume and a sparkly flowered bandana, I just had to take her to show off.  TG adopter Nancy lives in the area and she had been at the dog run this morning so had seen the 'before' dog, so we stopped in at her place to show her the 'after'.  

Nancy's pic of Maxie, in the driveway

And here's a pic she sent me of Maxie with her TG dog Willow

VIDEO AND A PIC FOR DARRYN'S NEW MOM

So, about 1/2 hour into Darryn's flight he was adopted.  His new mom lives in Kamloops, and he will go back with the TG bus on Saturday and meet up with her.  I promised her I would post a video so she could see him in action....

Darryn has a bit of a goofy personality.  He is smart, cute and very entertaining.   The video I caught of him unfortunately wasn't one of the most entertaining moments, but you know the way it goes once you pull the camera out.  He makes me laugh with little things that he does.  For instance when I went to move the bath mat out of the way of the door, instead of hopping away once the mat sarted to move...he positioned himself better to ride it out.  When we go to the door for a walk he automatically just sits to wait to be leashed up but last night he bowed at my shoes and put his paws on the pair that I only wear for our last walk of the night.  He's been paying attention apparently to my footwear choices.  In the morning he jumps onto the end of the bed and does his belly crawl up to my pillow and then bats me in the face with his little paws.  It's only been 5 days but he's sure entertained me.  He rides well in the car, has behaved really well and hasn't chewed anything inappropriate, although he did try to run off with a sock. He has discovered drinking water out of the toilet, he barks only occassionally at the odd thing but is easily stopped.  He is affectionate, with a nice amount of an independent streak.   He loves other dogs, he loves people and he loves daycare.   He plays and he gets all the attention he can from the staff and he comes home, eats and then crashes for a solid hour.   It has been great to have him around, even for a short period and I look forward to seeing how he does in his new home - complete with a four legged companion too!

DARRYN ARRIVES

I picked up Darryn from the Airport today and it seemed like he took the flight in stride.  He was happy to come out of the crate.  He wasn't scared or shy...just happy.   I took him for a great walk down at MacDonald Beach and he loves dogs, people, all the new smells, the water....well lets just say he loves everything!   He walked pretty well on the leash but needs some work, but given that it's a pretty busy setting with dogs running everywhere  he was great.   I put him on a retractable leash so he could run around a bit more.

It was a very busy day for Darryn.  Smithers in the morning, flying to Richmond, walk at the beach, dinner and nap when we got home, bath, visit at my cousins house and then back home again.  He's napping on the floor while I type.  He rides like a good little buddy in the truck (I'm sure Vicky must have been taking him places, because he seems to know the ropes), he enjoys a good walk and then was quite happy to settle in for a nap at home while I got a few things done.   Day 1 has been very good.   More later....

LOOK WHO IS COMING TO RICHMOND

Darryn is coming to Richmond!  (maybe)  I know Foster Mom Emily will agree with me on this...we don't count the dogs until they've landed.  So I will be a jinx dare-devil and post on the blog that Darryn is scheduled to come to Richmond on Sunday.  He is currently being fostered by Vicky and with a rock solid happy go lucky personality he is a good candidate to fly.  So, fingers crossed that the roads, flights, people and dogs all cooperate, cuz just look at how cute he is. 

In other news at Turtle Gardens:  Foster Coordinator Denise is looking to add more foster homes.  We have built a pretty good size group so far but we can't expect that every home can foster every month.  So, we need more.  If you are considering fostering a beautiful TG dog take a look at the recent blog for information on how to sign up:  CLICK HERE

Also, we have the Turtle Gardens K9 Rescue Burger and Beer 'Fun'raiser at Schanks on June 15th and you can buy your tickets from me by sending an email to tgfundraiser 'AT' hotmail.com and you can also get them at all of the Tisol locations.  Please check out the latest TG blog with more details here:  CLICK HERE

The biggest news of all however is that Turtle Gardens is sadly in the same position as last year, with flood waters rising and the threat of more to come, looming over them.   I say it's the same position as last year but when you add the already high water levels to the start of Spring and damage that was never quite fixed from last year, it is worse!  Even the roads are erroding.  They need to plan and take steps to keep themselves and all of those dogs safe.  One of my foster dogs (Mindy - now Bryna) was adopted by Kathy and her family and Kathy recently asked for a blog to be posted that was so well stated that I wanted to share it:  CLICK HERE 

Please read the Turtle Gardens blogs and watch for ways in which you can help.  Whether it is a donation of money, time, or required items, or to foster a dog, or to help sell tickets to the upcoming fundraiser.  No donation of any kind is too small.  I discovered recently that you can use Save-On points to get gas cards...so another way to help would be to cash in your unused points and donate gas cards to TG.  Well, enough said!    Nothing is too small...even just kind words for Turtle Gardens on their blog, so they know that people see the blogs and appreciate the happy stories of great adoptions and words of encouragement when times are tough and the blogs turn to the serious subjects.

Thanks for reading!   Stories and pictures of Darryn will be coming soon.