Current Heartbeats <3

Beth posted some pictures of the kids in the post right before this one. She was waiting for me to post this one all day, but the helicopter industry was kicking my butt today, and spare time was just not happening.

Let me start by explaining Beth's kids: Cobia, Joey and Waffles. Cobia is Beth's first rescue dog. She's currently 6, almost 7 and she's your basic mutt (Beth, correct me if I'm wrong with any of this). Beth got her when she was a puppy. Cobia's got quite the personality. She's caring, loves people (more than dogs, usually), very loyal, and is a great older sister for Joey and now Waffles. We always joke that she just rolls her eyes every time we bring in new pups, that she's laughing at their cries to be held and their antics. She just curls up and watches the craziness that goes on. Joey, a one year old hound mix, is a crazy on his own. We do love him, but he's scared of everything. He's very comfortable around the house and with Cobia, but gets very nervous around basically everything else. Unlike Cobia, he's much more comfortable around dogs than humans. When he's in his element, he loves to be the center of your attention and will do anything he can think of to get there. Waffles, our newest rescue, is a 4 month old golden mix. Quite possibly the cutest furball you'll meet, she steals hearts where ever we take her, which is usually every where we can. She loves to play, loves people and dogs both, and is really starting to come into her own personality. While she loves attention, she does enjoy her independence and alone time. Right now, she's entirely infatuated with the 5-week olds.

Now that you understand our daily brood, let me tell you a bit about our cutie fosters. Beth saved them and their mom from a kill shelter in West Virginia. Their litter is actually 6 puppies total, but that's too many for the house. Three of them are at another foster in Dale City (about 30 minutes away). We have two boys and a girl. We even got to pick their names! If you look at the picture on the right hand column, you'll see them. Maverick is the cutie on the left. He's the all-brown one. He's also the crying instigator and can't handle not being held if he knows you're there. For some reason, he's a huge fan of my left shoulder and just crawls right up it and onto the back of my neck. Its like he knows its as high as he's going to get. :) Chubbs, the fatty in the center, has the roundest little belly and the shortest little legs. He's the biggest of the three, by far. He's got these big brown patches over his white fur. He loves to play with his siblings and loves to be held. In fact, they all love to be held. Nothing makes them happier than love. Lyra is our lovely runt. She's about half the size of Chubbs and is the sweetest little puppy I've ever met. I will never understand how someone could leave something as sweet as her at a kill shelter. One night, when I was babysitting, her brothers were asleep and she was crying, so I picked her up and laid down with her on my sternum. She stared at me for a few moments, then crawled right up to my neck and curled up on my collar bone and promptly fell asleep.

We've got about 3 more weeks with them. At 7 weeks old, they'll get to go to the adoption event for people to come see them and adopt them. At 8 weeks old, they can go home with their adopters. I can almost guarantee they'll find homes within those first two weeks. I'm dreading the day we have to give them up, but can't wait to see the sparkle in a family's eye when they realize one of our pups is perfect for them. The downfall of fostering is getting so attached to the little darlings, teaching them and giving them all the love they deserve and never got, and having to give them up. Its not even a huge downfall, as we get to act as their guardian angels and check up on them as they grow up.

Now that you've 'met' the current kids, Beth and I will post pictures over the next few weeks and stories of the insanely cute things they do (like Beth's earlier post).

Until he extends the circle of compassion to all, living things, Man will not himself find peace. Albert Schweitzer

Night time at the heartbeat hotel

For some reason Chubbs has been very hyper lately. He doesn't want to go to sleep at night, and he just wants to play. So last night Maverick and Lyra were all cuddled up together, and Chubbs was running around the pen trying to entice Waffles to play with him through the bars. Maverick had his paw wrapped around Lyra, it was so cute! The brothers really do love their lil sis. They play rough with her during the day, but at night they always cuddle up with her and keep her warm. She's so much smaller than they are, but they take great care of her. Here are some photos from last night.

Puppy Laundry

Tonight Beth and I get the extreme joy of doing puppy laundry. Now, for those of you who don't quite understand what this is, let me paint the picture for you.

All week long, Jess (All 4 the Animals Prez) changes out the blankets in dog crates and puppy pens for the dogs that are staying with her. She puts the dirty laundry in trash bags and puts the trash bags in a corner until Beth and I come to take it to the laundromat. We usually make the weekly trek on Mondays, but this week, we're running a little late due to prior commitments.

We pick up the laundry at Jess' place, load it into Beth's station wagon/hatchback car (which it fills completely), and head to the laundromat to essentially take over as many washers and dryers as we can find. We average about 35 loads of laundry a week. Fortunately, the laundromat we use has 5-loaders, so it doesn't take as many washers up that way. After washing and drying, we fold it all, stuff it back in the car, and drop it back off. The whole ordeal takes about 3 hours, which might not sound too horrible. However, to put it in perspective, we work outside DC, so we leave around 6:30 and don't get home until around 10:30.

Now, as volunteers we understand that there is always a shortage of help. And, an even greater shortage of volunteers that are able and willing to give up a majority of their time. So, while the phrase 'puppy laundry' doesn't sound too bad, lugging, washing, and folding an average of 35 loads of horrible smelling towels, sheets and blankets gets pretty old, week after week. Add in a few other stresses, such as worse-than-usual traffic, a full laundromat, the crazy lady working there, and how laundry stinks up Beth's car, its a wonder we've lasted this long.

I can't always speak for Beth, but I know I would've turned tail and ran already if those pups weren't so darn cute. Such is the life of a foster/volunteer. Everything you do is for those little furballs. You may not enjoy everything that needs to be done, but you do it anyway, knowing it's going to make their lives even a little bit better. You just secretly wish there were more people to help along the way.

"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face." - Ben Williams

Home, Sweet Home

Have you ever held a week-old puppy in your hand? It makes your heart swell with love. The puppy can't open its eyes yet and is small enough to fit in your palm. But as soon as you pick him up, he curls back up and goes to sleep. Why? He knows nothing other than unconditional love and trust.

Now, imagine if the puppy is left out in the cold or even intentionally hurt. Fortunately, shelters have drop boxes and take in these dogs. Rescues save dogs from shelters so they aren't euthanized due to space constrictions (which is a national epidemic).

This is where Beth and I (Nicole) come in. After rescues pull dogs from shelters, foster homes are needed for them until an adopter comes along to give them a forever home.

This blog is our way to show everyone how amazing these dogs are. We're going to put up pictures of current fosters, do follow ups when we do their home visits with their new families and highlight websites we use to help these amazing animals.

To give you a little background, Beth has been fostering and volunteering for a dog rescue for over a year. I started helping out after meeting her at work (we work together at an aviation non-profit). We volunteer with All 4 the Animals, a web-based rescue. Beth does a lot of administrative work, communicates with potential adopters, and jointly we do home visits for some of the dogs adopted out, foster dogs, do weekly laundry for the rescue, and help out where ever possible. I have Beth to thank for getting me involved with these amazing animals. You fall in love with each dog you come into contact with and its hard to imagine how horrible their life may have been before you met them. You learn that all you can do is love them and do everything possible to find them the best family.

Barb often refers to the house as "Heartbeat Hotel" in reference to there always being a foster around (hence where we got the name). There are already three dogs in the family: Cobia (Beth's first rescue), Joey and Waffles. All three are rescue dogs and while each has their own personality, they love us with everything they have. I couldn't imagine Beth's house without them. She is a wonderful mom to them and she's teaching me how to be a great aunt, until I am able to adopt a dog of my own. Each time we bring in a new foster (or set of fosters, like we currently have) Cobia, Joey, and Waffles accept them and help us teach love and living with a family.

Some of our past fosters include: Harley, Sprinkles, Sister, Blaze, Keegan, Keno, Minnow, Dash, Emma, Abby, Marigold, Waffles, Happy, Raven, and Guinness. Currently we have Lyra, Chubbs, and Maverick. While Beth and I have different favorites (Beth: Sister, Happy, Waffles. Nicole: Guinness, Marigold, Maverick) we love each and everyone we bring in. Soon, we hope to have up a slide show and pictures of everyone, plus current photos that we've gotten from their new families.

If at any time you have recommendations for us, comment and let us know. If you ever want to know about the rescue we volunteer with or sites we use to help us, just ask. And, most importantly, if you want to help these dogs find families to love them, we can point you in the right direction.

"We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. - M. Facklam

-N