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