Updates on Some Former Fosters

Ok--so I've been lax about blogging lately. Bad me ;) Time to catch folks up on some of more recent fosters who are in loving forever home:

Pit Bull puppies, Penny & Linus are growing up fast and doing EXCELLENT in their home in Maine. I was in 7th heaven when the family who adopted my first pittie puppy, Penny ended up adopting my 2nd pittie puppy, Linus. They attend puppy classes (see photo below with their gentle leader training halters on).

Travis with Penny & Linus in their training class

They enjoy playing with their Maltese sister, Suki. Their dad, Travis adores them as do Travis' parents.

Suki, Linus and Penny playing

Penny & Linus have even been enjoying the cold weather since they have spiffy coats!

Penny & Linus in their winter coats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also got to see former foster, Lacy recently at a lure coursing event put on by the Greyhound club I belong to.

Lacy is the pretty brindle getting ready to sit by her mama in the green shirt.

Of course, then there's Murphy is doing wonderful in his new home. He's having a great time playing with his big brindle Greyhound brother, Martin. Murphy's family just can't get over how smart he is.

Martin and Murphy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a couple of adorable photos of Murphy form his lure coursing outing right before he got adopted.

Murphy watching the action

 

Great shot of Murphy

 

Murphy is about to crawl up in friend, David's lap!

 

In early January, me and my 2 Meet & Greet hounds, Cori and Blaze joined a dear friend, Eric (and one of his daughters) at the Cumming Petco M&G. Eric and his family adopted 2 of my former fosters, Sissy & T-Bone as siblings to their first Greyhound Katie. I count Katie as a "step" foster ;)

Below is a group shot.

Blaze, T-Bone, Katie, Sissy and Cori, plus Eric and Jord

And then there is my beloved Walker who is doing fabulously in his her forever home with his 2 brindle siblings.

 

Walker

Maggie, Walker & Truly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoy keeping up with his doings in his family's blog: Those Brindle Kids

 

 

 

 

 

I am so blessed to have had some wonderful fosters who have touched my life. The ones in this blog are but just a few of the sweet fosters who have left their mark on my heart and soul. And I am forever grateful to the wonderful families to have given them the very best forever homes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capturing Time

I am a photography nut. It's not that I'm a good or skilled photographer in any way shape or form. I just LOVE photos, mainly of what's important to me, family, friends, special events, places traveled and of course my furred and feathered loved ones.

Photos to me are snippets of time that I get to keep forever. Memories sometimes fade as we age, but photos preserve those moments. Lots of people like to take photos of special occasions and trips and other one time things, Sure, I like those too, but I found one year when I challenged myself to take at least a photo everyday, that I ended up loving all the day to day photos too that seemed unimportant at the time.


Thumper (friendly neighbor now at the Rainbow Bridge)



My sweet Maxx now waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge



My cuddly bear, Sheila now also waiting at the Rainbow Bridge

My first truck--oh the fun times we had together!

Another cute shot of Maxx who died on 2008

Let's face it, we have our every day lives. We have our routines (good or bad),  and often times they seem mundane and unimportant. But then when somethings in our life changes (as things do and always will), we reminisce about "the good old times". How many time have you wished you could go back and see photos of all the rooms in the house you group up in or all the fun places that you played as a kid or of people (and pets) no longer in your life? Chances are you might have SOME photos of those things, but probably not as many as you would like.

I take a lot (or buy) a lot of photos in any given year. These photos are places I have gone, dog or volunteer events I have participated in, and of course family & friends. Friends kid me because I always buy ALL of Rio's agility photos.

Rio at an agility trial

Yet, I still don't feel like I take (or get) enough photos my life (and the lives of my fellow Team Zero Gravity members). And I know I end up with more photos annually than the average person. I store my photos on Shutterfly (love them!) http://www.shutterfly.com. I've been using Shutterfly for about 11 or 12 years now. Shutterfly says I have almost 34,000 of my photos stored in albums in my account on their website :)

Anyway, in the fall of 2012, I got the chance to have some incredible photos taken of my dogs. I had a gift certificate for a local pet photographer, Leesia Teh (http://www.leesiateh.com/) towards a photo sitting for my dogs that I had won in an auction. I had seen some of her work and really liked it. I contacted Leesia about using my gift certificate. She went over the details about how she works and she does a shoot. She had me fill out a survey online all about my dogs. She tries to capture your pets as themselves --where their personalities shine through. That's exactly what I was looking for.

The date and time was all set. We had decided to do it at my house where all my dogs feel the most comfortable and where they could run around and be their goofy sweet selves. When Leesia showed up at my house (with just a camera--a really nice one, but just a camera--no special lighting or anything else), she greeted me and then instantly proceeded to introduce herself to my dogs. She already knew each by name from having read our survey. All my dogs liked her right off the bat.

She also met PJ (the cat) and Reggie (the parrot) and took a couple nice shots of them as well so I could have those as well.

PJ

Reggie

She spent some time just visiting with my dogs so they could get to know her and just relax and be themselves. We did pictures both inside and out. She took her time in order to capture my sweeties being themselves. It was a fun, leisurely shoot. It didn't feel like there was any time deadlines or rushing. I don't even know exactly how long she was there but it was quite a while.

The results were mind blowing. She got some of the most amazing and loving shots. I shared my proofs with others and everyone just loved them.

Here's a few (besides the ones top right):

Blaze and Cori

Cori, Chloe, Blaze and Rio

Blaze

Rio

Chloe

Cori

After I saw all the wonderful proofs, I knew I was in trouble. I knew I was going to spend a lot more money than I planned. But, I figured, it's not like we do something like this all the time--in fact, I had never done something like this. I would just make it work. I actually cashed in some savings bonds so I could buy a package, extra prints and products. It was worth every penny too. I will have these photos forever--long after my furred and feather family departs this Earth (I can't think about that or I will start to ball) and long after memories fade.

I added a slide show in the right side of the blog about 1/2 way done. See for your self, all the wonderful photos. If you decide to do as I did and capture some of these precious moments with our pets, I HIGHLY recommend you contact Leesia Teh to help you do that. And if you do, please tell her Kathy Rakestraw referred you. 'Cause if you do, I get a referral credit and um, there's a few more things I'd like to get :)

Make a pact with yourself to take more photos this year--even if you don't have them professionally done. You'll be glad you did.

Changing Murphy's Luck

On the last day of 2012, I got an email from a friend who help runs an awesome animal rescue group, called Road Trip Home Animal Rescue (RTH). This group takes highly adoptable unwanted dogs from the area and transports them to wonderful shelters up north (primarily Maine and Massachusetts).

Someone had found an abandoned puppy, approximately 4 months old. And believe it or not, he appeared to be a Greyhound puppy. My first reaction was he had to be a mix. Why would someone dump an actual Greyhound puppy?

RTH asked if I could foster him until a possible transport scheduled for early February. How could I refuse or resist :) They told me he had been named Murphy.

When I picked Murphy up from the vet that he was being boarding at, it was getting late. The clinic was busy and they were trying to close for the evening. I basically got him, put him in crate in my vehicle and headed home. I didn't really get a good look at him until we got him.

Low and behold, he sure does look like a purebred Greyhound puppy (and I do have some experience in that area since I adopted Blaze as a puppy). If he not a purebred greyhound, he's about as close as you can get.

He's a sweet, cute little fella (ok--he's not so little by most people's standards, but he is to me compared to my adult Greyhounds).

My dogs are actually semi-enjoying him (as much as non-parental adult dogs can enjoy a puppy). They know he's a puppy and are incredibly tolerate of him. So much more than they would be of an adult foster. In fact, I can't believe the things they let him do to them.

Anyway, before Murphy heads to Maine, RTH has asked SEGA (the Greyhound adoption group I volunteer with) if any of their members might want to adopt him. It sure would be nice to keep him around locally to watch him grow up :) I created a little photo share site for him: Murphy the Hound Pup and posted to my group about him. Everyone thinks he's adorable and one family might be interested in him, but nothing definite yet.

If we don't have any takers in the next week or so, he'll be scheduled for transport to Maine. Greyhound puppies are not hard to raise, you just have to he's an active puppy and he's a Greyhound and there are some specific things to be away of about Greyhounds. That's why we'd really prefer he go to a home where the family has Greyhound (or probably at least sighthound) experience. However, depending on the situation, they could be an exception.

If interested in him, please go to Southeastern Greyhound Club/Adoption to fill out an application about him. If you have questions about him or want to learn more about him, feel free to drop me an email (ksrakestraw@windstream.net) with your phone number and I'll be happy to give you a call.

Seniors Rock!

Everyone is so used to hearing about Rio, Blaze, Cori and Chloe. It's about time that my almost 18 year old cat, PJ got some airtime, or this case Internet time.

I adopted PJ (or rather he adopted me) as a 10 week old kitten from what used to be the Dekalb Humane Society (now known as Paws Atlanta). I had been volunteering at their adoption days at the Petsmart on LaVista Rd in Atlanta. I had never been tempted to take an animal home (as they were considered a no kill) until PJ.

Well this particular day, a litter of 10 week old Siamese tabbies was up for adoption. PJ made it very clear he was going home with me. I called my then-husband and told him about this "special kitten." Hubby proceeded to tell me he didn't want another cat--we already had one. In his mind one cat was more than enough. PJ's charms overruled then-hubby's wishes and the next thing you know PJ adopted then-hubby too.

For the next 10 years then-hubby doted on PJ. PJ was at the door every day to great then-hubby. however, as soon as we adopted a couple of puppies, then-hubby pretty much disowned PJ. Sad but true. He did warn me. He said when dogs came into his life, the cat would be forgotten about. I just didn't think he really meant it.

It worked out in my favor however because when we split in 2008, I didn't have to fight him for the cat :)

PJ will turn 18 on March 31. Yes, I really do know his birthday because his foster mom was with PJ's mom when he was born. She even gave me some baby pictures and pictures of his mom. Unfortunately, I have not scanned them in. You'll have to settle for a cute photo of senior PJ napping on one of his favorite spot  :)

Napping in his red heated bed

And with one of his favorite dogs, Blaze

I sincerely hope PJ has more adventures still left inside of him. He's one of a kind. He has always traveled well going on trips to Ohio to see family, vacations to St. George's Island in Florida and cabins in North Georgia, and more recently camping trips in the family trailer.

He's my bathing buddy. He has always liked to sit on the edge of the tub anytime I get a bath. And now in his old age, he likes to stand on my leg when I'm in the tub and drink the bath water. So this means I can't use bubble bath or soap until he's had enough drinking warm bath water. 

He' truly a nut. I think he feigns some senility sometimes because I let him get away with stuff I never did when he was younger, such as getting on counter tops and tables, and practically eating off my plate. 

I will miss my boy when the time comes, but hopefully we still have some wonderful quality days ahead. There will never be another kitty like him!