Dixie

I'm twelve years old now, and I've lived with my forever-and-ever Mom for almost three years.  I had a really great foster family before Mom adopted me.  And let's face it, if you're going to end up living with a foster family TWICE, then it's a real blessing to have such a wonderful one to begin with.

Why am I telling you this?  Well, foster family recently got a little smaller.  Sadly, my former foster sister Dixie went over the rainbow bridge.  We know she's running and playing like a puppy now, but it's still sad when a family member has to leave us.  Very sad.

Here's a picture of me with my foster sisters, after a mini hike we all took together.  That's Dixie, Sydney, Shawnee, and me...back when I was a New Jersey girl.

Rest in peace, Dixie. Rest in peace...

Adopt a Less-Adoptable Pet Week!

It's a bit of a coincidence that my birthday falls during Adopt a Less-Adoptable Pet week.  My birthday was this past Tuesday, Sept. 18.  Don't worry -- Mom took a bazillion pictures and I'll probably post some soon.  We had quite a par-tay!!!

Anyway, I was a "less-adoptable" doggie.  When I came to live with my forever-and-ever-and-ever family just under three years ago, I was already 9 years old.  I guess people thought I was old or something.  That made them not want to adopt me.  And my nasty allergies were another strike against me, too.

But you know what?  My new Mom didn't think I was old.  She didn't care about the medicines I need for my allergies, either, or the excessive snots I sometimes have, or the fact that I wipe my allergy eye goobers on her pants (he he he...).

She saw my mischief and my antics and my cuteness and my huge personality.  And I think it's clear to everyone that we both got pretty lucky when we found each other.

So if you're looking to adopt, be sure to look at the "less-adoptable" pets, too.  Sometimes, they're just like Mom and me -- a perfect match.

My Adoption Story

BlogPaws and BISSELL are having a blog carnival to raise money for the Petfinder Foundation. A blog carnival is when lots of blogs focus on the same topic. The topic for this event is "my adoption story." If you know me or if you've followed my blog for long, then you probably know that I have one whopper of an adoption story...

After I was born, I lived with one family for a few years. Then I went to live with a woman and a kitty and another Shih Tzu like me. Then one day out of the blue, my owner passed away and another woman took me and the other pets and put us in the car for a ride. One by one, though, she stopped and dumped each one of us out of the car. Yep. SHE DUMPED US OUT OF THE CAR.

So all of the sudden I was all by myself, out on the streets. A little doggie alone in the scary world.

Within a couple of days I ended up in a foster home for Companion Critters, a rescue group in New Jersey. I was scared and hid under the table for a while. But eventually I got more comfortable again and then they found me a nice new home. Or so we thought. About a year after I thought I found my forever family, they actually took me back to the foster home. They said that they couldn't keep me anymore.

I was nine years old then, and my allergies were really bad, too. So, I was actually considered a "less adoptable" dog, if you'd believe that. Hard to find a nice new home with that sort of label.

After I was returned to the rescue group, though, my foster sister Shawnee wrote about me on her blog. That's when my TRUE adoption story started. My forever-and-ever mom read about me on Shawnee's blog and totally fell in love with me. (But who could blame her, right?!) She didn't think I was a "senior" dog since she already had a Shih Tzu who was almost my exact same age, Lexi-Lou. And she didn't think my allergies were a problem, either.

So my foster Mom and my soon-to-be-new Mom talked and talked and finally decided that I was going to move from New Jersey to Illinois to live with my new Mom and my new sister Lexi-Lou. And you know what else? My foster Mom and Shawnee actually drove me the entire way! Yep...they delivered me safe and sound to my new home.

They told Mom that it would take me a few days to get over the shock of the new home and to really start playing and settling in. I knew that this was my forever-and-ever home, though, so I actually helped unpack my own toys. I made myself right at home. By the next morning, I was rolling on my back, playing like crazy! We've actually got video of that, too...

Now I'm spoiled rotten. Absolutely spoiled rotten! But, Mom says she's just making up for all of the bad stuff that I've been through. Makes sense, don't you think? I WAS dumped out of a car, onto the street, you know. Oh, by the way -- you know the bad, bad woman who did that? She didn't know that I had a microchip. And she didn't know that my old neighbors really loved me and worried about me. With the microchip, the neighbors, and the awesome rescue group, the police actually had enough evidence to get that bad woman!

Now part of the BlogPaws Carnival is actually to also tell about the happiness that I've brought my new Mom. I'd think that's pretty obvious, though, if you look at how spoiled I am. He he he.

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From Buttons' Mom:

Buttons' adoption story took a pretty difficult turn for me not long after I adopted her. One week after Buttons came into our lives, my Lexi-Lou passed away unexpectedly. My dogs aren't "pets," they're my children. I was completely crushed when Lexi died. Buttons hadn't really bonded with Lexi yet, so she wasn't affected by the loss.

Three or four weeks later, then, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Three months after that, my father's health took a bad turn. A month later, he passed away.

Why am I telling you this? Because I honestly believe that God placed Buttons in my life specifically because of the grief that was coming. Buttons is a funny, creative, crazy little girl. In the middle of my pain and loss, she could still make me laugh with her antics. She wasn't doing anything special...she was just being herself. And I don't know what I would have done without her bringing that humor and love into such a dark time. So to me, that's a big part of her adoption story.

And I'm pretty sure that's part of the reason she's spoiled rotten now, too...

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Enough sad, mushy talk from Mom. It's time to leave you with some cuteness. (Can you believe what those other families I had are missing out on now?! He he he.)

Adopt the Internet Day!

I haven't been able to post lately 'cause Mom had surgery on her hand. She can only type with one hand now, and let me just say that she is really cramping my style. Anyway...

Today's Petfinder's birthday! To celebrate, I want to talk about the adoption option.

You know that I'm cute. And I'm funny. And I make lots of people smile 'cause of my antics. BUT did you know that I'm a rescue doggie? That's right! I'm here today because my Mom adopted me a year and a half ago.

I even had a Petfinder page out there all about me.

So, with over 320,000 animals on Petfinder now, can you imagine all of the possible cuteness and funniness and antics out there, just waiting for a home? Consider adoption!

And in the spirit of Adopt the Internet Day, I'd like to introduce you to two little boys out on Petfinder right now. Meet Willie and Waylon:

Willie and Waylon are brothers who are about 6 months old. They're Chihuahua and Miniature Schnauzer mixes at Genesis Animal Rescue in Mattoon, Illinois. The boys are about the size of some of my squeaky toys -- only 4 lbs each! I hope these little cuties find their forever home soon.

And now, since this post has taken Mom hours to type one-handed, I'm going to simply end with a little cuteness of my own...

My Sister Lexi-Lou

One year ago today, my sister Lexi-Lou unexpectedly passed away. She'd only been my sister for one week, since I was just adopted on Thanksgiving Day.

Last year for Halloween, Lexi was a turtle.

And last year Mom got Lexi a special turtle squeaky toy because of her turtle Halloween costume. But then in all of the excitement about adopting me, Mom forgot to give it to her.

So, since I'm such a squeaky toy nut, Mom thought it was only fitting to give me Lexi's turtle toy on the anniversary of her passing. She put it right behind me when I was napping. Of course the toy radar kicked in right away!

I checked out that turtle.

I posed...even though I was sleepy...

Then I played a little.

Then I decided to nap with my new turtle. (Mom DID wake me up with it!)

I think Lexi would appreciate me playing and napping with her turtle, though.

We miss you, Lexi-Lou!

The Story of Me

Minna Krebs is asking everyone to post "The Story of Me" to help celebrate her Gotcha Day. This is very, very timely for me because my own Gotcha Day is on Friday. That's right...Friday, November 26 will be the 1-year anniversary of when I was adopted by Mom!

Things are pretty good for me now, and I'm being spoiled absolutely rotten. Got my Mom trained pretty good, too. Life is good...but things haven't always been so good for me.

You see, two years ago I was dumped. Yep. A bad woman just dumped me out of the car and left me all alone on the streets. I was picked up by some people and I eventually ended up at Companion Critters, a rescue group in New Jersey. I was a lucky pup 'cause I didn't actually end up at a shelter.

So Companion Critters found me a new home and I went to live with those people. But then, after almost a year with them, they took me back to my foster home. I didn't do anything wrong...but I was returned. I was just turning 9 years old...and I have bad allergies...so lots of people considered me "unadoptable" at that point.

If you want to read about the rest of my story up until them, check it out over on the Companion Critters website. (It's a good read...especially since you know my happy ending! Oh, and it involves the cops getting that bad woman, too!)

Anyway, you may remember me talking about my sister Lexi-Lou. Well, she had a blog and a Twitter account. In September of last year, Lexi and Mom found out about me over on Shawnee's blog. (Lots of you know Shawnee -- she's a German Shepherd who has great hiking adventures!) Anyway, Mom fell for my cute little face. Over the next couple of months, Mom started talking to Shawnee's Mom, and they eventually decided that Mom and Lexi-Lou were going to adopt me and be my forever and ever family. Lexi and I were both Shih Tzus, and we were both almost the exact same age! Mom didn't think I was old...I was just the same age as Lexi-Lou. And my allergies weren't a problem at all.

But things were a little tricky. You see, Shawnee lives in New Jersey and my soon-to-be-new family lives in Illinois. Do you know what Shawnee and her Mom did, though? On Thanksgiving Day last year, they loaded up the car and drove me all of the way to Illinois so that I could have my forever and ever family. That was half-way across the country!

When I met my new family, I fit right in. Everyone thought I'd have to take some time to adjust, but I proved them wrong. I was playing with toys right away. I even helped unpack the toys that Shawnee let me keep from her house!

So that's my story. Pretty cool, huh? Mom spoils me rotten now, especially with all of the toys. But I really love toys, and Mom says she's just making up for the bad stuff I went through. I get scared sometimes that I'm going to be dumped again...or that I'm going to have to go to yet another new family. But Mom says that's not happening. She says that I'm stuck with her forever and ever.

My story isn't really complete, though, until I say one more thing...and that's a big THANK YOU to Shawnee and her mom. It's because of their love and dedication to their fosters that I was able to find my forever and ever and ever family. Thanks so much, Shawnee!

Anipal Photo Hunt # 6: Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week Challenge

For the week's Anipal Photo Hunt we're supposed to post adoption info for a "less adoptable" pet to maybe help the animal find its forever home. These pets are doggies and kitties that are maybe a little older or have special needs or things like that.

You know...I think I might have actually been considered a "less adoptable" pet myself. I was 9 years old when Mom adopted me last November, and I have bad allergies so I need lots of medicine. That sure didn't matter to Mom, though, and now I'm being spoiled rotten. And that's how it should be!

For my "less adoptable" pet, I looked at the doggies at my local humane society. I picked Olly:

Olly is less than 2 years old, and I don't know if he has special needs. But, he's been at the shelter since May 1...longer than any other doggy there. Poor Olly! Click here for more information on Olly. Let's help him get a forever home!

Here are some other blogs participating in this week's "Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Challenge"...