Dexter: Our First Foster Fail
I can’t help it. I’ve become the person whose Instagram gallery is filled to the brim with puppy photos. We have fostered two dogs since we came back from our honeymoon. The first was a 10-week-old shepherd mix named Gina who found a home within 24 hours.
We haven’t been thrilled with our experiences fostering at several local shelters, so we decided to go breed specific and apply to the Dachshund Rescue of Bucks County. We are really happy with their organization and how much they value their fosters. We went through foster training, and a week later, we were introduced to our first foster.
Meet the newest addition to the family.
That’s right, we’re totally keeping him. My blog header is in need of a redesign since we’ve gained a dog and lost a rabbit since it was created.
And now for the little guy’s back story. He was rescued from a kill-shelter in Baltimore, Maryland, where a kind man picked him up and hauled him a few hours to the Dachshund Rescue in Pennsylvania. The guy who saved him named him Dexter, so we’re probably going to keep the name out of respect for his awesomeness (plus I love me some Dexter Morgan). When the man asked the shelter what was going to happen to Dexter, the shelter informed him that the 10-month-old dachshund would have to be euthanized because there simply wasn’t enough room. This is all too common.
We couldn’t be happier to make room in our home for him — he’s still a bit malnourished, but we’ve switched him to a healthy diet and consistent schedule. He curls up under the covers in bed with us every night and seems to have hit it off with Betty White (although she’s not one for cuddling).
We’ll continue to foster dachshunds through the rescue, but our permanent zoo is at maximum capacity. I look forward to finding more of these snugglers happy homes and I’ll be sure to update my blog along the way.
One of my favorite holiday memories is drawing white crayon designs on eggs and dyeing them as obnoxiously bright as possible. Pete and I still keep the tradition alive, taking turns using the bendy wire egg holder to decorate a half dozen each.
This Easter was a special one for me, since my parents and Grandma (and their dog Whiskey) decided to visit us from Delaware. My family is big on surprises, so when my parents asked if they thought my brother (Ken) and his wife (Stacey) could also visit from NYC, I said they were busy that weekend (lies!). Ken and I knew we wanted to surprise them with their visit, so we planned a big scheme upon our parents’ arrival.
We hid 50 plastic eggs all around the house in preparation of their visit. The plan was for us to welcome my parents and Grandma inside, while Ken and Stacey hid upstairs. Pete and I planned to distract my parents with an outdoor Easter egg hunt, while Ken and Stacey would sneak back downstairs to hide in the sunroom. This plan also involved them wrapping pink lights around each other, to make it extra festive. Because Ken just happens to own pink Easter lights.
Little did Ken realize that they didn’t have to rush, since Pete and I led my parents on a search for plastic eggs outside for a good 10 minutes. When my parents finally opened the front door to search for more eggs inside, they were completely shocked and turned into blubbery messes. It was awesome.
Of course it wouldn’t be Easter without my dad insting on having an Easter egg hunt of his own, so he had all of us kids search for metallic, money-filled eggs in the backyard. Stacey was a total champ and knew all of the typical hiding spots, like under the grill cover.
Ken decided to take it upon himself to climb the tree and do his best impression of a demented Easter bunny. Yet another shining example of how I just might be the normal one in my family.
Lets pretend like this family photo isn’t totally awful (it was taken under our green patio umbrella, so everyone looks slightly seasick, and by everyone I mean me).
There were an abundance of unfortunate bunny face photos taken that day, all of which will hopefully be framed at my parents’ house in the near future.
In non-bunny news, our foster dog Donald Sutherland has been happy in his new home for a couple of weeks now. I’ll admit, I miss the little wart-butt a ton. He’s been visiting fellow seniors like himself during the day since his new mom is an activities director in a nursing home.
I’m going to attempt to be a bit more timely about my upcoming posts, since this one was uber belated. I’ve just been swamped between work, weekend shoots, wedding planning, yard work and nursing a very sick bunny. What’s new with you guys?
Anyway. Enough about Charlie Sheen and more about puppies, please.
