Cuteness and Wondering if the house will survive

Ahhhhh, we all love kittens and puppies don't we? They're so cute and you just want to cuddle them to pieces don't you? Well, yes, they're cute, and fun and make you laugh, but they have their exasperating moments too.

Well, surviving multiple kittens in the house can be challenging! Up until I'd adopted Jasmine over a year ago now, it had been a very, very long time since I'd had a kitten in the house. I will say, she was fun and a careful kitten. She has never broken or purposely knocked things off while being a wild child.

HA! What was I thinking last June when I agreed to help out the Espanola Valley Shelter and foster some kittens for awhile? I think I must have been out of my mind some days. But honestly, I don't regret it for a moment. There have been a lot of laughs involved.

And while I did not intend to keep any of the kittens I fostered, well, I'll have to admit, there were two foster failures.

Meet Punkin and Binx. They both decided they needed to stay with me and the rest of the menagerie in the house. Cute and innocent looking right? Riiiiight..... While they have their absolute adorable moments and lovey dovey moments, there are also those moments of sheer exasperation. AND, don't forget, Jasmine is still technically a kitten!

Add to that a corgi that's still learning to be a puppy and play himself, and you get mayhem and then you wonder if the house will ever survive or be the same again!

It was great when they were small and had not learned about getting up onto the counters and all the potential delights that might be up there. And while Abby was able to keep them somewhat corralled. Now they're getting big fast and nothing is safe. And I will say it is startling the first few times Punkin discovered he could get up on the top shelf by my closet door over my head when I go into the closet and managing to scare the hell out of me when I come out, (I think he's pretending to be a bird of prey or some such) I wonder if I'll die young of heart failure.

Lets see.... to date I've lost a lamp, a ceramic piece I'd made when I was a kid, a couple dishes, loaves of gluten free bread that my roommate keeps leaving out on the counter, I have numerous ventilation holes all over my legs where they insist on climbing up me like a tree, tooth marked mail and papers, disappearing rubber bands, socks disappearing, hmmmmm, pretty much everything. OH! And trying to teach stubborn kittens what NO means with a squirt bottle feels like a losing battle some days!

Yeah, they look innocent and cute.... Methinks they're devils in cute clothes. And despite all that, I do love them to pieces as do the dogs. They both love the dogs and play with them or cuddle them. And they are always up to inventing new games with Brody. Hoo Boy!

Point in case, I almost got bounced out of bed last night! Last night was only the second night that Brody has decided to sleep with me. Usually at bed time, the kittens come upstairs with me and we play a little bit of cover critters (where you have your hand or foot under the thick covers and the kittens attack and chase them) for about 5 or 10 minutes, then we turn out the lights and hit the hay.

Well, last night it became a whole different game, and me and the bed quickly became an amusement park/obstacle course with 3 cats/kittens and one 30 lb corgi. Seems Brody thought it would be fun to join in the game and that, gee, this bed is fun and bouncy! So I got bounced on, run over, bounced almost out of bed, and a wet nose in the ear when I replied with "OOF"! Took about 20 minutes for them to wear themselves out and finally snuggle up for sleep. Yes it was cold in these parts last night, and everyone decided mom is a portable heat pack.

I often wonder if the house will survive kitten hood. At least the boys aren't like Jasmine and think the plants are for their personal jungle stalking vantage points. So the plants might survive this round, but the chairs and couch have all been scaled so much now, things knocked off, papers all over when I get home, things dragged downstairs that I thought should stay upstairs, who knows?

At least with all the painting lately that I've been doing, the kittens aren't the ones wearing paint, it always seems to be Brody from brushing up against it while it's wet. And I think every week when I vacuum that I must collect enough hair to make more critters. But for all this, I have a fun and happy house with laughter in it and I love coming home to them!

I mean, come on, who wouldn't feel something looking at this? :)

Puppy Mill Survivors, Rescuing them or do they rescue us?

Wow, it's been a very long time since I've blogged on this one. :( So many changes and such. After my beloved Djinn passed in January 2010 I was down to the two cats, Yummy and Jasmine and my two little dogs. Well both the little dogs have passed to the Rainbow Bridge now sadly. But I'm not blogging about that today.

Today I wanted to express my experiences with the two amazing little corgis I've adopted in the last year and how they rescued me as much as they were rescued. And it is still a hard fact, animals pick us, they pick the person they choose to spend their lives with.

Meet Brody first. He was rescued from an illegal breeder in Iowa by National Mill Dog Rescue in Peyton, Colorado, outside of Colorado Springs. I had started following them last year as my ex and I were splitting and going through a divorce at the time. My littlest dog, Thumbelina became depressed and was trying to run away, and I realized I needed a companion for her to be happy with.

When Brody's picture came up on their list of available dogs, I knew in my heart he was meant to be with us. So I applied and then waited on tenterhooks for either acceptance or rejection. Well, as you guessed, I was accepted! So I drove to Colorado Springs the following weekend to meet him and adopt him, but making sure he wanted to be with me first.

What I met was a very frightened slightly underweight corgi who was so scared of everything. I sat on the floor with him for the better part of an hour, doing Tellington tTouch and talking and not giving up. It was about 20 minutes before he gave me a huge sigh and snuggled closer to me. That was the sign I was waiting for, acceptance and the first tentative bond to me.

So we washed him up and home we went after finding out a bit more about his history. Seems the breeder had no money to even begin to care for the dogs anymore, and told NMDR either come get them or they'll die. She'd been only feeding them moldy bread from dumpsters as she could. I knew this boy needed healing and love and it would take time to let him be the dog and pup he should be. He was only 2 yrs old at the time.

I got home with him, and Thumbelina was so excited and loved him on sight. As did the cats, Jasmine and Yummy, and they both went right up to greet him (unheard of for Jasmine as she detested the little dogs) and both washed his face, much to his consternation.

Those first weeks, we spent learning the routine, the fact of strangers and his yard. And getting him to eat regularly without fear of losing his food. During the first month with me, my daughter and two granddaughters moved in also. Who also helped him quite a bit to learn to adapt and accept change and people.

It was quickly discovered how quickly he was bonding to me, when at the end of the first month I went on a trip and the girls took care of him. He stressed out easily, stopped eating and had bad bloody diarrhea. Off to the vet we went when I got home. The vet diagnosed Colitis. and for a while the prescription helped. At this time I fell more and more in love with him. And he started coming out of his fear. Although he was still terrified of all men.

In November just before Thanksgiving, NMDR posted the last little female corgi who hadn't been adopted since July when they were rescued on their Facebook Page. I had met Abby when I was up there and would have adopted her too if I'd had the money at the time, and I noted this when I replied to their post. She was a happy girl and very outgoing. But she is handicapped and was 7 yrs old at the time. So the handicap meant to me that she'd been crated and bred over and over her whole life to date.

Let me note right now, that puppy mills and illegal breeders see dogs or cats as a commodity, and the animals live under horrid conditions and poor care and feeding. All to produce a commodity, puppies, to bring in the money the breeder craves. Apparently Abby couldn't use her back legs when she was rescued, and her  stifles are locked because she spent her life in a crate having litter after litter of puppies. She's learned to get around now very well and dances and runs and plays, despite her handicap.

This is no life for any animal and in my humble opinion, mills need to stop and be made illegal.

Well, another lovely woman, whom I did not know nor had I ever met, who lives in Colorado, offered and paid for Abby's adoption so that she could come home to live with us. Wow, and this was all arranged in about an hour! Many thanks and blessings to Carolyn Solseth for her heartfelt and beautiful generosity! This one was meant to be with me also. And my good friend Jessica who lives in Colorado Springs offered to bring her down a couple days before Thanksgiving when she came down to Santa Fe for the holidays.

I was overwhelmed and humbled with the love and compassion of all these folks and the hard work the Mill Dog Rescue did to accomplish all this!

We met Jessica in town with Abby, and she seemed to know who she was meant to be with and she hasn't looked back since. I just love the two of them to pieces.

Needless to say, they both rescued me too. I needed some emotional grounding and positivity in my life, and they give me that and so much more. And they've very much bonded to me. I look forward to going home each evening and playing and cuddling them both. And I discovered that Brody was very very bonded to me, and really suffered from anxiety any time I went somewhere overnight. This was evident in January, and figured out it wasn't colitis he suffered with, it was Inflamed Bowel and adrenal imbalances. So now he does just fine on an absolute grain free diet.

I have discovered over the summer that Abby loves to nurture. I discovered this when I helped out a local shelter by fostering kittens and Abby mothered them and tried to keep them corralled. Which provided much entertainment.

Brody is coming out of his shell, though he's still easily frightened, but now he quickly becomes curious about most things. He's learned to talk, (corgis talk and have their own language), he's learned to play and loves toys. And he loves the two kittens that ended up staying from fostering as they picked me and Abby.

The kittens love both of them, and encourage play. Every morning Brody and the kittens play tag and they'll all snuggle up together for nap time. This play time is the best entertainment time in the house. I've even been bounced off of the sofa when he's chasing them with great abandon! Sometimes Abby gets in on the game for a bit, but she's happy throwing her toy or bone for herself to play with.

The two of them have provided so much healing to me as I to them. They are never far from my side, they know when I'm blue and do their best to make me laugh or smile. They have become such happy souls. Though Brody is more accepting of strangers coming by than he ever was, he's still wary of men to a degree and will warm up to women more quickly then the men.

Recently, very recently, Brody has learned that there is another level to the house, and has conquered the stairs. He's gotten very good at racing up them after the kittens. I think they encouraged him to learn. And when he makes it successfully down to the bottom his whole body language is happy and proud and what he accomplished and comes to me for a good boy!

Recently he's discovered that this is where I disappear to at bed time. And last night he decided to follow me upstairs at bedtime. I intuitively knew he needed to be with me. So..... he discovered the king sized bed last night and slept with me. Such a gentleman and not a bed hog! The kittens thought this was just grand, and I woke up this morning to a pile of fur not far from me on the bed, one corgi and two kittens in a snuggled pile. Totally made my day.

These two loving and forgiving animals make my day everyday, make coming home a joyful thing, and I have never, ever in my life been so attached to two little dogs. My heart is lost to them. Yeah they rescued me.

And I will say that adopting a puppy mill rescued dog is very, very much worth the time and love. They will re-instill your love and wonder, patience and absolute compassion. It is a joy every day to watch Brody come out of his shell, explore the world, become the dog and pup he never was before NMDR rescued him, and love life without fear. Now Abby, she's probably one of the happiest most outgoing little girls I've ever seen in my life! She greets everyone with a true smile, loves everyone and everything, and those kittens are her babies. She loves mothering them, and they let her.

Thank you everyone at NMDR and Carolyn and Jessica for helping me to spend this time with these incredible dogs and learn about love all over again. Amazing.... simply amazing! And it was so wonderful to meet Carolyn last month in person! Love you to pieces lady!

I'll part with these words, please, never, ever buy a puppy, all that does is perpetrate the cycle of abuse and puppy mills. And leaves other dogs in shelters who are praying for a forever home on death row, to lose their lives. PLEASE always, always adopt! And these puppy mills survivors are all little furballs of miracles and can teach you so much! They're so very forgiving and quick to love and hope. I will also encourage you to support the work or NMDR or adopt so that can help more dogs. And if you can't do that, then support your local shelter, foster an animal even!