By the third night, Florian couldn't stand being separated from her for a whole 8 hours so we decided to chance it.
The past few nights, she's been back to her little nut job self and so its been back to the crate! I felt like an ogre putting her in there, but the rest of us did need to get some sleep. Then last night I discovered that if I let her settle down in her crate while we're reading in bed and Fozzie and Lamar are trying to turn in early, then wait until a little while after I've turned the lights out, I can bring her out, put her down between me and Florian, and she goes immediately into heavy breathing frog pose and doesn't budge all night.
She is a wonderful, soft little sleeping companion and it is such a delight to have her there. She sleeps right between our heads, and she's such a small package that accommodating her doesn't require major contortions.
Whatever stresses and drawbacks come with the package of fostering a hyper little pit bull puppy, the one thought--that a little creature who may never have experienced a soft bed or sustained loving human contact is now experiencing them both, in excess--makes everything worthwhile.
SUCH a sweet girl! It's great that she's learning that in order to get what she wants she needs to be calm... A good lesson for all of us ;-)
ReplyDelete"Whatever stresses and drawbacks come with the package of fostering a hyper little pit bull puppy, the one thought--that a little creature who may never have experienced a soft bed or sustained loving human contact is now experiencing them both, in excess--makes everything worthwhile."
ReplyDeleteUm ... do me a favor ... next time, please put a big flashing warning above text like this. It should read: If you are in public, are not wearing waterproof mascara, and have an aversion to making a blubbering fool of yourself in front of the GP or your co-workers, do not read further! :o)
In all seriousness, Sandy is adorable, and I'm so happy that she has been fortunate enough to land where she has, and I hope that her forever home is just around the corner, where she will receive soft beds and loving caresses in abundance for the rest of her life because she definitely deserves it.
Such a sweetie. She must feel safe with you
ReplyDeleteBenny & Lily
She is such a sweet girl and lucky to have you guys fostering her
ReplyDeleteKari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com
We really enjoyed fostering when we were doing it, but one of the big rules of our adoption group was that we not allow the dogs on the bed and furniture. I had a few who couldn't resist the couch, and I didn't have the heart to make them get off all the time, but I tried to respect their rules. I guess, I felt like they'd know they were in their real forever home when they got to sleep on the bed with their family and be extra spoiled and have an extra bond with them. It was REALLY hard to resist sometimes, though! Sandy is adorable!
ReplyDeletethat is so adorable!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Benny & Lily! She does seem pretty content--dogs never cease to amaze me with how trusting they are, even after all we humans put them through :)
ReplyDeleteAwww, you're too sweet! I didn't mean to do that to you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the Sandy-affirmation. She is too cute for one person to handle, so its good that you're all sharing it.
Well, I think she's learning that! It may take a while for it to really sink in--this much puppy exuberance will take some patience to overcome :)
ReplyDeleteWhat an adorable little face!
ReplyDeleteOhhh she is just tooo cute!!! I love seeing them develop and realize how good they can have it. Biggest reason I did so much rescue when I was in Houston :) Have done some here but on a much smaller scale. Trying to get my life in order before adding pets to it :) (ok we do have 4 fish and a bunny now lol and the bunny was a rehoming event lol)
ReplyDeleteGive the kids a hug and kiss from me :)
I think that's actually a good idea--better for the foster home to be more restrictive than future adopters than less, so the dog has an easier time adjusting. I just can't do it though, not consistently. I'm glad Sandy's good in her crate...and I imagine she'll be happy to have her own bed someday, once she's past the hyper-intense loving puppy stage!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kari! I try to remember that when I put her in the crate. Not sure if she'd agree with you in those moments :)
ReplyDeleteHey sometimes I wish I had fish and bunnies too! They'd be a lot easier to walk :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by and give those little guys some lovin' for me too.
She is so adorable. Sounds like she is settling in, despite being desperate for lovings!
ReplyDeleteor the disclaimer could read "if you are on a train reading this you will do a loud, audible awwwwwwwwww not realizing how much you'll then have to share with the lad shoved up against you but all in all it was a good thing because you can explain what 'rescue' and 'foster' mean that show him how utterly sweet pitties are" because that totally happened.
ReplyDeleteYay! I love it Jen. That's an awesome story.
ReplyDeleteI had two crazy fosters (at the same time) who insisted on sleeping with me. I didn't sleep for eight weeks.
ReplyDeleteI hear what Houndstooth is saying, and like you, I agree in principle... but I flunked it too. :)
Jodi at www.jodistone.wordpress.com made this lovely comment:
ReplyDeleteshe is so beautiful and I love how you figured a way to make all of you happy, but the fact that Florian cannot be apart from her for more than eight hours might mean she won't be a foster for long....:-)
Thank you Jodi! Now come on, do you really think I might be a foster failure TWICE over?
Florian has had the same response to every foster dog I've brought home...in fact, one of my reasons for getting Sandy was to remind myself of that, and to make sure he wasn't just insanely in love with Fozzie. I've confirmed that he's just an incurable puppy-lover, and I think he'll be OK if either Fozzie OR Sandy goes to a forever home :)