Our first puppy foster; Rosebud

It couldn't have been better timing when I received an email about a puppy that needed to be pulled from the shelter. We definitely needed some puppy love in our home. And this would be our first experience together with a puppy! It's great preparation for having children.

Rosebud was named by the shelter staff & to this day, I am not sure why, because it makes me think of Rosebud from the 'Buddies' movie series who was a fluffy, sweet golden retriever puppy. Our Rosebud was a pitbull rescued from a most certain frightful fate in the ghetto. We found out that her 17 year old handler thought that swinging her by her collar & leash like a yo-yo was appropriate. Thankfully a diligent, kind police officer rescued this little pup & arrested the savage that mistreated her.

After Rosebud's 2 weeks of jail time at the shelter, she came to live with us. She was a feisty puppy & obviously had begun learning bad manners & defense mechanisms in her previous less than loving home. She was definitely in her chewing phase & we were her preferred chew toy. Rosebud kept us on our toes, but was house & crate trained quickly & even bonded with the stubborn resident beagles. As all of the pitbulls we have had, she was eager to please & completely dedicated to her human caregivers. She especially loved wrestling with the kids that visited her!

Rosebud was adopted to a couple with a female pit mix named Daisy who needed a companion & playmate. Rosebud has been renamed Stella & is flourishing in her new home. Stella has grown quite big in the few months she has been gone & by the looks of this picture, is now a full grown, well adjusted gal.

Stella was the first of three puppies we fostered at the end of 2010. Puppies are very much like children with the exception of being able to leave them home in a cage for a few hours at a time ;-) The puppies have required us to work as a team & rely on one another to get the job done. We have been successful thus far! There is still nothing as comforting & sweet as the love of a tired & relaxed puppy.

On a more entertaining note, as we were driving yesterday, we saw an unleashed, golden retriever type dog walking over a bridge on a busy street. When we realized he didn't have an owner, my husband pulled the car over, handed me his belt (once again, I didn't have a spare leash in my car) & off I ran. For those of you that know me, I am NOT a runner. But saving a dog in need changes me. And this dog was ready to run! After 2 blocks, he started to walk into a busy street & as I tried to get his attention & get him to come to me, he looked & darted right into traffic. He was struck by a minivan; I heard the impact, a short cry & people began to get out of their cars gasping in horror. But when I got to the spot he was hit, he was gone! I caught him out of the corner of my eye running (uninjured) down an alley. I have to tell you that we were in an unfamiliar area. I was without a cell phone & running in an alley of a street I couldn't name. Lucky for us, my husband and I are a bit familiar with 'chasing' & in the car, he was able to parallel & locate me. The dog thankfully went into a gangway & we were able to close him in on both sides. We hooked him with the belt & found his owners walking around looking for him. We got back in our car & continued on our way. I coughed for awhile because of running in the cold, but I surprisingly wasn't tired & I am not sore. Adrenaline does crazy things & last night, it saved a family dog.

'A dog is for life, and not just for Christmas.'