Oh, the Fluffy Ones

Yes, another fluffy one won my heart on Thursday. If only Tippi liked other dogs more and didn’t have her ‘elder-issues’, I would have asked Charlie if we could bring Aj home.

But first the puppies – I know they need me to photograph them, but it is so not my gig. Peteranya was okay – I – well, okay, she was more than okay – I really liked her. It was her beautiful blue eye and her lovely speckled coat. And she is nine months old so she has some manners.

Peteranya (57698)

Kris and Kristen are adorable, but they are all “rambunctious puppy,” even for just having their spay surgeries back on the 22nd. My photos don’t do them justice – they wouldn’t slow down enough for my camera. It just reminded me that I need a partner if I want to do puppies – need to set something up with Tracy.

Kristen (56376) & Kris (56373)

And this is Aj. He is so handsome I want to post every photo I took of him – from the regal to the laughing. He was so soft and could move his eyebrows that gave him such wonderful expressions. He was very mellow and oh, so sweet. He never jumped on me but would nuzzle my hand to be petted (no ‘hand flipping’ from him), and then he’d lick my fingers if I didn’t take the hint. Once or twice he lifted his paw to gently touch my knee for just a little more attention.

Aj (57532)

One of the rescues is probably going to pull Aj this weekend, but I’m sure the Center would help you find him. He is a wonderful dog.

Can’t Let the Mood Stop You

It came over me quickly at the end of the day. I didn’t want to go to the shelter. It wasn’t the dogs; it wasn’t the people; it wasn’t even the weight of working in a shelter – it was just a mood.

But I had to go. There was a Boxer there who desperately needed a photo shoot ASAP. After all as a Boxer she is part of the Bullie Breed crowd and when friends who have issues with Pitties and such tell you that you need to get a better photo of her you know you have to go. BTW: Her intake photo had her in a funny position, with a mushed face and glowing red-devil eyes from the flash.

Cersi (ID: 56812)

Cersi in Profile

When I found her she was in a kennel with her sister. Two white Boxers with blue eyes, cropped ears and nearly the same markings on their noses and chins. We were cozy – the three of us in one kennel. They were very sweet. Cersi was the more dominant of the two but not in a bad way. Arya was camera shy but took the best photos. You can really see her blue eyes. Cersi has blue eyes as well. It’s just a thinner ring of blue. Cersi was very good about sitting for her treats but they both like to put their paws on your chest looking for a treat or some affection. When Cersi did that she would snuffle in your face – luckily it was just air.


Arya (ID: 56813)



Life of the Party

Next I went and found Carley. I had taken some photos of her last week and she looked kind of pitiful with some hair loss that she has going on around her eyes. I’ve seen it before at the shelter and it’s nothing bad and the fur eventually grows back, but until then a black dog like her can look bad. So, I had Julie bring in the “Hello Kitty” hoodie. Carley still gave me pitiful looks every time I pointed the camera at her and I never could get the hood to stay up, but in the end I was able to get a few cute, happy shots. Her behavior has improved from last week; someone must be cuddling her and working on her manners. She already knows ‘sit’. She’s going to be a good dog someday.


Carley (ID: 54643)



Happy Girl




















Even spending time with the dogs didn’t improve my mood. I just felt tired so I went home. I felt bad – there were so many dogs that needed their photo taken and so many of the sweeties that I’d photographed in the past were there looking sweet and pitiful all at the same time. And that’s when you realize that you can’t give up – you might have to cut back a little for your own wellbeing, but you have to keep going for these guys.

And isn’t that true in most things we do in our lives that we care about? Charlie had a real tough moment with Tippi this week. The diapering, controlling her water intake and especially cleaning up after her finally maxed him out. But after we had a chance to talk about it and revisit another solution to finding shredded-wet diaper all over the house, he looked at her and realized you can’t give up on her … not now … not yet.

Suze-in-a-Box

It’s been one of those weeks – you could almost see the hand crank that handle. The tension was thick waiting for that moment when it pops and then the joy and laughter flows.

Puparazzi Time

I only had a chance to photograph three lovelies this week. I was putting out kennel cards when I spotted Baby Girl and saw that she had been surrendered in early June but had yet to have a photo shoot.

Baby Girl (ID: 54442)

She is very sweet. It looks like she recently had a litter of pups – she must have been in foster care until recently. Short, but stocky with lovely markings. She really enjoyed her head-pets and behind-the-ear scratches as I rewarded her for sitting so well for her photo shoot.

Trevor (ID: 55863)

Trevor is a very sweet five-year-old Labrador mix. He has the cutest look when he holds his ears just so. He was apparently a little shy when he first came to the Center back in late June, but Thursday night he had no qualms about me being in his kennel and him asking for affection.

Carley (ID: 54643)

The last little girl I found in Dog Room C who had been there for a while without a photo shoot was Carley. She is a sweet puppy full of that lovely puppy energy. She has a little skin allergy thing going on right now so I think I need to do another photo shoot with the Hello Kitty hoodie.

Tippi Time

There’s a great series of scenes in Steve Martin’s Parenthood movie that kept coming to my mind this week. The grandmother is telling Steve’s character how most people like to ride the merry-go-round at the carnival as it goes around and around and around, but she found that too boring and preferred the roller coaster. He looks at her like she was babbling senile nonsense. In the next scene a family outing descends into chaos and his character gets that feeling of flying on the roller coaster. At that moment he realizes the profoundness of what grandma was saying.

So, I’m more of a Ferris wheel person than a merry-go-round or roller coaster (although I do like roller coasters), but this week seemed more like “The Zipper” or what’s that one that takes you to the top and then drops you?

Things with Tippi have been tough. All the things we do to control her incontinence and to clean up on those occasions where we failed on prevention have taken their toll. It seems like every time we think we have it worked out, something else happens that ratchets it up another notch.

A couple of weeks ago she started having other “bathroom” issues – the vet said it was a case of Colitis, and we got some meds. It seemed to clear it up and Tippi stopped waking me up in the middle of the night desperate to go outside. But as the Fourth of July weekend started I realized that her issues had returned. Back to the vet and now it was determined that she has Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Poor Tippi. None of her illnesses are ever the curable type.

Things did not improve like we had hoped and with all the fireworks and thunderstorms that weekend Tippi wouldn’t go outside. Then in desperation she would tear off her britches and go in the dining room. I did the clean-up and Charlie dutifully steam cleaned the carpet numerous times. As with each of Tippi’s issues, we came up with a plan on how to make this work until the meds kicked in. Charlie came home for lunch on Tuesday to a colossal “mess” – and, just as he was leaving the house to go back to work Tippi vomited, twice.

So, I took the afternoon off work and we went back to the vet. The meds she had been on over the weekend for the IBS probably caused the upset stomach – so she got an anti-nausea shot, which seemed to help. They also switched the IBS medication to something a little less drastic. Plus, it had the ability to kill the bacteria that was most likely causing the IBS.

Still, Tippi was being difficult about going outside to potty. It was a residual of the weekend of fireworks and thunderstorms that were happening daily. By Wednesday night I was finally at my end. I was past being frustrated at the whole situation. I was even at the point where I was yelling at Tippi and being rough with her when I was putting her outside for needed potty breaks.

After one of my rants Charlie and I sat down and had a heart-to-heart about Tippi, her issues, and the ever increasing list of issues. We’ve taken on so much over the last year and Charlie does it all for me. It certainly makes me feel incredibly loved, but it also worries me about how much more he can take. As in most cases the conversation with Charlie re-centers me. I realize that I need to switch back to a more gentle approach with Tippi. It’s better for Tippi and better for me. With a little coaxing and a tasty treat I was able to get Tippi to go out on a regular basis.

Being in a better state of mind has also brought back the cute little things Tippi has started doing that I wanted to share with everyone …

She has taken to hiding her bone around the house. I find it amusing that where we used to leave empty boxes around for the cat to sit in, we now leave one or two around for Tippi to put her bone in. Her favorite hiding place is the couch in the dining room. She does try other spots like the blue tarp (on the floor where she goes to have her “accidents”) or a laundry basket. I’ve included a picture of Tippi’s nose to show where she has rubbed it raw from “scraping” the rug or couch fabric like she was troweling dirt to cover her bone.  Also, here’s a video of the first time we ever saw her bury a bone. We were out to dinner and apparently she was too excited to eat her biscuit just then.

I took the bed ruffle off the other day and in classic Suze style tossed it on the floor until I would have a chance to wash it and put it in the Goodwill box. Tippi has absolutely loved it. I think she likes sleeping on it more than the dog bed I bought her a couple of months ago. She can bunch it up and squish it around in to all kinds of shapes to lie on.

Also, thanks to a neighbor’s Facebook post we are now big (amazed) fans of the Thundershirt®. It ROCKS! SJ posted early last week about how well Miss Charlee dealt with a thunderstorm in it. I had heard about the Thundershirt before, but my skeptical side really didn’t see how it would work. But, on SJ and Miss Charlee’s recommendation I had Charlie pick one up from Phydeaux the next day after work – rugby stripe hot pink, of course.

A thunderstorm had gone through that afternoon so I figured we missed our chance that day and I didn’t bother to investigate the Thundershirt before we went to bed. Not too long after we went to bed I heard Tippi try to crawl under an end table that I use as my nightstand – and yes, she can fit if the thunder is really loud and she’s really frightened. I listened intently and could just barely hear the low rumble of an incoming storm in the distance. Damn. I ran and got the Thundershirt, hoping to get it on her before she was too freaked by the storm. So, there I am sitting in the dimly lit dining room without my glasses trying to figure out how to put this “contraption” on her (it’s all knit fabric and Velcro flaps). “Step one: How to get your dog used to the Thundershirt” – well, no time for that, just figure it out and get it on her. It was amazing – I had no more than put the last flap in place and she stopped panting (one of her stress signals). Wow, in the blink of an eye – a snap of the fingers – she was calm. Wow. We went back to bed. She came around to my side of the bed, where her dog bed is, and plopped down. No panting. No looking to me for comfort. No pacing. No trying to get to the floor on Charlie’s side of the bed. I’m awake now – all the excitement of getting her into her Thundershirt. Charlie and I were both awake in amazement as Tippi started to doze off and the storm started to roll through. Even during the height of the storm Tippi slept – nay, she snored! Wow! Wow! WOW! I am now part of their word-of-mouth advertising. Check out their website and check out their Facebook page to learn all about it and people’s success with it. I almost wish that my neighbors (whoever they were) were still shooting off fireworks somewhere in the ‘hood - just to see if it works for that too. I still plan on doing some training with Tippi to desensitize her to loud noises, but we will always have a Thundershirt for her.

In the ongoing discussion on SJ’s Facebook page about Miss Charlee’s Thundershirt there was a discussion about what exactly a Thundershirt was. Someone called it Thunder Spanx – LOL – that is exactly what it is. And so it shall be called in the Foote home from this time forward.

So, we’ve once again conquered what life has thrown at Tippi – and us. She is such a wonderful dog. I have been amazed at how quickly I fell in love with her. It’s definitely been an interesting year and I’m in it for the long haul with her – I’m just scared about what Charlie and I can handle ‘cause at this point I can’t see anywhere else that Tippi could be and be happy. She’s not a super cuddly dog, but she wants to be with her people (her pack) at all times.

Well, I can’t wait to see what’s going to be thrown at Tippi and our family next to ratchet it up another notch? (Yes, the previous statement is just dripping with sarcasm.)

One last thing – check out one of the shelter dogs getting her new “wheels.” First time using them and then flying with her friends.