Thinking Thursday...

Amelia has no idea who broke into the cocoa and got it all over the back seat of the car while the momma was pumping gas. 

 

Do you have any guesses who may have done it?

Amelia gets a heart

Corbin here to tell you about my Amelia.

 

 

The momma took over the blog last week to tell you how our family is fighting not to keep Amelia forever.  She also mentioned that Amelia was going to see my Dr. Mike for a urinary issue.  Amelia "leaks" urine once in a while, and the momma wanted to get it checked out.  She also wanted my Dr. Mike to meet Amelia.  Well, Dr. Mike loved her -who wouldn't?!  He gave her a medication to clear up a bladder infection and another medication to help with the leaks.  Dr. Mike also gave Amelia a general exam.

 

 

Dr. Mike heard a very, very loud murmur in Amelia's heart.  She was quite nervous being at the vets office, but the momma could see on Dr. Mike's face that this was a concern.  Her little heart was practically beating out of her chest, and Dr. Mike wanted to do some further testing, since he couldn't really put his finger on it from just listening.  So, the momma made an appointment with the cardiologist this past Monday for a heart ultrasound.

 

 

When Monday morning came, I ate my breakfast in my frozen Kong to keep me from missing Amelia, and off she went in the car.  She pancakes at the vets office, so the momma has to carry her in.  Everyone there always gets a kick out of the momma carrying a 50lb pit bull around.  Dr. Farrell, the cardiologist, really liked Amelia.  He took her for the day and told the momma he would call when the ultrasound was over and he had the results to discuss with her.  The momma left and Amelia was carried around by the vet techs -hehe.

 

 

Around 12:30pm, the momma received a phone call, but it wasn't from Dr. Farrell, instead it was from someone else at the vets asking if 5pm was an okay time for the momma to meet with Dr. Farrell and go over the results.  The momma knew this wasn't good and wasn't quite sure how she was going to make it until 5pm without exploding.

 

 

So, at 5pm, the momma waited at the vets for Dr. Farrell to come in.  While she was waiting, she found out that the Corbin's favorite vet tech is leaving and Monday was her last day!  I was very upset about this when the momma told me.  You see, Jamie, my favorite vet tech, stays with me and comforts me when I have to stay at the vets for the day for testing.  I really love her and I don't mind leaving the momma to go with her.  So, I guess I'm going to have to find a new girlfriend for my testing day vet visits.

 

 

Okay, back to Amelia.  Dr. Farrell came in and chatted with the momma.  He showed her diagrams and explained exactly what was wrong with Amelia's heart.  She has Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.  That means, the walls of her heart have become thickened, which makes it difficult for her little heart to pump the blood through.  He said it was a good thing we caught it now, because we're still able to contain it.  Had we waited about 6 months or so to catch this, Amelia's little heart could have just stopped beating one day.  Amelia started on her new bata blocker heart medications.  The bata blockers should help slow her heart down.  A dog her size and in as good of shape as she is, should have a heart rate of 80 beats per minute.  Little Amelia's heart rate was 160 beats per minute.

 

 

So, Amelia gets a heart.  Next to Amelia's beautiful face on Petfinder, you'll find a little green heart, indicating Amelia has special needs.  She'll need to be on bata blockers for the rest of her life -which only cost $6 a month, so that's good.  She'll also need a follow up heart ultrasound in 6 months to make sure the medication is working and the heart disease isn't progressing.  If the medication is working correctly and we keep Amelia fit and stable at a healthy weight, she should be able to live out her entire life with no real adverse problems stemming from her heart disease.  We hope people won't see this as a negative and dismiss her from their adoption prospects. 

Thanks

From the momma:

Thanks for everyones comments yesterday, and mostly, understanding our hesitation.  We want to give Amelia, and all of the other Amelia's out there, a fair shot, so we do have a "if she's not adopted by" date in mind.  If a perfect forever home comes around before then, we know our fate is to help more Amelia's.  In the meantime, she's got every ounce of love and snuggles she could ever want.  We go to the vet tonight to get a urinary issue checked out.  I did opt to take her to Dr. Mike instead of a vet that's much closer to us that I usually bring our fosters to.  I'd like for Mike to meet her and weigh in his opinion of us keeping a second dog.

Couldn't leave you without a picture of the kids.

So, here they are on their way home from our walk the other night!

 

Either Corbin or Amelia will be back to the blog tomorrow!

Weighing the Pros and Cons of Foster Failing

A post by the momma:

If you're a fan of Corbin on facebook, you may have seen a picture post by Amelia last week announcing a new pair of Sirius Republic collars... one for her and one for Corbin.  However, neither collar will say "Adopt Me" on it.  Amelia's hoping it means we've forever fallen for her beautiful honey brown eyes and her oh-so-close snuggles. 

Foster lady just ordered new Sirius Republic collars...

one for Corbee and one for me! 

But, I did notice that the one for me doesn't say "Adopt Me" on it...

do you think my magic honey eyes have worked on her and foster dad?!
-Amelia

The truth?  We've totally fallen for those beautiful honey brown eyes and her oh-so-close snuggles. 

Super sensitive neck calls for a fleece lined collar.

The reality?  Figuring out if a second dog is within our budget and our current lifestyle.

Amelia is our 29th foster since the Corbin foster fail.  We have loved each and every one of those fosters and thought about keeping a few of them.  They either got adopted quickly or there were a few things that made us realize we might not be the best forever home for them... and most importantly, adopting a second dog means no more, or limited, fostering.  And, I'm sure everyone who's been reading for the past year remembers Brutus and how much I desperately wanted to keep my Brutey.  But, he was still a growing pup and I knew one day he would out weigh Corbin, and a second dog Corbin's size, or bigger, was just too much for our little house and our little boat.  Thankfully, Brute found the most amazing forever home, and his forever dad sends me updates often on my Big Blue. 

First thing that has us second guessing a second dog?  Double the number of dogs in the house doubles the vet bills (although, hopefully no dog will have the medical issues Corbin does!), doubles the dog food, doubles the doggie insurance, doubles the addictions to dog beds, collars, coats, sweatshirts... doubles the dogs needing a sitter when we're out of town.

The other thing that has held us back from keeping one of our former foster dogs?  Corbin's tolerance, or lack there of, for foster dogs hanging around too long.  He usually gets tired of them after a few weeks, which causes him to get grumpy.  He's not grumpy with Amelia, if anything, he loves her more.

And, my biggest hesitation?  The one Adam reminds me of every time I fall in love.  All the rest of the "Amelia's" we won't be able to help if we keep a second dog.  All of our friends urged us to keep Sophie because she was so adorable and such a doll.  But, if we kept Sophie, Amelia wouldn't have had a chance.  You see, Amelia's journey to me is extra special...

Amelia was found as a stray and brought to the shelter, where she was adopted out by a couple, but returned because she "destroyed the house."  She has never touched a thing that wasn't hers in our house (except the occasional underpants) and her house training was as close to flawless as house training comes.  I think her fear of being inside the house was too much for them to handle, and I can see how that would happen with an inexperienced person.  Once Amelia was returned, she was put on the euthanization list and only had 24 hours to make her break for it.  She was loved by so many of the shelter staff and a very special vet and they did everything to find a place for her.  My rescue contact in Kentucky, who was out of the country at the time, was asked by the vet if she had anyone willing to take in a great Pit Bull, they were running out of time.  She heard pit bull, thought of me and quickly gave the vet my number. I received her plea and saw Amelia's face and my heart broke. And, although I wasn't sure I'd have the room for her in the rescue since we had Serena at the time, I told the vet not to let anything happen to that beautiful baby, that I would take her as soon as they could arrange transport.  Amelia was saved literally minutes before she was scheduled to die.

It was a Thursday when I agreed to take Amelia.  I figured I'd have to wait at least a week or more to see her, but she was already vetted since she was adopted and had already been fixed, so Amelia was ready to make her journey and we squeezed her last minute onto our transport heading to New York, from Kentucky, that Friday evening. 

On Saturday morning when she arrived, that beautiful little face beamed up at me and my heart melted.  As fate would have it, Serena was adopted that day and little Amelia came home with me.  It was one of the most flawless dog introductions we've ever had in our house.  Corbin loved her off the bat and they were sharing a dog bed as soon as that night.

The thought in my head the day I was texted her picture is the same thought I've had week after week of no interest in adopting her... How in the world can anyone refuse this beautiful face? This sweet soul?  This perfect dog?!  Everyone who meets her, loves her.  But, everyone has their reasons about why they can't adopt her.  There was one family interested, but living with another dominate female wouldn't work with Amelia.  Other than that?  No one.  8 weeks and not 1 single application.  Not 1 single person coming to see her.  Not 1 single email inquiring on her adorableness.  I've never had that happen before, with any of my foster dogs.

So, in the next few weeks, we will be seriously weighing the pros and cons of how a second dog will fit into our life, if we're the best place for Amelia to live forever and if it's the best decision for all parties involved to keep her.  We know Amelia and Corbin have made up their minds, they're just waiting for me and foster dad to follow suit. 

Perhaps her journey to find me was the last journey she was to go on without me.  Perhaps I didn't come into her life to save her, but she came into mine to save me.  Perhaps, she made her way to me to be my dog, Corbin's sister, and live her life in the safety of our home. Oh, Amelia... where shall your journey continue?

Amelia's first pet store experiece!

Amelia had her first adventure to Petsmart yesterday!  You see, we needed to get our nails clipped and the momma usually brings us to PetCo, but when we got to PetCo, the Grooming area was closed!  They didn't have anyone to work it that night, so it closed early.  So, since we were both in the car and the momma had all of our paperwork, she decided we'd just go to Petsmart.

 

Let's go already!

 

The momma left the air conditioned car running while she left us in the car and ran into the store to make sure they weren't super busy and had time to trim up our nails.  No pooches were in the grooming place, so the lady was glad to help us out!  So, the momma went out to the car and grabbed me and Amelia and in the store we went.  But, the momma and I were walking when all the sudden she leash pulled in the other direction.

 

It was Amelia... pancaked on the floor.  She wasn't moving anywhere for anything.  The nice grooming lady came out and said she would take me back for my nail clip and we could work with Amelia easier.  So, off I went with the nice grooming lady and the momma and two of the workers managed to get Amelia half way through the store, but that was it, she wasn't going any further.  So, the momma carried her the rest of the way.  She was a rockstar for her nail clipping though!  And, as soon as she knew we were leaving the store, she walked around like a rockstar!  And, even got recognized as the dog in the tutu from Homeward Bound!

 

Yep, that's my tutu wearing foster sister!

 

It was quite the adventure that the momma wasn't quite prepared for, but it all worked out okay and Amelia got lots of my yummy special nail clipping treats for being such a brave girl!  I think more Pet Store adventures are in Amelia's future so she can get more comfortable with them.

 

She slept and slept and slept when we got home!

Orijen Freeze-Dried treat review!

I was so excited when I received an email from Chewy.com asking me if I would do a review for them.  I explained that the Corbin's belly doesn't like chicken and tolerates beef, but isn't the biggest fan of that either.  So, if they had a cool product without chickens and cows, I'd  be all for it!

 

Send the yummies!

 

The momma was surprised with how quickly the package came.  I, however, was not surprised and reminded the momma that Chewy.com is know for it's quick, reliable deliveries!

 

We love Chewy.com because they carry all the brands we love, including my every day dog food, which is Natural Balance: Sweet Potato and Fish.  And, when the momma is in all sorts of hurries, she can just place the order and know my food will be waiting at the front door in a day or so!

 

This package here says CORBIN on it. And, it's way too

small to be the Corbin's food delivery.

 

No worries... I'll open it!

 

Inside the box was a bag of Orijen Brome Lake Duck Singles Freeze-Dried Dog treats.  I was very excited to see that Chewy.com listened to my food allergies and sent me treats without any chicken or beef in the ingredients!  In fact, these treats only have TWO ingredients, which made the momma very happy.  It's made completely out of 100% boneless duck and duck liver. 

 

Um, these smell really good.

 

STOP WASTING TIME! GIVE ME THE TREATS!

 

These treats are preservative-free, another thing that made the momma happy.  And, they're only 7 calories per treat, so I can have some yummies and keep my manly figure.  Now, I bet you're all wondering how they tasted and if that passed the Corbin taste test...

 

They're a perfect size for training treats...

 

And, they smell FANTASTIC!

 

Here we go!

 

And, the result of my taste testing???

 

Drum roll, please......

 

These Orijen Broome Lake Duck Singles Freeze Dried treats

get Corbin's jowl lickin' stamp of approval!

 

Foster Sister Amelia was excited to try her paw in taste testing too!

 

You can see the excitement in her eyes, but she still took the treat

ever so gently from the momma's fingers!

 

Jowl lickin' good!

 

More, please, momma!

 

All in all, Orijen Brome Lake Duck Singles Freeze Dried treats get 8 paws up from me and Amelia and two thumbs up from the momma!  We didn't have upset bellies and I went through every command I knew to get more of those yummy treats! 

 

Visit Chewy.com to order yours now!

 

 

**We received 1 2-oz bag of Orijen Brome Lake Duck Singles Freeze-Dried Dog Treats in return for our honest review.  Corbin's views are based on taste buds, and taste buds only!  The momma's views are based on the Corbin's taste buds and nutritional value for the Corbin's health.

Foster Friday: Mila

Amelia here! 

 

But, I'm not blogging for long today.  I have decided to take the day off and relax.  I've been around long enough and I've had many "Foster Friday's" to tell you all about myself.  So, today, I'm going to give up my spot light for a friend of mine.  Her name is Mila and she's also available for adoption, just like me!  So, without further hesitation... here's Mila!

 

Hiya!!!!!  My name is Mila.

 

I'm a 11 month old Beagle mix gal and I've been looking for my forever home for way too long!  Now, don't get me wrong, I do so love my foster home, but I'd really love a home of my own.  I don't quite know why I've missed out on the adoptions, but I'm pretty sure I'm just the perfect doggie for someone out there!  Would you like to know a little bit more about me?

 

Grade A+++ snuggles!

 

I may be a beagle, and I have many beagle traits... however, beagle barking isn't one of them!  Nope, I'm not much of a barker at all.  I do love a good snuggle though!  I'm really good when it comes to snuggling and I snuggle foster mom so well, sometimes she doesn't even want to get out of bed and leave my snuggles!  I even snuggle with my canine foster sister.

 

Foster mom has taught me a lot!

 

I am house trained, foster mom worked really hard on that one, but I've totally got the hang of it now!  And, I'm in a crate when foster mom goes to work.  That took me a while to get used to, too, but it's all hunky-dory now and I don't mind going in there at all!  I get along great with my foster sister, and I get along with most dogs I meet.  Sometimes, though, they get all up in my face before I've had a chance to get to know them, and I'm not a big fan of that.  But, please don't mistake my love for my personal space as me not liking other dogs.  I just need a bit of time to get to know them before I get all lovey dovey with them.  No harm in that, right?

 

Rub, rub, rub my belly, Rub it every day,

Mila, Mila, Mila, Mila, loves her belly rubbed...

 

While it might take me a few minutes to get acquainted with other dogs, let me tell you how much I LOVE people!  I haven't met a stranger yet, and, if they have belly rubs to give, I'll be in my glory for as long as those belly rubs are offered!  I almost love belly rubs as much as snuggles.  I also like treats, and I'm very food motivated and very smart.  My smarts sometimes out smart foster mom, but I just like to remind her that she has toes... so I keep her on those toes!  I am, after all, just a pup!

 

This is me helping put in my new fenced area at foster mom's!

 

I'm a great helper, and I'd love to help you do many things!  I do love my walks, and now that foster mom got me an easy walk harness, our walks are great!  I'm also a great helper if you drop some foods on the floor, I'd be super glad to pick those up for you so you don't have to bend over to pick them up.  I'm a great heater too, for those cold, chilly nights... I'll gladly keep you nice and toasty warm!  Are you sad, or in a bad mood?  No worries, I'm an expert at making you laugh and snuggling away all of your worries.

 

Snuggle giver extraordinaire!

 

So, that's me, Mila!  I'd really love to find my forever home, and it would be fantastic for me to go to someone who's willing to continue working with me on my manners and training!  And snuggles!  Snuggles are never perfected, and therefor, always need to be practiced!

 

So, do you know someone looking for a great gal like me?  If so, send them over to Homeward Bound and have them fill out an application!

Decision making

So, our cool friends over at Love and a Six Foot Leash are having a super fun photo contest for a giveaway they're hosting!  You have to submit the best photo of you nomming on some goodies.  Now, as soon as we saw this, the YingYang picture of me and Sophie came to mind!  But, these pictures have to be taken specifically for this cool contest.  So, this week, since the momma left me for what seemed like years, I got some yummy noms to make up for her absence and to take some pictures for this contest.  The only problem is, now I'm not sure which picture I want to submit! 

 

Will you help me?

 

First Amelia and I got to share some icey creams.

 

Picture #1

 

Picture #2

 

Picture #3

 

Picture #4

 

Then we got some yummy Ducky Jerkey

 

Picture #5

 

And, finally, last night, we indulged in some amazing bully sticks!  Regardless of what the photo looks like, we each got our own!

 

Picture #6

 

So, which picture do YOU like best?