An Award From Psychology Degree Online Schools

Dogs Are The Sunshine Of My Life

I went through my e-mails deleting old messages and realized I had missed this particular one. My blog was awarded a badge as an essential resource for widows by Psychology Degree, an online web that helps people decide on careers in psychology. I was added to their list of blogs for widows/widowers.

I then came back and looked at my blog and had to smile. So many dog faces staring back at me! But then love is a great healing tool and dogs give unconditional love. I have that times six with my silly pack of hounds.

I do have an odd little blog on being a widow. But I think that my love of dogs, my heart open to life around me and my faith to move forward is certainly sprawled all over these posts. The same energy can be found in my book, The Unfaithful Widow! You can check it out on my web http://www.barbarabarth.net/.

Thank you, Psychology Degree for including me. Maybe someone will link to my blog that needs a warm hug and a sweet kiss and will be inspired to go to their local shelter to adopt a dog. As much as we are lost when a loved one is gone, there are lost dogs that can help mend a broken heart.

I am honored to be included in your list! Thank you!

My First Attempt At Making A YouTube Video With My New Flip Camera

It's raining cats and dogs and the dogs are nestled in their quilts. I just opened my new flip camera and did a test run with my dogs. They were totally unimpressed. When I get this down to a science get ready for some dog stars to emerge!

The Rich Rewards Of Fostering Dogs, Patti Foy, Part 2 of 2

Tonight we finish our discussion with Patti Foy on how to foster a dog. (Part one can be seen right below this post). Patti's information on fostering a dog is great.

I am not sure how many people think of going this route, but it is a wonderful way to help a dog in need, while you open your heart to the love of an animal who will have a real life again because of you.)

Thanks Patti for the time you took to share this information with all of us! Barbara


The Least You Need to Know


There's a lot of skill and knowledge you can develop as you gain experience with fostering, and that will come with time. But really it's pretty straight-forward. At the very least, here's what I suggest:

You are agreeing to provide a safe environment with food, shelter, exercise, and some amount of socializing, so make sure you can do that. It's important that you and your family are all in agreement on this.

Mostly though? They just need lots of love.

It's not required but it does help if you already have some experience with dogs.

Also, an eagerness to learn more about them and how to work with them is a big plus. This makes it a much richer experience for everyone involved.

The shelter will help you find a good fit between your situation and the right dog.

There are lots of things to consider when making a match, but for example, you don't want a puppy if you can't be up during the night sometimes. You don't want a dog that intimidates you or is known to be unpredictable if you are not an experienced dog handler. Use your common sense to make sure you are not putting yourself or your family -- or the dog, for that matter -- in harm's way.

Note that some shelters provide more assistance and training than others.

The reality is, most rescue groups and many shelters are run by volunteers. They are overworked and not always as organized as they would like. You may or may not get much help from them about what to expect or how to handle tricky situations. This isn't ideal, but it's sometimes the reality.

Still, they are your first resource and if nothing else they can help you get answers and guidance.


If You Want to Know More

Information's pretty easy to come by nowadays with the internet so accessible. Here are a few of the better websites I found that provide great information if you want to look into being a foster parent.

Informative article on what's required, what to expect, and how to find a dog to foster. Includes videos!

http://dogs.thefuntimesguide.com/2010/10/dog_foster.php

How to successfully foster dogs and puppies - This is a helpful article about some of the details, with 5 links to similar articles at the bottom.


http://www.helium.com/items/908808-how-to-successfully-foster-dogs-and-puppies

Short article with some good tips about finding a rescue group or shelter to foster for, preparing to foster, and then working with that organization.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4525684_guardian-animals-dogs-cats-pets.html

Comprehensive Foster Dog Manual (PDF) from the Seattle Animal Shelter. 49 excellent pages. It's specific to the Seattle shelter but most of it can be applied anywhere.

http://www.aspcapro.org/mydocuments/seattle-animal-shelter-foster-1.pdf


And don't forget to ask your local shelter for information too. The bigger ones, especially, can be a wealth of information.

Begin Where You Are

So as you see, there's actually a lot you can know about fostering, but the good news is you don't have to know it all to begin.

Fostering is a lot like life in that it's a process of discovery. You may be more talented at helping dogs than you imagine, even if you have no experience. Just as with anything, we start with small steps and learn as we go.

If you have even an inkling you might like to do this, there's no reason at all not to proceed and see if you can find a good match. And if you are able to give it a try, I just know you'll be glad you did.

If you have any fostering stories, we'd all love to hear them. Or do you have questions? Tips or pointers? Please do share!

BIO: Patti Foy is a blogger at http://www.lightspiritedbeing.com/ where she writes about discovering our true selves and shining our light, along with offering her services that can help us do that. She lives a simple, natural life in the high desert of New Mexico with her husband and two dogs, where she enjoys writing and being connected to nature and animals.

On a personal note; my favorite rescue is Animal Action Rescue Atlanta, they have a great selection of dogs and are always looking for foster 'moms".

http://www.animalactionrescue.org/

 Fostering may be just the anwer you've been looking for. Do a great dead, give a great dog a home!



  



The Rich Rewards of Fostering Dogs: Patti Foy Part 1 of 2

 Part 1 of 2: Come back tomorrow and visit with Patti!

Patti Foy, Author

 Patti Foy is a blogger at Light Spirited Being where she writes about discovering our true selves and shining our light, along with offering her services that can help us do that. She lives a simple, natural life in the high desert of New Mexico with her husband and two dogs, where she enjoys writing and being connected to nature and animals.


I asked Patti to talk about fostering dogs. I am a keeper type, if a dog comes in my house it stays. But fostering dogs is a wonderful way to share your love and help a dog find its forever home. Read below and see if fostering might be just the ticket for you! Barbara

The Rich Rewards Of Fostering Dogs (Part 1 of 2)

Are you aware that just around the corner from you are a zillion little opportunities to enrich your life? Okay, maybe not a zillion. But however many dogs are in your neighborhood shelter? That many.


My life, for one, has been deeply enriched by the wonderful experience of fostering rescue dogs.


Seven years ago, we unexpectedly lost our 6-year old lab to cancer. We were all so sad, our remaining dog included. My husband and I knew we would want another dog at some point, yet we weren't ready to even consider adopting so soon. Our pain was still raw and we needed more time.


I was almost sick with grief, and as it turned out, fostering proved to be a most potent medicine. It gave me a deep sense of purposefulness along with spontaneous bursts of joy and laughter, which I needed then, almost as much as I needed air. And although it did have its challenges, I'm positive it played a significant role in my ultimate healing.


I'd been involved with a local rescue group, which I had helped found, and as luck would have it, they called one day to see if we might be able to foster a pup for them. We'd never fostered before and weren't so sure how it would work out, but after some thought, we decided to give it a try.

Kelsey, our first foster

And from that point on, we were hooked.


We spent that whole next year fostering dogs, about 10 in all. One of them was one we found ourselves, abandoned and terrified. (We live in a remote rural area where people from the city bring dogs to dump them.) She was a young black and white pointer with pink markings around her nose, whom we called Rosie. She was the sweetest thing, and so exhausted that first day that she kept falling asleep even while standing up.

Rosie

The only reason we stopped fostering is because we finally adopted another dog (a 4-year old lab mix, from the shelter) and no longer had the extra space to do a foster dog justice.


But I often think that when the powers that be are smiling upon me just right, I will be blessed enough to get to foster again.

The Rewards of Fostering

It was my experience that the entire fostering process was rewarding and the dogs themselves were such a joy. Here are just a few of the rewards you can expect:

You're likely saving the dog's life. This is extremely satisfying.

If dogs aren't socialized and able to fit seamlessly into a family, they just don't get adopted (or they get returned to the shelter) and are too commonly euthenized. You provide that priceless TLC that helps them adapt to a new home.       

You get to help that dog be happy for awhile.

Most of the dogs in shelters are traumatized. Any bits of love you have to spare are not only appreciated but returned ten-fold.

You get to experience that dog's unique personality.

This is just plain fun. They're such characters and enormously uplifting.

Your heart will be opened.

It just happens -- guaranteed. And when you have an open heart, you can love more deeply and more fully. And not just the dog, but everyone and anyone in your life, even yourself. It helps your natural kindness and compassion blossom, and it feels wonderful!

It's healing, for you and the dog.         

I think the benefits to the dog go without saying. But like with me, if you or a family member have been through something that's left you broken, the fostering experience can go a long way toward helping you feel whole again.

You are helping train the dog and that helps in its placement.

Even though a lot of training is straightforward, the dog has a much better chance of being adopted and to a wider range of adopters if it's already trained at least in the basics such as being house-broken, staying put through the night, not pulling on the leash, etc.

You get to know the dog and your input helps in finding a matching home. 

Knowing what the dog's capable of as well as its personality is a surprisingly big help in matching it to the right owner(s) and helping guarantee they will keep it.

You get to see the dog go to a permanent home.

It may take a little while but invariably that dog will get adopted. It's a red letter day and you will barely be able to keep your feet on the ground. A happy day, all around.

It's temporary. 

Unlike adopting, it doesn't require a 10-25 year long commitment. It's usually anywhere from a week to a few months, sometimes longer. And then if you want another, there's no shortage.

                

The Challenges of Fostering

I personally think the rewards far outweigh the challenges, but it helps to know ahead of time that it's not a complete cake-walk. Here are a few things to be aware of.

You need to make a commitment and work through issues.
These dogs need as little disruption as possible, so you want to foster one you know you can keep until it's placed. Work with the shelter to find a good match for you.


It can be disruptive and time-consuming.
Even at its best, fostering's going to make a few waves in your typical daily schedule. It's very satisfying but it does require some adjustment.


Sometimes foster dogs need to be taken to the vet, and they almost always need training of some sort. Even when the dog is healthy, well-behaved, and non-demanding, you'll still want to spend quite a bit of time with them.


There's a chance that some of your things may get damaged.
Usually dogs learn amazingly quickly and you'll both benefit by whatever training you can provide. In the meantime, though, it's common for something or another to get damaged. Chewed hoses, dug up flower beds, pee'd upon carpets.


In most of my cases, there was none of this, but it's always best to expect it might happen.

There may be issues between/among "family members".
You do what you can up-front to make sure everyone will get along (people and other pets included) but every now and then there's a surprise. This is why everyone needs to be on board ahead of time. Be prepared to get creative.


It's temporary.
This is listed under the positives too, but it's a double-edged sword. Letting go can sometimes be hard. Still, it's a bittersweet sorrow, and so worth it.

Come back tomorrow eve for Part 2 of Patti's article!

Doughnuts For Thanksgiving? Krispy Kreme In Atlanta.

An early 1900's postcard with a girl eating doughnuts for Thanksgiving. Do you suppose they were Krispy Kremes?

I came across this old postcard tonight and had a laugh. Who puts doughnuts on Thanksgiving cards? What was on the mind of this artist so many years ago? But looking at that plate of doughnuts put something on my mind alrighty. Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

A little doughnut history.

The founder, Vernon Rudolph, worked for his uncle who purchased a secret recipe for yeast-raised doughnuts with a glazed coating, and a shop on Broad Street in Paducah, Kentucky, from Joseph LeBeouf of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Rudolph began selling yeast doughtnuts in Paducah and delviered them on his bike. The other family members joined in to meet the customer demand when the operations was moved to Nashville, Tennessee. The first store in the nation with the Krispy Kreme name opened on Charlotte Pike in 1933.

A visit to the Krispy Kreme web is a mouth watering treat. 

In Atlanta, visit Krispy Kreme at 295 Ponce De Leon Ave NE. When their "Hot Doughnuts" sign is lit - stop and pull in for a box of mouth watering glazed delights that melt in your mouth. One is never enough, two is good, three is better, and then who can stop?

I think I'll skip the pumpkin pie this year. I'm thinking Krispy Kreme, thanks to a post card of a lady eating doughnuts, on a Thanksgiving so long ago.

Wishing You  A Thanksgiving That Is Warm And Full Of Love.

Widow Lesson Learned:  When eating doughnuts it is sometimes best to do it alone. It is hard to explain how a dozen disappeared so quickly.

Meet Hank - And Welcome Guest Blogger Beverly Olsen

Beverly and friend

Beverly Olsen is a writer on Skirt's online magazine and a volunteer at a  no-kill shelter, Our Pal's Place, in Marietta, Georgia. I've borrowed her post from Skirt and reprinted it here.

Hank, a grand old dog that could use a home, speaks in her post. Beware there is talk about putting dogs down, but good news on changes in the law.

My name is Hank. I’m an overweight, middle-aged guy; but, the ladies say I have soulful eyes. I want to tell you about my current home. The house I live in at the moment is an old ranch that’s not in the best shape. I don’t mind, though because my space is under a great air conditioner and I have a comfortable bed. I get fed twice a day and get to go outside four times a day. It’s a pretty good set-up. The people who care for me are great! They really care about me and the others who live here. Our medical needs are taken care of and we are well fed. This place is meant to be a way- station, a layover, on the way to a new life for each of us.

The director of the facility where I live gives her heart and soul to this place everyday. It’s something called a 501-3C, which means that none of the great volunteers that work here make any money. They care for us because they love us. The director is the kindest, hardest working woman that I have ever known. She literally saved my life more than once! She saves multiple lives every month.

I asked a friend of mine to write this for me. Times have been tough this year since all the home foreclosures and we are busting at the seams here at Our Pal’s Place. The house is an old 1950’s ranch that could really use an “extreme home makeover.” It needs new plumbing, wiring and HVAC (whatever that is-my benefactor told me to put that in here). Last year there was a plumbing leak that got alot of the support beams wet and pretty well rusted out the central A/C. We stay cool with small window air conditioners. They are duct taped into the old windows which themselves are falling apart.

Now I’m not complaining because if I wasn’t here, I would be dead. That’s right DRT (Dead Right There). I would have met my fate with the gas chamber about 3 years ago. I know what you’re thinking, “What gas chambers? The United States doesn’t use gas chambers for execution. That was the Nazis in Germany.”

Well, guess what my kind have been murdered in your state for years in this brutal fashion. This year something wonderful happened. Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue has announced that he has signed HB 788 into law! This means by January 1, 2011, no county or city in the state can use carbon monoxide gas chambers to kill shelter animals.

Yep, I’m a dog or canine citizen as I prefer to be called. Here’s my latest photo!

Hank

I want to personally invite you to come visit me. I won’t lie, I am asking for your help. My dream is to raise enough money to build a new facility, so that we can save even more lives and expand our education program. We are in a great location and have enough land to expand. We need someone who has the financial resources to donate or to help in a major fundraising effort. If my little story has sparked your interest, please contact my human friend Beverly Olsen at beverlyo@bellsouth.net.

Thanks, Hank

 visit

Saturday Night Rumble!

SmackDown Superstars!

Are you ready?

How can we rumble? Everyone but me is sleeping.



Psst. I've got an idea.

The crowd starts to liven up

Well, a smackdown of sorts

Widow Lesson Learned: Sometimes your Saturday nights are quieter than expected. But it's always a party with a pack of dogs a snuggling.

Who has the popcorn?