About our WAGS dogs

I don't think I've said anything lately about our foster dogs. I know I talked last year about Murphy, the black lab. We got him in Sept and he was ready to be placed in Nov. What a dream dog!!! What was really cool about Murphy was that he was placed with a girl, Sarah, who lives in the next town over, so we got to visit often, and we had a few play dates even once the transition time was over. Plus, she and Danny will both be going to the same school this fall!!! Way cool. Here is a picture of Murphy, in case you forgot.


He was such a cute dog, and soooo easily trained. His main job is as a retrieval dog; his girl is in a wheelchair and he goes everywhere with her - even to school! The only thing was, he would let out these HUGE stinky toots. UGH! Well, once he was placed his new family could decide what they wanted to feed him, and it turned out it was the food that was the problem.

The next dog we got, Rudy (a yellow lab/golden mix) did not have the same problem, because he was on a different food. Rudy was a very unique dog. He was 10 mos when he moved in, and totally puppy-brained. He was so spastic, jumping and running around. He would chew his toys into tiny little pieces, and constantly stole papers out of the garbage pails. Even though we liked to call him a freaky dog, he did grow on us.





Here is a picture of C with Rudy - say what he will, it was obvious they bonded!













After Rudy turned 1 yo, he calmed down a lot. He is very good with kids, as you can see from this picture of him with my nephews. They were dressing him up to be a rock star - can you see the headset? He kept chewing on the mike, but who can blame him? It was practically in his mouth anyway!




After his time was up with us (dogs are only supposed to be fostered with a family for 6 months at a time so they don't get too bonded), he spent a short amount of time in a prison training program (we kept joking that he was sent up to the big house!). He has since been placed with a family where he fits in really well. Since he wasn't placed from our home, I never got to meet his family, and I don't know anything about them.


Here is the dog we have now, Archie, a purebred Golden Retriever.


He was 8 months when we got him in the beginning of the summer, so I guess he's almost 10 mos now. He's a cutie, but an even worse chewer than Rudy, in that he too destroys his toys but he also likes to steal things, especially shoes. He's ruined my flip-flops and a pair of D's slides, plus uncounted socks. He'll take any stuffed animal he finds unattended, but he hasn't chewed any - yet. He'll come to one of us and show us that he has it, and usually he'll give it up right away when told to. He's much more reluctant to give up the socks, though. And, anything he brings is always drenched in dog spit. Yuck! Archie will not have any specific skills; he will be what is called a skilled companion, which means he'll be trained to be well behaved in public, and able to go anywhere with his child (he has been assigned to a girl, I think, but I don't know anything about her yet).

When Archie first came he was still eating puppy food, but now he is switching over to BilJac, b/c the company has decided to sponsor WAGS4Kids, and is giving them all the food for free. And, what do you know, now Archie is letting out the worst gaseous clouds ever, easily rivaling Murphy in stink factor. I am glad that BilJac is sponsoring WAGS, and it's great they're donating food, but I don't think I'll ever buy any for my own dog, if I ever get one!

Archie still needs a lot of work. I try to take him out when I'm not going to be out for a long trip, and he does really well in McDs, but he has yet to go to the supermarket. I think with the kids being home during the summer, I'm not as able to focus on the training when we go out, and I get worn out too fast. Of course, training Murphy was so ridiculously easy, we were spoiled! Now that I have to actually work at it, it's hard! But hopefully I'm doing ok. I have taught him to lay down when people come to the door (rather than jump up on them or dance around them looking for attention), and he's learning to retrieve, too. He LOVES to play ball in the yard, and he is safe off his leash while he plays - something we couldn't do with Rudy.

Next month WAGS is having a big picnic for all the people involved in the org - foster families, dogs, disabled kids and their families, volunteers, everyone. I am really excited to go and see everyone, even the dogs/families I haven't met before; I have heard so much about them! Maybe I can put up more pics after the picnic.