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Josephine: Notes on a foster failure

Josephine first came to our attention when the Humane Society of Jefferson County posted an urgent plea for rescue or foster of a female beagle mix who was so terrified by the “shelter” environment that she was at risk. My wife, Marie, decided we needed to help this poor thing. After some communication through Facebook, we drove out to pick her up for fostering.

Age: Approximately 9 months (as of May 2017).

History: Picked up as a stray by Animal Control in April. She was terrified of everything. The shelter environment only made that worse. She was placed into foster care to give her a peaceful environment and to work on her fear issues.

Health: Initially, her health was quite poor: the vet wasn’t sure she would survive. By the time she came here her health was much improved except for a fungal skin condition brought on by anxiety, which is being treated. She has been spayed, wormed, and is current on vaccinations.

Personality: Once she calmed down she has become a playful, spunky, silly, lovable girl. She craves attention (loves a gentle belly rub) and seeks it from people she trusts. Josie is friendly and playful with all of our dogs, even those 3 times her size! She is fearless and open with all of them.

Charlie & Joey Steele: Foster dog notes

This is a foster dog diary post. New information will be added to the end of this post so all info is kept in one place and in chronological order.

Last Updated: March 27, 2017

Charlie and Joey’s History

Charlie
Charlie

My name is Charlie and I have a story to tell you.

My brother, Joey, and I are young: not even 8 months old. I lived in a pen with two male dogs, one of them my brother.

We didn’t have food bowls. The people who took care of us threw food on the ground for us to compete over. We had minimal shelter and our bellies hurt because we had worms. Nobody gave us any love and little attention. They only looked at us from far away. They never opened the pen or cleaned it. Some would say it was disgusting, but it was all we had known.

Spencer Steele: Notes on a rescue dog

This is a foster dog diary post. Updates will be added to the end of this post rather than as a myriad of separate posts so all information on Spencer is right here and in chronological order. This should help potential adopters and rescues easily learn about this dog.

Last updated: February 20, 2017

SpencerSpencer Steele is a black Labrador mix. Mixed with what is unknown: Mastiff? Bear? Clydesdale? Something big and sturdy!

He is 8 to 10 months old right now. We have been told he is active. Maybe too active. That makes him hard to handle. That makes him unadoptable. So he’s coming to Piney Mountain for a little behavioral modification.

Spencer’s Background

Buster-Bob: Foster Dog

Buster-Bob is a sweet fellow, not the brightest bulb in the box, but a really sweet fellow who wanted to please.

The following is a list of articles that mention Buster Bob.  All other information was, unfortunately, lost in a shipping accident as we moved this web site.

Home Page

Piney Mountain Foster Care is a small, all volunteer, non-profit kennel facility located on 4 acres of mountainside property in Edwina Tennessee. We got our start in 2012 by caring for dogs going through heartworm treatment.  We still do this and other medical care.  We also work with dogs with behavioral issues.  But we are […]

More About Doug

Allan Douglas Allan Douglas was the pen name used by Douglas Allan Bittinger as a freelance writer in writing newspaper & magazine articles and web content on a variety of subjects from woodworking, to computers, from parenting to robotics. There are few topics that he could not write about. He went on to write several […]

Shorty Wants Dibs

Normally in the mornings, Buster-Bob likes to go outside for a long sniff-n-pee session. Early mornings ARE especially pleasant because they are cool, and calm, and there are no bugs buzzing around. Most of us like going out in the early mornings. Blondie does not because the grass is wet. She’s fussy about her feet. […]

Rock Washer

Cogdill has spent almost all day out in the big play yard playing with Buster-Bob. HairyFace and Blondie were out there too. This morning HairyFace was rearranging dirt, this afternoon he was — get this — WASHING ROCKS! Hairy has been doing a lot of work on the dog pens. Some of what he’s done […]

Revolution In the Air of Camp Canine

NiceLady had to go to a meeting after work tonight. It is running long and she is very late. We are hungry. HairyFace fed Buster-Bob on time because he’s not a house dog. House dogs have to wait until the Peoples eat … and we are hungry. Blondie Bear and Cogdill have had their heads […]

Cogdill Steele: Foster Dog

Cogdill was a sweet Staffy.  A little mischievous, but overall a good boy. He completed our program and went off to be adopted.  All other details have been lost as we’ve shuffled this web site around over the years.  These articles mention Cogdill: Search Results for: Cogdil Oh, That Blondie! Posted on: May 21, 2015 […]

Lupa: Foster Dog

Lupa is a loopy little gal, but quite sweet and compliant.  She loves to run and play, but she learned to be a good house dog quickly and went on to be adopted after she was healed.

10 Tips For Crate Training Your Dog

Originally published November 21, 2014 When used properly, crate training provides you and your dog with multiple benefits. For you it provides a simple, effective means of restricting your dog when you cannot provide close supervision. If your dog is an explorer, he may get into things that will harm him. If she’s a chewer, […]

Blondie Bear: Escape Artist

Originally published Nov. 29, 2014 A report from Cochise on Blondie Bear: The day after Thanksgiving, there was great excitement in the neighborhood: a UPS truck was parked out front AND a stray dog was running up and down the road all at the same time! Smokey and Lupa were barking and carrying on, other […]

The New Chewie

Cochise and Blondie were adopted years ago and are full time members of our family who live in our home. They are very good dogs. So good that we give them toys and chewies to occupy them when they are inside (and not sleeping). Blondie has a whole basket of them on the fireplace hearth. […]

Cochise’s Monster

It was November 1st. Yesterday’s rain had turned to snow: we had a couple of inches on the ground when I got up just before 5:00. Normally Cochise gets up when I do and comes out to keep me company in the living room where I will study for an hour or so. Not today. […]

Still in Infirmary Mode

It is chilly and rainy today: a great day to stay in, snuggle up, and light a little fire in the fireplace … just to take the chill off. We are still in infirmary mode: NiceLady is doing a little better but still feeling pretty poorly, so Blondie and I are taking care of her. […]

Smokey Eunuch: Foster Notes

Smokey is a sweet playful fellow with markings like an Orca whale. Unfortunately all but this photo and all the details on his stay with us crashed and burned as we flew them through cyberspace to relocate them. These articles mention Smokey and survived the move: Search Results for: Smokey Dog Bath Day: When and […]

Home Page

Piney Mountain Foster Care is a small, all volunteer, non-profit kennel facility located on 4 acres of mountainside property in Edwina Tennessee. We got our start in 2012 by caring for dogs going through heartworm treatment.  We still do this and other medical care.  We also work with dogs with behavioral issues.  But we are […]

Babe: Foster Dog

Babe is a doll-face of a dog.  A cattle dog, she is highly energetic, but rarely hurtful.  She can jump higher than any dog I’ve come across, Babe the Amazing Flying Dog!

Bye, Bye, Babes

One of our current foster dogs has gone out to seek her fortunes in the world. Babes, a 48 pound cattle dog has been staying with us for treatment of heart worms, but she is fully recovered and healthy once again. Babes is bright, energetic and playful. But she also likes to curl up and […]

Spencer Steele: Notes on a rescue dog

This is a foster dog diary post. Updates will be added to the end of this post rather than as a myriad of separate posts so all information on Spencer is right here and in chronological order. This should help potential adopters and rescues easily learn about this dog. Last updated: February 20, 2017 Spencer […]

Dogs and Weather

After seeing Marie off to work I left Blondie Bear and Cochise on guard at the house while I went to spend some time with Babes and Smokey, our foster dogs. After that I went to do the daily gardening chores. There wasn’t much of that to do and it didn’t take long. When I […]

Smokey Eunuch: Foster Notes

Smokey is a sweet playful fellow with markings like an Orca whale. Unfortunately all but this photo and all the details on his stay with us crashed and burned as we flew them through cyberspace to relocate them. These articles mention Smokey and survived the move: Search Results for: Smokey Dog Bath Day: When and […]

Home Page

Piney Mountain Foster Care is a small, all volunteer, non-profit kennel facility located on 4 acres of mountainside property in Edwina Tennessee. We got our start in 2012 by caring for dogs going through heartworm treatment.  We still do this and other medical care.  We also work with dogs with behavioral issues.  But we are […]

Smokey Eunuch: Foster Notes

Smokey is a sweet playful fellow with markings like an Orca whale.

Unfortunately all but this photo and all the details on his stay with us crashed and burned as we flew them through cyberspace to relocate them.

These articles mention Smokey and survived the move:

Dog Bath Day: When and How to Wash Dogs

Originally published on Apr 16, 2014 This was supposed to have been MEGA DOG BATH DAY here at Piney Mountain Foster Care. What I mean is that all 5 dogs, ranging from 50 pounds to 85 pounds, would be getting a trip through The Dog Wash. That being the bathtub I left in place when […]

Blondie Bear: Escape Artist

Originally published Nov. 29, 2014 A report from Cochise on Blondie Bear: The day after Thanksgiving, there was great excitement in the neighborhood: a UPS truck was parked out front AND a stray dog was running up and down the road all at the same time! Smokey and Lupa were barking and carrying on, other […]

Dog Park Update

For the past three days we have been hosting an installation crew from Stanley Fencing Inc. in Sevierville TN. In a previous post I described what we hoped to do and asked for help with the cost: we just didn’t have enough to cover the cost – and we want to get it done before […]

Still in Infirmary Mode

It is chilly and rainy today: a great day to stay in, snuggle up, and light a little fire in the fireplace … just to take the chill off. We are still in infirmary mode: NiceLady is doing a little better but still feeling pretty poorly, so Blondie and I are taking care of her. […]

Drake’s Farewell Party

Hi, Cochise here. It was Drake’s last night with us, he was leaving on the Rolling Rescue trip to New Jersey the next day. NiceLady wanted to do something special for his last night: a farewell party, so she stopped off at a Dollar store and bought a box of glow-bracelets and some little LED, […]

Windy Play Day

We all had a good play time this morning. I was running with The Boys: that made HairyFace happy. He wants me to do more running. It’s part of my job to be Playground Monitor, so when they’d start getting too rowdy I’d come galloping by, practically side-swiping them, and get them to chase me. […]

Bye, Bye, Babes

One of our current foster dogs has gone out to seek her fortunes in the world. Babes, a 48 pound cattle dog has been staying with us for treatment of heart worms, but she is fully recovered and healthy once again. Babes is bright, energetic and playful. But she also likes to curl up and […]

Dogs and Weather

After seeing Marie off to work I left Blondie Bear and Cochise on guard at the house while I went to spend some time with Babes and Smokey, our foster dogs. After that I went to do the daily gardening chores. There wasn’t much of that to do and it didn’t take long. When I […]

Being a Shop Dog and Housebreaking

Housebreaking any dog, whether a puppy or an adult dog can be a trying phase of dog ownership. Housebreaking is more than just teaching them not to urinate or defecate in the house: there are also rules concerning destruction of household items and acceptable indoor behavior. Rules will vary from family to family and may […]

Postpartum Depression

  Kingsley and I took our last ride together this morning. Kingsley has lived with us for the past 3 months. Almost 3 months: tomorrow would have been his anniversary with us. During that time we helped cure him of a heartworm infestation and taught him “civilized” behavior. He was pretty unruly when he came […]

 

Malachi: Foster Dog

Malachi is an unusual dog.  Highly energetic, very talkative, and when he barks, he sounds like a turkey gobbling.  He’s so funny!

Speak! Do Dogs Talk? Understanding Dog-speak

Originally published Feb. 14, 2017 When us dogs talk, most of what we say is not said vocally. Some of what we say comes through body language: the position of our head and body, how we hold our ears, the shape of our eyes, things like that. But some of us are quite expressive vocally […]

More About Doug

Allan Douglas Allan Douglas was the pen name used by Douglas Allan Bittinger as a freelance writer in writing newspaper & magazine articles and web content on a variety of subjects from woodworking, to computers, from parenting to robotics. There are few topics that he could not write about. He went on to write several […]

Rhonda: Queen of the Hill

Having finished the weekly radio radio program I produce first thing every Monday, I took The Kids on a walk and went past the mailbox to send the program disk out to the radio station. Then we went up to the shop yard for some play time with Cheyanne and Rhonda. Cochise refused to go […]

Home Page

Piney Mountain Foster Care is a small, all volunteer, non-profit kennel facility located on 4 acres of mountainside property in Edwina Tennessee. We got our start in 2012 by caring for dogs going through heartworm treatment.  We still do this and other medical care.  We also work with dogs with behavioral issues.  But we are […]

Bella: Foster Dog

Bella is a sweetheart of a dog.  Gentle, cuddly, well behaved.

Unfortunately all the photos and adventures about Bella were posted to Facebook, so are long since gone.  She came before I started building foster dog pages, just writing Doggie Tales about their adventures, and some of those were published elsewhere, not on our web site.

Ruckus: Foster Dog

Ruckus lived up to his name: he liked to play hard with Cochise and was one of the few that could wear out The Chief.  No information has survived the years since he was here.