Flame!

Flame relaxing after being neutered

 Flame is a 9 month old purebred Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Flame is also deaf! Flame has no idea that he is deaf. He plays with all of his friends (people and dogs) and is a happy-go-lucky dog. His name really should be Happy because his tail never stops wagging! He is learning hand signals for all of his obedience cues and catches on quickly. He knows 'sit' and 'touch' (he touches my hand) and we are working on 'down' and 'stay'. He is a very clever boy!

Flame is not technically a New Hope dog, but he is up for adoption through the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club of Canada's rescue.

Goose!

Goose is 4 months old. He is a sweet, funny little guy. He is a bit structurally lop-sided; his head tilts to the left! He is seeing a specialist and we are working on straightening him out. :)

He does not know that he looks a bit different. Goose is a completely normal, happy puppy.

New Puppies!

Robin

Goose

Ducky

New Hope Dog Rescue is working with the Saskatoon SPCA to re-home more dogs! We took a litter of 5 puppies off their hands. They are 4 months old... maybe sheltie/shepherd/collie crosses? Their names are Lark, Pigeon, Robin, Ducky and Goose. They are very typical, happy puppies. They are very social and friendly, and quiet little puppies. Just ADORABLE!

Spring

Sorry I haven't been posting as often, but Spring is just doing so well that there's not as much to say! Spring is becoming a "normal" dog. She plays at doggie daycare, she goes up to almost everyone she meets for scratches. She jumps into the car with excitement! She is just a lovely, quiet, little dog. She just wants to be with people now, and will follow you around the house. She LOVES being petted, and she LOVES going for walks! She is great at the off-leash park, and loves to chase gophers. Spring is definitely ready for her forever home. She will make someone an amazing, loyal friend.

Spring's recent breakthrough

 Spring finally decided today that Regan isn't scary anymore!!
She approached him on her own and let him pet her, even on top of the head!
Not once, but many times throughout the day, she has gone up to Regan for attention. She also doesn't run away every time he stands up, or walks towards her. YAY SPRING! What a good girl!  This just goes to show that sometimes a dog just needs TIME.

In the 5 weeks that we have had her, she has never approached Regan, and has only let him touch her a few times, and usually only because she happened to be sleeping nearby. :)

You are a patient man Regan. Thank you for your help in showing this beautiful dog how to trust again. Love you. :)

More Socialization

On Sunday, Spring came with Sparky and I to a sheep herding clinic (just to get out and socialize). She was such a good girl! She let everyone pet her, and she actually approached people to be petted. She even cuddled with her auntie Meghan for a little while. She was such a great little spectator! She just loves to be outside; the sun, and dirt, and fresh air just bring her to life! Though I thought she would be more interested in the sheep. The gophers were just way too exciting! She LOVES gophers!

Bath time!

Spring got her first bath today! She was NOT impressed! :)   But she was a trooper. I cut the mats out of her bum, so the poor dog has a terrible hair cut now (that I will try to fix once she's dry and not mad at me anymore). But she finally smells nice and will look super good once she's dry, and brushed out. Pictures to come.
Spring gets spayed tomorrow! So hopefully two traumatic days in a row won't set her back too far. But once she's spayed, she will be all ready to find her forever home.  Wish her luck!

Spring visits Sherbrooke

Spring visited Sherbrooke Community Center today just to go and socialize! She did amazing and walked in without me having to coax her. She walked right up to Tara (another New Hope foster mom and volunteer) and took treats from her and let Tara scratch her chin and rub her belly. 3 weeks ago I had to pick her up just to bring her inside a new building. She is coming along so well! She also walked into my parents house today with no issues; 2 weeks ago she spend the entire time on the landing and wouldn't come into the living room. Today she was in the kitchen waiting for food to be dropped, and lying in the living room and approaching my mom and dad for treats and scratches. What a good girl!!
Her favorite thing in the world is going for walks. She loves the dog park or even just a walk around the neighborhood. She has learned the sound of gophers and perks right up when she hears the squeak! She definitely turns in to a 'real dog' when gophers are around to be chased!

Good Day!

Spring had a good day today! She let me cut her nails and brush her more! Yay! she's finally starting to look like the pretty girl that she truly is. We also went to the dog park again and this time Spring got to go off leash. She did GREAT! She followed really well and played in the river with the other dogs. She had a blast! I have a house full of tired dogs now  :)
I think Spring will be ready for adoption as soon as I can find her the RIGHT home. She is such a doll. I will be calling to book her in for a spay hopefully next week. Then she'll be ready to go to her forever home. Whoever adopts this dog will be very, very lucky!
Oh, and next time we go to the park I will actually remember to bring my camera! :)

Spring -May 11

Spring let me brush her today! It took some coaxing and lots of cheese, but I got to brush her a little and trim the back of her legs! woo hoo! we're on our way to having a nice clean, well groomed border collie. I can't wait for the day that I can give her a bath and actually get her groomed up really well. She will be the prettiest little thing once she's nice and clean!
She is really enjoying her daily walks. Her tail is up and wagging the whole time and she is just a happy-go-lucky girl!
We are still working on getting her to trust other people. But she has approached a few people now for some attention, so she's getting better! She's such a good girl.  :)

Spring - May 5

Spring went to the dog park for the first time today! I'm kicking myself now that I didn't bring my camera. But, she did amazing! She was a bit unsure if a group of dogs came to sniff her, but once we got walking, her tail was up and she was happy and you wouldn't even know that she was timid! She stayed on leash (just in case), and she walks beautifully on leash. And she even tried to go and play a couple of times. The border collie comes out of her when dogs are running really fast - she definitely nipped Seamus's leg as he ran by! (he didn't even notice). She went up to a couple of people that we were walking with and sniffed them, and even let someone pet her.  :)
And she wasn't bothered at all by walking under the bridge with all of the traffic sounds above us; didn't even phase her. I was very proud!  It was a good day  :)

May 4

Spring came with me to the vet today just to go in and get some treats and get weighed and say hi. She did SO much better than last time. She let one of the techs pet her, and the vet was able to give her treats. She wagged her tail... it was great. She has come a long way! She is very attached to me, but still is not trusting of others, but we are hoping to change that slowly.

And good news...  we do NOT believe she is pregnant! She has only gained 0.3kg in the last 2 weeks, which would not be normal if she is indeed pregnant. As much as those would be very cute puppies, it is nice to know that we won't have another litter of puppies to re-home just yet. :)
Keep sending your positive vibes to Spring, and hopefully she will find her perfect forever home one day!

Spring update

Apr. 28/11 - Spring is such a sweetheart! I just adore her. We've spent the last week just staying at home and working on her confidence, as well as going for walks around the neighborhood. She is doing great! If you raise your voice towards her, or any of the other dogs, she will run away and lay down, but I can get her to come back to me easily now. She comes in and out of the house like all of the other dogs. She still enjoys spending a lot of time outside during the day, but she happily sleeps inside on her dog bed.

I FINALLY got a picture of her with her ears up! As soon as you point a camera at her, she usually tucks her tails and plasters her ears to her head. But I captured a moment of her just laying peacefully outside. Isn't she beautiful!?!

I also took this video of her playing with my other foster dog Boo. You will see at the end when she realizes that I'm pointing the camera at her that she gets up and goes to hide. But still, when I first got her, she just snarled at any dog that came into her space. So she's come a long way!!

Apr. 25

Updates of the day: Spring actually jumped up on me today!! She also licked me for the first time today! She is still a little unsure of Regan, but is starting to warm up to him too. She enjoys going for walks and is gaining confidence every day. She is still scared of anything unexpected, but as long as everyone stays calm and consistent, then she is fine. Going to try bringing her to new places this week. We'll see how that goes!

Spring

I am going to start my stories with one of my present foster dogs, Spring. (I will post some past puppy stories when I have the time). Spring is a 2 yr old female border collie. She was found as a stray and has obviously not had a great start to life. On Apr. 21 when I picked her up from the lovely woman who had been caring for her, she was completely shut down. I had to carry her into the car, and carry her into the building at work. She layed on a dog bed without moving for hours. That night she slept in the backyard because I couldn't get her into the house. She would let you touch her, but she wouldn't approach to be touched. She just didn't know how to be a dog. She was nervous of other dogs, and anything that moved too quickly or suddenly.
Apr. 22/11 - Spring tried to play with my dogs! She is unsure of what to do, so she chased and barked at them... typical border collie. Her tail came up for the first time! She came in the house that night for the first time. She found a dog bed and didn't move all night.
Apr. 23/11 - Spring is actually approaching me for attention and wags her tail when she sees me! As long as you approach slowly and calmly, she will let you pet her and rub her belly. She had her first vet appointment today. It took almost 30 minutes, and a broken needle to give her vaccines. She was so scared, but didn't lash out. She just tried to get away in any way she could. She really is a very nice, sweet dog. She just needs to learn how to actually be a dog! Back at the house she is improving greatly. She is starting to play with my dogs, and doesn't run and hide every time someone moves too quickly. She will come in the house on her own, and will lay at my feet while I'm at the computer or watching TV. She enjoys a nice, comfy dog bed!
Apr. 24/11 - today we went for our first walk! She was nervous when vehicles passed, but walked beautifully on leash when everything was calm. With a little encouragement she walked past some noisy children in the park. She is a lovely girl.
I'll update more as she progresses.

Seamus (my 1st New Hope dog!)

These are the before and after pictures of my first New Hope dog, Seamus! He was a sick little puppy that his foster mom loved and cared for. His health improved and he became this cute little puppy that just wiggled his way into my heart. He grew into the handsome boy you see now! He is such a laid back, happy dog.

After adopting him from New Hope Dog Rescue, I decided to start fostering dogs myself. This is why I started this blog. I have had over 20 puppies come and go through my home in the last 10 months and every one of them has left a paw print on my heart...  and my couch, my bed, my table, and everything else in my house!

I have so many stories of these temporary dogs that I've had, and I thought I should share them with anyone who wants to read!