koalathebear

Oh that would be wonderful!! I'll make sure I post update photos so that you can recognise her :)

And because I am a hopeless sap, I made a video for my Walgett babies

Thanks so much mita. Little Nutmeg went to her new home this morning. Bawled my eyes out - guy hugged me to comfort me :p But I'm very happy for Princess Nutmeg On the morning of her handover, Nutmeg got to sleep on the Human Bed She's such a pretty little girl She has come a long, long way!! Nutmeg and Smudge's last play together:

Nutmeg post-bath, in preparation for her new family. They drove from Victoria today, spent two hours getting to know her and tomorrow they will be back and pick her up to take her back home. It's such a rags to riches story for little Nutmeg - from lowly beginnings at the Walgett Pound - now she'll be a pampered pooch in Brighton, Victoria with walks, obedience training, dog beaches and lots of cuddles. I'm very happy for her - couldn't have hoped for a better home but I really hope I don't disgrace myself tomorrow by bawling my eyes out. I hate the handover part of fostering - it's so painful and particularly so for these two :'(

Awwww, gorgeous girl. :) Glad she's doing so well.

And here is Smudgie's video

Even though Nutmeg's new family are collecting her on Monday, I couldn't NOT let her have a music video :) So here is Nutmeg's video

Puppies have earned Grown Up privileges tonight and are now chilling out in the study with the rest of us instead of being segregated in the puppy pen. Here they are pretending to be cute :) They are learning how to chillax in the evenings like the rest of us :)

Photos of the puppies in the backyard. Too many photos to post here. I've got them all up at the foster dog blog here but some of my favourites are below:

Some basic training for the pups. Getting the puppies used to a leash. Only a very basic requirement - don't attack it! :) They chill out together in a crate sometimes, but we have already made them sleep in separate crates at night and also occasionally during the day so they get used to being alone. The crates are in the lounge so they will be used to being in a separate room from the humans and hopefully won't cry when in their new homes. Nutmeg's family is buying the same sort of crate to assist with her transition to her new home.

Video of Smudgie running around and playing in the yard. I'm still working on her official video that shows of different sides of her, not just the High Energy side :) Nutmeg's family are driving from Victoria and will pick up Nutmeg on Monday :'(

Alkhe and Monique99: thank you so much!! You are both so kind. Normally it's easier not to grow attached to puppies because they're usually with you a shorter time, but these guys were sick and I slept for almost 3 weeks on the sofa in the lounge room to keep an eye on them :p That being said, Nutmeg and Smudge are both doing really well now! They are sleeping through the night - we toilet them before bed and they sleep for about 6-8 hours in their crate. We toilet them first thing in the morning. They've had a few accidents but are doing really well for such little puppies and when I open the crate - they go running to the door and leap outside to toilet :) In terms of food, not only are they learning to wait for their food - I am putting the food to the side and teaching them that they must look at me and not the food. Both are doing well and their eyes are so alert and intelligent as they stare at me in the hope that I will let them eat their food. In terms of socialisation - they have been exposed to dogs, new people, noisy washing machine and dryer, electric mixer, dyson, food processor and other noisy appliances. They will be meeting more people and dogs this weekend. Nothing very exciting in this video - just the puppies playing with our doggies. They play nicely with and around one another which makes me happy. They'll be socialised with some more friendly dogs this weekend. They have also been around small children. Smudge and a 3 year old Nutmeg and a five year old

Thank you! She is very smart and trainable! Thank you! I also love Black Dogs. Our first Dog Elbie is a black dog and he is most beloved. They are harder to photograph though Thanks Loreley! These pups have been through so much - I want the very best of homes for them both! :) Also, Loki is a spunk! We thought he had gone to Koolie Rescue :) Haha. I will take your word for it. I know the right home is out there for her, I have this stupid feeling that I have failed her because I haven't got more applications for her. To be fair, she has received a couple of applications but they wouldn't have suited one another. Are you sure you don't want her? She is soooo cute and smart :) My husband would keep her if we could but we have three dogs already so have no room. Alas, I am not going to be fostering for a very long time after these two ... These two have been the most emotionally draining - when I thought we would lose them to parvo, I thought my heart would break. They've been given the all clear now but it's going to take me a long time to 'forget' how I felt when they fell sick and while they were sick.

Nanny Hoover supervising his charges in the yard It has been almost impossible to take a group photograph. The puppies are always little blurs :)

Puppies modelling their new collars, donated by the lovely lilli_star :)

Thanks guys. I'm not in a hurry to rehome her - happy to take the time it needs. I just feel bad for her that she's getting overlooked. In this instance, I can say that it really is colour because there is very little to distinguish her from her other litter-mates at this particular time except her colouring. They are all smart, cute, crate trained, getting house trained, learning tricks etc etc. Their blurbs are all kind of similar - Smudge even has MORE photos and videos but people actually have to click before they can fall in love!

Have been starting to do Smudge's music video. I got distracted though so this is not her video, but it's a video saying No to Black Dog Syndrome :) Elbie is a special guest star. I do find it interesting that such a smart, cute and lively puppy - who I think is likely to be a very good agility prospect, gets less hits on petrescue than her littermates because she is a Black Dog. I guess only Special People want a black dog :)

Blue Steel doggies

But it has been bucketing with rain in Canberra today and her ears have wilted :)

Little Smudgie has a formidable Head Tilt :laugh:

Update about former foster Frida :) Here she is with her foster brother Bob the Kelpie - his first time at the beach. After adopting Frida, her family also started volunteering with the same rescue, which is lovely.

I've said it before, but these are such beautiful photos of Satchmo and his pack. He certainly ended up in the right home and is living the best possible life a dog could have ... :)

We have been using bleach to clean the car, crates, some clothes and towels (we threw away some as well), flooring, shoes, puppy pen etc but bleach is awful for the skin so I bought F10 wet wipes and hand gel but was a bit concerned when this article indicated that perhaps F10 might not be as effective against parvo as I thought. Extract below:

Absolutely. And another outbreak at Orange :'( http://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/1632135/deadly-dog-virus-hits-orange-shelter/?cs=12

Good question tdierikx. To be honest, I can't really 'trust' anything or even know anything before the dog gets to my house so all I can do is assume the worst (possible parvo) and institute quarantine once they get here - which is what we did this time. If we foster again and choose to foster a dog directly from a pound again, we will go and pick the dog up ourselves so that at least we can ensure that it's picked up in a bleachable vehicle, does not infect any other dog and also can't be infected during transport etc. I know this limits where we can get dogs from, but there are plenty of pounds around the ACT/NSW area that have working dogs so I should imagine we won't find it hard to find a dog :p