A Message From Mom

There is just nothing in this world to me like my boys. We're a family now - officially as of this evening. I included a bit more detail in my post this evening. I'd all but decided NOT to adopt Maxie because of my painful osteoarthritis. My boyfriend hopped right in and said he'd take care of Maxie and all I had to do was worry about Sammy and that I can do. The boys have been playing all night and I've been thanking my lucky stars that I have this great family now. We broke out the Frosty Paws to celebrate Maxie's becoming "official".

But I do have to say in my heart there has been no dog as special to me as my Sammy. There is just something so intrinsically sweet and loving about him. I feel blessed tonight.

Good Night,
Sammy and Maxie's Mom

Major OOPS

Hello Buddies..

I see Maxie sneaked in on my blog yesterday, but that's ok I guess.

Last night I made a major oops. Well, really, it was MOM'S fault, but I felt so bad. I woke Mom up in the middle of the night and told her I needed to go out. I didn't really make too much of a fuss and she thought I just wanted to go see Maxie I guess. Anyway, I tried again a couple of times, but I didn't make enough noise, I suppose. I just couldn't wait any longer, so I had to go. I made a spot on the carpet. Mom heard it and leaped out of bed and cleaned it up right away. Well, I didn't say anything else; I was embarrassed about it and well, then I had to do the other. Mom happened to see me and jumped up again and cleaned that up, too. I felt so bad that I went over and just sat by my cage. I was waiting for her to scold me or something---put me in my cage---

Mom looked at me sitting there and called me and I was not about to go. I figured she was mad but just not showing it much yet. Mom got up again and came over and picked me up and took me back to our bed. She wrapped me in her arms and scritched my belly and told me it was OK and it was all her fault for not listening. I still felt bad, but at least Mom wasn't mad. I do have a good Mom! And Dad.....but I'm closer to Mom. That was a close one--I really felt like such a bad boy.

This morning I was good and so was Max and everyone is all set for a few hours. Whew! Have a happy Sunday everyone!

Sneaky Saturday

Shhhh!!!! Maxie here....

Why didn't someone tell ME that this was a weekend day? I thought I was doing them a favor by getting everyone up at 5:30 this morning. Besides, I had to go whiz really bad. Dad even got up and was grumping about it, of course. Oh well.....

This is just going to be quick before anyone realizes I've sneaked back into Sammy's blog. I'm getting along just fine here as you know. Have my own "pad" so to speak and Sammy reluctantly shares his bones with me. Mom calls them the bones of contention since they are the only toy we seem to have mild "words" about. But we never fight.

I like it here except for one thing. Do you guys know what a gentle leader is? Well, the other morning Mom is walking both of us with two retractables and I saw another dog. Well, I had to let him know that he couldn't mess with us, so I took off before Mom realized what was going on. He kept on walking with his human and when he passed us, I ran around behind Mom to give him more of what I thought of him walking down MY street and ok, so I pulled Sammy around and got him excited, too and long story short we tangled Mom up pretty bad. She couldn't move. Finally she got us untangled enough to get home, but our leashes were in a knot. She was kinda upset. So Sammy told me he used to have to use this gentle leader thing until he learned to walk like MOM wanted him to and now I'm having to practice with it, too. AND I'm having to practice NOT barking and yanking Mom around when I see other dogs. Can you believe it? I'm full blooded American dog and I wanna bark! Mom says I need some training and since she made Sammy go and she remembers how, she will teach me. I HATE THE GENTLE LEADER. I don't like it on my nose!!!!! Good part of this - when we practice, I get treats.

Mom got an email about the dog park this morning. Next Wednesday or Thursday the fence is going to be installed so we can't get to that mud hole at the park. Not unless we go on the other side and I KNOW Mom won't do that. She's so happy the mud hole will be inaccessible. I say rats! Oh well...

Hey, here comes Mom, gotta go.

Yips,
Maxie

Thursday Evening

Wags Everybody,

Been away for a few days...well, away from HERE anyways. We have had a wild past few days. Mom is still trying to get organized and that is no easy task for her believe me. Maxie (his for sure name) and I have been subjected to the lead for two dogs - we hated it - and wrapped Mom up by one going one way and one the other behind her and she couldn't move...it was pretty funny! So we got rid of that thing in short order. If I wanted to go one way and Maxie the other, we were just pretty much out of luck. Can't have that. And Dad hated the dern thing, too, so us guys sent Mom to Petsmart yesterday after work to exchange it for a second retractable leash. It works lots better for us and Mom's getting the hang of switching hands if we get tangled. So far so good anyway and Dad said it works for him.

Maxie and I are getting along fine now. The only thing is he keeps taking my favorite bones. Sometimes we play tug of war with them, but we never actually fight...just growl a little bit. Ok, ok, I bark a lot sometimes. I just don't see WHY he should have my bones. I do have 3, but can't he get his own bones? I share everything else with him.

He has his own new house now and a nice soft liner for it and a blanket over it like I have on mine so it's like a den. His old crate is sitting in the upstairs hall until the Happy Tails lady comes to take it back for another doggie. Oh, and by the way, she is coming at 5:00 on Monday evening for the home visit and bringing the final papers for Mom to sign...then I'll officially have a fur brother. I'm really getting so I like it. When Mom is all tuckered out, I still have Maxie to play with.

One night I got up in the middle of the night and went to sleep in my house. Mom woke up the next morning and I was gone and when she realized I hadn't slept with her, she was so sad. The next night I started out with her and went to my house again and when she got up to go to the bathroom, she didn't try and coax me out or anything. She seemed to have accepted that I was going to sleep there. So I got up and went to her bed and stayed there and have been sleeping with her again every night since. I don't like to see her sad. I just thought since Maxie slept in his house maybe I should sleep in mine. But I don't want Mom sad like I said. Last night we cuddled a lot and she smiled.

Maxie and I even have quiet times together now. Like we lay on the bed together and look out the window or lay on the couch or on the floor near each other. I guess I'd have to say just a little bit over a week and we're pretty much adjusted to one another. Mom picked out a good fur brother for me. Yeah, MOM!!! You go girl!!!

Maxie and Dad are still closer than Maxie and Mom, but that's ok. Mom loves on both of us. She tries to pet us both at the same time. Humans are funny, but ya gotta love 'em. (That is our job after all.)

Waiting for Dad to get home from work, so that's all for now. Been missing all my buds.

By the way, I'll get into the tag game as soon as I can.

Wags and Puppy Kisses,
Sammy

Sunsay Night

Evening Buddies,

I see that my new adopted buddy sneaked on here last night after he tuckered me out. Harrumph! Oh well, at least someone had the energy.

Today was a lazy day. Mom managed to walk both of us this morning and we accomplished all missions so to speak. Then she put Max back to bed and she and I came back to bed, too. It was nice. We did a lot of napping today. Mom especially. She just did the laundry and that was about it besides spending time with us - which is of course important. THE most important thing actually.

Max and I played and played today. At one time we shared - yes shared - a bone. Mine of course, but I guess his now, too.

Mom got a call tonight from Max's foster Dad. He told Mom that he'd gotten her voice mail yesterday and talked to Peggy last night. She's the human in charge of Happy Tails which is where Maxie comes from. She told him that Max is in the final stages of adoption. One reference hasn't returned the call yet and they have papers to sign AFTER a home visit. That will be it then. Guess I'll have the little dude under paw all the time after from now on. Mom just got online and ordered him his own crate and soft liner. The one he has is on loan with him. Hope it gets here soon cuz he's not getting mine! His will be a size smaller. So....keep all your paws crossed. I think I have a new forever buddy and he has a new forever home.

Someone left a comment about having grandmas....my grandma doesn't like dogs...especially male dogs and she's the only grandma I have. Oh well...that just means Mom and Dad have to love me up special.

Ok, I'm going to tell you that Max is still up with Dad and he's been outside our door and I'm crying. I hate to be away from him now. Mom would tell you I'm sitting in my cage (and she didn't put me there either) and I'm crying my little heart out. Do you think we've bonded a little?

Well, I'm going to see if I can get Mom to go to bed now and love me up so I won't miss playing with Maxie quite so much right this minute.

Night.....

Be Very Very Quiet.....

Wags Everyone,

It's Max here. I'm sneaking in Sammy's blog while he's snoozing. Just thought I should put in my two barks worth. I know some of my buds know what it's like to be a foster furkid. It's not easy because there is always the chance that you'll be rejected several times before you find a forever home and that HURTS. You always wonder, what's wrong with me??? Of course sometimes it's the dog that's already there that doesn't want you and the humans have to go by that.

I want you give you my side of the Sammy/Max situation. I'm a lot more mellow than he is. Such a hyper little guy! Are all you Wires like that? Anyway, he wants to play and play and play. I have to take a break now and then and he just hasn't wanted me to. But....

Yesterday after we went to the Pooch Playground, things got better. Mom napped a while after that (I guess I should call her Mom) and then she let us both out of our respective houses to play. She just let us have at it. She decided we could play Alpha Dog until we were worn out. Ok, so sometimes when things got a little rough, she taught us to play "stuff a kibble in it". That's a game where we get a piece of doggie food and that calms everything down for a little while. Anyway, somewhere in there, all of a sudden, I got up on the couch kind of sleeping over the back with my back paws on Mom and Sammy got up on the back of the couch right over Mom (she was lying down) and the three of us took a nap. Mom's a real napper. The three of us all together peacefully.

When Dad got home, he couldn't believe how much calmer the house was. Mom has some good ideas. Anyway, we still played hard last night, but we're not barking very much, we're not growling very much, we just wrestle around and play. This morning Mom walked Sammy and I woke Dad up to walk me. After that Sammy and I played race up and down the steps for a while before we started on the regular play day. We had breakfast together and I think we're going to be chums. I don't want to leave here. I like it well enough. Sammy is still Mom's doggie and I am Dad's kinda. But that's ok. We share.

Well, Sammy is sleeping and I'm going to rest. It gets crazy when it's play time. I'll try to sneak in every now and then and write something.

Wags,
Max

Pooch Playground Morning

Wags to all, Sammy here.....

My Mom actually accomplished a miracle this morning. As she said, she took Pet Parenthood leave again today which basically means she didn't go in to work. I got her up about 7:00 I think it was. We kind of slept in because we were up kinda late last night - just the TWO of us. We went downstairs and she said I got to go on my walk FIRST and we were going ALONE today. Yeah!!! So off we went. As we left the house, we could hear Max (and yes, he is still Max today) barking and yipping because he wanted to come, too, but he didn't get to. It's too hard on Mommy with her arthritis and all. So off we went and had a nice leisurely stroll down to the doggie area and all around. When we got back, Dad was up and waiting for us. To get Dad out of bed early is nothing short of a miracle, so this was big. The kid had barked enough to wake him up. So, he held out his hand and I was off the retractable and Max was on and they went walking. While they were gone, Mom came up with this idea of taking ME and Max out to the Pooch Playground to run and play together but not on my turf. She didn't want to try taking the both of us alone, so she conned Dad into going. The 4 of us got in Mom's car and went to the playground.

It was so early that no one else was there yet. Mom said we were only going in the small dog area because she didn't want muddy boys today to have to bathe. We went in and of course Max had to check out the area first because he'd never been there. Dad couldn't believe we were completely ignoring each other. Mom and I played ball while Max sniffed and left deposits. Finally he felt at home enough to start playing with me and we ran like the wind together. We didn't argue at all, just played. I think I'm going to have to slim down, though. He wasn't even winded and I panted all the way home. When we got home, it was time for water all around and rest. Mom brought me up for a nice nap and Max got to lay on the couch to sleep, I think, although I didn't actually SEE that. Dad made breakfast for them and then Mom came up for a nap with me and Dad slept on the couch. We were all tired.

We would have stayed longer this morning but some lady came with 3 little yappers who tried to bite Max and he wasn't having any of it. Since we'd been there long enough, we just came home.

I think things might work out as long as Mom remembers that she is MY HUMAN and Max can have Dad. We can be buddies and may one day be best of buddies. The thing is when Max gets on Mom's lap, them's fighting words! That is MY SPOT and MINE ALONE. If he wants to be there, it will have to be when I say it's ok and no other time. I have BARKED! (spoken)

Signing out now,
TOP DOG SAMMY