WHAT IS BLACK AND WHITE AND CUTE ALL OVER?

The four legged members of our volunteer, Petra's family - that's what!

I can relate. I have a bias toward black and white too. Even my cat of 19 years was black and white and come to think of it, a lot of the clothes hanging in my closet are also black and white. My vet once told me that I was committed to that color scheme and should not attempt to branch out as I would be trying to dye a new comer black and white. When I tried to send her black and white roses after she helped my 15 year old cross the bridge, I could only find one arrangement, imported from Australia for $200.00 So, she had to settle for white with a black thank you note.

Would I be as crazy about bostons if they were not black and white? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I do admit however that I am not normally drawn to the brown and white variety although adorable in their own right.

Here is Petra's family. I chose to write a blog on this family and our volunteer because this picture shows the beauty of a well taken care of, well loved canine family. Yes, it is possible to have multiple dogs without living on a farm. I'm not suggesting that everyone can or should own 5 dogs. In addition to the cost, some counties have strict laws on how many dogs you can own. Three is a common number across Virginia. If you are allowed, have the time and resources, however, here is the proof that family portraits do come with 2 and 4 feet.

From left to right.. Pua, was a recent BTRNC rescue. We could tell from the frequency and wording of Petra's e-mails after Pua's arrival that there was a good chance that Pua was already home. I posted a blog on her a few months ago while she was still in foster status. Pua obviously is where she belongs. Next to Pua is Tike, an owner surrender who never even made it to official BTRNC status. Then there is Santino, Petra's first foster after becoming a volunteer. Santino came with issues and it was quickly apparent that Petra had what it took to work with Santino and his issues. He also has some health issues which may shorten his life span but don't tell him that. He's doing just fine as you can see. The last boston is Annie, the shelter dog who I suspect led Petra to join the boston crazy group. If you like this size dog, then one boston is usually all it takes to be hooked for life.

Who is that at the end of the row? A large boston? No, that's Kali who was there first by the way. She was a "free go good home" dog and much to her luck, Petra saw the ad first. BTRNC and other rescues are not at all a fan of these ads. Well meaning owners who want to avoid placing their dogs in shelters, open themselves and their loved pets open to the great unknown when you advertise in an open publication. Hoarders, scientists, just generally mean people to name a few can and will respond and can convince the owner that they are animal loves and want nothing more than to offer a good home to this pet. Sadly, how they seem upon meeting may not be the reality of their lives or the new life of the pet. This is why BTRNC takes applications and conducts home visits before releasing any of our rescues. This method is not fool proof either unfortunately, but it is infinitely better than a free to good home ad.

Kali has been very generous to open her home to all these mini black and white creatures. If you look closely at these pictures, however, you can see her leaning strongly as if contemplating her get away any second.

I thought readers might enjoy seeing these pictures as much as our members did when Petra posted them. Next Christmas I need to post our President's annual Christmas card - Santa and 4 or 5 senior bostons that were lucky enough to be found by Betsy to live out the second half of their lives.

Enjoy!

What's that over there? Tike and Kali are over this photo shoot and and redy to roll.