THEY SAID SHE WAS AGGRESSIVE

We are pleased to give you a sneak peek at our new little foster - Spirit! We are fortunate to have a relatively new volunteer who loves to take pictures. Sometimes, we have to nag, o.k. gently remind our wonderful foster homes to send updates and photos of our fosters so you can see and read about them. Not so with Spirit's foster Dad. He adopted Baxter from BTRNC last year and then became a volunteer. He does such a wonderful job of sending us pictures and videos, that we already have 25 pictures of Spirit to choose from. Anyway, back to the story.

Spirit was dumped at a shelter where she was dirty, scared, hungry and not so loveable to the shelter staff. Alas, the cross of the little dog in a shelter. It is mandatory that shelter workers evaluate new arrivals for behavioral issues. With so many dogs coming in to all the shelters, and with precious little room, a dog can be euthanized if she snaps at a shelter worker. It is sad, but it is a fact and you can hardly blame the shelter who works diligently to place as many adoptable dogs as possible. Imagine how your beloved pet would act if they suddenly found themselves in a cage in a strange place, with strange people, strange smells and lots and lots of noise. Imagine that your dog was branded to have behavioral issues or deemed unadoptable because they snapped out of fear.

Because BTRNC has a good number of volunteers (notice I did not say too many as that would be impossible) and because we have worked hard to build reputations with shelters, we often get word of bostons in shelters. Spirit had been labeled aggressive by the shelter but they were kind enough to work with us if we would agree to pull and foster Spirit.

Turns out Spirit is a sweet girl who dances for her food and who as you can see likes to hang out with the big dogs!

Spirit also is unfortunately heart worm positive. She will be treated for this condition by her foster Dad before she is adopted. Remember that although this condition is life threatening, if it is treated, they are cured and there are no long term effects from the infestation. The treatment is hard on the dog and they must be kept quiet during treatment - not an easy task when talking about a boston terrier. This is just another example of what our wonderful foster families do for our dogs.
We hope that Spirit shows her spirit and comes through the treatment just fine and will be available for adoption soon. Take a look at these pictures and let us know if you would like more information. We have lots of pictures we can share with you.

NAMES ARE ANOTHER GIFT FROM THE DOGS TO THEIR FAMILIES

I did a blog not too long ago on Miss Elsie, our adorable little deaf girl who was sitting so comfortable in her foster Mom's hands.

Someone saw Elsie on our available dogs page and got in touch with us right away. Elsie's deafness was of no concern to her new family including her new brother Miles. Elsie's new Mom renamed her Lyla which is a beautiful name and fits her well. I thought however that Lyla would not ever hear her name but that her Mom liked to say it when she talks to her or about her. Dogs do not grow up and blame their families for their name, they do not go off an adopt nicknames, choose to go by their middle names, or legally change their names. If they are lucky enough to stay with the same family for their whole lives, they will have one name and if the go into rescue, and their new family finds them, they may have another name but they don't care. If they can hear, they will learn to respond to their name. If like Lyla they do not have the gift of hearing, they will learn to respond to a hand signal. Their families however are the ones that take pleasure of saying the name of their pets. Much thought can be given to a name. They can be based on physical characteristics, personality traits or characters from television, movies or books. A friend of mine has 2 dogs and 1 cat - Scout, Atticus, and Gem respectively. A To Kill A Mockingbird Fan, perhaps? Sometimes, young children are given the honor of naming the new family member and you may end up with Spot, Dog, Tippy or Buddy. The point of all this name calling is to point out that it is us humans that benefit and find joy in naming and using the names we give our fur babies. In Lyla's case, she is just glad to be home in a loving family who understands her needs, and if saying the name Lyla makes her family happy - that is more than fine with her! Welcome home Lyla. We are very pleased that you have found your place!