Fostering a Puppy

 Today I woke up around 8 am with Flip. He is getting so good with sleeping and has been so snuggly recently. We went outside and he peed. He got some breakfast and walked around. I think that his stomach must hurt or be bothering him because he threw up his breakfast after about an hour. I fed him a bit more a bit later and he threw that up too. He spent most of the day sleeping. I hung out with him all day until my friend came over. She wanted to watch him for a bit so I was able to work on my essay and pack up for school.  Hours: morning: 1h throughout the day: 4h total: 5h

 Today I woke up with Flip around 6 am. I took him out to pee and we went back to bed for a few hours. I woke up and took him for a walk before feeding him breakfast. I took him back outside. I loaded him up in the car and drove to the feed store to pick up a bit more dog food. I fed him lunch once we were home and he took a nap. I went to the gym and my mom watched him. Once I was home, we spent awhile working on come and he is getting very responsive to his name. My mom and I took him to the Humane Society to get his leg checked up. They cleared him so now he is available for adoption! It's so exciting. Once we got home, he took another nap and then I fed him dinner. I walked him down my road with my other big dogs. He fell asleep in my bed.  Hours:  Morning: 1h Feed store: 2h Training: 1h Humane Society: 2h Dinner/walk: 1h total: 7h

     This week has definitely had some ups and downs. Monday was very normal, but then Tuesday Flip got a little hurt when his foot got shut in the door. We ended up bringing him to the Humane Society later in the week. It ended up just being a few soft tissue and tendon problems and nothing was broken. it definitely restricted what we could do for the rest of the week as he wasn't really allowed to run around very much in case he injured it more. He limped for the first few days but definitely is getting better now. My mom is taking him to the vet on Monday to get him cleared so that he can potentially be back up for adoption.       We have been working more on his training and he has gotten very responsive to his name when we call it. I think it is very beneficial to have two other dogs who are responsive to their names around him because it influences him and helps him understand what we want. He sits on his own now when we call his name which is very cute and I'm really exc

 Today my friends and I went to Goose Pond where we have a small cabin. We put the docks in and hung out. Flip came with us and was so good. He met a ton of new people and ended up coming on the boat. He fell asleep on my lap for most of the boat ride. When we were at the cabin, he waded in the water a bit and we are yet to see if he wants/likes to swim. I drove him home and he took a long nap. When my mom got home, I headed to my friend's house for the night.  Hours: boat day: 6h nap: 2h total: 8h

 Today I went home at around 10 am from my friend's house. I took Flipper for a walk and then fed him lunch. I went to the gym and my mom watched him. Once I got home, we worked a bit on his training which is going really well. I went to a local farm stand with Flip and he got to sniff some flowers. He met a few new dogs and some little kids. He was so sweet and calm with everyone. On the way back he got carsick and threw up. It was gross. I went home and fed him dinner and then took him for a walk. We watched a movie before bed and he slept in my bed through the night. Hours:  walk: 1h training: 1h farm: 2h walk: 30mins bedtime: 3h total: 7h30mins

 Today I was only home for the morning and afternoon because I’m sleeping at my friends house. I woke up last night to let Flip out to pee. He went back to bed with me until around 8 when I woke him up for breakfast. We went on a long walk with my dogs and then he hung out with my sister and I. I brought him with me to pick up my friend that needed a ride. He has been getting carsick recently so I have to be careful. Once back home, he took a nap with me in my bed. I packed up my stuff for my friends house and said goodbye.  Hours:  night: 30 mins breakfast/walk: 2h play: 1h drive: 1.5h nap: 2h total: 7h

 Wednesday night my mom slept with Flip so that I could get a full night’s sleep. I woke up around 8 am and fed him breakfast. I took him and my other dogs on a hike. They all took a nap and then I fed Flip lunch. My mom watched him while I went to the gym. I came back and we went on a walk with my friend’s dog. Flip seems so be feeling better after his door incident and his pain medication seems to be helping. We worked a bit more on come and sit and it has been really fun to see his progress.  hours:  hike: 2h  nap/lunch: 1h30mins walk: 2h training:1h evening:3h total: 9h30 mins 

 last night I woke up around 2 AM to let Flip outside. He woke up around 5 AM this morning. Ready to start his day. I took him outside for a walk before my mom hung out with him so that I could get a little bit of sleep. I took Flip and my big dogs on a hike and then brought them home for lunch. We took a nap in my bed for a while and then I took Flip outside to play. He still can’t run around and be crazy but he had a lot of energy and so I played with him on a leash. I did a bit of training with him. We’re working on come because he tends to get really distracted. After that I fed him dinner and gave him his pain meds. I took him outside to pee before heading to bed.  hours:  night: 30 mins  walk: 30 mins  hike: 2h lunch and play: 2h training: 1h evening: 2h total: 8h

 Today was a long day. Last night the wind blew my front door shut on Flipper’s foot and so we took him to the Humane Society for a check up today. He ended up going to the vet for an x-ray so he was gone for a bit of the day today. I drove him there this morning and then picked him up this afternoon. He didn’t break anything but has some soft tissue damage in his leg. He has some medication and cannot run for about a week or until he stops limping. It was very educational to deal with this type of situation. After I picked him up, he was super hyper and just wanted to run around. I had him on a leash so that he couldn’t run but he was desperate to move. I fed him dinner and played with him for a bit before winding him down for bed. We watched a movie and went to sleep.  Hours:  humane society: 2h pick up: 1h playing:2h  bed:3h  total: 8h 

Today I woke up at around 3 AM to let Flip out to pee. He went right back to bed with me. He woke up around 5 AM and I took him out for a little walk right as the sun was coming up. He went back to bed for about an hour and then got up and I fed him breakfast. After breakfast, I took him for a long walk with my big dogs up a nearby hill. It was so beautiful and they played at the top for a while. I walked everybody home and left the puppy with my mom while I went to the gym. Once I got home from the gym, I fed Flip  lunch and took him outside to play. My mom and I worked on a little bit of training which has been going really well. He’s getting really good at coming when he is called and sitting. He took a nap in my bed before my friend came over and we played with him for a while. I fed him dinner, and he hung out with my sister. I took him on one final walk before we sat in my basement and watched a movie. I brought him up to bed and tucked him in for the night. It was a really long

Weekly Reflection: Sunday, May 14th This week has been really amazing so far. It was very exciting to see the puppy integrate into my family so quickly. My dogs at home really like him and my family has become a little bit attached. He's been making really good progress in his house training which is going to be a really important step towards getting him adopted. My mom and I have been spending some time with him outside working on different commands like come or sit and it has been really amazing to watch him get better at that.   We have been working on his anxiety when we leave the house which has proved to be really difficult. He is an incredibly safe dog, and when he gets anxious or scared he does not get aggressive, he just shuts down. When we take him out of the house he refuses to walk on a leash and we have to end up carrying him. We have been working on taking him in the car more often and doing fun things so that he associates the car with positive things. He also gets

Flip slept on my bed! I woke up at around 3 am. I went outside for Flip to pee and I put him on my bed while I used the bathroom. He was snoring when I got back so I decided to not put him in his crate. He woke up in the morning around 7 and hadn't pooped or peed in my room. It was so exciting to see progress in his house training. My mom had my big dogs on a walk and so I took Flip on a little walk of his own. He was great and is learning to come when he's called and is learning to sit. I went to the gym and the grocery store so my mom took care of him for a bit. I came home and played with him and my big dogs for awhile because it was so nice outside. My mom and I put Flip into the car and drove to the feed and supply store as well as a flower shop to pick up flowers for my grandma for Mothers' Day. He slept most of the way and was so sweet when we took him into the feed store. He met a few new dogs and a bunch of people. We drove back home and fed him dinner. My grandpar

 Today was very long but a good day. I woke up with Flip around 2 am to take him out to pee. We went back to bed and woke up around 6. I took him for a little walk and then went on a longer walk with my two other dogs. I fed everyone breakfast. We all went and took a nap before going on a hike with my friend and her dog Obie. All four dogs had a lot of fun and were great. My mom played with Flip for a bit while ate dinner. I loaded him up into the car and drove to Proctor to see my brother who hadn't met him yet. Flip met a bunch of kids and seemed to love my brother which was great. I drove back home and and fed him dinner. I was exhausted and so my mom watched him while I showered and got ready for bed. I fell asleep with Flip on my bed on accident. hours:  night: 30 mins morning walk: 1h30mins hike: 2h visit to proctor: 3h30mins bed: 30mins total: 8h

 Today was absolutely CRAZY! This blog will be coming a bit late because I've been so busy. Last night the pup slept in his crate in my room. I woke up at 2 am to let him out and he peed and pooped. He went right back to bed. I woke up at 6 am to let him back out and he explored in the woods for a bit which he seemed to love. My other two dogs finally woke up at 7 and I went on a long walk with all of them. They were so good and my dogs really like the puppy. I gave the pup a bath which he didn't seem to mind. His name when we got him was Scampi, but we feel like Flipper fits him better because he has really big feet that slap the ground when he walks. I fed them all and then my mom took Flip on some errands with her so that I could rest. So helpful. When she got home, I was back on puppy duty. The pup ate lunch and then we played outside. He took a nap on my bed while I watched a movie. I took him outside with my other dogs before putting his crate in my car and going to visit

 Puppy day!! Today I ran some errands to get ready for the puppy. I went to the feed store for puppy food as well. I came back home and set up the crate and the outdoor fenced in area. I did about an hour of research about house training and an hour about how to greet other dogs because I have two at my house. Finally, the puppy came at around 6 pm. His name is Scampi and he's about 12 weeks old. He is a rescue from South Carolina and is so sweet. We played with him outside for a bit before bringing my other dogs out. They did really well meeting each other and ended up playing for a long time. We brought him inside and watched him and fed him dinner.   hours: errands: 2h set up: 1h research: 2h puppy time: 4h  total: 9h

 Today I had an orientation at the Upper Valley Humane Society. I met with Jen, the woman that I will be working with. First, we learned about dog behavior signals and how to understand more about how they are feeling. We talked about fear, aggression, contentment, and more. We discussed proper nutrition on our own dogs as well. I decided to do this orientation in case there wasn't a dog that needed fostering at the time. My backup plan was to volunteer at the UVHS, which I may end up doing regardless. After the orientation, my mom and I went with Jen to look at the dogs and puppies that are at the shelter. We looked at the litter that we will be fostering and found out that the puppy will be coming tomorrow, which I am very excited about. Once finished, I went back home and began researching more about the puppy that will be coming and the things I need to do in advance.  orientation: 2h meeting dogs: 30 mins research: 2h total: 4h 30 mins