My foster dog is beautiful.

Two weeks later a new vet bill for an infection that was missed on the first visit. He plays with the other dogs.

Three weeks later he asks to be petted He chewed up part of the rug.

Eight weeks later his coat shines, he has gained weight. He shows his clean teeth when his tongue lolls out after he plays chase in the yard with the gang. His eyes are soft and filled with life. He loves hugs and likes to show off his tricks ,if you have the cheese. Someone called today and asked about him, they saw the picture I took the first week. They asked about his personality ,his history, his breed. T hey asked if he was pretty. I asked them lots of questions. I checked up on them. I prayed. I said yes. When they saw him the first time they said he was the most beautiful dog they had ever seen.

Six months later I got a call from his new family.
He is wonderful, smart ,well behaved and very loving.
How could someone not want him?
I told them I didn't know .
He is beautiful.
They all are.
Martha O'Connor
Corgi and Corgi Mix rescue-Missouri

NOT AN ANGEL

What follows is excerpts from an email list...True story!
Recent thread in rec.pets...

Anne  - 01:31pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1323 of 1332)
 Elk. Elk are very big this year, because of the  rain and good grazing
 and  so forth. They aren't rolling. They are  alternately napping and eating.
 They each have a ribcage. Other dogs are working  on them from the
 outside.  It's all way too primal in my yard right now. We  tried the hose trick.
 At  someone else's house, which is where they climbed  in and began to refuse
 to come out. Many hours ago. I think that the  hose mostly helps keep
 them  cool and dislodges little moist snacks for them.  hose failed. My new
 hope  is that if they all continue to eat at this rate,  they will be finished
 before the houseguests arrive. The very urban  houseguests. Oh, God - I
 know it's funny. It's appalling, and funny, and  completely entirely
 representative of life with dogs.

 Kristen  - 01:37pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1324 of  1332)
 I'm so glad I read this thread, dogless as I am.  Dogs in elk. Dogs in
 elk.

 Anne  - 01:41pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1325 of 1332)
 It's like that children's book out there - dogs in  elk, dogs on elk, dogs
 around elk, dogs outside elk. And there is some  elk inside of, as well
 as  on, each dog at this point.

 Elizabeth  - 01:57pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1328 of 1333)
 Anne, aren't you in Arizona or Nevada? There are  elk there? I'm so
 confused! We definitely need to see pics of Gus  Pong and Jake in the elk
 carcass.

 Anne  - 02:03pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1329 of 1333)
 I am in New Mexico, but there are elk in both  Arizona and Nevada, yes.
 There are elk all over the damn place. They don't  look out very often.
 If  you stand the ribcage on end they scramble to the  top and look out, all
 red. Otherwise, you kind of have to get in there a  little bit yourself to
 really see them. So I think there will not be  pictures.

 Cosey - 02:06pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1330 of  1333)
 "all red;" I'm not sure the deeper horror of all  this was fully borne in
 upon me till I saw that little phrase.

 Anne  - 02:10pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1331 of 1333)
 Well, you know, the Basenji (that would be Jake)  is a desert dog,
 naturally, and infamous for it's aversion to  water. And then, Gus Pong
 (who is coming to us, live, unamplified and with  a terrific reverb which
 is making me a little dizzy) really doesn't mind  water, but hates to be
 cold. Or soapy. And both of them can really run.   Sprints of up to 35
 mph  have been clocked. So. If ever they come out,  catching them and
 returning  them to a condition where they can be considered
 house pets is not going  to be, shall we say, pleasant.

 Cosey - 02:15pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1332 of  1333)
 What if you stand the ribcage on end, wait for  them to look out, grab
 them  when they do and pull?

 Anne  - 02:18pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1333 of 1333)
 They wedge their toes between the ribs. And  scream. We tried that before
 we brought the elk home from the mountain with  dogs inside. Jake nearly
 took my friends arm off. He's already short a  toe, so he cherishes the
15 that remain.

 Linda  - 02:30pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1336 of  1356)
 Have you thought about calling your friendly vet  and paying him to come
 pick up the dogs, elk and letting the dogs stay  at the vets overnight.
 If  anyone would know what to do, it would be your
 vet. It might cost some  money, but it would solve the immediate crisis.
 Keep us posted.

 Christi - 02:37pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1337  of 1356)
 Yikes! My sympathy! When I lived in New Mexico, my best friend's dog  
(the  escape artist) was continually bringing home road kill. When there was 
no  road kill convenient, he would visit the neighbor's house. Said neighbor 
slaughtered his own beef. The dog found all kinds  of impossibly gross toys  
in the neighbor's trash pit. I have always had medium to large dogs. The  smallest 
dog I ever had was a mutt from the SPCA  who matured out at just  above knee high 
and about 55 pounds. Our current dog (daughter's choice)  is  a Pomeranian. A very 
small Pomeranian. She's 8 months old now and not  quite  4 pounds. I'm afraid I'll break her.

 Lori  - 02:38pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1338  of 1356)
 Bet you could fit a whole lot of Pomeranians in  that there elk carcass!
 Anne - my condolences on what must be a unbelievable situation!

 Anne  - 02:44pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1339 of 1356)
 I did call my vet. He laughed until he was  gagging and breathless. He says  a lot of things, which can be summed as *what did you expect?* and *no,  there is no such thing as too much elk meat for a dog.* He is planning  to  stop over and take a look on his way home. Thanks, Lori. I am almost  surrendered to the absurdity of it.

 Lori - 02:49pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1340 of 1356)
 "He is planning to stop over and take a look on  his way home." So he can
 fall down laughing in person?

 Anne V - 02:50pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1341 of 1356)
 Basically, yeah. That would be about it.

 Amy - 02:56pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1342 of 1356)
 no, there is no such thing as too much elk meat  for a dog." Oh, sweet lord, Anne. You have my deepest  sympathies in this, perhaps the  most peculiar of the Gus Pong Adventures. You are truly a woman of  superhuman patience. wait-you carried the carcass down from the  mountains with the dogs inside?

 Anne V - 02:59pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1343 of 1356)
 the carcass down from the mountains with the dogs  inside? no, well, sort of. My part in the whole thing was  to get really stressed about a meeting that I had to go to, and say  *yeah, ok, whatever* when it  was suggested that the ribcages, since we  couldn't get the dogs out of them  and the dogs couldn't be left there, be brought  to my house. Because, you  know - I just thought they would get bored of it sooner or later. But it  appears to be later, in the misty uncertain future, that they will get  bored. Now, they are still interested. And very loud, one singing, one snoring.

 Lori  - 03:04pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1344 of 1356)
And very loud, one singing, one snoring.  wow. I can't even begin to imagine the acoustics  involved with singing  from  the inside of an elk.

 Anne - 03:04pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1345 of 1356)
 reverb. lots and lots of reverb.

 Anne - 03:15pm Sep 9, 1999 PDT (# 1347 of 1356)
 I'll tell you the thing that is causing me to  lose it again and again, and  then I have to go back outside and stay there for a while. After the  meeting, I said to my (extraordinary) boss, *look, I've gotta go home for  the rest of the day, I think. Jake and Gus Pong are inside some elk  ribcages, and my dad is coming tonight, so I've got to get them out  somehow.* And he said, pale and huge-eyed,

 *Annie, how did you explain the  elk to the clients?* The poor, poor man thought I  had the carcasses  brought  to work with me. For some reason, I find this  deeply funny.

 (weekend pause)

Anne  - 08:37am Sep 13, 1999 PDT (# 1395 of 1405)
 So what we did was put the ribcages (containing dogs) on tarps and drag
 them around to the side yard, where I figured they would at least be
 harder to see, and then opened my bedroom window so that  the dogs could let me know when they were ready to be plunged into a de-elking solution and let in the house. Then I went to the airport. Came home, no visible elk, no visible dogs. Peeked around the shrubs, and there they were, still in the elk. By this time, they had gnawed out some little portholes between some of the ribs, and you got the occasional very frightening  glimpse of something moving around in there if you watched long enough. After a lot of agonizing, I went to bed. I closed the back door, made sure my window was open, talked to the dogs out of it until I as sure they knew it was open, and then I fell asleep.

 Sometimes, sleep is a mistake, no matter how tired you are. And especially if you are very very tired, and some of your dogs are outside, inside some elks. Because when you are that tired, you sleep through bumping kind of noises, or you kind of think that it's just the house guests. It wasn't the house guests. It was my dogs, having an attack of teamwork unprecedented in our domestic history. When I finally woke all the way up, it was to a horrible vision. Somehow, 3 dogs with a combined weight of about 90 pounds, managed to hoist one of the ribcages (the meatier one, of course) up 3 feet to rest on top of the swamp cooler outside the window, and push out the screen. What woke me was Gus Pong, howling in frustration from inside the ribcage, very close to my head, combined with feverish little grunts from Jake, who was standing on the nightstand, bracing himself against the curtains with remarkably bloody little feet.

Here are some things I have learned, this Rosh Hashanah weekend:
 1. almond milk removes elk blood from curtains and pillowcases,
 2. We can all exercise superhuman strength when it comes to getting elk
 carcasses out of our yard,
 3. The sight of elk ribcages hurtling over the fence really frightens the
 nice deputy sheriff who lives across the street, and
 4. the dogs can pop the screens out of the windows, without damaging
 them, from either side.

 Anne - 09:58am Sep 13, 1999 PDT (# 1401 of 1405)
 What I am is really grateful that they didn't actually get the damn  thing  in the window, which is clearly the direction they were going in. And  that  the nice deputy didn't arrest me for terrifying her with elk parts  before  dawn.

 Amy - 09:59am Sep 13, 1999 PDT (# 1402 of 1405)
 Imagine waking up with a gnawed elk carcass in  your bed, like a  real-life
 "Godfather" with an all-dog cast.

 Anne  - 10:01am Sep 13, 1999 PDT (# 1403 of 1405)
 There is not enough almond milk in the world to solve an event of that kind.

Top Ten Ways You Know Your Dog Has You Under Their Thumb
(if dogs had thumbs)

 10) When someone does something that pleases you,
      you are inclined to reach in your pocket for a piece
      of food as a reward.

 9) You have 32 different names for your dog. Most
      make no sense, but she understands.

 8) You truly believe that DOG spelled backwards is
     GOD.

 7) When you look to rent or buy a home, you think,
      "Will my dog like it?"

 6) The last one to bed is always you. The dogs
      make it there first and you fight for your corner because
      they won't move.

 5) You feel the urge to neuter or spay anyone who
      mistreats their dogs, or allows their dogs to run
      loose.

 4) You hate people who beg, because they just
     can't get that innocent look like your dog.

 3) You can't understand why heads snap around at
      work when you discuss your "bitch."

 2) Your dog decides he doesn't like someone and
      you tend to agree.

 1) You shovel a zig-zig path in the snow so your
      dog  can reach all her favorite spots.

Mommy's Home

The young pup and the older dog lay on shaded sweet grass watching the reunions. Sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes a whole family would approach the Rainbow Bridge, be greeted by their loving pets and cross the bridge together.
The young pup playfully nipped at the older one. "Look! Something wonderful is happening!" The older dog stood up and barked, "Quickly. Get over to the path. "But that's not my owner," whined the pup, but he did as he was told.

Thousands of pets surged forward as a woman in white walked on the path toward the bridge. As the glowing figure passed each animal, that animal bowed it's head in love and respect. The figure finally approached the bridge, was met by a menagerie of joyous animals and stood silently, looking over and around as if searching. There! She was coming! Slowly the animals silently made way for the very small dog...allowing her to make her way to the woman who was kneeling with her arms open. It was difficult because the small one was a tiny puppy barely able to walk! Joyfully the puppy went into the Lady's waiting arms! The woman stood and looked up, smiled and said, "Mommy's Home!! Together, they all walked over the bridge and disappeared.

The young pup was still in awe. "Was that an angel?" he whispered. And who was the dog? "No, son." The older dog replied. "That was more than an angel. That Lady was one who worked rescue. The baby was her first. The one she could not save. Who came here warm and happy and unafraid because she was telling her it was ok.. She promised baby she would dedicate herself to helping others like Baby. Baby was...the first.
Author Unknown