Bandit's New Friends

Bandit made some new friends this past week. That's Wyatt in the back and Avery in front. Don't they all look like cousins?


Bandit & Wyatt having a grrrrrreat time.


At the park.


I don't think I've ever seen Bandit's tongue hang out so much before. That is a sign of a happy, well-exercised dog.

Dori Today

Dori (aka Doris) was a little under a year when she first came to us in early 2007 as an intensely timid and under-socialized dog from Taiwan. Dori & Isis were my first encounters with shy, almost feral, dogs, so I had no experiences to fall back on. I agonized over Dori's withdrawal from the world and from us for the first 3 days, but she ultimately became my first "favorite" (I've since had many).

You can read Dori's story here.











And Dori this Christmas(with her BFF, Tre the Rottie):



Here are some videos of her while she stayed with us, almost 2 years ago.





Dori & Isis:


And my personal favorite, Dori Destroys a Pillow:

A New Video of Bandit & Popeye

Last Night

There are 2 very large crates in our bedroom. We have found that most dogs prefer to sleep in a den-like area, such as a crate. There used to be 3 crates in our bedroom but about a year ago, Boomer decided he liked to sleep in my walk-in closet instead, so we put his crate away and set his dog bed in the closet. This usually leaves the 2 crates for Phoebe and the foster dog. Popeye has his own little baby-gated area.

Every night, when I go to bed, Bandit follows me to the bedroom and goes right into a crate. Phoebe is generally already in the other crate and Boomer in his usual spot in the closet. Two nights ago, I found Boomer in a crate and Phoebe in the closet. Last night when I went to bed, both Boomer and Phoebe were in each of the crates. Bandit looked at me as if to say, "NOW what do I do?"

Bandit's routine, since we first had him, has always been to sleep in a crate every night. He has never slept on the floor and he has certainly never slept in the closet. So last night, he checked here and there in the room, and each time he returned to the crates, they were both still occupied. Tyler and I were watching TV and I figured I would just leave Bandit to figure it out. I was curious to see if he would choose the floor or the dog bed in the closet.

Many minutes later, I looked over to see what he had decided and this was what I found:

New Jasmine Video

Jasmine went to her regular foster home on Friday. I knew I shouldn't have fed her breakfast, as she got carsick and it wound up all over the seat and floor. Bandit tried to clean up as much as he could, but it's a good thing I was already planning on getting the car cleaned after dropping her off, since the car was starting to smell like wet dog.

I always wonder why each dog ended up at a shelter. Were they just victims of changes in their owners' circumstances, or did they have a behavior their owners couldn't or didn't want to deal with? Jasmine doesn't seem to have any issues, but I suppose only time will tell.

Her foster mom did write this about her:
"Jasmine is showing a new side - she definitely likes to be THE center of attention. She is very gentle, moves very slowly, but does not give up. She will literally start squirming right between Logan (the resident dog) and I, on the bed or couch, and will keep wiggling her way through until she divides us. And she won't be redirected. She is so coy about it, it's hard to tell she is being deliberate, except that she has repeated this exact behavior several times."

I didn't have her for long, but I can totally see her doing that.

New Popeye Video

Jasmine's 2nd Day

Jasmine got more comfortable with the other dogs today. She was most at ease with Bandit and tended to follow his lead.





She even joined the other dogs in play for a while.









But she's still mostly a people dog, preferring to lay quietly next to a human rather than be amongst the dog pack.