I get this question a LOT:

What do your neighbors think about all your dogs?!

Let me back up and mention that we live in a townhouse. Yes, I'm serious. 1250 sq ft, tiny backyard, me, Brandon, six dogs, a foster puppy and a cat. Hey, we're a close family :-) I have elderly neighbors on one side of me that have been my neighbors since our houses were built nine years ago. They know I work rescue and they know I have multiple dogs. My other neighbors probably couldn't pick ME out of a lineup, much less tell you how many dogs I have.

Our backyard is fenced (6' wooden privacy with a padlock on the gate) but in all honestly, the dogs are rarely out there more than 15-20 minutes at a time. And they're NEVER out there when we're not home. EVER. I have too many stories about dogs that were poisoned, stolen, shot, etc to ever take that chance. Our guys basically go out, do their business and come back to sit by the door until we let them back in. I probably spend more time out there CLEANING UP their business than they do!

We also don't let them bark like fools when they're outside (or ever for that matter). CiCi LOVES to bark at the birds nesting in the neighbor's crepe myrtle - that's when she gets snatched up and taken back in. We have a "zero tolerance" policy on barking outside. And I assure you, the two Yorkies next door, the two Dachshunds three doors down and the little yapper up the road make MUCH more noise than my guys would ever dream of. Much more noise than I would ever put up with.

As for barking inside, that's mostly reserved for when I get home in the evenings and it's very short lived. Our homes are separated by an 18" firewall and the dogs can't possibly be any louder than our neighbor's surround sound system that rattles my sewing room on a regular basis.

So there you have it, life with multiple dogs in a townhouse. Not for the faint of heart, but also not as bad as you'd think!

"Whaddaya mean I'm a pit bull?!"

I'm SO over March.

In the last 10 days, we've killed THREE car batteries...one being the battery in our mechanic's loaner car that we were driving while he replaced the other two!

And then there's the dishwasher that died...and took the kitchen floor with it. I guess the silver lining in that cloud is that we're on a slab with no subfloor so the damage was minimal in the grand scheme of things. That, however, does not make me feel any better about buying a new dishwasher. We've considered tossing the old one and fitting that space under the counter with a dog crate...but I really don't like washing dishes by hand. And I'm REALLY tired of paper plates that the environmentalist in me insists on wiping off to recycle.

Now Lily is limping on her right knee. The same sort of limping that CiCi did prior to her TWO surgeries to repair ruptured ACLs. The procedure is expensive. The recovery is long. That I can handle. What I can't figure out is exactly HOW we're supposed to have a fear aggressive, slightly nutty, routine driven dog evaluated...much less operated on if necessary! An induced medical coma is all I can figure...

So, here's hoping that the old adage "in like a lion, out like a lamb" was referring to March in general... and not just the weather!

Insanely cute!

Vote for Ozzy!

VOTE for my sister's dog Ozzy and help my rescue group win $10,000!!

Crazy Easter Bunny!

Two weekends ago our rescue group had an Easter Bunny photo fundraiser. We were a bit short staffed and I got stuck in the bunny costume. It wasn't too bad...until you put the head on. It's lined with latex so it's hot and there's little to no air circulation in there. I was fine until I started thinking I could seriously suffocate - once that got on me, I had to leave the room and rip the head off asap! Thankfully, only one group of kids came and I doubt it was emotionally damaging for the dogs.

So it was a friend of mine who brought her kids and the two boys brought me carrots - how cute is that?! Except that, since I couldn't see anything thru the blasted mask, I ended up with the carrot UP MY FREAKING NOSE! And the photog is just snapping away...not so much as a "Hey, Bunny, the carrot's up your nose!"

Notice the boys holding their noses! Hahaha! My friend said when they got in the car the boys started with, "Hey momma!! That Easter Bunny had that carrot up his nose!!" She tried to tell them that I was just smelling the carrot...I don't think they bought it. So much for not emotionally damaging the kids!!

Here's a great example...

of why selling or giving puppies away on your own is NEVER good. Meet Dudley:

I got an email last week about a puppy that wasn't being taken care of who needed to find a new home. Seems the guy who "bought" the pup he was calling "Bruiser" was keeping him crated for days on end and feeding him whenever he got around to it. The guy's MOTHER took the puppy from him and started contacting rescue groups for help...you know it's bad when your own mom thinks you're acting like an asshat.

The best part? After inquiring about the pup, I found that his mom is, you guessed it, my former foster Valentine. You remember her, the one who had her pups sold off at 5 weeks old. Yep, Dudley is one of those pups.

Valentine is doing well in Chicago and now Dudley is with me and available for adoption. And it makes me SICK to think what will (or has already) become of Val's other pups.

"Only" six dogs.

I guess it's sort of like saying, "I ONLY drove to New Hamsphire and back over the weekend." It's all relative! Ruby's new family picked her up last Saturday (see their first family portrait below) leaving us with only our six dogs. And Meatball the cat.

Man, when you've had up to eight for the better part of the last two years, SIX is a breeze! It takes me no time to feed them, walk them, play fetch, etc. Pooper scooping is easier, we're going thru less food, and fewer heartworm pills.

Now if I could just talk Brandon into letting me pull a puppy or two from the shelter... ;-)