Wiley, Meatball, and Isis

Let's catch up with Wiley a bit. He had a busy weekend since our nieces were visiting for a sleepover. Olivia and Sadie came on Friday so we could go explore the Lehigh Valley Zoo and the Crayola Factory Experience. 

A funny thing happened while we were at the zoo. Well, let me clarify something first. It's more of a nature preserve. They don't keep any animals who couldn't thrive in our climate and habitat, and many of their animals, especially their birds of prey, are ones who had to be rehabilitated due to an injury or abandonment and couldn't survive in the wild. Their goal is conservation. Anyway, I went into the Rainbow Lorikeet exhibit and uh. . .  this happened. 

Birds have always had a thing for me. When I was a teenager my best friend Carrie's family adopted some birds, Cockatiels I believe, George and Martha. Only one of them was friendly when allowed out of the cage. The other would just fly to a curtain rod and stare everyone down. Except me. I was terrified of both of them flying around, and it was like they knew. They sat on the edge of my cereal bowl. They sat on my shoulder and pulled at my earrings. They tried to eat my ice cream. And because I was the only one the anti-social bird would socialize with, every time I went to their house they'd say "Let's get George and Martha out! Let's see if they'll do it again!"

I'm not as afraid as I used to be, but this was still quite the experience.

Moving on, we got the chance to take Wiley for a few walks while the girls were here. 

 He enjoyed having everyone together although he did have to turn around quite a bit to keep tabs on Sadie and me. He is a herding dog after all.

I guess everyone liked it; just check out these big smiles on Sadie and Wiley.

Olivia and Wiley have always gotten along well, probably because she actually likes throwing his ball for him. Check him out in action. You can see him at his happiest.

After the walks and tossing the ball it was time to take the girls home.  During their stay they had been telling me about one of their new kittens, whom Olivia named Apollo but Sadie named Meatball. 

As you can see, he is part Gremlin.  His ear hair is tufted and seems as long as his whiskers.  His coat started out black and has become silver-tipped. You can see the strange way his tail is a different color on its underbelly. 

He loves to climb in the shower when people are in there, and he begs for cantaloupe. Yeah, he seems more like a Meatball than an Apollo. 

I also got the chance to visit with Isis. 

If my face looks red in the pictures, it's because she was literally licking it so hard it hurt. 

Isis was the first dog we featured here on the Rescue Dog Blog. She is a beautiful one-eyed pit bull, and she never met anyone she didn't love.She laid on my feet most of the time I was there, and every time I bent over to acknowledge her, the excitement meter started all over again. 

She is such a sweet happy girl.

All the visitors, walks, and games of fetch must have been too much for Wiley, because when I got home in the late afternoon from dropping the girls off, this is what I saw. BOL!

In other news, our friend Luke took some pictures to help us get our adoption website ready. I can't wait to show you some of the Wiley pics, but in the meantime, here's one from that day of just Wiley and me, because I needed to be in one for a pet contest we're entering. Just wait until you see the rest!

Have you been wanting to share your pet with us? Send me the story! I'm running low and I do like spreading the rescue word with pictures of your happy pets. Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com.

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Barney

There are mutts, and then there's Barney!  

Take a look at this guy. I think only a DNA test could reveal Barney's ancestry, although a look at his front legs and body shape certainly suggest there's a Bassett Hound somewhere along the line. 

Barney has it pretty good right now, 

but for awhile Barney's story was a rather downcast one. 

He found himself at the Hillside SPCA, which is the same shelter where we got Wiley. Lots of other dogs we've featured on here have come from Hillside, including Fanny and Rosco. Although dogs are usually (if they're not sick or aggressive) given the chance to run free within the yard at Hillside, Barney didn't even want to. All he did was lie around in a crate, getting sadder with each passing week. 

Eventually he didn't even want to come out when called, and a sad dog lying around unresponsive in a crate is hardly the kind who is going to attract adopters.

That's where Chris comes in. Chris had been volunteering with his mom and step-dad at the Hillside. He would walk dogs and play with them and just generally keep them company. In fact, here he is with Fanny (top picture)! He posted this picture of her on his Facebook wall a few weeks before she was adopted by Luke and Kim.

He also posted lots of other pictures encouraging people to go check out the dogs, even though he didn't have one himself. Eventually the Hillside staff asked him if he wanted to spend some time with Barney, and that's when these two guys met their doggie destiny. The usually reluctant Barney came out of his crate and walked right up to Chris, wagging his tail the whole time!  

The workers asked Chris if he would consider fostering Barney for a bit, just because he seemed so down in the shelter. Chris said yes, and Barney's future was locked in. Barney was destined to be a FOSTER FAILURE, and there's nothing wrong with that!

Barney and Chris have been together for awhile now. Chris has learned that Barney loves sleeping and snacks, but also enjoys his rope toys and bones.

He gets excited when Chris's dad visits because that means they're going on a hike, and he also likes the cheeseburgers he gets from Chris's mom, Leona, when she visits. His mom has her own inspirational story; you can read about it here. 

Barney loves Chris's step-dad, whom he's sleeping on here, 

and he also keeps a pretty consistent window vigil when he's not sleeping. 

Chris and Barney are best buddies. 

Barney follows Chris around when he's home, often lying right at his feet. 

Or begging for peanut butter!

Or just hogging up the sofa, even when Chris is trying to sleep on it too.

Barney went from being a nervous boy on the way home in the car

to a contented pup who knows he's loved and wanted.

What a happy story for Barney and for us! 

Thanks to Chris for sharing his story with us and his home with Barney. Please take a moment to read Chris's mom's story too, to see if you can help. You can find her at the bottom right of the main page of the Hillside SPCA. 

Don't forget to share your rescue stories with me! I will be glad to share your stories and pictures with everyone here on the blog. Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com.

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Feline Friday: Jenny is a bully!

I've been wanting to share this video footage for quite some time so everyone knows what a bully Jenny is.  In it you'll see her climb the walls, literally, because she's fired up. Click on her picture below.

Often she'll go on a running spree for no apparent reason and do this, and many times she can actually hold herself halfway up the wall. I have yet to catch a picture of this but one of these days I will. Until then, the video of her attempts will have to suffice. 

I also happened to catch this picture of her the other day. 

I'm dying to caption it but I can't think of anything clever enough. What do you think?

Don't forget to share your rescue stories with me! I will be glad to share your stories and pictures with everyone here on the blog. Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rescuedogblog
Twitter: @RescueDogBlog
Instagram: @rescuedogblog