Category Archives: Pets

Activism, Foster Dogs, HSNB, Pets

Introducing Blind Foster Dog Melody

Leave a comment

Here are pictures of my third blind foster dog this year (not to mention my permanent blind dog Bonnie). This one is Melody.

While we’re still looking at Humane Society of the North Bay for someone else to take the Frenchie/bully mix Marley, who is blind, I did take in this senior who is blind herself, who I’ve named Melody because she has a sweet little howl she lets out once in a while. Marley is currently in a large kennel at the shelter, so she has more room than when she was with the Smalls, but if someone doesn’t take her, I am a little worried about her odds at the Fairfield shelter. She’s young but doesn’t have that much experience being a real dog. I’m glad we were able to afford her a couple of days of that at least.

As always, I hope that more and more fosters come out of the woodwork, which would really help our shelter to reset and thrive while we go through some adjustments to the remodel of part of our campus that is financed through a grant from a few years ago, which funds we cannot use for our operating expenses. In the meantime, I think a lot of you know I try to take in as many special needs fosters as I can, given the pack’s comfort level and the hours in the day that we can put toward rehabilitating these dogs. This new foster is Melody. I believe she has some vision, and she certainly must have had some in her life. She is very easy-going and low maintenance, but I worry about her climbing up on things that she sometimes needs help getting down from. Case in point, the end of this video. I appeased her after I stopped filming by letting her onto this little ottoman, but I put her down soon thereafter out of fear that she’d fall. She’s housetrained and eats well. Melody will hopefully be a great candidate for Muttville.

Activism, Foster Dogs, HSNB, Pets, Shea

Shea and Foster Werner do 707 Week

Leave a comment

This is a compilation video of Shea’s adventures with foster Werner at the 707 Week event last Monday evening on Mare Island. I was on a couple of Zoom meetings, but I’m glad it was an opportunity to show off Werner, who can be a brat, but who is also very lovable and young and healthy and will be a great fit for somebody, especially if they understand cranky doxies. I think his personality is actually improving and he’s somewhat rehabilitated since leaving the shelter, though and getting neutered while with us. He’s got a huge personality and wants to dominate our laps, but there are worse problems he could have.

Pets

July 2026 Dogs

Leave a comment

Werner and Bella are my two fosters right now. They have actually snapped at each other, but with Werner being fixed, he’s starting to become very playful with the ladies here. He seemed to gravitate toward friendly play with my male dog Snoopy and a male guest dog. I don’t know if it’s a gender thing for him, but I love seeing even a hint of them getting along better, and it’s not just Bella. I’ve not been able to capture it on video yet, but he’s playing with Bonnie and Ella more now, too!

Nature, Pets

Developing Story of Nature in Backyard

Leave a comment

So this video starts with pictures of Snoopy STARING down this green-painted metal dog. I have had this thing for years (I repainted it after the fire since it was fire-damaged), and I thought it was strange to see Snoopy fixate on it. Well, it turns out he wasn’t looking at the metal dog at all. Instead, this vulnerable chick had fallen from its nest prematurely. It could hop well and flutter its underdeveloped wings. Meanwhile, the chick’s parents were in a frenzy, so it was my mission to save this bird from being attacked by any dogs. To their credit, they stayed back while Shea got me a container to scoop the bird into it a few times and then put it in a safer place and then an increasingly safer place away from the dogs and closer to its parents. I don’t know where the nest is that it fell from, but the three birds were actively communicating. I cleared a path for them to rendezvous in the bamboo brush and made sure the dogs stayed away for as long as possible. I couldn’t wait around indefinitely, but I’m pretty confident I gave this bird family the best chance it had at full reunion and safety. Strangely, this is the second time in less than four months since returning to this house that I’ve seen a vulnerable bird that required some human assistance to avoid dog attention. The other one seemed stunned or disoriented and then flew away without issue, but this one I was able to document more fully.

Nature, Pets

Vulnerable Chick in Backyard

Leave a comment

So this video starts out with pictures of Snoopy STARING down this green, painted metal dog. I have had this thing for years (I repainted it after the fire since it was fire-damaged), and I thought it was strange to see Snoopy fixate on it. Well, it turns out that he was not looking at the dog at all. Instead, this vulnerable chick had fallen from its nest prematurely. It could hop well and flutter its underdeveloped wings. Meanwhile, the chick’s parents were in a frenzy, so it was my mission to save this bird from being attacked by any dogs. To their credit, they stayed back while Shea got me a container to scoop the bird into it a few times and then put it in a safer place and then an increasingly safer place away from the dogs and closer to its parents. I don’t know where the nest is that it fell from, but the three birds were actively communicating. I cleared a path for them to rendezvous in the bamboo brush and made sure the dogs stayed away for as long as possible. I couldn’t wait around indefinitely, but I’m pretty confident I gave this bird family the best chance it had at full reunion and safety. Strangely, this is the second time in less than four months since returning to this house that I’ve seen a vulnerable bird that required some human assistance to avoid dog attention. The other one seemed stunned or disoriented and then flew away without issue, but this one I was able to document more fully.

Activism, Foster Dogs, HSNB, Pets

Bon Voyage and Buena Suerte Jacques

Leave a comment

Today was bittersweet because we adopted out our foster (for almost four months), Jacques. He was injured when we got him from a dew claw injury, but he has been a joy. The family that adopted him had a dog named BONNIE who died a few months ago and looked just like Jacques. That’s very cool since my dog Bonnie is adopted from HSNB, of course. Only a few weeks after we got him, he moved to this house with us, so things were already in upheaval. He immediately bonded with Shea, which was sweet and timely since we had just adopted out (big) Perry, who Shea was also close with. Young, healthy dogs like these are much easier to say goodbye to, so we can make room for a special-needs dog. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t pull at our heartstrings, and it doesn’t mean we don’t love them. We just can’t have a large number of dogs and still be available for fostering dogs in crisis.

Activism, Foster Dogs, HSNB

Daredevil Derry, the Blind Foster Puppy, Moves to a New Adventure

Leave a comment

I hope more people consider fostering dogs in need! It’s not lost on me that for the past several weeks since I decided to start fostering Derry, I was back to having SEVEN DOGS, and two of them were blind, which is an eerie parallel to before the fire, and definitely not by design. Derry was a special case, being a double merle puppy. He was born blind. We got to watch him grow and learn every single day from the time he was only four weeks old. He should not have even been weaned by then. He was much more frenetic than the other dogs. Today we got a call from a rescue partner that had a foster waiting for him, so Derry and two other dogs from our HSNB shelter were pulled, including at least one other puppy.

Derry loves adventures and everybody, so I know he’ll thrive wherever. I’m not worried about him in that way. The timing was good because seven dogs — with one being a needy puppy — was a lot to handle, particularly with so much else going on. These other six dogs are senior and special needs, which I gravitate towards. While I forget that Bonnie is also blind, it did make for some mishaps, especially since Derry was always experimenting with pushing boundaries. The other dogs’ patience was sometimes tried. Derry was at the “chew everything” stage, so it was a constant task to redirect him. Both Shea and I are going to miss this little “Daredevil” Derry. Yes, I have a special place in my heart for blind dogs, but Derry will most certainly have a very enriched life and be a wonderful pet for any family with just a little extra patience. This is probably the last picture I’ll take of Derry, but I’ll be following up to make sure he is thriving through this nearby rescue. I’ll always be grateful that we had time with this puppy.

Activism, Foster Dogs, HSNB, Pets

Early June 2026 Dogs

Leave a comment

It was wonderful having Perrito (fka Miso) visit for the weekend while his dads were in Vancouver, BC, for a family reunion. He was a wonderful wrestling buddy for Derry. Every time Perry comes to visit, it’s as if he never left. He recognizes us and loves to hang out without any anxiety, so it feels good. However, he’s always thrilled when his dad comes back to get him, as he loves his life in San Francisco. Bella and Ella are catching the glory of the morning sun in the lanai. This is a sweet spot for them, which I encourage while I have my coffee in my favorite spot in the house, especially with the new back deck cover. Yes, I’ll have my coffee (and cheesecake) on the lanai, Blanche.

My new co-worker, blind foster puppy Derry, has found this old chaise that a friend suggested I turn into a dog bed once one of the legs broke off beyond repair. I scoffed at the idea originally, but the dogs freaking love it, and it fits very well under my side desk return. It’s a little bit of a climb for Derry, but he’s finally mastered the step up and down. It’s a doozy.

Temporary front porch gate is helpful to have while the retaining wall work is being done in the backyard. The dogs can safely hang out here and avoid the dust and workmen who had to rearrange all the backyard contents.

My good friend of many years, Hugh, with his three dogs and a couple of mine mixed in.

Random early June pictures of the lovely dogs:

Pets

Snoopy turns five!

Leave a comment

Today is the “made-up” date of birth I gave to Snoopy. When he was found wandering around Vallejo and brought to me by a rescue group, I thought he was a senior because of his gray muzzle, only to find out from a veterinarian that he was probably only about a year and a half old. Well, now he’s five, according to that estimate. He’s an incredible survivor that everyone loves. He is kind to all people and loves to be touched, with his trademark reaching out for more petting when someone stops. He’s pretty traumatized by certain sounds and the smell of fire since surviving the house fire in January 2024, but I was so glad that, as the youngest of my dogs at the time, he was there with me in the very scary and lonely days right after that horrible experience. He’s been featured in the fundraising calendar for the Humane Society of the North Bay with two firemen that saved him that day while he hid out in the lookout area of my backyard with my foster dog at the time. Below is a picture of him with the fireman who handed him to me when we met up many months later. Snoopy’s a healthy, smart, and completely respectful dog that I am so happy to have for life. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have such a patient boy like him, which many call the perfect dog. When I do meet-and-greets for foster dogs, I often hesitate to bring him out because everyone gravitates toward this gentleman!