Hi Everybody! I'm Home!

Woo. It's me, everypup, Dave. Sometimes, since all 4 of us share the blog, it's hard to get a woo in! And since we also share our computer with Mom and Dad..... it's hard to get computer time! Here I am, waiting for Dad to finish doing work the other day.

Dad... please let me know when you're done. Need any help with your work? I'm here for ya!

Anywoo... there has been some confusion over why I had a pink leash on in the pic Stormy posted and what she meant by the "umbilical cord" and Mom and Dad being Foster Failures. I thought now that I finally have computer time, I'd tell you the story of how I came to find my fur-ever home!

Mom belongs to that Siberian list that some of our friends' bipeds are on - like Tubey, Meeshka, Holly and a bunch of others. Usually, it's goofy stuff (or "stupid", as Tubey would say!) like how to train us, what not to feed us, and stuff like that. But sometimes there is really GOOD stuff! Like one day in January of '02.........!

I was in the slammer at the time, screaming the Siberian Death Scream, but Stormy told me the way it all went down. A lady from a rescue group in Oklahoma must have heard me, and posted to the list about a Siberian Husky (me) in our local shelter. Was there someone in Kansas who was willing to evaluate him (me) as to adoptability? And if adoptable, spring him, "foster" him over the weekend, and help transport him down there? Fortunately for me, Mom read the post and jumped on it.

See...I had been screaming the Siberian Death Scream (SDS) for almost a month, and was on my last day. (This is apparently why they called me Yodel there. I didn't like that name and didn't answer to it.) When I saw my mom, I changed my voice completely and gave a soft, low "woo" that melted her heart and that the worker had never heard! I was saving it for JUST the right moment! The lady at the shelter had never seen that side of me.

Mom convinced her to give me a little more time and promised she'd be back for me the next day. Apparently, they remembered Mom from 5 months earlier when she adopted Zim, so they said, "OK." (Whew!) She said she needed to prepare my dad and 3 other Siberians. Cool! A dad and siblings!

Mom thought it would go OK for the weekend, then she'd start me on my journey to Oklahoma on Monday. She told me there were 2 sweet redheaded Sibes at home who would love to meet me, but that there was an alpha-girl named Stormy that I might have to stay separated from. She said this Stormy wouldn't accept a strong, adult Sibe like me into her pack - I was probably 4 years old then. "Don't worry, Mom!" I wasn't about to cause anyone ANY problems.

That next day, my mom and dad came to get me. I loved both of them already, but they kept calling me a "Foster". Ha. When we got home, I walked in and told the other Sibes, "Hi everybody, I'm home!" and just fit right in. The redheads were GREAT - and I sure didn't start anything with Storm. I'm not as smart as she is, but I know not to go starting trouble when there's a good thing right in front of me. She kept looking at my mom like, "I don't want to like him ... but he's so nice I can't help it!" Woo. What can I say? I'm a lover, not a fighter. The leash was on me as a safety catch, in case Mom and Dad needed to separate me and the Storm. And ... since Stormy already had the red one as hers, and Ammy had the green one, and Zim had the blue one ... all that was left was a spare. And it was ... pink. Woo. (See the picture at right? That's from when I first got here. I also had a teal collar. With a pink leash? No wonder I am now Mom's Guide Dog for the Color Blind! I got here just in time!) (Oh... and that's Zim's nose in the foreground.)

Here we are out on a "let's tire them out" walk that first weekend. I'm the one smiling at the camera! Um... yeah, with the pink leash on.

By the time the weekend was over, I'd won them over. Right as it was time for me to head south, Mom and Dad had "the talk". It ended in a phone call to that wonderful lady in Oklahoma who heard my SDS and told mom about me. Mom said I wouldn't need a foster home in OK; I'd found my forever home right here in Kansas! Woo!

I still wasn't responding to "Yodel" - can you blame me? And they tried all kinds of names out on me. Nothing worked until Dad joked that they could name me "Dave" -- Dave Thomas, of Wendy's Restaurants had just passed away. He had been adopted and was a great advocate of adoption.... served our country in uniform.... and through his highly successful career was still known as just a heck of a nice guy who loved a good burger! :) As soon as my dad said, "Dave," I looked at him and cocked my head. "Yes, Dad?" It fits! I am DAVE!

I eventually got a teal leash to match my collar. (So my color was teal before I got purple!) I was umbilical corded for a few more days, since Mom and Dad were still worried about me and Storm getting along. I could pretty much go where I wanted to, though. Check out the picture above - yeah, that's me and Storm. The bipeds figured if we were slipping off together to nap, we were going to be OK.

That's the story of how I got here! I'd love to know about the rest of you! How did you get to your fur-ever homes?

Luv,
Dave