Wow, it's been quite a week!

Wow, well, it's been a mere 20-30 degrees here in the 9th Ward, and I've been having a blast!

Foster Mama has been teaching me lots of stuff. She's taught me to sit, stay, come, go down, and even this crazy "shake" thing, which she loves. Whatever, I get lots of praise and treats, so I do it! Foster Mama keeps telling me that I'm a genius. I don't know about that, but I sure do want those treats!

Other than that -- well, it's been so cold that everything outside keeps freezing. My foster sisters and I are having way too much fun with the ice! Check out these videos of us playing with the ice in our outside water bucket! I finally got it out (with some help from foster Mama) and then we played keep-away!



Keep away!

The Slim Goodie in motion!

I'm a pretty active guy, so I figured yall would like to see some shots of me in motion! My foster mama has taken a few videos of me playing with my buddies!

Check this one out: here I am playing fetch in my yard full of friends. See how nice I sit?? The real big guy is my neighbor-dog, Bazil the Saint Bernard. Then the smaller Saint Bernard is my girlfriend, Chalmette. You can also see my other foster sisters, Miss B the Great Dane and Pauline the pit bull. That little black dog is Penny. She needs a home, too.

But as you can see, I'm the center of attention. See the retrieving skills? The obedience? How could you not want me?!?

Here's one more video for you. This one is of me and Chalmette playing tug o' war! Isn't Chally beautiful? Tall and leggy. But I'm dark and handsome, so we look good together!

I could have been free!

This morning, my foster sisters and I almost had an adventure. We were running, wrestling, and playing. And we all ran into the gate -- which my mom just put up the other day. Turned out she didn't quite screw the catch in well enough. It fell off!

What??

My three foster sisters and I stopped and stared. What happened?, we all wondered. Mama called us all back, and I came. Here I come, Mama!

My forth foster sister, Penny, didn't come.

Penny is another foster like me. She's looking for a home. She's a smaller girl, a little corgi mix. She's pretty fun. But she doesn't listen all that well, honestly. She ran out the gate! On no!

So Mama put us all inside and then went and chased Penny. Thankfully she got her back within a few blocks. Then we all had to stay inside while Mama fixed the two gates -- she reinforced them and now we're stuck! Oh well.

Mama and her friend Emily spent the rest of the day building more panels to keep us all out from under the house. Mama even crawled under the house and fixed some steps. Crazy girl.

We also played a lot of fetch. I love fetch!

Then I came back inside. I was pretty good, but I did try to chase the cat, Archie. I really love Archie, I just can't understand why he wouldn't want to play with me.

Now we're all settled in. Mama starts classes tomorrow -- she's in law school, whatever that means -- so we need to get to sleep. So I'm settling back into my crate. Oh well. One day I'll have my own home to cuddle up in at night.

I do have to say that Mama Kelly cooked potatoes and ground beef tonight. Not bad at all!

a day in the life of Slim

Well, here we are in Day 2 of my new blog, and it was a pretty fun day in my foster home. For anyone who may have missed my first post yesterday, I am a flat-coated retriever mix who is back in foster care after a false start -- my family decided I was "too much dog" for them. But I should be happy to have a full belly and a roof over my head, right?

Okay, my foster home isn't that bad, really.

So, I wake up this morning, and I'm in my crate. I go into my crate very well, but I hate it. So as soon as I heard my foster brothers and sisters stirring, I started wining. Eventually, my foster mom got up -- hurray! Time to go out side.

I went out with my four foster sisters and my little bitty foster brother. I live with five other dogs right now. Four of them already have their forever home -- they live with my foster mom. They are: Chalmette, a really pretty Saint Bernard mix girl who I think is charming! She's about 2.5 years old; and Miss B, a Great Dane girl just about my age.... I love her, although I'm not sure she loves me; and then there's Pauline, she's always fun! She is a pit bull and she loves to play with me. My foster mom also has a tiny baby Mastiff boy. He's only 10 weeks old, and I'm trying to learn to be gentle with him. He's really cute!

I also have a foster sister who is looking for a home. Penny is a little corgi mix girl. She's pretty fun -- she's playful and young like me. Penny only weighs about 30 pounds, but she packs a mighty punch in that little body!

So, we all went out and played. It was pretty fun. Eventually, though, foster mom called us in for breakfast.

I have to go into my crate to eat. But that's fine, because the eating is good around here! I eat Merrick food -- my foster mom says that's "super premium," whatever that means. I don't know, but it's pretty good -- our flavor right now is "turduckhen" but we've had "trout feast" too! But even better: mom always cooks us up a bit of extra stuff. This morning we had chicken thighs and rice with broth. A little bit of that on top of our food is pretty tasty. Mom also gives me fish oil in my food every morning, and "Missing Link" supplement, which has good stuff for my joints. I don't know what all that means -- but I know it's really tasty. I'm all about meal time.

So, after we ate and foster mom took a shower, we had to wait at home while mom ran a few errands. I had to stay in my crate. Oh well -- it wasn't bad. She was back soon and we all went outside and hung out for most of the day. Now that's a good Slim day! Foster mom was working on building panels to block the bottom of the house. Me and my foster buddies love to go under the house -- but our house had 6 feet of water in Katrina, and we have a lot of sharp, dangerous stuff under there. Actually, my foster sister Miss B cut her foot today. So Mom and her friend Emily fixed it up to keep us safe.

Kind of boring.

Emily's dogs Bazil a Saint Bernard boy and Chunk a blind Mastiff came out. I like them both.

After the whole day of running in the yard, we came inside. And then it was time for dinner! I love dinner. We had our Turduckhen food with ground beef and potatoes. That was pretty good. In fact, it was really good.

Now I'm in my crate, waiting, and hoping I get some more play time tonight. I'll probably get to go out for a little while later. I guess I'm lucky.

But I just really want a home of my own.

Beginning the Slim Story

Hi, my name is Slim.

It's a new year, and I'm hoping for a new home -- a forever home.

My name is Slim, and I'm hoping to find my fourth home in 2010.

You might be wondering how a handsome, healthy young guy like me has been through so many homes. Well, honestly, so am I. Here's my story.

HOME 1: These folks abandoned me and my buddy, Mia, in the Lower 9th Ward. That was back in August, 2009. Some nice folks found us. They said they were with "Miss Dezzie," a "rescuer" in the downtown area. They took us home.

HOME 2: The "Dezzie" folks took us home for a few days. Mia and I had to stay outside, but still, we had food and attention. We were so happy, and we played, played, played. Then these "Dezzie" people called Dogs of the 9th Ward. They explained that we were from the 9th Ward, and said that they couldn't keep us. Dogs of the 9th Ward (they call themselves "D9") said that they couldn't take us either. Oh no! Homeless again??

FOSTER HOME 1: But D9 agreed to take us temporarily, just for a week or so until Miss Dezzie could find another home for us. Well, we never heard from Miss Dezzie again. So me and Mia ended up boarding at D9's vet for almost a month. After all, we were so sweet and cute, D9 couldn't give us up!

D9 couldn't find me a foster. Some said I was "too large." I am about 65 pounds, but it's all muscle -- I'm an athletic guy! Others said I was "too energetic." Well, I guess I do have some energy. At the time, I was barely 1 year old, and I'm a retriever! Please, I thought: won't someone play fetch with me?

I'm glad my friend Mia found a home. Mia is a one-year-old 35-pound lab mix. She is in a loving home in Metairie, Louisiana. I do miss her, though. I haven't seen her in a long time, and we were good friends.

Anyway, no one would foster me, so eventually, I came home with D9 founder/director, Kelly. She lives in the Florida Area of the 9th Ward, not that far from where I came from. I got lots of play time, lots of attention, and lots of love. But I still didn't get lots of one-on-one attention. My foster mom had 4 dogs of her own, plus two other fosters! Wow! Although it was crowded, we had such a good time playing!

While I was with my foster mom, I learned some things like how to sit and stay and walk on a leash. It was amazing. I sort of thought I'd found my home.

HOME 3: But then, I was whisked off to Memphis, Tennessee! Well, I'm a country kind of guy, so I figured Tennessee would be perfect for me. I loved my family. I had a 4-year-old boy who was my best friend. And I had a golden retriever buddy to play with. With a big house and yard, I figured I'd landed in Heaven.

Unfortunately, my family was expecting a baby, and they decided that I was "too playful" with my golden buddy, and after 2 months, I found myself back at my foster home.

WHAT?? I asked..... Where am I?? To be honest, I was very sad. I watched at the gate for days, hoping my family would come back. Each time a car pulled up, I ran and jumped and tried to get out.

But they never came back.

FOSTER HOME 2: Now I'm back in my same foster home. My foster mom gives me lots of attention. And I have a lot of foster friends: I love everyone! I am living with five other dogs currently: My mom has 4 other dogs: a Saint Bernard, a Great Dane, a pit bull, and a little 10-week-old Mastiff puppy. They're all great! I especially love the Saint (my girlfriend), and I'm also gentle with the puppy. My foster mom told me I had to be. I also have a foster-sister, Penny, who is a corgi mix. She's been looking for a home for three months now herself. I also live with a kitten. I like him a lot. I am learning to be gentle with him and not scare him. I don't mean to -- he's just so fun!

I'm hoping to find my forever home soon. This has been a rough few months, but I'm still happy and looking up! If you're interested in meeting me, please contact my foster mom at kellygaus@gmail.com.

My foster mom wants you to know: I'm neutered, fully vaccinated, heart worm negative, dewormed, and microchipped.

Me, in my foster mom's back yard just today!