This is a foster dog, This is a foster dog. This is a foster dog.
OK, if you've ever been involved in rescue, you know you have to keep saying that to yourself. That is the way it is with Sara Craven of Great Dane Rescue of North Texas (www.danerescue.net)
This dog is Mary Kate. A foster dog, honest. But foster dogs have to sleep, too. Thus, Mary Kate is this week's selection for the honor of exclusive presentation in our "Sleeping Dog/Napping Cat" feature. We believe in letting sleeping dogs nap and napping cats nap, especially if we're in a mood to doze off.
Sara reports that Mary Kate "is deaf, so the dog can sleep through anything. She frequently sleeps on her back, but this was the first time with her leg straight up in the air. The great thing about a deaf dog is you can sneak out of the room, get the camera and take a whole bunch of picture without them waking up!
"Mary Kate also goes by the nickname 'Miss Piggy' -- not just because of her pink nose, but her love of food.
"She is very smart and if I forget to put food up, it will be gone in a second. She has devoured six garlic breadsticks, a loaf of bread, a few candies with the wrappers still on them and likes to lick the dishes in the sink that I haven't loaded into the dishwasher.
"Sometimes I even find them in 'her room' (the guestroom), which she has claimed as her own.
"She even pulls the cover back on the bed and sleeps with her head on the pillow. She makes me laugh daily. ... I am not in a rush to have her adopted though -- she is a delight.
"When she was pulled from the shelter, she was VERY fat, so her transporter named her after Mary Kate Olsen, thinking the skinny name might help. Mary Kate has lost a few pounds, but her counter-surfing escapades have set her weight-loss plans back a few times."
She has been deaf from birth, Sara says, due to backyard breeders not doing their research and breeding two Harlequin Danes together. It frequently results in deaf dogs and many have vision impairment as well." (Great Dane Rescue of North Texas frequently has such dogs in foster homes. "All know hand signals and are super smart," Sara says.)
Sara also reports, "The other night I stuck my tongue out at her and she barked and got hyper, so I did it over and over again. She became obsessed with it. She has SUCH a personality. She loves other dogs, is fine with cats (but likes to chase them) knows basic hand signs and loves to play. She really is something else."
Here's a passage that may give some of you nutty people some comfort. Sara writes, "The good news is, I know I am not the only 'kooky' dog person out there. Your blog reminds me of that!"
Yep, that's what we're here for: to prop up the self-esteem of the 'kooky' and comfort the mentally askew. We're proud to be among you -- thoroughly nuts and knee-deep in dogs and cats.
(If you've got a good sleeper, snap a digital photo and send it to [email protected] with info about the subject. We've got a lot of dogs in the backlog, but cute sleeping cats are slow to show up as nominees.)
