Wordless Wednesday 2-22-2012

Busy and Not Very Beady Motivated 2-9-2012

Hi! Life sure has been busy in the Ahleman household... we've got a new foster after having a little over a week off from getting Hootie adopted. This time - and for the very first time, I might ad - we are taking care of a little chihuahua. She is adorable, about 6 months old, 4.9 lbs and her name is Twinkie. She's been in the shelter pretty much since birth, she and her littermates ended up with Parvo and she is the only one who survived. She's gone between the shelter to the shelter manager's house and now our house. She was a bit scared on the drive and a bit timid the first couple of days but she's getting confident and we are seeing more and more of her wonderful personality. I have to admit, I was both scared and excited to foster her. Excited because she is so cute and who wouldn't want a little dog that could fit into a purse? Scared because we have 2 big dogs (almost 80lbs) and they get excited - especially Apple, she loves little dogs but doesn't know how to play calmly with them. But Twinkie is doing well and our 2 dogs are doing very well with taking it easy with her.

Charlie is happy to resume his nanny duties with Twinkie and I think in a few more days he will have her playing chase with him - they've already started a little bit of tug of war (he lets her win and just stands in one place) and she's having fun stealing his toys. She plays a lot more than I had expected and she doesn't care if its a big toy or a little toy... she likes them all. Charlie doesn't mind sleeping with her and even lets her sleep on top of him on his couch. At night, Twinkie sleeps in her crate (Yay! She was already crate trained by the manager at the shelter) and doesn't cry. That's a big plus because I would be scared of her sleeping on the bed with anyone but my daughter. Why my daughter? Because once she falls asleep, she doesn't move! She isn't a crazy tosser and turner and she doesn't sleep so deeply like the guys that she isn't easily woken up if something is going on.

She's still barking at the cats, but they are a bit sneaky and unpredictable, but it's nice to see that the cats are not nervous around her. She is also now feeling confident with exploring the house and that has helped with her barking - at first she would bark at noises and her reflection in the window. Now she only barks at sirens on television and the cats. She does talk a bit... it's something inbetween a growl and rolling her tongue - it's very cute!

So, she's 6 months old, she's teething and will be getting her adult teeth in, she's recently spayed and up to date on shots. Again, the shelter we are helping out is the Madison County Pet Shelter and the adoption fee is $65. We are looking for someone with another dog who's calm and well-balanced to continue Twinkie's development into a well-rounded dog. She is both paper trained and will potty outside (we are working on getting her totally outside potty trained, but so far she doesn't like going outside at night - can't say I blame her as on some nights, the coyotes are very loud.) We've got her on a schedule for feedings and this helps out with her potty training. She has the potential to become possessive but we've been good about rotating people with her here in the house and we've taken her for rides to get used to the car and to get used to being out with other people.

Anyway, she's a ton of fun and a lot of people have already commented that she looks like she has found her forever home already. I don't know about that, LOL, but I am definitely going to take my time finding her a forever home. I'd love it if a family member were to adopt her rather than a stranger, but who knows.

Hootie update! I've heard from Hootie's family and he is doing great!!! That is so nice to hear! Hootie's new name is Achilles and he still fits the sweater Danni made for him :-)

Fostering 1-26-2012

Sorry I've been so slow with updating my blog... I have a good excuse... actually a few :-) We've been fostering some dogs... 1 adult dog and 3 puppies since the last week of December. The nice thing is that, aside from the fun we've had with all of them, we've found them all homes too. We are working with a small shelter in the next county that is filled to the rim with dogs and cats. Their county is very rural and they are the only shelter. It's called Madison County Pet Shelter and they are about an hour away from us. We first became aware of them when we saw their group having an adoption event at a local store. After speaking with them, well, I hadn't been able to get them out of my head. It was clear they needed more volunteers and foster families.

Well, not only are we helping them out with fostering, we are networking and I hope we can teach some of the other volunteers how to harness the power of the internet (especially FB) and network these pets to get them adopted. This area isn't exactly on the cutting edge of the internet. There are so many stores and restaurants that don't even have a website - it's rather crazy, especially coming from an area where everyone has a website! Anyway, they have a couple of their pets posted on petfinder and only a handful on their FB page, and I find that sadly lacking. We've even participated in one of their adoption events, which I didn't think I would like, but turned out to enjoy. So my family and I are doing our part and hopefully even if we do this for only a short time, we make an impact. I mention that we may only do this for a short time because the last puppy we fostered, we really started getting attached to and it was very sad to see him go even though his new family loves him a lot. And even harder than how we feel is to see my dog, Charlie, pouting and moping around because he misses the little guy. Charlie is really a good dad and has had a good time playing with and teaching these puppies. Anyway, here are some pictures.....

This is Lola, she's a Corgi/Chihuahua mix between 2-3 years old. She's a lovely little girl, she'd been at the shelter for 4 months (brought in with another dog, listed as found) and was clearly eager to get out of there. She was spayed the day after we took her home, we took care of her during her recovery and got to know her. We found her a family with 2 kids, a dad and a grandma, so someone was home with her all day. She was with us for 2 weeks.



These two little guys are the Italian Brothers... Mario and Luigi! They are Dachshund/Lab mixes (best guess) that were found in a ditch. They are adorable and we had a good time with them. They were adopted quite quickly and their families are enjoying them a lot! They were with us less than a week!


This is Hootie... he's a 12 week old English Pointer/Lab mix and is incredibly smart. We had him for about 2.5 weeks and in that time he learned to sit and lay down, learned the word "no" and was doing well with learning bite inhibition. He was also doing great with potty training and rarely had an accident. Crate training was the hard part, he didn't like it. But with perserverence and the right rewards for him and after 9 days, he would sleep peacefully in his crate all night long. The rewards he required were a big raw hide bone and a big stuffed monkey to sleep with, other toys and a kong filled with peanut butter didn't appeal to him at all. Oh and a loud ticking clock on the top of his crate also helped... now that he has been in his new home for 2 nights, I think I need the ticking clock to help me sleep at night LOL. Anyway, Charlie and Apple both loved him and had a lot of fun playing with him. Charlie really took to him right away and was doing a good job playing with him and watching over him.


So, now that Hootie has been adopted, we'll be going back to the shelter this weekend and hopefully finding another dog or puppy that will fit in our household while we try to find him/her a home. We are trying to be smart and only bringing home puppies or dogs that we know get along with other dogs and cats.... Our cats liked Lola, didn't like the Italian Brothers, and liked Hootie... I would foster cats, but I have a proven history of bonding with them, cats take longer to adjust to new environments, and my daughter is proving to be a bonafide cat lady.

Closing

Well, I've decided to close my Artfire shops. I have noticed a significant lack of traffic to the site and have not seen any advertising by Artfire - just individuals doing to the promoting and whatnot to drive traffic to the site. It's disappointing, but what broke the camel's back was the new assurance program and the rude and disrespectful manner in which it has been handled by the Artfire staff, namely Tony.

So, my 3PeepsDesigns shop is open until Jan 10th and you have a chance to save a significant amount of money on my beaded jewelry and keepsakes! I lowered the prices a little bit on most items at the beginning of the year and now I am adding to that 25% off storewide!!!

My 3PeepsDesignsToo pattern shop will stay open until Jan 31st. So I am offering a Buy One Get One Free (pattern of your choice) until my shop closes!

After they close, I hope to have a new venue set up to sell my wares. If you have any suggestions, I sure would love to hear them.

December 2011 Creations

Well, I thought I should do a post of what I've been up to creatively.... it's been a busy month, but I am happy to say that I finished up a couple of things and did a couple of new items. Most will end up in my shop, two were for my kids. I have a couple of works-in-progress that I will include in another post. I hope to finish them before the new year... but that will depend on the new foster we brought home this past Tuesday.... Miss Lola :-) She's a cute little corgi mix and she is looking for a forever home. I will also blog about her another day.

I did this on in my favorite shade of green... I like to call it Spring Green or Synergy Green :-) The pattern is available in my 2nd Artfire shop; 3PeepsDesignsToo.

I needed to make another one of these for my Artfire shop. I simply love this bracelet and need to make one for myself... perhaps with fuschia colored lips. And I should make one for my daughter too. You can buy the pattern at my 2nd Artfire shop; 3PeepsDesignsToo.

I did this for my daughter, Danni. She has a pair of cowgirl boots from her aunt and uncle that she wears everywhere and when I saw this pattern, I instantly fell in love and thought this would be perfect for her. She really likes it ;-) This pattern is one of Candys S. McCulley's creations, you can purchase the pattern at her online shop Bead of My Heart.

I drew this up for my son, Eddie. He had mentioned that he named his bedroom the monkey Lounge (Lord only knows what he and one of the dogs and cats do when they go to sleep at night) and so I thought I would paint up a sign for him instead of making him jewelry for Christmas. I used two of his favorite colors and he loves it!

I wanted a more neutral color for my beaded paw prints on leather... I think this came out great and I have plans for one in brown and gold... soon ;-)


This one was done in November and I love the hot pink and black and white paw prints :-) Soon to be listed in my shop.

This one was also completed in November and will appear in my shop soon. It would be great for a Georgia Bulldogs fan :-0

F.Y.I. There are new changes coming to Artfire and I don't particularly like the proposed changes as of today. I may be shutting down both of my Artfire shops and heading for other venues. I have a lot of research to do.

Just in case you are curious about what we do for Betty and the pups every day....

It's Dec. 16, 2011 and we have been done with our part of taking care of Betty and her puppies - another volunteer stepped up to help and we are on the back burner in case our help is needed again. I can't say I'm that upset, I don't mind not spending 2 hours in the car every day going back and forth. And I also don't mind because we realized we are still hooked on Fiona and while this is fun, we would rather have her back in our household.

Anyway, this is from a note I posted on Facebook on Dec. 8, 2011 so that our friends and family could step into our shoes and see what we have been up to.

Well, taking care of Betty and the pups is a big job, as I am sure you can all imagine. We stepped in and volunteered to help when we heard she was going to be taken to a kill shelter in a city with a breed ban. We originally volunteered our garage - not perfect by any means but it was a place to bring her to until we could figure something better out and learn more about her and the pups. Then luckily the other foster, Ashley and her family, talked her father into letting us use an empty rental property. So, each day we drive 25 minutes across town (Fayetteville seriously needs an East to West bypass) to see Betty and the pups. Ashley goes to visit Betty 3 times a day as she lives closer. And FYI, Ashley already fosters 3 dogs at her home for the Humane Society and works every day and has a cute little toddler and the support of her husband. We don't currently foster, but have 2 dogs and 3 cats, homeschool, online business, Jay works and manages to come in some days of the week and then weekends. Add to that the stress of the holidays and winter arriving and it can be pretty chaotic. Meanwhile, the mastermind behind the rescue, Pit Bull Ambassador of Northwest Arkansas, spends her day working and taking care of her family and networking the rescue and the immediate needs of Betty and her pups. She squeezes in phone calls and meet-ups in between her daily activities. And then we all try to update our FB profiles with Betty's progress and the pups. I am sure there is a lot that I am leaving out, but I'm trying to squeeze this note in between a few errands and stuff.

So, when we get to Betty's house, we take her out first thing and she goes potty. She is doing really good in the house and hasn't had any accidents now that she is eating regularly. She is always happy to see us and we are always happy to see her. We give her her medicine and that includes some vitamins that she likes to spit out. So we have to watch her closely to make sure she swallows them. After Betty is taken care of we focus on changing the bedding if its needed and then once Betty lays down, we give the 3 littlest ones first dibs. Now that they are more active and bigger, it's becoming more of a challenge. We are waiting for Betty to show signs that she is getting tired of feeding them, but so far she is doing well. While the puppies nurse, we hang out with Betty and change the other half of the bedding. Once she puts her head down to sleep, then we collect our garbage and leave so that she can sleep. It's another 25 minutes home... we make any pit stops for errands if needed then. Then in around 4 hours, we do it all again.

We were taking turns bringing laundry home to wash, but thankfully we got a volunteer for that and it's a big help! In the beginning we brought in wet wipes for cleaning, wet wipes for sanitizing our hands before touching the puppies, and baby wipes for cleaning Betty up. We also brought in some towels and bedding and puppy food, both wet and dry. Then, thankfully volunteers provided more dry and wet food and more bedding and towels. Whatever doesn't get used for Betty and the pups will be taken back to the rescue and used for whatever dogs come next. I can't stress enough how thankful I am to the volunteers, the donations, and the networking that everyone is doing. It is simply fantiastic!

When we get home in the evenings, well, we hang out with our pets and do whatever needs doing, chores, laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc. I network as much as I can and pretty much put my online shops on hold... as in I haven't networked for them nor have I created anything new for them. Of course with the holidays here, we have also been trying to get stuff done for that.... the cards are all done, thank goodness. And we've got most of our shopping done. Now we just have to wrap everything, box them up, and get them to the post office in time :-)

So, time for me to close this note and go take care of a few items on my to-do list before heading back over.

Betty the Pit Bull and 12 Puppies 12-5-2011

After we lost Fiona we sort of shut down. We just went through the motions and did a lot of crying and moping. Well, I guess God had other plans because we were presented with the opportunity to help rescue a pit bull in North Little Rock. The poor little girl was found in a ditch eating paper by a good Samaritan. Betty was obviously malnourished/starving/near death and very obviously pregnant. But, the woman took her home and hid her because North Little Rock has a breed ban and if Betty went to the shelter, she would be killed. A few days after rescue Betty gave birth to 12 puppies... all healthy and beautiful. The woman contacted several rescue groups but no one locally had the space to help her. So, Cheryl of the Pit Bull Ambassador of Northwest Arkansas put out the word and we along with another lady, Ashley, volunteered to help. So, transport was arranged (again by another nice lady) and Betty and her puppies arrived last Wednesday.

So, my family is healing from the loss of Fiona by giving Betty a second chance and her 12 puppies their first shot at a great life. Right now Ashley and my family are taking shifts caring for Betty and her puppies. As you can imagine, the real fun begins as the puppies become more mobile. For now, we are networking, doing laundry, running back and forth, etc, etc. Once the puppies are weaned, we will decide on the best way to raise the puppies until they are old enough to go to their forever homes.


So far, Betty has proven to be the sweetest dog EVER! She trusts us unconditionally and lets us help her with her babies, she hasn't shown any food aggression (in fact she would gladly let you hand feed her every single bite,) and she takes good care of her babies. She does well on car rides and is doing well in her temporary home. She hasn't chewed up anything! She walks well on leash and enjoys belly rubs. She is an old soul in a young dog's body. Whomever adopts her is one lucky human... I feel lucky just being able to help care for her.


As you can see from the pictures, Betty is very thin and we have our work cut out for us. She weighed 61.5lbs and as of Dec. 4th, she had already put on 5lbs! Her puppies are healthy and doing well. They were born on November 21st and 22nd. I am refreshing my memory on puppy development and the care of momma dog after birth. I remember more than I thought, and that comes in handy.

We had some concerns about her health and we were able to take her into Wedington Animal Hospital Sunday, the 4th. The puppies were all checked out first. Each and every one is healthy and gaining weight nicely (we've weighed them twice so far and will do so every few days just to make sure they keep gaining weight.) Betty is doing well too. She has a small skin infection on her chin... similar to acne and is taking an antibiotic for that, she has hookworms and began treatment for that today. She received a hormone shot to help her uterus clean itself out, there was some worry that there could have been a puppy still inside of her. Luckily an x-ray proved that to not be the case. And the final thing... well, it's not good news but it could be so much worse - she has Heartworms. That was a little upsetting to me but I reminded myself that it is not a death sentence. So long as we can raise the funds to cover the treatment, we can get her cured. We need 600 people to donate $1 and then another $715 to get all 13 spayed/neutered and first round of shot. The goal is to have the surgery before sending them to their forever homes. A ChipIn account has been set up to assist with getting donations. If you have an extra $1, please consider helping.

If you cannot donate, please consider sharing her story... networking is 80% of the battle. Please go and like the Pit Bull Ambassador of Northwest Arkansas page on Facebook. Then please stop by Betty's profile page and send her a friend request! She will be posting about her adventures as well as posting pictures!! And of course, feel free to send me a friend request.

My family and I are in this for the long haul. Good thing we don't have family in the area, we have a lot of free time LOL. And we are blessed with the space to care for these precious little beings, plenty of generous people donating supplies and food, and of course, a positive attitude and the determination to get all 13 good homes! No, I mean, great homes!

There will be an adoption application, home check, and fee. Stay tuned!!

Fiona Dec 1, 2011

I haven't blogged in a while and I haven't beaded either. At first it was because I didn't have time with the new puppy that we rescued, Fiona. But, sadly, she started having seizures 10 days after we found her and they wouldn't stop. We elected to put her to sleep instead of having her suffer because the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. I never want to have to go to an Animal Clinic E.R. ever again. I imagine that is one of the most depressing jobs there is because of the highs and lows. But then again, I am thankful to them for their kindness and their understanding and their effort to figure out what was wrong with her. We also found out what we thought was a decent veterinary practice was indeed overworked and just not very interested in figuring things out. So, we've looked for a new vet and will be checking him out later this month when Charlie and Apple are due for heartworm checks. He was the only vet we could find out here that would even answer his phone after hours and he even does house calls!

The loss of little Fiona was and is devasting. Heartbreaking. In just 10 short days we fell totally in love with her and she had us all (including Charlie and Apple) wrapped around her paw. She passed away in the early morning hours on Nov 16th.

This loss has opened some old wounds from losing Mojo last year. It begs a lot of questions and I haven't gotten many answers. Losing anyone young is incredibly hard. There aren't any good reasons.

Anyway, we've been moping around and sort of depressed and just going through the motions. Every day, several times a day I would just say out loud, "I want Fiona back" and of course I can't have her back.

We miss her. We loved her. And we can only be thankful that we found her, fed her poor starving body and gave her a name and a home. I'm pretty sure she had a good time, I know we did. If only for 10 days.

Here are a few more photos of this loveable girl, Fiona.

Anything Goes Friday 11-11-2011 Thank You Veterans

Bead Table Wednesday 11-9-11

Sorry I missed Monday's post, but we've had a bit of excitement around here. My horoscope was actually correct this month when it mentioned an addition to the family... a new baby. Its a girl! We found a puppy wondering around one of the roads on the way home.... an area that is rather country so we didn't do much door to door searching for owners. Plus, she was rather young and in rough shape so we figured she may have been wondering for a day or two. A trip to the vet, no microchip and not a single lost and found ad meant that she was ours if we wanted. We wanted. We weren't going to tempt fate by putting her into the system... they are all kill shelters around here. We weren't going to try to find her a new home either... that would be long and hard and we were rapidly becoming attached. So, she received her first round of puppy shots and came home. "Puppy" Ahleman is now Fiona or Fi for short (pronounced "Fee") and I am sure you can imagine, not much is getting done... especially beading. We are trying to get on a schedule and with the help of all of us, we are doing pretty good. The other dogs love her and the cats are still undecided but certainly curious. I think she will fit in just fine. She weighed only 5.5 lbs on Saturday, was guess-timated to be around 8 weeks old, and a rather small pit mix. Since she is so underweight, we may re-evaluate what breed we think she is later.