A New Foster Dog

I have fostered greyhounds for the last 5 years, but now my place is too small to have another big dog full time.  Trust me, I know - I babysat my friend's two greyhounds for 6 days last month, it is a TIGHT squeeze.   It was a lot of fun having them, and they are wonderful dogs, but I was still glad to turn them back over to her and have room to walk around in my house again. : )

I still volunteer with the southern California Greyhound Pets of America group; but usually only on retirement days, working in the medical tent, drawing blood for testing and giving pills and helping with the medical exams. I have been feeling a little less than satisfied with my lack of volunteering in the dog rescue world, and wanted to help out with something that I know groups desperately need, so I contacted a few local Chinese Crested groups to see if they needed a foster home / home check rep.

Chinese Cresteds are a toy breed of dog; they are usually mostly hairless, and they usually only have hair on their heads, feet, and tail.  They are most commonly known as the breed of "The Ugliest Dog in the World" contest winner for the past few years, but he really isn't a true representation of the breed.  Not that they aren't funny looking.  Most cresties weigh about 8 - 12 lbs, and stand about 12" tall.  They come in two flavors - hairless, and powerdpuffs, which look like any other fluffball dog to me.  I like the hairless flavor the best.  They really are unique looking.  You can shave a powderpuff down into a pony cut to look more like their hairless siblings, but come on, I can barely comb my own hair, much less trim a dog's hair every week. SO not going to happen. Of course, with a hairless, you have to keep their skin lotioned every day, and keep them clean, but that is so much easier than setting up a full grooming shop for one little dog. They also need to wear tshirts and jammies and sweaters to keep them warm - Rio in particular gets chilly very easily, and so I had to get him a shirt the first full day I had him.  I've since made him 4-legged jammies, to keep his butt warm.  (I found the funniest shirt at PetSmart - it has "Have you seen my pants?" printed on the back.)

The rescue group I applied with did my phone interviews, and then sent a rep out to do my home check.  The poor lady had to drive 3 hours to my house for the visit.  She brought Rio, her foster dog, with her, with the intention of leaving him with me in the LA area, if all went well with the home visit.  Of course, the usually rules of fostering apply - I get first crack at picking him, if I want to keep him, or I can adopt him out out here to people who put in applications with the group and then pass a home visit (that would be part of my job, as well, doing the home visits.)

Rio is the sweetest little dog, he's not at all the yappy, whinining, annoying little dog you would think he would be. He's quiet, entertaining, sweet, and we are working on the begging at the dinner table. : )  He is so much fun to have around, he has quite the personality for such a little dog.

Rio in his new jammies:

Nekkid boy: