little miss maggie....

Went back to her foster Mama to prepare for her forever home in San Antonio this weekend. Maggie will be going through her heart worm treatment with her new Momma taking care of her! Sadly, she was too skinny when she came in to foster care but has finally put on some weight and can stand to gain about 6-8 lbs more. I think she'll succeed as her appetite rivals the Bentman's! Hungry baby. And...she is a squirrel girl. She will stay outside all day watching the fence line for a small furry head and bushy tail to appear and play hide and seek with her. It was quite fun watching her antics. Bentley and Maggie had lots of fun together and played biteyface in the house and were shooed out into the yard quite often. This was an excellent first time out with a female foster 'Dale since Maggie is not an aggressive alpha girl. I've been nervous about fostering a female with the Bentman. I have vivid images of a past experience. Of course, the first time was a year old 'Dale girl that had lived on the streets for most of her life. She gradually acclimated and became quite nice! The second time was when I moved back to Houston-town; living in a house out in the country, sharing a yard with my neighbors and their Lab-Boxer mix. It turned out she was picking on him while I was gone at work and he was hiding from her during the day. He turned up with a wound on his neck but I (dummy me) thought he'd just caught it on something. A week later, the two got into a horrendous fight and he almost killed her. I was going out the gate to work one morning and as I turned around to say,bye- be a good boy, the next thing I knew was that they were going up on two legs like grizzly bears trying to kill each other. I ran back in to get them apart and succeeded in pulling Bentley off her and we both fell back into the bushes with me holding his collar in my hand. The other dog came in fighting and I guess my boy thought she was going after me and he went back for the kill. Bad wounds on all of us. Vet and doctor visits. Thankfully, neighbors came running to help. A really bad experience but I learned a lot about dog fights and what not to do. Never, ever, put yourself in the middle of two large dogs fighting. Use water hoses, don't yell, stay calm and if there are two humans, pull the dogs back legs out and up to cause them to release and stop their fight. Anyway, I had to move. For a long time I was afraid that it was Bentley who had developed aggressive tendencies. After awhile I figured out it that he doesn't and I was able to let go of my fear. After all, he was raised by my old Rosie girl(mix) and Luke the Duke(Airedale), Sam, a female Weimaraner, all@RB now, with nary an issue. Now he lives peacefully with Walter and Jax, the little Chihuahuas, and Bridgette the Bassett Hound. Just goes to show, the third time around is the trick! Thanks Maggie for sharing your sweet self and helping me trust again! We'll miss you pretty girl. Godspeed to your forever home!

Karen(Bentley's Mama)