A Good Day

All the training I have been doing with my family is finally starting to pay off.  I got my Mum to play the game with me three times today and I got Laura to play six times!  Today was a good day.

Farewell Sam

On Wednesday Laura put Sam's lead on him and took him outside and Laura and Sam got in the Batmobile and drove away without me.  That was wrong!  Very wrong.  I ride in the Batmobile.  Me, Shelby Ann.  I go where Sam goes.  Laura is not supposed to take Sam places without me!

I was not very happy about this breach of protocol.  But humans make mistakes sometimes.  I waited for Laura to realize her error and come back and get me.

I waited and I waited.  Finally--three hours later!--Laura came back.  By herself.  No Sam.

"Sam found his new family," Laura said.  "He's gone to live with them."

Laura had told me this would happen one day.  She said Sam had to find his own family, like I found Laura and my Mum and Dad.  I thought maybe we could be Sam's family.  He was a good guy (even if he was rascally sometimes).  But Laura said if Sam stayed with us, our family would be full.  Then we wouldn't be able to help any more puppies find their families.  And there are lots more puppies out there who were lost like Sam and I were and who need our help.

I guess I agree with that.  And Laura said Sam is going to be happy with his new family.  They've promised to take him hiking in the woods and to a big park to play with other puppy friends.

I know Sam loves these things.  But wouldn't he miss me?  I was his big sister and his teacher for almost two months.  Sam followed me everywhere!

Then Sam sent me this picture:

and I knew I didn't need to worry about him.  Sam's got himself a new big brother to play with!  He is going to be just fine.

So now I am concentrating all my efforts on Laura.  When Sam was here, he was wanting to play all the time.  I don't want Laura to be bored now he is gone.  So I make sure she plays my shining light game with me at least five times a day.    And at bedtime I stretch out on the bed and take up as much room as I can so the bed won't feel too empty without Sam in it.

I don't mind doing all of this to look after my friend Laura.  She's my family.

Yoga Assistants

Today Sam and I helped Laura to do yoga.

I am a good yoga assistant.

Reach, Laura!

But Sam needed a little guidance on what to do.

Pay attention, Sam! This is our pose!

No, Sam. Don't sit on me. Help Laura.

I've got this foot. You lick the other one.

After a while Sam started to get the hang of things.

Nice assist!

Don't worry, Laura. We'll save you!

I am good at balancing on my stomach!

Sam liked the balance poses too.

But he wasn't very good at meditation.

Laura? Wake up, Laura!

Like this?

No, Sam. Like this.

Er... good effort, Sam.

Helping Laura do yoga is hard work.  Especially for Sam having to learn so many new things, and for me having to be Laura's assistant and Sam's teacher at the same time.  Now we are enjoying a well-deserved rest.

I Am a Good Teacher

Today Sam got treated twice for greeting my Dad's helpers without barking at them.  I, however, did not get any treats, even though I always greet people nicely and am the one who taught Sam how to do it!

(Note to self: must find some ways to be less awesome so I will have room for improvement and will get more treats like Sam.)

Shelby's Shining Light

This is a super fun game that I like to play with my friend Laura:


I would play this game all day long if I could. But this is easier said than done.  That little light is sneaky, you see.  It tries to hide from me.  Laura has a special disk that she uses to coax the light into coming out to play.  But Laura also has funny rules about play time.  Sometimes she says:

"We can't play the shining light game now, Shelby.  It's dark out."

Or she'll say:

"It's too late, Shelby.  The shadows have gone."

Some days Laura refuses to bring her special disk outside at all.  She shakes her head and says:

"I'm sorry, Shelby.  It's overcast."

Once when Laura refused to play with me I tried to find that little light myself.  I looked everywhere for it and even dug deep down into the snow.

But it was no use.  I couldn't find the light anywhere.  It's really good at hiding and won't come out unless Laura uses her magic disk on it.

So I learned Laura's rules.  I learned the right times to ask her to come outside with me when I knew I could get her to help me find that light.  Then all the snow melted, and Laura said:

"We can't play the shining light game anymore, Shelby.  You won't be able to see it on the grass."

I didn't think that was right.  The light is sneaky, but I have good eyes.  I begged Laura to get her disk out anyway.

Laura shook her head.

I pleaded.

Laura said, "I'm sorry, Shelby."

I'm not ashamed to admit I cried a little.

"Next winter we'll play again," Laura promised.

I told her I wanted to play now.  The sun was shining.  The shadows were in all the right places.

Finally, Laura relented.  She got out her disk and she made my shining light come out to play.  And I could see it just fine!  I chased that light all over the grass, just like I used to chase it on the snow!  Fun!  (I have to remember to be patient and wait for Laura to coax the light back out of hiding when it disappears on me now, though.  Laura doesn't like me to look for it myself under the grass.)

When my new puppy friend Sam came to stay with us, I was eager to teach him the shining light game.  But the sky kept being cloudy.  It was cloudy and cloudy for two whole days!  Then, finally, the sun was shining today.  I made Laura get out of bed and get her disk and come outside to play with us.

Alas, Sam did not understand the game.  I did my best to teach him.  But Sam kept jumping at Laura's disk or, worse, jumping on me, instead of chasing the light.  So Laura put her disk away, and I took Sam and Laura and my Mum for a walk.  We went to the park, where we saw my friend Tabatha and her family.  Then, on the way home, Sam did a big stinky poop in The Scary Jesus Garden.

Sam

I got a new puppy friend!

This is Sam:

Sam came over to play with me this afternoon and we had SO MUCH FUN.  We ran and we ran and we ran all around the yard.  We ran until we could not run even one more step.  Sam does not know as many things as me because he is only a baby, but already he knows how to play chase.

After we were done playing, Sam came inside the house with us.  I told him not to be afraid; my house is a good house and my family are good people.  Because Sam is only young, he doesn't know these things yet.  So I have to teach him.

Laura says Sam is going to stay with us until he is ready to go to his forever home.  Until then, I get to play chase with him every day!

Laura Came Back!

Laura came home to me last night, just like she promised she would!

Happy dance!

Laura didn't bring me home any cats.  But she did say that, since I was such a good girl and did such a good job keeping our bed warm and looking after my Mum and Dad while she was gone, she would talk to the nice people at CK Animal Rescue about getting a new puppy friend to come and play with me for a while!

I am so excited!  When I get a new puppy friend I am going to teach her or him all of my fun games!  Until then, I am just going to be happy that my favourite friend of all is back home where she belongs.

She Who Has the Most Fun with Toys

Laura has still not come home.

She's been gone for two days now!  That is a very long time.  Laura is never gone for so long.  I don't understand what is happening.

My Mum said not to worry and that Laura would come back.  But when?  When will she be back?

No one will tell me for certain, but I heard a rumour that Laura might be sleeping with these guys now:

Laura wouldn't leave me for a pair of cats. Would she? I mean, I'm sure they are nice cats and all. And there are two of them, and I'm only one Shelby. But I am FUN! And I'm Laura's girl. Laura said I was her girl. She said I could stay with her always.

But those cats look like they might be fun too.  I wouldn't mind having a nice pair of cats to play with myself.

Hey!  Do you think Laura might be gone so long because she has gone to fetch those cats to bring them home for me?  Laura likes to give me new toys to play with!  I made sure she would by always appreciating the toys she gives me.  Like this giraffe:

That giraffe was the first toy my friend Laura ever gave to me.  It was pretty funny looking for a giraffe.  But I loved it because Laura gave it to me, and I played with it right away.  I played and played with that giraffe.  I even made it fly:


Sadly, the giraffe got worn out and cannot be played with anymore.  But I bet a nice pair of cats would be fun to play with.  I bet I could make those cats fly!

Laura, hurry home soon!

Oh Laura, Where Art Thou?

Laura did not come home last night.

I waited and I waited but she did not come.

I knew something was up when she started packing all of those bags.  I knew I should not have let her go.

I lay in front of the door so she could not leave.

I lay on top of her shoes so she could not put them on.

But Laura made me move and she left anyway. :(

Why?

I've been a good girl.

I always help Laura to do her yoga.

I take her outside to play every day.

And when she doesn't want to go outside (people are funny like that sometimes) I play with her in the house.

I always try to make Laura laugh.  And I'm good at it too!

I am good company.

So why would Laura leave me?

Please come back to me Laura.  I miss you.

Hello!

Hi, hi, hi, hello, hi!

Hello friends!  I'm Shelby Ann!  Welcome to my web log!

I recently found out that anyone can have a blog.  All you need to do is convince a human friend to help you with the typing.  Well, I already found myself a human friend who is very pliable.  My friend Laura is putty in my paws.  And she already has experience with blogs: she already helped another dog, Princess Kendal, with her blog Confessions of a Canine Derby Widow.  So I knew I could get her to help me too.  All I had to do was look at Laura, and Foster Failure Files was born!

Foster Failure Files is going to be filled with fun stories about all my adventures.  I'm going to be blogging about lots of good things like friends, flying giraffes and, of course, foster failures (including my plans to turn my family into two-time failures).  I hope you will come back and play with me lots!

See you soon!