On 29 May, Sidney passed along this update from CHELSEA's Foster Mom:

CHELSEA is coming out millimeter by millimeter, tail wagging today for about five minutes in the morning, until she remembers. She sleeps so much! Always near my feet or on my lap.

We all sleep in the bedroom (although CHELSEA is crated at night). In the morning we relax a bit on the bed. I try to get all three up with me, but Bailey & Punkin are still vying for position themselves. They recognize CHELSEA as neutral in their little war, and tread lightly when they approach her. These marauders are so gentle with her. She gives a bit of a low growl and they walk away.

Yesterday I took CHELSEA over to my friend's house to socialize her a bit. A short visit, about 15 minutes, then back home. When we got home, she ran in the house as fast as she could. She definitely feels safe here.

She did pretty well in the car until the last block where she attempted to crawl on my lap.

Incidentally, she has a very graceful head, long and narrow, with perfect almond eyes. I am trying to borrow a digital camera from work to snap her picture as she lies on the sofa feet up in the air, snoozing away.

I have a kiddie pool in the yard, and Bailey, King of the pool, (which means he stands in the middle of the pool and doesn't let anyone else in) has allowed CHELSEA in the pool with him. All of her paws were wet yesterday.

ONYX & SHADOW
(Both are AVAILABLE)

Tonight the BLACK DUO ate all their dinners and came up to play with the home gang. They really are terrific with other dogs -- now if we could just get them to trust people . . .

We had drinks on the patio with a couple of friends who have helped us in the past, particularly with elderly dogs, whom they've seen into their fading years and have been there when the time came.

The BLACKS came close to the patio in spite of the voices and I was encouraged.

Then we went out to dinner at a Chinese buffet. When the fortune cookies were handed out, the other three got the usual inane sayings that we're all accustomed to. Mine read, "Your efforts will be worthwhile". And it hit me like a ton of bricks. Somebody knows! But then, a fortune cookie's only a fortune cookie. Isn't it?

Report from CHELSEA's foster mom, 20 June:

The vet estimates CHELSEA is about 18 months. She's about 50 pounds and needs to gain a few pounds. She has some separation anxiety if left alone without other dogs around. She's still very shy of new people, and shakes and hides under my feet. I haven't really tried much training, she does know what "no" means and comes when called, sort of. She cannot take any loud noises (although she's getting used to the vacuum cleaner), even the opening of a plastic container "pop" startled her into a run, so she'll need a lot of work, and someone to be with her a lot, so a retired person would be great. She is very gentle on lead, still trying to figure out how being on a leash works, but very gentle about it.

She is very affectionate and clingy, to the point that she wants to sit in the big chair with me all the time. I think this would transfer to anyone who was kind to her. ADOPTED!!

On Sunday, 1 June, Sidney passed along this update from INDY & BLACKIE's Foster Mom:

Debbie is a Briard breeder and rescuer plus her small community's animal control officer, plus she takes in dozens of animals a year that have no where else to go. She is just an all-around fantastic person!

BLACKIE & INDY are fine . . . They have good stools and are doing well. Coccidia is in all dogs and comes out under stress situations so we are used to it. We have the drugs but I think they will be ok. I'll keep watch on it anyway. ADOPTED!!

They are seriously NOT housebroken though and this will not help you in placing them . . . but INDY has the market cornered on sweet. ADOPTED!!

Unfortunately, on Tuesday, 3 June, Sidney had some bad news to report:

The dogs are fine, but Roni just wrote and told us that Melissa took a tumble last night and has broken her hip!

She will probably undergo surgery tomorrow. I will let you know as soon as I have an address. In the meantime, please send prayers/Zen/good thoughts Melissa's way.

And Wednesday's good new was . . .

. . . that most of the Airedales are coming around quickly now that they realize humans can be kind. Melissa's last message to Sidney before her fall was:

Six of the eight at Kathy's are highly adoptable after neutering/spaying. Almost bowled me over in their enthusiasm to lick my chin and generally gang me.

Kathy reports:

One black bitch is getting up there in age. She's overweight and placid and her greatest interest in life is food. The other black bitch looks like a shepherd mix.

The nice male is very nice indeed and would be quite handsome had his ears been set and tail docked properly.

There is a female in season about four or five years old, very affectionate, can jump a five-foot fence, but only does so to get attention. Oh, and she wants to kill my c*t.

Then there is a somewhat shy bitch about 1-1/2 or two years old, but she has potential and loves to play ball with Bryan.

The baby is maybe around a year and toooo cute, absolutely adorable, although a handful, just what your normal Airedale puppy would be if it had no training at all, but terribly affectionate and friendly with everyone.

Because of the stress they were under, and then the coccidia, and then most of the females going into heat, the vets didn't want to do the spay/neuter until everyone had settled down. Hopefully this week, that will start taking place.

Melissa's wonderful husband, Ted, apparently wants to continue to foster the three they have (in addition to their own Airedales) because they are making so much progress. He told Roni that the girl, ROSIE, is already making herself at home in the house with the homeDales and the two boys (SHADOW & ONYX) are at the door, almost brave enough to come in on their own. ROSIE is ADOPTED!! (SHADOW & ONYX are AVAILABLE)

Melissa's friend, Roni, bless her kindhearted soul, is an experienced Wheaten Terrier Rescue volunteer and has stepped in to take charge while Melissa is out of commission.