I've now given back the puppies I've fostered for 6 months. This was always the plan although we expected them to stay within the city, so them leaving immediately for an 8 hour drive was a bit of a shock but the owners decision. It made our separation abrupt which probably made it harder on the puppies (who knows maybe they're having a blast having forgotten me) but definitely did on me which honestly wasn't expected.

I learned a term in Oregon just after I got Rebel Dog that I really liked because it was honestly fitting and it's stuck with me. That term is "Dog Mom" and any woman who's raised a dog from a puppy or hell has even had a dog they've been seriously close with understands that term. It's the term that describes the woman that does everything for her dog from picking ticks from his ears to feeding to cleaning up after them when they get sick. It's role I took on voluntarily and I don't regret it.

I extended my duties of dog mom when I took on those puppies several months ago and man they gave me a lot of work for lack of a better way of putting it. During that time I had to be a dog mom to them when they nearly died of parvo all the way to the end where I was literally cleaning up puddles of pee just an hour before these photos were taken, which was just before we gave them back. It was all worth it because you could see the appreciation in their eyes. They were hard to deal with but only because they were basically babies that I was unprepared for, no fault of theirs. There was nothing wrong with either puppy, but any puppy can be hard to deal with if you're not ready.

I'll be serious when I say I honestly avoided importing these photos from my camera because I was a bit sadder than expected from their leaving. Don't get me wrong, they could be little terrors that haunted my dreams(literally with random whines and barks) but they were cute and nice and it was just the fact that there were two of them and I had no idea what that was going to be like in practice. Rebel was easy because I had nothing but time and just one pup but two puppies with 2 other dogs and 60 birds and a whole other list of responsibilities is a lot.

Tiger, the little red one loves those things which is why she's hoarding two of them. They're just cardboard paper towel rolls that make great puppy toys and honestly dog toys in general. Rebel and Tequila love them and it doesn't matter if they eat it, which they often did. Since she's left, Rebel won't touch the paper towel rolls, only the toilet paper ones she enjoyed less.

Tiger was the hardest to deal with. She went through a phase where she barked all day regardless of what we did...which was torture but was not the norm by the time she left. She was still crazy but it was starting to be more in a cute way and less in a destructive way making her more likable. She stopped barking unless it was meal time or there was a tarantula inside which honestly was understanding.

Bane is the brother and he's so shy and so calm it hurts and he's been that way the whole time. He's only interested in licking and cuddling and loving and only recently started fighting back at his sister as he's sporting several bald spots from bites despite being a lot bigger than her. They're adorable. I miss them. But they're a lot of work and the house is SO quiet without them. You also don't realize how much little dogs eat until they're gone.

I learned a lot in this process the first thing being not to raise puppies I don't intend on keeping. When the puppies were taken away and Bane looked over his shoulder at me like "Dog Mom, why?" I'll admit it I lost it more than expected. His sister was mouthy and a bit of a handful but he had a way of looking at you and melting your heart. He's going to be a great dog, honestly they both will.

So yeah, six very stressful months of my life are done and while I'm still stressed by other things I am able to appreciate the relief. Poof, 4 hours a day of work on a good day between them gone. I'm getting more done if you haven't noticed by the fork update. Lots of frustration averted as I often had to drop what I was doing to take them out or clean up a mess.

And the worst part is Rebel. He still sulks now that they're gone. He especially liked Tiger partially because she wasn't afraid of him like Bane was. She also likes being chewed on and playing rough. He's been bored, begging for attention and taking advantage of my sadness by sleeping in bed, even though we've somewhat kicked him out since getting a new one. It's one of those things where he's a therapy dog for me in a lot of ways but he does shit his own way.

So yeah he misses them and unless I drive him 8 hours away he won't likely be seeing them again although I might. If I do, there will likely be pictures to share with Steemit as they're just about to get big. For now, that's all I have. Thanks for reading.