Let me get this out there right up front. We are foster-failures. In June 2018, we fostered “Blast” and “Beau”, two of a litter of eight pitties. They were just weaned, healthy and ridiculously adorable so we knew we would have them for just 2 or 3 weeks until they were ready for adoption. I know now that my boyfriend intended to fail, but at the time it took me about 5 days to figure out his scheme and another 2 or 3 days to get on board. We already had Marie of the “Donny & Marie” duo, whom we adopted in 2010, and we had just lost Bert (previously “Checkers”), whom we adopted in 2015. My heart was ready to be a one-dog family for a bit.

Yeah, right. When the day came for the pups to return to HSHV, we filed an adoption application for “Beau” who became “Boulder”. I thought David chose his name because we had an upcoming vacation planned to Colorado. No; he suspected something I did not. Did I mention Boulder weighs 90 pounds? He is not graceful or light on his feet and he is the most vocal dog I’ve ever loved, with a yodel that is worthy of recording. All that to say we always know where he is.

While Marie has always been sweet as can be, she is subdued and likes her alone time. Boulder is none of that. He is joyous, rambunctious, goofy, adventurous and always around. He must never be excluded from activities, especially cooking, stretching, digging in the garden, or lounging. His curiosity makes him a great companion. He loves our RV camping trips, he is an eager paddle board companion, and he is always ready for a hike in the woods.

His latest quirk is that every box that comes into the house must be inspected thoroughly, because it could be a Bark Box. Considering that we have resorted to a lot of online ordering this year, most boxes coming into the house are not his Bark Boxes. But when they are, get ready for a tail chasing, yodeling show of pure delight. Did I mention that we love this dog to the moon and back? He adores us too, ensuring we always have slobber and dog hair on our pants. Its probably fair to say that he loves Marie more than she loves him now that he dwarfs her and still has adolescent energy while she is solidly a senior. We would love to hear how Donny is doing, as well as Boulder’s mom & siblings.

We now live in North Carolina but still follow and support HSHV. We haven’t found an organization here that measures up to the tremendous amount of good that HSHV accomplishes daily for the animals. Our experiences with HSHV and many of the staff and volunteers, from fostering, to adopting, to the vet clinic, and to behavioral support and training, have all been positive and affirming. Thank you, HSHV!

Beau now Boulder