We have the pleasure of temporary fostering Bismarck this week and want to let everyone know what a great dog he is. Bizzy has definitely been spoiled here. It was our resident dog Sierra’s 1st Birthday this week so Bizzy sampled some doggy cake and frosty paws. Temporary foster Grandma was visiting this week and brought some homemade dog cookies and bones from Lulu and Luigi for everyone! Bizzy had a bumblebee cookie and a crown cookie that said “Prince” on it! Bizzy even gave t.f.g. (Temporary foster Grandma) some love and pets too!

Bismarck is such a cuddle-bug! My husband is currently using him as a pillow for naptime on the couch! Bismarck hasn’t had any accidents in the house and is the perfect houseguest. He has come so far since getting out of the North Dakota puppy mill. Bizzy will still startle from loud noises or quick movements and does run to his kennel. I’m sure part of that is him getting used to our place too. Once he trusts you, he will come for pets and scratches. If you are lucky enough, he will lay next to you or on your feet too. Last night I even got some kisses from him. He sleeps through the night in his crate and eats his food very well. He drinks water like its going out of style. Bizzy gets along well with our dogs and uses them as pillows too and loves to snuggle up to them (especially Autumn from the ND puppy mill). He has done great with our cats too. Did I mention how handsome he is with his cute face and gorgeous feathering? What a good-looking guy! We are totally smitten. Bizzy can come here anytime! He’s a real keeper!

Bismarck with RAGOM adoptee Autumn 07-180. They're both ND puppy mill rescues and we're pretty sure they're related.

Bismarck and Autumn make a great pillow and blanket.

Well, yesterday Bizzy got his first FROSTY PAWS!! He had no idea that there was actually ICE CREAM made for DOGS! The neighbor (who Bizzy has kind of befriended--he'll actually come up to him for pets and has given him a kiss or two on the hand) and his daughter and son-in-law came over, and since they were the ones who introduced me to the idea of Frosty Paws, I thought we should break some out. Moe and Gus, the residents, immediately begin licking the little Dixie cup. Bizzy's still a little hesitant to take treats from my hand and he wasn't at all sure about this little white cup. Once I got him a taste or two with my finger, he was all ready to be brave. He cleaned up the whole cup! Of course it took him longer than the other two (who came over and kept offering to help clean up Bizzy's cup), but he did it. He's doing great out in the yard. He prances around like a show dog when I call him, and he's just gorgeous. When "strangers" are around, he's very concerned but he's making progress. In the house, he's fine upstairs in the bedroom. He jumps on the bed, rolls over on his back and asks for a tummy rub, and loves lying right in front of the fan. Downstairs, he still spends most of his day hiding by the coffee table. I'm trying to get him to expand his horizons, but it's slow going. He does join the other two in greeting me at the door, which is a big step, but then he retreats to his spot. He's had a few little accidents, peeing in the house, but generally, he's really good. He knows what "outside," "potty" and "upstairs" mean, and he heads for the door or up the stairs when he hears it. Tonight, we're going to visit former puppy mill pal Pacino 07-183. It's his birthday, so guess what we are bringing? FROSTY PAWS! (They didn't have THAT at the puppy mill!)

Reunion of Bismarck with Pacino 07-183 (another ND puppy mill dog). No big reaction. I could hear Bizzy thinking "Oh, you--you lived in the other dorm....")	Bizzy, too overstimulated by SIX DOGS IN ONE YARD to even look at the Frosty Paws!
Bizzy keeping an eye on mama's beer that is all dressed up in a birthday dress...	Bizzy in the garden, surveying the rest of the pack around the pool

Well, after an exceptionally hard work week, we were all looking forward to a Saturday afternoon stroll at the dog park this past weekend. Bismarck, Shadow and their resident companions Gus and Moe had all been down there last weekend after Bismarck's First Escape Adventure. Determined NOT to suffer another operator error like last week, I put the harness on extra snugly and tested it to make sure it would hold him, then loaded up all four of the boys into the car. The airport park was exceptionally busy on Saturday, with a lot of dogs, people and planes. After about a half an hour stroll where we met Tito with his RAGOM adoptee Honey, I noticed that Bismarck was getting a little anxious. I decided it was time to head home, so we started back for the car. As I opened the car door, a plane flew overhead and Bizzy freaked out and tried to bolt. He managed to slip out of his harness and my heart stopped. There was a guy in the parking lot with another Golden. As calmly as I could, I tried to explain that he was a puppy mill rescue, that he was afraid of everything, that his name was Bismarck but he likely wouldn't not come to him, but if he could help me get Bizzy, I would appreciate it. We tried for about 20 minutes, but the more we tried to corner him, the more frantic Bizzy became. Eventually, he bolted out of the parking lot and headed south on 28th street down towards the runways. He headed back into the park and kept running along the fence that separates the dog park from the runways, with me frantically running behind him. Once I got down to the bottom of the hill, I couldn't see him. Suddenly, I did see his head peeking out of the marsh, but when he saw the other people and dogs that had by this time joined in the search, he headed back into the weeds. I spotted him about 3 times, but each time, he headed back in. Several people began wading into the swamp, which in retrospect, likely only scared him to go deeper in. I called the RAGOM hotline, and a bunch of RAGOM folks came down to help, while several other rescue folks also joined the effort, as well as many other dog park folks. RAGOM had called the airport commission to let them know there was a scared dog loose, and soon a guy came from the MAC to see if he could help. He had some binoculars, so we headed up the hill for a better vantage point to see if we could see where Bizzy had gone. The MAC guy got called away to another part of the field so he had to leave. I went back down and circled the marsh, which other folks were also doing, trying to see if the fence around the park was secure and if there was any chance he could escape on to Cedar Ave or Hwy 62. Soon, the airport police came, two squad cars, a big Suburban, and about 10 officers, who were offering to help. They had a big airboat, and there was a plan to put the airboat in on the other side of the marsh and see if it would flush Bizzy out to the side where we were all looking for him. However, they decided that the roar of the boat would probably freak him out more, so the captains said that when he got hungry enough, or thirsty enough, he would come out. We continued to try and find him, and a couple of people made possible sightings of him. At this point, we realized that all of the people and dogs who were trying to help were probably scaring him more, so we backed off. A few of us continued to try and located him, but eventually, it got dark and we hadn't seen him for some time, so we decided to call it a day. I went home about 9:30, made some "SCARED LOST DOG" posters to put up, and came back down around 10:30 for about an hour; a friend of mine also came down with a big slab of corned beef, hoping to lure Bizzy in. There were still a few other rescue folks down there, in the dark with flashlights, who said that they had seen him. After about another hour, I headed home around midnight, just sick thinking how scared the poor guy was and hoping we would get him. I was glad he had his RAGOM tag, his microchip tag, and his rabies tag; I figured if someone did managed to catch him, we would get him back.  

I woke up at 4 AM, just sick with worry. I decided that the best chance would be for me to get down there before the planes started flying and before other people and dogs got down to the park. I figured if I parked myself in one place, and called him softly, I might be able to lure him in. So, I loaded up the car with stuff for the "stake out": a chair, a blanket (it was COLD at night this past weekend!), hat and gloves, treats for the dogs, a thermos of coffee and "the bait"--Gus and Moe. We got down to the airport around 5 AM, and as I slowly drove around the parking lot, I spotted a beautiful dog in the headlights and I knew it was Bizzy. I slowed way down, opened the window and called him. He stopped, pricked up his ears, and looked at me. When I opened the car door, however, he bolted again. So I released the "bait," and when Gus and Moe approached Bizzy, he was SO happy! He was dancing around, licking their faces, and it was such a sweet reunion! I said, in my most-upbeat-at-5 AM-after-worrying-for-14-hours voice, "Who wants to get in the car?!!!" and Moe jumped in the car, Gus got ready to follow, and Bizzy bolted again. I called Moe out, and said "Where's Bizzy?!" and the superhero dog went right over to find him. I walked away from the car a ways, and summoned that upbeat voice again, and said "Who wants PETS?!" which brought Moe and Gus running over to me. As I scratched their butts and they did their happy dance, eventually Bizzy started wiggling his butt and snaked his way over into the fray. I kept talking and petting and managed to get a grip of his collar, and then said again "Who wants to go in the car?!" and as the herd moved that way, Bizzy followed. I got him in the back seat, shut the door, got in and he positioned himself with his head on my arm between the two front seats where it stayed til we got home. I, of course, promptly burst into tears once I got him in the car with the door closed.  

We got home, and the poor muddy, bedraggled guy headed right up to his spot next to the bed, where he fell asleep. The next morning, the Golden moat that surrounded my bed was now a SNORING Golden moat. My dogs thought it was a most excellent idea to spend 10-12 hours at the dog park, to NOT get scolded when they ran into the marsh, and to get treats and rewards for being such good boys. I think Bizzy was really, really happy to be home. No more dog park for a while; no more planes, limited open space, and Gentle Leader only--nor harness! I was SO relieved that we got him home safely, and many thanks to all the people who joined me as we helplessly tried to figure out what to do. All I can say is "whew!" And today is bath day for all three of the boys.