The Artist Formerly Known as Hamilton!

You guessed it, Vito is still busy being a cranky old man to his foster brother! So again Mom is taking over this post. Sunday night we talked to the adoption coordinator and she asked if we'd like to keep Hamilton until his adoption, instead of transferring him to another foster home when they have an opening. We said YES! We are really enjoying having him, and I'd hate for him to have to change homes again. She also asked if I'd like to change his name since he hadn't been "officially" registered with the group yet, nor been to the vet. I also said YES to that! Hamilton was really a mouthful, and I just wasn't feeling the Hammy nickname.

So, Hamilton is now LOUIE! He's such a Louie and responded to the name right away. He went to the vet yesterday and we got a lot of information. They think he is about 2 years old - maybe older, but they felt confident saying two, based on the tartar on his teeth. I was really surprised! I thought he was much younger. He weighs 15 pounds, which I was also surprised about, I thought he was less. But my chunky monkey Vito probably skews my perspective!

He is getting neutered on Friday. (And let me tell you, Vito will be very happy for the humping to stop!) The only other concern is his breathing. He has a very hard time breathing, and is very loud, even at rest. When we got home from the vet, it took him about 45 minutes to be able to breathe "normally" (for him). He couldn't breathe without his mouth open, and sounded like a duck. He broke my heart. He was so tired and tried to lay his little chin down but kept having to lift his head to breathe and pant hard through his mouth. Finally he laid on his side to be able to "rest" while panting. The vet thinks he has an elongated soft palette which might require surgery, but he also plans to do an x-ray while doing the neuter to make sure that his trachea is not collapsing.

Wow! A lot of news for little Louie Boy. On another note, Jack came over on Sunday to visit! And this is what happens when you try to quickly take pictures of 3 dogs.

Uncle Michael could wrangle the pugs. The beagle was another story.

And thank you again to all of the other foster parents out there for all of your advice and encouragement! It's a tough job (and I consider myself lucky to have gotten an "easy" pug) and I know the toughest part will be the day he goes to his forever home. But I'm also really excited about it because he is such a great boy and I know we'll find the perfect family for him who will be so happy with him, and vice versa!

And I promise, Vito will be back soon! Later!