Who wants a new best friend? Pups for foster/adoption around Boston

Why am I writing a post about dogs and sharing it on LinkedIn? Because I need the help of my network to find these babes a home!

tl;dr: If you want to foster or adopt one of these adorable lab mix puppies from Puerto Rico, please message me! Right now, they are in Boston with me but I'm willing to make travel plans if needed. Donations also accepted to support the efforts in Puerto Rico: Go Fund Me

The Longer Story:

This winter, I made the plan to move to Puerto Rico for the month of February to escape the long, cold Boston winter. Within my first two weeks, I realized a month wasn't going to be enough and opted to stay through March. Every morning, I started my day with a walk down to the beach with Oscar, my four-year-old goldendoodle -- it was the highlight of our day. On one of our walks, we ran into a pack of dogs hanging out by the woods near the pool. At first, I was petrified. Five dogs came charging towards us barking aggressively, not towards me, towards Oscar. I backed up and went another direction and the dogs stayed where they were. Oscar really wanted to play despite me telling him how bad of an idea it was.

I went back that night to the woods with some dog food because these dogs were so skinny. Every day, I went back with food for these pups -- it wasn't five dogs, it was closer to ten and it looked like a few might be pregnant. As I built their trust, one of them started wagging his tail every time I pulled up with my car and a trunk full of water and food.

This is Rico -- aka the dad. Rico quickly found a place in my heart. It was easy to tell he was recently abandoned and the security guards on the property confirmed it when they said he showed up sometime in late January. He was the one who greeted me every time I came with food and eventually I felt confident enough that he wasn't going to bite me if I tried to pet him. To my surprise, he seemed to want the pets and even eventually rolled over onto his back and let me pet his stomach (but not his back right leg, which had been previously injured and he was pretty protective of it).

At some point, I started to notice a couple of puppies poking their heads out of the woods and this really pushed me to start looking into the different rescue groups on the island. Unfortunately, everyone I reached out to was too full and wasn't able to help rescue the puppies. The best thing I could do was feed them and bring them clean water. So I did.

I ended up extending my stay through April and kept feeding all 10 dogs and 3+ puppies. Every weekend I made a trip to Walmart for a 50-pound bag of dog food and a bag of puppy food. Every day I went over to check on the dogs giving them fresh water and food. I still felt like it wasn't enough... What was going to happen to these dogs once I left? I knew they were being fed by other hotel guests and that they were eating iguana but that wasn't going to be enough to keep them safe and happy.

So, I just kept talking to people about the dogs until finally, in my last two weeks, I met some women who were as motivated as I was to help them. They had reached out to the general manager at the hotel and were working to set up traps to catch the adults (and any puppies they could). They had already rescued eight puppies from the litter and another girl took one home as a pet. That left three puppies.

I made it my mission to catch the last three puppies before I left and arranged for someone to take care of them, get them their first rounds of shots, and help them get healthy and ready to transport back to the states. With the help of my new friends, I caught these three adorable pups and brought them to Mary, the woman who helped make all of this possible! She took care of Biscuit, Gravy, and Thor for the past five weeks while I came home to Boston and started working on contacts here in Boston who could help me find homes for these puppies. We thought we had found them all homes but it hasn't been as simple as we hoped. The first adopter ended up catching five more puppies in Puerto Rico, so she couldn't keep them. Then, the first foster in Boston fell through because they've only had their first doses of the parvo vaccine. Without their second dose, they couldn't go to the farm because it was an insurance liability. I tried calling several vets but no one can take them until mid/late June.

Using our #pets slack channel @Recorded Future I was able to find one of the pups a home! So on Saturday last week, I met up with a flight angel who carried Gravy on the plane with her from San Juan to Boston, and on Sunday Gravy met her forever home! Lilly (formerly known as Gravy) has gone to one of my coworkers and is loving her new home.

Now down to two. On Thursday night, May 27th, I drove to Logan and then to Hartford airports to pick up Biscuit and Thor. We finally made it home at 3AM and the dog sitting began. They have been adorable little companions but Oscar is less convinced -- turns out he prefers being the only dog and isn't the biggest fan of puppies but he's putting up with them.

I'm already breaking the rules at my apartment building by having more than one dog but I'm hopeful I can get Biscuit and Thor a home before they evict me! But I need more help spreading the word to get these pups their forever home.

Thor - All white, green eyes, pink skin. He is a snuggle bug! He loves being held and he almost demands to have his belly rubbed.

Biscuit - Mainly white, light brown streak/spots going down her spine, black eyes. A bit more independent than her brother and VERY curious! She's also a big eater.

I think they will be about 40lbs, with Biscuit being a little bigger. I think they would both do well with children -- Biscuit is less playful than Thor but both extremely sweet. Thor can be smothered with love and loves it, Biscuit likes a little less smothering.

If you or anyone you know is interested in a new best friend, please message me! I would love to keep these dogs but we'd all end up on the streets and Boston streets are a lot less enjoyable than the beach in Puerto Rico.

I've also set up a Go Fund Me to support the rescue efforts of the rest of the adult dogs and the two to three more litters of the Rio Mar dogs. The funds will be going to Save A Friend Puerto Rico, Luquillo Safe Haven for Animals, and PR Pups -- these three groups are doing amazing things in Puerto Rico and I'm so thrilled I met them.

Any help you can provide -- a temporary home, a forever home, a couple of dollars, a share of this article -- would be so greatly appreciated! These pups (and their friends still in Puerto Rico) deserve all the help they can get!

THANK YOU!! Thank you for helping spread the word and getting these two pups to their forever home!