Our first ABTCR foster fail is Gretel, a little black and tan girl that we helped pull from a county pound in West Virginia. She was a bit of a hot mess at first - mange, malnourished, been in a few scraps, definitely neglected and possibly abused and not even a year old yet. I remember when we brought her home I gave her a bath. I left the bathroom for a few minutes to get some warm towels from the dryer. When I came back in and walked toward her, she cowered like she was bracing for an impact. I sat down in the bathroom floor with her and held her and cried. It didn't take long for my husband to recognize Gretel and I were becoming attached to one another so he worked with Jayne on the side to officially adopt Gretel for my birthday.

A year later, Gretel has really come out of her shell and been embraced by the other 8 furry members of the Austin pack. She's a little thing, but you'd never know it by her arrroooo because that's bigger than life. She's prissy and playful and loves mealtime and counter surfing. She sleeps between my husband and me every night and loves getting us up around 11pm and 2am for a little snack. Gretel will be making her first appearance at Coon Dog Day this summer in North Carolina along with her hound mix brother, Buford Blue.

Kristi and Glenn Austin