Wednesday, March 7, 2012

New Fosters!

But first, the remaining updates on current fosters that you've already met:

Charlie the Hairless Dog has been treated for demodex mange and is doing great.  He has two more weeks of medicine and then another recheck at the vet, and then he's hoping that he'll be done with the bad-tasting medicine and even worse medicated baths.  He is getting much braver, although he's still scared of men, but he now approaches strange women and children without much hesitation.  He still barks at the television if it's too loud, but he's getting much better with that as well.  He's been going to adoption events each weekend to work on meeting strangers, and he's hoping he'll soon meet that stranger that wants to adopt him.



Bogey the Other Hairless Dog is making progress as well, but much more slowly.  He had some skin biopsies done which found that the missing hair is due to scarring, most likely from mange as a puppy, and will not grow back.  So he is permanently hairless, but he doesn't seem to mind.  He is still very, very shy, and will not come near me or even look at me if I'm looking at him.  I would like to find a foster home for him with someone who could really work with him and help him to overcome his shyness.  If you're interested, let me know!


After Fanny was adopted, I had no one to take to the beginning agility class.  Charlie and Bogey were too shy, Ziggy had already passed the beginner class, and Chloe was still undergoing heartworm treatment.  So that left me with two options - take Jefferson, or get a new foster dog.  I considered Jefferson - after all, he's very energetic, but he's also got the memory of a goldfish and the coordination of a giraffe on roller skates.  So new foster dog it was!

I brought home Lindsay, a sweet four year old dog who had been waiting at the shelter for a long time.  She is another one of those rare brilliant, perfect dogs.  Already house-trained, good with other dogs, cats, and kids, and extremely affectionate.  She caught up with the rest of the dogs in the agility class very quickly, and she's been wonderful at home.  Since our trainer's name is Lynsey, I have nicknamed Lindsay "Zee" to make things less confusing.  Zee has been here a couple of weeks now, and she's done really well at adoption events and at obedience classes.  She's learned to sit, lie down, come when called, and we're now working on staying in place.  Zee is a wonderful dog and whomever adopts her will be very lucky to have her.
"Zee"

In addition to Zee, I also brought home another FIV+ cat.  This one looks nothing like Merlin either, but at least this time I was able to recognize that right away.
Midnight
Midnight was picked up by animal control and once he tested positive for FIV he was turned over to the vet to be euthanized.  The vet realized that Midnight was a great cat - very friendly and sweet - and instead asked for help saving him.  Since I already had one FIV+ cat, I figured one more would be no problem, so I took him home.  And yes, I'm the one who named him Midnight.  I know it's an odd choice for a black cat, but I like to be original.

Midnight is a great cat.  He has very thick plush fur, and he loves to be petted.  He gets along great with the other cats, although he's not such a big fan of dogs.  He's actually much cuter than his picture looks, but I'm not so good at photographing black cats.  Especially when they want nothing more than to rub against the camera and won't stay in place for a picture.  Cats are much harder to teach to "stay" than dogs.

So that's it for the new fosters, at least for now.  For latest news and previews of soon-to-be foster pets, visit me on Facebook.



10 comments:

Stefanie (aka Blueberry's mom) said...

Thanks for the updates! Poor Bogey - sometimes I really wish I lived in your state so I could help out. Kudos on recognizing that Midnight - while feline - is also not a clone of Merlin ;). What a beautiful cat! He looks so shiny and velvety! My second wish would be to not have severe cat allergies. Thanks for all you do and for keeping such a fun and informative blog!

FANCY the Red Standard Poodle said...

Hi Y'all,

Just stopped by to catch up on your happenings and say hello! Have a great week!

Y'all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog

Cupcake said...

Well, Midnight does not look like Merlin but he does look just like Zee. Same color and both beautiful.

Oh how I wish I lived near you so I could work with Bogey. I love him.

Love, Cupcake

Casey Jones' Mom said...

Love Midnight. My all white cat was named Midnight because we could see her at midnight.

Anonymous said...

Great update! Lots of new faces!

Lindsey RN said...

You are doing such wonderful things! Do you work with a rescue?

Dog Foster Mom said...

Thanks everyone, for the comments! Lindsey RN, I foster for a rescue group called All Paws Rescue (www.allpawsrescue.info). They're a great group of people, and I'm just one of many volunteer foster homes that they have. They pay for all the vet care, provide the dog and cat food, and hold the weekly adoption events and regular fundraisers.

volunteers4paws said...

charlie is starting to look so much like our most recent adopted dog, Kiba. Amazing!

Oskar said...

Great, great work you're doing!

You know we try to run a feature called Foster Friday every week. If you have any time to put something together about one of your dogs.

If you don't have time tonight you can always send a submission for a future Friday to PBU at comcast dot net.

Nubbin wiggles,
Oskar

Tanya said...

While my love goes out to all of the animals in your care, my heart belongs to Charlie and Bogey.

When I first adopted my dog in October 2009, she couldn't walk more than a few feet on the NYC streets without lunging at men, children, strollers, people with lugguage or bags, anyone that came near the door of our apartment and the list goes on....

Rehabilitating her was the most difficult and rewarding thing I've done in my adult life (which hasn't exactly been a cakewalk), so I especially love to read about people like you who are willing to take a chance on (and do the work for) dogs that need a little extra love, patience, resources and TLC.

We'll keep our fingers and paws crossed for Charlie and Bogey to find very special homes soon!!!