Monday, March 26, 2012

They Come And They Go

Except for Ziggy of course.  He came and refuses to leave, no matter what I do.  But the others come in and sometimes leave sooner than I expect.  I thought Oreo the American Bulldog would be a tough one to place due to his breed and the fact that he wasn't house-trained.  But as soon as I put him on the Internet, applications started coming in.  He received three applications in one week, and last week he went on a trial adoption with his new family.  I also thought that Amber the Pointer mix would be adopted before Sox the Border Collie/Basset mix.  I was wrong again - Sox was adopted to a wonderful family last week.  Amber is still waiting, although she does have an interested family who may adopt her soon!  Lindsay the Aussie mix has also been adopted and is doing great in her new home.  This just leaves me with Chloe the often-upside-down pit bull, Bogey the feral and semi-hairless Shar Pei mix, Charlie the shy dog, Jefferson the obnoxious Shepherd mix, Amber the hopefully-soon-to-be-adopted Pointer mix, and of course Ziggy the Adoptable Dog.

Chloe will be receiving her final heartworm treatment tomorrow, and then will need four more weeks of rest and relaxation before being allowed to resume attending adoption events and running marathons.  Okay maybe not the marathons.  But she will be allowed to go to adoption events in four weeks.








Bogey is still afraid of me.  He loves to play with the other dogs, and he loves to play with toys, and he loves to collect things.  He'll go around the house and pick up any dog toys or blankets or anything else he can and hoard them in his crate.  He will not willingly come anywhere near me, and will move away if he notices that I'm looking at him.  I tell myself that he's making progress, but I'm really not so sure.







Charlie the unknown mix dog (breed guesses, anyone?) has completed his treatment for demodex manage and was given a clean bill of health at the vet.  He is doing great here, but when we go out he is still afraid of strangers - mostly males.  He loves hot dogs so we're starting "hot dog therapy" where strangers toss him small pieces of hot dog so he learns that when a man approaches him, good things are going to happen!






Jefferson is being his usual happy and obnoxious self.  He's now decided that cats are Public Enemy #1, and he feels obligated to bark non-stop whenever he sees one.  If possible, he will also chase and possibly chew on the cat.  I say possibly, because so far I've kept him from actually obtaining a cat - but in a house with five cats, he gets plenty of opportunity to observe and bark at them!







Amber is such a good girl.  She does really well with all the other dogs, and she loves to play.  She and Jefferson are a really good match - they are roughly the same size and have the same amount of energy, so they wear each other out quite well.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Jefferson once Amber is adopted!







Ziggy is in BIG TROUBLE!  We had an incident where he decided to run across the room and down the hall in order to attack my cat Merlin, because he thought Merlin was going to go into his room.  Merlin ended up with a dislocated jaw, and Ziggy ended up with one more strike against him, since now he can no longer go to a home with cats.  In the past two years he's never attacked a cat, and typically ignores them altogether, so now that he's decided that cats are a threat who must be attacked to keep them from eating his food, it makes him even harder to adopt (and much harder to live with).  He already spends too many hours in a crate because he can't be out with other dogs - now I'll also have to rotate and make sure when he's out there are no cats around either.  Did I mention he's in Big Trouble?

Ziggy did not want me to tell you about this Most Dreadful Incident because he was embarrassed that he panicked and thought Merlin was there to steal all his stuff.  He did not mean to hurt Merlin and claims is very sorry for his bad behavior.  I have not completely forgiven him yet, since Merlin is still in pain and has to stay in a crate for two weeks while he recovers.  Merlin should make a full recovery though and my guess is that he will never, ever, go down that hallway to Ziggy's room again.  As for Ziggy, plans are in the works to build him his own room in the walk-out basement and fence in an area on the side of the house with a dog door in the basement door so he can have much more freedom and the other dogs and cats will not be forced to "time-share" the house and backyard. At this point, it's still just a dream, but several wonderful people have volunteered their time and expertise to make it happen, so hopefully it will one day be a reality!

Also, for any of you familiar with the All Paws dogs, you may remember that I occasionally fostered Toby, the Shepherd/Pointer/Hound mix.  He has been in foster care for a Very Long Time, and has caused more than his share of destruction and trouble.  He has a lot in common with Jefferson, as they both have goofy and obnoxious attributes.  But it finally happened - a lady who loves big, goofy dogs saw Toby on the Internet and ended up adopting him.  She says he is doing really well and she's very happy with him.  So sometimes there are Happy Endings even for the very special fosters like Toby!


16 comments:

Of Pit Bulls and Patience said...

Wow- it's like the Brady bunch! What a combo! It sounds like giving ziggy his own bachelor pad would be great for everyone- especially Merlin!

Ashton Keenan said...

Uh oh... Ziggy, thats not very nice at all big guy... Poor Merlin, I hope he makes a full recovery and isnt too terrifyed of dogs after that incendent. And that Chloe, I LOVE reading updates about her, shes such a doll!

sp said...

i am always really impressed with everything you do for your fosters, and for ziggy, in particular. whatever you decide for mr. adoptable, this random internet person supports you fully. big hugs from carlos-land.

volunteers4paws said...

Ziggy!!! Not cool, dude. Not cool.

I think Charlie is a beagle/husky mix. He looks just like our dog Kiba. But, you know, with less fur at the moment.

Cupcake said...

Poor Merlin. Hope he heals soon. Sending good thoughts his way.

I hope Bogey will start to trust you soon. He'll realize that you have a wonderful heart and will never hurt him.

Love, Cupcake

Unknown said...

I am sorry to hear that Merlin was injured. One of our cats being hurt is a great fear of mine. Again, you are amazing & every time I read a post, I am blown away. Thank you for all that you do!

Blueberry's human said...

Oh dear Ziggy! I can see why you didn't want any of us to hear about that. But at least now it's out there and your future dog mom or dad will know not to let you around the kitties. I hope Merlin recovers fully. Dog Foster Mom -you are doing a great job - keep up the good work. It's funny because we don't hear anything for a while and I just figure everything is probably really boring and then you tell us all that and I know why we haven't heard anything -because your hands are FULL. Never a dull moment at your house!

Anonymous said...

Oh Ziggy :( Now why'd you have to go and do that? Your FM is really good about keeping a positive attitude about all of it. I think a bachelor pad is a great idea too!

Elizabeth said...

Sorry to hear about the latest incident with Ziggy. Since he's had such difficulty in adoption prospects I wonder if it would be possible for the rescue to reach out to Best Friends and see if there's even a remote chance Ziggy could be placed on some kind of waiting list to get into their program.

Tucker The Crestie said...

Wow, lots of updates. So sorry to hear about the incident with Ziggy and Merlin. Glad Merlin is ok, but this is definitely disappointing.

So happy to hear that Toby finally got his happy ending.

Anonymous said...

You need to encourage Amber's new family to adopt Jefferson as a set!
Especially if their last name is Thomas then he will be Jefferson Thomas!

I hopen Merlin feels better soon...

Cr8z4Cats! said...

Poor Merlin! Glad he's recovering okay, that had to be very scary for him. As for Ziggy, let me know if Mathew and I can help with the construction of his new room. I'm sure Zig will love it and it will give you some peace-of-mind knowing that you won't have to play "musical pets" constantly.

Dog Foster Mom said...

Elizabeth, I did contact Best Friends about Ziggy a year ago, and they didn't think he'd be a good fit. It might be worth it to try again though!

Cr8z4Cats!, thank you - I'm definitely counting you and Matthew among the friends who've offered their help and will gladly take you up on that! :-)

NYEarthling said...

I asked my office mate (a former dog groomer) about Charlie, and she had this to say: "The forward ears, and the feathering on his rear and the ruff around his collar region, along with color, hints at one of the collie breeds, crossed with a rough/wire-coated terrier, maybe an Irish terrier." Charlie's a handsome dude, btw.

Hope Merlin is feeling better. Is he eating ok?

LJ said...

I am currently waiting for a sweet dog(Honey) we found at the shelter on Friday who was formerly in a foster home. The foster mom put a hold on her for some reason so we cannot adopt until she decides. :(

Anonymous said...

Poor Merlin-that must have been really scary and painful for him :(
Ziggy's own room and play area and access to the outdoors etc. sounds brilliant! Than he can be King of his own castle and maybe some of those issues will be toned down.You are amazing dog Foster Mom and we realy admire all your hard work. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Ziggy's own pad will happen for both you and Ziggy :)