Introducing Chachi

I recently pulled this dog from a shelter:

  

His name is Chachi.  He was four months old when he was turned into the shelter, and he's been there for four months, so he's basically grown up in the shelter.  He's one of the sweetest dogs I have right now, and is very affectionate and eager to please.  Chachi is energetic and he still needs some work on house manners, but he loves everyone he meets and he immediately flops on his back for a belly rub every chance he gets.  He has been a big hit at adoption events, and has loved making new friends. 

 Yesterday the momma dog (Nina) and her nine puppies went to a wonderful rescue group called A Mother's Safe Haven.  This group takes in newborn puppies and moms and cares for them until they're ready for adoption.  The puppies are now three weeks old and they will stay there until they're eight weeks old, then they'll go back to the shelter to be adopted out.  Since Nina (the momma dog) is heartworm positive and has erlichia she will have to wait and be treated once the puppies are weaned.  I fell in love with her while she was at my house so as soon as the puppies are weaned she will come back and stay with me while she goes through her treatment, instead of having to go back to the shelter. 



Nina

Rugby the deaf Australian Shepherd and Tater Tot the Cocker Spaniel were both adopted on Saturday!  And Joey the 5-pound Chihuahua was returned because he apparently loves to bark - not a good thing in an apartment!  So now I have Ziggy, Joey, Annie the Beagle mix, and Chachi at home.  I am going to be out of town for a bit but when I return I already have several waiting to come in - a deaf Lab mix, two Chihuahua mixes, and a shy pit bull mix.  That should keep me busy for awhile! 



Why Didn't Someone Save This Dog?? The Answer...

Today my Facebook page was covered with pictures of this dog:

Dog #251018

Dog #251018 was found as a stray and held by a Good Samaritan for three days, then after getting into a fight with another dog in the home, was turned into the local animal control facility.  A plea quickly went out to local rescue groups to find someone to pull her.  Various people offered to donate to any rescue that pulled her to help with her vet fees, and she ended up with over $100 in sponsorship money.  Her picture was shared over 220 times and more and more people begged someone to please save this dog. 

Today there was even someone who offered to keep the dog until the end of June when she moves out of state, and someone else offered to board the dog if a foster home had not been found by then. However the dog could only be released from the shelter if a certified rescue took her.  And in spite of everyone's best efforts and good intentions, still no rescue had stepped up for this dog by the deadline, and she will now be euthanized. 

At this point, many people begin looking for someone to blame.  Why won't the shelter keep this dog longer?  Why won't any rescues step up?  The vetting cost is covered and there is a temporary foster home, so why will no rescue put their name on this dog and take responsibility for it?  Whose fault is it??

Dog #251018

Do we blame the shelter - an animal control facility who is not known for giving dogs any more time than required by law to find a home?  If the shelter gave her until Saturday could a rescue be found by then?  It's possible.  But if they waited until Saturday and still no rescue stepped up, should they give her another week?  And what should they do with the dogs who come in between now and Saturday?  If all the cages are full, where do they go with the new dogs? 

What about the dozens of rescues who routinely pull from this shelter?  Why did none of them step up?  There were so many people willing to help this dog, so the rescues didn't have to find funds for vetting or a foster home or anything - they just had to be willing to put their name on the dog to have her pulled and save her life!

As one of those rescuers who saw the pleas and still said no, I'd like to tell you why.  When the dog is only days or hours from being euthanized, everyone wants to save her life.  But then the excitement dies down, another dog comes along, and all of a sudden everyone is clamoring for someone to save that dog.  In the meantime, the first dog is sitting in a shelter or a foster home, waiting patiently to be adopted.  And waiting, and waiting, and waiting.  Several of my foster dogs, such as Juno and Annie B, were pulled from this same animal control facility (I don't always say no!)  They also had sponsorship money and people begging a rescue to save them.  So now they're saved, but because of their issues, they haven't been adopted.  They take months or years to find permanent homes, and in the meantime that takes away foster home space from more adoptable dogs that could be saved. 

Dog #251018 was a dog-aggressive pit bull mix.  She was not going to be easy to adopt out.  In fact, I have been fostering a dog similar to this one for over three years and still haven't been able to find him a home.  Ziggy now lives in my basement, with minimal human interaction, because I can't trust him around the other foster dogs I have upstairs.  In spite of years of training, earning his Canine Good Citizen certification, attending adoption events, being featured in magazines and new shows, and being shared all over the Internet, he still does not have a home.  I am not being picky with who adopts him (far from it), but very few people are willing and able to adopt a dog-aggressive pit bull, and there are so many of them out there already that finding a home for one - especially one that is already "in a foster home" - is very difficult. 



Ziggy the Adoptable Dog

 There's one more reason that we stay away from dogs who have a foster home offer from someone that hasn't fostered dogs before.  Many people see a sad picture of a dog and feel an instant desire to help.  That same desire is quickly overcome by frustration when the dog comes into their home as a foster and they realize the dog isn't house-trained, loves to eat couches, and picks fights with their own dogs.  The majority of time a temp foster steps up to take a dog they feel sorry for, within a week they will be contacting the rescue saying they can no longer foster that dog.  And then the rescue who took responsibility for the dog once again has a difficult-to-place dog and nowhere for her to go.  This is why we urge people who want to save a dog to foster a dog that is already in our rescue.  Then we can tell them more about what the dog is like, and if they find out that the frustrations of taking in an untrained rescue dog outweigh their desire to help, we also have a place for that rescue dog to go back to.  The rescue I volunteer with has many wonderful foster homes who take in these difficult-to-place dogs (like the foster home who has Juno right now) and they make it possible for the dogs to live.  Unfortunately we don't have enough foster homes like them to be able to save dog #251018. 

Do you wonder why the animal control facility would only release dog #251018 to a rescue group instead of an adopter?  Two weeks ago we were at an adoption event and a young girl showed up.  She had a cute black Husky mix with her that had been about to be put down at another animal control facility near the one where dog #251018 came from.  She saved the dog's life, but when she got the dog home, her parents said she couldn't keep him.  The animal control facility had not had the dog spayed or neutered, so we took in the dog, got him neutered, heartworm tested, microchipped, and all those other things responsible rescue groups do before adopting out dogs.  Then we found him a home with a wonderful family who was prepared to add a dog to their life.  He was one of the lucky ones, but so many others don't have that luck.  They either end up at another animal control facility (or back where they started) and end up being euthanized, or they are given away and never get any medical care or a home where they are properly cared for.  They may end up with owners who aren't responsible and the dog may injure another animal or a human, or the dog may be sold to research or used as a bait dog in a dog-fighting ring.  There are a lot of bad things that can happen to dogs, and if a shelter takes a high-risk dog like dog #251018 and gives her away to anyone who wants to save her, she'll more likely end up suffering more before being killed. 

So if it's not the rescue group's fault for not saving her and it's not the shelter's fault, who do we blame?  Sometimes I'm tempted to blame all the people who say "someone should do something!" but don't do anything themselves, but truthfully it isn't their fault either.  And in fact most people DO do something, whether it is fostering, volunteering at a shelter or rescue group, or donating.  They are the solution to the problem.  So who does that leave? 

Do we blame the owner because they didn't care enough about this girl to go looking for her when she got lost? Or maybe they dumped her, figuring someone would find her and give her a good home. Did they know she'd end up sitting scared and alone in a shelter and then be killed? Did they care?

I don't like to blame anyone without knowing the full story - and in almost every case, we don't know the full story - so I'm going to choose not to blame anyone, and instead to focus on finding a home for Ziggy, and all the other dogs that also need homes.  I hope you will join me in saving dogs whatever way you can.

Ziggy and The Kong Contest

So I saw this contest online to submit a picture with your dog and their classic Kong toy, and they could win a Kong prize package.  I love Kong products - they are great at keeping the dogs busy, and I don't think I could have survived fostering Ziggy if he didn't have a steady supply of Kongs.  So I searched through all my pictures of Ziggy to see if I had any of him chewing on a Kong.  I couldn't find any, so I thought I'd just take a new picture.  No problem, right?  It started with me in the kitchen grabbing a stuffed Kong out of the freezer.  Ziggy looked on hopefully. 

Then I gave him the Kong and he ran to his favorite spot - the living room couch - to chew on it.  I tried a picture but it was too dark.  So I made the mistake of taking the Kong away in order to get Ziggy outside where there was better lighting. 

Ziggy immediately jumped up on me trying to get his Kong back.  I didn't drop the Kong, but sadly I dropped my camera instead.  My next picture of Ziggy came out like this:

After messing around with the camera settings for awhile, I finally got it working again, and was able to take a few more pictures.  Then I had to decide which one to submit into the contest. 

Option 1 - Scrunched-nose Ziggy

I like the way his nose is all wrinkled as he tries to shove his entire mouth into the Kong opening.

Option 2 - Eyes-Closed Enjoyment Ziggy

When Ziggy really enjoys something, he closes his eyes!

Option 3 - Don't Steal My Kong!

Did I mention that Ziggy has a problem with sharing?

In the end, I went with an old picture of Ziggy with his Kong Wobbler. 



While it may not make people want to adopt Ziggy (unless you like a dog demolition expert), it does accurately reflect who Ziggy is, and will hopefully help him win more Kongs to keep him busy and keep my floors safe! 

The contest ends on Sunday May 12th, so if you'd like, you can vote here.  Or adopt Ziggy here!

New Dogs

I had some medical things going on so didn't keep up with the blog for awhile, but I am back now, hopefully.  To catch everything up, I'll just say that everyone I have ever introduced on this blog is either adopted or in another foster home now, except of course Ziggy. 

www.adoptziggy.com

I now have a whole new crew of fosters, some of whom have been and gone already, here's a brief introduction. 

Annie B. is a Beagle mix who was pulled from Animal Control by a new volunteer.  She didn't work out at her house, so she ended up at my house, where hard-to-adopt animals come to stay.  Annie B. is extremely sweet and well behaved, but she is scared of strangers, and she deals with that fear by snapping at people.  This does not make her easy to adopt out.  We're working on getting her used to strangers and in the meantime, she's doing well with all the other dogs and loves to sleep under the covers any chance she gets.

As if one Annie in the house wasn't enough, another dog came into All Paws and also needed out of the foster home that took her in, so she also ended up with me for awhile.  Since she also already knew the name Annie, instead of changing it I just refer to her as Annie C. (because she is a Coonhound mix).  Fortunately I am not the only volunteer in the rescue group who takes in the dogs no one else has room for, and Annie C. is now at another volunteer's house while she waits to be adopted.  This not only makes it less confusing when I call "Annie" but it means she gets to be in a home where she gets more attention and has a dog door to go in and out whenever she wants (which is often!)

Then there's Loco, a Boston Terrier mix who was named Loco at the shelter.  I should've thought about that a bit more before I pulled him.  But he was going to be euthanized (he bit the plastic hand that tried to steal his noms) so one look at his picture and I said "I'll take him!"  Sadly, the little guy truly is loco.  He has boundless energy and almost no manners whatsoever.  Fortunately another volunteer actually wanted an energetic small dog to foster, and before she knew it, she was regretting that decision because I gave her Loco to foster.  I still expect he'll come back to me someday, but for now I am enjoying the time without a loco Loco, and his current foster mom is enjoying the newly discovered toys that actually let you turn the squeaker off when it is about to drive you loco.  Loco is a big fan of squeaky toys and tennis balls. 

I currently am fostering three-year-old Rugby, a deaf Australian Shepherd.  He was turned in by his owners to an animal control facility in central Illinois, and I jumped at the chance to foster a deaf dog who wasn't part pit bull.  It's been a nice change.  Rugby is very smart and very energetic.  He loves tennis balls and playing fetch almost as much as Loco.  He is friendly to everyone he meets and has learned how to act loving and adorable to potential adopters at adoption events, so I am thinking it won't be long at all before he finds a forever home. 

Takara is another dog I pulled from Animal Control who turned out to be a bit more challenging than I expected.  It turns out that Takara doesn't like other dogs very much. Especially rowdy dogs that get too close to her.  Other than that, she is just about perfect.  Fortunately another volunteer with our rescue group has no other pets and was able to take Takara in as a foster dog.  She's doing very well there and is happily waiting for her forever home to come along. 

It's not the best picture of him, but this is Tater Tot, an eighteen month old Cocker Spaniel.  He's at my house right now and he's an extremely sweet guy.  He loves to play with other dogs and has a great temperament.  Tater Tot was turned in by his owner who could no longer care for him.  He will probably be adopted by the end of this week. 

Then there's Eeyore, a deaf eight-month-old pit bull who has never lived in a home before and has absolutely no manners.  I thought I might have another long-term foster on my hands, because even though Eeyore is incredibly sweet, he is not yet house-trained and he sometimes didn't like to share with other dogs, and he has many bad manners.  But in spite of all of that, someone came along and fell in love with him and adopted him! 

Stanley is another dog I expected to have for quite awhile, and was pleasantly surprised to be wrong!  Stanley is a great dog - very friendly and happy - but he has a ton of energy.  He also can jump fences, and he loves to counter-surf.  But the perfect couple came along and saw what a happy loving dog he is and decided to adopt him! 

Joey is a five-year-old Chihuahua that I pulled from a local shelter.  Although I don't usually foster small dogs, Joey was one of those perfect little dogs that I could've totally kept forever.  So of course he was quickly adopted! 

 Maggie Moo is a twelve year old mixed breed dog that was pulled from a local shelter.  She was one of those dogs I wanted to carry around and never put down, and she never seemed to mind.  She is definitely a lap dog.  And she's great with other dogs and very sweet - it was no surprise that she was adopted rather quickly!

Sparky is a two-year-old Yorkie mix that wasn't doing well in a local shelter.  I pulled him and had him for less than 24 hours before he went to another foster home and then was quickly adopted.  I'm not even sure it's fair to call him my foster dog.  But I did pull him from the shelter and he did spend the night at my house and slept in my bed, so I am going to say that qualifies. 

Last but not least is this momma dog and her nine puppies that were born in a shelter a week ago.  A shelter is not a good place for newborn puppies - there is a higher stress level and a higher risk of infection to the pups.  A neonate rescue group is going to take the mom and pups in another week or so, when they have an opening, but until then I took them home so they would have a quiet place to stay.  Please don't judge me for the fact that they have no bedding - I keep putting it in and the momma dog keeps taking it back out!