Saying Goodbye, and a New Arrival

Saying goodbye to a dog is always hard, but this month has been especially difficult. Two weeks ago my husband and I made the decision to euthanize Remi, our Great Dane. He was only 7 ½ years old, but due to health issues he was in a lot of pain and could no longer walk, and we could not bear for him to suffer anymore. We adopted Remi when he was a year and a half old – he was my first dog, other than the family dogs I had growing up. He taught me a lot about dog behavior, and I went from being afraid of dogs to reading about them and starting to understand them to loving dogs. He endured all of my mistakes as I learned to train dogs and to manage a multi-dog household. He was a clown who loved to drink directly from the sink faucet and loved to de-stuff teddy bears. He won the Tallest Dog contest in a local pet parade, and yet was afraid to step over a ledge that was just two inches above the floor. He wouldn’t go through a doorway unless the door was all the way open, and he once pulled me face-down across the front lawn in order to meet some very nervous neighbors out walking their dog. He sounded ferocious but was a big baby, and yet I always felt completely safe with him by my side. In spite of the fact that he was a purebred Great Dane and weighed 160 pounds, people - both adults and children - would often ask if he was a Dalmatian.  I was always tempted to say yes, yes he is.  


I miss you, my Giant Dalmatian.

 A week after losing Remi, I was back at the vet’s office with Lee, the smallest of the Chihuahua puppies. Lee was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, which is a buildup of fluid inside the skull. There are a variety of causes but in his case it was most likely a congenital defect. Lee did not survive, and walking out of the vet’s office without him was so hard. I am glad that both of his littermates do not have any issues and are doing well, but I really miss him. 

Lee


I also said goodbye to Stella the deaf Lab mix this week, but that was under much happier circumstances since she was adopted into a wonderful family. Saying goodbye is not so hard when I know the dog is going to a wonderful home and I will get to see pictures and hear updates on her in the future.


Stella and her new family


I have also had a new arrival this week. Brittany is a two-year-old dog who came into rescue after being picked up as a pregnant stray. She went to a neonate rescue until her babies were weaned and now she’s been spayed and is ready to find her forever home. Brittany is a sweet girl who loves attention and loves to play with other dogs. She went to her first adoption event on Saturday and many people were drawn to her, so I am hoping that she will find her forever home very soon.


Brittany



Eeyore Has Returned

A few months ago I fostered a deaf white pit bull named Eeyore.  Eeyore always looks a bit gloomy and depressed, which is why I named him after one of my favorite Winnie the Pooh characters. 

Eeyore was quickly adopted, but was just recently returned due to being too overwhelming with the small children in the home.  At only ten months old, Eeyore is still a puppy and doesn't quite know how big or how strong he really is.  He doesn't seem happy to be back, and I can't really blame him. 



"Thanks for noticin' me."

These pictures are from the first time Eeyore was at my house.  He gets along well with the other dogs for the most part, but I think he'll be happier in a home with fewer dogs.  Maybe.


"One can't complain. I have my friends. Someone spoke to me only yesterday."

 He also isn't used to being crated, and is used to sleeping in bed with his people, and having someone home with him 24 hours a day.  So he's having a hard time adjusting to life in a foster home, where he doesn't get the attention he's used to and he is crated for long periods.  It's a better situation than a shelter, but it's not a real home.  I hope he finds his forever home soon!

Outsmarting Joey the Chihuahua

Joey, the little 5-pound Chihuahua that I'm fostering, likes to lift his leg and mark everywhere in the house.  So we're working on correcting that behavior, but for times that I can't watch him, I needed an alternate solution.  Dog belly bands were invented for that very reason.  They are basically a strip of fabric that wraps around the dog's belly and you can put in an absorbent pad for easy cleanup.  The problem is Joey is sneaky, and he quickly figured out that if he rolls around enough he can slide right out of the belly band, no matter how tightly I put it on him.  So I turned to the Internet for help, and came up with this solution:

Joey

What's that, you ask?  I will tell you.  Joey is now the slightly-embarrassed owner of an Alfie Couture Designer dog diaper - with suspenders.  That's right - the little guy now has his own suspenders!  

A little privacy please...

Getting them on and off is a hassle every time I want to take him outside, but it's well worth it to be able to give him more freedom in the house!  And I think eventually he'll forgive me for this humiliation.  Especially since I was able to convince him that all the dogs are jealous - even the puppies!

"Dude, what is she making you wear?!"

Okay maybe he's not quite convinced yet.  

Seven Chihuahuas? How Did This Happen??

 

Joey

It all started so innocently. One little 5-pound Chihuahua was in need of rescue, and although I usually foster bigger dogs, I figured one small dog would be easy enough to manage. Thus Joey the Chihuahua came to my house. Other than not being house-trained, and not liking strangers, and barking all the time, and wanting to mark everything in sight, he is just about perfect.  I use that term loosely.  But things were going along well, until as often happens in the rescue world, there was an emergency. Another rescue was closing down and they had dozens of dogs they needed to place. The rescue had offered to help me with one of my fosters before, so I had to do what I could to help.  I offered to take two dogs, and it just so happened that the two they gave me were both Chihuahua mixes.

 

Chula



Soon Joey met his new friends Kiwi and Chula.  Both Kiwi and Chula are seven years old, and they both are extremely sweet and loving.  Chula has something called microphthalmia which means that her left eye is smaller than it should be.  But it doesn't bother her and I think it actually makes her more loving and affectionate.  While there is no scientific basis for this theory, it would explain why she is sooo friendly with everyone she meets. And if I can convince anyone of this theory it might even help her get adopted.  She's house-trained, great with other dogs, and all-around a pretty easy dog to foster, so hopefully she will find a forever home soon. 

 

Kiwi



Her brother Kiwi is actually missing an eye, which he lost last year due to an injury of some type.  He looks like he is perpetually winking.  He is also very friendly, but he's not one of those dogs that has to be right on your lap at all times, which is nice too.  He loves to play fetch, and he loves to play in the puppy pool.  He also has a cute curly tail.  



Blondie



So at this point I'm up to three Chihuahuas, with no plans to take any more small dogs.  Then a tornado hit town. Literally. A friend who was fostering a momma Chihuahua and three puppies had no power due to the tornado damage, so guess who offered to take said momma and pups? Yep. Me.  Suddenly three Chihuahuas became seven Chihuahuas. It was only temporary though – the power came back on after a few days and the dogs returned to their foster home. Except for one problem. The momma Chihuahua – let’s call her Blondie (because that’s her name) – is terrified of strangers. She barks. She screams. She attacks. She does NOT like strangers. So for those few days she was at my house, I made friends with her. That was my mistake.

 

Leo and Lee - 6 weeks old



Because in the process, I started to like her, and even worse, I started to feel sorry for her. She was so scared. I knew her foster circumstances were temporary and soon she would have to leave the foster home where she had been staying (it was a neonate rescuer who only takes on pregnant moms and puppies until the puppies are 6-8 weeks.) Then she’d have to go to yet another foster home where she would be scared all over again. I may have accidentally offered to take her and the puppies back when they were old enough to leave the neonate rescuer. Which happened a few days later. 



Leah - 6 weeks old



So suddenly, I find myself the caretaker of four adult Chihuahuas and three Chihuahua puppies.  The puppies will be adopted quickly as soon as they're available for adoption, but it will be three more weeks until they're big enough for that to happen. Right now they are at the age where they are into everything - especially Leah, the only girl in the litter.  She is twice the size of the two boys, and she is the fearless leader who is the first to explore and try to chew on everything.  Which mostly means my toes, while I'm in her room cleaning or feeding or playing with the pups.   

So this is how I found myself surrounded by seven tiny dogs. Plus three large deaf dogs. And one medium sized Beagle mix. And my cat Merlin. We’re one big happy family, you might say. Or not.



Stella

Stella is a deaf Lab mix that came in from an area animal control. She loves everyone, but she doesn’t seem to realize the little dogs are not the same size as her. When I’m on the couch typing on my laptop, she tries to lay on the top of the couch behind my shoulders, and she regularly slides down onto the Chihuahuas who are laying on the couch next to me. She can’t hear them barking or growling, and she just lays there on top of them, on her back with all four feet in the air, like she’s completely comfortable on her bed of wiggling Chihuahuas. I’m always surprised when they wriggle out from under her and just scoot over instead of making good on their threats.



Pablo

 This is especially true because of how they treat Pablo. Pablo is a deaf Boxer mix who came from an animal control facility in Illinois. He was turned in by his owners because they said he wouldn’t eat. He has some separation anxiety, and we’re working on putting some weight on him. He does fine with all of the other dogs except for Joey and Blondie, who he likes to bark at. Kiwi and Chula stand up for their foster siblings though and the four of them gang up on him. Have you ever faced down a pack of four angry Chihuahuas? I have to say, I feel sorry for Pablo. They won’t let him anywhere near the couch, so he’s taken over the chair next to the couch instead.


It may sound like pandemonium at my house, but there is a bit of order to the chaos. Not a lot, but some. None of the dogs are really allowed to pick on the others, although did I mention how scary it is to face down a pack of four angry Chihuahuas? Fortunately they all listen well and one or two words will often calm down anyone who needs it. Or one or two hand signs, in the case of the deaf dogs. Stella is very smart and in the past two weeks she has learned how to sit, lay down, come when called, and stay! We’ve been going to training classes and I think she could earn her Canine Good Citizen certification quickly if she’s not adopted first. She is extremely affectionate and very popular at adoption events, so she’s already received two applications for adoption. We have a home visit scheduled for tomorrow so she may be gone very soon! Chachi the brindle Boxer/pit bull mix has also been adopted, and is doing well in his new home. Pablo goes to the vet tomorrow, and I’m scheduled to get a shy dog named Brittany sometime in the new week or two.  Right now shelters everywhere are over-crowded with both dogs and cats (and especially kittens) so if you've ever thought about fostering, you are needed right now!  Please contact your local rescue group or shelter!