Attachment Disorder



Please come back!

Many times when someone takes a foster dog to adoptions, the dog shows an obvious attachment to the foster parent.  They may happily greet all people, but let the foster parent walk away, and the foster pet is immediately looking for "mom" or "dad".  

I forgot how strong this attachment can be since I only fostered Ziggy and young puppies for so long.  Young puppies don't know enough to develop strong attachments to anyone, and Ziggy... well, I'm not sure what his excuse is, but he never missed me either.  So it's been awhile since I had a foster dog who could make me feel guilty just for walking away from them. 

But all of my recent foster dogs have quickly reminded me what it's like.  Everytime I turn around, one of them is looking at me, and if I look back at them for more than a split second, their tail starts wagging and they start getting sooo excited.  The following pictures were taken a few weeks ago, before Abby was adopted. 

Target gets distracted, but now Abby is watching!

 Then one of the volunteers is able to distract Abby. 

But there's still Toby, who refuses to look away!

Hey Foster Mom, this lady's trying to pull me away, but I'm not leaving!

Until the treats suddenly appear.

Oh, you have food - okay lady, I'm all yours!

It's such a good feeling to know that they love me almost as much as they love milk bones.

Abby was Adopted! Introducing Toby

Abby received an application for adoption last week, and went to her new home on Saturday!  She's now living with a very nice couple who has a lot of dog experience.  She has a fenced in yard and I think she'll be very happy in her new home, in spite of the fact that she has to share her new home with cats!

On Saturday I met Toby, who came to adoptions from an area shelter.  He had been there awhile and was getting a bit difficult to handle since he'd been living in a kennel for so long.  He also wasn't getting much attention from potential adopters at the shelter, so another volunteer agreed to take him as a foster dog.  But since Abby was adopted, and the volunteer who planned to take Toby didn't have any other high energy dogs, I offered to take him so he would have Target and Forrester to play with at my house.  He's fit right in, and is doing great so far.

Toby is about ten months old, and he is a very high energy, playful dog!  He doesn't have many manners yet, but we're starting to work on that.  He loves other dogs and so far he just seems afraid of Merlin, my cat.  He shouldn't be too hard to adopt out, especially once he learns some manners, since he seems to love everything and everyone.

Three Out and Three In

Cleo, Brie and Sorbet were all adopted!!  I expected Brie and Sorbet to be adopted quickly, but I wasn't sure that they'd be able to be adopted together.  Fortunately a very nice guy came along who had previously had two littermates with completely opposite personalities, just like Brie and Sorbet, and he adopted them both!  And Cleo I also expected to be a quick adoption.  She was such a perfect dog at my house - well, except for wanting to eat the cats.  But when we got to the adoption event on Saturday, she quickly became a non-stop barker, a bully to other dogs, and a strong leash puller.  Basically she was very bratty and I feared she'd never be adopted.  So I was surprised when a nice older couple came along and asked about her.  I stood there with her pulling on the leash and barking away, and told them how she was a great dog - usually.  They have no cats, and a perfect home for her, so Cleo went out on a trial adoption this weekend.  I really hope she's behaving better at their house now than she did at the adoption event. 

Our group had a very good weekend at adoptions - in addition to my fosters, there were several cats and dogs placed into new homes, including Tucker - a foster who's been waiting almost as long as Ziggy for a new home!   


Somehow before Saturday's event had ended, I had already filled Cleo's spot with a new foster dog.  A lady showed up at PetSmart with this adorable dog in tow:

She explained that her daughter had rescued the dog as a puppy, along with 12 other puppies left in the freezing cold.  She found homes for all of them, but this puppy had mange and was returned by the person who originally took the dog.  So her daughter took the puppy back, and the lady was helping her daughter by keeping the dog at her house.  They treated the dog and had her spayed, and she'd been spoiled rotten at this lady's house.  But the lady lived in an apartment and due to a disability couldn't walk her, so the dog, who had been named Abby, needed a home with more space and a yard where she could run.  Sometimes people rescue dogs and do everything right by them, including giving them up when it's what is best for them.  I know it was very hard for the lady to give up Abby, but it won't take long until Abby is adopted.  She'll have a loving, wonderful home with a fenced in yard where she can run to her heart's content.  And in the meantime, she's having a blast running around my back yard and playing chase with my other foster dogs.  Then she cuddles up to me on the couch and falls asleep.  I love this dog. 

You may have noticed I said "other foster dogs".  That's because I have more than just Ziggy and Abby now.  Last week I took in two other foster dogs.  They're the same age as Abby - 5 months old - and just about the same size as her, so they love playing together.  Target and Forrester were also turned in by someone who couldn't care for them properly.  Another rescue volunteer contacted me about some dogs owned by a lady who had cancer and was losing her home.  She had been trying to save up to get her dogs spayed and neutered, but being on a tight income, she hadn't been able to come up with the money in time.  Unfortunately her vet, who knew she was saving up, never bothered to tell her about the low-cost spay/neuter options available, and she never knew she had any other options except to come up with hundreds of dollars for the surgeries.  So her dogs had litters.  And while some of the litter was taken in by another rescue, she still has four dogs waiting to get into rescue.  So I took two of the dogs now, and if no one steps forward to take the other two by the time these two are adopted, I'll try to take them then.   

Target and Forrester are having a hard time with the change in environment, in spite of their young age.  They've never had a collar and leash before, so they're not sure what to make of that.  I have to carry them if I want to take them anywhere. Everything new is scary, and it seems almost everything is new to them, but they're quickly adjusting.  Forrester, the brown one, is already becoming my shadow.  He's always right by my side.  He's also the braver of the two.  Target, the white dog, is still a little bit nervous around me, but he'll finally let me pet him.  Forrester never makes a sound, but Target is more vocal, and will bark at anything scary - like a school bus, or a stranger, or a cat.  They've had a few days to settle in, so today they're going to start dragging around their leashes to begin their leash training.  This will get them used to the feel and presence of a leash without anyone pulling on the other end.  We're also starting to work on some basic manners training like "don't jump up", and of course house training.  But it's not all work around here - most of the time, all I see of Abby, Forrester and Target is a blur that looks like this: