Chloe Was Adopted!

Chloe started out as a stray in a small animal control shelter.  As a five year old pit bull, she didn't have much hope of being saved.  The shelter was getting ready to close for the Thanksgiving holiday, and all the remaining dogs were going to be euthanized.  That's when the volunteers from Pound Puppies Volunteers of St. Louis jumped into action.  They posted pictures and bios of the dog on Facebook, and put out the word via e-mail to many other rescuers.  Those rescuers also shared the word via social media, and the pictures of the dogs kept showing up on my Facebook feed.  I watched the pictures of these dogs show up for days.  I picked out the one I would save if I could (a small all-white pittie girl), but I was going out of town for the holidays and knew that I wasn't going to be able to help.  The pleas for help continued, and many different rescuers stepped up to pull dogs out to safety.  My favorite was pulled, and several others, until only one was left.  For several hours I saw more posts asking for help with this final dog, but no help came.  The deadline to save her arrived, and still they'd received no offers to help. I didn't have the room for another foster, and I knew that pitties are hard to place, so if I pulled her she might be here awhile. Still, all those pleas for help had me cheering for this dog, and when no one else stepped forward, I called and said if they could find temporary foster care over the holiday, I'd take the last dog when I returned.  That is how Chloe came to stay with me. 

Chloe

Chloe turned out to be a wonderful dog.  She was house-trained and was great with other dogs and with the cats.  She immediately became my shadow, and spent every moment either on the couch next to me, or rolling on her back in the grass.  She slept near my feet every night, and made a funny "woo-woo" sound whenever she was excited.  Unfortunately Chloe tested positive for heartworms, so she had to undergo some painful treatment over several months before she could be adopted.  But then her treatment was completed, she started going to adoption events, and last week a family saw her at PetSmart and fell in love.  Chloe is now adopted and is doing great in her new home.  She's come a long way from being the stray running out of time at a shelter.  She finally has the Happy Ever After that she deserves!

Introducing Dora

Dora is a three year old Black Lab/Border Collie mix.  She came from a rural shelter, and was heartworm positive.  She's been in another foster home while undergoing treatment for heartworms, and once her treatment was complete she came to my house so she could start going to adoption events.

Big black dogs like Dora are often difficult to place.  I expected to have her for awhile.  But at her very first adoption event last weekend, she was a big hit.  Although she didn't find a home, she did get a lot of attention.  So when we had the chance to attend another event during the week, I took Dora along with Chloe the pit bull, Jefferson the Shepherd mix, and Midnight the cat.  Again Dora was very popular, and by the end of the event she had an application for adoption!

Dora is now in her new home, and doing very well.  She was only here for a week, and it was great to find a perfect home for her so quickly.

Although Jefferson and Chloe did not have so much luck getting adopted, they will hopefully soon find new homes thanks to a photographer from Shelter Me Photography.  She took photos of both dogs at the mid-week event, and hopefully that will get them some attention when people are looking at dogs on the adoption sites online.

Chloe

Jefferson

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!

Happy Girl

I have noticed that of all the dogs, most of them spend the majority of time with four feet on the ground.  There's one exception - Chloe - and none of the other dogs can seem to figure out what's wrong with her.  Take a look...

Jefferson checks on Chloe.

Oreo tries to figure out what she's doing.

Oreo and Sarge discuss her strange behavior.

None of it bothers Chloe - she just continues to enjoy rolling in the grass!  She's a happy girl.

I'm also a happy girl because Sarge went to a foster-to-adopt home on Saturday!  

Long Overdue Foster Pet Updates

Ziggy the deaf pit bull is doing well.  He's attending Rally classes each week, and enjoys finding yet another way to earn treats.  I've also discovered that he and Jefferson are good playmates.  They love to play chase and wrestle with each other.

Chloe the pit bull is my girl.  She's like the best dog ever.  She started heartworm treatments and is now on strict rest for eight weeks.  She's pretty lazy though so she's happy to lay around on the couch all day.

Ace the deaf Dogo Argentino mix is now adopted!  He went to a home with another dog who is a therapy dog, and his new owner plans to train Ace to be a therapy dog as well.

Fanny the Basset Hound mix did really well in her beginning agility class.  She loved going to class, but had to cut her beginners class session short because she found her forever home!  She's even happier now to be in a home where she gets all the attention.

Maggie the deaf Old English Sheepdog is getting ready to get on a plane.  She has some aggression issues that need special help, so she's going to be traveling to Minnesota, to Midwest Old English Sheepdog Rescue.  Pilots 'N Paws will be helping her to get to her final destination.

Jefferson the Shepherd/Lab mix is his same silly self.  He has been to the vet twice in the past two weeks because he has caused his tail to start bleeding by wagging it so much.  He can't help it, he's just a happy guy!  He loves to play and wrestle with Maggie and with Ziggy - they are his two best friends.







And that's all the time we have for updates today!  More updates coming soon!

When Bassets Attack

I used to like Basset Hounds.  I always thought with their short fat legs and long fat bodies, they were quite silly.  And when I brought home a Basset Hound mix named Fanny yesterday, I made the mistake of not taking her seriously.

The attack happened this morning.  The victim was Chloe, the sweet affectionate pit bull.  The perpetrator was Fanny.  She's a Basset Hound mixed with Border Collie and maybe Labrador Retriever.  Three very dangerous breeds of dogs - I should have been more wary of her.  If you own one of these dangerous breeds - especially a Basset Hound - be aware that they should be taken very seriously.

WARNING: The following pictures are quite graphic.

Fanny stalks her prey:

She approaches her victim, who is enjoying a nice back scratch.

With no warning at all, she leans over Chloe's neck, and gives her a little lick.

Mission accomplished, Fanny looks up and scopes out her next victim.

She leaves the scene and leaves Chloe behind, totally upside down after the vicious lick she received.

The whole thing happened so quickly, I hardly had time to react.  I am relieved that Chloe seems to have bounced back quickly from the event, and seems almost normal.  

At least normal for Chloe.  

Update on my Fosters... part 1

Currently I have seven foster dogs and two foster cats.  King, the extremely smart pit bull puppy, has gone to a foster-to-adopt home where he's doing really well.  And Bandit the previously semi-feral kitten has finally found a home just in time for Christmas! 

You may remember me claiming that I could handle Jefferson, the incredibly energetic and challenging Shepherd mix.  Well, I was wrong.  Fortunately one of my friends gave me the best Christmas present ever when she took Jefferson to work with him some more.  She's a professional trainer and if anyone can get through to him, it's her. 



Oscar



This is Oscar, the deaf Boston Terrier.  He's doing really well with house-training and is finally allowed to sleep in bed with me and the other dogs at night (all the dogs except Ziggy, who would likely eat the bed while we slept).  Oscar has such a funny personality - I've learned from a friend who often sends me Youtube videos that many Boston Terriers have this same "silly gene".  He loves attention, likes to play with the other dogs, likes to be held, and thinks that he is Mr. Tough Guy.  He always makes me laugh.

Chloe, my brown and white cow-dog, tested positive for heartworms. This means she will have to undergo a painful, expensive and dangerous treatment to get rid of them.  If left untreated, they will eventually cause congestive heart failure.  I'm talking to more and more people who don't have their dogs on heartworm preventative.  They often want to adopt one of our rescue's dogs, but we don't adopt to people who don't use heartworm preventative, because we've seen the devestating effects firsthand.  If you don't use heartworm preventative, please talk to your vet and see if it is recommended in your area. 




Roo

Roo the red pittie mix with the large ears, is doing very well with her Canine Good Citizen training classes.  She has passed her first level (where she learned sit and down) and is now working on stay and come when called.  She's also learned she can jump four foot tall baby gates and fences.  This is why the new fence will be a six foot privacy fence.  In the meantime, she's having to stay on a tie-out or leash while in the yard, which makes her sad.  I call her my squeaky girl, because she she whines/squeaks when she is sad or nervous.  And lately, I've needed some WD-40 to stop all the squeaking! In case you were wondering... yes she was squeaking when we made her wear a Santa hat.  But she looks so cute!

I'll update the status of the rest of my current foster pets tomorrow!

My Very Own Moo-Cow

Earlier this year I moved to a very rural area for the first time in my life. Growing up, I was one of those kids who never saw cows or horses unless we went to a petting zoo or drove somewhere on vacation and passed a field of animals.  That was always an exciting event.  But now that I'm all grown up, and I live next door to a field of cows, I'm much more mature.  I no longer point out the window and yell COWS! when I drive by.  Sure, I still slow down to admire them, and I talk to them and take their pictures, but so does everyone, right?  Right??

So now that I'm a country girl, I've been wanting my very own cow.  The only thing stopping me was that I have no idea how to get a cow, how to feed a cow, how to take care of a cow, or what Ziggy would do with a cow.  Fortunately Chloe came along to take my mind off having my own cow.  It's sort of like giving a guinea pig to a child who really wants a dog.  They might be disappointed to not get a dog, but having a guinea pig is still pretty cool.  I know I can't have a real cow right now, but having a dog who sort of looks like a cow is still pretty cool.

My very own cow dog

Chloe is around five years old, and she is extremely sweet.  In fact, one of the great things about Chloe is she is so eager to please.  She's been working really hard to do a good cow imitation. 

"Moo"

It sounds a bit more like "woo, woo, woo", but it's a better imitation than any of the other dogs have ever managed.  She seems really happy to be out of the shelter, and she shows this by her constant wagging tail and her beautiful smile.

Happy girl!

That's Roo in the background, carrying a toy around in her mouth as usual. Chloe gets along really well with the other dogs, does fine with the cats, and loves people.  She is house-trained and loves to cuddle.  So I guess she's the best kind of moo-cow I could imagine!

Introducing Chloe The Great....

Disclaimer: Our lawnmower was broken.  With the recent rain we've had, our backyard suddenly turned into a jungle.  Please don't judge me because of the height of the grass in the following pictures.  The day after these pictures were taken, we bought a new lawnmower and the backyard is back to being just a backyard.  You will see this in tomorrow's pictures.  So please, pretend this isn't my backyard - pretend it's a park with a terrible groundskeeping service.  Then we'll both be happy.  Thank you.

Last Saturday there was a Great Dane at one of our adoption events.  Her name is Chloe, and she was very skinny. 

I like Great Danes.  I have to, since I own one.  It's like a rule.  So I inquired about fostering Chloe.  She was staying at an area shelter, but she wasn't eating very well.  So they let me take her home.  And honestly, I immediately thought I made a bad decision.  Because Chloe has some issues. 

In the first 24 hours after I brought her home, Chloe barked for at least 9 of those hours.  She may have barked the entire time I was at work too - I'm not sure.  She also ate an entire bag of potato chips. (Hey, I was doing my part to fatten her up!)  She had multiple bouts of diarrhea. (I'm sure it wasn't the potato chips...right?)  She was scared of the other dogs, and she was scared of being left alone.  She paced constantly and wouldn't eat wet or dry dog food.  She was not having an easy time adjusting to being in a new home. 

Fortunately I have the best husband in the world when it comes to dog-dog introductions.  He helped Chloe and Noelle meet each other and when I got home from work the next day, Chloe was getting along great with all of the dogs (Remi, Noelle, Ziggy and Freckles).  Wow - I was super-impressed.  I was also very relieved because it meant she wouldn't bark all night since she was able to be in the room with us.  So suddenly things were looking up.  

Over the next few days, we worked with Chloe to try to find the magic combination that would cause her to eat.  Some days it was dry food with wet food mixed in.  Other days that didn't work, but plain dry food on the floor without a bowl would work.  Some days she'd eat from my hand and other days she wouldn't. But overall, I felt satisfied that she was getting enough nutrition and would eventually gain weight. 

Soon it was Saturday, and time for another PetSmart adoption event.  I took Chloe and Freckles, and Freckles quickly found his forever home.  A few hours into the adoption event, a couple arrived.  They had been volunteers for a dog transport, to get a dog from its temporary home to a new rescue group or adoptive home several states away.  The couple lived in Kansas City, and they had heard about Chloe from another transport volunteer who is also an All Paws Rescue volunteer.  So they visited with Chloe, and decided to make her a part of their family!  

Wow - both of my foster dogs adopted in the same day.  And both of them I had less than a week!  And both of them went to families that I really liked, and felt like they would be a perfect fit.  It was an amazing day. 

But don't worry - I'm not really back to Ziggy as my only foster dog.  About three hours after I left PetSmart, two new foster dogs showed up at my house.  I'll tell you about them tomorrow. 

Introducing Freckles

I know what you probably think. My last foster dog Casey was adopted over a week ago, and there has been no news of any new foster dogs. You probably think I've been lazy. Maybe you think that Ziggy has driven me to the point where I no longer want to foster. Or even worse, perhaps you think I prefer to foster cats over dogs. I want to assure you that none of that is true. Actually I have been busy with two new foster dogs this week! So busy that I didn't get time to write about them until now. So today, I want to tell you about a new foster dog that I got last week named Freckles.

Freckles is wonderful.  He is everything a puppy should be.  Sweet, cuddly, quiet, obedient, adorable, non-chewy (is that a word?), loves the other dogs.... he's perfect.

And did I mention adorable?  I love the spot over his eye, that makes it look like he has one giant eyebrow.  I like how his ears are dark brown and the rest of him is white with tiny spots.  I love how he is nothing like Ziggy - Freckles is very low maintenance. 

Freckles was turned into a local animal control facility at 8 weeks old along with his brother Buddy.  We found out about them a month later, and wanted to take both of them, but didn't have enough available foster homes, so we just took Buddy and planned to take Freckles once Buddy was adopted.  But three weeks went by, and Buddy still wasn't adopted.  At that point Freckles had been at the shelter for two months waiting to be adopted, with no luck.  He was 16 weeks old, and he'd spent the first eight weeks growing old enough to be away from his mom, and then the next eight weeks in a shelter.  We had to get him out, so one of our volunteers said she would make room for him until the foster family who had Buddy got him adopted and was able to take Freckles.  I had seen Freckles' picture, so I selfishly offered to go get him - and then selfishly offered to keep him for just a few days.  I couldn't commit to him to become my foster, because I already had Ziggy and I only foster one pit bull puppy at a time.  But just keeping him for a few days - well that should be okay.  So last week I brought him home, and immediately fell in love.  Here is Freckles greeting Chloe - another new foster dog I brought home last week (I told you I was busy!).  You can read about her in tomorrow's post. 

Freckles has been a wonderful foster dog, and he actually never made it to his next foster home.  Because yesterday at PetSmart both Freckles and Buddy were adopted to two different families!  It was like a pit bull puppy Jackpot!! 

Of course Ziggy wasn't adopted.  In fact, Ziggy wasn't even there.   I didn't have room to take him since I was taking Freckles and my other new foster dog Chloe and three cats in my very small car.  I knew he didn't have much a chance of being adopted with competition from Buddy and Freckles - both much smaller and easier than Ziggy. So Ziggy stayed home and helped my husband cut the grass.  And then he relaxed in his favorite spot at the top of the stairs.  I think he's beginning to look a little TOO comfortable here.  I really need to find him a home soon!