Amazing Adoptions

The main reason I foster is because I love helping dogs go from awful circumstances to awesome homes.  This week has been especially amazing with adoptions.  

My foster dog Ellie, pictured here before she was released from a shelter, was originally picked up as a stray and scheduled to be euthanized.  She was very shy and fearful.  

After a few weeks in foster care, she's a totally different dog.  She's been spayed and vaccinated and learned to walk on a leash and feel safe around people.  And now she's been adopted and is loving her new life with her new family.  

Next it Tulsa, the deaf Australian Cattle Dog who's been bounced around her entire life.  A cattle dog is not an easy breed to keep for a pet, and no matter how much people say they can handle the high drive and high intensity of a cattle dog, they often change their minds after a few weeks or months.  In Tulsa's case, she's been through several homes and kept coming back to foster care, until now.  Tulsa went to a foster-to-adopt home a few weeks ago, and yesterday we made the adoption official.  I really like her new mom, and feel confident that this home will be her forever home!  Tulsa is living with another cattle dog, so I know her family is familiar with the breed, and they are very in love with Tulsa.  We couldn't ask for a better home for her.  

And one more amazing adoption this week was Roxy the American Pit Bull Terrier.  Roxy is a wonderful dog - good with people, other dogs, cats - she's just very friendly!  This is Roxy with another All Paws volunteer. 

 As you can see, Roxy loves to give kisses.  Roxy always was happy to wear the donation vest at adoption events.  She earned her Canine Good Citizen certification while in foster care, and she became my best friend.  It was really hard to let Roxy go - she's an amazing dog, and I miss her every day.  But I know that right now she has a new best friend - a 19 year old who just loves her.  And although she will always have a very special place in my heart, her adoption means I'm able to save another pit bull now that would otherwise be euthanized.  

In addition to all of these adoptions, I have one more exciting announcement.  No, Ziggy is not being adopted.    But Bunny the feral Bichon just went into a foster-to-adopt home!   Bunny made a lot of progress while in foster care.  She learned to enjoy cheese, dog treats, and dog chews.  She learned that people weren't as scary as she originally thought.  She got started on house-training and leash training.  She learned to chase cats (even though I never taught her this, she loves it!).  Her personality really came out, and she became very attached to me, and would even come greet me and let me pet her.  She still has a long way to go, but her new foster family is willing to give it a try and see how she does.  They have another Bichon and two Westies that they've rescued, and that will help Bunny a lot to feel safe with other dogs around.  I am hopeful that this will work out and Bunny will have her very own home for the first time in her life.  

Ziggy Takes On A Wild Dog Pack

Ziggy is one tough dog.  He recently stood up to a pack of wild dogs, all on his own.  He wasn't scared.  He didn't need backup.  Ziggy can hold his own.  I was nearby monitoring this pack of wild dogs and was able to capture some photographs to share with you.


It all started with Ziggy just walking along, carrying a toy and minding his own business.  Then a huge, vicious wild dog approached him from behind.

The wild dog has brought along a pack of dogs, all there with one intention - to steal Ziggy's toy.  They quickly surrounded him so he had nowhere to escape.

They repeatedly tried tackling him.

One member of the wild dog pack even used a rather rude method to try to dominate and distract Ziggy, but even that didn't work.

Finally, the wild dog pack managed to get Ziggy to drop the toy, and quickly stole it from him.

That didn't last long though, because Ziggy immediately tried to steal it back, and an impromptu game of tug broke out.

In the end, the toy was not quite strong enough, and one member of the wild dog pack ended up with a headless duck for a toy, while Ziggy happily carried off a duck head as a prize.

Disclaimer: Please do not try this at home.  These dogs were closely monitored during their play session to make sure the play did not escalate into aggression.  No dogs were harmed during the making of this blog post.  One stuffed duck toy was harmed, so please send donations of dog toys to All Paws Rescue at PO Box 1274, O'Fallon MO 63366.

Living With Fourteen Dogs and Cats

As one of my friends recently pointed out, only in the rescue world does it seem normal to live with seven dogs and seven cats.  That's how many I have right now, although the numbers change a bit from day to day.  My house is divided by baby gates, and each room has a purpose related to the animals.  One room is currently occupied by several dog crates where Ziggy, Miley, Elton and Ellie sleep and eat their meals.  They also stay there when I'm not home.  The rest of their time is spent with me in the living room or outside.  The other three dogs - Harry, Roxy and Bunny - currently have crates in the living room.  Harry just came back from a foster-to-adopt home which didn't work out for him.  His crate is in the living room so he can get used to the other dog's presence and they can get used to him.  Bunny is in the living room because that's where I spend most of my time and I want her to get used to me.  Her crate door is never closed but she feels safe in her crate so she spends most of her time in the crate by choice.  And Roxy is only in her crate at meal times, but I've found it's convenient to leave her crate in the living room in case one of the dogs needs a short time-out when they're playing.  The living room is basically one very large room consisting of a living area, dining area, and kitchen area.  This leaves a lot of floor space for the dogs to run around and play.  There are also several good spots for the cats to hide if the dogs get a bit over exuberant.  I only foster cat-friendly dogs, but occasionally one of the dogs will think chasing a cat is a terrific idea.  Hiding behind the couch or sitting up above them on the top of a cabinet is a great relief to the cats at times.  Of course they have their own spaces too.  I have one room currently used only for a new cat to settle in and get accustomed to the house prior to introducing him to the other cats.  Then there is another room blocked off by a baby gate (so the cats can jump over and have freedom but they dogs can't get in).  That room has the cat trees, food, cat toys, and all other things that are too tempting for dogs to stay away from.  Of course the cats don't spend much time in that room - they prefer my bedroom.  Right now only Roxy has been allowed to sleep on my bed at night, plus of course the cats.  And during the day no dogs are allowed in the room but again the cats take it over. All in all, everyone seems quite happy.  At least it's much better than the alternative of a shelter while they wait for their forever homes.

Speaking of forever homes, Tulsa recently went out on a foster-to-adopt situation which is so far going very well!  And Roxy has a home visit scheduled for this weekend, so she may have her forever home soon also.  Harry also has a home visit to be scheduled, and he may only be back for a short time.  Now if only Ziggy or Bunny would find their forever homes!

Here is a short video of the dogs enjoying the nice weather:

Catching Up; Introducing Ellie and Elton

I have a lot of foster dogs right now.  I'm pretty much at the maximum number of fosters I can adequately care for without losing my mind.  So I was really excited on Saturday when Morgan the Puggle went to a foster-to-adopt home.  I checked in with Morgan's new mom and was so glad to hear that she's doing very well.  We talked a lot about Morgan's separation anxiety before they took her home, but I was still concerned that it would be an issue.  So it was exciting to hear that Morgan is fitting in quite well, and her new mom is willing to be patient with her and help her to adjust.  She said "I like to think of Morgan more as having really attentive bodyguard tendencies than separation anxiety".  I love that.

Teddy the Poodle also went to a foster-to-adopt home.  Usually a dog like Teddy would have just been adopted instead of being fostered first, but in this case the family who wanted him has children with dog allergies, so this is a good way for them to be sure the children are not too allergic to him.  So far everything is going well.

Kona and Kimba the kittens went up to stay at PetSmart in hopes that they will find forever homes.  Kimba had a bad habit of waking me up at 4am each morning by licking my face and purring non-stop.  When I would put the pillow over my face, she's start pulling my hair with her teeth, while still purring.  When I pushed her off the bed 15 times in a row, she just kept coming back.  I am sleeping much better at night now that the kittens are at PetSmart.

Tulsa the deaf Australian Cattle Dog and Roxy the American Pit Bull Terrier both have applications pending on them.  Both dogs are challenging to place into homes because of their breeds, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up that they'll be adopted.  The family who wants Tulsa has another ACD so they're familiar with the breed, but at the initial meeting the two dogs didn't do so well together, so we'll let them meet again this weekend and see how it goes.  Roxy gets along with everyone, but the family who wants her has a dog who is picky about his dog friends, so we'll have to see how they do together first.  So within the next week we should find out if even one of these very-hard-to-place dogs soon has a forever home!

So since many of my fosters have left or are in the process of leaving, you're probably wondering who all these dogs are that are keeping me on the edge of insanity.  Have you met Ziggy?  He alone can keep anyone on the edge...  Oh wait.  I mean, let me introduce you to Ellie and Elton.

Elton

Ellie

Elton and Ellie came from a high-kill shelter in a nearby county.  They are under a year old, and are silly, happy dogs.  They're probably going to be very quick adoptions, because they're both rather small (under 25 pounds) and so incredibly sweet.  We're not sure what breeds they're made up of, but Ellie acts a lot like Tulsa, so I'm betting there is some Australian Cattle Dog in there somewhere.  They do great with the other dogs and the cats here, and are a lot of fun to have around.