Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am grateful for my family, my friends, my country, and my pets.

I'm grateful for the couple who took in Gretchen as a foster dog when she was out of time and had no other chance to be saved.  I'm also grateful to the rest of the rescue volunteers who save all the dogs and cats just like Gretchen when they have nowhere else to go. 

I'm grateful for the family who adopted Gretchen, and I'm grateful for all of the other people who adopt dogs and cats - especially those who adopt the ones that are older, disabled, shy, difficult, or otherwise hard to place into permanent homes.   

I am grateful for those of you who share your life with me through your blogs.  I'm grateful for each reader that takes time to read my blog and share in my life as well.     

I'm especially grateful that you don't turn me into the ASPCA when I post pictures like the one above.  

I'm grateful for my cat Merlin, who was yesterday's DogTipper Cat Of the Day!  I'm very proud of him.  Regardless of the fact that he did nothing to earn this honor, and regardless of the fact that they have so few submissions of cats right now that I believe anyone who submits their cat will quickly see their cat become Cat of the Day as well.  I'll pretend he would have won in spite of the competition from thousands hundreds dozens of other cats.   

From Remi, me and Noelle - Happy Thanksgiving!

Losing

After the recent house offer fell through, I received some more bad news. The subdivision will not allow me any more time to keep the foster animals, so they all must go. Only Remi and Noelle can stay. I am losing all of my fosters as well as my own cat. Rudy and Tripoli will go back to the original foster homes they came from. My cat Merlin will go to live with my parents. Ziggy may be going to a temporary foster home. And Gretchen loses the most. She has been at a shelter for almost a month now, and can't stay much longer since she is having trouble in the shelter environment. Since I have no idea when I'll be able to take her, and we haven't been able to find another foster home for her, she will lose her life. 

I am also worried about Ziggy. There is one person who offered a temporary foster home for him, but it may be several months before I am able to move and take him back, and if he doesn't work out at that foster home, he will have limited options. He is not an easy dog, and he would probably not do well in a shelter or boarding situation long-term. Long-term foster homes are in high demand and the few people I know who are willing to take on a deaf chewy pit bull are already full or have other pets that make it a bad fit. I am not giving up on him, and hopefully he will work out in his termporary foster home, but I admit I am concerned. One of my rescue friends already offered to help with boarding costs if needed. I live in the metro St. Louis area, and there are a lot of boarding facilities here. I am thinking perhaps he can just stay at one boarding facility until he is kicked out, and then sent on to the next one. Kind of like a rich kid who continually gets kicked out of all the boarding schools he attends. It's an option. If it comes to that I may be taking up a collection to pay for his tuition boarding fees. For now I will hope he is on his best behavior in his temporary foster home! The house search continues, and in the meantime I am blessed to have so many friends who are willing to step in and help however they can. Special thank yous to Bev, Chuck, Heather, Linda, Mom and Dad, for all you've done and all you've offered to do to help in this awful situation!

Introducing Gretchen

She's not mine yet... but I'm counting the days. I wrote about Gretchen recently here, and at the time I was concerned because I was pretty sure she was going to have to be euthanized. The shelter didn't think she'd pass her behavior evaluation, and suggested if I wanted to save her I needed to come get her pretty quickly. I was prepared for the worst, but felt that I would be failing her if I didn't at least go and see her for myself. So I drove out there last Friday and cautiously introduced myself to Gretchen. I'm not very brave when it comes to aggressive dogs. I have spent most of my life being afraid of dogs (how embarrassing - but true!) so approaching a dog that I really expected to growl and snap at me was a little bit nerve-wracking. So you can imagine my surprise when I walked up to the kennel of a dog who was loosely wagging her tail, smiling with an open mouth, and generally acting very friendly through the bars of her cage. The volunteer who took me to meet Gretchen left to find a place for me to interact with her, and I used the time to bribe Gretchen with a few beef jerky treats - just to make sure she knew I really was her friend. Okay, maybe it's not the way you're supposed to start off an evaluation - but hey, I wasn't evaluating her for immediate adoption, only to see if she could be adoptable with some work - so in this case, I think bribery is completely allowed.

By the way, some signs of an aggressive dog (besides growling or snapping/biting) can include a stiff posture, closed mouth, and rapid tail wags. This is why people sometimes mistake a dog who is wagging its tail for being friendly when its not. I was relieved to see no defensive posture or behavior from Gretchen at all. Instead a found a happy, if slightly fearful, dog. We spent about an hour together, and I quickly fell in love. She came when I called her, sat on command, let me pull her tail and play with her paws and her ears without complaining, and then proceeded to lick my face to let me know how much she liked me. I tried to make her feel threatened, but I'm not very good at being threatening. I wanted to see if I could get her to growl at me. Instead, I would yell or make a loud noise, and she would startle and back away, and I would almost immediately reassure her. I guess I skipped straight from "evaluating" to "training". But once I realized she was not a lost cause, I gave her my heart and decided then and there to do whatever I could to save her.

The shelter worker advised that Gretchen had indeed failed her behavior evaluation, and that they would not be able to adopt her out or hold her for three weeks until I could move and take her in. The volunteers at the shelter were wonderful, and told me how well Gretchen was doing and what an improvement she had been making since she came to the shelter. But most shelters are not like foster homes, and they have limited opportunities to train dogs that need extra work. So I quickly began searching for other options for Gretchen. Unfortunately adoptions have been very slow lately, and all of the other foster homes are full. I called my friend Chuck who volunteers at a different municipal shelter and asked if they could make any room for Gretchen temporarily. He said YES!!! He went and picked her up yesterday and said she is doing fine. She did some growling and aggressive behavior when she first got there, but that was expected since it was scary going to yet another new place. Chuck is spending time with her and helping her to get comfortable. (He bribed her with hot dogs too - I don't feel so guilty about the beef jerky treats anymore.) I am so grateful to him and to the shelter workers where she is staying for saving her life. Being at this shelter is as close as you can get to being in a foster home. The dogs are well cared for and Chuck is there every day taking them out in the fenced yard for play time and interaction, both with other dogs and with people. They have other volunteers that also come in and walk the dogs, and the dogs are really worked with, not just warehoused. So I know that Gretchen is in good hands, and I am just impatiently waiting for the day I can go get her.

Gretchen

I'm worried about one of my previous foster dogs. Gretchen was adopted out as a 10 week old puppy. I remember her well. She was part of a litter of 8 puppies, and she was the sweet, quiet, shy one of the bunch. She was more independent than the others, and was least likely to ask for attention or affection. I worked hard to get her over her shyness, and quickly became very attached to her.

Gretchen is now almost two years old. Sometime in the past year and a half, Gretchen has learned that if she's in trouble, the best defense is a good offense. Her owner called me and said he was worried about the safety of his children, because Gretchen had started growling and snapping at people if she was in trouble. Not having seen it for myself, it's hard to know the exact cause. I can't blame a parent for putting the safety of his children first, but I also don't blame Gretchen for using a method to protect herself that she has found works for her. It may simply be a case where with some training, Gretchen can learn better ways to interact with people and feel safe. Unfortunately the family wasn't able to work with a trainer, and had to turn in Gretchen to a shelter. All of the area rescue groups are full right now, so Gretchen ended up at an open admission shelter. She will most likely fail her behavior evaluation, at which point she will be euthanized.

This is the hard part of rescue. What do I do? My living situation aside, it's still a tough choice. If I pull her and foster her, I could be saving a dog that will be very difficult to adopt out. Remember Lizzy the Child-Eating Border Collie? Dogs like Lizzy and Gretchen, who show aggressive behaviors like growling or snapping because they are afraid, are very rewarding to work with. To watch them change and get over their fear, and to learn better ways to deal with fear, is amazing. But they're also very hard to find homes for. They usually need adult-only homes with responsible adults who are patient and willing to work with the dog. Unfortunately there aren't many people like that looking to adopt a difficult dog. So while Gretchen lives with me, it'll keep me from being able to save others. If I consider it by the numbers, it'd be better to spend the time and money that Gretchen would require on the five or eight or twelve dogs that we could save in her place. But rescue isn't always about the numbers - otherwise Ziggy wouldn't still be entertaining me with his antics and driving me crazy with his Ziggy ways. It is a fine line between using your head and using your heart when you do rescue. If you always make decisions based only on emotions, you become either a hoarder, with more animals than you can care for, or you eventually fill up with unadoptable animals and are unable to save any more. And yet if you only make decisions based on what is logical and economical, you will miss out on a lot of really wonderful, deserving dogs, and completely miss the point of rescue.

I hate these types of decisions. This one is made easier by the fact that I haven't moved yet and can't take in Gretchen right now, no matter how much I want to. I've asked the shelter if I can come evaluate Gretchen. I want to see her and get the image of her as a puppy out of my head. That will make it easier to accept whatever happens. I also want to see for myself what she is like, and whether or not I may be able to work with her and help her. Then depending on the evaluation, I can either beg some rescue friends to make room for her until I move, or let her go, knowing that I did all that I could for her. Either way, it will be helpful to see for myself what she is really like. I hope to go see her on Friday.


In other news, I found another home! This one is in Foristell, MO, on two fenced acres, and should be almost perfect for fostering. In fact a previous owner of the home fostered dogs there as well! It is very private and has no restrictions, so I don't have to worry if the dogs want to go outside and bark at the squirrels. It even has "in-law" quarters in the basement, which I could rent out for extra income, if I could ever find anyone crazy enough to want to put up with all the dogs and cats making noise upstairs. Okay, it's safe to say I probably won't be able to rent the downstairs out. But it's a perfect house for me, and I am totally in love with it. I will hopefully be closing on it at the end of the month if everything goes well.

Flashback Friday

In January 2009, I had my hands full with fosters.  I had three adult foster dogs, and one hyper foster puppy.  And then I heard a sad story, and ended up with eight more foster puppies.  Because I felt sorry for them.  And because I was insane. 

This is the crate full of puppies that showed up for me to take home.  They were about six weeks old at the time, and weighed between 5 and 7 pounds each.   

So for four weeks, I cleaned up a LOT of puppy paper (yuck), and fed them, and played with them, and invited my friends over to show off socialize these adorable puppies.  Then once the puppies were old enough, they were spayed/neutered and had all their vet work done, and then they had their official puppy pictures taken and were put on the website as available for adoption. 

The puppies were quickly adopted, and I recently sent out an e-mail to the eight families who adopted these sweet puppies to find out how they were doing.  I heard back from seven of the families, and I'm relieved to tell you that not one of them said "please come get this dog - we don't want him/her anymore".  Whew.  Here is what they did say...

About Amos - now named Bubba: 

"Bubba has become a very loved member of our family! He’s very smart and behaves really well so far. He is a great little brother to our chocolate lab, Lady. Steve and I call them our kids!!!! He also gets along much better with my grandson, Jaden (5 yrs old). They’re always running around the house playing. Oh, and he still loves to eat, he’s a whopping 70+ lbs and not even fat. Between both dogs they’re eating us out of house and home but that’s okay."

Hooray for Amos!

About Kasey:
"We kept her name Kasey, she's doing really well. She's a wild one! She has lots of energy and is really smart. We take her to the dog parks and she learned how to swim at Broemmelsiek park last summer."

Wild?  Really?  I never expected that.  Here are some recent pictures of Kasey that her family sent me:

About Duchess:
"She is doing great! She's a little wld thing. Our black lab and her get along very well, they wrestle all the time.(a little too much). She is such a cuddler
and licker. We love her dearly."

Another wild one.  This one doesn't surprise me so much. 

About Gretchen:

"Gretchen is doing good still has alot of puppy in her and is digging up the yard but she is very playful and good around the kids, she also has a dog next door that she frequently plays with. Still have some work to get her better trained for when people come around so she quits jumping on them as they come throught the door."

Yep, she sounds like a wild one too.  What did I do to these puppies?!

About Keebler - now named Indiana:

"Indy is doing very well! In October we purchased a house, so he has much more room to run and play. He is no longer in a kennel, even while we are at work, he doesn't chew on or eat anything any more! thank goodness. He often enjoys pulling me around our neighborhood on my skate board (honestly enjoys it and even gets excited when I reach for it) also runs occasionally with Debbie.He is very gentle and playfull with all of our nieces and nephewes, and does very well with other dogs at the dog park, He and our other dog Mya are the best of friends After a lot of hard work he is more than the dog I hoped he would be, even though he thinks he is a lap dog sometimes he is a very lovable, cuddly, and obedient dog."

And here is a recent picture of Indy that his family sent.  What a sweet face!

About Pebbles - now named Hersheys:

"She is doing great-she seems very happy running and playing with her friends(we have two other dogs)She is healthy and gets a lot of exercise-she is definately a blessing to our family."
Hooray for Pebbles!

About Scooby - now named Sherman:

"Sherman (Scooby) is doing great. He has been a very nice addition to our family. He has certainly grown onto the name we chose. He weighed 80+ lbs at his last checkup and none of that is fat! He's a big baby though and is about as easy going as a dog can be. As you can see from the 2 pics I attached he is rather spoiled, and he loves to go for a ride in the car."

And here is Sherman - ready for his car ride!

You can also see their official puppy adoption pictures here.

New Puppy Pictures

Yesterday was a slow day for dog adoptions, but we did have one dog adopted - Mickey, a beautiful all white German Shepherd/Husky mix with beautiful blue eyes found his new home!

Today another foster friend came over and took pictures of my new puppies for me. They will be ready for adoption in two weeks, so I need pictures to get them on the website, so once they're ready hopefully a few of them can go to their new homes right away! Today they are eight weeks old, and they are growing quickly!

Scooby was the largest of the litter when I got them, but now he's fallen down to 5th place in size. I think its because when all the other puppies are diving for the food, he's still sitting there waiting for me to pet him some more. He is the most affectionate of the group right now - he just wants to be petted all the time.


Pebbles may be a Rottweiler/Beagle mix! At least, she has some of the features of each breed. And she's one of the most outgoing of the litter.


I think Keebler is the most unique looking. He is a funny brown/orange color, with the mask of a shepherd or husky.


Kasey is the largest of the litter now, at 9.8 lbs, and she's such a cute, happy puppy.

Gretchen is the smallest of the litter now, and one of the shyest puppies. She likes to be held and petted but she doesn't generally seek out attention.

Duchess looks a lot like her sister Pebbles, but she doesn't have the white markings. She wasn't quite sure what she was doing in a basket, or why we kept calling her name and flashing a bright light in her face, but she took it very well!

Clover was the runt of the litter when I got them, but now she's barely passed her sister Gretchen in weight and is no longer the smallest one. She's the most laid back and is usually napping while the other puppies play.

Amos is the "most improved" currently - he may be slightly TOO improved.... he gained almost 4 pounds in 10 days, and has become quite round. :-) He's just a happy puppy who enjoys his food!

Boo's Bark; New Puppies

Okay, to properly enjoy this video of my foster puppy Boo, pay close attention to her ears!



The bad thing about this is I find it so funny, that I find myself going into the room and waiting to open the door of her ex-pen just so I can watch her bark and laugh at her. It is probably frustrating for her, not to mention teaching her bad habits (to bark when she wants something) but its so funny to watch that I can't help myself, at least for the next day or two. :-)

So I have three adult fosters and one new puppy - you'd think that would be plenty to keep me busy. But I heard a sad story at PetSmart yesterday. A family had taken in a dog who had been abused, and when they did it they didn't know the dog was pregnant. The dog had eight puppies and once they were weaned they had to get rid of them. So, I agreed to take them and foster them until they were ready for adoption. The puppies are about six weeks old, and they appear to be All-American Mutts - in this case, probably a mixture of pit bull, rottweiler and/or husky, with possibly a splash of beagle or shepherd thrown in for good measure. There are five girls and three boys. Here are pictures of my new foster puppies!

This is Scooby - he is the largest of the litter, at 7 pounds.

This is Pebbles, Clover and Duchess - three mostly black puppies, all females. The smallest (Clover) is 4.8 pounds!

Two tan puppies - Amos (male) and Kasey (female).

This is Gretchen she is brindle and her face looks like a husky!

This is Keebler, a tan and black puppy with beautiful blue eyes.

Group photo!