My Foster Dogs Have Issues (and so do I)

Right now I have seven foster dogs, and each one has a different issue. In fact, I believe I can fully discuss any dog behavior problem and potential solutions based just on my experiences with these seven dogs. I’m not saying I will fix the issue, of course. Just that I’ve identified the issues and am fully aware of them. And that I’m hoping these dogs get adopted quickly so their new families can work on these issues and I can go save another dog with issues and identify those issues in order to match that dog up to a family who is willing and able to work on those issues. But until they’re adopted I will do my best to work on their issues in order to make them more adoptable. So I can go save more dogs with issues and work on those issues. It's a vicious cycle, but I keep telling myself this makes me a better trainer. But since these dogs usually get adopted before their issues are fully resolved, it’s possible I’m fooling myself. Either way, I have seven foster dogs with issues and lots of opportunity to learn from them.

A great resource for dog owners and foster parents is the ASPCA Virtual Pet Behaviorist. They cover a wide array of issues which I may actually be experiencing all at once!

The first area of behavior they cover is aggression issues. This includes things like aggression, mounting behavior, and predatory behavior. I’ve memorized several of the articles in this section, like the one on mouthing and play biting, thanks to Ziggy the Adoptable Dog. My current foster dog with aggression issues is Gucci. He feels threatened by dogs who are bigger than him, and he handles this by barking, lunging at them, and showing other aggressive behaviors. He also often mounts dogs that are larger than him and humps them to show them he is tough. This could be because he was given the name Gucci by someone before I got him and he’s been trying to stop the other dogs from laughing at him. Whatever the reason, it’s a problem that caused him to leave two different foster homes and end up at my house (The House of the Misfit Dogs) so he could learn to get along with dogs who are larger than him. Now to be fair, his second foster home was willing to keep him and work with him, but I fell in love with him and volunteered to take him. We could perhaps adopt out Gucci as an only pet and warn the owners to keep him away from dogs that are bigger than he is. Except that Gucci only weighs four and a half pounds, so every dog is bigger than he is. And once he learned that big dogs are not so scary, he actually enjoys playing with them. So now Gucci the Maltipoo is running around my house with all the other dogs, including two sixty-pound pit bulls (they’re only thirteen times bigger than he is), and doing well most of the time.

 Occasionally he gets back into his bad habits of barking and attacking other dogs, or humping other dogs, and he gets a time-out in order to calm down and remember that big dogs are his friends and he is not the one in charge. He’s doing great and I wish every behavior problem was so easy to fix!

Gucci



 The second section of their website deals with general behavior issues such as digging, chewing, jumping up, and escaping from the yard. Several of my foster dogs have these issues. Pandora, my newest foster dog, is a deaf Boxer. With her issues, I think she deserves a post of her own, but for now, I will just say that although she only weighs around 45 pounds, she can jump over a fence without a problem. This includes four foot wire fences, five foot concrete fences, and six foot wood privacy fences. My solution to this is to try to move her to a foster home who walks her dogs because she doesn’t have a fence. If that doesn’t work, I’ll settle for taking her out on leash and/or using a tie-out at home and entering her in dog agility classes where she can use her athletic abilities for good instead of evil.





Jet is another foster dog who has some general behavior issues. She is actually a very good dog, except no one ever taught her that body-slamming is not the best – or the only – way to get attention. She is only a year old and she just loves to jump. We’re following the article’s advice and working on her not jumping up on people. Again, I could very well have another agility champion in the making!

 

Jet



 The third section of their website deals with vocal issues like barking, howling and whining. I'm fortunate that I live in the middle of nowhere and have no close neighbors to complain of the barking, howling and whining. Most of my dogs are usually quiet, but right now I have a little Chihuahua named Blondie who is very fearful. She deals with her fear by barking loudly whenever she hears people, or thinks she hears people. I'm trying to find her a home with a hermit in the mountains who never has visitors.



Blondie

The next section of their website deals with chasing issues, like cars and kids and cats. I will soon be memorizing these articles because Pandora wants to chase everything. I also have one brave cat who lives with me in the House of Misfit Dogs, and he is often subject to dogs who like to chase cats. For the most part I don’t try to train this “prey drive” out of them if it’s just cats and not excessive – it is easier to place them into a home without cats. My cat has several places he can go that is a “cat only” zone away from the dogs. But yesterday my foster dog Eeyore (deaf pit bull) was out in the front yard on a tie-out while I searched the grounds for my missing car keys (again). He saw a cat and took off after it. There was nothing I could do since I was too far to reach him plus he’s deaf and couldn’t hear me, so I just had to watch in horror as he ran full-speed after the cat, until he reached the end of the tie-out. At that point he flipped up into the air, did a somersault, and landed on his back. At the same time, the wooden banister support for the front porch steps came crashing down (that’s where the other end of the tie-out had been attached). Eeyore got up immediately, looked for the cat who had disappeared, and then looked back at me like “Did you see that?!” and came running back to me with a big smile. He seemed to think it was great fun, but we won’t be doing that again!

Eeyore



Eating issues is the next section, and that sounds like an easy section. But it includes things like counter-surfing and food guarding. Eeyore is another poster-child for this section. He does both! And I have to say, teaching a deaf dog not to counter-surf is a huge hassle, because you can’t yell or clap your hands to get their attention when they’re searching the counters for food. You actually have to get up off of the couch where you were comfortably surrounded by loving affectionate dogs and go to the kitchen counter to get the dog’s attention and give them the hand sign for off and redirect them to something else. In the meantime the affectionate dogs were startled by you scrambling up off of the couch and immediately go into overdrive mode (what?! What’s wrong?! Why are you moving?! What am I missing?! Let me run around in circles and bark and get all wound up because you moved!!!) Untrained deaf dogs are not conducive to a quiet evening at home.



Fear issues are next, and these are some of the hardest for me to work with. Both Blondie the Chihuahua and Annie the Beagle mix are afraid of strangers, and the only way to get them over that is to have them meet lots of strangers in a positive way so they learn that strangers aren’t so scary. Since I am busy with work and live so far from civilization, I don’t have the chance to work with them during the week. That means adoption events or sometimes other events on weekends are their only chance to learn to get over their fear of strangers. Separation anxiety also falls into this fear category, and I’ve been learning a lot about this problem thanks to Eeyore. I even bought a book and had a professional trainer work with Eeyore to get him started on the right track. He’s now sleeping in his crate at night with me in the next room, and staying there for short periods of time when I’m home without going crazy. Progress is slow but so rewarding to watch him learn that he can be in a crate and away from my side without the world coming to an end.



Annie B.



The final section of the website deals with house-training issues. Some dogs are easier to house-train than others. Apparently Basset Hound mixes named Gus are one of the most difficult to house-train. I blame this mostly on the fact that he is really good at looking innocent and sneaking away when no one is looking so it’s very hard to catch him in the act. One of the articles teaches you how to train your dog to ring bells in order to let you know when they need to go out. The great people at Poochie-Pets sent me some PoochieBells to try out and I absolutely love them. The dogs use them all the time to tell me if they want to go out, and the new dogs seem to pick up on how it works from the fosters that have been there awhile, so I don’t even have to train anyone how to use them. Basically they all learn that the bells must ring before the door will open, so if they ring the bell, that makes me open the door. Even the deaf dogs have figured it out, although they can’t hear the noise, they know that nosing at the bells makes me open the door. These bells were sent to me back in January to review, and since I am an awful blogger who never got around to reviewing them, the dogs have had eight months to do their best to destroy the bells, and I fully expected them to not last more than a month or two. Eight months later the PoochieBells are still in excellent shape and appear that they will last forever! If you’re looking for an option to bell-train your dog, definitely check them out.

Gus

That completes the list of my current foster dogs and their current issues. Although I am sure there are dog issues out there that I haven't yet encountered (although none come to mind), at the moment I’m getting a lot of practice with a wide variety of issues! On the plus side, all of my recent fosters that didn't have issues have been adopted, like Sadie the deaf Catahoula Leopard Dog and Brittany the Anatolian Shepherd mix and Pablo the deaf Boxer/American Bulldog mix and Kiwi the Chihuahua mix and Leah and Leo the Chihuahua puppies and even Joey the diaper-wearing Chihuahua (who does have issues). Even Ziggy the dog with more issues than any dog in the known universe has gone to a foster-to-adopt home and so far hasn't been returned! So there is a lot to celebrate, and hopefully more adoptions coming soon!

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! 

Zeke, Princess Rana and Kiwi were adopted!

Three of my fosters found homes on Saturday! Kiwi, my foster cat, was adopted first - a family fell in love with her affectionate personality and adopted her first thing on Saturday morning. They are prepared to keep her on her special diet if needed, and they seem like a really good home. Next, Princess Rana, went home. She is the first of the three Desert Lynx/Pixie Bob cats that I took in several weeks ago to find a home. It was her first time up at PetSmart, and her new family was there shopping, and when they saw her, the kids promised to give up their allowance if they could only take her home. She'll have kids and a small dog to play with, and as long as her family is patient and gives her time to settle in, I think she'll also do great in her new home. And last but definitely not least, my foster puppy Zeke was adopted. He is so adorable, I knew he would go quick, and I'm very sad to see him go, but I was very happy that he went to such a great home. I was very fortunate that even though I lost three much-loved foster animals this week, they all went home with people that I felt really good about. The family who adopted Zeke has adopted from us before, and they are one of those families that will do anything for their pets - the kind that treat them as family members, not just animals. I've already talked to Zeke's family and heard how well he is doing, and that makes giving him up so much easier.

We had a lot of dogs available for adoption this weekend, and it was surprising that only Zeke and Shiloh, a beagle, were adopted. There were four other adorable puppies, and several adults including two bichons, a lab, a beagle, a cattle dog mix, an australian shepherd mix, a border collie mix, and of course Boo and Noelle as well. I think there were other dogs there that I am forgetting also! Hopefully next week more dogs will be adopted.

Since I was busy running back and forth with the dogs most of the day, a few of the cat foster volunteers helped me with my adoptions for Kiwi and Princess Rana. I am very grateful for their help - Heartland has such a great group of people - if you're looking to make new friends and find a place where you can make a difference, consider volunteering!

Also don't forget our Heartland Spring Trivia Night is coming up on April 4th!

Update on Noelle

Here is a new picture of Kiwi. She was getting sick every few days, but since she's started her new diet, so far she has not been sick at all. I'm hoping that the new food works and she can go up for adoption soon. She is so friendly and she deserves her own family.


Here are some new pictures of my crazy foster dog Noelle. I am so lucky that my husband loves her. She has chewed up around 20 pair of his socks so far. Any other dog, including our own, would have been in big trouble by now. But with Noelle, he just sighs and puts a new pair of socks in his work boots for the next day. I keep suggesting he stop putting his socks out where she can find them, but he's as stubborn as she is. So the socks are always left out where she can get them, and she always gets them and chews them up. I have enough to do without guarding his socks, so I just take them away when I see her chewing on them, and move on. It's really a silly situation.



Noelle went to the vet this week and we received great news that her mange is cleared up! She has to keep getting medicine for another 3 weeks to be safe, but she can now be adopted again! The bad news was they found a small tumor while she was there - but they believe its benign and will go away on its on in 3 months or less. So now she's not funny-looking from the hair loss, but she's funny looking from the shaved area and small button tumor on her rear end. Oh well, it might make it harder for her to get adopted, but my husband has plenty more socks for her to chew up while she waits.


When I take Noelle out in public, people have a hard time believing she's as quiet and laid back as I claim. She just wants to greet everyone she meets, and she acts like it's her long-lost owner with each person. She can't wait to jump up and lick them and she wags her tail so hard it hurts! I do appreciate such excitement, but unfortunately she tends to forget all of her manners when she gets so excited. Now that more of my foster puppies are adopted, I'm determined to start working with her more to improve her manners.

I also have sad news to report - our long-time Heartland dog Kermit was returned. He did pretty well overall in his new home, except he didn't like to be crated, and his new mom was afraid he was unhappy not having a yard to run in. She had planned to fence her yard but then found out the cost and decided it wasn't practical at this time. So unfortunately she felt it was best for Kermit to find another home where he could have a fenced yard. I just hope it doesn't take another two years to find that home. But he seemed happy to come back and see all his old friends again.

Puppy adoptions; Introducing Artemis

Taking care of 9 puppies keeps a person busy! But I'm happy to report that two of the nine puppies were adopted on Saturday. Keebler and Clover both found new homes. Tonight, Amos is supposed to be adopted, and I have a couple more pre-arranged adoptions for this weekend. At times I think anyone who adopts a puppy is crazy - especially if they work full time. Puppies are soooo much work. But then at other times I think about keeping one of the puppies for myself. Oh, I know I can't (my husband wouldn't let me, for one thing) but they are just so darn cute. It would be fun to watch them grow up, and be able to train them and not have to give them up. So in the end, I do understand the attraction of getting a puppy, even if they ARE a lot of work. For now I'm just enjoying playing with them, and looking forward to the day that I only have one or two left, and I can stop spending all my free time changing puppy paper! :-)

Since I have no room left to bring in new dogs (or puppies), I brought home another cat on Saturday. I know, I know.... but this cat needed me. Black cats are the hardest to find homes for, and a family who was moving couldn't take their all-black cat, and was unable to find a home for him. I agreed to take him sight-unseen, which is always a little scary. The family might say he's affectionate and a great cat, but what if he turns out to be really mean? Still, he had nowhere else to go, so I said I'd take him. His name is Artemis, and I must admit, from the second I saw him, I fell in love. He is quite possibly the most beautiful cat I've ever seen. He has this shiny, beautiful black coat, and bright yellow eyes, and he looks like a black panther. AND, he's sooo friendly. I am very happy to be fostering Artemis, and I will try to take some pictures and post them soon.

As an update on my other fosters, here's the news:

Whisper (tortie cat) has moved up to PetSmart, and has settled in very well. We weren't too sure how she would do, since sometimes she can have a bit of an attitude, but so far she's doing fine. Now if someone will just fall in love with her, we'll be set.

Tulsa (deaf Blue Heeler dog) is also doing well. Since I had the puppies I didn't take her to adoptions on Saturday, so she got another week off. She is driving my husband crazy by barking at the cats whenever she sees them behind the baby gate that blocks the hallway. Scribbles likes to sit there and hiss at her.

Noelle (deaf Pit Bull Terrier mix) has finished her first month of treatment for mange. She will be going back to the vet to get rechecked this week, and maybe she'll be able to start going to adoption events again soon! She's as sweet as ever - the best cuddler I know.

Scribbles (tortieco cat) is another cat with an attitude. She is the sweetest most affectionate lap cat when we're alone, but if any other cats are around, she hisses at them. And if there are dogs around - well, I even avoid her then, because she is downright scary. She spits and growls and hisses and attacks, and I have to protect the dogs from her. I'm possibly going to move her to PetSmart just so she can get away from the dogs, and I think everyone (but especially Scribbles) will be much happier then.

Kiwi (torbie cat) is my friendly, perfect, highly adoptable cat, except that she vomits occasionally. This cat is one of the best cats I've had - everyone who meets her loves her. She is friendly, gets along with everyone and everything, and would probably be adopted right away if she were healthy. However since I got her she's been vomiting every few days, so the vet checked her out and suggested a change in diet to a special prescription food. I'm going to try that and see how she does - hopefully the new food will do the trick.

Boo (American Pit Bull Terrier puppy) is growing so fast! She's so cute, and her ears seem to be growing at a faster rate than the rest of her body. She still has more energy than she knows what to do with, and has become adept at climbing baby gates and fences to get to where she wants to be.

Tommy was adopted! Introducing Kiwi & Scribbles

Yesterday, my gray tabby foster cat Tommy has found a home! He's been living up at PetSmart for awhile, and yesterday someone met him and adopted him! Now he can finally have a real home with room to run and play and people to give him a lot of love and attention.

I also took in two new foster cats about a week ago. First is Kiwi - she is a gray tabby with brown markings, aka a torbie. She is very sweet and affectionate, and loves everyone. She is not scared of much either - she already hangs out in the house with all the dogs, and even ignores them when Tulsa barks at her. Here is a picture of her staring down the dogs. :-)

And this is Scribbles. She has tortoiseshell markings and calico markings, aka a tortieco. She is very sweet and affectionate with me, but very scared of everything else. She's afraid of the other cats and the dogs, and still spends most of her time in the cat room. Whenever I go in she runs to me and sits on my lap to be petted. I hope she finds a quiet home where she will be given a lot of attention, because she is so loving when she isn't afraid.

Here is a picture of Tulsa (my foster Blue Heeler) and Remi (my own Great Dane) - they were watching the cats sitting behind the gate on the other side of the room. They kind of look like they're waiting for the cats to jump over the gate so they can have a meal. :-) Remi is really afraid of cats though - and Tulsa just likes to bark at them, but she doesn't try to eat them!

Boo is only a week older than the litter of 8 puppies I am fostering, so I put her with them so she would have company and be able to practice her dog relationship skills. She has done great with them - as you can see, she fits right in!

The puppies are finally ready for adoption, and will be able to go to PetSmart this weekend to try to find homes.