Update on my previous fosters

 Tripoli has been adopted!  It took a lot longer than anyone expected, but finally after over a year in foster care, Tripoli has his permanent home!

Poky and Panda Bear have also both been adopted.  Both puppies are doing great in their new homes.  Also their four littermates have now also been adopted! 

And then there is Ziggy.  Ziggy has started attending a beginning agility class.  He does very well because a) he has no fear of anything, b) he is very intelligent, c) he is very food motivated, and d) he has a very good instructor.  I was concerned about Ziggy being evicted from class due to his chewing problems, and sure enough during the very first class he tried several times to chew the instructor.  But she is very patient with him and has invited him to come back again next week.

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!

Update on my fosters

I decided it was time for another update on my fosters, so I you someone can keep track of who is at my house and why. In addition to my two dogs (Remi and Noelle) and one cat (Merlin), I have the following foster pets:

Ziggy - A deaf pit bull mix who has lived with me since December, when I rescued him from being euthanized at a shelter. Ziggy just turned one year old. He hasn't yet outgrown his puppy chewing stage, but he is slowly making progress. Ziggy is a comedian - he is always doing something silly to make me laugh. He is house-trained but can't be trusted alone in the house unsupervised because he is sure to get in some sort of trouble, whether it's stealing food from the counter, drinking a beer, or chewing up furniture or blinds. He is a one-dog wrecking machine, and I constantly threaten to send him to another foster home, but really I love him and will have a very hard time letting him go once he gets adopted. He has learned a lot of hand signs and is one of the smartest dogs I've worked with recently.

Tripoli - A German Shepherd/Aussie mix who has been in foster care since May of 2009. I took him to my house a few months ago because his foster mom wasn't able to get him to adoptions. We had hoped if he could go to some adoption events, someone would quickly adopt him. After all, he's practically perfect. He is around 3 years old, and has wonderful house manners, and gets along with dogs, cats, and kids! What more could anyone ask for? You might think that there are a lot of perfect dogs like Tripoli out there, but he's extra special because he only has three legs. This makes him lighter on his feet, and therefore faster and able to jump higher than other dogs. It's true - he can outrun and outjump all of the other dogs.

Rudy - A cat. I believe he's been in foster care for a couple of years now. I've had him since February, and I've finally trained him to not try to sneak out the door anymore. Okay not really - I think he really just doesn't try to sneak out the door because he's tired of the dogs chasing him all the time. He has given up escaping his prison and now is beginning to demand to be transferred back to a previous prison foster home. We're currently in negotiations. I've offered him his own room at the new house with canned food twice a week if he stops complaining, but he's holding out for something better!




And those are my only foster pets! I believe this is the shortest foster list I will have for a Very Long Time. I am constantly looking around the house for another dog or cat, thinking I forgot someone, but I didn't! I had to stop taking any new pets in until I get moved, so at least for the rest of this month, I will not be taking in anyone new. But as soon as I move, I'll go get Gretchen.

I also realized that I've been very lax in updating what has been happening with my foster pets, so here is an update for a few of my previous fosters in case you were wondering about them. Mia, the brown tabby cat who had been staying up at one of our adoption locations was adopted. Victoria the shy cat is being fostered by another volunteer who is working with her to hopefully make her more adoptable. Simon and Sampson  who were out on a trial adoption are now permanently adopted. And Lucas, now named Elwood, was also adopted out with Jake, another cat from the same rescue. Also my foster dog Bosco is currently out on a trial adoption! I am holding his spot open - he still has some house-training issues - but his new dad says he's going to keep working with him until Bosco figures it out, so hopefully this will be a permanent placement.  I also took in one more cat - another return - named Bugsy.  Then I immediately shipped him off to another foster home.  I will hopefully get him back once I move, but then Rudy might have to share his private room, and I'm not sure that's going to be acceptable to him.

Wordless Wednesday

Outnumbered

Noelle and I are outnumbered. We're just two girls, having to live with seven boys. It's tough, I tell you. Here's a quick summary of who we have to put up with:

Dave - Male - Adult Human - Entertains himself with violent video games, violent movies, and cleaning his multiple guns after target practice. He claims he's trying to keep his "Expert" status as a sniper in the Army. I think he just has too much testosterone.

Remi - Male - Adult Great Dane - Barks at everyone and everything. Claims he is doing his duty as a watchdog and protecting the females of the house. I think he just has too much testosterone.

Ziggy - Male - Juvenile Dog - Enjoys wrestling matches, chewing on everything in sight, and creating large messes for the females in the house to clean up. Claims he's just a guy trying to have a good time. I think he just has too much testosterone.

Bosco - Male - Juvenile Dog - Enjoys wrestling matches, and humping other dogs. Claims he's got too much testosterone. Even though he's been neutered, I agree.

Tripoli - Male - Adult Shepherd Mix - Enjoys shedding. Okay, maybe he doesn't enjoy it, but he does a lot of it. Perhaps its caused by too much testosterone.

Rudy - Male - Adult Cat - Constantly complains of feeling trapped. Wants freedom to go outside and flirt with the female cats. Definitely caused by too much testosterone.

Merlin - Male - Juvenile Cat - Eats everything in sight, much like a teenage boy. Never seems to be full. Claims he needs more canned cat food. I think he is lying.









And okay, all of these cats and dogs have been neutered, but still. They're boys, they act like boys, and Noelle and I are outnumbered. I have a right to complain about it. Especially since I have another male cat coming back tomorrow. Where are all the girl dogs and cats? How did I end up with all male fosters?

I think tonight Noelle and I are going to have to have a Girl's Night Out. We'll put on makeup, and watch a movie where nothing blows up, and put up a big sign that says "No Boys Allowed!!"

Relaxation

On Saturday after the flea market I collapsed on the couch and didn't move for several hours. Then I took a few pictures of the dogs, ate some kettle corn, and went back to the couch where I remained for the rest of the evening. Fortunately the dogs were tired from being at the event all day too.

This is Casey. He looks happy to be back home, don't you think?  Greeting people all day is hard work!

Remi got to visit the event for a few hours, and it really tired him out.  He wasn't on his best behavior and got sent home early.  I think he knows he is in trouble. 

You might think that having only three legs would make Tripoli get tired more quickly.  But this three-legged dog can hop all over, all day long, and still have energy to wrestle and play at the end of the day! 

Noelle was the only dog that didn't get to go to the event. This made her very sad.

I think if she keeps working on her "woe is me" look, someday she'll be as good at it as Mayzie! 

Ziggy only barely made it in the door before collapsing in the laundry room. Of course he made sure to pull the lid off of the recycling container before collapsing. Even when he is too exhausted to stand, he's never too tired to chew on something.

Tripoli - Superhero in Disguise?

Faster than a speeding Remi...



more powerful than a pit bull named Noelle...

and able to leap small vehicles in a single bound....(or not)


It's Tripoli, the Tripawd Wonder Dog!

I continue to be impressed by how well Tripoli gets around. In fact, he has enjoyed wrestling and playing with the other dogs, and in spite of only having three legs, he usually wins their mock battles. It's a constant source of embarrassment for my husband, who is so proud of his tough girl Noelle, to see her constantly bested by a three-legged dog.

I recently learned of a website just for Tripawds (three-legged dogs) and their owners. It is a great resource for anyone who has a three legged dog, or is considering amputation as a way to treat canine osteosarcoma or other cancers. I especially enjoyed reading some of the comments submitted by readers as they shared how kids have reacted when seeing a Tripawd for the first time. You can read the comments here.

And here is a very short video of Tripoli in his alter-ego disguise (doing nothing much at all).

Introducing Tripoli

This is Tripoli, my newest foster dog.  He's probably a Shepherd/Collie mix, and he's about three years old.  Tripoli was rescued from a rural area in May of last year.  His right front leg had been severely injured at some point in his life, and he was unable to use it.  Since it was causing him pain and couldn't be repaired, the vets decided to go ahead and remove it altogether.  So Tripoli became a three-legged dog.  He's been in foster care for the past year, and hasn't had any luck getting adopted, so recently I took him from another foster home who lives far away so he could get to adoption events more often. 

So far Tripoli is fitting in great at my house.  He gets along well with the other dogs, does great with the cats, and even handles the stairs without a problem!  I am surprised at how easily and quickly he has fit in here. Hopefully once more people are able to meet him in person he will be able to find a new permanent home quickly.  I know whomever adopts him is going to be very lucky to have him - he is a wonderful dog.