She's Back...

Venture was returned yesterday.  She was a little too much for the little girl in the family, so we decided she would be better in a home with some older kids.  She went back to her first foster home to be with her sister Zoe, and they seem very happy to be back together again.  

These pictures of Venture are from the adoption event last week.  She was practicing her cutest "please adopt me" looks.  I think she was doing a pretty good job!

Housing Saga: Part XVII

Read the rest of the Housing Saga here.

Today, almost six months after originally placing a contract on this home:

I officially own it!  Well, the bank officially owns it, but they're letting me live there.  Well, I can't live there yet, because I don't have an occupancy permit.  I also don't have any plumbing, or any electricity.  But I don't care - it's finally my house!!

Just like the rest of the experience, nothing about the closing today was easy.  The three and a half hour event started off with me sitting at the title company at the appointed closing time, and overhearing some employees saying "there's no way they're going to be able to close - we still don't have the wire transfer from the lender!" I just knew they were talking about me.  Sure enough, a few minutes later, my realtor called and said there was a problem.  Apparently the "HUD" - the closing paperwork - had been written incorrectly, and the lender was holding the loan hostage by refusing to send the wire transfer until it was corrected.  E-mails were flying and things got a bit heated.  I waited patiently and wished I'd taken bets from my friends who were sure I'd close today.  Then we had good news.  They had re-written the HUD, and I just had to go to the bank and wire another $1100.00 to the title company, and then we would be good.  So to the bank I went, an hour after our official closing time, and the money was wired.  I returned to the title company and continued waiting.  Finally we started signing paperwork, only to learn that the final numbers STILL weren't right, and I needed to pay another $165.00.  No one was sure why I had to pay this at first, but I said I really didn't care, I would consider it a "nightmare tax" - a fee to end this nightmare of not being able to close on this house.  So I paid the nightmare tax, and before I knew it, all the hundreds of pieces of paper had been signed and they said we were done.  They had no keys to give me - it's a HUD foreclosure and needs all new locks - but I had a folder full of papers that supposedly said that I owed the bank a whole lot of money, and that I was the owner of a little log cabin in a rural little town in Missouri.

The list of things that need to be done to make this house livable is a mile long.  But I own the house now, and I can finally start working on that list!  I only need to look at my foster puppies, and at all the other puppies and dogs that I want to help in the future, to know that this whole headache of trying to buy this home has been well worth it.

Introducing Wrigley

This is Wrigley:

  

Can you guess how he got his name?

A) He is the heir to a chewing gum fortune.
B) He got some chewed up Wrigley's gum stuck in his fur
C) He wriggles when I hold him.
D) He loves to play fetch and his life goal is to play ball at Wrigley Field.

Did you guess the correct answer? In case you did not, let me give you some more clues.

Clue #1: Wrigley is broke. Completely penniless. Not a dime to his name. And unless a really surprising adoption happens, he will never be the heir to a chewing gum fortune.

No unending gum supply for me.

Need another clue?  No problem, I'm glad to help you narrow it down.

Clue #2: Wrigley does not know what to do with the tennis ball that is in his ex-pen. His brother Wags will chase it, but if it comes too close, Wrigley will just bark at it. He will most likely never be a famous baseball player (or tennis player).


Get that ball away from me!

Still not sure?  Okay, here's your final clue.

Clue #3: Wrigley has some missing hair on his face. I assured him that he was not going bald at a young age - he just has a little skin issue that we need to get cleared up. This requires medicine. Wrigley does not like medicine being put on his face.



Here she comes with the medicine again!

Did you figure it out?  The correct answer is C - Wrigley wriggles repeatedly.  Really.

Introducing Wags: Guest Post by Wags

Wags and his brother Wrigley are my newest foster puppies. They came from a rural area of southern Missouri. They're about seven weeks old, and they have a few issues. This is a guest post by Wags. Take it away, Wags.

---
My new foster mom thinks she is funny. She named me Wags, because I have trouble wagging my tail. And how do you think she informed me of this? She did not have a sit-down conversation with me to tell me that I had a problem. She did not share the bad news that my tail is probably broken by holding me and giving me a lot of love and affection. Nope, she did this instead:

Foster lady: Hey puppy, I've decided to name you Wags. Wanna know why?

Wags: Yes, foster lady, please tell me!
Foster lady: Because your tail is broken and you can only wag the top half!

 

Wags: ummm, excuse me?  What did you say??

Foster lady: Your brother can tell you.  It really appears to be broken!

 Wags: (gives foster lady my best suspicious look) You're joking!

Foster lady: Nope, no joke.  I think it's because you've been sitting on it too much.  

Wags: Hahaha now I know you're joking!

Wags: Right?  Foster lady?  Joking??

 Foster lady: Sorry Wags.  I don't know how it happened, but I'm afraid it really is broken!

So that is how I ended up with the name Wags.  I am quite sure that only having half of a working tail does not at all affect my ability to give puppy kisses, play games, or be a wonderful pet!  The foster lady says we'll be going to the vet to find out for sure if my tail is broken, and if it can be fixed or not.  Either way, I'm stuck with the name Wags, at least until I get adopted!  As for my brother Wrigley, foster lady said she'd introduce him tomorrow.  Wait until you hear how he ended up with his name!

Venture was Adopted!

My foster puppy Venture was adopted on Saturday.  And Zoe went back to her first foster home since she's big enough now to start being house-trained, so both of my puppies are gone.  This was a typical activity for the puppies while they were here:

They loved chasing each other through the house, and often ran in circles behind the couch, through the dining room, and back through into the living room.  

I really miss my puppies, but I think they may have had a bit too much energy for Noelle.  She would typically take refuge in the chair while they did their puppy zoomies around the house, and she just watched them as they went by, again and again.  

Here they come again!

Finally they stopped racing in circles and she could take a much-deserved nap.

Baby-sitting is hard work!

New Header

Huge thank you to Jamie, an awesome artist and pit bull owner, and AJ, owner of the PupLove blog, for my new blog header.  I feel almost like a real blogger now.  Next thing you know I'm going to start putting up advertisements and attending blogging conferences.  Well, maybe not.  But at least the header now looks professional, thanks to Jamie and AJ!  Here's the picture that Jamie drew, and then AJ created the header from this:

Noelle Steps Up

Ziggy has always provided me with a lot of material for my blog.  Unfortunately, Ziggy is leaving for boot camp on Saturday, so I was a bit worried about finding things to write about.  Actually, I was just worried that I wouldn't know what to do with all my time if I wasn't chasing Ziggy around constantly and ordering him to behave like a nice normal dog for just once in his life.

I need not have worried.  Noelle, my sweet, wonderful, deaf pit bull, and first canine honorary member of the Naughty Kitty Club, has decided to help fill the void while Ziggy is gone.  I caught her practicing the other day, by counter surfing and stealing a cigarette lighter.   She then ran off with it and settled down to chew it into pieces.

Neither my husband or I smoke, but we usually have a candle or two lit, hence the lighter.  I guess Noelle thought the house smelled just fine without the help of any candles, because she was none too happy when I removed the lighter before she had the opportunity to chew on it.

It's good to know that things will stay somewhat interesting around here even while Ziggy is gone.

Miss Popularity

I am a middle child.  I have one sister who is a year older and one sister who is two years younger.  My sisters have always been my closest friends.  They've also always been more outgoing than me.  They were both cheerleaders in college, and had large groups of friends growing up.  I was more of a loner.  So often when there is more than one dog around, I tend to gravitate to the shyest of the bunch.  Or in cases where their behavior is the same, I often feel a stronger connection with the less "popular" dog.  I am a bit surprised that in the case of my foster puppies, there has been such a large difference in popularity.  Although they look almost identical and act almost identical (nicknames not withstanding), Venture has received a lot more interest than Zoe at last weekend's adoption events and online.  So far Venture has received three adoption inquiries at events and two online applications.  Zoe has not received any inquiries or applications.  And although I am pretty sure that Zoe would not mind being less popular than her sister, I've still decided not to tell her.  She'll find out soon enough how hard it is to be a black pit bull mix dog in this world. 


Venture, aka "Miss Popularity"



Zoe

 There is a lot of work to be done in educating people about pit bulls. During last weekend's adoption event, one potential adopter came up to us oohing and aahing over the puppies, but stating that she was looking for an adult that would be a good cuddle companion. We suggested a couple of possibilities, and one of them was a pit bull. When we showed her a picture of the dog, she immediately backed away and firmly stated "I do NOT want any pit bulls". I may have sounded a bit smug as I pointed out that the puppies she was so crazy about were pit bull mixes. Most people, me included, change their mind about pit bulls after they actually meet them and spend some time with them. In this case, the lady couldn't believe the puppies were part pit bull because they didn't act like her idea of a pit bull. I wish she understood that pit bulls can be some of the best cuddle companions out there. Right now, Venture and Zoe are young enough and cute enough that they will hopefully be easy to adopt out. But for all the black pit bull mix dogs in the shelters that are no longer 9 or 10 week old puppies, being a pit bull mix, and being black on top of it, is enough to cause an almost immediate death sentence. I hope that Zoe and Venture will continue to change people's minds about pit bulls as they grow up.

They Were Not My Puppies

I heard about two puppies, dropped off at a local vet's office when they were just four weeks old. I knew that was much too young for puppies to be away from their mother. They should have still been nursing, and needed their mom to learn proper dog behavior and discipline between the ages of four and eight weeks. But there they were, homeless and out of options. The vet's office found someone to keep them for a few weeks until the rescue group I volunteer with had room. Then when the President of our rescue had room, she took them in. Unfortunately, two of her other foster dogs decided that the puppies made excellent chew toys. That's where I come in. I have been unable to foster (except for the special exemption we got to keep Ziggy) due to subdivision restrictions on number of pets. But young puppies that can stay in a spare bedroom and never be seen or heard? I decided those are exempt too. Especially if I'm just dog-sitting them for a few days. So when I heard about the case of the Puppy Chew Toys, I jumped in to help.



Tucker - likes to make puppies scream!



Tucker is one of the foster dogs that was using the puppies as a chew toy. He wasn't trying to hurt them, and in fact didn't hurt them - but he did like to pin them down and listen to them scream. And if you thought Noelle was bad? You should hear these puppies cry! They had enough challenges facing them with being separated from their mom so early, so we thought they'd be better off at my house for awhile, assuming I could keep them away from the Zigster.

 

So a few weeks ago I brought home Scary Puppy and Good Puppy, and made it VERY clear to their real foster mom that I was only a temporary holding facility. I would regularly e-mail her with updates that started with the subject line: YOUR puppies... and make sure that anytime I referred to them, I didn't use their names, just the phrase YOUR puppies.  I think she got the message. Unfortunately, I didn't. In spite of refusing to claim them as my foster dogs, I somehow went and fell in love with these two puppies. We quickly fell into a routine. They stay in the ex-pen in the extra bedroom while I'm at work, and then at night, after everything else is done, I block off the kitchen from the other dogs and they get to run around and have play time, followed by cuddle time on my lap. They're now nine weeks old and ready for adoption, and in spite of all my statements to the contrary, I want to claim these puppies as my fosters. Basically this just means that I'll be responsible for any follow-up with their adoptive homes, and if they ever have to be returned to rescue, I'll take them back and foster them again until they can be adopted. There are a couple of reasons I didn't want to claim these as my own fosters. The first was my worry that due to being taken away from their mom so early, they may have some behavioral issues as they grow. I'm happy to say that so far I haven't seen any signs of that. The second worry is that trying to adopt out a big black dog that looks like a pit bull is not at all easy, and if these pups are ever returned, I could have them for quite awhile. If they have developed behavioral issues in the meantime due to a lack of training or socialization, that would be a real challenge. So I was trying to be selfish and cautious and avoid future responsibility for these puppies that I had never originally planned to rescue. But they went and stole my heart, and now if they do ever have to be returned, I want to take them back to make sure that they are safe and well cared for and loved. I know that their first foster mom would take excellent care of them, and if I'm full with fosters at the time I get any return, she's always the first person I call. But in spite of my best efforts, I now feel responsible for these two little girls. No, more than that, I feel so much love for these two that I WANT them at my house - now and in the future - at least until the right adoptive home can be found. So I'm hoping that their original foster mom will let me claim these two as my own fosters, even after all the e-mails I sent her reminding her that they were actually her fosters. If they're not adopted quickly they may have to go back to her house for awhile since they're getting big enough to start being housetrained. But no matter where they go - another foster home, or an adoptive home - in my heart they are now and will always be MY puppies.



Zoe (aka MY puppy)



Venture (aka MY puppy)

The Mystery Screamer

And now for the results of yesterday's Mystery:

I know that most of you thought that only Ziggy could be capable of such a horrendous terrifying wide array of sounds, but in this case, he was not the culprit (I can hear his rehab people letting out a sigh of relief).  The normal barks you hear at the beginning of the video - that was Ziggy.  The screaming was from the other alien creature that lives here.  You've seen her in her normal dog form like this:

And a very long time ago, I shared a picture of her in her true alien form:

Now you all know what she sounds like in her alien form.  You may wonder what causes her to make these noises that I think were best described as a "kind of torture would make him protest like he is being pursued by the hounds of hell".  The answer?  Placing her in a crate when her people are RIGHT THERE outside of the crate and she can't get to them.  This is absolute torture to her.  As proved by this video (in case you didn't get enough of the whining/screaming/crying in the last video).

Yep, we like to torture our dogs around here on a regular basis by placing them in a crate just to take video of the sounds they make.  It's just great entertainment!

The Mystery Screams

There's a mystery afoot.  It's up to you to figure out the culprit.  I'm going to help you out though, by giving you a hint.  First, I can tell you who is NOT the culprit.  It is not Good Puppy. 

Zoe, aka Good Puppy

 And surprisingly, it's also not Scary Puppy. 

Venture (aka Spunky Puppy, aka Scary Puppy)

Beyond that, it's up to you to determine the culprit.  Please, listen to the video below.  You will hear dogs barking, and then you will hear another creature making noises that I can't even describe.  Who do YOU think is making those noises?  

Mouse Naming Contest Winner

Today we had the drawing for the winner of the Mouse Naming Contest.  We used random.org to randomly select the winning comment.

Congratulations to Frankie Furter who won the mouse-naming contest!  Frankie, what would you like to name your mouse?

If you live in the St. Louis area, please order your tickets now to participate in the Mouse Races that will take place next month.  Frankie's mouse will be there!  Well, not the one that used to live under his front porch - but at least the one he will be naming.

Bugsy was adopted!

Back in December of 2008, I fostered a cat that I named Bugsy.  He was a friendly, outgoing cat.  He originally came into foster care after a lady contacted us, saying that when she opened up her door to let her dogs in from the back yard, a strange cat had followed the dogs inside.  No one claimed the cat, so we took him in and got his vet work done and then made him available for adoption.  I only had Bugsy for about a month before he was adopted. 

Sadly, Bugsy was returned in July of 2010.  Since I couldn't take him back right then, another volunteer took him to her house for a couple of months, and then he went and stayed at PetSmart for a very long time.  While he was there, he had an eye infection and one of the volunteers asked to take him to her vet to get him checked out.  Her vet was able to treat the eye infection successfully, and found that the blood vessels in one eye were irregular.  At that point, the volunteer took Bugsy to another vet who is able to use a blood serum treatment that would grow new blood vessels in his eye.  And this vet found that Bugsy had high blood pressure!  I was a bit surprised - after all, Bugsy had been to at least four different vets over the past three years, and none of them had ever suggested checking his blood pressure.  But sure enough, Bugsy was started on blood pressure medication, and within two weeks his blood pressure went from 247/100 to 100/70 which is normal.  The vet said that he poor cat probably had headaches his whole life, and he was so good-natured that we never had any idea anything was wrong. 

So after all that, Bugsy is now on blood pressure medication (via a gel that is rubbed into his ear) and this past Saturday he just went to his forever home.  His new adopter has had a special needs cat in the past and he is going to have another cat, a dog and some children to play with every day now - I think it will be a perfect fit for this wonderful, outgoing cat.  Special thanks to Carol, the volunteer who spent so much time getting Bugsy healthy, and to his new adoptive family for taking in a special needs cat!

Military Dog

First, one final reminder that the contest to name a mouse in the upcoming Mouse Racing Fundraiser ends tomorrow, so don't forget to leave a comment on this post if you want to enter.

Second, when my husband got home from his Army Reserve training today, he was greeted by Remi and Noelle, as usual.

And next thing I know, he put his dog tags on Noelle and asked her to stand at attention:

I guess Ziggy isn't the only one around here preparing for boot camp!

Ziggy Prepares for Boot Camp

I can't even put into words how much you all mean to me. So many kind words, and thoughts and prayers and such compassion. And donations as well, to help pay for Ziggy's rehab - I am amazed at your generosity and thoughtfulness. This has been incredibly difficult for me, and there have been times I consider not fostering anymore, or not blogging anymore. The last thing I want is to make people afraid of fostering, or to make people afraid of pit bulls. But seeing that my blog helped someone want to rescue deaf dogs and pit bulls - what greater compliment is there? I have always made this blog about my experiences, both good and bad, of fostering. It's not a blog to get my foster pets adopted, because otherwise I couldn't post pictures like this:

Anyone want to adopt a dog who gets his head stuck in a ball?  Anyone?

And it's not a blog to recruit foster homes, because otherwise I couldn't share pictures like this:

Nope, no dogs in this house.  I just randomly throw stuffing around...for decoration. 

 I hope that my love of fostering shows through, even when I talk about the hard parts of rescue. And I thank you guys for sticking by me even when I have to share really sad news. I still have hopes of a happy ending for Ziggy, and this blog will no doubt continue to reflect those hopes in continued Ziggy stories. We're still waiting on a date for him to be admitted to the rehab facility, but it may not be for a month or two. So in the meantime, I'll continue to prepare Ziggy for boot camp, and hope for the best. Thank you, so much, for your understanding, and please know that as I joke about Ziggy going to boot camp, I do so because Ziggy taught me to find humor and joy in every part of life, wherever possible.  What better lesson could he teach?
 

Okay, what's this Boot Camp thing?

You want me to WHAT?!

Okay, if there is food involved, I'm in!

Failing Ziggy

The hardest part of fostering is when we fail. I'm not talking about "failed fosters", which is what we call foster parents who fail to give up their foster pets and end up adopting them instead. I'm talking about when we fail our fosters by not caring for them properly, or not finding them the right adoptive home. In spite of our best efforts, this does happen. But that doesn't make it any easier. And now, I fear that I have failed Ziggy.

When I first brought Ziggy home, I knew right away that he was a challenge. In fact, about a week after I brought him home, I made arrangements with a local shelter expert to temperament test him. I was sure he would fail, and we planned to have him euthanized at that point. I had never euthanized a foster dog before, but I thought Ziggy would be the exception. It made me really sad, but he was pushy and aggressive with not only his sister, but also the two adult dogs in the house (Remi and Noelle). What kind of four-month-old puppy takes on a Great Dane and an adult pit bull with no regard for his own safety? I knew with that kind of behavior, I could not keep him safely at my house. So the evaluation was scheduled, and I tried hard to not get any more attached to the silly dog than I already was.

Then Ziggy got sick. He had Parvo, and what a tough decision that was. Do we spend the money to treat this dog who is being evaluated to be euthanized? Is it fair to our donors who gave us their donations, or is it being wasteful? But is it fair to Ziggy to just euthanize him instead of treating him? What if his aggressive behavior with the other dogs was because he wasn't feeling well? I had my doubts, but my rescue group didn't - they said let's treat him and hope for the best. So we did. And he recovered, and his behavior did change! He could still be pushy, but he was at least manageable. He learned to get along with not only Remi and Noelle but also all of the other foster dogs and even the cats. And so life with Ziggy began.

It's been a roller coaster since then. Ziggy never fails to amuse me. He is silly and rambunctious and incorrigible. He is the most food-motivated dog I have ever met. He is also the smartest dog I have ever met. He is stubborn and yet easily distracted. He is independent and has no desire to cuddle with anyone. He doesn't particularly enjoy being petted. He ignores trees and fire hydrants but loves to sniff storm drains. He is just goofy, all of the time. Life with Ziggy is always amusing, but it is not always easy. He can be pushy with the other dogs. He guards his crate and his food and even the water bowl and will scare the other dogs away with just a lifted lip and a low growl. I have to be on constant alert and can't leave him unattended. In addition to the potential for a dog fight, he can't be unattended around children because he is too mouthy. I still end up with bruises on a regular basis from Ziggy deciding to get my attention by jumping up and grabbing my arm in his mouth. He is not aggressive with people, just mouthy when he wants to play or when he is frustrated. I've been trying to train him to stop that from the time I got him, but in spite of his intelligence, we have had limited improvement in that area.

So now we're talking about a dog that can't go to a home with children, can't go to a home with a dominant dog, can't go to a home with a small dog, and has to have someone who is very experienced to handle him and is able and willing to work a lot with him. In addition they have to not be afraid of pit bulls, not live in a city that has breed bans, not have one of several insurance companies that have breed bans, and be willing to deal with the extra work that a deaf dog like Ziggy requires. Oh, and they have to accept that Ziggy is not at all a typical pit bull. He has loyalty only to anyone who has food in their hand, and he doesn't like to cuddle. He is so not a typical pit bull. And lately he's developed some more pushy behavior with people. He's still Ziggy - he's the same goofy dog I've been writing about for the past year and a half. But his behavior continues to get worse instead of better, and I have been unable to change that.

Ziggy prepares for boot camp

As a last chance effort, I have found a boot camp rehab facility for dogs that is willing to take in Ziggy for several weeks to try to change his behavior. Another rescue group in our area has had a lot of success with this, so we're going to give it a try. I have to be honest with you guys - there are so many of you who have followed this adventure with Ziggy and cheered for him from the beginning, and I hate to say this. But this really is a last-ditch effort. If this doesn't work, I'll be looking for a sanctuary for him, and if that can't be found, he may have to be euthanized. We're doing everything we can to prevent that, but his behavior has become worse to the point that he can't safely be adopted out, and is getting to where I can't even handle him anymore. So we are really hoping this rehab works for him.

I'm going to be setting up a chip-in fund to help pay for Ziggy's rehab.  There's no guarantee it will help, but I have to try.  If you can donate a dollar or two to help pay his way through rehab, that would be greatly appreciated.  I'm going to ask if they'll work on treating his drinking problem while he is there.

February Featured Blogs

It's February already, and time to select this month's Featured Blogs.   


Of Pit Bulls and Patience - This blogger has a pit bull and a schnauzer mix, and a great way of sharing her life with her dogs.  This blog is definitely worth checking out!


Pet Blogs United - This blog was started by Oskar and his mom, and it brings together all sorts of various pet bloggers into one place.  They have weekly featured bloggers, Foster Fridays, and regular announcements for those in the pet blogging community.  


Dog Eared - This blog is written by Mollie Jo and BoBo, two country poodles, and Uncle Puppy, a 1/2 poodle and 1/2 cocker spaniel.  I always enjoy reading about their adventures, and anxiously await Uncle Puppy to make good on his offer to come visit me.


The Portuguese Water Blog - A house full of dogs - a lot of work, but a lot of joy!  Most of them are Portuguese Water Dogs - a beautiful and seldom-seen breed, at least in this area.  


Love And A Leash - This blog shares the life of Lollie, a foster dog who is everything that an adoptable dog should be (quite unlike a certain deaf, chewy, pit bull that I won't name).  The blog is well written and has fabulous photography!