I Give Up!

I started this blog as a way to track all of the foster animals coming into my house. I'm happy to announce that I can no longer keep up with the number of animals I have been able to play a small part in saving. Between my job and my volunteer duties with animal rescue, I have been too busy to keep up with this blog, and can no longer share pictures and updates on every single animal that passes through my home. Instead, I've decided to just focus on the stories. Every animal has a story, just like every person, and I'll just pick a few of those to share with you as I have time. I will try to share details of adoptions and new intakes on my Facebook page from now on, so check it out if you'd like.


Today's story is about a dog named Copper, and his best friend Tod.  Copper and Tod started out their lives like the puppies pictured in this video.  They most likely were born here, grew up in this home, and knew nothing beyond life on a chain.



Two years later, the Humane Society of the United States, along with other rescue groups, stepped in and saved these animals.  Copper is in the video, at the 0:22 second mark, and Tod is shown just a few seconds later.  By the time they were saved, they knew only enough to be terrified of everything that was new.  That included people, television, ceiling fans, car rides, and everything that most dogs take for granted.  A soft bed to sleep on was something they'd never had before.  The freedom to run in a straight line instead of a small circle?  Unknown to them.  When being taken outside on leash they would continuously run in circles and panic at the sound of a truck or motorcycle, or the sight of people.  The dogs and cats that were rescued from this home have been adopted out or placed into rescues and shelters where they can find forever homes.  Tod and Copper are two of the most fearful of the group, so they came to All Paws Rescue, and are going to need a lot of work in order to be able to be adopted.

I've had some practice with fearful dogs after fostering Bogey and Bunny.  They've both shown a lot of improvement and were eventually adopted into homes who continued to work with them.  In both cases I've heard from their families recently and they are doing great!  So when I heard that Tod and Copper needed help, I immediately contacted Bogey's mom who has continued to foster for us. She agreed to take Tod, the shyest of the two, and work with him until he can be adopted.

Tod

That left me with Copper, at least for now.  I love working with shy dogs, but due to my work schedule and living so far from civilization, I don't spend as much time with the dogs as I would like.  So I am fostering Copper until he is adopted or until we find a foster home who wants to work with him.

Copper

So far, Copper is making very slow improvement.  He likes to follow me around, as long as he thinks I'm not looking at him. We've started taking walks in the farmland around my house and he seems to enjoy that.  He is getting used to living in a home, and getting used to me.  He is heartworm positive so is starting treatment for that, and he's recently become very interested in the new kitten I brought home.

In a way, Tod and Copper's stories are just beginning.  We've started a Facebook page to track their progress, and I hope that they will both show more and more improvement and eventually find happy forever homes just like Bogey and Bunny!

A Few Quick Updates

Trixie is a Boston Terrier mix, possibly mixed with Tasmanian Devil.  She is very playful, and has a lot of energy.  Trixie loves everyone, and thinks that everyone also is very playful and has a lot of energy.  It takes four normal dogs to wear out Trixie, if she plays with them one at a time until they get tired.  I have no idea how many humans it takes to wear out Trixie because it hasn't been done yet.  Trixie does occasionally settle down after wearing out all the dogs and humans in the house, and on those occasions she is happy to cuddle up and go to sleep.  Of course by that time I've been asleep for hours, so I usually miss this exciting event.  By the time I get up in the morning, she is once again ready to play! 

Trixie showing off her cute underbite

Mickey is a Chihuahua mix who was adopted out several months ago and was just returned due to not getting along with the other dog in the home. He does very well with all the dogs at my house, but he can be a bit of a bully (all eight pounds of him) so I can understand why another dog may not have wanted to put up with that. He is very well mannered with people and has been a big hit at adoption events. He is scheduled to go to a foster-to-adopt home on Monday! 


Mickey!

All Paws recently took in five American Eskimo Dogs after their owner passed away, and two of them (Casper and Buddy) came to my house. These were the first Eskies I have ever fostered, and I fell in love with the breed. The dogs are sweet and playful and easy-going. Buddy has moved on to another foster home now, and Casper has been adopted!

American Eskimo Dogs



Status Updates and Puppy Pictures

Most of my foster dogs with issues have now been adopted!  Gucci, Jet, Blondie and Annie Beagle all found wonderful homes!  Also Leroy was adopted, and Lulu and Gus are both in foster-to-adopt homes.  I also took in these temporary foster dogs:

Josie, Ginger and Sarge came into rescue along with two other dogs from a hoarder/collector situation.  They are friendly and sweet, and within a week they went out to other foster homes.

Josie has a habit of squeaking instead of barking.  She is a very small dog and very sweet and loving.  She might not be the smartest in the bunch, but she is one of the happiest.

Josie

Ginger is only eight months old which might explain why she has so much energy.  She is a very athletic dog and will often climb on your back, your shoulders, or the top of your head.  For the few days she was here I was teaching her to jump into my arms on command, because it was preferable to having her jump on me when I wasn't ready.   Even with all her energy she is very sweet and likes to cuddle and lick your face and your ears, and she is very determined to do so even if you sit curled up in a ball with your hands over your face.  

Ginger

 Sarge is a Beagle/Jack Russell Terrier mix.  He was good with most of the other dogs but thought that he was in charge and tried to scare away all new dogs that came in, so he went to a foster home where there aren't so many new dogs all the time.

Charlie Mac was only here for two days, and that was just long enough to realize that he was a goofy boy that likes everyone and has no concept of personal space.  Since I already have one of those (named Eeyore), Charlie Mac quickly went to another foster home where he was a perfect fit.

 I also took in eight puppies that had nowhere to go.  They are some sort of Hound mix, and they're around ten weeks old now.  They will be moving on to other foster homes as space becomes available, and should be available for adoption within a week or two.

Puppy with Josie

Two more puppies

Happy puppy!

Another happy puppy!  Or maybe the same one!

Dog Fights Are Scary

A few days ago I broke up a serious dog fight between two dogs. I was out in the backyard with Pandora (deaf Boxer), Eeyore (deaf American Staffordshire Terrier) and Gus (hearing Basset Hound mix). These dogs have been living together in my house for several weeks now with no problems and we’d been out there for awhile when suddenly a fight started between Gus and Eeyore.

Gus may be vertically challenged, but he refuses to let that slow him down. He’s one of the most stubborn dogs I know, and when he decided Eeyore got too much into his space, he attacked him. Eeyore decided not to back down, and suddenly a full-blown fight was in progress. Although I was standing just a few feet away, I was unable to distract the dogs or break up the fight immediately. I tossed the contents of the outside water bowl on the dogs with no effect, and then turned the hose on them full force which also had no effect. I then grabbed Eeyore by his back legs and picked him up off of the ground. At that point he had a hold of Gus and wasn’t letting go. Most dog breeds will snap erratically at their opponent, biting and releasing repeatedly. But dogs of the terrier breed, including pit bulls, will usually bite and hold. So at this point I’m standing there holding Eeyore upside down completely off the ground and trying to drag him away while he continues holding onto Gus and shaking his head. I was terrified, but Gus apparently wasn’t, because for a second Eeyore let go, and instead of running away, Gus came right back at him and renewed the fight. Did I mention he’s stubborn? This time Eeyore got a good grip on Gus’ front leg and wouldn’t let go. I ran into the house and grabbed a break stick – an emergency tool that I had purchased more than a year ago but never before had to use. I ran back to Eeyore and put the break stick into his mouth and twisted. Instantly Eeyore was biting the break stick and Gus was free. This time Gus got smart and ran into the house as fast as his little legs could carry him. I then held onto Eeyore’s collar and walked him to the door so I could go inside while ensuring that Eeyore could not follow me into the house. Eeyore walked calmly beside me as if nothing was going on, while I was in a panic over what had just happened.

I rushed Gus to the emergency vet clinic, and he had to get stitches in his front leg and chest. The vet tech asked what happened and I said he was in a fight with a pit bull, and she muttered “I’m getting really tired of those dogs.” And I felt horrible that I just contributed to the bad image that pit bulls have, when I know they are wonderful dogs and I know that Gus is the one that started the fight, not Eeyore. So I almost didn’t write this blog post, because the last thing these poor dogs need is more bad press. But there is so much misinformation about pit bulls out there, that I can only hope by sharing my experience I will help someone else who may someday be in the same situation. The truth is, pit bulls are not just like other dogs, at least not when it comes to dog fights. It’s not all in how they’re raised, and it’s also not all in their genes and whether they came from fighting lines. It’s not even how they’re trained or managed 100% of the time. Eeyore is a smart dog who has learned basic obedience commands and loves human attention. He has been around many other dogs and even spent a week at a doggy day care facility without any issues. But any dog of any breed can get in a dog fight, and it’s important that multi-dog households are aware of that. Responsible owners should take measures to prevent such fights, but should also be prepared for the worst.

There is a lot of good information out there on how to break up a dog fight. I would suggest reading it now because if a fight ever happens you’re not going to have time to go read it then. Most importantly, be cautious when trying to break up a fight. Don’t get bit in the process. Don’t grab a dog’s collar or place a leg or arm in between two dogs who are fighting. If you have a pit bull type of dog, buy a break stick, or make your own. Because as scary as it is to witness a dog fight, it’s even more scary to not be able to break them up. Break sticks should not be used on breeds of dogs other than pit bulls, but I can now attest to the fact that it worked great on a pit-bull type dog who was biting and would not let go. I hope I never need to use one again, but if I ever do find myself in a similar situation I will panic a little bit less and feel a lot more prepared to deal with the situation.

Leroy and Lulu

I currently have two new foster puppies. Leroy is a five-month-old Great Dane mix. He is scared of new things, and for some reason has a special fear of mops. Since I have a lot of fosters right now, I spend a lot of time walking around with a mop, which leads him to spend a lot of time chasing the mop and barking. But when he’s not chasing mops, he is very sweet.



"You're not hiding a mop behind your back, are you?"

 My other new foster puppy is a two-month-old pit bull mix named Lulu. She is deaf, and she loves to explore. She explores so well that I have trouble finding where she went, and since she’s deaf I can’t call her. I have to wait until she appears again from whatever fun spot she found to explore – like under the couch, or under the deck, or under the blankets. She is a tricky little explorer.

Lulu started off this morning as a nice clean white puppy.


Lulu before exploring



Then we went outside and she went exploring.





A very dirty Lulu after exploring

 

I introduced Leroy and Lulu to each other and both wanted to play together, but Leroy didn’t realize that he was just a little bit bigger than Lulu.

Can you see a giant dusty paw print on Lulu’s side? That’s from Leroy. There’s a slight size differential there.

"Did I do that?!"

Lulu and Leroy are both available for adoption and will hopefully find their forever homes very soon!

Pandora

According to Wikipedia, the phrase "to open Pandora's box" means to perform an action that may seem small or innocuous, but that turns out to have severe and far-reaching consequences.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by someone about a deaf Boxer named Luna who needed rescue. I already had several deaf foster dogs and a few more waiting to come in, so my first inclination was to say that I was unable to help. However the dog was a three-year-old purebred Boxer who sounded perfect. We have several people in our rescue group who love Boxers, and she sounded like a very easy dog to place into a home (already being perfect) so I decided I would go ahead and take her and then maybe find another foster home for her with one of the foster parents who love Boxers, or just keep her until she was adopted. She was said to already be spayed so she wouldn’t have to wait several weeks until our vet could spay her, and she was supposed to be dog, cat and kid friendly. She was also supposed to be well-socialized meaning she should adjust to a new situation easily because she’d been exposed to lots of new situations as a puppy. So I made arrangements with the person to have her brought to an adoption event where I would be that Saturday.

Two days later, I received an e-mail from a rescue friend asking me to help with a four-year-old female Boxer who needed a new home. I often receive requests for help with deaf dogs, but the requests are usually spaced weeks or months apart. I’ve also only received one request for a purebred Boxer ever – most requests are for mixed breeds or pit bull breeds -- so it seemed like a very strange coincidence to get two requests within the same week for a female purebred Boxer. The deaf Boxer named Luna who I had already agreed to take had also been posted all over Facebook asking for someone to rescue or adopt her, so it seemed likely it was the same dog. However I explained to my rescue friend that I had already committed to another deaf Boxer and explained the situation. I said I couldn’t take her if it was a different Boxer but if it was the same Boxer and there were just multiple people trying to help this dog then I could take her. She confirmed with the person she’d been talking to that it was the same dog, named Luna, and I made arrangements to pick her up on Sunday. When no one showed up at the adoption event on Saturday with a Boxer, I figured it was definitely the same dog and the plans to get her to me had just changed based on the rescuers involved.

The plan was for the owners to turn in Luna to their vet on Saturday, and then I’d drive out to the vet’s house and pick her up on Sunday. The veterinarian and her husband also did animal rescue, so I was a bit surprised to receive a call from them on Saturday asking what time I could get there on Sunday. I spoke with the vet’s husband and he sounded a bit anxious to get her out of the house and said he wasn’t used to deaf dogs and couldn’t communicate with her well. I thought that was a bit odd, because deaf dogs are really no different than hearing dogs and shouldn’t be any harder to communicate with, but I thought perhaps he just wasn’t used to big dogs. So I drove to his house with a friend to get Luna and was surprised to hear the report from the vet and his wife. They said that the dog was a bit cage aggressive and a bit out of control. That didn’t sound like the dog that I was expecting. Then they said the dog was named Valentine, not Luna. And that she wasn’t spayed. That also surprised me. But there are always mix-ups when communicating through three or four different people so I didn’t worry too much. I figured the dog was deaf and doesn’t care whether I call her Luna or Valentine. Then we began the long drive home.

Luna/Valentine started out just fine in the car. She was very sweet. She let me put a seat-belt harness on her. She sat quietly. Then I started the car. And suddenly Luna was in the front seat sitting on my friend’s lap and the seatbelt harness was still in the back seat. After trying to tighten it and keep it on her several times we gave up on that. She was quiet and happy to sit on my friend’s lap until we hit the main road where we encountered other vehicles on the road. Then she jumped in the back seat and began barking. And if you’ve never heard a deaf dog bark, be happy. Because they usually have a high-pitched and extremely loud bark, and Luna/Valentine was no exception. She barked at every car that came up behind us on the road. So I tried to drive faster. Then she barked at every car we passed. It was a busy highway and it was not a fun trip. We had to make a stop at a dog training facility and she continued her excited barking and lunging and aggressive behavior on leash with every dog and person that she met there.

By the time we got home, we were all exhausted. I gave her some time to calm down and after a nap she seemed to be feeling better. I took her outside and since I remembered how the vet said she had jumped their four-foot fence, I put her in the side yard where I could stay close and watch her to make sure she didn’t try to jump the wire fence. She did okay for a few minutes, then walked over to the side of the house where the fence meets a five-foot concrete wall. And from a standing position (no running start) she jumped directly up in the air and over the concrete wall. She seemed very happy then, running all over exploring and inviting me to chase her. And since chasing a dog who loves to be chased is not the fastest or easiest way to catch them, I went into the house and left the door open. She then did some more exploring. I then went back out and hid from her. I waited until she noticed me hiding and then I turned around and ran away, acting like I was trying to keep her from noticing me. Her curiosity got the better of her and she chased me right into the house and I quickly slammed the door. Whew. Next step – contact those other Boxer-loving foster homes at once!

Over the next few days I learned a few things about Pandora. Because by this time neither Luna or Valentine seemed appropriate, but Pandora seemed quite fitting as a name. She got very anxious when in a crate. She marked in the house several times. During brief introductions with several other friendly dogs, she jumped on most of them and held them down to show them that she was boss. She chased the cat. She jumped over the six-foot wooden privacy fence (this time I had to lure her into the car with the offer of a car ride to catch her). She believed she was Queen of the Universe and couldn’t understand why no one treated her that way. I finally contacted the first rescuer I had talked to – the one who was friends of the family who turned her in – and asked if this was really the same dog she’d claimed to know was such a perfect dog. That’s when she told me that the dog I had wasn’t Luna, and Luna had been re-homed directly to an adopter so didn’t need rescue. And suddenly it all made sense. There were two deaf Boxers and nothing I had been told matched up because I had been expecting Luna not Pandora.

Pandora has come a long way in the past week. She now is feeling so comfortable that although another foster home offered to take her, I decided not to move her because she is doing so well. She’s getting along with all the other dogs now and even is doing okay with the cat. She has not had any more accidents or tried to mark in the house, and I’ve been leaving her loose in the house when I’m at work and overnight with no problems. Well she did eat my windowsill and doorframe when I tried to put her in a room by herself, but as long as the Queen of the Universe is allowed to roam the house at will she has not destroyed anything else. And she’s even stopped jumping the fence! So while she may not be the easy adoption that I had hoped for, I do think she’ll be easy enough to foster until she does find the right home. And in the meantime, she’s made herself quite comfortable:

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!

Introducing Sadie

This is Sadie, a six-month-old purebred Catahoula Leopard Dog.  She was turned into a shelter in Kentucky and came to me because she is deaf.  Sadie is a very sweet dog, and very energetic.  In fact she wore out me and my other foster dogs and still had energy to spare so I had to go find another high-energy foster dog just to give her someone to play with.  So I will soon introduce you to Sadie's dog Jet.  Sadie and Jet love to play together and wear each other out, which I enjoy watching while lounging on the couch.  So now everyone is happy!

Wordless Wednesday: Ziggy

Saying Goodbye, and a New Arrival

Saying goodbye to a dog is always hard, but this month has been especially difficult. Two weeks ago my husband and I made the decision to euthanize Remi, our Great Dane. He was only 7 ½ years old, but due to health issues he was in a lot of pain and could no longer walk, and we could not bear for him to suffer anymore. We adopted Remi when he was a year and a half old – he was my first dog, other than the family dogs I had growing up. He taught me a lot about dog behavior, and I went from being afraid of dogs to reading about them and starting to understand them to loving dogs. He endured all of my mistakes as I learned to train dogs and to manage a multi-dog household. He was a clown who loved to drink directly from the sink faucet and loved to de-stuff teddy bears. He won the Tallest Dog contest in a local pet parade, and yet was afraid to step over a ledge that was just two inches above the floor. He wouldn’t go through a doorway unless the door was all the way open, and he once pulled me face-down across the front lawn in order to meet some very nervous neighbors out walking their dog. He sounded ferocious but was a big baby, and yet I always felt completely safe with him by my side. In spite of the fact that he was a purebred Great Dane and weighed 160 pounds, people - both adults and children - would often ask if he was a Dalmatian.  I was always tempted to say yes, yes he is.  


I miss you, my Giant Dalmatian.

 A week after losing Remi, I was back at the vet’s office with Lee, the smallest of the Chihuahua puppies. Lee was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, which is a buildup of fluid inside the skull. There are a variety of causes but in his case it was most likely a congenital defect. Lee did not survive, and walking out of the vet’s office without him was so hard. I am glad that both of his littermates do not have any issues and are doing well, but I really miss him. 

Lee


I also said goodbye to Stella the deaf Lab mix this week, but that was under much happier circumstances since she was adopted into a wonderful family. Saying goodbye is not so hard when I know the dog is going to a wonderful home and I will get to see pictures and hear updates on her in the future.


Stella and her new family


I have also had a new arrival this week. Brittany is a two-year-old dog who came into rescue after being picked up as a pregnant stray. She went to a neonate rescue until her babies were weaned and now she’s been spayed and is ready to find her forever home. Brittany is a sweet girl who loves attention and loves to play with other dogs. She went to her first adoption event on Saturday and many people were drawn to her, so I am hoping that she will find her forever home very soon.


Brittany



Eeyore Has Returned

A few months ago I fostered a deaf white pit bull named Eeyore.  Eeyore always looks a bit gloomy and depressed, which is why I named him after one of my favorite Winnie the Pooh characters. 

Eeyore was quickly adopted, but was just recently returned due to being too overwhelming with the small children in the home.  At only ten months old, Eeyore is still a puppy and doesn't quite know how big or how strong he really is.  He doesn't seem happy to be back, and I can't really blame him. 



"Thanks for noticin' me."

These pictures are from the first time Eeyore was at my house.  He gets along well with the other dogs for the most part, but I think he'll be happier in a home with fewer dogs.  Maybe.


"One can't complain. I have my friends. Someone spoke to me only yesterday."

 He also isn't used to being crated, and is used to sleeping in bed with his people, and having someone home with him 24 hours a day.  So he's having a hard time adjusting to life in a foster home, where he doesn't get the attention he's used to and he is crated for long periods.  It's a better situation than a shelter, but it's not a real home.  I hope he finds his forever home soon!

Outsmarting Joey the Chihuahua

Joey, the little 5-pound Chihuahua that I'm fostering, likes to lift his leg and mark everywhere in the house.  So we're working on correcting that behavior, but for times that I can't watch him, I needed an alternate solution.  Dog belly bands were invented for that very reason.  They are basically a strip of fabric that wraps around the dog's belly and you can put in an absorbent pad for easy cleanup.  The problem is Joey is sneaky, and he quickly figured out that if he rolls around enough he can slide right out of the belly band, no matter how tightly I put it on him.  So I turned to the Internet for help, and came up with this solution:

Joey

What's that, you ask?  I will tell you.  Joey is now the slightly-embarrassed owner of an Alfie Couture Designer dog diaper - with suspenders.  That's right - the little guy now has his own suspenders!  

A little privacy please...

Getting them on and off is a hassle every time I want to take him outside, but it's well worth it to be able to give him more freedom in the house!  And I think eventually he'll forgive me for this humiliation.  Especially since I was able to convince him that all the dogs are jealous - even the puppies!

"Dude, what is she making you wear?!"

Okay maybe he's not quite convinced yet.  

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!