Introducing Maddie

This is Maddie.  She's a one year old purebred Australian Shepherd.  A very nice lady contacted the rescue community for help recently.  She had met Maddie at a breeder's facility and was able to get her released with the intention to find her a new home.  When a month went by and they still weren't able to find her a home, they asked for help.  

So here's the bad news about Maddie.  The breeder where she came from is an 85-year-old woman trying to take care of over 100 dogs by herself since her husband died.  The dogs are not getting the care they need.  Maddie has spent her entire life living outdoors with little to no socialization.  She's scared of everyone.  She has a problem with her back leg or hip that causes one leg to turn outward.  She was from a litter where both parents were merles (genetic color pattern).  They should never have been allowed to breed, because statistically 25% of the litter would be double merles.  Often double merles have hearing deficiencies and they may also have a variety of eye defects. Maddie is a double merle and appears to be partially deaf.  

But there's good news too.  The best news is Maddie was rescued from her living situation by the family who contacted rescue for help.  Maddie is still young and with some work I know she will  learn to enjoy being around people.  She still has partial hearing and in addition to being beautiful she is great with other dogs and fine with cats - all things that will help her to find just the right home.  She'll be spayed and vaccinated and get any needed medical care for her bad leg.  She'll be living indoors for the first time in her life, and learn all about being spoiled and sleeping on soft beds and eating chicken and special treats.  We'll work on house-training and positive reinforcement for every new experience.  And someday soon she'll find an adoptive home where she'll be spoiled rotten for the rest of her life.  In spite of her sad beginnings, Maddie is one of the lucky ones, because she made it into Rescue.

So far Maddie has not made a sound since I brought her home two days ago.  She found refuge on the fireplace hearth, and has chosen to sleep there since she arrived.  She doesn't leave the hearth unless I pick her up and carry her outside.  Then she walks around the yard, relieves herself and waits for me to come get her and carry her back in.   The first few times I had trouble catching her.  Then she let me come get her, and this morning she even came in the door herself!  She still ran straight to her fireplace refuge, but I'm happy with her progress.  I've provided food and water on the hearth and am giving her a lot of space while she gets accustomed to life in a home.  The TV was a new experience for her I believe - she looked quite confused by the box that suddenly had moving pictures on it.  She has never shown any signs of aggression, and since she doesn't move or make a sound, so far she's been much more of a household decoration than a living dog.  I do enjoy having such a beautiful decoration, but I am ready for her to transform into a real dog, because that's what she was made to be.

One left

It was a good week for puppy adoptions.  First Huey was adopted, then Donald, then Louie, then Dewey.  So now Daisy is sitting here with me all alone.  She doesn't seem to mind that her siblings are all gone.  This could be because now she gets all the attention.  She's cuddled up with me and Roxy on the couch right now.  She doesn't have to share her puppy food with her brothers.  She gets to go outside with the big dogs now, and we'll start working on house training.  But with as cute as she is, I am pretty sure she'll be adopted before long too!

Dog Update

Gizmo

Gizmo has been adopted!  He is now living with a family with six kids, another dog and a cat!  I can only imagine the mischief he will be able to get into with that crew.  It's a wonderful family and I think he'll be very happy.

Huey

Huey was also adopted!  He was the only puppy to get adopted this past weekend, but hopefully the others will have better luck this coming weekend.  Donald, Daisy, Dewey and Louie are starting to grow a lot, and starting to develop their own personalities now.  Donald and Dewey are the two cuddle-bugs.  They just want belly rubs and attention.  Daisy and Louie are too busy running around and playing tug to stop for cuddles.  They're into everything!

Bunny

Bunny is still doing about the same.  She continues to enjoy the outdoors, and continues to take treats from me, but still doesn't like to be petted.

Tulsa

When I first fostered Tulsa as a puppy several years ago, my husband really didn't care for her.  So I am really enjoying the fact that she's improved so much that he actually asked to foster her!  Since he's still living at our old house with our dogs Remi and Noelle, I didn't expect him to ever want to foster another dog.  But several times while he was here at the cabin he commented on how much Tulsa has improved, and eventually said he'd like to take her to his house to foster!  So last week Tulsa moved back to our old house, where she's doing great with Remi and Noelle.  We're still trying to find her a permanent adoptive home, and I'll still be taking her to adoption events, but in the meantime it's nice to know she's somewhere that she is doing so well.

Ziggy

And then there's Ziggy.  I'm very happy that he's back, but he told me today that he's ready to go back and live with his second mom again.  He's talking about the trainer who has been fostering him and working with him for several weeks.  She's awesome, but I told Ziggy that she might not want him to come back again.  He said that was ridiculous.  So we'll see.  We've been trying to learn how to do agility weave poles, and I may have been pushing him too hard, because he says that she's more fun than I am. So now I'm determined to change that, and we'll be going for another river walk soon - one of Ziggy's favorite things!

Roxy

Roxy is still continuing with her Canine Good Citizen classes.  She's learned to lie down on command and is doing very well with her stay command.  Around here she's doing much better too - she doesn't follow me everywhere, and will lay down across the room instead of having to be touching me constantly.  She's such a great dog, and I really enjoy fostering her.

Toby

You may have noticed that there have been several dogs leaving here recently (Phil, Gizmo, Tulsa, etc) and not so many dogs coming in.  There's a deaf dog in Memphis that I'm hoping to foster soon, so I want to leave some room for him.  And since Roxy had no one to play with, I also brought home Toby for a short visit.  I fostered Toby a few months ago, and then he moved to another foster home for awhile.  He'll be going back to that foster home again soon, but for now he's taking a short vacation with me.  He's a great dog, but he has so much energy that it's difficult to get him to ever calm down.  This is probably the main reason he hasn't been adopted yet.  He goes to adoption events every week, and hopefully his turn will come soon!

Cat Update

  

Chip



I'd just like to say that it wasn't my fault.  I'm not the one who rescued these two kittens. I was just trying to be nice, and since I had to take one of my fosters to the vet, I offered to take these two kittens in for another foster mom.

It's not her fault either.  She took these kittens in the day before, from someone who found them living outside and begging for food.  She just accepted my offer, and planned to take them right back as soon as they got checked out by the vet. 



Dale



It's not the kittens' fault either.  They're just typical, adorable, sweet, purring kittens.  I can resist kittens.  Even when they purr.  I'll tell you whose fault it is.  It's the vet's fault.  They were running late, and kept me waiting for half an hour.  I have a lot of self-control, but being stuck in a small room with two purring kittens for half an hour is more than even I could resist.  Thirty minutes after arriving in the office, I called the original foster mom and offered to take the kittens back home with me.  That is how I ended up fostering Chip and Dale.  Not my fault at all. 



In addition to Chip and Dale, I am also fostering the following cats:



Belle, the FIV positive cat with very soft fur.  She likes me, and she likes other people, and she puts up with other cats, but she doesn't much care for the dogs. Every night she waits for me at the door to her room and meows until I give her treats.  She's very good at begging.

Lovey - the FIV positive cat who pretends she's not a tortie.  She is one of the sweetest cats I've ever met.  We've been struggling to get some health issues cleared up, so she's been on various medicines and different foods, and in spite of it all she still acts..well....lovey. I am starting to understand why she was named this.  She does great with other cats, isn't crazy about the dogs but does okay with them, and does great with all people. 

Lily - Originally named Lightning (as part of the Tornado litter), Lily was adopted out to a family along with her brother Thunder.  The resident cat in that home didn't particularly care for Lily, and Lily likewise showed her displeasure by refusing to use the litter box.  After confirming that there was no medical cause, Lily came back to us and immediately returned to having perfect litter box habits.  So Lily is now looking for a home where she will be a better fit.  In addition to being beautiful she's also very sweet and loving.  Lily is staying up at PetSmart for a few weeks and hopefully she'll find a new home quickly! 

Many of our cats have the opportunity to stay up at PetSmart for a few weeks at a time.  This gives shoppers a chance to visit them and often causes them to be adopted much more quickly than when they're living in a foster home.  Volunteers come in each day and take care of all the cats, scooping litter boxes and providing love and affection and playtime.  If you're in the St.Charles, MO area and are interested in volunteering your time one morning or evening a week, please contact me!  Or if you're in another area, consider contacting your local PetSmart or PetCo store to see if they have adoptable cats and need assistance.

He's Back....

Did you miss him?

A Pit Bull Adoption!

Now before you get too worried, I will tell you that it's not Ziggy who was adopted.  In spite of having his own web page and being a featured pet on several websites and Facebook pages including the Shelter Pet Project, he hasn't had any inquiries for adoption.  But he's not complaining.  In fact, he's still being fostered by the best dog trainer I know, and he's attended more parties and events in the past few weeks than I have in the past few years.  Ziggy is a busy guy, and he's doing great. We're attending agility classes on Sundays, so last Sunday I asked him to come back home with me but he said no thanks.  I told him his fans missed him, and he said he'd come back soon, but not quite yet.  Apparently Lynsey, his trainer, is more fun than me.  But that's okay, because I have decided to take him back home on Sunday whether he likes it or not. At least for a little while.  Because as much as I don't want to admit it, I really do miss him. And I think my blog is starting to get boring without him!

The pit bull who was adopted is Phil, my temporary foster dog who is almost as much fun as Ziggy.  He loves to carry around toys in his mouth, and does his best to fit in as many as possible.  He drinks by sticking his entire snout into a bowl of water, and only coming out when he needs to breathe.  He was Roxy's best friend and playmate.  Phil was found in a dumpster, skinny and sad and unwanted.  He's come a long way from those beginnings, and now he's off on his newest adventure with a family of his own. 

Success!!

My foster dog Bunny is a Bichon Frise who spent the first five years of her life as a breeding dog in a "commercial breeding facility".  When she came to us she was a mess, both physically and emotionally.  She had seven teeth removed, received medical care, grooming and good nutrition for the first time in her life, and learned what it was like for the first time to have someone who loved her.  She doesn't know how to play with toys.  She doesn't know how to enjoy being petted.  She gets scared and runs away when someone even looks at her.

Bunny has been working very hard to be a normal dog.  She has learned to enjoy treats.  She will approach me and occasionally lick my hand, although she still runs if I try to pet her.  She's even learned to bark at Merlin, my cat, when he walks by.  This is not something I wanted her to learn, but I guess it's good she's feeling safe enough here to interact with the cat, if not with me.  But the best news of all, is Bunny has learned to go outside.  She's wanted to go outside, but she was always afraid to take a step out onto the deck.  She'd stand on a dog bed in the open doorway (because she was afraid to walk on the bare floor) and watch the other dogs outside.

Sometimes she'd get really brave and step out onto the deck with her front feet - but she'd never let her back feet leave the safety of the house.

Even when I took her crate outside, she'd do the same thing and only go as far as she could while leaving at least one foot touching the safety of her crate.  It didn't matter if the crate was placed on the deck or on the grass - she'd walk out as far as she could while still touching the crate.

Until last week, when she had a breakthrough.  I had taken her in her crate and set her on the deck right by the door, and she did her customary stand and watch while the other dogs played.  I was taking pictures of Gizmo when I noticed that she had finally left her crate and was walking around the deck!  Next thing I knew, she was running around the yard like she'd been doing it all her life.

Now she goes in and out the door with the other dogs with no hesitation.  It sounds like a small thing, but for Bunny it is a great success.

The Puppies Have Names

There were some great submissions for names!  I had a hard time choosing, but because I have the maturity level of a five-year-old, I had to pick the Donald Duck theme.  Congratulations on selecting the winning names, Harper!  I'm a huge Donald Duck fan.  I even have a poster of him on my wall.  Okay, I don't really have a poster of Donald Duck.  But I am a huge fan, and I might just have to hang up a picture of this Donald:

Donald

 

Daisy

Huey, Dewey and Louie

And just because he's so cute, here's one more picture of Donald:

Naming Help Needed!

All Paws Rescue was recently asked to help with some puppies.  The request came much too late, because six of the eleven puppies had already died due to the heat and other factors.  But we gladly took in the remaining five puppies and made arrangements to have the momma dog spayed.  The puppies are now happily residing in an ex-pen in my basement where it is nice and cool.  There are four boys and one girl, and they need names!  I like to keep their names all part of a theme, to make it easier to remember them - especially if one gets returned several years down the road.  So I'm looking for suggestions - please leave your ideas for names in the comments.  The reader who picks out the names I like most will win.... are you ready?....it's a great prize.... here it is... the names they pick out will be used to name the five puppies!  And as if that's not enough of a prize, there's MORE!  That's right, the winner will also receive the opportunity to be the first to adopt one of these wonderful puppies.*  Can you believe it?  Act now, because this offer won't last long!

Puppy details:

2 male fawn with black mask

2 male black

1 female black

*Winner must complete adoption application, pass background check and adoption interview, and live within 25 miles of Dog Foster Mom.  Winner is responsible for all taxes, adoption fees, and transportation costs.  Not valid outside of the U.S.  

Introducing Gizmo

A week ago I heard about a Pomeranian/Min-Pin mix needing a new home.  I decided that Bunny, my foster Bichon, might be happy to have another small dog around, so when I heard the dog was good with other dogs and with cats, I offered to take him.  I know a small dog like this with no real issues will find a new home quickly, so I knew better than to get too attached.  Then I met him.

Gizmo

With one ear up and one ear down, he has a constant mischievous look about him.  He is always making me laugh with his silly antics.  He has fit in here very quickly and I can only hope he gets adopted quickly before I think any more about if I could fit him in here permanently!

Pirates and Alligators

I just found some old pictures on my camera from when I was fostering Ritter a few weeks ago.  I took Ritter, Ziggy and Tulsa on a walk by the river, and the walk went something like this:

We set off, with the dogs leading the way but not pulling (most of the time).  I had all three leashes attached to my belt which let me keep my hands free for important things like photography and skipping rocks.

We paused to watch the salvage ship at work.  It's busy digging up a pirate ship filled with treasure.  At least that's what I told Ritter.  

Then we stopped to watch the freshwater alligators (or so Ritter believes).  Ziggy wanted to go play in the water, but I said no. 

Things were progressing nicely until we came to several piles of bones on the trail.  I explained to Ritter that the alligators must have eaten one of the pirates.  I think he believed me.

The bones presented a challenge for me, since Ziggy is bone aggressive.  Fortunately there were plenty of pirate bones to go around.  Tulsa preferred to give hers a thorough sniffing.

Ritter was happy to roll in his pile of bones. Very happy.  Maybe pirate bones are like catnip for dogs.

Ziggy chose a bone to chew along the way, and I quickly got the dogs moving again.  We stopped once more to admire the view. Ziggy chose to lay in his favorite "frog leg" position, as close to the water as possible.

Tulsa and Ritter stayed with me up by the trail and enjoyed the cool breeze.  

Finally we had to go home, where we all slept soundly and dreamed of pirate treasure, or pirate bones.

Dog Foster Update

It was a very busy weekend, starting on Friday night with a dog training seminar, then an adoption event all day Saturday, and another adoption event on Sunday in between a CGC class with Roxy and an agility class with Ziggy.  Here's an update on all my dog fosters:

Duchess

Duchy was adopted on Saturday!  She was such an easy dog to foster, because she had perfect manners and was very calm.  I really miss her, but I'm happy that she has a good home!

Roxy

Roxy went to adoptions on Saturday and Sunday, and she did very well.  If I ever get her to pay attention to anyone other than me at events, I think she'll get adopted rather quickly.  In the meantime, we started our first CGC class today, and we were total failures.  I was so used to Ziggy who was already well trained in obedience, that I didn't know what to do with a dog who has no concept of down/stay/heel/etc.  It didn't help that we'd just left an adoption event and she was already tired out.  We'll practice a lot this week and hopefully next week's class will go better.

Tulsa

And then there's Tulsa, the deaf Australian Cattle Dog.  Tulsa doesn't do well at adoption events - she barks at every dog she sees.  So she stayed home on Saturday, and only went to Sunday's adoption event which was a shorter event.  I covered her crate up and it was a rather slow day so it went pretty well, meaning she didn't drive everyone crazy with nonstop barking!

Bunny

Bunny, the Bichon from the puppy mill, also went to Sunday's adoption event.  She got a haircut while we were there, so she looks a little less fluffy now than she did in this picture.

Ziggy

Ziggy, the deaf pit bull, has been staying at another foster home for the past week.  I have to admit I have missed him, just a little bit.  He went to stay with a dog trainer, and she said he was a perfect angel almost all week.  So he's staying another week so she can get to know what he's really like (hint: not an angel).  So I got to see him at the training seminar and at agility class and then send him back with the trainer afterwards.

Phil

Since the trainer took Ziggy home, I took her foster dog Phil to my house.  He is doing great here.  He loves to play with Roxy, and he gets along really well with all of the dogs.  He constantly has to have something in his mouth, and will carry around a ball or chew toy for hours.  He went to Saturday and Sunday's adoption events and received a lot of attention just for being so cute!

Ziggy Still Chews

Since I've been doing better at hiding the No Chew Spray bottle from Ziggy lately, he's had to find other things to chew on.  He's not picky, just about anything will do.

A stick is good:

Although sometimes a bit sour...

No stick is too small, or too far out of reach.

He can chew standing up...

or upside down.

He can even chew minty leaves weeds... hopefully not poisonous.

Sometimes though, he seems to confuse chewable sticks with not so chewable tails.

Dog Communication

One of the main ways that dogs communicate with each other, as well as with humans, is through body language.  It's a language that can impart many concepts and emotions, but if humans don't learn to understand it, we can often miss what a dog is trying to tell us.  There are many books and websites that deal with the subject, so I won't bore you with details.  But here is an example of dog body language that we think means one thing and it often means something else:

A dog rolls onto his side and lifts his rear leg as if asking for a belly rub.  If this is a dog that knows you and/or loves belly rubs, that could be precisely what he's saying.  But if it's a dog you don't know well or that you're meeting for the first time, what he may be actually saying is "I'm smaller than you and I don't mean any harm, please don't hurt me."  Unfortunately we often respond to this message by walking straight up to the dog and rubbing their belly, when the polite thing to do is to look away, maybe bend down to make yourself smaller, and encourage the dog with high pitched happy talk that you mean him no harm.  By looming over him and reaching out and touching him you're simply reinforcing to him that you're bigger and meaner than he is, thus scaring him further!  If you wait to pet him until he gets up and comes to you, then you'll have one very happy dog, because you understood him and responded appropriately.  

I took this short video of my foster dogs playing, and it's amazing to see all of the body language that they use to communicate:

What did you see?  I saw some play bows (where a dog bends down on his front legs to communicate he wants to play), some "look aways" (a dog looks away to communicate he means no threat), and at one point, Roxy the brindle pit bull had her hackles raised (hair on the back of her neck stood up).  That was a sign she was too excited and the other dogs sensed it and backed away so it didn't escalate into a fight.  These signs happen so quickly that it's hard to catch in the act!  But note that two of these three dogs are deaf.  Do you think that made any difference in how they communicate? 

I often have luck communicating to a dog that they need to do something (or stop doing something) by whether I look directly at them or look away, move toward them or away, and so on.  I think fostering deaf dogs has helped me to communicate better with hearing dogs as well, because I have learned to rely more on body language which is the natural communication method of dogs.  Do you use body language to communicate with your dogs?

By the way, sometimes deaf dogs also use verbal communication, such as growls or barks, to communicate even though they can't hear.  This photo was taken during the above play session.  I think Ziggy's bark certainly got Roxy's attention!