Category Archives: Rescue Happenings

A Little Bit of Crazy

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, ,

Why do some dogs take a piece of our hearts?

Such as Zeke, a leash aggressive, separation anxiety ridden, jumping, abandoned, mixed breed of uncertain lineage. There is no logic to it that I can see. More and more I find myself saying, “Duncan used to do that”, about something Zeke has done.

Duncan

Duncan was the love of my life. Of course for his first few years I referred to him as the sheltie from hell. He got into trouble frequently, often because of something he chewed up. The corners of the coffee table, the pull handle off the lawn mower, handles from a bicycle, drywall in the garage. He also charged at bicycles on walks, and had endless energy. But as the years went by and we worked together on all these issues, we developed the deepest of relationships. He even earned the title of TDIA (Therapy Dog International Active) for completing over 50 visits to nursing homes and care facilities. He attained this because it made me happy.

And now Zeke does some of the random things that Duncan used to do. He charges bicycles, he pulls me up hills on walks when I’m tired. He likes hanging out with daddy but lives for when I come home. Just like Duncan.

I do realize he’s not Duncan. But I do love Zeke dearly too. Perhaps, as time goes by and our relationship grows, I will be gifted with another Lifetime Dog.

Adjustment

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

Zekie continues to fit into our family just fine. He and our other dogs are quite comfortable with each other. Here Zekie and Cassius give me “the look”. As in, how dare you go to work. Zeke is adjusting though. He doesn’t bother to get up anymore when I go. Daddy is still home so he doesn’t have to go in his crate.

Cassius was cold so I stopped to cover him up before I left. Spoiled much? I contend that if they appreciate it, it’s not spoiling!

Daddy’s Boys

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, Uncategorized

We have had only two cats for about a year now. We used to always have more. They have both claimed my husband. I am catless. They don’t dislike me. They just treat me more like a roommate.

The little black and white guy is Morty aka Mortimer Kitten. Makes him sound like a Beatrix Potter character. He is tiny, about 8 lbs. He is a little chunky right now so his winter weight may be closer to 9 lbs. He is also 8 years old. He is a playful kitten who is shy around most people, except his daddy. It’s not so much that he’s afraid of people. It’s more that he has no use for them. He apparently finds them to be filthy since he washes furiously after anyone touches him. Morty finds me to be one step up from most people. I am to be tolerated.

We also have Orange Kitty. He is 3 years old and weighs in the neighborhood of 18-20 lbs. Although he dwarfs Morty, they are fast friends. They eat, sleep, and play together. Orange Kitty is tolerant of everyone, animals and people alike. If he has a choice he will hangout with daddy or Morty. He particularly likes to sit beside daddy in his armchair and watch tennis.

I’m not going to look for a cat for myself though. It’s only a matter of time before someone drops one off near our house. This happens every few years. Then we will have room to keep the next foundling.

Challenges with Zeke

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

I bought Zekie’s dog license today. He is on the books as mine!

This picture was taken back when he still had one fang. He broke the last one off on Valentines Day when we were away for five hours even though I had given him his Prozac and a Valium. I guess I will never be able to call him White Fang. That would require at least one fang.

I tried the Easy Walk harness on Zekie. It does help me have more control when he is lunging but it has had no effect on stopping the growling, barking and lunging at other walkers or joggers and cyclists.

On the last walk I tried a muzzle and also had limited success with changing his behavior. He does better walking with my husband. My husband can warn him ahead of time, “Zeke, be good.” And then Zeke will walk by people with only a slight growl under his breath. This is no answer for me though.

Next I will try going somewhere that we can see people walking from a distance. If he still reacts, we will have to move farther away until I can get him to sit and behave. Then I can give treats and praise. We will try moving closer on subsequent outings. And I will work on general obedience so Zeke will acknowledge me as being in charge, thereby lessening his need to threaten people.

I also purchased some morsels that have four different calming herbs in them. Hoping these will take the edge off. I have weaned Zeke off the Prozac. It didn’t seem to be helping much and he won’t be needing to transition to a new home so we didn’t see the point in keeping him on the meds. So no need to worry about herbal and prescription interactions.

Wish me luck, I think I’ll need it!

Zekie, My Pit Bull!?

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This is Zeke, aka Zekie. He is my pit bull. You don’t think he looks like a pit bull? Well, he’s not exactly a pit bull.

You see, I really wanted to get a pit bull. My plan was to get one and train it to use for my therapy dog work. I wanted to help improve their image and also show that they were a member of our family of dogs and cats. I hadn’t quite convinced everyone in the family to proceed with this idea but I was wearing them down.

Then along came Zekie. He was transported from a local shelter to our house for fostering and was supposed to be a sheltie. Not only is he not a pit bull, he’s not a sheltie either.

Just what is he? He’s my type of dog, that’s what. He has separation anxiety. He has no fangs left, having broken the last two off on his crate since he’s been here. That was on Prozac twice a day. I’m weaning him off of that since it doesn’t help much and he’s not going anywhere. He is leash reactive, barking and lunging at other walkers. I have purchased an Easy Walk harness to see how that goes. He jumps up, mauling us when we return home. Still working on this.

Despite these behaviors, Zeke is my type of dog. He is loving and thinks he is a lap dog. Ironically, he loves everyone who comes in our house. It’s only people he meets while out walking that bring out his nasty side. He is fairly obedient. He loves to give kisses. He is grateful for any and all attention.

So although Zekie is not actually a pit bull, he came into my life and I love him so he is here to stay. The pit bull will have to wait until another time in the future. I foresee Zeke keeping me busy for the next couple of years. You will just have to humor me as I refer to my pit bull Zeke!

Zekie!

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, ,

Time for a Zekie update. As long as one of us is home, he is a happy boy. Today was unseasonably warm for February in Ohio, 71 degrees. Of course after the snows melted off and then the rains came, it is quite muddy. See evidence above!

Zeke was quite happy running through the mud and playing with all the dogs on such a fine day.

He even took a turn bringing the frisbee back to daddy. All this running through the mud means that the boys came in the house one by one and got rinsed off in the bathtub and then dried with a towel. Zeke is so good. He jumps in the tub on command and stands while I rinse him off. He then jumps out of the tub and onto a towel on command then waits while I dry him.

It was so nice today and I was off work so we then went for a walk at a nearby state park. The water was still frozen but the weather was warm. It was interesting to see the patterns the ice made as the thawing began.

Zekie got to spend his first time off leash today. And he did great. He was nearly as proud as I was! I thought it unlikely that he would go very far since he becomes traumatized if he is not with one of us at all times. After a bit of freedom I leashed him back up so as not to give him too much temptation on his first time off leash with us. Two of our other dogs can be loose and are very reliable while alas, our greyhound must be leashed always. See how happy this outing made Zeke in the brief video below.

So as you can see, Zeke is doing well!

Zekie!

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, ,

Just a quick update on foster boy Zeke. He is a happy pup.

He still has separation anxiety but it is manageable on the Prozac. If you don’t mind a dog with sizable amounts of drool in his crate when you come home. The crate is now more or less where it was when we left. Mondays are always the worst after I go back to work for the week. It’s a good thing I don’t wear expensive clothes (although this is part of the reason why) because Zeke jumps and paws at me for a while when I return. Dogs are far superior to nice clothes any day!

But the rest of the time he is a joy. He becomes a 43 lb. lap pup for about 10 minutes every day. We both enjoy this. On Sunday last week, he got to go to grandma’s for a visit along with Baxter and Cassius. The girls, Nikki and Shelby, stayed home because they were having a turn to go away the next evening to visit at the nursing home. Zeke was well behaved and listened. We had our 10 minutes of lap time there because I suspect he was feeling insecure.

Yesterday, hubby and I took Baxter, Cassius, Shelby, and Zeke for a walk on the Hike and Bike Trail and there were no incidents with other hikers. Of course this may have been because it was 15 degrees and snowy, so there were no other hikers! 😉 Hey, you seek progress where you can find it.

And last but not least Zeke has wormed his way into my heart enough that I call him Zekie!

Christmas, Gone To the Dogs

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, ,

Do you buy Christmas presents for your dogs? We never used to but it brings them such joy to be included that we do now. Cassius knows he heard a squeaker somewhere! He was running around looking for the squeaky toy when this photo was taken.

Cassius also got a new jolly ball for Christmas. They are actually sold for horses but when you find a toy that might hold up to the jaws of steel, you go for it.

Cassius is a good sport so let’s Zeke have a turn with his new toy.

Baxter got, what else? A new Frisbee!

Shelby, never one to lay down on the job, supervises all the holiday proceedings and goings on.

Nikki mostly stays out of the way. When the big dogs are excited, things can get crazy. A petite girl could get run over!

And Zeke the wonder dog is happy to be a part of it all. He is a very nice dog. He joins in playing and chasing toys with our crew and barely bats an eye. No snarling or altercations, just smiles all around.

Time with Zeke

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, Uncategorized,

We are learning more about Zeke as time goes by. Such as, he loves spending time outside as long as he is with the other dogs and knows we are nearby. He especially loves the snow, burying his nose in it and snuffling for what I don’t know. Maybe for the sheer joy of it.

We have also learned that he is not above stealing food from the counter and eating all of it. But only when we are not around. For this the fault lies with us for allowing the opportunity.

Zeke continues to move his crate across the room when there are no humans at home. And drool. The weather has not been conducive to walking so no updates on that front.

Even so, we are enjoying our time with Zeke. He is a fine dog.

Update on Zeke the Foster Dog

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

It’s time for an update on our foster dog, Zeke. I have had people inquire about how he is doing which is encouraging for me. Although I can’t say Zeke is over his issues and acting like a normal dog, I can report that he is showing improvement. To what do I attribute this? Two things. Number one, time and consistency. Number two, drugs! The vet prescribed Prozac and occasional Valium for him.

The Valium seems to have little effect so I have only used it twice. Both times he still “drove” his crate across the dining room. When in his crate and we both go away he apparently flings himself against it so hard trying to get out that it moves across the room. We find it up against a piece of furniture or the wall where it was impossible to go any farther. If you’ll remember, he also drools buckets in the crate with standing puddles of it inside the crate and some flung out while we are gone. One time he cracked off part of a fang. He only had two fangs when we got him and now we know why. The Valium has no effect on these episodes so I probably won’t give him any more. Luckily for Zeke, the times when my husband and I are both gone at the same time are rare.

By the way, Zeke is fine in his crate when we are home. We feed the dogs in their crates and then they have a rest time in the crate right afterward for a short time. Zeke also sleeps in a crate and is fine. It’s the being alone that’s the problem. I felt the need to crate him when we leave the house though because I suspect that he would jump through a window to come look for us. The first three weeks I would crate him when I left for work because my husband was still upstairs in bed. (I leave at 6:00 am so who could blame him.) Zeke would do some minor barking and lots of drooling. So, I got brave and left him loose in the house because my husband was still home, just upstairs. Zeke has been good as gold. He has not tried to jump through the window and has been laying down and being good as gold at these times. Someday I may get brave enough to let him loose in the house when we both go away. Not anytime soon though. Because he has been known to knock pans and containers off the kitchen counters and stove. We also need to make sure there will be no incidents between him and the other animals. They get along fine but there is always the possibility of a misunderstanding occurring and the results of that could be disastrous.

Zeke was barking in his crate at night at random at first. Nothing hysterical, just attention seeking. We moved his crate beside our bed and now he doesn’t make a peep. Usually I would not allow the dog to control us like this but these are extenuating circumstances. Zeke needs to gain confidence and calmness to overcome his various problems.

Luckily Zeke is easy to love. He is affectionate and loving. He likes to snuggle and sit on your lap. You better have a big lap because he probably weighs about 45 lbs. now! He has a pleasant temperament and is fairly obedient when given commands. He listens when you talk to him and seems to understand a great deal, given his reactions to conversations.

More on other Zeke behaviors soon!