Tag Archives: foster dogs

Foster Dog Zeke, Day 5

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

Needy Zeke laying on my foot.

I knew things with Zeke would not be smooth sailing all the way. No dog is perfect and as time goes by little quirks always come out. 

Zeke appears to have mild separation anxiety. I knew that every time one of us left the house and came back, even for 5 minutes, he would jump all over us. He is so ecstatic to see us that you would think we had been gone for days. 

Well today Zeke was alone for the entire afternoon. I came home and let the dogs out of their crates. Zeke’s chest and front legs were covered with drool. After putting the dogs outside and letting them back in, Zeke drank a large amount of water, and then repeatedly launched himself at me for affection. I ignored him and went about my business so as not to reward this wild behavior. He then launched himself to stand on our cherry dining room table where I was sorting mail. I’m afraid this did elicit a yell from me of “What are you doing, get down!!!” I’m only human. I was shocked rather than angry though. So I put him back outside, then let him back in to start again. Things went much better this time and he calmed down after a bit. 

I still think Zeke is a great dog. He probably didn’t have these problems before he was turned into the shelter and went through losing his home and family. With a little love and kindness he will work through this. 

I do want to caution against just repeatedly telling an anxious dog that it’s ok. Once, so they hear that your voice is calm, is fine. If you say over and over that’s it’s ok, the dog may think that you are telling him that his fear is ok. Be careful what you are reinforcing. 

Being anxious is tiring!

New Foster Dog!

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,


New foster dog Zeke got here an hour ago. I would say he is used to being in a home. He discovered the arm of the chair within minutes. 

He has met the cats and was unimpressed. He met our other dogs in the pasture, on leash of course, and that went very well. I think he will be spending time there and playing within a couple of days. No accidents in the house so far. All in all, a very respectful guest so far.

Only one item of note. We are part of, and foster for, Northeast Ohio Shetland Sheepdog Rescue. And after looking at this dog and watching him move around for the past hour, I suspect that he has very little, if any, sheltie in him. Maybe a little Collie. If I had to guess I would say he is mostly some kind of Spitz breed. Mostly likely American Eskimo, or Samoyed. Quite possibly some Chow. 

That’s ok. We love them all and like to try different breeds. And he appears to have some of the best type of dog in him, which is the Good Dog. 

A Tired Dog Is a Good Dog 

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, Thoughts On Life, ,

This is the face of Baxter. He is tired after a day with frisbeeing and a long hike. What a precious face it is. He is a high energy dog. But he is all tuckered out and peaceful. 

This is Cassius the greyhound. He is also tired out and peaceful after sharing all that activity with Baxter. Cassius is also a very high energy dog which is not typical for a greyhound. 

This is Shelby. Turns out I don’t have any pictures of Shelby sleeping because she rarely does sleep during the day. She is too busy running our home. But she does it in a calm and well behaved, if controlling, manner. 

Our dogs are generally well behaved and pleasant. At least that’s what people tell me and I tend to agree. Just like all “kids” though, you can tell when they’ve been cooped up inside with insufficient exercise. They get barkier (more than normal) and they tend to get underfoot and become pesky. 

Then we must play what we call “the indoor games”. This involves one particular toy that stands on end and daddy kicks it down the center hall of the house. Here they are waiting for the kick. Whoever gets the toy first wins. They shake it for a while and then return it to daddy for the next round. There is never any fighting and everyone knows the rules. Mostly Shelby wants to bark at the other two to tell them how to behave. Once in a while she wins too by getting the toy first. And this game involves LOTS of barking by all dogs involved and those not involved bark too. Foster girl Kammie likes to hide beside the couch and bark at the players. Things become so loud with the barking and yipping that we now wear ear plugs during the game.

The point here is that a tired dog is a good and happy dog. If our dogs were not tired, I have no doubt that they would find other ways to expend that energy. They would likely resort to chewing, snapping, endless pacing and other sorts of troublesome behavior. 

We have high energy dogs. Those are the kind we prefer. But along with choosing that type of dog, comes the responsibility of filling that need of expending the energy.  If not, you are headed for trouble. I fully believe that in the wrong home, our dogs would not be well behaved. They would be trouble. 

That is the case with most of the foster dogs we have had. We tend to specialize in fostering the troublesome ones. They turn out to be wonderful dogs once they have some structure, behavioral boundaries and lots of exercise. 

So remember, a good dog is a tired dog! 

Kammie Comes Home

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, ,

This is our foster girl Kammie the sheltie. She came to us in April. She ended up at a local shelter because her owner had died. A volunteer there took pity on her and took her home for a couple weeks because she was so sad and sickly, not adjusting to kennel life well. After a couple weeks on antibiotics for possible kennel cough, she was transferred to us at Northeast Ohio Shetland Sheepdog Rescue. A wonderful volunteer transported her to me since she was coming from a fair distance away.

Kammie is an easy dog to have around. She is 8 years old and quiet most of the time. She spends the majority of her time indoors curled up in a corner sleeping. She loves to spend time outside with our other dogs. She takes delight in barking at the others and playing referee during games of frisbee.

You may wonder why this beautiful girl is still here. First she needed more antibiotics for a respiratory problem, a possible relapse of the kennel cough. At the time Kammie arrived at the shelter, she weighed 59 lbs. She should probably weigh about 35 lbs. By the time we got her, she was down to 54 lbs. Now  she weighs in at 42 lbs! Yay Kammie! She was diagnosed with low thyroid. She receives pills for this twice a day, hence her new svelte shape . 

It was then discovered that Kammie had a bladder infection. She received antibiotics for this, to no avail. We tried a different antibiotic. Still no luck. At this point a culture was grown to see what antibiotic would work. There was only one oral kind that would work. After all of this, the poor girl still had blood in her urine. At this point the vet requested an ultrasound to look for another cause of these urinary troubles. It turns out that  Kammie has 3 tumors in her bladder. Two look to be malignant and the other is likely benign. So poor Kammie has terminal bladder cancer. She was not eating as well anymore and not as active.

She now takes a medicine made for humans that is an analgesic and has the side effect of slowing tumor growth. She was not eating as well and was more lethargic.  She has definitely perked up since she has been on this medication. She eats all her food again and is back to rowdy playing . 

The vet diagnosed her with a probable 3 to 6 more months. Kammie will live out the rest of her life with us and as a ward of NEOSSR. Even if we found someone who was willing to adopt her, we don’t think it would be fair for her to have to transition to another home at this late stage of her life. So this is Kammie’s last stop. She is home.

Good News for Nikki 

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

It turned out to be a good day for Nikki one day a couple of weeks ago .  I should say it turned out to be a good day for me. 

I thought Nikki was 11 years old now . She  is a failed foster. She  was  a foster dog but we decided to adopt her. I was going through my dog health records file and found Nikki ‘ s intake information from when she came into rescue. It turns out that she is only 9 years old! We get so many dogs into our rescue ,  at last count we have fostered over 45 just at our house,  I must have gotten her age confused with one of the other dogs .  She is one of the few dogs that we did get records with so we do know her age.

Just like Christmas ! We will get more years with Nikki than we thought ! 

Tales of a Foster Dog

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

Foster Dog-Kammie

This is our foster dog Kammie. She is 8 years old and has been with us about 4 months now. She came from a large city kennel in our area to our sheltie rescue. Her owner died and she was taken to the kennel. Shelties generally do not kennel well because  most of them are too sensitive. Kammie went to one of the kennel’s foster homes so she could get out of that environment. With the stress of being there she had developed a green nasal discharge that she was being treated for as possible kennel cough. From the report I received, it sounded as if she did well in the foster home. She got along with another dog and a child. She was not eating well but I didn’t consider this to be much of a problem.  The kennel noted her weight upon arrival at 59 lbs. She was down to 53 lbs. when I got her. I estimate her ideal weight should be 35 lbs.

I actually have a potential home in mind for her. Kammie would be perfect for one of our previous adopters that is ready for another dog. She has had a string of annoying small things that keep going wrong with her that have prevented me from calling about her new home.

First she still had green discharge from her nose. I gave antibiotics for that. We are working on getting her thyroid hormone levels under control. They were too low which explains a few things. She gets pills twice a day for that. She has already lost a few more pounds so that is going well. Her blood work also showed problems with her liver. We ran it again a couple weeks later and it was better after her various treatments and time to de-stress.  Her blood work also showed abnormal kidney function. We discovered a urinary infection and got more antibiotics. They didn’t work so we did a culture and got different antibiotics. Thank goodness for my pill shooter gun.Things seem to be improving.

Kammie and Peonies

Soon we will retest the thyroid levels and check for kidney function again. The vet said it is possible that these kidney numbers are just normal for her. Then…if all goes well she can get a dental and have a benign cyst removed. And once she heals up… then she will be ready for her new home.

Luckily, Kammie is an easy dog. She barks a little but aside from that she mostly just lays around. She comes up to us for petting but if we don’t oblige, she just goes and finds a quiet corner. She does like to spend time outside with the other dogs. I am glad to have the pleasure of being a part of her life.

Sweetie Goes Home

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, , ,

Sweetie

It was a rough weekend. Why? Because our foster dog, Sweetie, went to a wonderful new home. She is a busy, driven girl, who is a challenge at all times. She was our kind of dog. She spent her time following whichever of us was moving. Our every act needed to be supervised. If we sat still, she made up her own activities. Chewing on daddy’s shoe, picking up bits of bark from firewood to chew and scatter around the house, snuffling cats. One time she even chewed on a corner of the coffee table in front of us as if to say “I can’t help myself, I’m bored, can’t you do something”. Most people would probably say Sweetie was a challenge and just too much. We find this type of dog to be rewarding and full of character.

Sweetie

Although letting her go was hard, one of the hardest for me in a few years, we are comforted by the fact that she is going to a wonderful home that we think will suit her perfectly. Sweetie will be living with a younger couple that hikes and camps and wants to take Sweetie on these excursions with them. Additionally, the wife works from home so Sweetie  will rarely be alone. We couldn’t have asked for a home more suitable for her. All this activity and companionship will give her a fulfilling life. It is a match made in heaven.

So although I cried for some time after Sweetie left, I know she is in the best place for her. She is an only dog and can have her fill of attention unlike at our house. She has a cat sibling and at some point, plans to go to a dog park. She had a good connection with her adopters and they obviously fell in love with her. Still, it is Sweetie. She lived in our home and was a part of our lives for five months. Perhaps she will be one of the ones that I pretend is still my dog and that she is just staying with someone else. Although sending them to new homes makes my heart hurt, it makes me feel content at the same time.

Good bye little girl. I know you will have a good life. Momma still loves you. As does your new momma. You are a blessed little girl.

Sweetie

Maizie Remembered

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

Maizie

Maizie was one of our forever foster dogs for Northeast Ohio Shetland Sheepdog Rescue. She passed away last year but I thought this tribute to her was worth running again. The thought of her smile still brings me joy.

Dear Person Who Abandoned this Senior Dog,

Maizie was found by the pound and when they sent you a letter to come and get her, you did not come. She spent 30 days in the pound kennel waiting for you before the efforts of two rescue groups brought her to our house as a foster dog. Today we discovered that she has kidney failure and will live out the rest of her life with us however long that may be. What lesson am I supposed to learn from this? Perhaps to have compassion for you and not be judgemental? I will work on that.

I know that I have been blessed to know this dog who is sweet, loving, and grateful for every bit of attention. She smiles at us constantly and is one of the happiest dogs I have seen. Occassionally she will try to play and has a small, joyful hop to her step. Our lives have been enriched by knowing this kind dog.

My dreams will be sweeter knowing that I have helped and loved this girl. May you be able to sleep at all.

Maizie sleeping with our cat Lacey
Maizie sleeping with our cat Lacey

 

Dog # 356

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, ,

Sweetie

Time for a new foster dog at our house! This is one of the longest stretches that we have gone without one. It had been around three months since, Blitz, our last one, got adopted. This is Sweetie. She is a  35 lb sheltie that the vet said is no more than three years old. She has been at our house for a week and a half now and she is very sweet, if a bit needy.

Sweetie came from a local dog pound and was adopted directly by one of our previous adopters . She got spayed, brought up to date on her shots, and was treated for an ear infection. She had a couch to sit on, humans to pet her and walk her. She was living the good life. Unfortunately she had one trait that was not very  sweet. She liked to threaten the other resident dog in the home and attack him when he came too close to “her” human on the couch. To their credit the family gave it a go and consulted two private trainers and also asked our rescue for advice which they tried. It was a Herculean effort. But things didn’t improve very much and in the end they feared harm would come to the other dog they had for several years before Sweetie came on the scene.  So Sweetie came into our rescue and the family will wait for a more mellow dog to come through our rescue. This is the way it goes. Not every dog can fit with every family.

And since our house seems to specialize in challenging, dominant dogs, she came here. I have come to realize that not only do my husband and I have experience with rehabilitating problem dogs, but our own dogs have experience too and are a part of the process. The pack we currently have is very well adjusted and help to show new dogs the ropes and what is to be expected.

Baxter Shelby

Baxter and Shelby in particular are very good at acclimating the new dogs. So I  knew if Sweetie got threatening beside me on the couch, I would just remove her to the floor. Sitting with us on the furniture is a privilege and if you don’t behave, you don’t get the privilege. And if she threatened our dogs at other times I knew they would handle it. Baxter especially is very benevolent. He never starts anything but if other dogs threaten him in his home, first he will hold his ground, then if the other dog keeps at he doesn’t use his mouth but pins the other dog to the ground with his legs. It is actually impressive to see. Shelby won’t take any guff either. First she curls her lip at the instigator to warn him off. If this is not effective she will usually do it a second time as if to say “didn’t you hear me”? After that she will rush the offending dog possibly nipping them or running them over. Neither Baxter nor Shelby will do this without cause. They usually look to see if I am accepting of their behavior as well.

They have had to do this with Sweetie a couple times so far. She seems to avoid them now although earlier this evening I saw her try to play with Shelby. The two look very similar. It is hard to tell them apart from certain angles.

As I have gotten to know Sweetie I have discovered that she really isn’t an aggressive dog.  She is insecure and needy. She is looking to see where she fits in and wondering what she can get away with. I have noticed that she frantically seeks petting. I just ignore her until she lays down so she learns to calm herself. As she finds  her way, some of these behaviors will fade and she will become better adjusted.

Sweetie’s name does fit her. She is sweet and affectionate and cuddly. Though I  think the best bet for her would be to be an only dog or to go to a very experienced multi-dog home.

Sweetie

Northeast Ohio Shetland Sheepdog Rescue dog number  356.

Apathy Warrior

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, Thoughts On Life, ,

20150523_095019

I decided to title this piece Apathy Warrior but it could just as easily be titled Having a Melt Down. It’s a fine line. I suppose one leads to the other. This is my journey.

Above you see Sassy and me. Sassy, affectionately referred to as Miss Sassy Pants, sometimes as Miss Bossy Pants. I love this little girl. She is filled with spunk and character, the likes of which you won’t often see. She is one of our sheltie rescue dogs that got returned last week. I thought her new home was a great fit. But apparently not good enough. Due to a behavioral incident she was returned. I find it suspicious that her “family” is now going to be doing long term travelling. That is neither here nor there. The policy of our rescue, as is the policy of most rescues, is that no matter the circumstance, we take our dogs back. So back she came.

As it worked out, she needed to go to another home for fostering, rather than ours. In the photo I am waiting to turn Sassy over to her new foster parents. She figured out she was going somewhere else and cried during the drive to the transfer spot. Hence I cried during the drive to the transfer spot. Once I turned the car off to wait for the other person, Sassy became nearly hysterical. She cranked up the crying and bit the seat a couple times to displace her hysteria. I pulled her onto my lap to wait and you can see she is anxiously looking out the car window.  Now be aware that the foster home she is going to is a wonderful place. The couple is loving and two of the finest people I know. I am proud to call them friends. But still. This is one of my babies. Every dog that comes through our rescue is one of my own. I deal with their adoptions by pretending that they are still my dogs and are just going to stay somewhere else. That someone else is just keeping them for me. And that really is the case. You never stop loving them. How fortunate I am to have such a large family!

Sassy

When it was time to move Sassy to the other car, she shut down. She knew she was getting ditched again. I bent over the seat to say good bye to her and she was non-reactive. She looked straight ahead, wouldn’t make eye contact with me, and didn’t move. This was her way of dealing. So I just left. I thought it was easier  for her in the long run rather than me making a fuss. Thank goodness she was going to stay in loving, caring place. But she is still my little girl.

And as I drove away, that’s when the tears turned into meltdown. How could I live in such a world where there are dogs without homes and people don’t want them? And the ones that come into rescues and shelters are the lucky ones. There are so many more that are nameless and unrecognized and suffering out in the world. I am really not cut out to live in this place my mind said. A world where people kill even each other, that is filled with hate and violence and unrest. We should have compassion for each other and not do each other harm and intentionally cause pain. If we can’t do this for our fellow humans, what chance do God’s poor creatures have? And then I saw the road kill. First, a dead rabbit on the road. A few miles later a dead opossum. I have noticed road kill abounds in the spring when the animals start moving about. No one can have a meltdown like a rescue worker in the throes of emotion. Our very way of life, driving automobiles, causes death I thought.

As I got nearer to home I told myself you really need to get a grip. This is not good. You are not functioning well. You can wallow in this or you can do something about it. So I pondered, what can I do about this situation? How can I make it better? How can I be an instrument of change? Well, I knew that I was making a difference for these dogs. One of Sassy’s new foster parents said that at least she got returned to us and didn’t end up in a shelter out West where we would have had no idea what happened to her. See, I told you these were good folks! I can save the next one, and the next one, and…

By deciding to do something, anything, I became an Apathy Warrior. I will not tolerate the way things are. I will take action to try to make the world a better place. For these dogs, and for those people I encounter as I go on my life’s journey. When my daughter was in high school and working at a fast food drive-thru I told her, you never know if you might change someone’s entire day by smiling at them. A kind word or gesture could change the course of their day. I am fortunate to have a daughter that actually listens to me and repeated that phrase back a few years later. And so I issue this challenge to you. Will you also become an Apathy Warrior? We can have an Apathy Army and we just might change the world.

Sassy in a Sunbeam