Dog Foster Mom

Chloe Was Adopted!

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 01:57:00 +0000

Chloe started out as a stray in a small animal control shelter. As a five year old pit bull, she didn't have much hope of being saved. The shelter was getting ready to close for the Thanksgiving holiday, and all the remaining dogs were going to be euthanized. That's when the volunteers from Pound Puppies Volunteers of St. Louis jumped into action. They posted pictures and bios of the dog on Facebook, and put out the word via e-mail to many other rescuers. Those rescuers also shared the word via social media, and the pictures of the dogs kept showing up on my Facebook feed. I watched the pictures of these dogs show up for days. I picked out the one I would save if I could (a small all-white pittie girl), but I was going out of town for the holidays and knew that I wasn't going to be able to help. The pleas for help continued, and many different rescuers stepped up to pull dogs out to safety. My favorite was pulled, and several others, until only one was left. For several hours I saw more posts asking for help with this final dog, but no help came. The deadline to save her arrived, and still they'd received no offers to help. I didn't have the room for another foster, and I knew that pitties are hard to place, so if I pulled her she might be here awhile. Still, all those pleas for help had me cheering for this dog, and when no one else stepped forward, I called and said if they could find temporary foster care over the holiday, I'd take the last dog when I returned. That is how Chloe came to stay with me.

Chloe

Chloe turned out to be a wonderful dog. She was house-trained and was great with other dogs and with the cats. She immediately became my shadow, and spent every moment either on the couch next to me, or rolling on her back in the grass. She slept near my feet every night, and made a funny "woo-woo" sound whenever she was excited. Unfortunately Chloe tested positive for heartworms, so she had to undergo some painful treatment over several months before she could be adopted. But then her treatment was completed, she started going to adoption events, and last week a family saw her at PetSmart and fell in love. Chloe is now adopted and is doing great in her new home. She's come a long way from being the stray running out of time at a shelter. She finally has the Happy Ever After that she deserves!

My Ziggy Rant

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 00:35:00 +0000

As most of you know, I’ve been fostering Ziggy for two and a half years now. It is more due to a feeling of responsibility (I chose to pull him from the shelter where he was going to be euthanized as a puppy, so I am responsible for his life) than it is because I like having him here. In fact, most people know I would gladly give Ziggy to anyone who would take care of him. I’ve even been known to offer cash rewards to people to take him. Everyone thinks that I love him and I do, but many people also think I’m happy that he’s with me. I’m not. I try so hard to get him a home because he doesn’t fit here and it’s not fair to him or to me that he’s been here for two years. So today, I’m going to not worry about who might read this or what they might think; I’m just going to take this opportunity to whine and feel sorry for myself. I try not to do that often, but after the news from the vet a few days ago, I just can’t help myself.

Puppy Ziggy

For the past two years, I’ve tried to do what the experts suggest when it comes to getting a dog adopted. I’ve promoted Ziggy at every turn, even creating and maintaining his website and Facebook page, and buying him business cards to advertise around town. I’ve tried to stay positive and share all the good things about Ziggy. I’ve tried to make him more adoptable through basic training, working with various professional trainers, earning his CGC, learning tricks, and participating in dog sports. I’ve been honest with potential adopters about his issues, but I haven’t dwelt on them excessively. I know this is true because I constantly hear “I can’t believe he’s not adopted yet” – mostly from people who don’t know him well. I just want to shout “Then you take him!!” But I know they have other dogs, or cats, or children, or breed restrictions, like most of the rest of the world. The truth is, as much as I want him to be, Ziggy is not really adoptable. And since I’m tired of always talking about the good side of Ziggy, today I’m going to break all the rules and tell you about the bad side of Ziggy, and about the reasons that he isn’t adopted yet, and probably never will be.

Basic Hurdles

1. Ziggy is a pit bull – the breed is banned many places.

2. Ziggy is deaf – this makes it more challenging to communicate with him.

3. Ziggy needs to be only pet – most experienced owners have other pets.

4. Ziggy needs an experienced owner due to his behavior issues (see below).

5. Ziggy needs a home with no children – he is not child friendly.

Behavior Issues

1. Ziggy guards food, water, bones, and toys from others. With training, he no longer guards from me, but still guards from all dogs and cats.

2. Ziggy is mouthy, especially when excited. He knows better with me, but sometimes with new people he forgets and tries to grab their hands.

3. Ziggy is a counter surfer. No matter how much we work on this, he still steals food off of countertops whenever he can.

4. Ziggy is demanding. He barks loudly in an attempt to get his way.

5. Ziggy is chewy. He has to stay crated to keep him from chewing furniture, shoes, boxes, TV remotes, or whatever else he can get his mouth on.

Not to mention his drinking problems.

Medical Issues

1. Ziggy has food allergies – he is allergic to almost everything under the sun (and probably a few things in outer space too).

2. Ziggy has grass allergies – he gets red and itchy after lying in the grass, walking on grass, or looking at grass.

"Where's my benadryl?"

And this week at the vet I found out that Ziggy also has a bad knee joint which has ended his agility classes. And when the vet told me that he should avoid stairs and that he needed to be on a glucosamine supplement for the rest of his life, she was really confused when I started laughing hysterically. Because glucosamine supplements aren’t expensive, but it was just one more thing that Ziggy had wrong with him – one more thing that would make him harder to adopt.

My options have not changed. I can keep trying to find him a home, or I can have him euthanized. Please don’t judge me for whatever I decide unless you take Ziggy yourself! Some of you, especially those who rescue, will see the wisdom in giving up and having him euthanized, not only for my own sanity, but also so I can save many, many other dogs in his place. I have other dogs, and I have cats, and he lives in a crate most of his life because he can’t be out around the other animals. It’s not much of a life, and with such a slim chance of him ever being adopted, it’s not much of a future. But those of you who love Ziggy, don’t worry, I’m not at that point yet. I think of that option almost every time I think of Ziggy, which is often, but the truth is I do love him, and I don’t think he is suffering, so I’m not ready or willing to make that decision. I’ll keep doing what I can to make his life happy, and even if he can no longer go on bike rides with me or do agility, we’ll find other ways to spend time together. In the past I’ve contacted many sanctuaries about Ziggy, with no luck, and no other foster home or rescue group has been able or willing to take Ziggy either. So for now I’ll keep trying to find him a home, and keep sharing all the positive things about Ziggy. But I’ll let you in on an inside joke (is it an inside joke if the only person who knows it is me?) Every time I see “Ziggy-the-adoptable-dog” on Facebook, my mind always changes it to “Ziggy-the-unadoptable-dog”. For some reason, that makes me smile.

Please pray harder, Ziggy!

Introducing Scamp

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 03:14:00 +0000

Koko's picture on CraigsList

]scamp: noun

1. an unscrupulous and often mischievous person; rascal; rogue; scalawag.

2. a playful, mischievous, or naughty young person; upstart.

Her name used to be Koko. When I saw her picture on Craigslist, I fell in love with her cute scruffy face and her big smile. I immediately contacted the owner and offered to take her as a foster dog. I expected that the owner would have several offers for this adorable dog, so I prepared myself for disappointment. But instead, I got a call from the owner, and she had only had a couple of people contact her about Koko, and those people had not followed through, so I was the lucky winner! At least that was how I thought of it at the time. I immediately shared her picture with anyone who would look, and anxiously waited for several hours before I was able to get her. I had not even met her yet, and I was in love.

Koko’s owner had a large family and due to losing their home, they had to move into a small rental property with no options to keep their dog. They loved her and wanted what was best for her, and I assured them I would take great care of her and find her the perfect home. I had no idea how she would do with other dogs – she had lived with an older dog and was said to be good with dogs but an “alpha”. I also had no idea how she would do with cats. I did know she was good with small children, which would help her get adopted. I figured between her perfect size (28 pounds) and cute looks, she’d be a very quick adoption. I should have known better.

Koko’s name was changed to Scamp for a reason. When I first brought her home, everything went great. She was already house-trained and crate-trained. She loved all the other dogs. She did chase the cats, but at least she didn’t try to eat them. More than once I considered keeping her. But I knew that once she settled in, I would start to see more bad habits appear. And appear they did.

I’ve found that Scamp has a very serious behavior problem. It’s found in dogs of all breeds – especially puppies -- but the Terrier breeds in particular seem to have this problem. It’s known as enthusiasm. It can cause uncontrolled joy, and outbursts of energy resulting in running, jumping, or otherwise acting out. I fear it will take months to teach Scamp to stop jumping on me and every other person she meets.

As an experienced dog foster mom and an amateur trainer, I’ve worked with various behavior problems ranging from extremely shy dogs to resource guarders to separation anxiety issues. But no behavior problem is harder for me to work with than enthusiasm. I just can’t bring myself to be stern with dogs who are so darn happy! I know it’s for their own good – most people don’t like dogs who can’t control themselves – but when I see them running and jumping and enjoying life, I just melt. I try not to let them walk all over me (too much) but it’s a constant battle. I see Scamp and I just want to let her throw herself into my arms and lick my face! In fact I admit to teaching her to jump into my arms on cue (with the excuse that I can then teach her to ONLY do it on cue) even though the only reason I did it was because it’s so much fun to have her jump into my arms.

So Scamp may never be well-trained, at least while she’s with me, but I don’t mind. I love her enthusiasm. And when I found that she can jump my six-foot-privacy-fence, a small part of me was relieved that it would make her that much harder to adopt out. Most people don’t want very high energy dogs, and those who do, don’t want a high-energy dog that can escape pretty much any fence out there. So I’ll be taking Scamp to the adoption event this weekend, but if anyone inquires about her, I’m going to be sure to let them know about her fence jumping and other bad habits. Because the truth is, looking back at when I considered myself lucky for getting Koko, I realize now that I wasn’t just the lucky winner, I was the Luckiest Winner There Ever Was. She brightens my days, and although I still haven’t decided that I can keep her forever, I’m going to enjoy every second of fostering her while she is here.

Thor the Dock-Diving Burglar

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Mon, 28 May 2012 20:46:00 +0000

One month ago, I wrote about Thor and how he broke into my house by pushing his way through a perfectly good window screen. I thought about putting bars over all my windows to keep burglars like Thor out, but I did not take such drastic action. And now I regret it.

Thor

My house is built on a hill, and when Thor came in the house via the back window, he was level with the back yard. The windows in the front of the house are at least six or eight feet above the front yard, so there was no need to worry about burglars like Thor -- or so I thought. But when I left Thor and the other dogs in the house and went onto the front porch to change a light bulb, all of a sudden I heard a loud CRASH and then a louder rustling noise. I looked over, and there was Thor. This time, instead of breaking INTO the house, he broke OUT of the house, and ruined yet another window screen in the process. Fortunately he fell into a large evergreen bush and was not injured. In fact, he looked quite proud of himself as he walked up to me. I wonder if he thinks I’m playing hide-and-go-seek with him!

So I’ve learned two things from this. First, I believe Thor would make an excellent Dock Diving champion in the Heavyweight division. And second, I really need to stop leaving windows open when Thor is around.

Update on Noelle

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:24:00 +0000

I haven’t talked much about Noelle recently. She is my deaf, mascara-wearing, elevator-riding, coffee-table-standing, contest-winning, rough-n-tumble dog. Over a year ago, I uploaded a video of her to YouTube that generated disparaging remarks about lazy owners who don’t train their dogs. I have worked diligently since then to train Noelle, and a few weeks ago I made another video of her in the same situation to see if she has shown any improvement.

I am pleased to report that she seems much improved – her intonation is clear, her phrasing (breath between notes) is not as awkward, and the intensity she brings to her performance is brilliant. In my possibly biased opinion, I feel that a dog with Noelle’s vocal talent is rare, and that her training has really paid off over the past year. Wouldn’t you agree?

Cows, Socks, and Flower

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Mon, 21 May 2012 23:10:00 +0000

You may remember my fascination with cows. In fact, when I first moved to the country and ended up with a field full of cows living next door, I had a lot of questions. I've been here over a year now, and finally - FINALLY - I found someone to answer my questions about cows. Thanks to Debbie, a blogger and a cattle rancher in Kansas, who explained to me the reason that Ziggy and my next door neighbors will most likely never be best friends. Debbie recently won the "America's Farmers Farm Mom of the Year" award for 2012. Congratulations Debbie! Be sure to stop by and visit her blog for a look at life on a cattle ranch, and to have all of your cow questions answered.

In addition to learning about cows, I've also been learning more about cats. And to help with my cat education, I brought home two new foster cats a few weeks ago. I met Socks while stopping by my neighbor's house to discuss which animals they were wanting me to rehome. As we stood there talking, a small brown tabby cat came walking straight up to me and began weaving around my legs. I picked her up, and she immediately began purring. I hadn't planned to take home any cats that day, but when I met Socks I just fell in love.

Socks

In addition to Socks, the neighbors pointed out a very small black and white cat who they also wanted to rehome. They had named her Skunk, because she had a white stripe down her back and did somewhat resemble a skunk. However I was concerned about trying to find a home for a cat with the name Skunk - people may think she smelled bad! So I renamed her Flower ("You can call me Flower if you want to!" - name that movie) and brought her home too. She is every bit as sweet as Socks, and she doesn't smell bad at all.

Flower

Update: Since Socks and Flower came to my house a few weeks ago, they've been spayed, vaccinated, microchipped, and all that good stuff, and then they started going to adoption events. Within a week, Flower was adopted and Socks has now moved up to PetSmart where I hope she will quickly be adopted as well.

Ziggy Falls In Love

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:35:00 +0000

I took this picture of Ziggy, and then shared it on his Facebook page to show how excited he was to have reached 300 friends.

But I have to admit that I used some extra motivation to get Ziggy to look so excited. It’s not that he wasn’t excited about having so many friends – really, he’s overjoyed. But to truly see that expression in his face, I had to show him something more concrete than just some numbers on a screen.

There's only one thing that can make Ziggy look this hopeful.

And this goofy!

That one thing – the true way to Ziggy’s heart – is this:

Well, a steak might do it too. Or pretty much any kind of food.

"Can I have a new bone each time I get another 100 friends?!"

If you want to help Ziggy earn another bone, please “like” him on Facebook, and ask your friends to “like” him too!

Kitten Season Strikes Again

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:47:00 +0000

When I first started volunteering with animal rescue, and heard the term “kitten season”, it made me smile. I imagined kittens everywhere – and who doesn’t love adorable, entertaining kittens?! The more experienced volunteers seemed to dread the mention of kitten season, but not me. Kittens are so cute, they are easy to find homes for, and they are a lot of fun! What was there to dread?

Now, after turning down request after request for help with kittens who are going to be euthanized because there are just too many of them – now I too dread kitten season. Seeing a well cared for and happy kitten is fun – seeing dead and dying kittens, not so much. There are many low-cost options to have pets spayed and neutered, to prevent unwanted litters of kittens, but many people don’t know about these programs. I had helped some neighbors get vouchers to have their cats and dogs fixed, and they told me about another neighbor who also had too many cats. I suggested they pass on my name and I would try to get the cats into a shelter to be adopted, and they informed me that would be preferable to the normal method of dealing with too many cats – which is to take them out in the woods and shoot them. So when a friend of the neighbor showed up with a medium sized dog crate that was full of cats, I just said I’d take all of them, even though I had no idea what I was going to do with them. They said there were adults and kittens in the crate. I asked how many, and they had no idea. They also told me about three more cats that they planned to keep, none of which were fixed and one of whom is pregnant and should have more kittens any day. We made arrangements to get them spay/neuter vouchers for those cats as well, and I’m sure I’ll end up with the new kittens once they are weaned as well. Did you know that a momma cat can get pregnant while she is still nursing her previous litter? It is no surprise that so many cats and kittens are being killed each day due to an overpopulation of cats. Rescues and shelters can only do so much, but until people stop allowing their pets to have unwanted babies, there will always be more kittens than we can save.
So enough preaching – now in case you’re wondering how many cats turned out to be in the carrier – well, I was wondering too! I tried to count them, but they were lying on top of each other and it was hard to see them all. So I took them to my friend Bev’s house so she could deworm them and put on flea medication and give the sickest kittens a vitamin shot. While she was working so hard to help these cats, I left and went to lunch with my mom. I still feel guilty about that! But after lunch I called Bev and asked the question I had wanted to know – how many cats were there in that one medium-sized crate?

Bev told me there were four adults (two male, two female) and nine kittens. And she said it just like that – like it was no big deal at all. “NINE kittens?!”, I asked. Surely I had not heard correctly. But yes, nine kittens was the correct answer. And suddenly I found myself right in the middle of Kitten Season. The local shelter was kind enough to take three of the adult cats, and I’ll keep the mom and nine kittens at my house until they’re big enough to be adopted. I haven’t named any of the kittens yet, mostly because I haven’t had time to think of nine kitten names that go together, but also because I have no idea if they are males or females. It’s tough to tell with five-week-old kittens! Kittens must be at least eight weeks and weigh at least two pounds before they can be spayed/neutered, and that must happen before they can be adopted. So it will be at least three more weeks before the nine kittens are ready to go to the shelter. In the meantime, I’m enjoying cute and playful kittens, while bemoaning the huge mess that kittens make. I’ve had to turn down several more requests for help with kittens in the past few days, so if you too would like to foster some adorable kittens until they’re old enough to be adopted, please contact me!

A very patient mom feeds some of her nine kittens.

The kittens are starting to eat softened solid food.

This is one of the runts of the litter.

This one has a dirty face after eating/bathing in canned food.

The kittens are so small and still have blue eyes!

I think this one is glaring at me for interrupting playtime.

Irresistible!

Skittles the Micro Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:44:00 +0000

A month ago, I received an inquiry on Skittles, my foster Papillon. The inquiry came from Jen, a woman who lives in Louisiana. Usually I don't consider out of state applications, because if the adoption doesn't work out and the adopter decides they don't want to bother getting the dog back to me, the dog ends up in a shelter somewhere very far away, and may not have a happy ending. But every once in awhile I decide it is worth it to take a chance on an out of state adoption, and so far those adoptions have all worked out great. In this case, Jen had an easy time convincing me to give her a shot. Not only is she a professional dog trainer, but she also has family in my area and visits often, so she should be able to bring Skittles back to me without a problem if it became necessary. The main reason that I agreed to her adopting Skittles, is because Jen competes in disc dog competitions around the country, and she was looking for a small dog to compete in a special category called "micro dogs".

Skittles the Micro Dog

It sounded so cool - I was fostering a micro dog! Until that moment I never realized how much I wanted a micro dog - especially since I'd never heard of a micro dog until that moment. But there I was - the proud foster parent of a future micro dog disc champion - and I was so excited for Skittles. Of course, there is no guarantee that Skittles can actually become a disc dog, but I have high hopes. Skittles is in many ways a typical Papillon. According to Cesar's small dog breeds gallery, Papillons are intelligent, athletic, playful and energetic. Skittles is all of those, and she loves to play with toys and is very food motivated. I think she'll be much happier having a job to do than she would be just sitting around a house being a pet dog. So a few weeks ago, Jen came up and met Skittles, and took her home on a trial adoption, to see if she can become the amazing micro dog champion that I imagine her to be.

Yard Work

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Mon, 14 May 2012 03:45:00 +0000

We've had a lot of rain here, which means my grass keeps growing faster than I can keep up with it. So this weekend I called in reinforcements.

"This grass is much too tall."

"And just look at all of these weeds!"

My dogs Noelle and Remi came to visit, and I had hoped they would help with the yard work while they were here. However, Remi kept laying down on the job.

"Just taking a short break"

And Noelle seemed too busy taking notes on the height of the grass to bother actually eating any grass.

"Much too tall over here, too."

In the end, I was disappointed to find that I'd have to do all the yard work myself.

Ziggy's Advertising Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:48:00 +0000

Ziggy has never been accused of being too humble. In his mind, he’s not “just a dog”, he’s ZIGGY! So it’s no surprise that he insisted on a “Wall of Fame” on his webpage. I tried to convince him that nobody likes a braggart, but he refused to listen. He seems sure that if the rest of the world will just realize how special he is, they will be lining up to adopt him. Since I absolutely refused to let him brag about the number of common household items that he has chewed up, or the amount of kibble he can eat in one sitting, he had to settle for bragging about his few awards and media appearances. I said to him – Ziggy, don’t you think listing all the websites that have shared your desire for a home just makes you seem desperate? But again, he pretended he couldn’t hear me. So I gave in, and helped Ziggy add a new page to his website. Now Ziggy is asking me to contact even more blogs and websites to ask for help in sharing his desire for a home. If you have a blog or website and share Ziggy’s story and his need for a home, please let him know (his e-mail is Ziggy@adoptziggy.com) so he can add it to his list. Or as he so proudly refers to it – his Wall of Fame.

Fostering - Can't Do It Alone

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:38:00 +0000

After being out of work for four months, I finally got a new job. I am working as a contractor at Monsanto Corp, and although I’ve been there less than a week, I’ve already started to feel comfortable. This could be because I changed the background picture on my monitor to this:

I did that just in case one of my new co-workers walks by, sees his picture, and says “what a great dog”, so I can say “he’s for adoption” and they can say “well, I’ve been looking for a deaf pit bull who loves to chew, always pushes boundaries, and wants to be an only pet”. And I’ll say “you won’t be disappointed with Ziggy” and then they’ll live happily ever after. Hey, it could happen.
The hardest part about going back to work is the amount of time it takes away from my fosters. The office is over an hour away from where I live, so I end up being gone for almost twelve hours a day, five days a week. Not only do my foster pets miss me (or at least my ability to open doors and throw tennis balls) but I also no longer have time for all the vet appointments and other errands that I did while I was out of work. Fortunately, I am only one volunteer in an organization made up of many other volunteers. When I shared the news that I was going back to work, many people have stepped forward to help. Bev took Thor to the vet for me, and offered help with future vet visits. Karen took home Salem, a foster cat who just had his leg amputated (more about him later), so she could take care of all his medical needs while he recovers. Lynsey is taking Ziggy to the vet for me tomorrow. Even the local shelter is helping out – they took in a dog that my neighbors found, and got her vet work done before she comes back to me later this week. They’re also going to take Jefferson for awhile, because he has so much energy, he needs more play-time and attention than I can give now that I’m working. At the shelter he’ll get to go outside to the play yard and play with other dogs and get attention from the volunteers. I couldn’t survive without all of these wonderful people stepping forward to help.

So now I’m gainfully employed, and no longer have to worry about how I’m going to make my house payment or afford gas for my car. I’ll soon be able to buy more chew toys for Ziggy and maybe even get a riding lawnmower someday (such lofty goals). I’m hoping to eventually hire someone to come out to the house a few days a week to play with the dogs while I’m at work. Until then, I’ll have to cut back on the number of fosters I can take in, but I’ll keep fostering. After all, with foster dogs like Bogey the Extremely Fearful and Partially Hairless Dog, Charlie the No-Longer-Hairless But Still Fearful of Men, People with Hats and People with Sunglasses Dog, and Ziggy the Waiting-For-Two-And-One-Half-Years And Still Not Adopted Dog, I am going to be fostering dogs for a very long time.

In Memory of Shelby

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Sun, 06 May 2012 03:09:00 +0000

Today I lost my girl. Shelby had several more seizures, and the vet finally said there was nothing more that could be done for her. She is now at peace - no more suffering. Everyone who met Shelby seemed to fall in love with her. She was only three years old, and she had such a short life. But she brought a lot of joy to others in those three short years.

The first time I saw a picture of Shelby was when someone posted her on my Facebook page. She was in an animal shelter and they were trying to find a rescue for her because she was deaf.

I didn't fall in love with her right away. I was nervous about taking in a new dog without being able to evaluate her first, and it didn't help when the lady who transported her to me called to ask if I had a crate because she was awful in the car. I didn't have a crate, so fashioned a harness for her and hoped for the best. All the way on the 30 minute drive home, she bounced around as far as she could in her harness and barked constantly at every passing car. She was so excited, and I was a little bit nervous of her. After all, a large dog that I had just met was barking in my ear and lunging past me trying to get to any cars that came by. I wondered what I had gotten myself into. Then we got home and she calmed down as soon as the car stopped. I took her inside and introduced her to the other dogs. She was so easy-going. A couple of the dogs were being rude and pushy, and she just ignored them. I was very relieved, since my biggest fear was that she wouldn't do well with the other dogs.

Within a few days, I started getting really attached to Shelby. It wasn't just that she was such an easy dog to care for, or that she was so affectionate. It wasn't just because she had one brown eye and one blue eye - a combination I love. It wasn't even just because she was such a sweet girl and so eager to please. I couldn't define it, but within a week I was totally in love with her. I so much wanted for her to have a long, wonderful life. I connected with Shelby in a way that I do with very few dogs, and having to say good-bye to her today was heartbreaking. But I am relieved that she is no longer suffering, and I am glad that I got to know her and love her for the short time that she was here.

Shelby 2008 - 2012

Introducing Thor the Burglar

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 23:20:00 +0000

Thor was a stray found by one of my neighbors. He had a microchip which led to the discovery that Thor's owner had passed away several months ago, and Thor was in need of a new home. And so somehow I found myself saying "I can keep him until he's adopted". Thor is eight years old, and he has terrible ear infections in both ears. Have you ever had to put ear medicine into a dog's ear twice a day for two weeks? It is a challenge - especially when the dog is in pain, which Thor is. It helps if the dog is small, because it's easier to hold them in place. However Thor is a 103 pound German Shepherd, so holding him in place while trying to dispense the medicine is not so easy. I'm thinking that the whole experience burns enough calories for both of us that we don't need to exercise. That's my excuse for this week anyway.

Today Thor decided to expend a little bit of extra energy to reach a goal. He doesn't like to be outside unless I'm with him. I went in to answer the phone while he and the other dogs were outside, and then a few minutes later I heard noises coming from down the hall. I didn't think much about it, because I have two new cats in one of the rooms, and thought they were probably just playing. But after I got off the phone, I went to check on them.

When I found both cats sleeping and no evidence of anything they'd been doing to make noise, I thought to myself it was nothing, but just to be sure I would check Ziggy's room, which is right across the hall. Ziggy was outside in the front so the room should have been empty. So I was more than a little surprised to open the door and find three dogs inside the room.

Scene of the crime

I had left the window open to get some fresh air into the room, and Thor decided he wasn't going to let a little thing like a brand new window screen stop him from getting back into the house. It's true that I have no proof it was Thor. But Ziggy wasn't in the back yard, so I can't blame him, and none of the other dogs have ever minded being outside without me. They've also never forced their way through a screen to get inside.

So much for that window screen

What's odd is that there were six dogs in the backyard, and the three I found in Ziggy's room were all German Shepherds or Shepherd mixes. Does this mean GSDs (German Shepherd Dogs) are more sneaky than other breeds?

Sadly, Ziggy will not be getting any fresh air into his room until I get his brand new window screen repaired. A 103 pound dog leaves quite a big hole in a screen!

Introducing Dora

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 04:27:00 +0000

Dora is a three year old Black Lab/Border Collie mix. She came from a rural shelter, and was heartworm positive. She's been in another foster home while undergoing treatment for heartworms, and once her treatment was complete she came to my house so she could start going to adoption events.

Big black dogs like Dora are often difficult to place. I expected to have her for awhile. But at her very first adoption event last weekend, she was a big hit. Although she didn't find a home, she did get a lot of attention. So when we had the chance to attend another event during the week, I took Dora along with Chloe the pit bull, Jefferson the Shepherd mix, and Midnight the cat. Again Dora was very popular, and by the end of the event she had an application for adoption!

Dora is now in her new home, and doing very well. She was only here for a week, and it was great to find a perfect home for her so quickly.

Although Jefferson and Chloe did not have so much luck getting adopted, they will hopefully soon find new homes thanks to a photographer from Shelter Me Photography. She took photos of both dogs at the mid-week event, and hopefully that will get them some attention when people are looking at dogs on the adoption sites online.

Chloe

Jefferson

Shelby update, and Thank You

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 03:47:00 +0000

Shelby is feeling better!! She has not had any more seizures in the last 24 hours, and she came home from the E-clinic and is doing well. She is still ataxic, but that is hopefully just due to the medicine she is on. If you don't know what ataxic means, well, here's a hint:

Ziggy enjoys a beer.

Unlike Ziggy, Shelby hasn't been drinking, but she walks around like she's drunk, bumping into things and occasionally falling over. But she's starting to act more like her old self, and hopefully within a few days will be back to normal. She'll be on seizure medicine the rest of her life, but that is not too expensive so she should be able to be adopted without much trouble once she is recovered from her heartworm treatment. Someday she will have her Happily Ever After!

Merlin the cat is also fully recovered from his run-in with Ziggy. Thanks for all of your well-wishes!

Rescue is expensive, and I'm grateful to work with a rescue group that covers all foster pet medical expenses as well as providing dog food for the fosters. Shelby's emergency vet bill was over $600, and that doesn't include the several hundred dollars it will cost for her heartworm treatment. Her adoption fee is only $125, so as you can imagine, the rescue group relies heavily on donations from the public in order to continue to help animals. It always amazes me how many people out there are happy to give just a few dollars to help when they can. Without so many people giving, we couldn't save dogs like Shelby.

It's great when people donate to the rescue, which by the way is tax deductible, but recently something even more amazing happened. A very special person read about the problems I've been having with my foster dogs escaping my fenced yard. Living in a rural area is wonderful, except for the mindset many people have about animals. If people see stray dogs, they are as likely to shoot them as call the owner, even when the dogs are wearing collars and tags. So when a neighbor stopped by to warn me that my dogs were going to be shot if they got out of the yard again, I was desperate. I was out of work and couldn't afford a better fence, but had nowhere else for the foster dogs to go. So I bought a fence and shared my concerns about paying for it. I love writing this blog because I get to share the good and the bad of rescue, but I never expected what happened next. Jess from At A Glacial Pace created a wonderful fundraiser to help me buy the fence! She spent so much time and hard work, just to help keep my foster dogs safe and me sane (well, relatively sane). The fundraiser was a lot of fun - an online Valentine's Day Party - and many people in the blog community donated. I am grateful to each one of you who participated and made this a successful event. My fence is up and is working perfectly to keep the dogs in the yard!

Shelby in the back yard

Thank you Jess, and everyone who contributed!

Jefferson - trying to help build the fence!

Happily Ever Afters

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:01:00 +0000

Sometimes we all need to hear about the Happily Ever Afters. When things are tough, it always helps to remember why we work so hard to save homeless animals. The reward of seeing them with their new family, or in their new home, makes the work and the heartache of rescue worth it.

This is Amber the Pointer mix with her girls. She's a happy dog, and her family says everyone who meets her just loves her.

And this is Scout (now named Henry) the Beagle/Shih Tzu/Brussels mix with one of his girls. He's a very snuggly 43 pounds!

And then there's Casey. He is loving his life with his best friend Noel the cat. Casey started out being rescued after being hit by a car and having both of his front legs crushed. He had steel plates put in his legs, and had a long recovery. He also had to recover from a tick-borne disease and heartworms. It was expensive to save him, and a lot of work to nurse him back to health (thanks Leslie!), but he's so happy in his new life and it makes all of the work worth it.

These stories give me hope. And right now, I need hope. I have to believe that Shelby will pull through and get her own Happily Ever After too. Last week Shelby tested positive for heartworms, so she'll need several months of heartworm treatment before she'll be ready for adoption. That made me sad for her, because heartworm treatment is painful for dogs. But then to make matters much worse, she started having seizures on Wednesday. I knew she had a history of seizures before she was turned into a shelter, but she had not had any problems until Wednesday. I woke up when she had a seizure while lying next to me, and immediately called the vet. Shelby then went outside and crawled under the deck. I couldn't get to her so left her there until it was time for her vet appointment. I still couldn't get to her and she just stood there looking confused but wouldn't come to me so I finally had to break out the wood lattice under the deck to get to her. We went to the vet and they started her on seizure medicine. Then a few hours later she had another seizure. And after the vet closed, she had three more seizures, each one worse than the last. She had convulsions, emptied her bladder and bowels, did paddling of her limbs, and ended up stumbling around in circles, running into things and doing "head pressing" where she would press her head against a wall for long periods of time. At midnight we went to the emergency clinic where they gave her more drugs. She stayed there and I went home alone. She had more seizures at the emergency clinic, and between seizures is still not herself. She's temporarily blind and still confused and hurting. We aren't sure if the seizures are caused by a brain tumor or something else, but at this point we just have to wait and see. She may come out of it with no ill effects, or she may end up with permanent brain damage, or she may not make it. I'm worried about my girl. I so much want her to have her Happily Ever After.

Introducing Ashlyn

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 03:09:00 +0000

Amber the Pointer mix was adopted last weekend! I also managed to find the cutest puppy in the world (yes, really!) and I stole her from another foster home. It's true - I used my amazing powers of persuasion to convince another foster home that this puppy should come live with me for awhile. It was selfish, but I couldn't resist this face!

Ashyln is a nine week old pit bull puppy. She's extremely cute and so small. I haven't been able to stop carrying her around since I brought her home. In fact, when I volunteered at a garage sale fundraiser this weekend, I carried her around in a sling most of the time:

She seemed to love it. She enjoyed all of the attention as well!

In addition to looking adorable, Ashlyn is a true entertainer. If you're having a bad day, just watch this video of Ashlyn at the garage sale playing with a toy bigger than she is!

Three New Dogs!

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 03:20:00 +0000

I know what you're thinking. After yesterday's post, you're thinking that I don't NEED any more dogs, and if I really brought in three more, I'm probably going to need professional help. And if that's what you're thinking, you're absolutely right. But wait until you meet them, and then you'll understand. Plus, one of them wasn't my fault. And in fact that one has already moved on to another foster home. So I'm not as crazy as it seems. Really.

Let's start with the one who has been and gone. Now that I live in a rural area with no animal control, a few of my neighbors are starting to learn that I do dog rescue. A few months ago one of them brought me a blind Boston Terrier, and fortunately we located his owners after just a few days. Then last week the owners of the Boston Terrier called me and told me a stray dog had shown up at their house and she was very skinny - could I help? I went to their house and found an emaciated Blue Tick Coonhound wearing a faded hunting collar and no tags. So in spite of the eight foster dogs waiting at home, I put her in the car and brought her back home too.

I named her Shiloh. The veterinarian checked her out, and she weighs 36 pounds when she should weigh 55-60 pounds. She's about a year old, extremely friendly, and with the loudest baying bark I have ever heard. It's quite impressive (although I'm not sure everyone agrees). She doesn't have a microchip and the Lost Dog signs put up by the people who found her have produced no owners, so Shiloh has become an All Paws Rescue dog. After she was here for a few days, another foster home had an opening and was able to take her, so now Shiloh is at her new foster home where she'll be able to enjoy the good life while she gains some much-needed weight before she can be spayed and listed for adoption. I'd like to thank Casey Jones' mom for helping with Shiloh's vet bills, and Bev for giving Shiloh a great place to recuperate. Thanks!

And then there's this girl - her name is Skittles.

Skittles is a three year old Papillon who weighs all of twelve pounds. But don't let her fool you - she can hold her own with Jefferson and the other big dogs! She is very playful and affectionate. Skittles was at another rescue for over a year, and spent six months of that year with a trainer to help her overcome her fear of strangers. She originally came from a hoarding situation where she didn't get much attention or socialization, so she had a lot to overcome. But she's come a long way in the past year and when another rescue lost one of their main foster homes, I was happy to help by taking this very sweet dog. She will be holding out for an active home with no kids so that she can have the perfect situation for her, but I'm pretty sure it won't take her long to find it! In the meantime she doesn't leave my side - she sleeps on my pillow and scares the bigger dogs off the couch so she can sit next to me when I'm on the computer. She's always happy, and I love having her here.

And then there's one more dog. She's another one I was not expecting to keep for long. But the reason I still have her is totally my fault.

This is Shelby. She is a deaf pit bull with one blue eye and one brown eye. I took her with the plan to evaluate her and then send her to a new foster home. But something unexpected happened. I fell in love. I know, I fall in love with all of them. But she's extra special, and I can't bear to let her go just yet. She reminds me so much of my dog Noelle, who I really miss (she's still living with my husband at our old house). Shelby is the most laid back, lazy dog I've had since Noelle. She is easy-going and gets along with everyone. She has perfect manners, except in the car when she likes to bark at the other cars going by. She sleeps a lot! Since the first hour I brought her home, I've been thinking about what it would be like if I could keep her. But I can't adopt her until I find a job, and at this point she hasn't even been here long enough for me to be sure that she would be happy here. So for now I'm just enjoying having her around, and trying not to fall any more in love than I already am.

She always has this serious and slightly concerned look on her face!

So those are my new dogs - there are eight here right now, but fortunately they all get along except of course Ziggy, so that makes it much easier. I'm pretty sure that I'll have to cut back on fostering quite a bit once I find a job, but for now, I love having them all here. Most of them, anyway. If you'd like to foster or adopt any of these wonderful dogs (except Shelby!), please visit www.allpawsrescue.info.

They Come And They Go

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:48:00 +0000

Except for Ziggy of course. He came and refuses to leave, no matter what I do. But the others come in and sometimes leave sooner than I expect. I thought Oreo the American Bulldog would be a tough one to place due to his breed and the fact that he wasn't house-trained. But as soon as I put him on the Internet, applications started coming in. He received three applications in one week, and last week he went on a trial adoption with his new family. I also thought that Amber the Pointer mix would be adopted before Sox the Border Collie/Basset mix. I was wrong again - Sox was adopted to a wonderful family last week. Amber is still waiting, although she does have an interested family who may adopt her soon! Lindsay the Aussie mix has also been adopted and is doing great in her new home. This just leaves me with Chloe the often-upside-down pit bull, Bogey the feral and semi-hairless Shar Pei mix, Charlie the shy dog, Jefferson the obnoxious Shepherd mix, Amber the hopefully-soon-to-be-adopted Pointer mix, and of course Ziggy the Adoptable Dog.

Chloe will be receiving her final heartworm treatment tomorrow, and then will need four more weeks of rest and relaxation before being allowed to resume attending adoption events and running marathons. Okay maybe not the marathons. But she will be allowed to go to adoption events in four weeks.

Bogey is still afraid of me. He loves to play with the other dogs, and he loves to play with toys, and he loves to collect things. He'll go around the house and pick up any dog toys or blankets or anything else he can and hoard them in his crate. He will not willingly come anywhere near me, and will move away if he notices that I'm looking at him. I tell myself that he's making progress, but I'm really not so sure.

Charlie the unknown mix dog (breed guesses, anyone?) has completed his treatment for demodex manage and was given a clean bill of health at the vet. He is doing great here, but when we go out he is still afraid of strangers - mostly males. He loves hot dogs so we're starting "hot dog therapy" where strangers toss him small pieces of hot dog so he learns that when a man approaches him, good things are going to happen!

Jefferson is being his usual happy and obnoxious self. He's now decided that cats are Public Enemy #1, and he feels obligated to bark non-stop whenever he sees one. If possible, he will also chase and possibly chew on the cat. I say possibly, because so far I've kept him from actually obtaining a cat - but in a house with five cats, he gets plenty of opportunity to observe and bark at them!

Amber is such a good girl. She does really well with all the other dogs, and she loves to play. She and Jefferson are a really good match - they are roughly the same size and have the same amount of energy, so they wear each other out quite well. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Jefferson once Amber is adopted!

Ziggy is in BIG TROUBLE! We had an incident where he decided to run across the room and down the hall in order to attack my cat Merlin, because he thought Merlin was going to go into his room. Merlin ended up with a dislocated jaw, and Ziggy ended up with one more strike against him, since now he can no longer go to a home with cats. In the past two years he's never attacked a cat, and typically ignores them altogether, so now that he's decided that cats are a threat who must be attacked to keep them from eating his food, it makes him even harder to adopt (and much harder to live with). He already spends too many hours in a crate because he can't be out with other dogs - now I'll also have to rotate and make sure when he's out there are no cats around either. Did I mention he's in Big Trouble?

Ziggy did not want me to tell you about this Most Dreadful Incident because he was embarrassed that he panicked and thought Merlin was there to steal all his stuff. He did not mean to hurt Merlin and claims is very sorry for his bad behavior. I have not completely forgiven him yet, since Merlin is still in pain and has to stay in a crate for two weeks while he recovers. Merlin should make a full recovery though and my guess is that he will never, ever, go down that hallway to Ziggy's room again. As for Ziggy, plans are in the works to build him his own room in the walk-out basement and fence in an area on the side of the house with a dog door in the basement door so he can have much more freedom and the other dogs and cats will not be forced to "time-share" the house and backyard. At this point, it's still just a dream, but several wonderful people have volunteered their time and expertise to make it happen, so hopefully it will one day be a reality!

Also, for any of you familiar with the All Paws dogs, you may remember that I occasionally fostered Toby, the Shepherd/Pointer/Hound mix. He has been in foster care for a Very Long Time, and has caused more than his share of destruction and trouble. He has a lot in common with Jefferson, as they both have goofy and obnoxious attributes. But it finally happened - a lady who loves big, goofy dogs saw Toby on the Internet and ended up adopting him. She says he is doing really well and she's very happy with him. So sometimes there are Happy Endings even for the very special fosters like Toby!

Ziggy Gets Tagged

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:27:00 +0000

Every dog we take in receives a metal identification tag with their All Paws number and phone number, along with a microchip tag. I like to keep these on the dogs just in case one of them gets lost. However Ziggy managed to chew up his tags long ago, and has had to settle for an extra "foster dog" tag that is scratched up and almost unreadable. So when I saw the pet trick contest on the Fetching Tags Facebook page, I immediately entered Ziggy. He had to perform a pet trick that the very talented Fetching Tags dogs were unable to duplicate. So he showed off his praying trick, and won a gift certificate! The wonderful owner at Fetching Tags then gave Ziggy a discounted price so his gift certificate covered the cost of this tag. It's extremely durable so he should never need another tag again. Fetching Tags has many different tag lines, but I thought the one that fit Ziggy the best - the only thing he thinks about - was this one:

The other side has his name and the All Paws phone number.

I love his new tag and I am relieved to know that if he ever does get lost, whomever finds him will not only know who to contact, but also what to do while they wait (feed him of course!)

Fetching Tags has a wide variety of tag lines, symbols, and tag styles, so if you're looking for a stylish and durable tag for your dog, please check them out!

Happy Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 05:03:00 +0000

I have noticed that of all the dogs, most of them spend the majority of time with four feet on the ground. There's one exception - Chloe - and none of the other dogs can seem to figure out what's wrong with her. Take a look...

Jefferson checks on Chloe.

Oreo tries to figure out what she's doing.

Oreo and Sarge discuss her strange behavior.

None of it bothers Chloe - she just continues to enjoy rolling in the grass! She's a happy girl.

I'm also a happy girl because Sarge went to a foster-to-adopt home on Saturday!

And Then There Were Ten

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 04:07:00 +0000

Ten Adult Dogs. All living here. With me. In this house. At the same time. Along with six cats. Yesterday there were only six dogs here, and life was easy. Now there are ten, and life is a little bit crazy right now. Happy, fulfilling, even fun. But also crazy.

It helps that several of the dogs and cats are short-term fosters. Three of the cats are going back to their regular foster home by the end of the weekend. And one of the dogs is pending adoption and should be gone in another week. Another of the dogs is only staying through this weekend - I hope. But in the meantime, my life involves a lot of rotating dogs in and out, and even rotating cats. Here's what happened:

I was down to only six dogs, and all six were doing well. I received the many e-mails that I always receive, with pictures and bios of dogs that are scheduled to be euthanized. So I picked out one dog and offered to save her. Then, I received a good application on Lindsay. I figured she'd be adopted, and I could save another one, so I offered to take two of the eleven dogs on the e-mail. I couldn't save them all, but I could save two. This is how I ended up with Amber and Sox.

This is Amber. She is a one year old Pointer mix. She is house-trained and good with everyone.

And this is Sox. She is also a year old, a Border Collie mix, and the happiest, most playful dog!

After agreeing to take these two, a friend told me about a Boxer mix at the local shelter. He had been there for several months and since he wasn't yet adopted, he was scheduled to be euthanized. My friend was upset because she really liked this dog. I wanted so much to help her, but I was up to seven fosters (eight until Lindsay went to her new home). I couldn't take another one - especially another large male dog who didn't have very good manners with other dogs. So I talked to the shelter and offered to take the dog for just a few days to do a home evaluation. This would give me a good idea of what he was like in a home, and help to network him to find a rescue or a foster home for him. They were happy with this idea and this is why after picking up Amber and Sox from the volunteer who transported them from their animal control facility, I went to the shelter and picked up Sarge.

Sarge is a very large Boxer mix, who was turned in by his original owners because he was too big. He's very sweet and lovable, and he's already house-trained. He's okay with other dogs, but he does have some poor manners with them and tends to annoy them because he doesn't know how to interact properly. He also seems to want to eat the cats. I think with some training, and a home with no cats, he'll be a great dog. I'm hoping we can find someone willing to foster him or a rescue to take him so he doesn't have to go back to the shelter in a few days and then be euthanized. If you're interested in helping, please spread the word - interested rescues or foster homes (foster homes must be local but rescues can be anywhere) can contact me at dogfostermom@aol..com for more information.

So at this point I've picked up three new dogs and I take Lindsay to her home visit with her potential adopters. They want to adopt her, but need to wait another week before taking her. So she comes back home with me and the three new dogs. Back to the five other dogs waiting at home for me. And then as I pull into the driveway and start unloading the car, this uninvited visitor showed up.

"I didn't know I needed an invitation!"

I've seen this dog hanging around for a couple of weeks, but he would never come to me before. He waited until I filled up my house with new fosters and then decided it would be an excellent time to let me catch him. So as I'm taking Lindsay out of the car and into the house, he walks right up to me and lets me pet him. He was getting pretty skinny at this point and I didn't want to just turn him away, so he came in too. I talked to the neighbors and they thought he'd been abandoned, and since he had no tags or microchip, that seems quite likely. I live in an area with no animal control, so there was nowhere to take the dog even if I wanted to. Dogs like him are often just left to starve or be killed by a car or a predator or sometimes they are shot by farmers and ranchers. I am still looking for his owners, but chances are that this uninvited guest is staying for awhile.

"Can I live with you?"

Fortunately he's a sweet dog and gets along well with everyone. I named him Oreo, and I've kind of already fallen in love with him.

Still, that puts me up to ten dogs, and lately I feel more like I'm living in a kennel than a home. Some of the dogs can't be around each other so I have to do a lot of rotating outside for playtime and in their crates for meal-time/'sleeping. Here's the list of "rules":

Chloe the pit bull can be out with anyone but must be supervised to make sure she keeps calm since she's undergoing heartworm treatment.
Jefferson the Shepherd mix can be out with anyone - he is very playful and gets along well with everyone
Lindsay the Aussie mix can be out with anyone except Ziggy and Sarge
Charlie the Terrier mix can be out with any girls or with Bogey or Jefferson. He tries to push other dogs around so have to watch him around certain dogs.
Bogey the Shar-Pei mix can be out with anyone.
Ziggy the pit bull can be out with Jefferson, Bogey, or Chloe
Sox the Border Collie mix can be out with anyone except Ziggy - she's very playful and gets along well with everyone
Amber the Pointer mix can be out with anyone except Sarge, Oreo and Ziggy, but she's kind of shy so need to make sure she doesn't get overwhelmed by the other dogs.
Sarge the Boxer mix can be out with anyone except Ziggy and Charlie, but must be closely supervised to make sure he acts appropriately
Oreo the American Bulldog can be out with anyone except Amber because she's not spayed yet and he's not neutered yet. Haven't tried him with Charlie or Ziggy because of potential conflict.

So as you can imagine, it's a bit of a challenge to keep everyone happy, and give them all the attention and play time that they want. If the dog challenge isn't enough, I also have to rotate Murphy the cat out with Midnight and Merlin. Murphy is being mean to the other cats, and I'm thinking he might need to be an only cat. So in the meantime he has to stay in a separate room, or I have to make sure if he's out he can't get to Midnight or Merlin to attack them. Hopefully he will find a permanent home soon, or even another foster home that has no other cats, and he'll get all the people attention that he wants.

At times like this, when I have so many fosters, I feel more like a "halfway house" than a foster home. With the exception of Lindsay and Chloe who are never crated, the rest of the dogs are living a life where they get more attention and training and playtime than at a shelter, but less than they would in a regular foster home with just one or two fosters. When I choose to save more, it comes at a price for the dogs I already have, and that is the tough choice. If I didn't have these dogs though, they would be in a shelter or be euthanized, so I tell myself that they are all better off here even if I can't give them all the freedom they desire. Still I want so much for them to go to an adoptive home or even a foster home where they can be totally spoiled. Tomorrow is Adoption Day, so hopefully at least one of my fosters will find their forever home!

New Fosters!

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 22:06:00 +0000

But first, the remaining updates on current fosters that you've already met:

Charlie the Hairless Dog has been treated for demodex mange and is doing great. He has two more weeks of medicine and then another recheck at the vet, and then he's hoping that he'll be done with the bad-tasting medicine and even worse medicated baths. He is getting much braver, although he's still scared of men, but he now approaches strange women and children without much hesitation. He still barks at the television if it's too loud, but he's getting much better with that as well. He's been going to adoption events each weekend to work on meeting strangers, and he's hoping he'll soon meet that stranger that wants to adopt him.

Bogey the Other Hairless Dog is making progress as well, but much more slowly. He had some skin biopsies done which found that the missing hair is due to scarring, most likely from mange as a puppy, and will not grow back. So he is permanently hairless, but he doesn't seem to mind. He is still very, very shy, and will not come near me or even look at me if I'm looking at him. I would like to find a foster home for him with someone who could really work with him and help him to overcome his shyness. If you're interested, let me know!

After Fanny was adopted, I had no one to take to the beginning agility class. Charlie and Bogey were too shy, Ziggy had already passed the beginner class, and Chloe was still undergoing heartworm treatment. So that left me with two options - take Jefferson, or get a new foster dog. I considered Jefferson - after all, he's very energetic, but he's also got the memory of a goldfish and the coordination of a giraffe on roller skates. So new foster dog it was!

I brought home Lindsay, a sweet four year old dog who had been waiting at the shelter for a long time. She is another one of those rare brilliant, perfect dogs. Already house-trained, good with other dogs, cats, and kids, and extremely affectionate. She caught up with the rest of the dogs in the agility class very quickly, and she's been wonderful at home. Since our trainer's name is Lynsey, I have nicknamed Lindsay "Zee" to make things less confusing. Zee has been here a couple of weeks now, and she's done really well at adoption events and at obedience classes. She's learned to sit, lie down, come when called, and we're now working on staying in place. Zee is a wonderful dog and whomever adopts her will be very lucky to have her.

"Zee"

In addition to Zee, I also brought home another FIV+ cat. This one looks nothing like Merlin either, but at least this time I was able to recognize that right away.

Midnight

Midnight was picked up by animal control and once he tested positive for FIV he was turned over to the vet to be euthanized. The vet realized that Midnight was a great cat - very friendly and sweet - and instead asked for help saving him. Since I already had one FIV+ cat, I figured one more would be no problem, so I took him home. And yes, I'm the one who named him Midnight. I know it's an odd choice for a black cat, but I like to be original.

Midnight is a great cat. He has very thick plush fur, and he loves to be petted. He gets along great with the other cats, although he's not such a big fan of dogs. He's actually much cuter than his picture looks, but I'm not so good at photographing black cats. Especially when they want nothing more than to rub against the camera and won't stay in place for a picture. Cats are much harder to teach to "stay" than dogs.

So that's it for the new fosters, at least for now. For latest news and previews of soon-to-be foster pets, visit me on Facebook.

They Look Nothing Alike

noreply@blogger.com (Dog Foster Mom) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:08:00 +0000

When I was first contacted about taking in another FIV+ cat, I hesitated. I'd been planning to take a break from fostering cats for awhile, but it was a good friend who asked, and then she sent me a picture of the cat. I knew he'd be euthanized if I didn't take him. And he looked just like my cat Merlin. So of course I said yes.

I brought him home and named him Murphy, because Merlin's nickname is Murray, and since they looked almost exactly alike, I thought their names should be similar as well.

Murphy

Murphy immediately settled in, and tried to be just like Merlin. He followed Merlin around, and slept in all Merlin's favorite places, and tried to convince me that he was really Merlin. He even fooled me a couple of times when I walked into the room and mistook Murphy for Merlin at first glance. I laughed and told everyone how he was just like Merlin. Well, almost. Except Murphy's tail is fluffier, and his eyes are teal instead of gold. And Murphy is slightly bigger than Merlin. And as I started listing all the differences between them, I soon realized that they really look nothing alike.

Once I took pictures of Murphy I realized it was true -

Murphy

Merlin

they look nothing alike.