Well, Callie is back. The trial period was nothing short of a disaster.
I got a text only hours after they picked her up on Sunday telling me that Calista had had two episodes of "explosive diarrhea." What?! She had been acting totally normal all day and we have never had any diarrhea issues with her before. I assumed, therefore, that it was caused by stress. She is a very sensitive dog. I had even warned them that she lost three pounds the last time she was away from us and not to be surprised if she didn't eat well. I told them to let me know how she was doing later in the evening and I could call her vet if need be. Jonathon and I instantly had lower expectations of this being a success. A dog that is crapping all over your house is certainly less a desirable companion. It seemed as if Calista was sabotaging her chance of adoption. Sigh.
I heard nothing from them that evening and nothing for the next two days. We were somewhat relieved, assuming that no news was good news. We were actually talking as if it were a done deal. Still, I had a gut feeling that I couldn't shake. I told Jonathon that I felt like something was wrong and that Calista would be coming back to us. When it comes to my dogs, my gut is almost always right.
Sure enough I got a text that same night "Calista is still very sick and I have had a personal emergency. When are you coming home tomorrow?" Being the cynic that I am, I wondered if there really was an emergency, or if three days of an ill dog, spewing god knows what all over their apartment had gotten to be too much for them. I called immediately, as the words "very sick" worried me. I wondered why they hadn't called me or the vet if she was so ill. No answer. She called me back within the hour. I instantly felt guilty for doubting them, as there actually was an emergency. In fact, she had spent the entire day at the emergency room, while her partner stayed home because they couldn't leave Calista alone. The medical issue that she is dealing with (not really my place to post that specifically) has the potential to be life-changing and our thoughts are with them. What a nightmare to have that scare and to have the added stress of a sick dog that isn't even theirs was just overwhelming for them. I could tell they felt bad having to call and tell me that. Of course I told them that they certainly shouldn't feel bad and I completely understand. I told them to just leave Callie and all of her stuff at my vet the next morning and I would pick her up there when we got home. She assured me that they both loved Calista and it was their situation, not Calista's being ill, that changes things.
I didn't really know what to expect with Callie. Everyone's idea of "very sick" is different. I didn't know if she was going to be fine, or hooked up to an IV when I got there! I was very relieved when she ran out into the lobby to greet me and started dancing around as usual. Turns out, thankfully, that she checks out fine. Strangely, she wasn't even dehydrated. I was given some pills to quiet her GI system but that's it. They could find no reason for that symptom, and it was the only one she had. How frustrating for this to happen now of all times, with no explanation whatsoever.
One last surprise came with the last text I received from the potential adopters "We are going to a few Doctor's appointments next week and are letting this soak in, but we are still talking about her coming to live with us. We will let you know soon."
What an impression little Calista must have made on them. I don't know how this will turn out, but I do know that if these good people are still interested in taking her after all they dealt with in their time with her, I would feel 100 percent confident in that adoption.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Here's hoping...
We are one dog short this afternoon. Calista just left for a trial period with her potential adopters! She will be staying with them while we are up at the cabin for the next four days. I'm kind of shocked at how quickly this is happening. I was honestly assuming it would be months before anyone showed interest in her. Here is how it all went down over the last few days.
(Tuesday night)
To my surprise, (surprise being an understatement) before we had even changed Calista's status from "available for sponsorship" to available for adoption", I got an email from the adoption coordinator at the rescue. Someone was interested in Calista?! They hadn't heard her whole story so they didn't know about her issues. Surely if they had, they would have selected one of the 20-30 other "normal" boxers from the rescue. I emailed them, telling of how sweet and well behaved she is, but not hiding her history or leaving out any of her special needs. I didn't let my hopes get too high.
(Wednesday)
The day went by, me checking my email every hour, and I heard nothing in response. Just as I expected. They must have read my email and went with another dog. I was disappointed, but not surprised.
(Thursday)
I got a phone call from the coordinator in the morning letting me know that the people actually wanted to meet Calista! I called them and arranged for them to stop by later in the day. They had not ever received my email, so they were still a little under-informed when they arrived at our house that afternoon. I had warned them on the phone that she is very shy around new people and I was actually a little afraid that she wouldn't make a very good first impression. She typically just hides when strangers come around. (Since we had to focus on healing her physically for so long, she is far from being well socialized. I have just started to take her to the office since the clean bill of health.) She wasn't nearly as bad as I expected her to be. Although she stayed very close to me, she approached them both and warmed up pretty quickly. They kept saying how gorgeous she is, but were a little apprehensive about how fragile she looks. We assured them that she is much more strong and agile than she appears. They stayed for nearly an hour, getting Calista's whole story and petting her. Of course they were getting mauled by Dixie and Jax the entire time. Their reaction to the over-the-top affection proved that they are indeed "dog people." We agreed that to really get to know her, and see if she would be a good fit for their family, (that includes the two of them and an eight pound chihuahua mix) they should take her home for a few days.
That brings us to today. They picked her and her stuff up about an hour ago with the arrangement that they would keep her until we return from the cabin on Wed night. If, at that time, they have decided that she is not a good fit for their family, she will come back to us. There will be no hard feelings. If, however, they have fallen in love with her, she will not come back here. Since she is extremely attached to us, the dogs, and the house, bringing her back for only a few days would be selfish. We don't want to make the transition any harder on her than it has to be. Instead, I will go to their house to collect my stuff and the adoption donation. At that time, I will say a proper goodbye to my little friend.
I am trying hard not to get my hopes up. They have made no commitment and anything could happen. In all honesty, though, I am praying that it works out. They are the right amount of nervous and asked all the right questions both times they were here. I think they would be great parents for her!
I will hopefully have an update on Thursday! In the mean time, keep your fingers crossed for Callie to have a forever home for the New Year!
(Tuesday night)
To my surprise, (surprise being an understatement) before we had even changed Calista's status from "available for sponsorship" to available for adoption", I got an email from the adoption coordinator at the rescue. Someone was interested in Calista?! They hadn't heard her whole story so they didn't know about her issues. Surely if they had, they would have selected one of the 20-30 other "normal" boxers from the rescue. I emailed them, telling of how sweet and well behaved she is, but not hiding her history or leaving out any of her special needs. I didn't let my hopes get too high.
(Wednesday)
The day went by, me checking my email every hour, and I heard nothing in response. Just as I expected. They must have read my email and went with another dog. I was disappointed, but not surprised.
(Thursday)
I got a phone call from the coordinator in the morning letting me know that the people actually wanted to meet Calista! I called them and arranged for them to stop by later in the day. They had not ever received my email, so they were still a little under-informed when they arrived at our house that afternoon. I had warned them on the phone that she is very shy around new people and I was actually a little afraid that she wouldn't make a very good first impression. She typically just hides when strangers come around. (Since we had to focus on healing her physically for so long, she is far from being well socialized. I have just started to take her to the office since the clean bill of health.) She wasn't nearly as bad as I expected her to be. Although she stayed very close to me, she approached them both and warmed up pretty quickly. They kept saying how gorgeous she is, but were a little apprehensive about how fragile she looks. We assured them that she is much more strong and agile than she appears. They stayed for nearly an hour, getting Calista's whole story and petting her. Of course they were getting mauled by Dixie and Jax the entire time. Their reaction to the over-the-top affection proved that they are indeed "dog people." We agreed that to really get to know her, and see if she would be a good fit for their family, (that includes the two of them and an eight pound chihuahua mix) they should take her home for a few days.
That brings us to today. They picked her and her stuff up about an hour ago with the arrangement that they would keep her until we return from the cabin on Wed night. If, at that time, they have decided that she is not a good fit for their family, she will come back to us. There will be no hard feelings. If, however, they have fallen in love with her, she will not come back here. Since she is extremely attached to us, the dogs, and the house, bringing her back for only a few days would be selfish. We don't want to make the transition any harder on her than it has to be. Instead, I will go to their house to collect my stuff and the adoption donation. At that time, I will say a proper goodbye to my little friend.
I am trying hard not to get my hopes up. They have made no commitment and anything could happen. In all honesty, though, I am praying that it works out. They are the right amount of nervous and asked all the right questions both times they were here. I think they would be great parents for her!
I will hopefully have an update on Thursday! In the mean time, keep your fingers crossed for Callie to have a forever home for the New Year!
Monday, December 13, 2010
I'm ready!
Callie easily gained back the three pounds that she lost while we were gone in a matter of days and is doing well. So well, in fact, that I decided that it was time to proceed with further diagnostics. With her hip and spinal trauma, we didn't want to waste time and money on tests that wouldn't be necessary if she couldn't live a good quality life anyway. With the help of one tiny steroid pill, every other day, it turns out that she most certainly can! She may never be the most graceful of canines, but nevertheless, she can run around the yard and happily play with the others. So, to the vet we go...again.
This time, it was chest x-rays. We were looking for an enlarged heart, a mass, or any other abnormalities (different types of cancers will often metastasize to the lungs.) that may point to the elusive "underlying condition." What did we find? We found a perfectly normal looking thoracic cavity. That's right. Her heart is regular-size. Her lungs are clear. Nothing is out of the ordinary. I was as thrilled as I was surprised. Add that to the negative heart worm tests and the superb blood work and you have a dog who is, on paper, perfectly healthy. We have done our very best to screen and test her for anything that could be wrong, covered all of our bases. Finally, Callie has been cleared for adoption! I honestly didn't know if we would ever get to this point with her. There were so many times that I have felt helpless caring for Callie, but we (and when I say we, I mean not only Jonathon and I, but the doctor and staff that treated her, her sponsors who helped with vet bills, and everyone who had encouraging words for me on the pages of this blog) never gave up on her.
I went back and read the first few blog posts I ever wrote about her. It was hard to believe, as she has become such a different dog in the past two and a half months. Here, I have copied the first paragraph that I ever wrote about Callie. At this time, she was likely within 48 hours of death.
"When I first saw Callie, (as I have decided to nickname her) I was a little shocked. The pictures that I posted yesterday were actually quite flattering. She looked worse in person. The shelter definitely down-played the severity of her condition. As I sat in the parking lot of McDonald's where I met the shelter director, picking the dying fleas off of her recently insecticide-coated body, I actually wondered what I had gotten us into. She stood in front of me, wobbling back and forth on her weak, decrepit legs. She was a mess. Her left rear paw was swollen and red and obviously painful. She tried not to put weight on it, but the other rear leg was too weak to hold her up on it's own. So, she swayed. She spread her legs out as far as she could to try to keep her balance and not fold to the ground. Her head had two oddly shaped scars, one on top, and one between her eyes. One of her eyes had a clouded glaze over it, resembling a cataract. And she seemed completely indifferent to everything that was going on around her. These were my initial observations." (Sept 30, 2010)
To have her come from near death to adoption ready is certainly a wonderful thing, but she is not a total success story yet. Of course, she will be welcome in our home for as long as it takes, but she deserves a forever home of her own. This may take quite a while. Not everyone is willing to adopt a special-needs dog. I know there are people out there with room in their homes and hearts for a friend who, through no fault of her own, is less-than-perfect. I am asking for help in finding the right home for this brave little dog. She is a fighter. She has overcome much of her past, but the physical scars remain, telling the story of the neglect and pain that she once endured. Please, share Calista's story with dog-lovers that you know and spread the word about this special girl needing a home.
This time, it was chest x-rays. We were looking for an enlarged heart, a mass, or any other abnormalities (different types of cancers will often metastasize to the lungs.) that may point to the elusive "underlying condition." What did we find? We found a perfectly normal looking thoracic cavity. That's right. Her heart is regular-size. Her lungs are clear. Nothing is out of the ordinary. I was as thrilled as I was surprised. Add that to the negative heart worm tests and the superb blood work and you have a dog who is, on paper, perfectly healthy. We have done our very best to screen and test her for anything that could be wrong, covered all of our bases. Finally, Callie has been cleared for adoption! I honestly didn't know if we would ever get to this point with her. There were so many times that I have felt helpless caring for Callie, but we (and when I say we, I mean not only Jonathon and I, but the doctor and staff that treated her, her sponsors who helped with vet bills, and everyone who had encouraging words for me on the pages of this blog) never gave up on her.
I went back and read the first few blog posts I ever wrote about her. It was hard to believe, as she has become such a different dog in the past two and a half months. Here, I have copied the first paragraph that I ever wrote about Callie. At this time, she was likely within 48 hours of death.
"When I first saw Callie, (as I have decided to nickname her) I was a little shocked. The pictures that I posted yesterday were actually quite flattering. She looked worse in person. The shelter definitely down-played the severity of her condition. As I sat in the parking lot of McDonald's where I met the shelter director, picking the dying fleas off of her recently insecticide-coated body, I actually wondered what I had gotten us into. She stood in front of me, wobbling back and forth on her weak, decrepit legs. She was a mess. Her left rear paw was swollen and red and obviously painful. She tried not to put weight on it, but the other rear leg was too weak to hold her up on it's own. So, she swayed. She spread her legs out as far as she could to try to keep her balance and not fold to the ground. Her head had two oddly shaped scars, one on top, and one between her eyes. One of her eyes had a clouded glaze over it, resembling a cataract. And she seemed completely indifferent to everything that was going on around her. These were my initial observations." (Sept 30, 2010)
To have her come from near death to adoption ready is certainly a wonderful thing, but she is not a total success story yet. Of course, she will be welcome in our home for as long as it takes, but she deserves a forever home of her own. This may take quite a while. Not everyone is willing to adopt a special-needs dog. I know there are people out there with room in their homes and hearts for a friend who, through no fault of her own, is less-than-perfect. I am asking for help in finding the right home for this brave little dog. She is a fighter. She has overcome much of her past, but the physical scars remain, telling the story of the neglect and pain that she once endured. Please, share Calista's story with dog-lovers that you know and spread the word about this special girl needing a home.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Home is where your dogs are.
No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. Three different trips, a mix of business and pleasure, have kept me extremely busy in the last couple of weeks. In fact, I have been away from home for 13 of the last 16 days. The days in between, when I was home, were filled with unpacking, laundry, and repacking. I kept meaning to post, but I just never got around to it.
The most recent trip was to Las Vegas, for a work conference. This was my very first time leaving Jax at a boarding facility. I was a nervous wreck to say the least. We have worked so hard on him and he has come so far that my biggest fear is him having a set back. I actually wrote an entire sheet entitled "About Jax," describing his special needs, for them to post on his suite door. I know that it seems a little over board, but I have every reason to be paranoid. I had an awful experience with a kennel a few years back that ended in a life-saving emergency surgery for Asia. Dixie and Jax stayed at Arkansas Pet Resort, which is only a couple of blocks from my office. I got them a 10x16 suite with a doggy door and outside run, a couch, and even a TV. So what if my dogs' boarding costs more than a hotel room? It gives me peace of mind to know that I have done my best for them while I'm away.
Callie stayed at the vet because but we don't think she is quite ready for regular boarding yet. Even though she loves the other two, and would likely be more happy with them, we were nervous about leaving her alone with them. They are such rowdy players and she would have no where to lay low. We were afraid she might get hurt. It just seemed like the best thing for her.
We got back yesterday afternoon and went to collect everyone as soon as we left the airport. Callie was first and she was out-of-her-mind happy to see us! She was literally shaking with excitement. Sadly, six days in that environment proved too stressful for her and she lost over 3lbs. I was a little nervous that she may not eat as well for them, but I didn't think she would do that badly. They could barely get her to eat canned food. She looks pretty bad again. I feel awful and am now questioning if she may have been better off at the kennel. Does the benefit of her being able to stay with her foster siblings outweigh the risk of her getting hurt? It's a hard call to make. Thankfully, she ate a ton when we got home, but those 3.5 lbs are a really big loss, considering how long it took her to gain them. Poor skinny little thing.
We then went up to get the others. I already knew they were doing fine, because of course I had called the kennel a few times while we were away. Still, I couldn't wait to get there. I was missing them like crazy. They handled it pretty well overall and even made a new friend, a German Shepherd that goes there for daycare. I was relieved that everything went well with Jax and happy to see my note posted clearly on the door of their suite;-)
We spent the evening relaxing on the couch and catching up on our shows, surrounded by three very happy pooches. We were all glad to be home.
The most recent trip was to Las Vegas, for a work conference. This was my very first time leaving Jax at a boarding facility. I was a nervous wreck to say the least. We have worked so hard on him and he has come so far that my biggest fear is him having a set back. I actually wrote an entire sheet entitled "About Jax," describing his special needs, for them to post on his suite door. I know that it seems a little over board, but I have every reason to be paranoid. I had an awful experience with a kennel a few years back that ended in a life-saving emergency surgery for Asia. Dixie and Jax stayed at Arkansas Pet Resort, which is only a couple of blocks from my office. I got them a 10x16 suite with a doggy door and outside run, a couch, and even a TV. So what if my dogs' boarding costs more than a hotel room? It gives me peace of mind to know that I have done my best for them while I'm away.
Callie stayed at the vet because but we don't think she is quite ready for regular boarding yet. Even though she loves the other two, and would likely be more happy with them, we were nervous about leaving her alone with them. They are such rowdy players and she would have no where to lay low. We were afraid she might get hurt. It just seemed like the best thing for her.
We got back yesterday afternoon and went to collect everyone as soon as we left the airport. Callie was first and she was out-of-her-mind happy to see us! She was literally shaking with excitement. Sadly, six days in that environment proved too stressful for her and she lost over 3lbs. I was a little nervous that she may not eat as well for them, but I didn't think she would do that badly. They could barely get her to eat canned food. She looks pretty bad again. I feel awful and am now questioning if she may have been better off at the kennel. Does the benefit of her being able to stay with her foster siblings outweigh the risk of her getting hurt? It's a hard call to make. Thankfully, she ate a ton when we got home, but those 3.5 lbs are a really big loss, considering how long it took her to gain them. Poor skinny little thing.
We then went up to get the others. I already knew they were doing fine, because of course I had called the kennel a few times while we were away. Still, I couldn't wait to get there. I was missing them like crazy. They handled it pretty well overall and even made a new friend, a German Shepherd that goes there for daycare. I was relieved that everything went well with Jax and happy to see my note posted clearly on the door of their suite;-)
We spent the evening relaxing on the couch and catching up on our shows, surrounded by three very happy pooches. We were all glad to be home.
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