B.S.

Okay, so my new foster dog is crazy.  Cute as a button, but absolutely nuts.  After less than 30 hours with her, I have experienced a frustration level higher than I have with any other foster dog yet.  She is certainly not to blame, so I try to hide the frustration from her as best I can.  She is just a victim, having only lived the life of a "breeding dog."  She has absolutely no idea how to act in a home setting.

Her name is Bindi Sue (B.S).  I assume that she is named after Bindi Sue Erwin, daughter of the late, great "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Erwin. 

Here is what I know about her background.  She is 15 months old.  She is from southeastern Louisiana.  She was owned by a breeder who, although she is extremely tiny for her breed (only 35lbs and not even very underweight), decided to breed her.  Thinking that it "didn't take" because of her size, the breeder decided that she was no longer a commodity and dumped her at the shelter.  In actuality, she was pregnant.  She miscarried in the shelter.  When a dog miscarries, an x-ray should be done, to make sure that all of the pups were delivered.  Needless to say, that did not happen and she had dead puppies inside of her for weeks.  She is very lucky that she didn't die from becoming septic.  They finally spayed her and removed what was left of the bodies from inside of her.  All of that time, our rescue was trying to arrange transport to spring her from that shelter.  Once we got her, she was taken to the vet immediately.  She tested positive for about every intestinal parasite in the book, as well as heart worm.  She was temporarily placed in boarding.

Ironically, she was not the dog that I was suppose to pick up at the picnic last weekend.  They contacted me and said that they had a more "challenging" dog and they wanted to switch foster and dog match ups.  Of course I said it was fine.  I assumed she would be a medical challenge, or a severely fearful case, like Callie was.  I can handle those dogs.  Nope.  She is a behavioral challenge. 

Last night, she kept me up all night whining and crying.  That is pretty normal and I expected it.  She was in a new place and was clearly nervous.  I got up with her several times during the night to let her out.  Her anti parasitic medications are causing her to have diarrhea.  Again, I can deal.  What I can't deal with is how she leaps all over me, scratching me with her cat-like sharp nails.  She runs in circles around me and jumps into the air and I can not catch her.  It may sound funny.  Let me tell you...at 3am, it's not.   

This morning, after adequate outside time with the others, I put her in the crate in our master bathroom. I left for work.   I had a meeting with a potential client about an hour away.  On my way back to work, I stopped home to let her out to potty.  I worried that she may have had an accident in her crate.  Instead, I found that she had destroyed the wire crate (the crate that is meant to hold dogs up to three times her size!) and got out.  She was then loose in my bedroom.  She made an absolute mess, including pulling everything off my vanity, jewelry and all.  It was a disaster area.  I was shocked at the situation.  I am  very lucky she didn't kill herself trying to escape from that crate. 

This dog needs some serious training.  However, the dilemma is this... Next week, she starts heart worm treatment.  During the very dangerous heart worm treatment, she needs to stay completely calm (huh?) for 30 days.  Her heart rate can not be elevated.  That means, no heat, no play, no anxiety, no training.  Leash on at every minute.  Now, I have crate trained dogs pretty quickly in the past, but I have never had one so determined to get out that she would physically harm herself trying.   The crate clearly causes great stress and I can't take that chance.  Crate training will not be an option in the time we have.  So, it seems that once she starts treatment, she will have to be with me 24 hours a day.  I imagine this will put a crimp in my (luckily almost non-existent) social life;-)

There is one more unique aspect of this particular foster.  She already has an approved adopter and a forever home awaits her.  She is with us only to get through the very risky heart worm treatment and get healthy.  Basically,  another person's very sick dog's life is in my hands.  No pressure there.

Pictures to follow. 

2011 Fundraiser Picnic

The fundraiser picnic was a really good time (minus the sweat).  It was fun meeting so many of the dogs that I only "know" via the website.  Our neighbor, Leslie, and her dog Bliss (you saw her in the previous post) went with us.  It's always great getting a bunch of dog people together.  It's great giving and getting advice to and from other rescuers and encouraging potential adopters.  Jax has matured into a very well behaved young man and comments were made by all.  He wore his "I'M DEAF" collar cover, which he always wears when we go out in public.  Besides it being a safety measure for him, people are always curious and it encourages them to ask questions.  That gives me the opportunity to advocate for special needs dogs, like him, that are so often discarded.  He is a wonderful example of why that common practice is ridiculous. 

Actually, I learned about a chapter in Jax's life that I had never known before.  You may remember that when we first got him, the rescue had taken him from a guy who had just found out that he was deaf and was planning to shoot him.  I now know that he was acquired by that man from another family in exchange for a tank of gas!  Can you believe that?  They had run out of gas and traded their dog for a fill up.  I suppose they thought that they were getting a good deal.  After all, what value does a deaf dog have?  It's no wonder why he was such a mess.  He was treated like an disposable object. 

We didn't get our new foster dog as planned.  She came down with kennel cough a couple of days before.  She should be just fine, but it's quite contagious to other dogs.  Of course she couldn't come to the fundraiser and pass the illness around to everyone.  Probably not a good way to promote the rescue.  

Silly me.   Although I made a point to pack my camera, I left it in the car the entire time.  I have no pictures to share from our day.


Just a small disclaimer...

(A few people have asked about this) You will notice that I never actually use the names of the rescue/rescuers that I am involved with.  This is because although I do represent them in public, I do not speak for them in this blog.  These are merely my personal thoughts and experiences.  As an admittedly opinionated person, I rarely filter myself when it comes to something that I am this passionate about.  I know that my words may offend some people.  For that reason, I never want this blog to be connected to the rescue.   If, however, you are looking for a dog, or are just curious, I would be more than happy to give you the name and website of our rescue in a private message!  Just leave me a comment!

Long time coming!

I should have posted several times by now!  I am a terrible blogger.  We have just had so much going on lately.

I'll start with the biggest news, though many of you have already heard.  Lincoln got adopted last week!  He went to an absolutely wonderful home and joins 2 boxer brothers, ages 13years and 4 years.   I know he will be spoiled there for the rest of his life. I have already had emails from his new "mom" thanking me and letting me know how much they already love him.

His adoption happened very quickly.  We were just 3 days away from leaving for vacation when I got the news that someone was interested.  She had been pre-approved and home checked already.  She came to my office to meet him and asked if she could take him home for the day to meet her other dogs.  With the upcoming vacation, I knew we needed to either act quickly or wait, so I let him go with her.  Knowing Lincoln the way I did, I had no doubt that she would fall in love.  Sure enough.  I got the call asking if she could keep him.  This time, I had to say "no."  Not yet, anyway.  I had become extremely attached to Linc and needed one last night with him.  I needed to say good bye.  She completely understood and returned him to me that afternoon, which was probably a very good thing.  That night, he had a severe allergic reaction to something and I was up all night with him.  He had huge hives and welts all over his body and his face was so swollen he looked like a sharpei!  Luckily, I had some steroids in my drug cabinet.  I needed to monitor him very closely to make sure the swelling didn't move into his mouth or throat and disrupt his breathing.  He slept next to me in bed, with his head on my stomach, as though he had been doing that every single night of his life.  We technically have a "no dogs in bed" rule, so Jonathon joked that Lincoln planned it that way.  By morning, all symptoms were gone. 

I was very hard for me to let him go.  There was just something about that dog.  He totally captured my heart.  He fit in perfectly with our pack.  He was an absolute goof ball, always full of energy and ready to play.  Jonathon and I had said many times over the months that if we could have another (permanent) dog, it would be him.  The only thing keeping me focused was knowing that there was another dog out there waiting for my help.  I cried when he left, more than a little.  I have a feeling, however, that our paths will cross again in the future.

Here are some pictures from the first month or so of our summer...

Check out that beautiful, shiny coat!

Lincoln shares Jax's love of the sprinklers!

They would do this all day if I let them!

This cute little girl is Bliss. She lives next door. Her and Lincoln were the best of pals!

 

"Under the Table and Dreaming"    

        

Such a sweetheart.  He sure loved to snuggle!

We have our fundraiser picnic this Saturday.  We will go with one dog (after last year's fiasco, we realized that crowds are not Dixie's thing and she will sit this one out!) and come home with two.  Our next foster will be meeting us there.  And then it begins again.