Ezra, Week One.

First, an update on the remaining two of the confiscated dogs.  Sadly, they have been euthanized.  They were touch and go while under anesthesia for their spay/neuter.  The heart worms had done enough damage to their hearts that they barely made it through alive.  With that much difficulty during short, routine surgeries, the odds are good that they would never have survived the heart worm treatment. Rest in peace, sweet dogs.  The suffering that you endured for years at the hands of a human is finally over.  I'm so sorry you never got a chance to feel the love of a real family.

Ezra is a mess.  A sweet, loving, eager to please, mess.  She is having a hard time adjusting to life in a home.  Although she is thoroughly enjoying every minute that she spends with us, her real issues begin when she is left alone.  She suffers from extreme separation anxiety- the worst I've seen.  We are talking pacing, howling, panting, drooling, and (unfortunately for me) loss of bowel control and stress diarrhea.  Crating her has been absolutely out of the question.  The first couple of nights were the worst.  She was up until dawn, and as a result, so was I.  She is now on a "supplement" that seems to be helping some.

She also has some real trust issues with the dogs.  It's evident by the hundreds of bite scars all over her that she has been in many fights in her life.  There were 13 dogs in a small space and although I'm sure they were bonded with one another, and had friends within the pack, they had no choice but to fight for any food that was made available to them.  It's a survival instinct.   It has become part of her to be on the defense all the time.  She isn't dog aggressive and the behavior certainly isn't malicious.  She is conditioned to be afraid, which makes her unpredictable.  90% of the time, she is fine with them, just a little nervous.  But if she ever feels overwhelmed, nervous, or threatened, she snaps.  Only it isn't just a snap!  The problem is, there are no boundaries with our dogs.  They literally walk all over and lay on top of one another.  There is no such thing as "too close" in their world.  She needs time to trust that neither of them want to harm or fight her.  She also needs to understand that the humans are the leaders now and we do have control so there is nothing to worry about.  Unfortunately, she is going to have to learn that pretty quickly.  She has bitten both Dixie and Jax now.  I have always said, they are my absolute first priority in all of this.  I know they deal with a lot being part of the rescue program, but I refuse to put them in harm's way.  The look on Jaxy's face when I pulled her off of him was so confused.  It was like  "Mom, how could you let that happen to me?"  He trusts me completely and I felt I had let him down.  Multiple dog homes have disagreements within the packs.  It's inevitable, I know that.  Still, I don't totally trust her now, so how can I expect her to totally trust me?

Her face is totally covered in bite wound scars.

For these reasons, she is never left unsupervised in our home or around the other dogs.  I take her to daycare everyday.  The place that I leave Dixie and Jax when we travel is just down the road from my office, so it's very convenient.   After explaining Ezra's situation, (they had fallen in love with her after the first day) I asked the manager if there was anything they could do to help us out, money wise.  I was hoping for a deep discount.  She contacted the owner of the facility and called me at home later.  They decided that I could bring her for daycare anytime...no charge.  I am so thankful.  It's such good experience for her.  That just goes to show, it never hurts to ask!


***UPDATE:  (Sunday morning)***

As of yesterday, Ezra is no longer in our home.  It just wasn't working.  Although we have made progress with most of her issues,  after the "encounters" that she had with our dogs, I was constantly paranoid and stressed.  I'm sure all three of the dogs picked up on that.  She also went after Dixie again yesterday.  I was right there, so no contact was made, but it scared her.  After that, she spent two hours in the shed because she didn't want to be around Ezra.  She absolutely would not come out.  Not even for our walk.  Trying to cover all of my bases, I tried again to crate Ez (I had been doing short, supervised stints in the crate all week).  Within minutes of me leaving the room, she managed to get her bottom jaw stuck between the wires.  There was blood all over.  I got her out and she was fine, but had we not been here, she could easily have broken that jaw.  Without the ability to keep the dogs separate when we are gone, we determined that it just wasn't safe for her to be here.  Besides just the risk of someone getting physically injured, it isn't good for any of them mentally.   I worry that we could ruin the trust that we have with our dogs, and that could mean the end of fostering.  Right now, they understand that whatever dogs we bring into the house, they are to accept into the pack.  And they always do, with open arms.  If something bad happened, however, it may cause them to lose confidence in our ability to control things.  Dixie was definitely going in that direction.  She acts tough, but she is very sensitive.

This was not an easy decision to make.  I feel incredibly guilty about sending her away,  but I'm not giving up on her.  I have become very fond of her and I know she is a great dog.  She has suffered through a lot in her life and deserves to be loved.  In a home with no other dogs, she will thrive. She is friendly and outgoing to everyone she meets.  She is currently over at the boarding facility that she goes to for daycare.  I talked to the manager about long-term boarding.  She is going to find out what the owner can work out as far as a discount for our rescue.  I am confident that they will help me.  The alternative is for her to board at a vet clinic that works with our rescue.  The situation there would be less than ideal (read: awful) so I want to avoid it at all costs.  She will go down hill quickly in those conditions.  Here, she has an air conditioned, indoor room with walls, not chain link.  It also has a doggy door and her own private outdoor area.  They take her out to run around several times a day.  With the kennel being only blocks from my office, I will be able visit and work with her each day.  She will still be my foster dog and I am committed to her until she finds her forever home.