Rules are made to be broken, right?? Ha! Last week I pulled 3 border collies from Montgomery Co animal shelter for ABC rescue--Gypsy, Alex, and Rant. I took them all to Dr. Martin's office to be vetted and then boarded. No foster homes were currently available including my own. My rule is one foster dog at a time and Buck is my one foster dog. Wellllll, I went back to Dr. Martin's this week on a completely unrelated errand and ended up taking Alex home with me!! When I pulled him from the shelter, I knew he was a shy, scared boy. He wasn't coming around at the vet's office even though the staff there were giving him the best of care. He needed to be with people and other dogs--he needed socialization. I've never been very good at saying "no" so Alex is now Foster Dog #2 at my house--totally against the rules!!!
Alex is making progress in tiny baby steps. He's becoming slightly less glued to his crate. He will come out when called now even though he acts like something awful is about to happen to him all the time. His tail stays tucked between his legs. I can't wait for the day when he wags his tail!! Stay tuned for more updates on this sweet, sweet boy.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Foster "Failures"
There are two dogs that are missing from my foster dogs video--Oz and Gabriel. Both of these precious boys came into my life as foster dogs just like all the others.
My friend, Janice, found Oz at the shelter and called me to come meet him. He was a terrified mess of a dog--afraid of his own shadow. He was afraid of walking on a leash so I carried him out of the shelter and home we went. For the first several days I had to carry him outside for potty breaks because he would flatten himself to the floor like a pancake in fear of the leash. Eventually he lost his fear of leash walking, but going for walks was still a challenge as he was afraid of bikes, blades, scooters, anything on wheels. I will never forget the walk when Oz pulled me off the sidewalk into a huge thorn bush because a child rode by on a bike!! As time went on, Oz gained confidence. When the time came to put him up for adoption, I couldn't imagine saying goodbye to him. Oz became my first "foster failure." He still has his moments and when stressed will turn into a pancake with prick ears. But I'm so proud of how far he has come. He is now my agility boy!! We have been attending classes for over a year now and he loves it!! Check out this video of an agility demonstration at a local rescue event.
I continued to foster dogs after adopting Oz. I went to the shelter one day to check out a call I had gotten about a bc puppy at the shelter. When I walked up to the puppy's kennel, he was sitting there looking miserable and holding one of his front paws up as if injured. I couldn't say no to that sweet face behind the cage door. I took him to the vet and discovered that his leg wasn't injured, but for some reason had atrophied and just needed some muscle development. It didn't take long to find out what a sweet, calm boy he was. I named him Gabriel because he was such an angel-dog. I spent lots of time taking Gabriel on short walk to build up strength in his leg. It was spring time and there were often puddles in the street from rain or sprinklers in neighbors' yards. Gabriel's favorite thing was to splash through those puddles to cool off his feet on those walks. The time came all too soon for Gabe to be adopted. I was nervous about letting him go. I took him to an adoption event and he met a family that fell in love with him. I liked the family alot and we were making plans for them to adopt Gabe when they discovered that their son had pet allergies. With much sadness, they backed out of the adoption. That was all it took for me to make a decision--Gabriel wasn't going anywhere. He became my second foster failure. Gabe is aborder collie mix. His black and white coloring is about the only thing border collie about him. He enjoys sniffing and observing at the dog park while the other border collies run around like mad herding or fetching. His ears are too small for his head and he's on the stout side! But when I look at him, I still see that puppy at the shelter with the hurt leg. He will always be my angel-dog.
My friend, Janice, found Oz at the shelter and called me to come meet him. He was a terrified mess of a dog--afraid of his own shadow. He was afraid of walking on a leash so I carried him out of the shelter and home we went. For the first several days I had to carry him outside for potty breaks because he would flatten himself to the floor like a pancake in fear of the leash. Eventually he lost his fear of leash walking, but going for walks was still a challenge as he was afraid of bikes, blades, scooters, anything on wheels. I will never forget the walk when Oz pulled me off the sidewalk into a huge thorn bush because a child rode by on a bike!! As time went on, Oz gained confidence. When the time came to put him up for adoption, I couldn't imagine saying goodbye to him. Oz became my first "foster failure." He still has his moments and when stressed will turn into a pancake with prick ears. But I'm so proud of how far he has come. He is now my agility boy!! We have been attending classes for over a year now and he loves it!! Check out this video of an agility demonstration at a local rescue event.
I continued to foster dogs after adopting Oz. I went to the shelter one day to check out a call I had gotten about a bc puppy at the shelter. When I walked up to the puppy's kennel, he was sitting there looking miserable and holding one of his front paws up as if injured. I couldn't say no to that sweet face behind the cage door. I took him to the vet and discovered that his leg wasn't injured, but for some reason had atrophied and just needed some muscle development. It didn't take long to find out what a sweet, calm boy he was. I named him Gabriel because he was such an angel-dog. I spent lots of time taking Gabriel on short walk to build up strength in his leg. It was spring time and there were often puddles in the street from rain or sprinklers in neighbors' yards. Gabriel's favorite thing was to splash through those puddles to cool off his feet on those walks. The time came all too soon for Gabe to be adopted. I was nervous about letting him go. I took him to an adoption event and he met a family that fell in love with him. I liked the family alot and we were making plans for them to adopt Gabe when they discovered that their son had pet allergies. With much sadness, they backed out of the adoption. That was all it took for me to make a decision--Gabriel wasn't going anywhere. He became my second foster failure. Gabe is aborder collie mix. His black and white coloring is about the only thing border collie about him. He enjoys sniffing and observing at the dog park while the other border collies run around like mad herding or fetching. His ears are too small for his head and he's on the stout side! But when I look at him, I still see that puppy at the shelter with the hurt leg. He will always be my angel-dog.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Dogs That Came Before
In my introduction post, you met Zoe and Ziggy--my first dog and my first foster dog, respectively.
Introduction
The purpose of this blog is the share, recount, whine, rejoice, document, and brag about the events and stories that occur in my work with animal rescue. I got started in this venture almost 6 years ago when I adopted my very first dog. Her name is Zoe and she is a border collie mix. She is the most amazing dog I have ever known. She's almost human in her intelligence!! She now lives with my ex in NYC. But she remains the dog of my heart. Here she is posing in my rocking chair at the library where I work.
Zoe was adopted through The Woodlands Dog Park Club. I met some wonderful people from TWDPC, including Janice, the lady who suckered me into fostering my first border collie. I remember the night well. Janice and I were both in attendance at a farewell dinner for a friend. We started talking border collies and Janice whipped out her phone and showed me a picture of a bc at the shelter. She then turned her wide eyes to me and asked if I would like to foster him. I had no idea what in the world I was getting into, but long story short, I met Janice at the vet's office the next day and went home with my first foster dog, Ziggy.
And there you have it. Before Zoe, I lived my life as a card carrying member of the cats only fan club. And to be sure, I love my 4 kitties! But with a wag of her tail and lick of her tongue, Zoe opened my eyes to the world of the border collie and I haven't looked back.
As you read this blog, I hope you will come to know some terrific dogs and at least have an appreciation for the joys and heartaches of an animal foster parent.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)