Wooo... I love not having teenagers in the house!
Buster and Gio make themselves at home :)
In a nutshell, Gio is a huge mush puppy. Our backyard has at times been a marking competition for Beckett and Sam (the upstairs dog), but when Gio tried to mark, I growled loud at him -something that usually just makes them look up, pay attention, and maybe think twice about doing the action- and he nearly ran for cover. Kind of spineless, but a huge lover. He's the kind of dog that will probably do well just about anywhere (except for maybe some die-hard Caesar fans).
Buster is an interesting girl for sure. Inside and outside she's totally different. Inside she's a follow-you around, wag her tail like a machine, make flirty ears at Beckett and get dancy when the food comes out kind of dog. She's kissy, kind of cuddly, and a very happy dog. However, when she's in the backyard, something flips in her. She paces, becomes scared of her own shadow, and suddenly, the people whose feet she'll gladly sleep on, become untrusted. With the knowledge that she can be a bit of an escape artist, she's double collared, and drags her leash in the yard.
This morning saw an unfortunate moment. I took the dogs out at five cause I could hear Gio dancing to go out, and even in my sleepiness, I remembered to hook the leash on Buster. I managed to get her back in, but it took me nearly half an hour, in the dark, of slowly stalking her and giving her space at the same time. Although last night I could get close enough to grab the leash, without enough light I could hear Buster nervous whining. It was obvious I was a threat to her at that moment. Eventually I herded her back inside. Once inside, bang, back to the same happy dog, eager for her breakfast, completely over her ordeal.
But just an hour later, since Jerrad always lets the dogs out at six -just part of the routine-, everyone went out again, and Jerrad forgot to put the leash on. Jerrad's not stupid, nor is he dog-inept, but in a combination of sleepiness and the dark, Jerrad made the mistake and tried to grab Buster's collar to bring her in. Buster, moving backwards (AKA, out of fear) snapped and it landed. It wasn't a really bad bite, but he did get two pretty good punctures and a smattering of ticks. So, I come out of the bedroom to find Jerrad on the couch with a towel around his elbow, Gio looking very sad, and Buster sitting right at Jerrad's feet as if to say: "OMG, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" Her poor little face couldn't have got any sorrier. For safety, I shipped Jerrad off by taxi to the hospital, just in case, and mostly to do with placement of the bite (you don't want to run the chance of hitting something in your elbow), but I'm pretty much 100% sure he's fine.
UPDATE: Jerrad is just fine. Just a thorough cleaning, and three days that he's not allowed to work since he's a dishwasher over the summer. He was shipped back home within an hour.
Jerrad, I give him credit was like: "She didn't mean to get me at all. It was dark, I probably moved too quick." So, even to the dog that just bit him, he was sitting there petting her, saying he was sorry. At least ten times I heard: "It's not your fault."
Mostly, I think he didn't quite realize Buster's inside/outside personalities, as just last night Buster was his personal foot warmer, he was scratching her neck and she was giving him kisses on the hand. But we learn. And now we know to take the outside VERY slowly (sometimes a big backyard isn't a blessing). Buster loves walks and we live in a fairly quiet neighbourhood, so she'll love all the trees and trails and quiet. When she's connected to people, she's a people dog, and when she's not, she's scared. She's a little bit like Xena was, but to a more extreme. (Outside Xena was a wild-dog who never listened to anything, whereas inside you could tell her to do anything she knew how to and she'd listen every time).
At this point, I think Buster would make a fantastic apartment/townhouse dog. Without the element of a backyard or being offleash, she's so far wonderful. For now the plan is to make sure we only use the long line with Buster in the backyard, and, if necessary, we'll move a step backwards to walking her in the yard on leash. And anytime there's a pee and its even a bit dark out, she'll be on a leash.
***** I thought for awhile before I posted a blog with a bite in it. For the record, its the first of our fosters to ever do any sort of damage. However, I hope any potential adopters or other foster-mums reading this, see that even though Buster obviously has the potential to bite, she in no way seeks to do so. Fear makes a dog reactive to the stimulus. Even the most gentle dog, if facing something they fear, has large potential to fight.
Foster care and transition is a learning process. Especially in the first few days. When you deal with shy, or fearful dogs, (or almost any dog actually) there's always the potential to be bitten, but its not the bite that determines the dog's personality. Look for what the dog does afterwards too, and what happened to trigger the bite.
Buster is a sweet girl. She has weaknesses, and fears, but she'll flee a lot (he was out for 15 minutes of herding her before he tried to grab her collar) before trying to do anything about it. Hopefully we'll help her slowly overcome at least some of them. But she's also very loveable, and inside the home a very affectionate girl. She'd much rather be inside snoozing than outside anyway!
Honestly, so far, any potential adopter that doesn't have a backyard, or would take Buster everywhere on leash, she'd be just fine. That said, we'll still work on the troubled spots.
And Gio -well, he'd be fine just about anywhere :P
Falling asleep standing up, just so he can get some loving:
4 comments:
Buster was a long time stray on one of our First Nation Communities. She was chased, ran in a pack during her heat cycles, had puppies outside in the bush or under a house/shed. Life was an extreme survival test. Add a time at summer camp style group foster than a foster home in the city and a dd a change to a second foster and that is a lot of changes for a fearful girl. In my opinion, it was the dark and the chase that did her in - and grabbing for the collar is a definite trigger for so many dogs. One of our nicest dogs turns into a snapping turtle when grabbed by the collar. It takes time and patience to relieve that fear. So many people use the collar/leash to grab the dog and restrain him/her for punishment - the "old choke him so he'll submit to my dominance tactic" Old style trainers did so much damage to good dogs and still do. Thank you Jerrad and Emily for taking on Buster. She has the chance to be the best she can because you believe in her.
It can be that she cannot see well in the dark? Maybe some night blindness? Or that she is afraid of the dark itself if she is ok to go for walks? Our yard is lit up with flood lights so it is never dark. Something I never thought of.
I think you might be onto something with 'the dark' thing Yvette. When I came home from work tonight, there was a party in the yard. Beckett and Gio and Buster were all running around (fairly slowly, barring Beckett who was fast but running blindly into everything!). Buster even playboughed to me twice, and loves to play 'chase the human'. IE: Emily runs like a looney and everyone chases after her. She nosed me right up the bum! Considering the years she's spent being a stray, I think she's doing quite incredible. More soon I'm sure :)
Thanks for sharing it all Emily! It's hard to write things like this for fear that you will scare people away. But, the right home for Buster will understand the whole dog and love her for it - for her unique personality, quirks and all. I really admire that Jerrad is so on board with your fostering, that he works to understand, help and love these dogs too. The experience in the backyard will have a silver lining. Buster felt bad, Jerrad felt bad and yet they both move forward together...nobody gave up and Buster, being such a smart cookie, will recognize that. I can't wait for more updates and pictures! Gio us such a sweet dog...he was the easiest to unload from the TG van that day.
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