Learning to be Alone

One of the most important skills I find teaching a new foster dog is -besides where to pee and poo- is learning how to be alone for short periods of time. Let's face it, most families work, work outside of the home and have at least a few hours a day where puppy or dog has to be okay left alone. Even families that have someone work from home have to go get groceries on a hot day and couldn't take a dog in the car at all times. And if a family goes away, very, very few facilities offer 24/7 companionship. So learning to be alone is paramount, both to the happiness of the dog, and the dog keeping it's home for life.

Separation anxiety is one of the leading behavioral causes of getting rid of a dog. And who can truly blame them at times, especially if you get complained on by neighbors, come home to a destroyed house or potentially even a sick dog who has gotten into something. No one should get rid of their dog, but I play devil's advocate. Why not prevent, and train how to be alone?

So, a long time ago we implemented crate-time into our foster boot-camp, and we implemented short periods of "away time" as well, of course taking into consideration the dog's age! It's taken over a dozen foster dogs to perfect (or nearly perfect) a system, but it's amazing how quickly everyone becomes accustomed to routine.

Take for example, dear little Chopin, who as sweet a puppy as he is, from the get-go didn't let being out of viewing distance of EITHER person in the room. He has good reason, he just left his littermates, his TG family, the people he saw every day for weeks. But on the flip side of the coin, this behavior could really hinder him in a new environment. So, we snuggled, played with, comforted him, but as well, we took steps to  slowly start the process of "alone".

So, starting night one, all meals are fed in the crate. Very easy way to build a like for the crate very quickly. (Plus it is VERY handy to figure out just how much each one is eating.) Boom, your in for your meal. You finish your meal, you can come out. Overnight the first night, we let Chopin and Peanut share a crate -right beside the bed so they can still smell us, hear us, and if we hear that "OMG I got to pee" sound, get him out for a pee. As they are both used to another dog's company at all times the TG pups we usually begin crating together and slowly separate. Some initial complaining from Chopin on night one, but he settles for the night after about an hour.

Day Two, with the handy use of a baby gate and two living rooms, we begin desensitizing Chopin to people leaving the room (since he is a whiny baby even if someone is in the room with him but the other person leaves, kind of a big warning sign for some bigger separation anxiety down the road if we don't work quick). I leave the room, Jerrad drops tasty pieces of ham. Jerrad leaves the room, the same thing happens. We do this half a dozen times, then about half a dozen times where the person stays away for longer. Peanut doesn't seem to care about the whole situation of leaving, but what the heck, we'll desensitize her to the same process anyway. Ham for everyone.

We split Chopin's food up to about 4-5 different little meals, all of which he will eat in his crate. Each meal, we build the length of time he's in there. At first, as soon as he's done his meal, he can come out, but by about the fifth meal, he is staying in an extra 10-15 minutes after he's done eating. Day two, meal 4, we are seeing a puppy who rushes to his crate and a puppy who is much calmer when someone leaves the room. Jerrad is happy I can go pee without puppy making a fuss. I am happy Jerrad can go work on the car without puppy making a fuss!

Night-time he sleeps with Peanut again, no fuss this overnight.

Day Three, we work a little on the desensitizing to people leaving, but he seems to get this game. We challenge it further at night by taking out food rewards and exchanging for "good boy" and an ear scratch. With success at this game, we move to new protocol "on your own" for fifteen minutes. We BOTH leave the room. I go hang in the other living room, far enough way to be considered "away", but close enough to deal with anything if it's to occur. Expecting a bit of a fuss first time around, Chopin surprises us, whines for a minute and is quiet. We find him cuddled up to Beckett ten minutes later. Great, much more than we thought we'd get, PLUS no destructive puppy.

Since he is excited to see us return, we practice a new game. With our handy-dandy baby gate preventing him from getting to us, any time he jumps at the gate or barks, I leave, triggering the exact opposite reaction of what he wants to get. So, within three times, we get a polite tail-wagging puppy at the gate. He is smart, plus he is mellow so it's helpful. Of course we want him happy to see us, but we don't need extravagant displays. Our aim in preventing/eliminating his minor separation anxiety is calm exits, and CALM returns. The whole key is to make everything "no big deal."

In the afternoon he goes to daycare, and after he comes home from daycare (exhausted) we give him food and a whole hour of crate-time on his own. No fuss. Food + exhaustion means there's no energy to kick up a fuss. He also sleeps the whole night in his crate by himself (by the bed still). He is rushing to his crate for every meal time.

Day Four, because we've had a lot of success over the past three days, and except for the odd time there is no whining when one of us leave, it's time to work on some more crate-time. Even if his new family doesn't want to use a crate, I truly think crate-training is an important life-skill. Planes, vet offices, boarding kennels, grooming facilities -at some point, your dog will find itself having to be in a crate. I think you owe it to them to do the training to make it a comfortable experience. So, we start with just an hour, and a REALLY good chew toy, and someone in the room with him, there's a little initial fuss, but he gets occupied with the toy quickly (thanks for the antlers Denise, with peanut butter on top of them they are un-resistable!) He goes to daycare again in the afternoon, and when we come home reality sets in "It's grocery time."

Jerrad could go on his own, but pup is tired, we've worked on the issue, and I think he's ready for an hour of no one home. So, food time, pop pup in his crate, and off we go for groceries. We come home to a puppy who even though we open the door of his crate, is doggone tired and doesn't get up. So, he goes back to bed for two more hours until it's pee time and then time for real bed.

Day Five presents us with some problems since my car is on the fritz, and we really don't want pup at daycare three days in a row. That too is not a realistic expectation of a new home, I never want to build my fosters into a routine that isn't easily managed by a new family. Jerrad is home, but has to run me back and forth to work since we're down to one car, and has a job interview. These three things take about 45 minutes each and are divided throughout the day. With the success we've already achieved, and a mellower pup who has two days into daycare, I think it's fair. So, we decide pup will have to crate for those three shorter periods, and each of those times can be his meal time. Pup does so well, two of the times we pull the blanket off his crate and he's like "WHHHATTT? I'm sleeping!" Jerrad forgets a chew toy the last time, but pup seems quite content when I get back from work, regardless of my absent-minded professor.

After That: 
Being a young pup, throughout the night beside the bed and two or three hours in a crate is the most I would do except on very odd occasion. He needs to be out exploring, cuddling, learning, being a puppy. But I was happy that yesterday night, when we had agility (an hour) and then a homecheck for Alice (another hour) plus the 15 minute(ish) drive each way, that he was a content puppy, very capable of being alone. Plus, he is doing well with short 15-20 minute bursts of being alone without a crate too, though has managed to find his way into the laundry basket once!

Are we done here: no way, we need to continue with the same routine, and whoever adopts him will have to continue to work on desensitizing to being alone -just like any puppy!-. But it's a start, and hopefully takes the edge off him when he finds his family.

PS: We were lucky, Peanut took to her crate right away! She will sneak in with Alice or Chopin sometimes, but goes in very willingly and settles down easily. We've been practicing 15-20 minute intervals outside the crate on her own, but she is kind of destructive -very quickly finds something to shred- so I don't trust her yet with me fully away from the house. With the set-up I have, I can hear in the other room if she's into mischief, how long I'm "away" that she gets into it, and if I need to can intervene. With Peanut being a year old, I'm comfortable with crating her up to 5 hours if I need too, though now she is starting to get bed privileges at night (bad foster mum, that was another "rule" I used to have). Ideally with her new home they either crate or have a set-up where she doesn't have full-access to the house. And then snuggle her in bed ;)

Alice came already crate-trained, which is a total bonus both for me, and for her new home. Of course Alice comes with some extra work in the socialization department since she wasn't socialized much in Taiwan, but she's apparently okay for up to nine hours in her crate. That's a little excessive for such a young dog, but in Taiwan it was either that or a life on the streets.

 In the end my goal with all my fosters is the same: make them as adoptable as possible, as adaptable as possible, and minimize any potential hang-ups for a smooth-as-possible transition to a forever home. Plus of course, keep them happy in their foster home :)

Quick Updates, Picture for Piper

Piper's little girl Daisy (oh geesh, I sure hope it's Daisy!) is staying with us for a few weeks while Piper is off in France (again, I think it's France, my brain is mush lately). She's an awesome little companion, reminds me very much of a look-alike foster we had here called Hanna.

Here's a pic for Piper, who I'm sure is missing her:

Daisy

And for fun, the picture of her look alike:

Hanna

She's made herself quite at home Piper. Isn't horribly fond of Jinks -actually, to be fair I'm probably the ONLY one overly fond of Jinks on any given day- but everyone else no problem. She briefly joined the pack this morning on Beckett's bed. 4-5 beds, they all seem to congregate. It's like a bloody clown car, how many can fit on one bed.

Lemon and Peanut are starting to get along OUTSIDE. Peanut is now trustworthy off-leash on the acreage. She doesn't have a recall, but sticks close when she isn't zooming around like a loony toon. The more I'm with her, the more I see Jack Russell mix -thankfully not quite as terrier, or nearly as yappy, but oh yeah, there's terrier there!

Some video of the girls running around.

Chopin is getting bigger every day I swear! He's showing me more and more laid back Pyrenees. He doesn't stick close like previous foster pups Cheddar or Wrangler, but keeps you in "checking in" range. I'm sure he would love some land to keep watch of. He likes observing our chickens too, in a thoughtful kind of a way.

He of course also likes to have some playtime:

Alice is off to a homecheck tonight with what seems a very good application. She is a good girl, nicely crate-trained, not a lot of energy, good on her leash -a chewer, but she's a baby so that's only fair. She's an opinionated little run-like-crazy jack-rabbit though. Not ready to go off-leash in the field, more because at some point she found the game "keep-away" a whole lot of fun. I'm NOT playing keep-away on three acres, most especially with a whippet mix!

In other news, car blew up. Not so happy because I paid to repair something that wasn't even the problem and they can't even find the problem unless I sink another $500 minimum into finding out what the problem even is. Sigh. The car isn't worth much, but she was good for what she did. So, RIP Subaru. Off to the bank today to see about financing something. It's weird, I've always just bought a cheap car outright, but that isn't really an option at the present time. So, hopefully with 3 years at the same job, I can squeeze out a small loan and get something new over the weekend. Relying on Jerrad's old beat-up vehicle isn't so good!

Sour Lemon

Jinks and Beckett quite like foster siblings. They greet them very nicely, usually let them warm up first and don't make any sudden movements. Beckett is patience and wisdom, Jinks is level-headed, discerning, and yet ready for a whomping good time as soon as someone starts the party. Lemon is kind of "well I guess, as long as I still get to be the queen." Lemon though, this time around is sour.

One Sour Lemon

The reason why Lemon is sour is two-fold, but they both are triggered by one dog. That, would be Peanut. Peanut who despite numerous good tell-offs (quite a few bits of fur torn out) just doesn't get that Lemon DOES NOT want to play. Which is really annoying, because Peanut doesn't seem to want to play with anyone else besides Lemon.

Lemon is also pretty darn jealous of this particular dog.
For example:

How Dare Peanut steal Lemon's snuggle arm!

Lemon has been pushed back into the "cuddle by the butt" position with Peanut cuddling here.

I'm sure if Lemon could talk she would say: "SOMEONE PLEASE ADOPT THIS DOG!! GET HER OUTTA HERE."

There's only one small, yellow, terrier mix in this house I guess.

---On the whole she's actually an awesome dog, snuggly, doesn't mind to be left alone for a few hours, doesn't mind a crate, is ridiculously affectionate, and is dog social though can be an annoying pest. She'll make someone a really cool companion like Lemon has made us. Go figure, she's just like Lemon was a year and a half ago. Actually, probably a little less crazy than Lemon used to be.

More on the puppies tomorrow.
Emily Out

The Best Laid Plans

Go figure, my TG fosters are who we signed up for! Thanks Denise!! It's quite appreciated, especially this close to a move not to have another monkey wrench thrown into the mix. Also a big thanks to Lindsey, who went to the ferry to pick them up from the volunteer who did the ferry run, and also kept them in her backyard for a couple of hours before we could pick them up. Lindsey is fostering Brookyln, a 5-6 month old German Shepherd mix dog, who is definitely going to be a handful. Good thing I didn't take her home. I am much too partial to dogs who are handfuls (in a good way). Nah, give me easy, family type puppies. Puppies who are lovely, cuddly, low-medium energy, going to make someone a lovely pet puppies. Naughty, smart, demanding, trouble puppies those are Emily puppies, and I really don't need to fall in love again. One naughty, smart, demanding, trouble teenager is enough.

Still though, I really wanted to scoop her up and bring her home!! I really do adore dogs that want to work.

So our TG crew are Chopin the 13 week old pup and Peanut the terrier mix. Chopin is supposed to be BC x Karelian Bear dog, but he is already at least thirty pounds at least at 13 weeks, which means he'll probably be 70-80+ pounds I would gather. I actually see Saint Bernard in him -or Pyrenees-, the thick face, the heavy coat, the deep forehead. Some BC in there for sure, but something big and mellow to offset it.

He is a little traumatized being away from his litter mates but in a few days he'll be just fine.

Peanut is go figure, pretty much just like Lemon. She is taller, has a short tail (I can't tell if it's natural, or if something has happened to it), but temperament wise and looks wise, very similar dogs. She is bouncy, playful, mouthy, has a bit of attitude, and is extremely cuddly. Luckily she isn't lacking the social skills Lemon did when she came to us. She will let her opinion be known, but she gives very clear signs and instructions. So, if anyone wanted a little Lemon type dog -without the training-, here she is! She'll make someone a really nice companion.

Better pictures of those guys soon!

But of course, the best laid plans might go right one place, but backfire somewhere else, so no getting off scottfree this weekend. Sunday, the puppy who was slated to come to meet her new family after spending a couple of days here wasn't completely healed from her spay so couldn't complete quarantine. So, instead of wasting the flight, they decided to send the happiest, most social butterfly puppy they could find.

So.... here comes Alice!

Alice is a 7 month old Whippet mix, approx 14 pounds now, 20 some full grown. She is highly treat motivated, apparently has quite a lot of energy and LOVES people.

Too late, she's on the plane. We'll make it work though. Tonight it's going to be a full house!

Emily Out

Happy Rescue Birthday Beckett

5 years of the best dog we could ask for. Jerrad and I always joke that we'd take ten Becketts in a second. Of course we're biased, but I've known hundreds of dogs now, and I've met my share of awesome dogs, but  I haven't met one that beats Beckett (yet anyway).

Beckett was approx 3 years of age when he came to us from TG 5 years ago, one of the last Sheriff dogs there -besides the unadoptable ones-. The vet soon pegged him a year or two older, so he is roughly 8-10 years old. We've decided to just meet in the middle and call this his 9th birthday.

Over the weekend I'm going to put together some of the many pictures of Beckett doing what Beckett does best -snuggling foster siblings-. But for now I leave it with HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECKETT! 9 x 7 is only 63, so we've got a good many years together left.

Beckett, slowly starting to look older, but always wise.

A New Rental for July

Looks like we've found our new spot :) We'll be signing a lease in a few days, so nothing is finalized until it's signed, sealed and delivered but come July we should be renting a three bedroom rancher with a nice fenced backyard. My sister will move back in with us for August as she's on a convenient bus route to school. The home was previously rented by someone who bred a couple litters of wolfdogs over a few years and is used to having 3-4 large dogs on the properties throughout daily life. So, we're good for up to six dogs at a time. Our three, one or two fosters, and one or two board dogs. It'll mean we might have to take a few weeks off fostering later in June.

In other news, Floof is now named "Keenan" and is loving his days going to work with his mum. He is also playing with his ferret siblings. To me, he'll always be Floof.

TG bus run this weekend, and Sunday coming Sunday for a couple of nights before she meets her hopeful new family.

And now, I commence cleaning out all of the stuff we seem to collect. It's just our three for a few days, so I better get cracking!

Emily Out

Cinderella Adopted!

Cinderella -now Ella- is adopted. She will live in a very dog friendly apartment with her active dad and cat sibling Jinx. She was very at ease with her new dad in the meet + greet and continues to be!

I received this after their first long walk together:

For a people-shy kind of skitty Taiwanese pup, this is pretty darn good for a first day!! She is already daddy's spoiled girl. I'm sure being a one-person dog will allow her to bond strongly and fiercely, and the continued socialization will make her the best dog she can be.

It just goes to go that sometimes the underdog application is really the one best for the particular dog. Knowing dad is gone 6 hours and rents an apartment (long-term mind you) it would be an easy application to dismiss, but it should come back to Cinderella's needs.

She needs socialization and someone to super-glue herself to. She truly is a "one-person" dog. Plus, she doesn't mind spending time on her own, so six hours is no problem for her. I'm very glad this is Cinderella's perfect match! Looking forward to more updates from these two.

--Counting chickens before they hatch, but we went to see an awesome foster-friendly new house!! Application goes in tomorrow.

Dear Karma, if there was ever a time to kick in, now would be good ;) No pressure though, and not telling you what to do, but you know...

Emily Out

Month-to-Month and Forthcoming Adoptions

First off, it seems like we're going to be able to go month-to-month on our farm. This is both good and bad. We love the farm, reality is if Jerrad doesn't find consistent full-time work in short order, we really can't afford the farm more than a month or two more. Unless we get a room-mate -possible, but we're not the greatest for bus routes, and you really limit your roommate choices when you have 5-6 dogs over most of the time. On the bright side, it gives us a little bit to look for a new place, but we're quickly coming to the realization we really do need a new place. So, we have time, not much, but we can probably look for something starting in August. As long as we can have ours and board here and there, we'll make that work.

Jerrad is now 7th on the waitlist for a Heavy Duty Mechanics program in September. Makes it hard to know what's going on just around the corner. This place would be ideal if he does get in, as he could easily take the bus to school and/or bike to school.

In dog news, Floof has done fabulously on his trial, and papers will be signed this weekend. I've been told he's been a little superstar. Good stuff Floof!!

Cinderella is also pending adoption now. Both homes we screened for her were great, but she had a fantastic meeting with the man here in Victoria, took to him right away which isn't common for her at all. The other home decided in the end she wasn't the right match, so things were made easy. Cinderella will go to daycare twice a week, have a cat buddy and go for long walks and weekend excursions with her new dad, who although works full-time has re-arranged his day at work (he works right across the street from his apartment) so he works three hours in the morning, has three hours for Cinderella and then goes back to work for three hours. Cinderella is such a quality time dog, she will have no problem having quiet time to herself. To be honest, I think she'd probably dislike a family that was ALWAYS with her. She always has a few hours a day she just hides away, quite comfortable with being alone.

Also, out of Cinderella's previous homecheck that didn't quite work for her, we have a potential match for. A black, fluffy puppy version of Cinderella who is much more outgoing.

This is Sunday!

Sunday will come to me as a foster dog in a few days, but with the intention of being adopted. We want to make sure the family gets a chance to meet her. For families with children I find it more important to gauge both kids' and dog's reactions. Sunday is only 4 1/2 months though, and isn't a typical shy Taiwanese dog. She is also being fostered with kids. So she SHOULD be a very short term foster!

Upcoming TG bus run soon too. Not sure who will come, but we should be fostering for TG again :) It's been awhile the way things have worked out, but I'm looking forward to a very well behaved TG puppy with good dog-skills already! I have my eyes on a couple of candidates but won't count on anyone until they're on the ferry over for me.

For now, back to snuggling Veda and Lemon, who are the lap fixtures around here. Can't sit down without both of them magnetized to cuddle zones. I get a snuggle out of Suhki every now and again, but he mostly lays on the end of the couch. He's kind of like Cinderella go figure.

For the record, a new place needs to have a bit bigger of a living room so I can have two couches. Then there might be enough couch space for everyone who'd like some -including me!

Emily Out

Floof on Trial, and Birthday Fun

Jinks got her birthday today since she was overall a very well behaved dog. Her reward was a bag of popcorn all to herself. As you can see, she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Floof is off on trial, fingers crossed it goes well. His potential new mum is the manager of a big pet store in downtown Victoria where he can go to work with her everyday. He'll have two ferrets as housemates. Kind of cool little critters they are!

Suhki, Veda, Beckett and Jinks got to enjoy the park today, while Lemon huffed about coming so stayed home on her dog bed. Not going to force her to go have fun, she can mope at home if she really wants. She's getting to be overly dramatic about things. I guess now that she's an adult she figures she needs constant needy attention but no pack outings. Perhaps she is just getting annoyed with Jinks, and the fact that Jinks has recently wormed her way into bed snuggles with Beckett.

Ah, sisterly rivalry. What a joy.
Cinderella has a homecheck tomorrow in Victoria, and another in Vancouver on Monday. Hoping that between the two of them we find her forever home :)

News soon,
Emily Out

No Birthdays for Bratty Dogs

The nice thing about rescue dogs is that you don't usually know an exact birthday, so it can be shuffled around. Jinks' first year birthday is somewhere in the second week of May. We were planning to celebrate it today, but she decided to be an absolute idiot this morning, running into each and every crate here -including ones she shouldn't possibly be able to fit into- and guarding them from any other dog that passed. It wasn't even food time yet, and if she's bratty enough to try guarding from Beckett she must have woken up on the wrong side of her faulty genetic pool. So, Jinks gets no birthday goodness today. We will try again tomorrow. No birthday (presents) for brats!!

In other news, busy but nice household as Suhki and Veda are hanging out with us for a few weeks. They are awesome house guests. Mr. Suhki of "admire me from afar" and Veda who is clingy but not needy. You usually end up looking up going "where's Veda" and somehow she's right beside you. Right sneaky she is. For curious minds, Suhki was a foster puppy a long time ago now, he came before Lemon. Suhki and Veda are both TG dogs.

On the adoption front, Floof had a meet + greet with his shop manager and it seemed to go well, though she is pursuing other dogs as well. So I'm not quite sure what is happening with him. He apparently has another application too. I have my fingers crossed he gets his home really soon. He's getting really attached. Of course you don't want to speed them into an inappropriate home or anything like that, but it honestly is easier on them the faster they go.

Cinderella has a few applications, and is having a homecheck in Vancouver on Monday. They're a younger couple, but they're able to bring her to work with them, which would be very beneficial for her continued socialization. She has gotten to the point where she can easily ignore people, but doesn't really enjoy attention from strangers. There's an app here in Victoria that I like too, but out of the four apps, the one in Vancouver is the most suited so we'll screen them first.

I'll try to get the camera out soon for some pictures. It's been quite busy since I'm training new people at work and that always takes a ton of energy out of me.

More soon,
Emily

Quantity versus Quality

I've probably written a blog or two on the subject before, but it's something I'm always thinking with new fosters coming and going and especially if we get multiple applications. Dogs, like people are all different. What they need and want out of a forever home is all a little different. Some dogs need someone home more, some dogs need much more exercise, etc, etc.  What they want, and what they need is very much a part of making the right match for them.

Take the two fosters here now.

Floof is a quantity time dog. He's a dog that would absolutely love to have his person around almost all day, go putter in the garden with them, storm the beaches with them. He's not needy (that's Lemon) but he is a stay-close, want to be with someone dog. He's a bit of cling-on, preferring to be wherever you are. Whether or not you're actually DOING something with Floof, or if you are working from home with him snuggling on your lap, or watching TV, or playing computer, video games, whatever, it doesn't matter to Floof. Being WITH you is where he wants to be. He's a dog who couldn't care one bit if you were training him, making him think or challenging him. Of course he could be trained -easily actually-, but he's a companion. Quality time with Floof will always beat out quality time with Floof. So, he needs someone whose around quite a bit.

Cinderella on the other hand is a totally different dog.

Cinderella is not a quantity time dog at all. She is reserved, content to please herself, sit two cushions down from you on the couch type. She is affectionate here and there, playful here and there, but honestly I don't think she'd be phased staying home 6-8 hours a day. As it is, even when we're both home for her, she's content on a dog cushion and doesn't bother with us a lot. In ways, she reminds me of Beckett. Content to chill. However, Cinderella is shy of new people and sometimes new situations so she's a dog that requires someone that will give her quality time to bring out the dog inside her. Here Cinderella is happiest when she gets to go for a car-ride and go somewhere. Sometimes she is frightened when we arrive at a new destination, but she gets over it fast. She could easily have a person that is around less, but when they are around they are highly focused and dedicated to her. She seems almost like a single person's dog, where she can bond very strongly to one person and one person only.

Of course you get dogs that are kind of split down the middle too, or you get puppies that fall into the requirements of both spectrums.

Just for fun I've gone through my foster dogs and divided them up: Please note that puppies are always a mix, and a few dogs I only had about a week. Things definitely could have changed in the new home as they bond with new people over time too.

All quality time refers to is actively doing something with your dog, such as walking, training, jogging, playing, etc. Interactive time if you will. Being really present with your dog.

QUALITY	BOTH/MIX	QUANTITY
XENA	TUCKER	MAY
BUSTER	YAYIS	TINE
GIO	HONEY	TOAST
TRUNK	EVEE	CHULA
HANK	DAYO	NETTY
ADAM	REN	LEMON
ALLIE	ALVIN	HELEN
CHOWMEIN	ALPHIE	RUPEE
ZEPHYR	MIGO	BARLEY
JASMINE	DIMSUM	HANNA
MAX	PIKA	MOMO
DICKORY	TWIST	COLEMAN (FLOOF)
JOSH	BUCKWHEAT
LUMA	ONYX-VUDU
KAHLUA	GINGER
MEGAN	TRUFFLE
URCHIN	FREDDIE
VIBO	EMMETT
LEILA	SUZIE
NEELA	CHEDDAR
RILEY	PENNY
CINDERELLA	SUNSHINE
	WRANGLER
	POLLY
	DUKE
	GG

As for my own dogs, I have one in each category. Beckett is and has always been a quality time dog. He wants his 1-2 hours of freedom time and other than that he is content to hang on his big dog bed and at time come ask for a scratch. Lemon is a quantity time dog, almost to a fault. She would be mauling you with love 24/7 if she was allowed.

Jinks, as a pup still she a mixture and she'll probably stay a mixture but if she had to choose she would choose 1-2 hours of serious quality time complete with training, rigorous exercise than "just" have me around. She would go crazy if she only got quantity time.

It's almost important for the matching of people too. Some people want a dog that is a cling-on, their partner, doesn't mind a shadow following them around the house. Some people prefer a Beckett type, who is content to do his own thing most of the day, but always ready to go out for an adventure.

After all, an adoption is a relationship set to last a lifetime. The more you know about each other going into the agreement, the better.

Working Hard for her "Muddy"

If anyone thinks of adopting a border collie, they should first think about whether they really want a needy little bugger always asking for something to do ALL THE TIME.

The face that stalks me.

I can never get any blogging done.

She is a right challenge, sometimes a right pain in the butt, but I'd have another dog like her in a heartbeat. Plus, she's a good little girl at agility for me these days.

For the record, most of the time she knows what she's doing more than I do.

After she works, she gets to go out and play.

Someone forgot to mention to me that Border Collie LOVE mud.

In other news, Cinderella has an a ton of responses (some good, some cringe worthy), and I would be lying if I told you I wasn't getting frustrated by people in general. The adoption process is a process for a reason. If I was running around meeting people with a dog without a serious application, or at everyone's beck and call I would never get anything of my own accomplished. For people who want to meet a bunch of dogs, please just go to the SPCA. You can even adopt a dog the same day if you really want. Please read the bios of the dogs in full. Please don't ask me to waste my time. And please just put an application in. An application shows you are serious, it doesn't mean you're signing an adoption contract.

I'm so grateful to all the good families I've homecheck/screened over the years. Thank you for making my job simple with you!

Pipe Dreams

Sometimes a rescue sugar daddy would come in handy.

I have a friend who rescues down in the states who gets to rescue -she has her own little facility-, and work part-time as her husband is able to be financially backing. That said, Jerrad is the second best dog pillow in this house (I'm #1) so I wouldn't trade him. Who else would put up with me?

But wouldn't it be nice to have a little rancher on some land with a nice big fenced yard. Maybe a room-mate who also loves dogs and fostering? Room for 3-6 fosters at a time? Maybe eventually my own little boarding business.

I can dream. For now, I keep stalking craigslist hoping to come across some kind-hearted person with a soft-spot for rescue dogs. One foot in front of the other :)

In foster news, Cinderella as been re-networked and seems to be generating a lot of interest. We'll see who sends back and application. Floof now has a potential application with the owner of a pet store in downtown Victoria, where he would be the store's ambassadog! I have my fingers crossed. He is an ideal little dog to go to work in a shop, since he is ridiculously dog social. He is getting less and less shy with new people too. Hopefully it works out for him :) Who wouldn't want to be greeted by the little fluffypants.