Lisa said: "Do you have room", and basically I said "Yes, but let me see if I can find him a more suitable foster home". I don't mind young dogs (10+ months) but Kenobi is really still a puppy, and a Beagle puppy to boot. He's BUSY!
When I posted Kenobi's picture
on facebook Meshum instantly said "I'll foster him", which is awesome on all counts. a) I have two shy TG foster girls that are coming in when the flooding is dealt with, and b) Meshum has the better home environment for him and c) Kenobi LOVES kids and Meshum has an 8 year old and 12 year old. Meshum also has tons of hours under her belt training puppies and used to foster litters of puppies for Hug-a-Bull!
Talking back and forth with Lisa, and Lisa with Kenobi's old people, we've realized Kenobi has a lot of things to work on, but as Meshum reports "Kenobi is an 8 month old puppy that's had no boundaries. He's basically a five year old kid whose mother has never told him no. I'm told him no, and he's getting it."
So Kenobi's having a blast with the kids, cats, is learning to be more accepting of male strangers, and not be protective over his person. He's easily redirected, and so people-loving that if denied affection or closeness for being bad, he's going to get smart real quick. That, and any person with food quickly becomes his best friend!
Most of all, he has other dogs and a busy (but structured) household to keep him busy. He's an 8 month old beagle mix -he has the potential to get himself into oodles of trouble! And he's now in a setting where he can become the best beagle-mix he can be! I'm so grateful that Meshum wanted to foster him. He's not a bad guy, he is just a busy guy who has been let to make his own decisions over things. Not everyone can keep up to this kind of dog, so when he goes up on Petfinder and we starting looking for a home for him, it'll be someone whose up to the challenge.
Another important thing to note: I have not met a Turtle Gardens dog who isn't some sort of good-looking! Kenobi is cute stuff! And he's not as big as his picture makes him look. He'll probably be around 35 pound when he's fully-grown.
After and around dealing with Kenobi I've been cleaning out my second bedroom, making it more and more foster-friendly -and you know, organized :S. Now the housetrained fosters can come into the carpeted room -and Tine, my current foster, is loving it in here!
My second bedroom:
Beckett is still content on his own bed. He's really not a people's dog -he doesn't mind people petting him, hanging with him, etc, but when it comes right down to it, he'd rather hang out with dogs. Even with the best bed in the house right beside the computer now, he'd rather 'the usual' spot. Mostly-blind dogs and their routines I guess. The only people he's socialize with oodles are young, good-looking girls (especially if they're wearing bikinis). Then he's right in there lapping it up. Maybe -haha, I wish- that its because they're like his mama, but you know, I think that's probably more my fantasy than his! Who wants to hang out with a bunch of woman who look like their mom!
Which brings me to interesting part #2 of the long weekend. Monday was Beckett's third rescue birthday. He was almost 3 years old when he came to us, which we figure that makes him an early six now. We spent part of the day before hanging out with Sarah and her dogs Charlie (beagle) and Allie (who was actually adopted on the same bus run as Beckett). Crazy, no? She's also a foster-mum here in Vcitoria too! For being a mellow dude, Beckett is insanely confident in his own social skills, which is fine cause he has amazing dog-to-dog social skills. Allie, usually a pushy huskyX became a follower instantly and Charlie, the older beagle was IN LOVE. We had to leave before Beckett gave him a poor heart attack from running after him for so long.
Haha, I think I've made Sarah want fosters like Beckett. But he's a weird mix of confident, tolerant, and a push-over. A good mix it seems, but I haven't met a lot of other dogs with that same combination of traits. Basically he has amazing energy that easily wins over other dogs (even the picky ones play with him at daycare). He isn't submissive, but he doesn't react either. He'll just ignore bad energy, which has been super helpful in fostering. Once the shy dogs are ignored for long enough they eventually want to join his group :P. Once the naughty dogs figure out being naughty isn't get them anywhere, they learn to play correctly. Beckett is far from perfect, but he has such a good skill-set that he can be of help to a lot of dogs that need work.
So what did Beckett get for his birthday? Well, although we could have thrown him a party today at the daycare with birthday hats and such, he got a new foster dog -a new reject sled-dog type husky foster dog.
Meet Tine:
Tine is really a great boy. Playful, people-loving, super friendly, not necessarily easy-to-please, but he really wants direction. He's easy to walk on a leash and is quiet (indoors) and housetrained. And what do you know, he's also a reject sled-dog. You know, one of those hard-to-place, non-adoptable types. Bah, he's so much easier than any of the purebred huskies I know. Sled-dog over purebred anyday I say.
At not quite one year old, he sure is a nice boy. Nice enough that its a good thing he's got two homes already interested. If he stayed here for a month he might not go :P. But then again, I have my eye on somebody down the road to possibly join us full-time. For inquiring minds, you'll just have to keep reading. Lisa might have a hunch :P
The huskies: looking good together
And for good measure (and because it feels like a really long time since I've posted anything worth watching), a video of the boys playing in the backyard.
Holding tight for my foster girls from TG, but going to enjoy my week or so with Tine before he finds his forever family. Thanks for reading!
Best wishes,
Emily + Crew
2 comments:
Those two look a little similar in the video. They certainly play well together too. I love how they stop and contemplate for a moment and then get going again.
And yes, I do have a hunch of who is on your 'summer' foster list....but then I have insider info ; )
Tine is quite a bit taller, but they both have that 'sled-dog' shape to them. Good dog play has the pauses. Dogs can play as rough as they want with me as long as they take a few seconds here and there to make sure they're still playing (notice they shake off, lay down beside each other, Tine doesn't give Beckett any direct eye contact). They are all signs that although they're playing rough, they have no intention of getting into a fight.
This is one of the most important things Beckett has taught our fosters.
Unfortunately most dogs aren't taught to 'paws and think about it', which is when their rough play turns into a fight. And why a lot of 2+ year old dogs who know how and when to pause really don't like playing with puppies or dogs that don't know how to play correctly.
Usually the TG dogs know this fairly well I find. Tucker got annoyed with the young dogs at daycare that never took a break to shake it off. He was a good teacher though. Honey -well, Honey was more of a terrier by the end (and all that 'terrier' implies).
Post a Comment