Non-TG Rescuing (My Second Dog Passion)

Well, when I get it in my head that I need to save one, apparently it gets done whether I go looking or not. Actually, these days I don't even look myself -I get sent too many dogs anyway. Lists actually. Lists of dogs about to die without me. Talk about your guilt-trip. BUT, I will not be pulling any more of my own Californian dogs to rehome myself -there is too much risk in medical-, but that doesn't stop me from trying to convince other rescues to take them on when they become super urgent. Meaning, they don't really have a chance in hell.

So it happens with this currently nameless guy.

This is a 7 month old pup, labelled as a Chi mix, but from this one pic (which is all he gets by the way) seems bigger, that was set to be euthanized Friday night unless saved. With two hours to spare I pleaded with Island Dogz to take him -I can get him here easily, I even have the contacts that network for 'pledge fees' to help with the amount of money it costs to bring them up. To be perfectly frank, and I can get him here for pennies. He's 7 month. A puppy still. No bad habit at this point is going to need extensive rehab. He doesn't deserve to die.

So, we saved him, found him a foster home that does only small dogs, so he won't be stealing a bigger local dog's foster home, and he will become apart of Island Dogz. If for any reason his foster bails, I'm his back-up foster home. Fair enough. To save his life, if that's what I have to do, sure. All of the current chis are adopted, so they won't compete with current Island Dogz up for adoption either.

I'll be picking him up in Abbotsford either this weekend, or the weekend afterwards. Welcome nameless little man. PS: We had 3 fosters lining up fast, so I might see about bringing a #2. Since I have to be back-up for them, I won't bring three! That's too many to possibly get stuck with down the road!

Gotta be realistic about some things :)

And a second dog (non-Californian) will be coming to me soon. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll know I work with Taiwanese dogs as well -through Island Dogz-. Evee, Ren and Helen have been my current Taiwanese fosters to date, but I will have another coming in soon(ish).

This is Promise.

 In her Prime

This dog is actually the reason I started fostering Taiwanese dogs to begin with. I became interested in them first when I found that my TG dogs were being adopted quite quickly, leaving me with a couple of weeks between fosters, and more importantly, leaving me with a REALLY bored Beckett. (He playbowed and tried to play with trees for crying out loud). The main reason I became interested in them, is because they live in group packs similiar to TG dogs, and are well socialized with other canines. This is the skill above any other that is needed here. Or else they could never come to work with me, and 6-7 hours at home seems a little harsh for my foster dogs day in day out. The odd day maybe, but not a usual. 

Anyway, I found that picture and fell in love. I couldn't get her out of my head. She is the closest I've ever come to a picture completely selling me on a dog besides Beckett. I knew she'd eventually have to come here -and before Lemon, I was pretty sure she'd be my foster failure.

This is why I've called her Promise. I think I made a promise to her about a year ago now that I would save her. She's not a young dog anymore -indeed she is 8 now, and been at the shelter for many, many years-, but I'm so very happy to say, that will a lot of bugging, prodding, annoyance and general helpfulness, she will become my next Taiwanese foster dog.

Promise Lately

I'm SO looking forward to finally meet you girl!



Ironically, near the end of the month I will have a second Taiwanese dog here as well, (actually, he might be the first depending on how flights work out) but not with Island Dogz. My old boss is helping start a fostering program with Ocean Dog Rescue. She's my boss, and my friend, so of course I'll help her out as I can. (Just one at a time though please!)

My new goal is to stay TG first, and do Taiwanese dogs. Of course the odd other one will probably creep in, but that's my 'plan'. Anyway, Migo will be my first 'foster' for Ocean Dog Rescue, but he's meant to be really temporary. He's got a home lined up, however, an autistic child is involved, and dog and child need a real meet+greet before signing off. So Migo needed a foster home just in case. Welcome me. I don't count any chickens, so I'm going to air on the side of pessimism and say he'll fail. (Not that I'm pessimistic, but that not thinking that way I could land myself with a foster to take his spot when he's not actually signed, sealed, delivered.)

Migo, who is basically like a bigger Evee!

And today, its cold and drizzly, so we're headed off up island in about an hour to do some hiking, and hopefully be back around 2-3 and sun!! But whose kidding who. The weather doesn't want me to finish my fence!



Rain, followed by Rain, and The Bladder of Steel

Alright, its been at least 4 weeks now that we've had nice weekdays. Nice and sunny, rain here and there. But it seems for the past month, when the weekend has hit, all we get is wet, wet, wet. Pour pour pour, drizzle, drizzle, drizzle. Odd bouts of DOWNPOUR. I have about 2-3 hours to finish the fence off completely, but NOOOOOO, it just can't stay sunny enough for those couple of hours on a day when Jerrad can help. It's a two person job. Oh, and because its rainy, there's no point doing a big clean of the house either. Muddy paw prints and wet dogs shaking themselves off will ruin it fast. I've been relying on the wetjet a little too much! Ugg, if only the rain could come when I worked. It would make things much easier.
Well, rain be darned, we decided to head out today anyway. We went down to Clover Point, and although we'd usually go to the dog-park there, we decided to take a trail instead. We had Cheryl and Peter with Suhki and foster-to-adopt Fala there with us, and walked as a nice (well, mostly nice) pack.

Our pack kind of went like this:
Beckett -the daddy who was peeved about being on a leash
Lemon -the tired. Chow has been keeping her pooped
Suhki -the happy-go-lucky
Chowmein -the curious
and Fala -the shit-disturber.

Fala sure is a spit-fire female. Telling all those big dogs off. She got better as we went along. All she needs is more walks with big dogs, to learn that she doesn't have to boss them all around. I'm not quite sure if she's a super-bossy girl, or if she's not used to being restricted by a leash and getting frustrated over boundaries. Or both. For dogs not used to being controlled, leashes can definitely piss them off.

Anyway, back to Chow. For being a little on the frightened side at the lake yesterday, I was figuring she would need some extra confidence boosts today, but she did AMAZING. She has learnt very quickly people are good to her, and whenever anyone passed she was quick to dart in for a scratch -she's perfect height to hit wandering hands as they pass by-. When someone would stop to talk to us she'd get the silly-puppy-wiggle-bum and happy smile as if she knew they stopped to say hello to her exclusively.

She's walking well on leash, though near the end was getting confident enough to start pulling me towards interesting things (not needing me as a body guard is good, but so is good leash manners!) She met multiple dogs, and was fine, sometimes interested, sometimes laisse-faire. She was also oogled by quite a few people.

"6 months? For adoption?" was a frequent reply I got, as if people were stunned dogs that young come into rescue or something. (Oh the pups I could show them!) I need to find my adoption bandanas --or remember if I got adoption bandanas, or just general bandanas. Can you say brain fried?

Chowmein's confidence is gaining in other ways too. She now jumps into the car eager to go somewhere. She rides excellently, super quiet, okay to be left in the car for a few minutes while you run in somewhere. She doesn't look cautiously about before getting out of the car either now. I guess she figures she's safe enough with her pack and people. She's still a gentle, somewhat cautious dog all the way around, but she's so quick to warm up I don't think it'll be an issue when she goes to her forever home.

The one thing we are still working on is: PEEING ON LEASH

Chow seems to have a bladder of steel! She is crate-trained for night-time, and we have a process that if she doesn't pee first thing in the morning, its back to bed for 30-45 minutes. Then try again. We go to bed approx 11:00pm, and the first pee is roughly 7:30. Usually she pees before 9:00am, and then she's got free range with supervision for the rest of the day.

Today, took her out at 7:30, nothing,
took her out at 8:15, nothing,
took her out at 9:00, nothing
---gotta be happening soon we think!--,
take her out at 9:30 -nothing,
take her out at 10:00am, nothing.

By now I'm going 'did Jerrad miss something?' Did he miss her pee cause hot dog Chow hasn't peed since about 8:00pm last night! But, I've been doing this process for awhile with pups, and it works, so I don't want to ruin it and have her pee indoors (then she knows she can escape peeing on the leash!)

Finally, at noon, we got her to pee! And with tons of rewards we are working on a 'go pee' command. For a sixth month old pup, or any dog really, that is a REALLY long time. Still, it might seem harsh, but it paid off this afternoon even. "Go pee" at the park, and she went pee right away, and she even went poo on the leash for the first time this afternoon too. (She'll usually wait until we go to daycare during the week.) Small victories. Tomorrow, I betcha she'll pee much earlier.

And that's how it works: No pee, no play. Once you pee, you get your long walk, your trip to the dog park, your wrestle session, my attention. So, peeing where you're supposed to pays off.

PS: We only bother with the morning pee. After that, she's not in a crate until nighttime again. Once that first pee is set for the day, she knows she's not getting out of it for the rest of the day. And usually, she only pees once in the morning, and once around the 7:30-8:30 pee break marker. I wonder if she'd go more often if she had the yard. Probably not. And she's not as bad as Xena (Shep x Karelian bear dog) I fostered awhile ago. Xena went ONCE a day. Even with the yard. The only way she'd go twice is if we ushered her over to her little pee spot and left her out for about 10 minutes with the door closed and us inside.

Some dogs!

Tomorrow if its still a rain fest, we're thinking about heading up island to slog through some wet, grimy trails and see if we can spot whales at the beaches. Should probably work on some more high-trafficked areas, but what fun is that!

One wet, muddy crew, out for today. And most likely, one wet, muddy crew out for some adventures tomorrow.

Trip to the Lake and a Happy Tail

Friday happens to be my day off, and even though its been a rather ugly day, we decided to head out to the lake. Apparently they have a toxic algae problem, but our usual walk doesn't really get us to the lake, and Beckett and Lemon are 'anti-water' dogs, so we figured we were there anyway, might as well do our 6 km (lazy man's version of the full 10km).

Apparently I'm one of very few semi-irresponsible Victoria dog walkers. Usually Elk Beaver lake is THE SPOT to be bombarded by dogs on the trails. We didn't meet a single dog until we were loading up to go home, and some other semi-irresponsible people were unloading their crew.

Oh well, we had the place pretty much completely to ourselves, despite a few horses and odd joggers. Enjoy it while you can!

Chowmein is nervous around things she doesn't know. She just needs exposure. It's a little harder to give her that exposure here on the farm that where we used to live, but we have to work in baby steps anyway, so no heavy traffic for awhile. ---It overwhelms her when there's too much to focus on. Typical for a dog that hasn't been socialized too much. She's getting her confidence built up slowly but surely. It helps that Beckett and Lemon aren't phazed by basically anything. I am very lucky that my own pack is so stable. It allows me to focus on the needs of my fosters while we're out and about working on confidence, moving forward, and the like.

Some pics from the Non-Lake, Lake

Jerrad and the Pack

Chowmein stops to pose.

At only approx 6 month, and about 40-45 pounds, she's going to be quite a big girl!

Not the best picture, but a good one to illustrate her size.

 And now, a couple of my own dogs.

Lemon in her Tribal Get-Up

Right in step with Me

She spies a bird!

Look Mum, NO HEAD!

And to end our trip, all three dogs promptly checked out a dog bed for a few hours.

Yep, they all picked the same bed!

We might take the pack for walk X2 today, but chances are the hour and a bit is good enough. Lemon and Chowmein played hard at daycare yesterday, so should be low-key today. Beckett is usually low-key these days no matter how much exercise he gets. He runs around the farm and vainly playbows to the chickens for hours if he has some extra to burn. I must admit, it's nice to be able to leisurely stroll around the property in my pyjama pants to let the dogs burn some energy. They can get an hour's worth, and I can be on the lazier side :P.

Work smart, not hard ;)

Oh, and I got an update from Alvin and his new mum Cheryl. This picture says it all:

Enjoy forever Alvin! I know your mum is treating you like a big dog, which is what you need to continue being the awesome Chi you became here.

It's weird, I really feel the want to rescue another chi, to pay it forward to Alvin and to the other Chis I've saved, but there's no funds, and I won't be 'going solo' until there is (which might be never at this rate :P). Very sad. Hundreds, if not thousands of these little guys are put down in shelters across the states every day. Besides Pitbulls and Shepherd mixes, its these little guys that are killed the most. Of course there are some rescues that bring them up by the batch, and make profit (it isn't a joke), but to save the odd one here and there, what crime is there in that? Why do I and any rescue have to be labelled and finger-pointed at, just because we save a couple of Chis here and there.  Are you really against the dogs, or just against the practices some 'rescues' employ.

Fact is, its easier to find foster for the little guys. Facts are bitches.

Sigh, most days I'm just grateful to have the opportunity to help as much as I do, but then there is the odd day like today that I'm peeved at myself for not being able to do more.

This too will pass.  Negativity only breed negativity, and I don't need that in my dogs!

Getting into a Groove

Not too much new to report in the last couple of days. Chow has being sleeping off her bus run a lot (Bus lag?) but the terrier puppy is starting to emerge. Still, she's a very laid-back, easy-going puppy -and I work with A LOT of puppies!

She has been to daycare, and LOVES Brojack when he's there, and when I take Beckett with her, she's a very happy dog. For being so young, she takes quite awhile to warm up to other dogs and want to play. I'm not sure if that its too many dogs at once for her, (15-20 per group) or a lack of overall manners (daycare pupes are raised by people, not other dogs, so they are NOTORIOUS for not knowing proper play etiquette and especially how to greet another dog). However, despite the difference in dog skills, every day she's been a bit more playful, and when she plays, she plays in a totally terrier, over-the-top way -reminds me so much of how Honey and Toast played, except that Chow is clumsier, and about twice the size!

We've also found that Chowmein is crate-trained. Don't know if she was formally crate-trained, but she is fine in a crate, and was okay left for an hour of grocery shopping. I wouldn't recommend crating her for a full work day, but I think she'd be okay to go to a home and be crated up to five hours if needed.

She's also got one of the strongest bladders ever! Our yard still isn't 100% fenced so its all on-leash walks around the property. (They play so much inside, I don't think its hindering anybody :P). She is hesitant to pee on a leash, so if she won't pee in the morning, she goes back into her crate, and comes out every hour to try again. When he last pee is approximately 7-8pm, she will hold it until 9am or 10am yesterday. I'm feeling slightly bad that she's crated so much in the morning (daycare makes up for it though), but the upside of getting her to pee on a leash and not in the house is better for everyone involved -especially if she gets a family that doesn't have a secure yard.

Other than that, curbing the puppy things -jumping, mouthing, chewing on the odd inappropriate thing. She's a good pup.

I promise pictures in the next blog :)

Emily Out

Oh Boy, I REALLY like this One

If I didn't know better, and wasn't a renter, I'd be SO tempted right now to say: "Sign me up as foster failure X2."

Maybe Lemon broke me, but it seems ever since we adopted her, I grow attached to more foster dogs. (Adam, Alvin, and now my current TG foster Chowmein). Of course I knew Adam would do better with one-on-one, and loves kids, and Alvin would have been eaten eventually here. I should know that there's better out there for Chowmein than me too :P

Trunk was the only dog that really got me. The one that was HARD to give up. I couldn't give Lemon up. When I thought about someone else taking her home I went 'Nope, Beckett would just be too depressed. And, I have to admit, I love her too."

I'm just hoping Chowmein doesn't make me do the same! I'll be responsible. We rent, we have two dogs already, we aren't in dire straights financially or anything, but just like with Beckett and Lemon, I want to have a $1,000 medical fund set aside for them. Sometimes its just so hard to be realistic though! I REALLY like Chow! (I'm suddenly very glad Jacky got adopted!)

On the bright side, Chowmein should be easy to adopt. She's young, affectionate, cuddly, playful, funny, and unique. She gets zoomies but has a great off-switch. I couldn't gush more about TG pups. Even the young guys know and love their breaks :) It shouldn't be hard to find her a great home.

Man, when I eventually get my own place, I'm going to have a big crew of failures aren't I? Okay, Chowmein's people, better find her soon, or it's going to get too tempting!

Pictures:

Now, it was a Picture of Beckett and Lemon that did me in. This one is even better!

 Three TGs sharing Dog Bed #3

It is ONLY TG fosters that cluster on 1 bed, when there are 3 perfectly good beds to choose from. I think this means, if there is a #3 down the road somewhere, they're going to have to be from TG. Continue tradition and all that :P

And Chow got to sleep both in the bed, and on the dog bed on our floor. I know she is still a pup and I should be starting the crate-training, but you know what, whatever.

So yeah, GUSH. Whoever gets her better like her even more than I do!
Thats all Ive got to say :P

Off to daycare with her this afternoon, and to shanghai the groomer into bathing her. Nothing like the smell of a dog fresh off the bus. Hmm, maybe its the smell I adore so much. Weird as that may be.

More updates soon.

An Adoption and an Addition

I bet you can't say the title three times fast :)

To start off the long, semi-hectic day Allie went home. It'll take her a bit to settle in, but I know she's in good hands. I'm sure she pined for us for awhile. Allie was my hardest foster to date -she was abused for her short life, spent time in one of the worst hellhole shelters in the states, she was bred for moola and dumped, and eventually came here. I was almost 100% certainly the first person she's ever trusted. Though it took weeks of patience, and time, and pushing just a little bit everyday, she eventually became my needy shadow. There were mornings when I was her human trampoline, and squealing happiness when I came home after work. She blossomed, but still has a ways to go.

As far as Allie was concerned, I was her person.

What's weirdest is that through it all, I don't think I ever really bonded with Allie. With most of my fosters, although they are most welcome in my home and they all become my buddies, most of them don't get under my skin. It's like I push them away just a little bit so that I don't fall in love. It makes it so that they seem to understand they aren't here forever, and they transition faster too I hear, but I would have thought leaving Allie in her forever home would have been harder than it was.

I'm not quite sure why I didn't really bond with Allie, considering Allie needed the most work and came the furthest, but she just never felt like mine. She felt like my project. Today I'm a little sad that I didn't get to know her just a little bit more. Didn't think of her more of my happy spaniel than my work in progress. But I'm so glad she has her family though! She will blossom into the dog she always wanted to be. The silly, spinning spaniel. Good luck Allie!

PS: For the record, I think the only dog I've really bonded with was Trunk. Although I must admit, Alvin and I developed a close relationship too. I only really developed my relationship with Lemon once it was obvious Beckett was keeping her :P

Some Allie shots:

It's too bad I didn't get many shots of her without her leash on. The last week and a half, she was completely leash free inside. Small regrets...

Anyway, after Allie's drop off, we headed home to wait for the TG crew to get to the island.

Now, as per usual, I had a draft pick. And I was getting kind of excited, because the draftpick hadn't changed for about two weeks (unheard of!) But, Jacky, a shepx was adopted right before the bus came down. So, I get the call from Lisa and basically say "Just send me somebody. You know what I can and can't handle."

So, my new foster is CHOWMEIN!

But, before we get to the first update, we needed to get to the pick-up!

We met up with Denise and crew, and lickity split, had Kova, Karma (now Tegan), and Brojack set to go. Kova and Karma are adopted, and Brojack is fostering with my friend and co-worker Meshum. He's already got potential interest, from the restaurant owner right beside the daycare! We'll see where that goes, but he seems like such a nice boy! He came complete with puncture wound to the face from a small dog. Jeez, that small dog must have been right peeved! Must have been stepped on or something.

And we might possibly be seeing Karma/Tegan at daycare -her parents want to make sure her dog socialization is still kept up, and being an only dog, she'll need some playmates. Yep, that's what daycare is for! (We're got TONS of pups right now, so she'll fit in no problem).

Fala went to foster to adopt with Cheryl, Peter and TG alum Suhki-Dayo. She's pretty darn cute! And nice and sturdy. I betcha her and Suhki are going to have a blast -at least once the initial fatigue of bus run wears off. I'll know in a few days. I'm leaning hard to a yes :) If not, I'll be tempted to go snatch her and foster her here on the island! Her and Lemon could have some good times.

After everyone headed out with their new pooches, Jerrad and I put ChowMein and Dex the beagle lab mix in the car, dropped Dex off to his new people, and headed home with intentions of a huge walk with our Chowmein girl, who is a terrier cross, and having fostered a few of them, I know they need the burn.

BUT, I lucked out and Chowmein is so exhausted she came home, found a comfy spot and has been zonked out since. She is on the very submissive side -submissive peeing when meeting my dogs-, but after a minute or so got over it. She has good communication skills, just submissive. Sometimes they need to get used to Beckett being mostly blind -he can get too close on initial contact for a polite greeting-. Chowmein is on the shy side too, but warming up really fast. I've got kisses already :) She's kind of unsure about the chickens, but came out of her shell once we hit the farm and were away from lots of people and traffic. We'll see how the energy level goes in the next couple of days, but so far, I think I might have lucked out -I'm going to jinx it now I know!

She's also a lot bigger than I originally thought. I was thinking Toast/Honey size, about 25-30 pounds. But at six months, ChowMein is almost as big as Beckett, though not quite as tall (YET!) and weighs at least 40 pounds. I'm thinking she might be a sharpei/airedale mix, as I have no idea what made her big with terrier hair. She's SO unique looking. And a complete sweetie. She's going to get some looks wherever I take her, and I plan to take her lots of places. Allie was a dog you couldn't take tons of places, -she was a plan your move dog- but I plan to do it all with Chowmein. She's young, she can be pushed faster most likely. And the more places she goes, the more people see her. Exposure, exposure, exposure.

And some pics of Chowmein from the foster front. Unfortunately she's the same color as my floor, so I can't turn the flash on, or she'll blend right in! The camera doesn't differentiate between her and the floor :S Oh well, outside pictures soon.

Welcome Chowmein!
(for those who like to keep count to keep themselves sane like I do, foster #24)

SCRATCH!

Oh Boy, LONG day. Stretch out :)

Lemon is peeved that YET AGAIN a dog isn't interested in playing with her!

Beckett and Lemon sizing up a sleeping Chowmein

More updates to come! I'm excited that for a week or two I don't have any boarding or other foster dogs, so I get to put some focus into one. Maybe some time to train the Lemon dog too.

Alvin Goes Home

And I miss him...

Already.

For the dog that had me pulling my hair out in the beginning, its kind of hard to believe I miss the little guy, but I do. I haven't cried over a foster, and tonight was no exception, but part of me wanted to grab the Chihuahua and run.

What would I do with him though... someone would eat him eventually.

I'll be getting picture updates soon, and hopefully some playdates (if Lemon doesn't turn them into hump-dates). But for now, one of the last pics of Alvin in foster camp.

Alvin Perfects his Husky Ball

Lemon and Beckett have been extra rough+tumble tonight. I wonder if they know they don't have to watch out for the little guy. Allie has decided for some reason today is a crate-day. Tired? Or is she miffed she didn't get to use me as a human trampoline this morning (I got up before Jerrad :P). Maybe she knows she's leaving tomorrow?

Not sure, but I'm glad she's found her home -even if she's not altogether sure about leaving.

The dogs are flying the nest! Proud foster mum :)