A first time foster

This is Dana. She's a mastiff of some sort, probably mixed with something else. She's enormous and she's still a puppy. She was found and turned in to the SPCA but was never claimed. She's your basic big black dog, which are generally tough to adopt. In addition, she has a fairly serious resource guarding problem. That's a polite way of saying that she was food aggressive and toy aggressive, which is a polite way of saying that she would bite anyone who tried to take away her food or toys. Given her size and power, that's a pretty serious problem, serious enough that she failed the temperament test and wouldn't have been adopted out. That is always a tough call, but I completely understand the need to make that decision. I make it myself from time to time and I know how difficult it is.

Dana could, however, be transferred to a rescue group, which is where I came in. I couldn't really take her myself because I had imposed a moratorium on incoming dogs until I reduced my number of foster dogs and/or got a job. But, the woman who found Dana wanted to help her, so she agreed to foster the dog through Animal Connections. Given the fact that Dana is a pup, and no one had worked with her on the food aggression problem, I really thought she deserved a chance. When I met Dana for the first time she did display the food guarding behavior, but she was also very responsive to correction and actually quite submissive once she realized that I had claimed the food as my own. We practiced the "leave it" command at that meeting and she was literally eating out of my hand. Dana's new foster mom went home with knowledge of the issue and how to handle it, and she did handle it with good support from her husband and son.

I soon learned that Dana was not your basic big, black dog. The mastiff in her attracted a LOT of attention and we had inquiries from all over the country--Maine, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Ohio--plus some from closer to home. Of course, many of the inquiries were not too serious. There are always those who are struck by the picture and send a brief "call me" email without providing any information about themselves or what they have to offer the dog. Those inquiries get a polite but brief response, which is probably more than is warranted. Dana's foster home handled all the inquiries and brought her to a couple of VGSR adoption events where she also attracted a lot of attention.

Last Sunday she met a woman who thought she was coming to look at shepherds, but fell in love with Dana instead. A home visit was conducted on the way home and Dana now has a great new home, a huge fenced yard, access to hiking trails, a cat who can handle her, and a woman and extended family who love her very much.

It was very difficult for the foster home to give her up, especially since this adopter appeared rather suddenly and unexpectedly. But that sometimes happens and I've learned not to let them slip away if it's a good home. I hope she will realize what a wonderful thing she did for Dana by taking her in, giving her that chance, and then giving her up when that chance came along.