Va Dog Rescue

Quick updates

2012-02-16T21:28:00.001-05:00

I had an email the other day from Hannah's adopter. He said: "Wanted to let you know Hanah and I are doing good. I think things will work out for us. She is more at ease than her first two days, she is wagging her tail, comes up to me and licks my hand, and last night when I came home she wanted to play with her tennis ball. She is so fast, quick, agile and strong! But, then she is a German Shepherd!"

Obviously I was thrilled to hear this. Hannah is a sweet girl who didn't understand being shuffled around and had some trust issues with people. I knew she would bond with the guy and I knew he would give her some time to do so. Some people expect it to happen immediately, or overnight at least. Not all dogs are like that, particularly shepherds. A little time and effort earning their trust is required, but it's not half of what they should require from us.

Ollie went to the vet today for shots and such. He had hookworms, which are not a big deal, tested negative for everything else. We finally got a look at his teeth and was surprised to find out that he does not appear to be a 6-9 month old puppy. He actually looks more like a two year old dog, unless he's just been eating bad food and drinking coffee all his life. Still, he acts like a puppy. I suspect his development, and probably his growth, had been stunted by neglect.

He's sweet, curious, friendly. He and Dixie are getting along great and he met Cabell today too and had no problems with him at all. Great little dog, perfect for a townhouse or apartment. I need to get him on the web.

I was planning to take Ollie to the vet today, but it was actually Cabell that prompted the trip to town. Clay was working from home today and he got the dogs out to the dog yard before I was even out of bed. I went out later and fed everyone, Cabell included, and then proceeded to scoop poop in the dog yard. I found what was apparently vomit and immediately suspected Cabell. I brought him inside and he proceeded to barf up the breakfast he had eaten so eagerly just 30 minutes before. I don't run the vet the first time a dog throws up, but Cabell has been sick lately, and when he was laying on his bed, he was shivering or shaking as if he was cold.

He spent the day at the vet, got some abdominal xrays, and an ultrasound, which were largely unremarkable. He got an injection to stop vomiting and later some food and water, which he ate with gusto and kept down. The xrays did reveal more arthritis on his spine, which isn't surprising, so we will be using the pain meds, but still don't have much of a clue about the vomiting, except they saw what appeared to be some small bones still in his stomach. He hasn't been out to the pasture, but he may have found and ate a bird or something on his romps around the yard.

He's back home and seems to be feeling ok, but we'll be watching him closely.

This is a new rottie who may be arriving Saturday.

Educating Ollie

2012-02-15T19:06:00.000-05:00

I drove down to Lynchburg today to meet Ollie. The humane society there had contacted VGSR about him, saying that although he was young (a year or less), and sweet and friendly with people, he was not at all good with other dogs. I wasn't worried about the dog-on-dog thing, not with a dog that young. I figured that Dixie and/or Trooper could sort that out, and there's always Sparky if I needed to bring out the big guns.

It was a beautiful day and I should have been out hiking instead of driving, but I was a bit sore from the last few days anyway. Yesterday I only did about 45-50 minutes on the trails, but part of it was jogging so I was happy enough to take a day off from it today. I haven't been in Lynchburg in a long time and the Lynchburg Humane Society wasn't far off the highway; my GPS system found it easily. Still, I locked my doors as I approached the town, wary of roving gangs of Falwell's Baptist Brown Shirts from Liberty University.

The Lynchburg Humane Society seemed to be a very clean and well-run shelter. It's not new and not fancy, but the runs are large, the place was clean (didn't smell), and best of all, there seemed to be a lot of volunteers around working with the dogs.

Ollie was cute and sweet as advertised. He's a mix, but has a very shepherdy look. He's small, only about 35 pounds, and he's very thin. They had him neutered, thank you very much, and he had a rabies vaccine. I'll try to get him to the vet tomorrow for everything else. Ollie's former owner had apparently gone away for a few days and left him alone in an apartment. Fortunately, the dog ended up in the shelter and the piece of human excrement never came to claim him.

He rode home nicely. I put him in a kennel, fed him, and then opened up the gate to let him into the bigger kennel with Dixie. He growled at her, or tried to, I think she just laughed it off. He just hasn't been around other dogs and doesn't know how to act or play. He does a lot of defensive growling, but that's about it. Having Dixie here right now is just perfect for him. She's an adult but still young enough to play. She's small but still big enough to kick his butt is she needs to. She's a female, so she knows everything, and she will take no shit from him.

Dixie

2012-02-14T22:31:00.000-05:00

Dixie is the female shepherd that came along with Roscoe. At first it was thought that she was pregnant and the shelter had someone who would foster her. She came to me after she was found not to be pregnant, but she was in heat so I couldn't take her out immediately for adoption along with Roscoe. Females are so much more complicated than males in this respect.

I had separated her from Roscoe when she came in or shortly thereafter, mostly because Roscoe went for neuter surgery. I teamed Dixie up with Spartan who is still taking the cure for a skin infection. She has been fine with him and he is much better with a companion dog. The reason they got paired up is because they both took to climbing out of the dog yard fence. They stayed in the kennel fencing, however, so they proved to be a good pair.

Today I took Dixie to the vet for vaccines. She actually only needed the rabies vaccine, the others had been done at the shelter, thanks to the Fluvanna SPCA. Her heartworm/lyme/erlichia test was negative and her stool sample was negative for parasites. And she was good at the vet, very friendly, easy to handle. She's good to go, or would be, if we could get her spayed. It looks like it will be a couple more weeks before that can happen so she will be here a little while. That's ok, she's very sweet and easy to keep, and she's good company for Spartan. The two of them share the shed at night and the big kennel during the day.

Perhaps I'll be able to get an adopter interested in her via the internet while she's here waiting for the spay surgery. She's about 3 years old, a petite 63 pounds, good with dogs, cute and very friendly, and she gives nice kisses. Happy Valentine's Day.

How to feel warm on a cold day

2012-02-13T09:51:00.000-05:00

Sunday was a cold one. The sun was shining at least, but the wind was cold so we were set up indoors at the Petsmart in Gainesville. I took Roscoe, Thora, Radley, and Hannah and thought I had good prospects for Roscoe and Hannah anyway.

The ride up was quiet, Thora was crated because she will climb up and lay on top of the crates if given the chance. Roscoe was in the other crate, leaving Radley and Hannah free in the space at the rear of the van. There were plenty of extra hands to hold my dogs so I was free to talk, but Hannah really didn't want to leave the van so I left her there until the person I had been talking to about her arrived from over on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Pam got some great pics of Roscoe and Radley. Both of those dogs are so photogenic that they don't really challenge Pam's skill with the camera, but still, getting a dog to sit on a cold windy day is no small feat.

Radley really worked the crowd for treats and attention. He has a smile, presence, and personality that are second to none. If his coloring was different I'd swear he was a rottweiler. That's the highest praise I can bestow on any dog. He met some folks who may be interested in adopting him and I have no doubt that we will find him a home, but as it turned out, he's the only dog I brought back home with me on Sunday afternoon.

Roscoe was very popular, as I expected. I had been emailing two families about him and both came to meet him. That was a tough spot to be in because both were very nice people and would make very nice homes. They were both very understanding of the position we all were in. (If one of them had been a jerk it would have been easy to eliminate them.) But having multiple choices of good homes is a good problem to have and I made a decision because that's my job. (It turns that I am the decider, not Dubya.)

Roscoe and I went by their home after the event and met the cat. He was good, not obsessed, didn't even try to eat the cat. He looked very comfortable and I left him there, whispering "leave the cat alone" in his ear as I left. We will hope for the best as always, but I think it stands a good chance and I know the adopters are committed to making it work.

Hannah was an easier choice although there were other people there who were interested in her as well. But the man I had been emailing with sounded perfect for her, and she for him, and what I saw of them only reinforced that belief. He's calm, quiet, and wants a one-on-one companion relationship. That's Hannah in a furry nutshell.

He knows it will take a few days, but she bonded with me in just a few days and I wasn't able to do the one-on-one time with her that he will. She learned the routine around here very quickly. She's good, she's smart, and surprisingly non-bitchy for a female shepherd.

This second picture isn't great because I cut off her ears when taking the picture, but I love the relationship it shows. I love people who touch their dogs. I also love dogs who want to touch their people. In a rare moment of introspection, I'm thinking that it's me who has that tactile need.

I was half expecting and hoping to be adopting out Roscoe and Hannah yesterday, but Thora came as a surprise. Her home as cats too, but apparently they are reclusive cats and no one who knew the home thought it would be an issue. I hope it goes well for Thora, she's a great girl, a classic female shepherd personality. She reminds me of our late, great, sainted Gypsy more and more all the time. She will have a great home with a lot of attention and love lavished on her. But the adopter has had female shepherds before and knows that she will need to be in charge.

Radley was tired and very quiet on the drive home. I was too. I don't remember when I've talked to so many people non-stop for over three hours. I probably used up three weeks of words. It's not the part of this process that I am particularly good at, but I can and will rise to the occcasion when it means finding a good home for a good dog.

Cabell, Roscoe, et al.

2012-02-11T20:03:00.000-05:00

This is Roscoe meeting a cat in the lobby of the SPCA prior to his neuter surgery on Friday.

Cabell had refused to give up a urine sample when he was at the vet last week, but we needed one to determine if his kidneys were malfunctioning. On Friday morning I walked him outside on a leash to one of the favorite places to pee. It was morning so he needed to go and didn't object too much when I slipped a stainless steel food dish under him. I poured it into a ziplock and took it to the vet. I was back at the vet later that day and picked up a prescription diet for him. It seems that he does have a kidney problem. I think he's feeling and acting a bit more normal today, though and I'm glad to see it.

This happened several weeks ago and I can't remember this dog's name right now. He's a big mastiff who wasn't happy at the shelter. Fortunately, once he got out and into a home he settled down and seems to be doing well. I facilitated his transfer from the shelter to Animal Connections and his subsequent adoption but he never had to come here as a foster. I like it when it works that way.

The shar pei at the back is Tofu, one of my former fosters. The other two dogs are foster dogs now living in his new home. They are with another rescue in another state, but they are saving their own local dogs and I couldn't be happier. I love it when adopters become rescuers themselves. It's not for everyone, but for some people, adopting a dog is just the first step towards saving many others.

When I went back to pick up Roscoe at the end of the day, we went upstairs to meet another cat. We ran into this guy, spending the day in his mom's office. Jackson Browne was not one of my former fosters, but his litter mate was my boy Rowdy, who is now Bernie. The two brothers share a shyness and distrust of strangers.

This is Roscoe after his surgery on Friday. He seems to be doing fine. There's a couple people interested in him who are coming to meet him in Gainesville on Sunday.

Nero tethered to a sign post on the Heritiage Trail. We did almost two hours hiking out there today. It was cold but good for both of us. He has about outgrown the black leather harness I had been using on him. I walked him with an "Easy Walk Harness" today. They are great for dogs that pull on a leash, but not so great for our style of trail walking. I don't mind the pulling, it's more exercise for him to drag me along and I don't mind the assist going up hills.

Long shadows

2012-02-09T23:46:00.001-05:00

Nero, ball in mouth

Yesterday was cold, damp, and dreary, but today was warm and sunny, the kind of day I love. Sunny days this time of year are great but it seems the sun is always in your eyes because it never rises very high in the sky. These are the days of long shadows.

I'm happy the grass is still brown for now.
If it was green, I'd be needing to mow.

I didn't have time for a hike today. I had to get my work done during the day because we went to see an NT Live production of "Traveling Light" at the Paramount in Charlottesville this evening. I finished my work early and took Nero out to the pasture with my tennis ball thrower. He's a nut for tennis balls but doesn't care much for any other toy or type of ball. He's not the greatest ball player I've ever had. He doesn't bring it back and he's not great at finding a ball in tall grass, but he enjoys it.

Nero, left, and Dixie, right

Hannah, Spartan, Dixie, and Radley were in the dog yard and Dixie soon jumped the fence to join us in the pasture. She wasn't particularly interested in the ball, which was good because Nero growled at her when she came too close to it. She just wanted to run, and they did.

Nero and Dixie got a good run and I moved around a little bit anyway. Tomorrow I take Roscoe in for his neuter surgery, but I hope to get out for a long hike sometime in the middle of the day. Nero is looking better day by day it seems. His hair is beginning to grow in over the bald spots on his face, his weight is good, and I think that one day he will be a stunning dog.

Dixie is cute and sweet. If she wasn't in heat I'd have her at the next adoption event. As it is, I'll have to wait a couple weeks before getting her spayed so she will be ready to go.

Dixie, front, and Nero, rear, with the ball

Caring

2012-02-08T20:54:00.001-05:00

This was a picture that made the rounds on Facebook today. I saw it on someone else's Facebook page and shared it on mine, which I don't often do, but it struck a chord, for obvious and not so obvious reasons.

I happen to think that caring about others, those less fortunate, less advantaged, less capable, is a good thing. It may be what makes us human, if we choose to act on it. Maybe having the choice is what makes us human, and making the right choice is what makes us decent human beings.

Rescue is about caring for the less fortunate of man's companion animals, those that we as a species have failed. Rescue is not about obtaining a pure bred dog at a fraction of the price asked and paid by breeders and buyers. It's not about taking in a dog and then dumping it again when your personal life changes. It's not about adopting a dog and then returning it when you find a "defect" like it was a new TV. It's not about making yourself feel good, self-righteous, proud, or smug about what a good thing you've done. It's about helping an animal who needs help.

Sable went to the Bridge today. She had bone cancer and we knew her time was coming. She was one of my former fosters, a rottweiler. Sable was a lovely dog, but she was not a dog that anyone should have wanted to adopt. When she came into the rescue she had a terrible case of perianal fistulas. Fecal matter would ooze from drainage tracks that shouldn't have been there. But she was a wonderful dog, a dog with a good heart, a good soul. Her adopters saw that in her and didn't let her illness define her. They cared and they wanted to help her, knowing that this can be a very tricky and difficult condition to manage, and it was.

Not many people could have done what they did for Sable and fewer still would have. They held that umbrella over that dog, and gave her all the care that could be given. But look into her eyes and you can see why.

Warm winter day

2012-02-07T18:54:00.000-05:00

Tuesday started off chilly but the frost wasn't as heavy as the day before. I don't mind a chilly start to a day, or even a chilly day, as long as the sun shines like it did today.

Before I could get anyone out to enjoy it, however, I had to drop off Cabell at the vet's office for a thorough work up. He's been acting a little off lately, like he's uncomfortable, in pain, or just unable to get himself settled down. At 12 years old I always fear the worst, so he went in for bloodwork and a general going over. The blood was mostly normal except for one kidney function. They were unable to collect a urine sample, which didn't surprise me. Cabell isn't exactly pee shy, but if you are trying to collect a sample by sticking something under him, he shuts it off and it's no chance, no way, no how.

They took an xray and it showed some arthritis, no surprise, but his hips are good. Hopefully this was just a pulled muscle or something, but I'm glad we did the bloodwork and I am going to continue to try to collect a urine sample.

L to R: Radley, Trooper (rear), Spartan, and Dixie

Back at home I had Dixie, Spartan, Radley, and Trooper together in the dog yard this morning. They were fine and all had a good time. I was up in my office working when I heard the downstairs dogs, Zachary and Bremo, going off. I went down to investigate and found Spartan standing on the porch wanting in. A half hour later the loose dog alert was sounded again and I found Dixie on the steps, having jumped or climbed out of the dog yard. Radley was at the dog yard gate, frantically trying to get under or through it--he's a little stout for the jumping or climbing. I put 2 and 2 and 2 together and realized that someone in neighborhood was firing guns and that was what had driven the dogs inside.

Trooper (rear), Spartan (front) and Dixie (right)

Radley was having a major anxiety attack and took quite a while to calm down. With Dixie, Spartan, and Radley in my office crates, Hannah was displaced for hers but she just settled down next to my desk chair. Molly was on her bed, none too happy about the invasion of the space she normally just shares with me and Trooper. Molly had her toys gathered up to make sure no one tried to get them and just hunkered down for the day.

When I went back to town to pick up Cabell I just took Hannah along for the ride. I'm even letting her offleash outside now, she doesn't want to be far away from me. The results of yesterday's skin scraping on Spartan showed lots of bacteria, so he still has an ongoing skin infection, but no yeast. He had been on a course of cephalexin previously, so he's starting on the Cipro tomorrow.

Cabell was glad to be home but still wouldn't pee for me until I left him alone.

It's dark out now and Roscoe has started his howling. He'll be going into a crate in the shed very soon, I'm not going through that again this evening. I got a neuter appointment for him on Friday and have already had a couple inquiries about him even though he's not on the VGSR website yet.

A very doggy day

2012-02-06T22:13:00.001-05:00

It's 9:00 p.m. as I am writing this and I still have work to do because today was a very doggy day.

I got in a good hour's hike with Nero, which I really needed because I have missed the last three days. He is looking so much better now, at least in terms of his body weight. He has actually outgrown the harness I've been using on him. That potato and duck diet is pricey, but it is really working for him. His face is looking better too. Thankfully, he gobbles the pills right up along with his food.

This is Roscoe, one of two new shepherds I brought in today. Both are about three years old. Roscoe is gorgeous, just a really nice looking dog. To my eye, he has the best confirmation of any shepherd I've had in quite a while.

Roscoe and Nero in the adjoining kennel. Nose to tail, he's a great looking dog, nice line, nice proportions.

This isn't such a great picture in terms of exposure, but it's a great picture of this dog. The way he carries his ears, his head, his tail, the way he moves, this dog is pretty. I can't wait to get some pictures of him running in the pasture. He's a big lunkhead. He's loud, he's very active, he doesn't have a clue.

This is Dixie, the female and came along with Roscoe. Yesterday it was thought that she was pregnant, but like many a young woman's pregnancy scare, it ended with a sigh of relief when she went into heat. That's not great, because it means it will be a couple weeks before I can get her spayed, but at least she's not pregnant.

Dixie is petite and very sweet. I've separated her from Roscoe and I think I'll put her with Spartan and Radley instead. They are both neutered whereas Roscoe is not, besides, he's a bit of a brute. I've given Thora the task of sorting him out.

I hiked from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., and then picked up Roscoe and Dixie at the shelter. I got them home and settled into their kennels, and then had a little bit of work time before heading to the vet in Charlottesville with Spartan and Hannah.

Hannah is the girl I got from Orange this past weekend. She had her vaccines done today. The vet thought she must be spayed based on the fact that she has no mammary development to speak of, and she thought she could detect a spay scar. She looks like a spayed female and we are going on that assumption. She tested negative for heartworm, but like so many of them these days, was positive for Lyme. At least that is relatively cheap and easy to treat. She's a little nervous and high strung, but is so happy to be back home in her crate in my office.

Spartan also tested positive for Lyme, so I came home with doxycycline for both him and Hannah. His ears looked cleaned but his skin shows signs of a long term infection. The baths have definitely helped, but they did a skin scraping to run a test to see what he's got going on. He was very good at the vet, sweet and very easy to handle.

It's after 10:00 p.m. now and I'm not sure if I'll finish my work or just go to bed. First I'm going out to dope up Roscoe who is howling his fool head off.

Odds and ends

2012-02-06T07:52:00.001-05:00

Bo, the rottie, sharing a bed with his sister, and a cat.

I didn't do any adoption events this weekend as the nearest ones were Winchester and Annandale. Both are a bit too far with gas at nearly $3.50 a gallon again. I had to work Saturday morning and the day was damp and dreary anyway. I went to meet a new shepherd that I'll be bringing home on Monday.

Sunday was a lot of running around it seemed. I finally met up with Karin and passed off four Animal Connections adoption contracts for Ryland, Breezy, Willy, Zora, and one other donation.

Then I stopped by Buddy's new home and completed his adoption. He's doing well and has a new name, Sampson. He's a funny dog. He won't take treats and consequently wouldn't eat the Heartguard that I brought for him. He wouldn't even eat it when I put it in peanut butter and crammed it in his mouth. Apparently he likes macaroni and cheese, however, so that may be the key.

Buddy, now Sampson, looked content in his new home.

He came out of a bad environment and I'm not sure what his human experience was like but he's settling in and seemed very comfortable in his new home. I think he will be fine.

I picked up four bales of straw at Lowes because the rain left things muddy again.

The picture at the top left is my former foster rottie, Bo. He's the abuse case who was so terribly shy and scared of people. He is in a safe and loving environment now with someone who understands. He may never be outgoing to strangers, but he's comfortable, content, and confident in his home, which he shares with the dog and cat shown here.

The new girl, Hannah, is settling in. She has moved into my office, where she is calm and quiet, no problems with the crate. The stairs were new to her but she learned quickly. She has been fine with the other dogs but isn't particularly interested in them. She is quickly bonding to me but is still a bit scared of Clay. Apparently the man in her original home never had much to do with her; she is more comfortable with women. She is "nippy" in that she uses her mouth to make contact, particularly when excited, but she's not biting. I need to get her to the vet this week to determine whether or not she is spayed and do the usual vet routine.

Hannah

p.s., One other thing I've been meaing to mention. If you post a comment here and don't see it immediately, it's because I moderate comments to the blog to prevent spam postings. About half the comments that come through are written in bad English from foreign countries advertising drugs, knockoff handbags, and other nonsense. Seriously, do enough people ever fall for that stuff to make it worth their while?

I ride inside

2012-02-04T19:54:00.000-05:00

No one who knows me very well at all could think that I wouldn't have something to say about this. Everyone who knows me also knows that there is not even a snow ball's chance in hell that I'd ever vote for Romney, or any of his ilk in a general election. The current ongoing internecine warfare amongst the right wing crazies is scary and amusing, but nothing that comes from it will matter to me in deciding how to vote in November.

I guess I should back up as it's barely possible that someone may not know this story. Twenty-odd years ago, Mitt Romeny loaded his brood into the family wagon for a trip to Canada to visit relatives.

Making the trip with them was the family dog, an Irish Setter named Seamus. The dog, however, wasn't in the car, he was in a crate strapped to the roof of the car. Unsurprisingly, the dog was terrified and when that happens, their guts turn to liquid. Poor Seamus had an uncontrollable bout of diarrhea in the crate on top of the car.

At some point they stopped and hosed off dog and crate and returned both to the top of the car to continue the trip to Canada. Mind you, Romney does not deny this story. He simply believed it was an appropriate thing to do.

There is some question about what finally happened to the dog. The family story is that he went to live on a relative's farm. However, there are reports that the dog ran away once they arrived in Canada, and who could blame him if he did?

Mitt's apologists point out that this event occurred 20 or more years ago. But was this something that a reasonably intelligent human being would have done 20 years ago? I was 33 years old 20 years ago, and I'm not the smartest person in the world, but I have enough sense to know that it was inappropriate, and in fact cruel and abusive, to tie a dog's crate to the roof of a car.

So the man is scum, for this and a multitude of other reasons.

DogsAgainstRomney.com is a website I ran across on Facebook when the picture above started showing up repeatedly among my Facebook friends. The dog in the sweater is adorable, the facial expression is perfect, and the simple tag line "I ride inside" says it all. The website is selling t-shirts and other products, including the bumpersticker that is now displayed on the back window of my van. I don't know where the money is going, and I don't care. I'm sure it's not going to Romney and that's good enough for me.

Pretty girl, smart girl, good girl

2012-02-03T19:30:00.001-05:00

This is Hannah. I picked her up from the Orange County shelter on Friday afternoon. Instead of coming straight home, I took her out with me on my almost daily walk. We walked for just less than an hour around Pleasant Grove, partly on the trails and partly on the road and baseball fields.

Hannah is an impressive girl. She's about 5.5 years old and she's obviously had some pretty good training. I took her out to a fenced area at the shelter to meet her before we came home. Even out there she listened to me and responded to "sit," "down," and "stay." I was very impressed, particularly in light of the environment and the fact that she didn't know me from Adam.

I was told that she was a little wary of strangers, and she is, but not overly so from what I saw. She let me collar her, leash her, and walk her. She listened to me, walked nicely on the leash, and when I let her off leash in the fenced baseball field she stuck nearby and then showed me the gate we had come in. She's a smart one; I would bet that nothing gets by her. She reminds me of my late Gypsy that way. She's a serious dog. She's not happy, smiley, goofy. Again, like Gypsy, she strikes me as a dog with a purpose, a job, a duty she takes seriously.

She's a beautiful red and black and appears to have been well cared for. She's got AKC papers (I hate that organization), and doesn't seem to have been spayed, but it doesn't appear that she's been bred either. The original owners had her microchipped as well. The story I heard is that they moved to Florida and gave her up to woman X about two weeks ago. The owners obviously made a very poor decision because woman X dumped her at a shelter after having her only a week. Fortunately, it was a good shelter but I doubt that it mattered to the dumper.

The story given by the dog dumper was that she didn't have time for the dog. That, like "allergies," is a cover story, a lie. Where the truth lies we will never know. Apparently Hannah was good with the male dog in the dumper's home but not the female. That comes as no surprise. I'm sure she and Thora would not hit it off and I'm not even going to try that combination. I may try her with Radley, Trooper, and Spartan after she's had a few days to settle in around here.

Although she's wary of strangers, she's not aggressive or overly fearful. Hannah is not going to be anyone's instant best friend. The human/shepherd bond is one that the shepherds take very seriously, more so than most humans. Earn their trust, love, and commitment, and they will be with you to the end, but they don't give that level of trust to anyone and everyone right from the start. It's a bond that forms and strengthens over time. The dog is never the one to break that bond and they are understandably distraught when their human does so. It's nothing short of amazing that they can and will form that bond again, but it doesn't happen overnight, or even in the first week with some dogs. But when a person comes along who is willing to make the commitment and put in a little bit of effort, it's "till death we do part" from the shepherd's perspective and they will keep their end of the bargain.

Playmates

2012-02-03T12:18:00.000-05:00

Radley

Radley and Trooper

I've done some rearranging of dogs around here, as I usually do after adoptions. Spartan has been indoors most of the time, but is getting bored and needs some more activity. He still does the submissive urination if I reach for him, but he will follow me without a leash to and from the dog yard and through the house back to his crate. Yesterday I gave him some dog yard time with Trooper, and today I added Radley to the mix.

Spartan and Radley

Spartan chasing Radley

Radley needs to move towards adoption so I need to get better acquainted with him myself and get him more integrated into the household. He's a nice boy and is good with other dogs. He is loving the dog yard today and is having a great time instigating a game of chase with either Trooper or Spartan.

Spartan has been on antibiotics for over a week now and has had two medicated baths. His coat looks great and I think the smell is mostly gone. I don't think it's coming from his ears and if it's a yeast infection on his skin the baths seem to be helping that. He's certainly a lot cleaner. The bridge of his nose is missing hair, I just noticed that today. And he still scratches quite a bit although I've seen no evidence of fleas. I put a dose of Revolution on him this morning.

Nero is doing fine but he's become barkier again, I'm not sure why, although at least he doesn't screech anymore. He's in what had been Radley's kennel because I want him by himself and he's going to be here for a while yet. I did some pasture mowing a couple days ago in lieu of a walk and he had a great time out there with me, running around as I mowed.

Radley and Trooper, good playmates

My wild, weird day

2012-01-31T23:09:00.000-05:00

My personal trainer had been making me feel guilty because I had been hiking with Nero lately instead of him. So today I took Sparky out for a good long hike. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather, so we put in two hours on the trails but at a slightly slower pace. We probably covered five miles, or I did anyway, Sparky must have done at least six with all the jumping around that he did. We had a good time.

Sparky's kennel mate is Gypsy Jr. She's been one of my back burner dogs that I need to get moving. But she has been losing weight even after I wormed her a couple weeks back and her poop is soft and smelly. I collected a sample from their kennel and drove into town to the vet. She had a tape worm, which explains her weight loss, so I brought home some meds and gave them to her this evening.

While waiting on the test results, the vet who had seen Nero the other day called me in to discuss the results of the lab work they had done last week. The cultures showed at least three different forms of bacteria. Two are susceptible to the Cipro, which explains why he improved when he was on it. The third however, was not, which explains why the Cipro never completely cleared it up. Nero has MRSA, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

This was first for me. I didn't even know dogs could get MRSA. Of course, if any dog was likely to get it, it would naturally be a shepherd. Nero was not in good health when he came, so he may have had a suppressed immune system that allowed the MRSA to thrive.

One of the drugs used to treat it was ruled out because it causes liver damage. The other causes bone marrow suppression, but only in humans. That's the one we went with, but because of the risk to humans I have to wear rubber gloves when handling the pills. That's not so bad, but he's supposed to get it three times a day for the next six weeks, along with the Cipro once a day. I've been feeding him three times a day most days anyway to put weight on him. Of course, the real test will be to see what happens when we go off the drug at the end of six weeks. At least we now know what we are fighting.

The brighter point of my vet visit was seeing Laila and her adopter. Laila looks great. She's up to 20 pounds. She showed off her tricks once she calmed down a bit. She was very happy to see me but even happier to see her adopter when she came to pick her up.

They shared with me the results of a DNA breed analysis that was done on Laila. It showed that one parent was a purebred lab. That is consistent with what I had been told, although I had thought it possible that Laila had had a different father from the yellow littermates like Woody. The other parent was the mother, of course, that we knew to be Ginger. The test showed that Ginger was not a purebred shepherd, which was not totally surprising. She may have been mixed with some collie, and bits of this and that. Interesting.

I then headed north of Charlottesville to Willy's new home to finish up his adoption. I called just before I got there, but soon realized that although I had gone to Willy's new home, I had called Buddy's new home by mistake. I felt like an idiot, but I got to touch base with both homes anyway, and both are doing well.

I had put venison chili in the crockpot this morning and I'm glad that I did because I still had work to do after I got home and got the dogs fed for the evening. Later on, Clay and I dropped off the van for its annual inspection. I worry about that van. It has a lot of years and a lot of miles on it, but I need it. There's a shepherd up in Orange that I need to pick up on Thursday.

Adopting, hiking, etc.

2012-01-30T18:44:00.001-05:00

Saturday I placed Willy and Zora in new homes. I had an email about Willy this morning. They love him and he's doing well. Zora's new home also wrote. After I completed the adoption and left on Saturday, Zora pretty much stayed attached to her new mom, more than a bit intimidated by the senior male dog in the home. But on Sunday the two girl dogs began to play, and the old grumpy guy even tried to join in. When Zora realizes he's just all talk and has come around to accept her, she will relax around him. I think that the two girls playing together is the key that will make the whole thing work.

On Sunday I did a local home visit for a shepherd applicant. I took Buddy along and ended up leaving him there. An email this morning sounded like they had a good first night. They have two very small dogs, one very obnoxious one, but Buddy had lived with a cat before so I had some reason to believe that he wouldn't see them as tasty treats or chew toys. He was fine with the small dogs when we met yesterday and he seemed to settle down in the new home as if it was his own.

I'm very happy about the placements and hope that everyone settles in.

Nero and I hit the trails on Sunday morning for a solid, fast-paced, two hour hike. I'm feeling it today but mostly in a good way. I need to stretch more. His face started improving as soon as we got him back on the Cipro. I'm expecting a call from the vet sometime this week with the results of the culture and then possibly a new antibiotic will be added to the treatment regimen. His weight is coming along very nicely. He's gained enough weight that I had to enlarge the harness that I use on him for our hikes.

Monday afternoon I hitched up Nero and Thora and went for my first tandem dog hike in ages, probably since Emmylou died. The first 5 minutes were awkward until everyone learned the ropes, literally. I changed the rigging so that my leash connection could float between the two dogs. That worked better as it allowed either of them to take the lead or to walk side by side. Once we all had it figured out, it was Thora out front most of the time.

She's been a little stir crazy herself lately, so I know the walk did her good and she pulled a lot so I know she got a good amount of exercise even though we only did an hour on the trails. The two of them should be a good walking pair and I'm going to have them living together again as well.

We occasionally meet a guy on the trail who rides a mountain bike. I always step off the trail with my dog so he can pass and I can control the dog. We stopped and talked one day and he met Nero. We saw him again today and he remembered Nero's name and met Thora in passing. Tomorrow I'm taking Sparky.

Three dog day

2012-01-28T21:18:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning I loaded up Willy, Zora, and the newest shepherd, Buddy for a trip to northern Virginia. Actually, Willy only went as far as Charlottesville, which was our first stop. I've had several emails and applications on Willy, but not many that sounded both serious and very good. This one did. I liked the folks, Willy liked them, and they loved Willy. I knew he'd be an easy placement once all those things came together.

Our next stop was up in Springfield, inside the Beltway, to meet a nice young couple who were interested in Zora. They have a smaller version of Zora who is about the same age. I think the two girls will become fast friends. Zora was trying her best to get the other girl to play when I was there, and from what I heard about their girl, I expect they will be playing fast and furious soon enough. They have another dog, a 9 year old grumpy male lab mix, who was not thrilled to have yet another young female invading his home. I think he will get over it, he was just making his position known. I was impressed with Zora's reaction to him. He growled and she just licked his face, trying to make friends and even tried to get him to play. It may take a couple days on the girl, maybe a week or more for the old man, but I think Zora will win them over.

Next I headed to Arlington to visit some former fosters. Sable is the rottie. She's a sweet old girl who has cancer now in one of her legs. She has had a life long problem with perianal fisulas as well. I've seen Sable a few times over the years since her adoption and she always seems a little concerned that I've come to take her back. For that reason, I was probably happier to see her than she was to see me, but I'm glad I had the chance to see her again.

Sable's folks also have Bernie (formerly Rowdy) and Zoe (boxer) that they adopted from me, and one other dog as well. We completed Zoe's formal adoption today although everyone has considered her to be adopted for quite some time.

Bernie really surprised me. When he lived here he was always shy, scared, and wouldn't come near me. I always had to spend some time chasing him around the kennel whenever I needed to take him anyplace. In his new home he is much more confident and came up to see me on his own. I touched and handled him more today than I had in all the time that I had him here. He's still not what you would call out-going, but it was good to see that he had come so far from where he was.

Zoe, on the other hand, is very outgoing, very affectionate, very loving. She is the female version of Willy. Their other dog, Murphy, is a lab mix and he wanted nothing to do with me.

I put over 250 miles on the van today but came home with three adoption contracts and two less dogs. Buddy just went along for the ride because I didn't want to leave him crated at home all day and I don't have a kennel that will hold him. I need to work on that tomorrow, and do a home visit, and get up to Orange to pick up another shepherd that someone dumped at the shelter. But, tomorrow morning I'm getting out for a good long hike before anything else.

Back at the vet

2012-01-27T07:21:00.000-05:00

The newest guy, Buddy, came in already neutered but without any vaccination history. I wanted to get that done asap in the hope of moving him to another foster or adopter, possibly this weekend. So we went to town Thursday morning.

He is still a bit shy but does let me approach him to get a leash on. Once the leash is on he goes willingly and happily and doesn't even pull. The only bad thing about him that I've found is that he doesn't respect the fence. He's young, light, and agile and he can get over the 4' dog yard fence when he wants to, although he's not looking to run off.

The vet visit was fine, he was fine, the fecal sample was clear of parasites and he passed the heartworm/lyme/erlichia test, all negative. That's all good news, now I just need to find a home for him.

I brought Nero along to piggyback onto Buddy's appointment for a recheck and further consult on his skin. The good news is that his weight was up, about 5 pounds, the bad news is that the gunk on his face has returned, as bad as ever, after improving significantly while on the Cipro.

The vet pulled off one of the scabs and took a sample of what was inside. It was loaded with bacteria, as expected, but since two long rounds of antibiotics haven't cleared it up, they are sending off a sample to be cultured. That should tell us what it is, specifically, and what antibiotic will work on it. Results are expected next week.

We also xrayed the tail. The bone all seems intact and undamaged. We will just have to see if clearing up the infection on his face also addresses the tail.

Saturday is shaping up to be another marathon drive day. I'm taking Willy and Zora to meet interested people and if I can find a prospect for Buddy, he'll go along too.

De-funked!!

2012-01-26T13:41:00.000-05:00

I was sitting here in my office working Wednesday evening as usual. Spartan was in one of the big crates behind me. I finally couldn't stand the smell any longer.

It has now been over a week since he was neutered, so I'm assuming and hoping that his incision is sufficiently healed up to withstand some water. His scrotum had gotten swollen too, but that has begun to shrink up already. He's on doxy for the Lyme disease and I also started him on cephalexin because it sure smelled like he's got some skin infection going on and I know his ears were infected anyway.

I had a spray nozel attached to a hose in the shower and I irrigated those ears thoroughly. Spartan was really pretty good about the bath, he just hunkered down and let me do it. The water ran brown and I won't pretend that I got him entirely clean, but he's 85% better anyway and smells better now even as a wet dog. He had very little loose hair, which is unusual for a shepherd and I suspect just reflects the fact that he doesn't have a full coat of hair right now.

I took him outside afterwards to shake it off and I put medicine in his ears and Advantix on his back. He's now snuggled into a crate behind me on clean bedding and the funky bedding and towels are in the wash.

p.s. Thursday afternoon: He still kind of stinks, but it's a lot better. I suspect he had a yeast infection going on and it may take another bath or two at least to clear it up.

Of meth and madness

2012-01-25T19:46:00.001-05:00

Buddy was the result of my afternoon meeting with my doggie dealer at Natural Bridge. She got him back before christmas from a young woman. The dog is about 3 years old, neutered, pure bred shepherd, housetrained (said to be a real snuggler in bed), good with kids and cats (the home had both). The home also had a meth problem and what was probably an abusive boyfriend. The latter two tend to walk hand in hand.

Apparently the young woman already looks like an old woman who has had a hard life. As Lois Griffin (Family Guy) said when she was at a loss to explain the appearance a new tattoo: "Meth is a helluva drug." Meth is the current drug of choice among rural white trash. It can be made at home and apparently it packs a very strong punch. Needless to say, Buddy is the luckiest one from that household simply because he got out of it.

Buddy rode home silently in a crate in the van. I put him in the kennel adjacent to the dog yard and he soon climbed over the 4' fence to join Zora and Willy in the dog yard. They were fine together and Buddy and Zora really hit it off. Buddy climbed out of the dog yard while I was on my walk with Nero. Fortunately Clay was around and he got him back into the shed. He will need to be inside or in a 6' fence. I'm thinking that the folks who had been interested in Nero might like to meet him, particularly because he has a history of living with cats.

He's a good looking dog, a bi-color, but he has very little of the tan leggings that are typical of bi-colors. Buddy is fairly small, I would guess 60-65 pounds, but he's a well put-together dog. I think his profile is particularly nice, especially the alert and forward tilt to his ears. We have a vet appointment tomorrow for vaccines, but like I said, he's already neutered, so he will be good to go tomorrow.

Finally some sun

2012-01-24T21:00:00.002-05:00

I can't really complain, much, about the winter weather we've had so far this year. But the last four days have been cold, damp, and either precipitating something or trying to most of the time. More than two cloudy days together gets very old for me so I was very happy to see the sun shine again today.

Instead of going out to hike the muddy trails, I started up our walk-behind mower and took a couple fosters out to the pasture for exercise. Nero is the solid black one of course, and he was very happy to get out of the kennel and follow me up and down the rows as I mowed.

The other one is the new guy, Spartan. He had developed a nasty cough so I had started him on doxycycline for that and brought him indoors. He stinks really bad, but I didn't want to bathe him right away after his neuter surgery so we've just been dealing with that. He also has an ear infection and it finally occurred to me that the smell may be from the ears as much or more than the rest of the dog. I've been treating the ear infection pretty aggressively, cleaning them as best I can and medicating them a couple times a day. That seems to be helping the smell and it's now been a week since his surgery so I'll give him a bath sometime in the next couple of days.

I'm going to try to move Spartan to another foster home this next weekend, I hope. He's not coughing any more, except sometimes he exerts himself pulling on the leash. He's really good with being crated indoors.

He didn't seem to know what to do out in the pasture or what to do with Nero. I'm not sure if Nero was trying to play or trying to bully him, but I think it was just play. Spartan wanted none of it and he mostly just followed me as I mowed, but from a distance.

Spartan shows every sign of being abused--he cowers, he does the submissive urination, he tries to hide his head when you reach for him. It's sad and it's not a problem that I'm particularly good with. He is beginning to trust me and he's definitely devoted to me now, but it has taken some time and we aren't all the way there yet.

Since he seems to be feeling better now, I thought that getting out to the pasture, getting some exercise and socializing with another dog might be good for him. It probably was, but he was ready to come back inside.

Our Bremo spent the day at the vet's office today having a dental cleaning under anesthesia. He's 11 years old this spring and we've never done any dental work on him so I guess it was time. Cabell has had a cleaning and Molly did too, so it was Bremo's turn this year. It was nothing serious, but since he was under anesthesia they also removed a small growth from his forehead. I don't like to see those things and this one was right in the petting zone on his head so it had to go.

On Wednesday I'm driving down to Natural Bridge to meet my doggie dealer again. She has another German Shepherd for me, just what I need.

Laying on of hands

2012-01-22T22:49:00.000-05:00

I have said before that rottweilers are the most tactile of creatures. Most dogs enjoy some petting, at least some time. Rotties like it always. The power of touch is a very real thing. I think it's the most comforting and reassuring thing that one can do for another, and it works between species as well, or at least between certain species. I think it's the best thing that you can do for someone who is sick, scared, or alone, be they human or canine.

Breezy came to us just one day last week. I think she had been with her former owner most all of her six years of life, so the change must have been unsettling for her. She took it very well, however, and was quickly beginning to bond with me, thanks to regular feeding and petting. She has been a very easy foster. She's housetrained, crate trained, good with other dogs, mellow. All she wants and needs is someone to pet her, touch her, love on her. Today she got that.

Her adopter has adopted a rottie from me before, so she's a known commodity. Her last dog died several months ago and she's been wanting, needing, another. I've been on the lookout and when I heard about Breezy last week, I knew I had a match.

I had to go to northern Virginia today for VGSR's quarterly meeting, (a big bore) but it afforded an opportunity to meet with Breezy's adopter.

This woman has had rotties all her life and she knows what to do. She has good rottie instincts, a lot of experience, and I think she's a perfect match for Breezy. She needs a dog to love on and Breezy needs the love.

She called this evening and everything is going well. This is one that I'm not worried about.

Breezy heading to her new home.

Hope, not expectations

2012-01-20T23:22:00.001-05:00

This is the face of Hope. She was one of the hoarder shepherds from the white trash Fluvanna County bitch. (See multiple posts starting at the beginning of March, 2011, for the sordid backstory.)

Her original name, I believe, was Lilly. She was painfully shy, fearful, and totally withdrawn, shunning all human contact. I think she was the one that I had to drag out of a dog house when I needed to get her for anything.

Her adopters took her home, got her healthy, and let her be herself. She is still quite shy, but she is very much a part of household, keeping an eye on everything and everyone, and occasionally seeking out some human contact. They took her home with a lot of hope, but not any specific expectations. They didn't know for sure what she would become, when or to what extent she would recover. They also didn't hold her to any expectations.

We have had people adopt and return dogs saying (I kid you not), "this dog didn't live up to my expectations." Those are invariably people who weren't willing to put any effort of their own into the dog. It is refreshing, and reassuring, to meet folks like Hope's adopters, who gave her a home with hope and love, without requiring her to fulfill their canine fantasy. In most cases, the rescue effort doesn't end with the foster home; we are really just the beginning. The person who adopts a dog "as is" and builds a life for that dog, working through whatever comes along is the real rescurer.

And speaking of expectations, I never expected to see Woody (now Krypto), with even one erect, shepherd-like ear. Apparently his ears are in the up and down stage, one seems to be mostly up at this point and the other is mostly down. Which way they will go, or if they will both go the same way, is anyone's guess.

His adopter reports that he is doing well with walking on a leash and some basic commands and is almost there with the house training. He spent a couple weeks longer at my house than Laila did, and learned nothing except how cute he is, so he's doing well after only a couple weeks in his new home.

He clearly adores and idolizes his big brother, Rommel.

Having hope but no particular expectations is probably a good philosophy for rescue work generally.

The folks who met Nero and were interested in trying him out this weekend decided against it, citing concerns about his still unresolved health issues. I think it's just as well because they have a cat.

On a positive note, he is putting on some weight now and is generally looking better. The new food seems to be agreeing with him. He still has a few crusty things on his face that haven't healed entirely. I think we will go back to the vet next week to look at those and talk about what to do about his tail. He's coming along and when he is ready, he will be an awesome dog for the right home.

We've been out hiking the past two days and we are both really enjoying it. The final pic below is the Rivanna river from the high bluffs along the trail.

Two more short timers?

2012-01-18T21:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had a call from a man who was referred to me by the folks at the Almost Home Adoption Center in Nelson County, VA. He had lost his home, his job, and was about to leave the state. The placement he had found for his 6 year old rottie had backed out at the last minute. He was pretty desperate. He lived down in Amherst County, south of Nelson, and had called Almost Home who referred him to me. We agreed to meet today and I suggested Almost Home as our meeting point. I left at noon and he pulled into the parking lot right behind me.

Breezy is a great dog, a little overweight at 113 pounds, but a great dog nonetheless. He guy gave me a couple bags of food, which I kept, and two large crates, which I donated to Almost Home because I currently have a good supply. That is a great little shelter, thanks largely to the efforts of Bette Graham and the Nelson County Humane Society. I went inside and said hello, and thanks for the referral, before I left. Bette had just arrived with half a dozen hounds and probably as many cats that she had just pulled from the county's shelter to avoid euthanasia. I saw her unloading a poor, sweet, emaciated hound who had no idea how lucky he was to be walking in that door.

I stopped at Old Dominion Animal Hospital back in Charlottesville and made an appointment to bring the big girl back a little later for vaccines and a heartworm test.

Breezy meeting Spartan in the dog yard this afternoon.

My next stop was the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA where I picked up a shepherd, Spartan. He's probably 6 years old as well, also very sweet. I had met him in there earlier in the week. He has an ear infection and was just neutered, and he smells bad.

Spartan, good looking dog, will be better after a bath

Trooper and Spartan, doing the boy dog dance

Then it was back to Old Dominion with the new rottie girl. She checked out well, except for testing positive for Lyme disease. At least she was heartworm negative. I got a 30-day supply of Doxycycline for her and headed home with two spayed/neutered, vaccinated dogs and all their paperwork.

I put the two new arrivals in the dog yard together for a while and they were fine together. Spartan was still enjoying the yard when Breezy was ready to come in, so Trooper came out to meet Spartan while I got Breezy settled in a crate in my office. Both dogs seem to be good with others. I have a foster home lined up for Spartan on Sunday and I have a prospective adopter in mind for Breezy. If things go as I have planned (have they ever?) these two may join the ranks of the short timers. That would be good because there's two others, both shepherds, that I've also agreed to take.

Breezy and Spartan, nose to nose

Cold but sunny

2012-01-15T21:51:00.000-05:00

Zora

Zora and Willy

I went to a VGSR adoption event in Front Royal today. It's a long drive but it often attracts a good crowd. Not today, unfortunately, but it's always possible that we planted a few seeds that may grow even in the dead of winter.

It was a cold day so we were set up inside, but I was dressed for the cold and was too hot inside. The front of the store was in the sun and out of the wind, so several of us hung out mostly outdoors, or at least circulated between inside and out.

Radley

Willy and Thora

No real prospects today. Someone who is interested in Thora was there and was glad to see that she was still available, but that person won't be ready to adopt for a couple months. A couple other folks were interested in her today as well, but they all have cats, and I don't think Thora is apt to tolerate a cat.

Willy made lots of friends and fans, including one who is going to send his pic around to some friends.

Willy and Zora

I did not take Nero, for a couple reasons. 1. Someone is interested in meeting him next weekend, although they also have a cat. 2. I think his tail is going to require some medical attention, probably amputation. The last time I took him hiking I noticed the tip of his already shortened tail was raw and a little bloody looking again. That may have been due to banging it on the bars of a crate, but it doesn't seem like it's going to heal up. I've had this situation before, the tail may have been damaged in some pre-existing injury that didn't heal, the dog chews on it making it worse, the tail produces phantom pain from the old injury even if it's healed, ultimately it may need to amputed, making him a bob-tailed shepherd. We may be making another vet visit this next week to talk about it. Nero is doing a lot less shrieking now, mostly due to our hiking. I got the bark collar but haven't used it on him. Still, I'm glad to have it. Mostly he just needs a home.

Radley

Zora was cute and sweet as always. I've got to get her on the web; she will find a home.

Today was Radley's first outing so I held him myself. He was good, very friendly with people and with other dogs.

The parvo princess

2012-01-13T20:55:00.000-05:00

I got to visit with Laila today. She is wonderful, looks great, growing, putting on some weight. Her fur is soft, fine, still long, but not quite as curly as it had been.

She has learned a lot. She sits, gives paw, downs, and even rolls over. I was told that she's very smart and can be very stubborn, so there's certainly some female shepherd in her even if she doesn't look like one.

I don't know if she remembered me, but she was happy to see me anyway. I expect she is happy to see anyone and everyone who will pick her up, snuggle her, and let her chew on them with her razor sharp puppy teeth.

That little girl and I went through a lot together. She has a wonderful home now and her whole life in front of her, so it was all worth it.

Walking, making friends

2012-01-12T21:27:00.000-05:00

Nero and I went walking in the woods again today. We missed yesterday because of rain and Clay's colonoscopy, but today was warmer and drier so we got out this afternoon for about 90 minutes.

I've used these uncropped photos to give a better view of the woods and trail. It's the Fluvanna Heritage Trail along the Rivanna River and it's a great, great place to walk. It has the real added benefit of being very near our house.

The hiking is great exercise for me, for both of us really. He doesn't need the physical exercise as much as I do, but he needs the stress relief that comes long with it. He screams at me less now when he's in the kennel, or at least shuts up when I ask him do. I'd rather walk with Sparky, but this guy needs it more and I'm hoping to get him adopted soon, so for now, he's my hiking buddy.

Back to the daily grind

2012-01-10T23:49:00.000-05:00

This is my first full week of work in quite a while, so it's been a little tough to get back to the routine. Especially because my "routine" really isn't very routine.

Monday morning I called the vet to make a follow up appointment for Nero. They were having a slow day so I took an afternoon appointment that same day. I called back and expanded the appointment to include bloodwork for Bremo because he needed his thyroid level checked again.

The vet thought Nero looked much better, and indeed he does. The face is definitely healing up. He's not putting on any weight yet though, so I'm doubling his food intake, or trying to. He will eat all I give him and his poop looks as if he's processing it, so maybe it's just a matter of needing more. We will see. He still has a week of the antibiotic (Cipro) to finish up.

Bremo went along for the bloodwork and he was very good about it, as he always is. His weight was down a bit too. The vet called today and his thyroid level was normal but we had a little confusion about the quantity and timing of the pills and it seems I've been giving him twice the amount she had prescribed. I need to go back to feeding twice daily too, which he will not mind at all. He's got a growth of some sort on his forehead that I don't like. She didn't think it was serious, but I scheduled a dental cleaning for him under anesthesia and they will remove the growth with the laser at the same time. He's almost 11 years old, so it's time for some dental work although they didn't look too bad.

Because of the trip to town on Monday I didn't get out for a hike, but I did on Tuesday, with Nero. We did about an hour and a quarter at a good pace. I was pleased, he enjoyed it, and he really does walk nicely.

Sunday fun day

2012-01-09T10:44:00.000-05:00

Sunday was a VGSR adoption event in Gainesville. I took Zora, Willy, Thora, and Nero. I brought them all back home with me, but everyone had a good time and I now have a prospective home for Nero, more on that below.

Zora was cute and sweet as she just is. We got some good pics of her and I'll get her on the web. In spite of not being a shepherd, I think her size and demeanor will land her in a home fairly soon. Meanwhile she is paired up with Willy the boxer and they get along well. The two of them were crated in my office last night and she is very good with that. She is hell on the toys left behind by the puppy, however. She likes toys, but needs sturdy ones.

I was very happy and pleasantly surprised with Nero on Sunday. It was his first outing and I wasn't sure what to expect given that he's scared of Clay and barks at him here at home. He was overwhelmed but that may have been good. He didn't know what to do or how to react so he took his cues from me and the other dogs, who were all having a good time. He met a nice family (husband, wife, college-age daughter) who were quite taken with him and spent quite a bit of time with him.

The end result was that I went by their place after the adoption event, which fortunately wasn't far away and was sort of on my way home. We spent quite a bit of time there, mostly meeting their cat. Nero was certainly interested but he wasn't aggressive or obsessive in the way that a prior dog they had met had been. I brought him back home because he needs to see a vet again and finish his antibiotics. We have an appointment for Monday. I think they are interested in giving him a go next weekend. I think it would be a very good home for him. I explained to them why he drives me crazy, but I don't think that's likely to be a problem once he is in a home.

My biggest concern is the cat. They can separate the animals but of course they want everyone to be one big, happy family. The jury will be out for a while on that one, but I do think it's worth a try.

I didn't get any new pictures of Thora yesterday. She is good in a crowd, but she will have to go to a home that understands and can cope with an alpha female shepherd. That is going to mean no cats, no small dogs, and only a submissive male dog, if any. Sweet girl, a real daddy's girl, but she can be a bitch. I tried placing her in a home with a former foster last weekend. We had met the week before on my marathon drive and the introductions had gone well. But I wasn't there when she arrived at the new home Friday night and it wasn't long before a fight broke out. I wasn't even home before I got a call, turned around, and went back to pick her up again.

People think that boxers are either the ugliest dogs in the world or the cutest, or so ugly that they are cute. I have to admit that I started out thinking they were ugly, but now I'm a fan. It's the personality that won me over to the "so ugly they are cute" camp. I just love them, and I love Willy.

We got some new pics of him on Sunday. The woman who was holding him was cold herself and decided he must be cold. She and a co-conspirator went into Petsmart and found him a "Poison" (heavy metal band) t-shirt and played dress up the boxer.

Willy didn't care, he might even have liked it. It's still on him and he hasn't made any effort to remove it.

Woody's welcome

2012-01-07T11:29:00.003-05:00

Woody went to his new home yesterday. The pictures tell the story; there's not really much I can add.

Getting ready to leave.

My parting shot with the little guy.

Ready to play, ready for anything, ready for his life.

Woody with his new boy and his new mom. Dad is there too.
Great folks, this is their third VGSR adopted dog.

And this video shows Woody with his new big brother, Rommel.
He finally has a big dog friend who will play with him.

Confession of a dog hater

2012-01-05T21:22:00.000-05:00

Nero

Bless me Mother Shepherd for I have sinned. It has been half a dog year since my last confession.

I have committed the sin of hate against one of your breed, the chosen kind. His name is Nero, and I can't help it, Dog help me, I hate that dog.

I hate myself for hating him because he's not a bad dog. In fact he's a good dog and he will make someone a great dog. But he is a terrible foster. I feel even worse because the dog's only crime is loving me too much. He wants to be with me, all the time, desperately so. That's not so bad, what is so bad is the dog's voice. He shrieks like a little girl, at the top of his lungs, when he wants my attention. The attention he gets when he does that is never good. I yell, throw food dishes at him, bang on his kennel to make him stop. It scares him and shuts him up, but only momentarily.

Fortunately he doesn't do it when he doesn't see me, so he's not a nuisance barker. I have him in a kennel where I'm out of his line of sight as much as possible, but everytime I go out to feed or clean, he starts screaming, non-stop. My blood pressure goes sky high. I want to kill him. It's loud, shrill, and ear-piercing. It's actually painful. I hate him. If I was a new foster home and he was my first foster dog, he would also be my last. But I know I have to stick it out, get him adopted, and move on.

On the trail today, he walks beautifully.

His skin is finally improving, as is his tail. The best thing for both of us, and the other fosters, current and future, is for me to get him adopted as soon as possible. That's not going to happen while I still hate him, so I'm trying to change our love/hate relationshp to one of love/tolerate at least. With that goal in mind, today I took him on my daily hike instead of Sparky.

This is a dog that I can let out of the kennel around the yard and is one of few that I would ever trust off leash, including my own. He sticks around because he's devoted to me. I think I could have taken him on the trail today off leash too, but I didn't. Aside from his devotion to his person, the dog has some good qualities. He walked beautifully on the leash, sometimes in front but never really pulling, and sometimes in a perfect "heel" position next to me, or even trotting along right behind me on the trail. We did a good hour on the trails and it's the most time I've spent with Nero without wanting to kill him.

He stopped to eat a trail treat (horse manure).

The very trait that makes him such a terrible foster (the desire to be with me always) will make him a great dog for an owner. He doesn't have separation anxiety, he's fine when I'm out of sight, but when he sees me he wants to be with me. When we got home, I removed his harness while he was standing in the back of the van. I turned him loose and he hopped out and ran directly to his kennel. He's not a bad dog, just a bad foster dog. I have to keep repeating that to myself.

Aside from his skin and 3/4 tail, he's not a bad looking dog.
The self-inflicted damage to his tail could be allergy or neurosis.
I hope the grain-free food and our hikes will help.

I'm going to take him to his first adoption event on Sunday. I'm not sure how he will do because he's rather fearful of strangers (i.e., Clay) around here. But it's time to start with him, get some good pictures, get him on the web, get his skin cleared up (he's off the presdisone now but still on antibiotics and a grain-free food), and hopefully find him a home where he will be loved. I'll start walking with him on Sparky's off days, and I have ordered a bark collar that I hope will modify his barking behavior when he sees me.

Puppy countdown

2012-01-04T21:26:00.000-05:00

I'm guessing that no one will object much to a plethora of puppy pictures this week because my days with Woody are dwindling down to a precious few. I gave him a bath on Tuesday evening so he would be clean and fluffy for his doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Clay took him into the CASPCA early Wednesday morning where he got neutered and got his rabies vaccine.

I picked him up Wednesday late afternoon and he came home all rested up for playtime in my office this evening.

The great thing about early spay/neuter, aside from just getting it done prior to adoption, is that the pups recover so quickly.

I'm planning to meet Woody's adopters, and Thora's, up in Culpeper on Friday evening. When Woody is out of here, I can pick up the puppy toys, put all our shoes back onto the floor, clean up the guest bathroom, and get back to what passes for normal around here.

When Thora is in her new home I will be bringing Radley inside, and probably Willy and Zora as well, at least at night. I really want to keep my wintertime population down so that everyone will be either in an enclosed outbuilding or in the house at night. The last two nights have been too cold for dogs without an undercoat like Radley and Willy.

Sparky and I hit the trails again today, but he took it easy on me today and we only did about 45 minutes.

The Sparky Sessions, Day 2

2012-01-03T18:29:00.000-05:00

This is Sparky standing with his front feet up on the railing of a footbridge we crossed on the Fluvanna Heritage Trail today. We started out at 3:15 p.m. and I only intended to do about an hour, the same as yesterday. I missed a turnoff on the trail, however, and we ended up going quite a bit farther and longer than I had planned. It was 5:30 p.m. when we got back to the van just before dark.

Sparky had a great time, as usual, and I feel both sore and exhausted, yet somehow refreshed and envigorated at the same time. We had a good hike.

We also had some good news today. The woman I took Thora to meet last weekend wants to give her a try. My marathon circuit on New Year's Day may be bearing fruit, because Rufus went home with someone, Woody is preparing to go on Friday, and now Thora as well. I've had Thora in and around the house and she is good indoors although she did make the mistake of going after Molly's food this morning. That was my fault really. Her house manners are good, but with this cold weather and wind, she was excited to be outside today. She has the best coat for this weather of any dog I have right now.

Koa, in his new back yard. 6' fence, I love that.
He looks spectacular.

I love that look.

I received these pictures the other day of Koa. He was half of the Koa/Ranger pair of dogs that I took in a while back, although when and where they came from I can not remember. Great dogs, both of them. Ranger got sick with Lepto and I ended up having him a lot longer than anticipated. Koa went to a very experienced couple who said that they are very happy that they went this route (rescue) in finding their new dog. They say: "He has been a magnificent addition to our home and has from the beginning fit right in. Whoever said you cannot have beauty and brains never had the good fortune to meet Koa." I only wish that all my email read like that. I remember talking to these folks and then meeting them with Koa down at Natural Bridge. He responded to them immediately, it was clear that they knew what they were doing, and I remember feeling quite confident that he was in good hands.

Koa at the beach, in Cape Hatteras, NC

My personal trainer

2012-01-02T20:56:00.000-05:00

Sparky has his work cut out for him, but I have no doubt that he's up to the job. I have become so sedentary that the muscles in my legs ache from inactivity. We did about an hour on the trails today, pretty good pace, and I certainly feeling it this evening and will so even more in the morning.

He got me moving and kept me moving and we both enjoyed it. Sparky's only limitation as a personal trainer is the lack of opposible thumbs and a driver's license. It's still up to me to get us out to the trails.

I'm going to start trying to get out there more days than not. We both need it, I need it desperately, and he enjoys it so that I hate to disappoint him. Maybe guilt will be the motivating factor.

New Year's Day marathon

2012-01-01T22:30:00.005-05:00

Thora and Jake

There were no adoption events scheduled for this weekend, but I had 4 days off, too much free time without trying to move some dogs.

8:00 a.m., begin loading up Thora, Rufus, and Woody, and feed the fosters remaining at home.

8:30 a.m., pull out of the driveway to head up to Woodbridge, leaving Clay to feed and medicate our 5 dogs.

11:00 a.m., arrive at destination in Woodbridge, to meet Jake and his adopter and introduce Thora. Jake is one of my former fosters and this adopter had previously adopted BJ from me as well. We arrived when they were starting out on their walk so we walked together and then spent some time in the backyard and finally in the house. Jake is a bit of a grump, but he really did pretty well with Thora. Still, he has a nice comfortable routine and it wasn't clear that he wanted or needed some pushy girl around to upset the boat. I think it could work if she wants it to, but Thora came back with me after our visit.

Rommel and Woody

1:15 p.m., arrive in Manassas to meet folks who are interested in Woody. They are not at home. I call and we have a tenuous cell phone connection but I learn that they were held up by something and are on their way. I drive around the Manassas area and marvel at how much things have changed since I lived up there. I do not miss it. They called when they got home and I headed back to their house to introduce Woody to Rommel, a VGSR alum but not one of mine. Woody loved them, their son, their dog, and a visiting dog. Woody loves everyone. By the end of the visit Rommel was beginning to chase Woody around, much to his delight. They are going to think about and discuss it, but seemed inclined to adopt him, probably next weekend so they will have the weekend with him in the beginning and the week before to prepare for puppy. But Woody came back home with me after our visit.

Woody finally got Rommel to chase him.
Great fun.

3:45 p.m., arrive in Gainesville at Debbie's house to meet a young man interested in Rufus. Somewhere along in the afternoon it clouded up and it began to rain a bit while we were there. Rufus pulls on a leash like he was pulling a plow, but otherwise he's rather well-mannered. He's very friendly with everyone. A prong collar sorted out his leash manners. We spent quite a bit of time there because this guy is a first time dog owner, although he grew up with dogs. Rufus spent the night in a crate in my office last night, but made an awkward descent down the stairs this morning. By the time ee left Debbie's place he was going up and down her stairs with ease, which is good because his new adopter lives three flights up.

Rufus, handsome dog

8:00 p.m., I arrive home with one less dog and over 200 more miles on my van. But I did just receive an email confirming that they do want Woody. I'll probably meet him up in Culpeper on Friday. Thora had a bath last night in advance of this trip so she's staying in the office again tonight. That bath was a bit of a struggle and it rained again today, I don't want her getting muddy again right away. There were other folks interested in Thora if this placement doesn't happen for her, but they had either small dogs or cats, and I'm just not too certain about Thora with either.

10:00 p.m., eat gumbo that Clay made today (delicious!), swallow pills to help with pain in my butt and legs, finish blog post, and go to bed. Happy New Year.

Rufus can see out any window or cruise the countertops without difficulty.

Last Thursday of the year

2011-12-29T22:26:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if he was yawning or barking

Rufus is a handsome, if somewhat gangly, dog

Nothing much to report from today. I went to the vet with my two latest additions, Rufus and Zora.

Rufus is so tall, long, and lean, he looks like a gangly teenage boy whose legs have grown faster than the rest of his body. He's a good looking dog and he seems to know some commands (sit, paw, down), but leash walking isn't among his skills. He was friendly at the vet's office, but apparently it took 4 of them to hold him still for the blood draw. He's a nice dog, already neutered, and I think he will get some interest quickly once I get him on the web.

Zora in the shed after our vet visit.
Yesterday I filled it with fresh straw.

Zora and Willy the boxer share a kennel during
the day and the shed at night.

Zora was as cute and sweet as I thought she would be. We checked her teeth and determined that she's more likely 1-1.5 years old rather than the 8 months I was told. No matter, she's still young and she was very good. She weighed in at 42 pounds, which is a little more than I expected. They were able to verify that she was in fact spayed; she had a tattoo at the incision site.

Both dogs got vaccines because I had no records of them, and they both tested negative for heartworm, and had a clear fecal test. Easy day at the vet's office and a good one.

I also got to see Laila, and I dropped off the adoption paperwork to make it official. She looked good, seemed happy to see me, and she's growing and gaining weight. That little girl and I had a very intense week or so together. I doubt that she will remember it, in fact I hope she doesn't, but I will certainly never be able to forget it.

After the vet visit I sat in C-ville Coffee for a while and caught up on dog paperwork that needed to be sent in. I still need to write a couple more thank you notes.

Thursday evening found me still working, and worrying a bit about Trooper who is hacking and spitting up. He's quiet in a crate now, but if he's still doing that in the morning we will be making another trip to the vet. Trooper isn't vet-friendly, of course, so that would be an adventure I would prefer not to have.

I'm keeping little Woody with me in the office quite a bit. He's dragging shoes around from all over upstairs. He loves dead and dying stink bugs, and I've had to get all the computer wires and cables out of his reach.

I am making a trip to northern Virginia on Sunday to meet potential adopters for Thora and Woody. If I get Rufus posted I might drum up someone who is interested in him as well.

Mini-Molly

2011-12-27T18:28:00.000-05:00

I think I've told this story before. We once took in two or three dogs from the same source, I think it was a person who died, went into a nursing home, or something. Two were what I would judge to be pretty adoptable dogs, I think they were shepherds. Then there was Pearl, an aging, mixed breed, non-descript pudgy mutt. I wasn't going to take just the more adoptable dogs and leave the third behind, I think that stinks. So I took Pearl, thinking that I might have her to the end of her days. Pearl, however, was the first of the group to be adopted and she was adopted the first time I took her out. What Pearl had going for her, in addition to being sweet, mellow, and housetrained, was the fact that she looked like a dog that everyone had at some point in their past. She was EveryDog.

At the one and only adoption event that Pearl attended, we heard again and again comments like "that looks just like a dog I had growing up." I took her to one of those people later that day and she got a great home because of it.

Zora meeting Molly.
This little girl owes more to Molly than she will ever know.

Zora came to me today. She's only about 8 months old, not quite fully grown yet, and seems very sweet. She isn't a shepherd or a rottie, she's pure mutt--part shepherd, part hound, part whatever. I agreed to take her as soon as I saw her picture, however, because she looks like a pint-sized version of our Molly. She's also sweet, housetrained, and maybe spayed already, but mostly I agreed to take her because of the look, as shallow as that sounds. It wasn't a look I could turn away. She's about the size of the boxer, Willy, who needs a companion who won't beat him up, so I'm pairing them up for the time being.

Zora meeting Willy
They have similar size, speed, and energy.

Christmas cards

2011-12-25T17:15:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the photos I've received from former fosters in the past few weeks. Some were sent in email, some were posted on Facebook, and some I received the old fashioned way with actual cards via snail mail. I like them anyway they come.

This is Anthony, one of the senior dogs from the hoarder.
He has a fantastic new home, new life, so much better than anything in his past.

This is Barth, formerly Harlan.
His new dad got involved with a rescue group in North Carolina.
Barth is welcoming to the fosters as he always has been to everyone he meets.

This is Dusty in her Christmas bandanna, no reindeer antlers, thank you, her real ears are big enough.

This is Griff, formerly Nick, formerly Buddy. He was abandoned over in the valley,
but was lucky enough and smart enough to find his way to some good folks who got him
to me. He was even luckier to be adopted by the director of the shelter run by the
Rappahanock Animal Welfare League. He is now living the rottweiler dream.

This is Henry, who now lives in Ohio.
Still wild and crazy after all these years, but they love him.

The dog on top is Coby, formerly my Hunter.
He and Bella are now inseparable and they both love it.

The dog on the left is my former foster Mack,
shown here with his very own kid and a buddy.

This Shika, Shayna, and Rocky (left to right), along with Rocky's therapy dog business card.
I knew Shayna when she used to live in Virginia, but she drove out here from Utah to adopt Rocky.
The three of them have since moved to Texas, where Rocky continues his therapy work.

This was Sunny when I had her, she is now named Sophie, but they call her "Bug".
I'm not sure why, but I suspect it's because she constantly bugs anyone around to play with her.

And this is Luke. I am so happy for Luke. I adopted him out many years ago to someone who returned him when he was nine years old. I didn't have much hope of finding him a home, but Steve and his wife Sandy took in Luke as a foster. Within a few weeks, they found Luke a wonderful home. That is Steve in the Santa suit; he gave Luke the best possible Christmas gift, a home.

The twelve dogs of Christmas

2011-12-24T12:55:00.000-05:00

While racking my brain this morning for another Christmas theme, I realized that we had a total of 12 dogs right now, so this was a no-brainer. Just pictures of dogs, our own and fosters.

Zachary, in the shed, ready to eat. He takes his chicken back into one of the nest boxes and eats in private.

Cabell, very camera shy, only consented to this picture because he was eating and didn't want to leave his food dish.

Bremo isn't the most obedient dog, but he has the fastest "sit" when there is food involved.

Trooper on top of his platform, waiting for his breakfast.

Molly is almost as camera shy as Cabell and wasn't too cooperative with the picture taking this morning.

Radley, very sweet boy. Getting him adopted is my next big goal.

Thora, not a great picture with her head in the food bowl, but still a pretty girl.
She has been great for the new guy, Rufus.

Nero, my next big medical project. He's on some new meds to try to clear up his face. The tail is another issue.

The new guy, Rufus, getting his new tags and doing the "love and lean" with me this morning.

Sparky (left) and Gypsy Jr. (right)
It's hard to get a picture of one of them without the other.

Sparky and Gypsy Jr. again, playing in the new straw.

Willy, the boxer. I've got to pick a home for him.

If you've been keeping count, you'll realize that this picture of Woody actually makes 13,
rather than 12 dogs of Christmas. That brings up a long-standing debate I have with Clay.
I don't count puppies, he does.

Santa comes early

2011-12-23T20:16:00.001-05:00

Rufus, handsome boy

[Bear with me on the xmas theme; there's just a couple more days to go.]

Rufus is just over a year old.

Santa came in the form of a VGSR volunteer who rescued a shelter dog today and brought him to me to foster, effectively giving the dog a new home and a new life. Rufus came to a shelter when his former owner got arrested for, among other things, assaulting a police officer (with a butcher knife). It is likely that Rufus' former owner won't be free to be looking for his dog for quite a while, but just to be safe, we gave him a new name upon his entry to our canine witness relocation program. He is just over a year old, very tall, handsome, and friendly. He has been living in an apartment so I would say that he's housetrained. He's paired up with Thora for now and they seem to be fine together, although he's doing a bit of howling out there this evening.

Santa came last weekend as well, bringing a lot of dog food, blankets, and a gift that I turned into bales of straw today to keep the kennels and sheds dry, comfortable, and cozy if it should ever turn cold around here.

Rufus is a tall drink of water.

Clay's brother, Hugh, with Woody

Clay's mother, Berta, with Woody

Santa is a shape-shifter and appeared again today in the form of Clay's mother and brother, who came out bearing toys for the puppies. Woody had a great time with the toys, but he enjoyed even more meeting, playing with, and being held by new people.

Laila may have received the greatest gift of all. After several days at the clinic, with surgery and loving care from the staff, she went home for a couple days of recuperative care with the mother of one of the hospital's staff. I know she's in good hands and she's getting more intensive and individualized care and attention than she would get here. And the woman has sort of been looking for a dog after losing one a few months ago, so this will give her a chance to see if she's ready and to determine what she's ready for.

Woody, loving his new toys, but keeping an eye on me at the same time.

Making room at the inn

2011-12-22T21:56:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm pushing the xmas theme this week, but it's the week for it.

When I opened my email and Facebook this morning I was confronted with three dogs. Dog # 1 is in a rural shelter, but I learned later in the day that some other group was taking him. That's great, I just hope it wasn't this outfit that I heard of recently that was looking for shepherds to train for police and military work. They are in it for the money and sell the dogs at a ridiculous price. What they don't mention, however, is that dogs who don't do well in their program, don't fare well afterwards. If they can't make a huge profit, they cut their losses. That is why I will never place a dog with a program like that. Never. But I digress.

Dog # 2 (shown here, left and right) is in a shelter over in the valley that we work with frequently. He's a big, long-legged boy, whose former owner apparently went to jail. He looks like a good prospect and one of our volunteers met him today and will be transporting him to me tomorrow.

Dog #3 is a young girl, about 8 months, maybe slightly shepherdy, but not much. She is, however, adorable and has a face that reminds me of a cross between our Molly and the late Jeremy.

All four dogs who were placed last weekend sound like they are doing well. Ginger is sweet and Ryland is occupying a sofa. The puppy, Pongo, is already enrolled in a training class for January. I just heard from Mercedes' new home and she has adjusted to the cats and has assumed responsibility for keeping track of everyone in the household, even making rounds to check on them all. I'm not surprised about that from her.

Lonely Solstice pup

2011-12-21T21:30:00.002-05:00

Laila is at the clinic still; she should have surgery tomorrow to close the hole in her chest left by the abscess and she will be spayed at the same time. I'm not sure if we'll get her back home Thursday afternoon or Friday, but even when she's back I know we'll need to keep her separated from rowdy Woody for a while. I think our bathroom will become the second puppy place for Laila.

Woody has the guest bathroom to himself for now, but he'd rather share it with someone. I've been going in there frequently today to spend time with him, play with him, and hold him. I can even bring him into the office and hold him while I work on the computer, which is where these pictures were taken.

His predicament reminds me of one of my favorite christmas songs, sung by Kyle from South Park. While I'm on the subject and in the holiday mood, my other favorite christmas song is by Elton John from Billy Elliot: Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher.

Back to the vet

2011-12-20T20:34:00.000-05:00

I went back to the vet today with Nero, who hadn't been back there since he first came in, back in October. His skin and coat had improved somewhat, but his face is still pock marked and his tail is still ragged. He is getting a new antibiotic, another round of prednisone, and a grain-free diet. He will also be getting a cone to keep him from destroying his tail, which may need to amputated if we can't stop the chewing and get it healed up. He will also be getting the shed at night because the cone may prevent him from using the doghouse and a-frame shelters in his kennel. I've got to get him fixed up so he can be adopted.

I also took the puppies back to the vet today. Woody is doing great. He weighed in at 14 pounds today and he got a round of vaccines, parvo/distemper and bordatella. Mostly I took them along because I wanted the vet to take a look at Laila. She is acting normal, but I don't think she's putting on weight like she should be now that she's back to eating. Sure enough, she weighed only 8 pounds today.

One day last week Clay had noticed something on her chest that I was thought was a bit of matted hair. They looked at that and quickly whisked her into the back of the clinic for a closer look. It seems that what I thought was a clump of matted hair was probably an abscess that had now burst. They removed dead skin, shaved it, and cleaned it up, but it will probably need to be closed surgically. And of course she needs antibiotics again, daily changing of the bandage, and needs to be separated from Woody so that he won't remove the bandage for her.

The result was that I left her at the vet's office for a few days. Hopefully they will close the wound on Thursday and spay her at the same time, and I'll get her back on Thursday afternoon or Friday. I'm glad I took her in. I knew something wasn't right with her yet. She was so very good with the vet and techs, very sweet, cooperative. And she wasn't running a fever yet, so hopefully we are getting this addressed before it gets too far out of control.

I was hoping to keep the two pups together for a couple more weeks, but maybe it is time to get Woody adopted and started on his new life. Laila will need a little rest and recuperation, which will be difficult with Woody around anyway.

Ginger, Ryland, and Pongo (Chance) are doing well in their new homes. I need to contact the folks with Mercedes and check on her, but generally no news is good news.

Homes for the Holidays

2011-12-18T23:54:00.000-05:00

Pongo sharing Molly's bed. She was less than thrilled
about it, but tolerated it pretty well. That was pretty
much the opinion of all our dogs towards Pongo.

Xmas is a good time to adopt for some (time off from work, time to spend with a new dog), and a bad time for others (holiday travel), but this was a very good weekend for 4 or 5 of my fosters.

Mercedes loves the water,
or anything moving

Not surprisingly, there were a number of people interested in Pongo. He went to a couple with a lot of dog experience, prior VGSR adopters, who wanted him bad enough to drive up here from Virginia Beach on Saturday afternoon. They brought along their standard poodle, whose ears and tail looked like great play toys to Pongo. The puppy pestered the poodle until they went outdoors to the dog yard and there it was all play and chase. I know Pongo (now called Chance) will have a great home and his stay in foster care was very brief--he came in on Thursday, was neutered on Friday, out on Saturday. I wish they all moved so fast.

Pongo was actually my second adoption on Saturday, the first was Mercedes, to a family who drove over from Richmond. She will keep them busy but they seemed up for the challenge. She is a smart, smart dog, too smart for a casual adopter.

Clay got me up early on Sunday and hustled me out the door so I could make it to Front Royal by 11:00 a.m. I took Thora, Ryland, Ginger, and Gypsy Jr. They all rode well and were excited to be out. Well, Ryland wasn't really excited, but there were people who had treats, so he was ok with it. Thora was very anxious when we first arrived and didn't like being handed off to a stranger. She was fine with him, but she wanted ME. Apparently I'm her security blanket. But she settled down after a bit so I could at least walk away.

I'm happiest for Ryland.
He has been waiting nearly a year.

A couple adopted both Ginger and Ryland. I was thrilled. I would have adopted Ginger 3 or 4 times today, but there was only one of her to go around. The adopters are dog people; their car is outfitted for their dogs (same as Pongo's adopters). They are good friends of another volunteer so they came with excellent references. I knew they wanted Ginger, but when they decided to take Ryland too, I really loved them. Ry apparently took a liking to the man and vice versa. That's something special for Ryland because he doesn't usually express much interest in people unless there is food involved. Ginger is a lovely girl, everyone liked her and several people wanted her, but anyone who appreciates Ryland for who and what he is, is someone special.

Ginger, awesome dog

Another piece of good news is that there are two prospective homes interested in Thora! One has small dogs and the other has a cat. I'm going to make a point of introducing Thora to both this next week and see how it goes.

The puppies are still doing well, but Laila isn't putting on weight the way Woody is. But they both seem happy and healthy, playful, and noisy. I'm going to give them a couple more weeks before looking for homes. Applicants should submit evidence of three miracles performed.

The only bad thing about these placements is that I disappointed a number of people who were interested in the dogs who got adopted this weekend. Contrary to what some might think, I don't enjoy that. There were a number of people interested in Pongo, Mercedes, and Ginger who could have provided good homes. All I can say is that although I disappointed a number of people, I don't think I disappointed any of the dogs.

Next up, Pongo

2011-12-15T23:28:00.001-05:00

I had Thursday off from work, another vacation day, thank goodness. I drove down to Natural Bridge to meet my doggie dealer again. She had taken in 6 month old Pongo directly from the owner, not a shelter. They had contacted their local humane society to give him up, ostensibly because their neighbors were afraid he'd hurt their cat. That story doesn't add up because they were living in an apartment and the dog was not running at large, although they probably took him out without a leash. Also, Pongo is good with cats. He's shown here with three cats, and none of them seem the least bit concerned about him. Owners frequently lie about the reason for giving up a dog ("allergies" is the all-time favorite guilt-free excuse), so it's hard to say what the truth is, but circumstances point to financial problems. Whatever the reason, he's a lucky dog because he will end up in a much better home than he came from.

We stopped at the vet on the way home and got him another parvo/distemper vaccine and a kennel cough vaccine. He already had a rabies shot, thanks to Linda who got him vaccinated as soon as she got him from the owners. They had paid good money for the dog from a breeder but never put a dime into his care. I will never understand that.

I also got an appointment to have him neutered Friday morning. Then we stopped at Southern States for a bottle of panacure because he had worms. I got him home, tagged and collared, and settled into a kennel just before dark. All the fosters got wormed with panacure, it can't hurt.

Pongo had been living indoors and Linda said he was fine being crated at her place, so I brought him inside for the night. We will go to the vet Friday morning for the surgery and then this dog is good to go. He brings my number of fosters back up to 10 (12 if you count the puppies), so I would really like to move him and/or some others this weekend.

I should have spent today getting Christmas gifts wrapped, boxed, and shipped, and few more bought or ordered. I think my family will need to consider Christmas to be a more generic December holiday rather than something that happens precisely on December 25th. Gifts will be Christmas-ish this year, it's a matter of priorities.

Unsolicited advice

2011-12-15T08:31:00.001-05:00

Ginger, feeding time, but she's more
interested in me than food.

Trooper (rear) and Mercedes (front)
Trooper is a good playmate.

Someone sent me a message on Facebook the other day asking about starting a rescue. I haven't actually started one, I've just joined others who were doing it, and I think that is probably the best way to go about it.

We moved down here in the spring of 2000. We had two dogs and two cats, all rescues. In January of 2001 we walked into a pet store in Charlottesville to buy food for them. Out front was Karin Straley with a few dogs and few people who would eventually become Animal Connections. There was a 3 month old St. Bernard mix puppy that caught Clay's eye. It was Clay, not me, who stopped to look at the puppy. Clay took the bait, not me, and talked to me about him when we were in the store. We stopped and talked with them on the way out and filled out an application on the spot. Later that day, Karin and the foster mom, and the pup, came to our home. That's the story of how Cabell came to live with us and also the story of how we got involved with Animal Connections. Our first foster dog, Maggie, came along a few weeks later. We started by buying a 4-panel 10x10 kennel and setting it up adjacent to one of our outbuildings.

(Left to right) Willy, Ryland, Ginger, and Trooper

Over the years I've added more kennels and continue to make improvements in them as time, money, and inspiration become available. People sometimes get the impression that VA Dog Rescue is an organization. It's not, it's just my email address and it also became the title of this blog. I don't really have my own rescue, I just foster for other organizations. Being part of a larger organization, even if it's not a really big one, helps with the vet bills, website, and other aspects of the operation. I think that's a good way to start, even if someone wants to eventually build their own, independent operation.

Ryland, Ginger, Willy, and Trooper

Ryland is dog yard manager now,
but he'd rather be indoors

Willy, such a cute boy,
I don't know why I still have him.

Mercedes is a beauty

Mercedes: a beauty and a bitch

My advice for anyone wanting to get involved would be to find an organization in your area that you are comfortable with, (their people, policies, etc.) and just start helping out in some way. Get to know the people, they may become your friends and family, they will certainly become your lifelines. When you do start to foster, start small, don't take on too many. People often get overwhelmed and burn out.

Keep some balance in your life with other things. Rescue can be all consuming; don't let it consume you too. It's really helpful to have a Clay in your life, someone to occasionally pull back on the reins so you don't end up on an episode of Animal Hoarders.

Know your limits and stick to them in terms of numbers, size, breeds, etc. Don't let someone else pressure you into taking a dog that you are not prepared to have indefinitely. Remember that any dog you take in is yours until it's adopted; you are responsible for it, no one else.

Save the ones you can and remember that you can't save them all.

Stepping down from soap box now.... I realize that it could be said that I don't always follow my own advice. True enough, but it's still good advice.

The power of Dog

2011-12-14T16:16:00.007-05:00

Here is an excerpt from a fundraising email I received from Service Dogs of Virginia. They are the organization that took in my former foster, Buck, and placed him as a service dog for an autistic child. Buck has a new name, Robin, and a job that mostly consists of just being himself--calm, cool, and collected.

The picture is Robin, his new child, Nathan, and his mom, whom I met at the SDV graduation ceremony a couple weeks ago. This is what the email had to say:

Nathan, who has autism, recently received Robin. Before getting Robin, Nathan would not even pick up a pencil and paper at school. In just the few weeks they have spent together, Nathan is completing his schoolwork!

Words cannot begin to convey the enabling magic and the comfort an autism service dog brings to these children. There is an understanding that happens – a bond that is formed – that is nothing short of miraculous.

Because of the unique therapy an autism service dog provides, the demand for an autism service dog is incredibly high. And two years is an eternity to wait for a child. We must do better.

I have several former foster shepherds who now do varying types of service work, also a golden retriever in Delaware, and probably several others I've forgotten about or don't know about. The dogs require some specialized training, sure, but the service that the dogs provide really is just part of being a dog; they do what comes naturally, which is to be loving and devoted. I'm in awe of the people who do this kind of work with their dogs.

A dream come true

2011-12-13T20:45:00.001-05:00

Bella, leading Coby around their play space

A tired dog is a good dog, and a happy dog

Hunter went to a new home last Saturday. He has a new name, Coby, and a new sister, Bella. Hunter had been living in a pen by himself, getting very little time and attention from his people. The prior owners did three things right, however. They socialized him well with people, they didn't abuse him, and they gave him up so he could have a better life than they could provide.

Bella out front, Coby's nose at her tail

Coby is now living a life that can only be described as a dream come true for a dog. He has a playmate, room to run, and time with both his canine and human companions.

He will get what he needs in terms of further training. Bella will do the rest.

Come to think of it, that's not just a dream come true for a dog, it would be the same for any of us.

Cleaning up

2011-12-12T22:08:00.000-05:00

Woody, trying to climb out of the tub.

Laila, a bit confused by it all.

I had Friday and Monday off as vacation days making a 4 day weekend, which was very nice. Furthermore, I didn't go anywhere, no adoption events, no nothing. It was a much needed break, and it was time to spend a little time on everything that had been getting pushed aside, including Christmas.

I also started the parvo puppy clean up process. I pulled the crates and mat out of the van and disinfected them with bleach. Newspapers have been keeping the puppy ward fairly clean, but the puppies themselves were dirty, especially Laila, after several days of forced feeding. She is now eating and drinking on her own, which makes my life a lot easier, if not more normal.

Monday evening I put them both in the tub, probably the last time it will be possible to bathe them together because neither of them can climb out of the tub. While Clay dried them and played with them in bathroom, I swabbed out the shower stall that is their bed and put down clean bedding. The bath got them really wound up and they are in there screaming as they play while I am in the office at my computer writing this. The adult dogs in the household obviously know they are there, (even the neighbors may know from the sound they are making tonight), but they are just glad that the pups are confined and not bothering them.

Syringes from all the injections given to the puppies over the past week.

Both pups are at the stage where they love to be held.

You snooze, you lose

2011-12-10T15:21:00.002-05:00

Hunter came in shortly before the puppies, I guess, and I hadn't yet had time to do much with him. He was easy to foster, fine with the other dogs, stayed in the dog yard without a problem, so he wasn't at the top of my list of dogs to deal with. The puppies pretty much took over the top of that list to the exclusion of all else. I did snap a few pictures of Hunter and he went up on the VGSR website with a very minimal write up. But he's a good looking, young male shepherd, the kind people always say they want. I should have been flooded with inquiries, but I got none. It's just as well, most of them would have been from inappropriate people. It seems that what adopters want is a dog that fits certain categories. We use a standard list of characteristics, e.g., age, sex, color, housetrained, good with cats, kids, etc. Many people use that checklist for their desired or must-have characteristics and don't look at or consider dogs that don't fit their mold. The problem with that is that dogs don't really fit any mold, and people who "must have" this, that, or the other, will all too often return a dog who doesn't live up to their expectations. I usually repond with "unknown" to many of the questions, so often my dogs get overlooked.

Visiting female (left), Hunter (right), and Ryland (front and center)

That's just as well, because I'd rather adopt to someone who sees the potential in a dog and is prepared to work on everything else.

I did get one serious inquiry about Hunter, from another VGSR volunteer, and he came to meet him with their dog one day last week or the week before. They came back again today and Hunter went home with them. Hunter was very taken with their female shepherd and after getting comfortable around here, she seemed equally happy with him. I think they will make a good play pair. They are both young and have similar energy levels and play styles. The humans know that they will need to work on everything else, but everything else is workable as long as the dogs get along.

So all the Type-A, checklist making, anal, would-be adopters missed out on a hell of a good dog. Hunter made out very well, however, and that's that really matters.

p.s., Puppy Update: I'm extremely happy to finally be able to report that Laila is happy, playful, and she is eating, drinking, pooping, and acting normally.

Introducing....

2011-12-09T08:32:00.000-05:00

Woody, because he just looks like a Woody, that charming and irresistible combination of cute and clueless. (Inspired by one of the suggested names, Woodsy.)

And Laila, after Mohammad Ali's daughter, because she's a beautiful black woman, and she's a fighter.

I was greeted this morning by three piles of soft messy puppy poo on the newspapers covering the floor of the parvo puppy ward (the guest bathroom). I'm pretty sure that at least one of them came from Laila, which would be the first semi-solid and non-bloody substance that she has produced in a week. She was on the bed in the shower stall when I entered, but she got up to come over and see me when I came in--another first in a week's time.

I'm not sure that she's eating on her own yet, Woody gobbles down everything I leave out for them both, so I'll continue the feeding routine for now.

I liked many of the suggested names, especially Hansel and Gretel, which fit the "at the edge of the woods" theme of the last post, and Rally, but that one belongs to a Fluvanna SPCA pup right now.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement. I've been a bear to live with lately, but that's not that far from normal.

The edge of the woods

2011-12-07T20:11:00.004-05:00

The black fluffy girl is giving me grief and causing a huge amount of stress for a little 6 pound puppy. She still won't eat and she lays about like she's in decline rather than rallying. I can feel her getting thinner and more frail. This is my first experience with parvo pups so I'm operating in the dark. After another bout of what appeared to be dark liquid in lieu of fecal matter, we went back to the vet today.

Of course, after we got there she appeared more alert than she did at home. Mostly the visit was about allaying my concerns and paranoia. Her temperature was normal but she was getting dehydrated again so we are back to giving the sub-q fluids even though she is drinking some on her own. I was given some more antibiotics and liquid famotidine, and mostly I was given the go ahead to force feed her. I picked up 8 cans of A/D food and some Fortiflora, which makes a smelly, slimy mess with a little water added. It sucks up into an oral syringe and I administered 30 cc of the stuff, minus the amount she spit back onto me. It gave me a sense of what parents go through with babies. You have to really love the little bugger to put up with that.

We will have at least two more rounds of fluids and food before bedtime, whatever it takes to get a can of the stuff into her.

But basically I was told that although she may not be out of the woods yet, she's at the edge of the woods and is about where she would be expected to be at this point.

It's time to think about names. Suggestions?

Full house

2011-12-06T22:03:00.000-05:00

I had scheduled Monday as a vacation day and I'm glad I did.

The post-op ward, left to right: Mercedes, Willy, and Ginger

Willy the boxer and shepherd Mercedes went in for speuter surgeries. As soon as I got home from that trip I loaded up mama shepherd, Ginger, because she had pooped in her crate and I didn't like what I saw and smelled. They tested her for parvo too, but the test was negative. There was a lot of other nasty stuff in her poop which could have explained the smell and her inability to hold it. Still, I'm suspicious and we are watching her closely. She's still eating, drinking, and acting normally. I had almost two hours at home before heading back to pick up Mercedes and Willy. Now all three of them are occupying my office crates. Molly is ok with it, she still has her bed, but Trooper is a bit put out by it. I'm making him stay out in the dog yard with Hunter as much as possible and when he comes in and finds his crate occupied, he goes straight for my spot in the bed.

Molly and Trooper, sharing Molly's bed because Trooper's crate is occupied by Ginger

She came close, but didn't quite commit to eating here.

This little guy is seriously cute.

I know that not everyone who reads this blog also sees my Facebook updates, so I need to post some news about the pups. The little boy is fine. He's happy, playful, wagging his tail, eating like a puppy should. The little girl is still with us, and I think she's getting better, but not at the pace I had hoped. I think she's rehydrated and I saw her drink today on her own for the first time. She hovered over the food dishes for a while like she was considering it, but I still haven't seen her eat. She has restarted bowel movement, but without eating all that is coming out is some dark nasty fluid. She's not vomiting, and I've been giving her a little pepto bismol orally. I went out today and got a bottle of pedialyte to put out in place of tap water. For food they've got small bowls of chicken and rice, dry puppy food mixed with some canned, yogurt, and baby food. She's just so thin because she hasn't eaten yet and she needs to start very soon. I think we will call or maybe visit the vet tomorrow. I need something to give the puppy the munchies. She must be hungry, but she's still not feeling well enough to want to eat.

She is urinating plenty, and she's a bit more active, but she won't play with the boy in spite of his best efforts. I have heard her voice coming from the closed bathroom, but I think she's just telling him to go away and leave her alone because she doesn't feel like playing yet.

I'm not sure how quickly I should be expecting to see improvement, but I was hoping to see a bit more by now. When I peek in there and see her chowing down or playing with him, I'll declare the crisis over, but we aren't there yet.

Rock solid Robin

2011-12-04T19:50:00.000-05:00

This was Buck the day I picked him up.
He was dirty, matted coat, but still, you could see his beauty.

Robin was a dog that my doggie dealer pulled from her local shelter in southwest Virginia. She saw him, recognized a good one, too good to go down when he went unclaimed at the end of his stray hold. He was called Buck at the time and was renamed "Robin" by Service Dogs of Virginia (SDV). I had Buck at the vet, I guess, and ran into Peggy from SDV, which has its office downstairs from my vet. She was impressed by his temperament and asked me to bring him in one day for an evaluation. They were impressed by the dog and kept him. They kept him in training for some time, basically trying him in new situations to see what would ruffle his feathers. Nothing did. Robin is cool, calm, and collected, the most rock solid dog I've known. That made him perfect for his eventual placement, in a home with an autistic child.

Robin, with his new mother,
a beautiful woman

That look

Everything about him invites touch.

Today was Robin's graduation ceremony, along with a number of other SDV dogs. Peggy was kind enough to invite me and I wanted to go. What I couldn't anticipate was the effect that it would have on me today.

All the dogs were wonderful, several labs, a big Great Dane, and last but not least Robin--a Pyrenees mix most likely. The child he was placed with was ill today and couldn't make it, but his mother was there and she spoke about Robin and the effect he had had on their lives. It soon became apparent that Robin was a service dog for her as much as for the child.

He is soft, silky

When they went to SDV to meet dogs initially, the child was scared of the labs and didn't want to touch them, but he laid down next to Robin and stroked his soft silky fur for about 20 minutes. She said that when her child is in the yard playing, she would have to go out and carry him indoors because he didn't want to come. Now, she just asks him to bring Robin inside and in they come. Robin doesn't yet attend school with the child, but he goes to work with the woman, who works as a therapist. She told the story of one patient who would only show up for short periods and often wouldn't talk. With Robin there, the patient stayed for the entire time and talked nonstop, while petting the dog. He has the ability to sense and seek out those who need him, and he gives them what they need.

If you don't touch Robin on your own
he soon encourages you to do so.

I was nearly in tears from listening to her. It was obvious that she needed Robin and that he would do many wondrous things for their family. I went up to meet her afterwards and she gave me a hug. I was overcome with emotion and we had to leave before I had a chance to speak to anyone else there.

What affected me so much was not just Robin, his new life, and the woman's stories. I'm very happy for that and it was a wonderful event. But that happy emotion was also an outlet of all the emotion from the last few days. I didn't realize the toll it had taken on me. Three dead puppies yesterday, burying them in our backyard, wondering if I would be digging more graves in the next few hours or days. When it all was happening, I couldn't let it affect me, there was work to do and the survivors still needed me. But today, away from home for a few hours at this event, the floodgates opened and it all hit me, hard.

I came home and gave the black fluffer another 100cc of fluid under her skin. She jumped off my lap to avoid the needle, showing more strength and energy than we've seen out of her. I'm taking that as good sign because I need a good sign. I don't want to bury any more puppies.

The sweetest sound

2011-12-04T09:27:00.000-05:00

Even before opening the door to the puppy room this morning I heard the little guy barking. It was the sweetest sound I'm apt to hear all day. The little dude feels fine, he had devoured all the chicken and rice I had left in there and had left us two piles of soft but not bloody stool. I've never been so happy to see poo in the house. The newspapers covering the floor were dotted with so many wet piss spots, that I'm sure both pups were contributing their share.

The black fluffy girl (I think it's time for names), isn't back to normal yet, but she's alive and holding her own, maybe acting a little better. I don't know if she's eaten yet, I think not, but she's less dehydrated and isn't moaning like she was yesterday. She's certainly no worse and I'm giving her more fluid and she will get it three times today. After the way they were dropping like flies yesterday, I'm pretty happy with her condition today.

The little boy seems completely rehydrated, his skin is taut and elastic, he's curious and playful. He's beginning to act like a normal puppy. I don't think he needs the fluids any more, or the injections for vomiting, so he will just be getting the two injectible antibiotics. The girl will still get all four shots for today at least. Although she's not vomiting, I don't see that she's eating yet.

Yesterday I would have put the fluffy girl's chances at 50/50. I'm a bit more optimistic today, but I don't think we are out of the woods yet.

Blankets in the shower stall of the guest bathroom make a very cozy puppy nest. The nest isn't as full as it was yesterday, but I'm hopeful that these two will have each other to grow and learn together.

Parvo

2011-12-03T17:23:00.000-05:00

Two of the fluffy ones at the vet today

The puppies came on Wednesday and I didn't think they were eating as much as they should on Thursday. That continued on Friday and they were less active too, so I was getting worried. I brought them in to the upstairs bathroom Friday night, made a nice bed in the shower stall and covered the floor with newspapers. Some of them drank some water but no one would eat. I gave them some milk and water with an oral syringe and went to bed after 1:00 a.m.

The runt, smooth coated, smaller but maybe stronger

Saturday morning I found pups who were still lethargic and there was bloody diarrhea on the papers. I loaded them into a crate in the van and we headed to the vet. The three white fluffy ones seemed to be the most sick. When I got to Charlottesville, one of them was near death and we let it go. One of the other fluffy balls had a high temperature, but the others were close to normal. The parvo test was positive. They loaded me up with 4 injectable medications and two bags of saline solution, all to be given 2-3 times a day, subcutaneously.

I found that another one of the white fluffy pups had expired by the time I got home. I cleaned the bathroom and started giving the meds. The toughest part was holding each pup long enough for the fluids to get in. The little blond smooth one still seems to feel pretty good and the black one too. The other white fluffy one is still in danger. They may all be, actually.

The black one, hanging in there still.

I cooked some chicken and rice, and thankfully Clay got home. We buried the pup and picked up the deer carcass from the pasture so I could let our guys out to romp again. It's about time for another round of fluids. Parvo stinks really bad, and it is hell on puppies.

{Later} When we went in for another round of fluids and meds, the third and final fluffy pup had died. The other two are still holding their own. The little guy, we are calling the runt, had eaten some of the chiden and rice and had pooped, without a lot of obvious blood, and semi-solid stool. The black one hadn't eaten, but he was still kicking and he got another 100cc of fluid under his skin. They both did, giving them both rather decided humps that will dissapate as the fluid is absorbed.

I buried the other pup who had died and I sure hope that will be the last.

A riddle

2011-12-02T18:26:00.000-05:00

Question: What happens every year about this time, that
- gives Molly bad gas?
- causes Ryland to break out of the dog yard into the pasture?
- causes Molly and the boys to stay out in the pasture much longer than normal on their daily romps?
- brings us large birds (which Trooper hates)?

(answer below)

Our lower pasture, uncut

Answer: A dead deer in the pasture.

Thora from her high platform, overlooking the upper pasture

It never fails. Every year when hunting season starts, rednecks go into the woods with a beer in one hand and a rifle in the other in an effort to compensate for a small penis. If they don't shoot each other Dick Cheney style, they shoot at anything that moves, even if they don't have a clear shot and a steady hand. The result is a wounded deer that they are too lazy or inept to track.

Every year a wounded deer makes it into our fenced pasture but is unable to get back out. They eventually succumb to the wound or stress themselves to death running along and into the pasture fence. The dogs inevitably find the carcass and begin to devour it, with assistance from a gathering of buzzards. Although they could pick up some parasites from the dead deer, the most common problems are upset digestion, bad gas, and refusing to come back in when called.

Zachary in the freshly mowed upper pasture

Now I'm not entirely anti-hunting. Deer have no predators to speak of other than automobiles and they are worse than Catholics when it comes to using effective contraception. Likewise, rednecks have no natural predators other than guns and alcohol, so an annual thinning of the herd is a good thing for both.

Nero, lower pasture, heading toward the dead deer

However, I don't have much use for those whose idea of "hunting" is to sit on their fat asses in their pickups on the edge of a field to shoot deer being chased towards them by a pack of half-starved hunting dogs that they released on the other edge of a piece of property. If those folks shoot themselves, it's nothing but a win-win situation. Those folks never seem to look for the dogs who go missing during their day of "sport." Those dogs end up in shelters where they often die. A lucky few get adopted, of course, but the odds of a happy ending for a hound in a rural shelter during or after hunting season are not good.

As for me, I'm letting Ryland show me where he's getting out of the dog yard fence and I'm making repairs. The rest of the pack will stay in the dog yard, kennels, and/or house, until the buzzards finish their work and the sound of gunfire is gone.

p.s. Parts of this are tongue-in-cheek, but I'm dead serious about every word in the penultimate paragraph (and some other parts as well). The pictures are all from our pasture but are not really topical, just something to break up the text.

Hunter arrives

2011-12-01T22:29:00.000-05:00

Hunter was given up to us by a man who wasn't very happy with his daughter. She had bought the dog apparently, but then just put him out in a pen and forgot about him, paid him no attention, and did nothing with him. He wasn't very happy with his daughter but he was determined to do right by the dog and he did by giving him up to us today.

Hunter is very friendly with people, but he thought that the dog was dog-aggressive. It may have been that he was protective of his home turf, or it could be simply that he was misinterpreting the dog's barking. The man brought him to an adoption event a couple weeks ago and we introduced several dogs to him there with no problem. He came here today and I put him in the dog yard with Mercedes and Ryland, again, no problem. Ryland couldn't care less about him. Mercedes needs a young and active playmate since Trace got adopted, so I think Hunter will be a good match for her.

He's 19 months old, good looking, and basically healthy except for a patch of hair loss and dry skin on his back. We'll get that checked out and get him neutered and he should be good to go.

Puppy poop

2011-11-30T18:20:00.001-05:00

Puppy poop is a unique smell. It seems to be the same regardless of breed and even regardless of what they eat. I haven't had puppies around for quite a while, until today. The smell hit me immediately and brought back a lot of puppy smell memories.

I picked up Ginger (left) and five puppies today.

Ginger is great. Linda (my doggie dealer from SW VA), pulled her and the pups from a shelter, where they had been surrendered. Ginger got out of her pen the first night but didn't go anywhere; she just wanted in. So she's been living indoors with Linda and her dogs, and cats, and is said to have perfect house manners and is cat-friendly. She's also young and very pretty, so she should be fairly easy to place.

Actually I think I have a foster home lined up for her in northern VA, where she will be indoors and get plenty of attention. She's had a rabies vaccine and just needs to be spayed prior to adoption.

The pups are cute but sure don't look like shepherds. There are four that look like these two, blond and fluffy, the fifth one is solid black. The former owner said that the father was a large yellow lab, but who knows?

I mixed up a batch of puppy gruel in the blender: dry puppy food, half a can of canned food, a little milk, and hot water. They were born about mid-September, making them 9-10 weeks old. I'm not opposed to adopting them out for Christmas, but you can be sure I'll do my best to make sure they are going to serious homes who won't return them in a few weeks or months.

My old Kentucky home, part II

2011-11-28T22:41:00.000-05:00

This is Britt, she's a senior boxer

This is Mojo (front) and my mother.
Mojo was in a lot of pics because
he's always in your face.

We returned home from Kentucky on Saturday, in time to retrieve Zachary, Molly, and Trooper from one kennel just before dark. They all had baths that night. We got the rest of them home on Sunday and Bremo, Cabell, and Willy the boxer (all the indoor dogs) also had baths.

Sarge is a community dog but stays mostly with Kate & Kim.
He sleeps inside with the others and has his own food dish.
His actual owners are white trash who do nothing for him.
He always comes back to where he's cared for.

Britt and Louie, sharing a bed.

I'm getting some new dogs this week, but first I thought I'd post some more pics from our trip to Kentucky. Clay's mother went with us and his brother flew in from New York. My mother flew from Kansas. Clay and I are fortunate in that not only do our families get along, they actually enjoy getting together.

Jack, a/k/a LowJack
Part husky, part bassett?
Looks like he was put together with spare parts
Sweet dog all around

The front of Federal Hill

The title of this post is, of course, borrowed from the title of the Stephen Foster song, "My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night." I knew that it was the state song of Kentucky, but I didn't know until this trip that "good night" was part of the song's title. I picked up that little tidbit of information on our visit to Bardstown, Kentucky, where the house that allegedly inspired the song actually exists. I would have assumed that the house was Stephen Foster's childhood home and that it was an old log cabin in the woods somewhere. I so was very wrong about this, like so many other things. The house is actually a beautiful Federal style mansion called Federal Hill that belonged to Foster's cousins, a family of a prominent attorney, judge, and politcian from Bardstown. What is unusual about this house is that it retains over 70% of the original furnishings, due to the fact that it remained in the family until being transferred to the state as a museum.

Jack is cute. He's very independent
but he wants love about once a day.

Aggie is a Jack Russell Terrier
She wandered in many years ago and stayed.

Actually, now that I've read the Wikipedia entry about the song, it seems that I might have been closer to being correct than I thought. That source discounts the claim that Federal Hill inspired the song and instead theorizes that it drew upon Harriett Beecher Stowe's 1851 bestseller Uncle Tom's Cabin. If you read the lyrics of the song, I'm more inclined to believe the latter. It was an interesting tour anyway.

Clay (left) and his younger brother, Hugh (right, holding Aggie)

Louie, a red beagle, moved in sometime in the past year.

We were smack in the middle of boubon country, so we also took in a couple of distilleries that I hadn't been to before, Woodford Reserve and Heaven Hill. We also stopped in at Buffalo Trace in Frankfort, and the old sad ruins of the Old Taylor distillery. Bourbon distilling figures very heavily in the history of the area.

Kate & Kim's back yard

Jack, running up the lane

It's a great place to be a dog.

Sarge (rear) and Britt (front), and that's a cat (1 of 3) on the chair at the back.

It's a dog

2011-11-25T08:14:00.000-05:00

Trace (right) was adopted out on the Sunday right before we left. His new owners sent a Thanksgiving email with pictures of all three of their dogs, and this one of Trace with his new red ball. I am very happy for Trace. He's a very good dog, just not good with screaming children. That's not an issue in his new home and he's settling in there very well.

Hunter (left) is a 19 month old male who will be coming to us when we return from Kentucky. He was an improvident purchase by a young woman who then left the dogs with her parents, who weren't really dog people and weren't really looking for a high maintenance pain in the ass that is a young male shepherd.

Hunter was thought to be dog-aggressive, but it seems that he really just lacks some social skills and experience with other dogs. He met three dogs at an adoption event without a problem. I have several dogs at home, of course, so he will get a crash course in dog etiquette. He needs to be neutered of course, but a good looking, young, male shepherd should get a lot of interest from potential adopters. I really would like to find an experienced owner in a kid and cat-free household for him. He hasn't had much training or attention and he's going to need some work.

The little girl on the left is a female shepherd who came into a shelter that my doggie dealer pulls from. She's a pretty young thing, there was no reason I wouldn't say "yes" when asked to take her. However, she didn't come into the shelter alone, she was dumped along with her 7 pups. Two of them are shown here (right) although they sure don't look like shepherd pups. Apparently the litter is very diverse, ranging from these light fluffy pups to a couple who are nearly solid black. This is certainly a case of multiple fathers. When people ask me, and they will, "what is it?", I will simply say: "It's a dog."

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T08:52:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I appreciate all your support, comments, and the stories that you share, here and on Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook, this picture has been making the rounds this week. I don't know who deserves attribution for it, but I just stole it. It seems particularly appropriate for all my vegan friends.

I am thankful and happy to have so many animal loving friends.

My old Kentucky home

2011-11-23T19:01:00.000-05:00

We made it to my sister's house in Kentucky on Tuesday. We didn't bring along any dogs of our own, but as you can see in the picture below, there is no shortage of them here.

Left to right, we have: Aggie, a Jack Russell, on the bench at the rear, eating a treat; Mojo, Plott hound, looking expectantly; Louie, a 13" red beagle, low and in front, tail a blurr; Britt, boxer (this is where I first got to know the boxer breed, very sweet); Sarge, a white German Shepherd, he technically belongs to someone else in the neighborhood, but has moved in here; and Jack (lower right), a very unique combination of dog parts that defies breed analysis.

That's my sister Kate on the right and her partner Kim on the left. We are having a good time, visiting both the Buffalo Trace and Woodford Reserve distilleries today.

Dogs, friends, and memories

2011-11-21T08:45:00.002-05:00

Luke, always with a smile on his face

I dare not venture very far down the path of speculation into the mind and memory of a dog. There are some things, however, that can be observed pretty objectively. It seems very clear that dogs remember certain people. I went to an adoption event in Front Royal on Sunday. Luke was there and he clearly remembered me and greeted me with much enthusiasm. Luke is with another foster home now, a better one in terms of care, attention, and adoption prospects, but he still remembers me. He also remembered a woman who had fostered him for about a month while we were on vacation, giving her a lot of love.

I took Thora along as well. The last of her puppies has been adopted, but she still remembers the woman who pulled her and the pups from the pound.

She was there today with a new foster, this 4 month old black female shepherd pup. I picked her up for some cuddle time, which satisified my need for a puppy fix for a few more weeks.

Thora always remembers the woman who saved her and greets her like a long lost friend, exressing her appreciation in a very obvious way.

Mercedes (front), and Trace (rear)

Dogs also have and remember their dog friends, of course. Mercedes and Trace had been joined that the hip around here for the last two or three weeks. Mercedes followed him constantly and harassed him into play relentlessly. Trace was adopted today, and I'm very glad about that, but I always wonder what the dogs think when one of their friends leaves with someone else from an adoption event, or goes off in the van with me in the morning and doesn't return later in the day.

Dusty and Clue

Dogs have friends, I don't doubt that. Some dogs love all others and are happy to play with anyone. Some are a bit more selective in their friends, preferring a few special ones among many acquaintances. That was the case with these two, Dusty the shepherd on the left, and Clue, a Saluki, on the right. Dusty is a former foster of mine, adopted out over four years ago. Clue was a friend of hers who unfortunately died recently, very suddenly. From Dusty's point of view, it must be as if he just ceased to appear where they used to meet. I wonder what, if anything, dogs think about about. They seem to know when a friend is growing old, becoming ill, and is nearing death. But sometimes dog/dog friendship is severed suddenly and for no apparent reason from their standpoint, either a sudden death or due to human intervention, a move or change in routine.

It's remarkable, and a testament to their adaptability, that dogs take so many changes in stride, not regretting the past or what they've lost, but just looking forward to what is now and next.

Dedicated to the memory of Clue, and Huck's dad, Randy Michie, both lost this week, both loved, missed, and not forgotten.

Pre-holiday stress

2011-11-19T21:54:00.000-05:00

My pre-holiday, pre-travel stress out began this week. Wednesday it peaked with bad stomach pain, very little sleep, and a deteriorating disposition. So I haven't posted anything this week, anything I wrote would have been dark and ugly so I figure it's best to keep that to myself. There have been a few good things this week anyway.

Hobby (left) seems to be working out in his new home. I heard from him after day two and all was well at that point and no new since then, which is probably good news. This was the initial report I received:

By the end of the 1st night he was following me around wherever I would go and laying next to me while I worked. He is attached at the hip now and letting me approach him to pet him, play with him or whatever. Once he habituated to all the new "city noises" (cars, people, sirens, etc.) he's taken to his new home very nicely. He was eating the 1st night and I've had absolutely no problems with him at all (except that he loves his toys so much that he destroys them pretty quickly!, haha). He's doing better than I had even anticipated. Also, I'm so surprised that he was such a barker before. Honestly, he hasn't made a peep and seems to be quite comfortable in his new home!
I expected Hobby to be a pretty easy dog and although he's wary of strangers at first, I knew he would warm up quickly to the only person around. He is a German Shepherd Dog after all.

Trace (left) is being adopted on Sunday from the adoption event in Front Royal. I need to work Sunday if we are to leave on Tuesday, but it was a good time and place to meet for Trace's adoption and who knows, maybe I'll have some luck with someone else as well. I'll take Thora, Mercedes, and someone else in addition to Trace.

Cole (right) is doing well in his new home too, and they are going to make it official as soon as I get the paperwork in the mail, which I must do.

I didn't get the boxer neutered, didn't get Mercedes spayed, I really didn't accomplish squat in terms of the dogs. It seems that I really didn't do much except work this week. Some weeks are like that, I guess. I've had a number of requests to take dogs that I've had to turn down this week too, and that always bums me out. At this point in the season I don't want to replace fosters who get adopted. I'd really like to get my numbers down for the winter so I can get everyone into one of the two sheds at night at least.

This picture is Rocky. Rocky is really a medical miracle. He's the one who came to us in such terrible shape. His ear canals were fused shut and had to be surgically removed. He was at the vet hospital at Virginia Tech for two weeks. I'm not going to re-post all the gory details of his past, but you can read about them here, and here, and here and in many other posts on this blog.

Rocky recovered, was adopted, and moved to Utah where he became certified as a therapy dog. He has recently moved to Texas due to his person's job change and he just had his first therapy gig at a nursing home down there. This is Shayna's account of their day (lifted from her Facebook update):

Rocky did good at the nursing home. Now he has two schnauzer girl friends. I was surprised he was so nice to them, he's usually rough on little dogs but they were respectful of his space so that made a difference.
One man had his hand gnarled in a fist (stroke maybe?) and was petting his head and face with a closed fist. When I gave him treats so he would lean in closer I noticed the man's hand was flat open petting Rocky's back. Amazing what petting a dog will do!

Even bad weeks have their bright spots.

Hobby's new home

2011-11-14T20:50:00.000-05:00

On October 22nd, I received an email from the director of the Orange County shelter. Hobby had come in as an owner surrender. The owners had paid $1,500 for the dog six year ago. They didn't have any interest in him anymore and had moved him to an outside kennel. The husband was about to shoot the dog for barking too much, but apparently the wife got him to dump the dog at the shelter instead.

He was very barky here the first night too; he was clearly unhappy being outdoors in a kennel, having been a house dog his entire life until recently. After a lot of drugs failed to quiet him, I just brought him inside to my office. He immediately took to a crate and was content, and quiet for then on.

I got him neutered and his scrotum swelled up to the size of a large orange or small grapefruit after the surgery. He spent more time indoors, on antibiotics and Rimadyl for the swelling. He fell into the household routine and was an easy foster. I found him a home but the adopter's circumstances were such that I had Hobby for another two weeks before he could take him. That was fine. He continued to be an easy foster, the swelling finally began to subside, and I even moved him back outside to the dog yard during the day and to the shed with two or three other dogs at night.

Late this afternoon I took Hobby to his new home. He was a bit nervous. Hobby doesn't take to new people immediately. He's certainly better about it than Trooper, but he needs a little time to get acquainted before he's going to give his complete trust.

But the adopter knows this and when they are alone, one-on-one, I don't think it will take Hobby long to become glued to him. I loaned him a crate and he had bought hobby a nice bed and new toys. Hobby took one of the toys right away and retreated to safe spot in the living room and sat quietly with his new toy.

He will need a little time to adjust to his new home, but he will. He's a great dog with a lot to offer.

Dogs after dark

2011-11-13T22:46:00.000-05:00

Thora, on the tall platform in her kennel.
She can see most of the pasture from up there.

These pics were taken Saturday evening after I finished doing some mowing. I had Cabell, Bremo, and Zachary out for a good long romp, then put them back in the house and let Hobby, Trace, Mercedes, Ryland, and Willy out to the pasture. Willy (the boxer) didn't last long because he was majorly aggressive towards the mower. I've never had a dog go after a riding mower the way he did, biting the tires, etc. It clearly wasn't safe to have him around the mower. He was so worked up I had to put him into a crate in the shed to get him to give up the chase.

Ryland, returning from his romp in the pasture.

Everyone else had a good run. Ryland went off on his own, but the three shepherds stuck pretty close together (since they all share one brain).

Sunday was the VGSR quarterly meeting. It was blessedly brief and free of conflct. Elections were held and I got a director's position on the board, two year term. If I had been smart I would have gone for the one year position instead.

I came back with a car load of dog food, treats, toys, and other things that people brought and donated. I had put out a request for dog food and people in the rescue are always very generous when I ask for help.

That trip ate up most of the day and I didn't move any dogs this weekend, but Hobby is being adopted on Monday and Trace is going next weekend. I don't have much else to say, so here are a few more pictures I took Saturday evening out in the pasture.

Hobby (front), Mercedes (rear), and Trace (right)

Front to back: Mercedes, Trace, Hobby

Trace (left) and Mercedes (right)

Trace

Mercedes (front) and Hobby (rear)

Conflicted

2011-11-12T19:01:00.000-05:00

So I did this home visit today for some folks interested in a shepherd, not one of mine, although I can think of two of mine who would probably work there. They are nice folks with a nice home in the country, a big piece of the property is enclosed with an underground electric fence. They have a shepherd now, male, very nice and well socialized. And he is intact.

Nero, out in the pasture, looking conflicted.
He wants to come to me but he is a little scared of the mower, appropriately so.

Nero through the tall grass.

I've been all over both sides of this issue, whether or not to adopt to someone who has an unspayed female or unneutered male dog. Any dog the rescue would adopt to them will be altered, so there is no chance that we, or our dog, will be contributing to the problem. A home is a home, and nobody wants to miss the opportunity to place a homeless dog into a good home.

Nero came a few weeks ago with a bad skin condition.
That's improving, but then he got beat up in a fight.
His wounded ear is nearly healed.

On the other hand, those of us in rescue feel really strongly that dogs and cats should be spayed and neutered. We get calls and emails and see dogs online that for exceed our rescue resources. We know that some of those dogs get put down, and frankly it pisses me off. I'm not mad at the shelters. Some of them could do a better job, sure, but the problem is that the supply of available dogs exceeds the demand of potential adopters. That won't change until people stop letting their pets breed. Both male and female dogs are equal parts of the problem.

There is a crazy school of thought being promulgated by Nathan Winograd that holds that there is no pet overpopulation. He even objects to spaying pregnant female dogs, but like I said, he's just gone crazy. The fact of the matter is, we have more dogs knocking at our door than potential adopters. We could simply pass out dogs to anyone and everyone regardless of qualification, but I think that's nearly as irresponsible as irresponsible breeding.

We feel strongly about the pet population problem and consequently we feel that spaying/neutering is the very basic level of responsible dog care. If a person hasn't done even that, I can't help but question whether it's a home where we should place another dog.

That decision might well be different for a shelter dealing with a higher volume of animals and the need to either move them out or euthanize. It's a little different for a rescue. We have a little more leeway in holding out for a better home.

So I'm not sure where I stand on this issue generally or on this particular application. This one is not really my decision to make unless they get approved and then want one of my fosters.

Actually, I'm pretty sure I'm coming down on the side of rejecting applications like this. If people choose to be blind to the consequences of unintended breeding and refuse to take responsibility for their part in it, we can at least visit some consequences on them by telling them, "no thanks, we can do better."

I'm a bit conflicted about Nero as well. He's a velcro dog, wants to be with me always.
He has a sharp, painful bark, which he uses when he wants attention, which is always.
He assaults me with that shrill, ear-piercing bark whenever I go outside.
He will be great dog for someone when he's adopted, but he's a pain in the ass foster because of it.

TDIF

2011-11-11T16:42:00.000-05:00

A varied cast of characters.
Katie, the biggest, was adopted yesterday while I was there.

Thank Dog it's Friday. I've got a crockpot full of soup going, but that may just be food for the weekend. I'm feeling the need to get out of the house tonight. I've done pretty good at sticking to the work schedule this week, albeit with some irregular hours. I don't know how anyone does the daily 9 to 5 routine. I'm very spoiled by this telecommuting job with flexible hours.

The houndy guy on the left was all smiles with everyone,
just a big goofy guy happy to be outside and playing like a dog.

Thursday afternoon I went back to CASPCA for day 2 of the play group training. Like I said, I do that here all the time, but I only add one new dog at a time. Doing it in a shelter setting with a changing cast of characters would certainly be more challenging. The benefits to the dogs are obvious though. They get out of their individual, or shared, runs and get to play outdoors with others. I walked one dog back to the kennels and walked past several who had already been out and gone back. They were sacked out, tired and contented, de-stressed, much more "normal" dogs. So many dogs who were thought to be dog-aggressive because of how they act in the kennels were actually good with others once they were out. I have found the same here. Dogs who "fence fight" often just want to play and we misinterpret their behavior when they are kenneled. Our Molly, who is good with everyone, loves to "fence fight" with any dog in the kennel adjacent to the dog yard. To her it's a game, and apparently a fun one. It is the only time I hear Molly bark.

Some dogs, like some people, just have really good social skills, can make everyone like them, and they throughly enjoy social interaction.

We are going to complete Cole's adoption paperwork via mail.

I haven't heard from the woman I thought was interested in Thora.

Hobby will be going to his new home next Monday.

It's another week yet before the folks who are interested in Trace are back at home, if they are still interested.

I haven't got the boxer neutered yet or Mercedes spayed, so they aren't going anywhere, although I have received a couple applications for the boxer, Willy. There are no adoption events this weekend because Sunday is the VGSR quarterly meeting (rescheduled). I'm doing a home visit on Saturday but they aren't interested in any of my dogs and I have my doubts about them as adopters anyway, so that may be a waste of time. Thanksgiving is fast approaching.

We've had beautiful weather this week, however, and it's good dog weather, at least during the day. I discovered today that Mercedes is a freak about the water hose.

Re-filling the water tank was a highlight of the day for Mercedes.

Mowing by moonlight

2011-11-09T21:04:00.001-05:00

I went out just before 5:00 p.m. to do some mowing. That's about the time the sun goes down so I didn't have too long. I mowed a part of the lawn area with the walk behind mower for exercise and then fired up one of the riders to make a few passes through the tall grass in the pasture.

I let Cabell, Bremo, Zachary, and Ryland out to the pasture for a romp while I was mowing. Molly went out with them too, but at that time of day she only stays out long enough for the first dash out to the road and then a quick squat to take care of business. After that, she is ready to be back inside.

I wish I had taken my camera with me because as I was doing my final pass, I spotted the four dogs trotting along their worn down trail through the tall grass, heading back into the dog yard for the evening. About all I could see was heads and tails sticking up above the grass, with the full moon and a planet (Venus?) in the darkening sky above them. It was a pretty sight. After I put the mower away and got the dogs inside, I brought my camera out to take this picture.

I got a late start on the mowing because I spent several hours today at the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA. They were hosting a presentation by Aimee Sadler of the Longmont Humane Society about utilizing play groups in a shelter environment to help dogs with dog-on-dog social skills and to help shelters make better dog placements. It is something that I do, so I was interested in the topic and I never fail to learn something at a presentation like this. Although I have kennels that I can keep dogs separated if necessary, I always like to have them with at least one other dog. They are pack animals and it's a normal social structure for them. They are happier (and quieter) in a more normal social structure. It helps their adoption prospects if I can tell potential adopters that they have lived successfully with other dogs, or if they can't live with certain dogs. It was worthwhile but I couldn't stay for the final session because I needed to get home and get back to work. I may try to go back Thursday afternoon after my dentist appointment for the hands on part of the training.

Cole is working out well in his new home and they want to finalize the adoption. The swelling in Hobby's scrotum is on the path to normal and I've actually been leaving him outside in the shed at night with Trace and Mercedes. Ryland still comes in, of course, and I've also been bringing in the little boxer boy, Willy. He is so cute. I just love this little guy.

The troll under the bridge

2011-11-08T21:38:00.001-05:00

Things have changed around our house since Gypsy died. She was my second in command, but her second in command was always Cabell. We adopted him from Animal Connections after moving down here and that is how we got involved with that group. He was about 4-6 months old at the time. There has been a lot of speculation about his paternity but all we know for sure is that his mother was a Saint Bernard. Gypsy accepted Cabell when we adopted him because he was a pup and he was a male. He was always the only dog who could ever make Gypsy wrestle and play like a dog. He could jump on her, tackle her, grab her by the legs, etc., and she would take it from him, at least up to a point. No other dog ever dared to even attempt to play with Gypsy in that way, it just wasn't done.

Cabell was always part of the downstairs pack, along with Gypsy and Bremo. The latter two were afraid of the stairs and just didn't come upstairs even if the gate was open. Cabell generally stayed downstairs as well, he was part of that pack, but he wasn't afraid of the stairs the way the other two seemed to be. Since Gypsy died, and even starting a couple months before, Cabell began coming upstairs, generally at night, to sleep in the bedroom along with Trooper, Molly, Zachary, and sometimes Ryland.

When he's not upstairs at night or outside during the day, Cabell is generally camped out in the small enclosed space under the stairway that leads upstairs. There is a small door into the space and we used to try to use it as storage space, which is not plentiful in an pre-Civil War farmhouse. Once Cabell discovered that the latch on the small door wasn't very secure, he moved in and took over the space. That was fine, it's a nice secure den and we generally have a very large, Cabell-sized bed in there.

I guess we've maybe been bringing more foster dogs into the house since Gypsy died because it's now easier to do so. The other dogs are generally fine with that, but Cabell has become a bit like the troll under the bridge in Three Billy Goats Gruff. His den (we call it the Cabell Cave) is situated in the front hallway such that the fosters have to walk past it in order to get upstairs to my office where I keep them crated. Like the troll under the bridge, Cabell accosts the passersby and challenges their right to cross. It's really kind of funny. Trooper will sneak past him, and sometimes Ryland, but when I bring in Hobby and the boxer, Willy, I have to escort them past the Cabell Cave to get them safely upstairs. I don't think Cabell would do anything, he's always been fine with the foster dogs, but he lets them know in no uncertain terms that the cave is HIS space.

Prophetic cookies

2011-11-07T10:49:00.004-05:00

Trooper

Clay and I had dinner Friday night at a restaurant called "Made in Asia" up at Zion Crossroads. It's surprisingly good food (Chinese and Thai), much better than I would have expected from a strip mall Chinese place in Louisa County. They brought fortune cookies with the bill, of course, and mine read: "You lead a useful life no matter what riches are coming to you."

Harry

Although it didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know (what do you expect from a cookie?), that seemed pretty fitting for me. No great riches are coming to me; I made that choice many years ago. I'm not terribly ambitious or driven professionally and I have no desire to do the kind of work that I'd have to do as a lawyer to make a lot of money. We get by fairly well as long as we are both employed and at this point in my life what I'd like more of is time rather than money. Not that winning a lottery would be a bad thing, but I don't even play the lottery so that's not likely.

Our Jack changed many people's attitudes towards rottweilers
and saved many other rotties as a result.

Now, I reject the premise that anyone can know the meaning of life or know what, if anything, comes after. Conjecture or wishful thinking is not the same as knowledge. I also reject the idea that "he who dies with the most toys wins," a/k/a the wealth-worshipping Republican approach to life. For me anyway, the useful life is a life well lived and a life worth living. Useful doesn't necessarily mean great accomplishments, but I think it means doing something worthwhile, something that benefits someone other than just yourself. How is that for socialist thinking?

Cooper (rear) found Teddy a home and
provides the support he needs to live a normal life.

Buck, now known as Robin, is living the life as a service dog
providing support and therapy for an autistic child.

I apply the same philosphy to our dogs. Some dogs are born into the lap of luxury, are purchased as puppies and live with the same family their entire life while receiving the best of care, and that is wonderful for them. I wish it were true for all. All of our dogs, however, are rescues of one kind or another. While we try to provide for them the best we can now, we also expect them to contribute something, to lead their own useful life. For some, it's a matter of them accepting the fosters that come through our revolving door, showing them the ropes, helping them learn to live with halfway decent humans perhaps for the first time in their lives. Our Molly was the matriarch of the kennels when she was a foster. Gypsy helped run this operation by keeping an eye on everything; she was my second in command for many years.

Griff now assists with his own rescue operation.

Rocky, even when he was miserable, showed an incredible
degree of gentleness and gratitude.
He is now a certified therapy dog.

For other dogs, most perhaps, their contribution comes when they are finally adopted and provide a life of love and companionship for their new family. That's all that we can or should ask of them, but dogs are giving creatures and some provide ancillary services like security and squirrel patrol to show their gratitude and appreciation. We've had some dogs that really help with the rescue effort. We had an old guy, Harry, who was a great fundraiser. He was old, gray, and walked with a limp. His coat was coarse and he looked worn and haggard. But Harry wasn't suffering and he certainly didn't complain. Take him to an adoption event and put a donation jar on top of his crate and the money would come pouring in. We weren't really intending to exploit him, but he was good for donations and eventually he got the best possible home.

That brings me to Trooper (a long and wordy road, I know, thanks for hanging in there). Trooper is still finding his niche around here. Our other dogs have accepted him, although Zachary is a bit jealous when Trooper gets up on the bed. Trooper has taken over the security/protection job vacated by Gypsy's passing. He has a fierce and intimidating bark, and only a fool would dare test him to see if he would back it up with more.

Trooper has also entered the world of fundraising by entering a photo contest being run by the Charlottesville-Albmarle SPCA (CASPCA). They are doing a 2012 calender and have a photo contest underway to select the photos to be included on the calendar. It's a fundraiser, of course, and each dollar donated counts as one vote. You can click on this link to get to the page to donate/vote for Trooper. You have to create an account (email address and password), and then pay any amount with a credit card.

It's a great organization and they have done so much to help me that Trooper and I would like to give something back to them in return.

Dogs give us so much more than they ask in return.