A day off

The weekend was busy but uneventful in terms of adoptions.  Saturday I went with Animal Connections out to Cooper Vineyards, which was having a Mardi Gras event. I did meet some folks who may be interested in Flirt, but I thought at that point that I already had a fairly firm and likely placement for Flirt.

Saturday evening I got a call and learned that the folks who I hoped would take Flirt couldn't do so after all.  However, they knew of someone else who was interested in meeting her. 

Sunday I loaded up Flirt, Shadow, and Jeremy and we went to a VGSR adoption event in Front Royal.  Shortly after we arrived Flirt left on a home visit with her new prospect.  They had a cat, but Flirt walked in, looked at the cat, and went out about her business.  I brought Flirt back home, but they are interested in adopting her, so I need to call them back and figure out how we can make that happen. 

Lucky got neutered on Saturday and stayed home on Sunday, although someone did come to the house to meet him.  I don't think he was feeling too good yet and the two dogs didn't really hit it off, so I think I now need to look at and consider the dozen or so other people who are interested in him.  He's staying indoors now mostly because he needs to get over his fear of us and he seems much better about that when he's inside. 

I had two good emails today, letting me know that Bubba and Tessa (the second Tessa), are both doing well in their new homes. 

As the title of this post indicates, I didn't work today so I got busy on a couple of kennel improvement projects around here, rebuilding two a-frames with new siding and generally reinforcing them, and building a new one from scratch.

The a-frames are great in conjunction with igloo doghouses.  With a solid back, they are great with an igloo facing into it.  The a-frame acts as a baffle, keeping cold wind out of the entrance of the igloo.  I fill it with straw as well, so the dog can burrow into the straw to make a bed or retreat into the igloo if it's really cold.  One a-frame is open on both ends so I just point two igloos into it, making a nice cozy place for two dogs who can still be near each other. 

The two labs, Shadow and Sunny, share this kennel complex with Buddy during the day.  Shadow insists upon coming indoors at night.  Shadow will need to be an only dog or have a female canine companion.  He's not good with male dogs generally and surprisingly, he seems to hate puppies. He and Sunny are a well matched pair though.  They play rough, but she's tough enough to play with him hard.  He plays fine with Trooper, too, but I noticed today that Buddy had a wound on  his leg that I'm sure he got from a fight with Shadow. 

Feeding time

These are some pics of our personal dogs, taken over the last couple of days at morning feeding time.

This is Cabell's outdoor eating spot (left).  Everyone has a designated eating spot both indoors and outdoors and they all scurry to their respective places when they see me coming with full food dishes. 

Bremo (right) also eats from an elevated bowl both indoors and outdoors.  When he's finished, he picks up the other dogs' food bowls and takes them to his bed.  He then gives them a very thorough cleansing and then keeps them nearby.  It's not unusual to see him with two or three food dishes on his bed or on the floor in front of him, waiting and hoping for them to be filled up again.

Bremo is getting thyroid medication with his food twice a day, plus 3 fish oil capsules, a vitamin E, glucosamine/chondroitin, and a gradular skin and coat supplement called Theracoat.  Cabell just gets the fish oil and glucosamine/chondroitin.  Gypsy gets those plus previcox and tramadol for arthritis pain.

Zachary (left) is our digestively disabled dog.  He can't handle any grain based food.  He eats Taste of the Wild, a scoop of Bravo's chicken raw food, and a raw chicken back.  He won't eat if anyone is watching him, which is fine, because it's disgusting to watch. 

Molly and Trooper (right) are not picky about what or where they eat.  They are the only two of ours not currently on any kind of supplements.  Trooper, however, is a poop eater, so he finds his own dietary supplements.

And here's our whole crew, except for Gypsy, waiting for breakfast. 



Lucky day

 Lucky arrived yesterday.  He's even prettier than his pictures.  In addition to the classic shepherd look, he got a bit of red in his coat that didn't come through in the initial pictures.  He is stunning.  He's not a particularly big boy, but he's well proportioned and most importantly, he's friendly, well-socialized, and doesn't immediately appear to suffer from any apparent shepherd neuroses.  He was a little dazed and confused at first, of course.  He arrived in the morning and spent the first day by himself, because I always feel that gives them the chance to scope out the surroundings and figure out who is who from a secure position.  He spent the night with Flirt and Jeremy and got along fine.  This morning he met Trooper, Zachary, and Molly, all without problems. 





He's got a great look and moves well, awesome dog

 






Trooper (left) and Lucky (right)

 




Lucky and Trooper, saying hello

 


Lucky and Trooper doing the boy dog handshake

 



Molly, giving him the "you can sniff, but you better not touch" look



Flirt was ok with him too.









It's time to rack up some gay points, and aside from outing a right wing Republican that you met at gay bar when CPAC was in town, nothing accrues gay points (redeemable for small kitchen appliances or other fabulous prizes) faster than re-writing lyrics to an iconic Broadway tune.  So here's my song for Lucky, sung to the tune of "I feel pretty".

I feel lucky,

Oh, so lucky,

I'm so lucky and ducky and gay!

And I pity,

any dog who isn't me today.

I'll have that new toaster in no time.

Valentine's Day 2011

This is the Valentine's Day card I received today:

It arrived anonymously, so I don't know who to thank, but thank you.  I have several people to thank from last weekend too. 

1.  All the people who handled my fosters at the adoption event and were nicer to potential adopters than I would or could have been.

2.  All the people who brought me canned food.  I'm trying to fatten up a Great Dane, Flirt, and the canned food will help a lot, mixing it in with the dry.  I've been feeding her Zachary's raw food mixture, but that is getting expensive. 

3.  Thanks to the volunteers who bought Flirt a big bag of puppy food.  She seems to like it, and it's got more calories than what she's been eating. 

4.  Thanks to the shopper who bought a tire tug toy and donated it to us on Sunday.  I saw Shadow the lab trotting around with it today, so I know it was a hit. 

5.  Thanks to the people who post the dogs on the web, who help transport them to me and other foster  homes, who help raise funds for medical expenses, and who handle all the paperword and administrative stuff that goes along with rescue.  All these things and many others are vital parts of the operation that I can't do myself. 

6.  Thanks to my partner, Clay, who puts up with all of this. 

Another day, another dog

Well, I bitched in the last post about needing an outlet for my non-shepherds, and today I got one adopted and have good prospects for two more.  I went to a VGSR adoption event in Gainesville with four dogs: Flirt, Jeremy, Shadow, and Max.  None of them are purebred shepherds; only Jeremy is even a VGSR dog and he has only a hint of shepherd in him. 

We set up outdoors.  The sun never quite made it out so it was chilly, but at least the wind was calm so we were comfortable in layers of clothing and dogs were fine.  Max went home to a very nice mother/daughter combo today.  They fell for him, his hugs, and his kisses.  He's a total love bug and always works the crowd well.  I'll kind of miss him, but he was really needing to get into a home of his own with more love and attention than I was able to provide here.

The black lab, Shadow, got a lot of attention and I passed out several cards to people who seemed pretty serious about him.  He was good, easy on the leash, friendly with strangers.  He loved the attention and may even have understood what the occasion was all about.  I wish I knew what dogs understand.  I swear that our Molly figured out the difference between foster dogs and permanent residents and decided she wanted to be latter.  She moved indoors once she figured it out and wouldn't even set foot outside for days without being dragged out by the collar so she could pee. 

A couple came to meet Flirt and were interested enough that we will go to the next step of meeting their other dogs.  You can't be a Great Dane without attracting a lot of attention and Flirt did.  She loves it too, although she did get tired by the time the event was over.  Danes don't "sit" like most dogs do and the cold concrete wasn't very inviting for laying down, so her legs were tired and mine were too.  We were standing out there for move than three hours and that's more than either of us are accustomed to.  A couple of volunteers who handled Flirt and another one of my dogs bought Flirt a bag of puppy food and sent it home with us.  I think the extra calories and nutrition should be good for her. 

The dog who enjoyed it least was Jeremy.  He wanted to get back in the van and go back home almost as soon as we got there.  And he's scratching more and chewing on himself again.  He's been on a hypoallergenic food and getting twice daily antihistamines so I'm beginning to doubt that this is an allergy problem.  His reaction today, including chewing on himself, really seemed stress-related more than anything else.  I feel bad for the guy and I think tomorrow I will give him a bath and move him indoors, both to get him away from the straw outdoors, and so I can bathe him more regularly and keep an eye on the scratching. 

I'm ending the weekend with two less dogs, and I sure can't complain about that.  For quite a while I had so many shepherds that I didn't have room to take anything else to the VGSR adoption events.  They have always been my best source for finding adopters, so I need to keep my number of foster shepherds down so that I always have room to take along at least one non-shepherd.  Yes, I sometimes steal away a potential shepherd adopter, but a homeless dog gets a home and in many cases people realize that a shepherd wasn't right for them anyway. 

I've already sent an email saying that I'm ready for Lucky, so I expect he'll arrive early this coming week.  I have a new home in mind for him already, however, as a potential companion for a former foster, a white shepherd called Anastasia, shown here.

One day, one dog

I expected Tessa to have a lot of interest and she did.  Although I always tell people that I don't adopt out on a first-come, first-served basis, it happened that way in this case.  The first inquiry I had about her was the most enthusiastic, and the most likely to work out, and the most ready, willing, and able adopter.  I needed to move her this weekend because Lucky is coming early next week and the Goochland dog could happen any time.  There were ready for her, and nearby (Richmond), so it was easy to make this happen today. 

Along with the new home came a new brother, a male shepherd pup. Tessa weighs only 35 pounds so he already outweighs her, but fortunately she has a couple of years on him and the necessary female attitude to get him in line before he outgrows her by too much. 

Tessa got spayed on Thursday, which is always rough.  She finally ate on Friday evening after getting a pain killer in her so she felt better.  This morning she seemed good, ate normally, and wanted to get out and play.  The adopter works at a vet hospital, a good one, so Tessa is in good hands.  They have cats, no kids, a big fenced backyard, and the house is set up to accomodate the animals.  I'm certain that's its a big improvement in Tessa's standard of living, which is what I like to see with any adoption.

Tomorrow, I'm taking Jeremy, Flirt, Shadow, and Max to a VGSR adoption event.  Only Jeremy is a VGSR dog, but I need to find an outlet for adoption of my non-shepherd fosters.  I'm hoping that we will get to meet someone who is known to be interested in Flirt.  She is really looking and feeling better.  I saw her playing in the dog yard with Trooper this evening when I was out scooping poop.  If I can't find a way to get these non-shepherds adopted, I'm going to stop taking them in.  Animal Connections is next to useless for me any more, so I'm looking for a new all-breed rescue group, or maybe it's time I formed my own.

Coming down the pike

Here's a sneak peek at some coming attractions. 

This dog's name is Lucky.  Most dogs with that name aren't lucky at all, and this guy is no exception.  He's another victim of heterosexual "marriage."  Short version:  adult daughter gets divorced and moves in with father (the owner of "Lucky"). One of her three children is allergic to "Lucky" who now gets evicted. 

I haven't met him, but he's gorgeous and by all accounts he's a great dog, so maybe his luck will change. 

This dog is another victim of marriage.  Ladybug is in Tennessee with an adult daughter of a couple in southwest Virginia.  They somehow got in contact with my "doggie dealer" down that way.  Someday soon the dog will come up from Tennessee and travel up I-81 to meet me over in Staunton.  Again, a great dog by all accounts, young, healthy, well cared for, and beautiful.  She is just caught in a bad situation and needs a change of luck. 

And then there's this dog.  No luck here.  This is the email that landed in my inbox today after two or three forwards through the rescue world network.  It was sent by a good Samaritan neighbor of the dog in question. 

Good Morning,

I'm hoping you can help us.. I live in Goochland and there is this German Shepard [sic] which is purebred I believe. He is one of my neighbors, The owners are elderly and no longer live at the home in which we found out they couldn't take care of the precious dog.. We have been feeding him and trying to find a loving home for him but have had no luck at all...He needs loving, and some vet care...such a great personality...very large...I just can't sit back and see him there at the house all by himself with no contact except for us..We visit him everyday...He would make a great pet for someone with lots of love to give him...I wish we could take him but we do have pets of our own...If you can help us please let me know what I need to do. I do not want to call the pound or him end up in a terrible situation...

Thank You...

I don't yet have any pics of this guy or know his name.  I've written the person back for more info and will try to meet and rescue the dog as soon as possible. 

I don't have a picture of the Goochland dog yet, but here's a picture of a former foster who could be called Lucky.  His name is Jake and he was a trailer park dog owned by a couple who were breeding pit bulls (probably to support their meth habit).  They gave up Jake because the female pittie objected to Jake being near her puppies.  He's got a loving forever home and he's never looked back.