Outsourcing

Outsourcing is a mixed bag. It generally refers to contracting out certain job functions to independent contractors or outside companies who can supposedly do the same job for less cost. It is a management scheme to cut the cost of labor by eliminating benefits, essentially, and often the jobs are outsourced overseas, so the word tends to carry a negative connotation. However, I've done the same thing lately with two dogs, passing them off to other foster homes who can do the job as well or better and free up my space for others. (In management speak that would translate to "concentrating on my core competencies.")

Unlike corporate outsourcing of jobs, outsourcing dogs is a win/win scenario for everyone, especially the dogs.

A lot of dogs come my way and there are not that many foster homes with the shepherd group outside of northern Virginia and Tidewater areas. I'm sitting here centrally located in the large part of the state where foster homes are scarce. Plus, I've been doing this for so long that a lot of dogs find their way to me via referrals from shelters, adopters, etc. A lot of the dogs that come from rural shelters have no history and it's generally impossible to get any kind of temperament test beyond an unknown shelter attendant's vague "nice dog" assessment. Many foster homes are reluctant to take on an unknown quantity, particularly if they have other dogs, cats, kids, etc.

I can take a chance on a dog sometimes, because I do have the facilities to keep them separate if necessary. It gives me a chance to find out something more about the dog. If I make a mistake, it's just my problem to deal with and I either hold the dog until he or she turns around, or on rare occasion, make the decision to euthanize.

Sadie came from the Greene County shelter and I took her without much information because the shelter director called me, said she was a nice girl, and I wanted to encourage that relationship. She is nice, very nice, sweet girl, just a little bit of a bitch. I tested her with cats, she did well, and I moved her off to another foster home. It's a better home, she gets more attention, and more of what she will need to get adopted.

Lexi came to me from an owner so I knew more about her. She tested positive for heartworms, however, and so she's likely to be a 6 to 8 week foster at least. She went to a home that needed a female, and one that wasn't too needy or couldn't be left alone during baseball season. She was a good fit--calm, good indoors, good with other dogs, but I wouldn't have known that unless I had her here at my place for a while.

And I feel good about the interim placements of both of these dogs. If they don't work out, I can always take them back, but I know the foster people and the foster dogs well enough to know that both placements stand a good chance. It is notable also that both of these foster homes are people who have adopted their own dogs from me. I wouldn't put one of my fosters in the care of someone I didn't trust to find it a good home.

With those two dogs moved on to other foster homes, I have space to take in some new ones. I'm getting a white shepherd on Saturday. Don't know much about her except that she's young and wild. I don't think I'd have found her a foster home with that description. We tried actually, and had no takers (big surprise), so she's coming to me. Next week I'm getting a young male golden retriever/yellow lab mix, and two young female weimaraners. The weims are just moving through to a weim rescue group.

Sam smiles, Bremo smarts

Sam is doing well in his new home. He's had a bath, been brushed, he goes for walks, loves the kids, sleeps through the night, and eats normally. He apparently howls for a bit when the adults leave the house, but I expect that will abate. Sam has reason to be concerned about being left behind, but he wasn't at all destructive and he stopped on his own. Once he's a little more secure in his new home, I don't think he will worry.

I stopped by today and completed the adoption contract, and helped teach Sam to negotiate the steep and narrow spiral stairs that lead to the lower level family room in the house. He came up without too much problem and just needed a little push of the front legs across the threshold in order to go down. I'm sure he will have it mastered in no time.

He seemed very happy, and there's no reason he shouldn't be. I didn't get a picture of it, but Sam "smiles" very much like our Cabell does. He lifts his lips and gives a very toothy grin while mildly rolling his head from side to side. He was happy to see me, but it was also very clear that he's happy in his new home.

My main reason for the trip to Charlottesville this morning, however, was a 9:00 a.m. vet appointment for our Bremo.

He had a badly split toenail on one of his front paws. We had noticed him licking at it and making wet spots on the beds so it was obviously hurting him. Clay thought it should be dealt with and I could barely look at it, so we went to the vet. It turned out that he had two or three other nails on the rear feet in similar condition, but not quite as bad.

Although a definitive diagnosis would require a biopsy, the vet said that she had only seen nails that looked like that on dogs who had an autoimmune disorder known as lupoid onchydystrophy.

We aren't going to panic or jump to any conclusions, but we are going to keep a close eye on his feet and start giving him fish oil and Vitamen E. I will also have a good use for my Dremel tool, finally, because I'm supposed to keep his nails short and smooth to prevent splitting.

If necessary, we'll start him on medication for the problem in the future. He seems to have some arthritis in his right hip and knee joints and sometimes he limps a bit after a nap or after a romp in the pasture. His weight was down to 103 today. I think we'll aim for 95 to keep him lean and lively. Bremo was nine years old this past spring, which is hard to believe. We still think of him as our pup.

Harry & Sam

Harry and Sam never met, but they have a lot in common. Harry was found wandering the streets of Charlottesville several years ago. He was old, gray, and walked with a limp, and he looked like hell. He had sarcoptic mange (scabies), and he had no hair on much of his body. He was fortunate to have been wondering on Preston Avenue, I guess, and the kind folks at Old Dominion Animal Hospital took him in. They treated him for everything, and they fell in love with him. He was a sweet old guy. They called me and conned me into taking him, although I knew his adoption prospects were slim, at best.

He grew back most of his hair, but the tip of his tail remained bare and he would occasionally wag it too hard against something and start it bleeding. He was still old, very gray, and very gimpy, although he could outrun me even with that bad leg and did so on numerous occasions.

I would take him to adoption events with both Animal Connections and Virginia German Shepherd Rescue. Everyone loved him and he worked the crowd well. He brought in a lot of donations but no one wanted to adopt him, until one year at the Vegetarian Festival in Charlottesville. Harry found a home, making me believe that it is possible for virtually any dog if one waits long enough. And it was a great home--good, caring people, as one would expect of anyone who took in a senior dog.

They had Harry for a few short years, but Harry died, as old dogs do. Harry's last years were surely some of his best, however, and he got the best of care and all the love he could ask for.

This morning I took Sam to that same home. He's also old, gray, and somewhat gimpy. Sam is in better shape than Harry was in the beginning, but his adoption prospects are similarly slim. There are just not a lot of folks willing and able to take in and deal with an 8 year old dog. Everyone says something to effect of "I couldn't bear to lose them so soon." I understand the sentiment, even with the uncertainties of life, one thing that you can generally assume is that a young dog will be around longer than an old dog.

So it takes someone very special to seek out and take in a senior dog, knowing that they may not have them long, and knowing that they will have senior dog medical issues and expenses to deal with right from the beginning.

Now, I don't know yet if Sam will work out in that particular home. They are giving it a try today to see how he fits in with their kids, other dogs, and cats. But they will give it a fair shot, and they won't turn him down because of his age. He's actually a very nice guy. Whoever adopts him will be lucky to have him for however long it lasts.


(p.s. I just had a phone call. Sam is doing well, fitting in, and acting as if he's always lived there. He's spending the night there, and probably many more to come.)

Rottweilers

This was sent to me by a fellow rottie lover. If you have a rottie or know one, you will recognize how true it is.

I always make a point of being able to take things from my rotties, and I can, but it doesn't mean they will give them up to anyone else.

We learned with our first rottie, Jack, that if food fell, you don't reach for it. It's gone. There's no need for the 5 second rule in a household with a rottie, it never lasts that long.

How do you measure a year?

How do you measure a year?

I can't believe it, but apparently it's been a year since Jeep (now Jake) was adopted. I went to the vet this morning with Mr. Sam, the senior black lab, for vaccines and heartworm test. Thankfully, and miraculously, he was negative. As I was leaving, Jessica handed me an envelope containing pictures and a note from Jeep's adopter.

They have another dog from me as well, a chocolate lab. The two dogs are perfectly matched in terms of energy and they keep each other exercised and entertained. She quickly allayed his fears and his shyness all but disappeared.

Apparently Jake is now a bit of clown, sticking his head into the leg of a pair of jeans or pulling at the cuff to take them off as his dad is getting dressed. The transition from painfully shy to clown is just incredible. I took Jeep/Jake (along with several other hounds) from the SPCA when their floors were being re-done. The others I sent back, but I fell in love with sweet Jeep and kept him although I didn't improve his adoption chances by doing so.

While he may not have been adopted quickly from my place, he did end up with the best possible home, so in the long run it was all worthwhile.

Oh, Jake had to be cat-friendly to make it in his new home. He is the sweetest, most gentle, and softest dog you'll ever meet. Everyone wants to touch him. The picture speaks for itself.

Now if you didn't already click the link at the top to hear "Seasons of Love" from Rent, here it is again:

How do you measure a year?

For Jake, a year measured in love is a very long time.

Herons and turtles and labs, oh my!

Wednesday was the first decent day we've had in quite a while. The heat finally broke, it was clear, cool, an all around beautiful day. Clay is working from home on Wednesdays throughout the summer so that made for a perfect day for another canoe trip down the Rivanna. We dropped off a car to get an inspection done and then he dropped me and the canoe at the Rt. 600 bridge. Because it was cooler, I did a lot more paddling and less idle drifting and cut an hour off my time from the last trip.

I couldn't lay my hands on my camera as we were heading out the door so I went without it. As I predicted, it was the day I'd see the most wildlife: two deer, including one in the river; two painted turtles, one swimming along the bottom of the river and one sunning himself on a downed tree in the river with neck outstretched as I drifted by, just five feet away; an osprey; and multiple sitings of three Great Blue Herons, with several excellent photo ops. The herons are incredibly beautiful birds. They'd fly off when I got too close, moving a little further down the river. After two or three such moves, they would double back, probably returning to their original fishing spot. Before long, I would encounter another and the pattern would repeat itself. I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures, but not having the camera also freed me from worrying about trying to get the pics.

I was free from the tyranny of technology for a few hours that afternoon. It's amazing how remote you can feel on that river. There is no development to speak of and the view is pretty much restricted to the river downstream by the trees that line the banks. The wilderness fantasy was spoiled when my cell phone rang, of course. It seemed odd that I had better reception on the river than I have at home.

The only people I encountered on the trip were 4 young guys in two boats. They were blissfully unemployed for the summer and were off on an overnight canoe/camp/fishing trip. I had done the same thing myself many years ago and I'm glad I did. The river is getting lower, but my canoe needs only about 4-6" of water to float me and a beer cooler. I can highly recommend Starr Hill Brewery's Northern Lights IPA for a lazy afternoon canoe trip. My birthday is Saturday and I'm planning to make the trip again that morning. My birithday gift from my mother is a new kayak-style paddle that I hope to get this evening.

The pictures I've posted here instead of wildlife that I saw but didn't photograph yesterday, are two labs that I brought home on Tuesday. Libby is a female yellow lab, about 6 years old. She acts about 6 months old. I have her in the big kennel with Trooper, Thor, and Teddy. She's having a great time with them. The black lab is Sam. He's about 8 years old. Sam is a sweetheart. He's sharing the office with Molly, me, and Lexi. Their owner lost their home due to unemployment and had to move to a rental where the dogs were not allowed. Libby ended up in a shelter, but they held her until I could take her. Sam was being kept outdoors with a friend apparently. Both can jump the dogyard fence, but they aren't interested in running off. Sam likes it indoors. He's too old to have been kept outside in this heat. The 6' kennel fence is containing Libby and she's having a great time with the younger boys in spite of the heat. She's just happy to be out of the shelter and to have some playmates again. They both need homes.

Life is good

After Abigail's adoption Saturday morning, I stopped at the Bass Pro Shop in Ashland, just north of Richmond for a little shopping but still made it home before 1:00 p.m. I stopped for a six pack and a bag of ice, loaded up the cooler and my canoe and did a lazy float trip down the Rivanna Saturday afternoon. The trip that took me about 1.5 hours earlier in the spring was at least 3 hours yesterday. The current was slower and water level much lower, but there was still enough to float the canoe in most places and the water was crystal clear.

I could see fish swimming all over, mostly small ones, but a lot of them. This little blue heron was have a field day wading in the shallow water and picking off some of the slower fish.

I passed a fisherman standing in the river who was surprised by a water snake that came right up near his feet, grabbed a fish, and then swam off. I saw several ducks as well but didn't manage to get a decent picture. It was a hot, but pretty, day.

Lexi had her heartworm treatment Thursday and Friday. The vet's office had no power after Thursday's storm, so Clay brought her home Friday morning when his office closed, also without power. She was in a lot of pain initially, but some tramadol took the edge off and she's been resting pretty comfortably since then. I have another foster home lined up for her in another week or so. She will be pampered, get lots of rest and love, and a good advocate for finding her a great home when she's ready.

Today I took Thor, Trooper, and Sadie to an adoption event in Gainesville. Thor was great with the crowd, and Trooper was mostly pretty good with volunteers. I didn't let strangers near him except other VGSR volunteers. He was better generally, everyone gave him treats. He just needs to learn that there are ways to deal with unknown people other than barking at them.

The best news of the day is that another volunteer, a two-time former adopter, took Sadie home to foster. I haven't really gotten any good pics of Sadie yet, but she's the first dog I took in after Montana. She's middle aged, one messed up ear, and she may not be the first dog adopted, but she's a good dog and deserves a chance. She's actually the kind I'd keep myself if I wasn't already over my allowed quota of female dogs in the house. She's devoted, loyal, smart, and not too bitchy. If she will leave the cats alone in this foster home, she will have it made.