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.

Bonding

I got up early and knocked off most all of my work by noon in order to make a trip to town today.  I needed to stop at the vet's office to pick up Bremo's thyroid meds and I took the new girl, Tessa, along for some much needed bonding time.  She gets along fine with the other dogs but she's still a bit timid and shy with me.  In fact, I have to chase her into the shed she shares with Flirt, Jeremy, and Max when it's time to put everyone to bed at night.  Last night Flirt came out, saw the problem, and helped me round her up and run her in.  I hadn't really spent any one-on-one time with her yet, so we did today.

First we went to the CASPCA to meet people and cats.  She was a little shy with strangers at first, so it's not just me.  I don't think she's been out and about much in her life.  She was interested in the cat but not aggressive.  I was told that she would give chase if a cat ran and I'm sure she would, but I don't think she's really interested in catching one.  The cat didn't seem to consider her a threat and cats are generally pretty good judges of a dog's intentions.  Still, I'd prefer she go to a cat-less home just to eliminate that issue as a possible problem.

I stopped at Starbucks to do some long-neglected paperwork with coffee and a donut and then we went to Darden-Towe park for a walk.

Leash walking is a great way, probably the best way, to bond with a dog and develop that trusting relationship.  It was a windy day so the air was full of random scents, but she was really pretty attentive.  She looked at me, and looked to me for guidance, which is key. 

We met geese on a drainage pond, which elicited about the same reaction as the SPCA cat. 

She is scheduled to be spayed on Thursday so she'll be moving indoors after that.  The crating experience will help her adoption prospects and bring her closer to me as well.  I'd love to find her a home and move her out of here this coming weekend.  She needs a new home and I have others waiting for her spot.

Blood work

I had a call from the vet's office this afternoon.  Gypsy's blood work came back normal.  I've taken her off the Rimadyl, however, and once it's out of her system we are going to try her on a new anti-inflammatory. In the meantime, I've doubled up on her dose of tramadol and she seems to be feeling a bit more spry. 

Bremo was checked primarily for his thyroid, and it seems that he has none, or next to done. That explains the condition of his coat and skin at least, so we'll get him started on the supplement tomorrow.  I actually started him on some expired thyroid medication tonight.

These are some pics of Bremo through the years.  He will be 10 in March. It's hard to realize that he's getting to be an old man.  He was born here, to our first foster dog, Maggie.  He's lived here his entire life and hasn't gone many places either.  He's fine with that.  Rotties don't like to stray too far from the food supply.  Bremo is the sweetest dog.  He's got a big bark, but he loves visitors and is easily bribed with either food or petting. 

Three dogs in the tub

I had taken Bremo to the vet on Friday due to dry, flaky skin, coarse dry coat, and generally not looking very good.  The results of the thyroid blood test will be back tomorrow, but in the meantime I was told to bathe him with a medicated shampoo, which I did this afternoon.  Bremo is 104 pounds and he's a downstairs dog.  He does not do the steep wooden steps that lead to our upstairs where the only bathtub in the house is located.  When rotties don't want to do something, they plant their butt on the ground, and look you in the eye with an expression that says "make me." 

Bremo is very food motivated but I was unable to cajole him beyond the bottom step with treats.  I put a harness on him and basically lifted him up the stairs, very much against his will and with no assistance from him.  I had to just scoop him up and lift him into the tub as well, but once in, he was good about it and wasn't constantly trying to get out. 

He had a good, long bath with a lot of scrubbing and we removed a lot of dead hair and skin.  He had an infection in his ears so I gave them a good washing out.  The spray is gentle and the water warm, so he really was rather good about the ear cleaning.  I left him in the bedroom while I did the next two because it's warm and sunny up there today.  The trip back downstairs wasn't much better, still no assistance from the dog but at least gravity was on my side.  

Zachary was up next.  He doesn't have any apparent skin problems, but he was shedding excessively.  Well, maybe not excessive for a shepherd, but the bathroom was already a mess so I figured I might as well clean another dog or two. 

Zachary is scared of me normally, so the terrified look on his face isn't anything new.  He was really rather cooperative about it all, although I did have to lift him into and out of the tub.  He actually sat down for much of the bath, which really isn't all that helpful.  I took him outside later and gave him a good brushing as well, so he's looking pretty good.

Molly was the most active in the tub, but again, Molly is the most active anywhere.  I swear, the only settings on this dog are sleep, run, and fly. 

She needed a bath because she's constantly in the water tank in the dog yard and has that wet dog smell to her.  She also had a lot of loose hair on her.  I really need to make routine brushing a habit around here--keep the rake by the door and give two or three of them a quick going over whenever they come in. 

Trooper and Cabell aren't that dirty and can wait for another day.  I just can't put Gypsy in a slick tub with her rear end being so weak, and besides, I'd have to carry her every inch of the way.  We will start doing some more regular brushing on her, however. 

Flexibility

It is best not to carve your plans in stone.  Last week I had pretty much committed to taking in a female shepherd from the Culpeper shelter.  I couldn't get up there until Friday, however, and I heard on Thursday that she had been adopted.  Fine, I hope it was a good home.  On Friday a man called the VGSR hotline needing to give up a dog that day because he was moving.  (I won't say anything about that, this says it all.) 

Anyway, he took the dog to be evaluated by one of our volunteers up that way who said she was a nice dog but he wasn't in a position to foster her now himself.  I talked to the owner on the phone when I was home between vet appointments Friday afternoon and we tentatively planned to meet up in Culpeper Friday evening about 9:00 p.m., because I wouldn't be getting home from yesterday's second vet appointment until after 7:00.

 

As I was leaving the vet with Gypsy and Bremo, someone in the office put the fear of Dog in me with news about a winter storm headed our way starting out that evening as freezing rain, so I really didn't want to drive to Culpeper after dark. 

Calls were made and the dog ended up staying with another volunteer up in Warrenton that night and he met me this morning in Culpeper with the dog, Tesa.  So I didn't make it over to Richmond to the adoption event today, but at least now I have a real foster shepherd to take to the next one. 

She's a sweet, petite little thing, seems very nice.  She didn't like being in a kennel by herself, so I put her into the dog yard and she and Max seem to be hitting it off.  She's young, said to be 2.5 years old, but she doesn't really act or look it.  I have a couple possibilities in mind for her.  She's lived with children, apparently as a housedog, she crated without problem last night, and she may even be ok with cats.  A dog like that should have plenty of options. 

Ok, I said I wasn't going to say anything about it, but don't you have to wonder what the guy was thinking when he knew he was moving that day and had done nothing about making arrangements for a dog that he couldn't take with him?  Was he going to take the dog out and shoot it?  Dump it along a highway to fend for herself?  Both happen.  It boggles the mind.