Quick updates

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.