My foster dogs have kept me busy this week and so have the grand-kids..oh and taxes too!
I’ll start with the grandkids…
Friday I ended up taking my grandson Gannon to his doctor appointment. He’s been complaining about his ear. He does regularly get ear infections so it was time to check it out.
I had grandson Anders with and we picked Gannon up from school. Gannon wasn’t ready so I had to go in and get him from his classroom. I got to see all of his friends. Then off we went to the appointment.
I went to check in and met a blog reader who is a volunteer at the clinic. It’s so fun to meet readers. I regret I couldn’t have chatted more but I had both of the boys and were pushing our time frame to get to the appointment.
They said he likely needs allergy meds and he didn’t have an ear infection.
From there…
Gannon asked to go to the thrift store. Well how can I tell a guy no? We ended up going and we met a blog reader there too. How crazy? Two blog readers spotted me in one day!! The blog reader at the thrift store said, “I wondered if this is where you always go thrifting to..” Yes, it often is but truly, I stop at every thrift store no matter the town I’m in. We just happened to live about 25 minutes from all of the neighboring towns that are big enough to have a thrift stores…pretty much no matter which one I go to, I stop at the thrift store in that town. I love it!!
After that it was back home…but Gannon did get spoiled with a corn dog from Kwik Star. It’s his favorite.
School got out early as we were expecting a very unusual early outbreak of storms with tornadoes. School getting out early for this reason has never happened in my entire life.
We were all lucky. We had thunder storms, strong winds but no tornadoes in my area. My kids all fared well too…now to the dogs…
Last Monday I was off to the vet with Caesar. He got his man parts altered and up to date on shots.
He had a little bit of trouble with hormones that were dictating his life. He is so much better now that the female has found her furever home AND he had a little visit to the vet. WHEW.
All three of the foster dogs I’ve had here all are needing to be house trained. The oldest two did great and have completely transitioned from puppy pads to outside. No they don’t stand by the door and indicate that they have to go but…they do go if I take them out and they hold it in between times.
Caesar, the one year old rat terrier, has improved by leaps and bounds over the last week. I’m so impressed with him. He is house trained and the food aggression he had is gone. He is good with my dogs. He’s doing good a leash…the only problem, he doesn’t love kids. I’d love to have him running around free in my house but he can’t many of the day because the grandkids are here. He so needs his own home where he is free to be himself and doesn’t have to be in a kennel as much of the day like he is here. I feel terrible that he can’t just be out and about but I keep reminding myself, this is temporary. He will find the right person and he will find a home that he can be free in…and it’s a big improvement from where he was.
I am sure he will be a great dog with some continued training and support. If anyone is interested in him…please put in an application. Caesar would love for you to do that.
Peppa went to her home on Friday morning…She was terrible at pick up time and even growled a bit at the new owner. UGH. I was so freaked out and worried the owner would back out of the adoption. She didn’t and even updated me that things are going good.
Peppa and Caesar both just attach to a human and then don’t realize there is room for more people. I ended up walking Peppa out to the car and putting her in the car. Then she was fine. She just didn’t want anyone else except me as long as I was there. I think when it’s time for Caesar to go, I might consider delivering him to the new owner. We’ll see. He needs a person to adopt him before I need to worry about that though…so far, no adopters. UGH.
We have some applications in for Slinky but they aren’t all approved yet and we don’t know if any of them are the “perfect” home. We are super careful to make sure an owner is matched with a dog. Just because the dog has an applicant, doesn’t mean he will go there. Some people assume that it’s like buying a puppy. You say you want it, you were there first, you have the money, you get it.
Most of the dogs at the rescue end up with several applicants and we pick the best fit. If we have a dog like Slinky that doesn’t easily come, he might not be the best fit for someone without a fence. If Slinky got away, he would be really hard to catch. I’ve spent lots of time on my hands and knees trying to get Slinky coaxed out from under a couch or table in the house. There is no telling where he’d go or what he’d do if he got away from someone outside. He is also painfully shy. This is getting better. At first he would only “army crawl” outside. He would get wrapped around my feet. He was a terrible tripping hazard. If we have a dog like Slinky who is having trouble with housetraining, he probably shouldn’t go to a home where the owner is going to be gone 10 hours a day. Fosters collect information about the dogs while they are in their care. Then as applications come in, we find the best person for the dog. We consider the dog and it’s needs first…not the applicants wishes. It can sometimes cause hurt feeling with applicants but it’s what we need to do. Many of these dogs have had a hard start to life…they deserve the very best for them.
Slinky will need someone very diligent with housetraining. He will need someone with a lot of time and patience. Slinky is still challenging. His transition from puppy pads to going outside hasn’t been as successful. I’ve gotten him to go a few times but nothing consistent or dependable. I’ve watched a half dozen Youtube videos. I’ve read tips for housetraining on the internet…nothing has stuck with Slinky as a sure fire way to get him to go outside.
He is still timid outside but that has gradually improved and he’s feeling more confident. I really think it will come once he feels more comfortable outside…but in the meantime, it’s been frustrating for me. I feel like it’s my failure rather his…but seriously, I’m really trying. Nothing that I’ve tried with other dogs is working consistently with him.
Once the applicants are approved, we’ll likely have to go through and call everyone to see if they are still interested in him knowing he is super challenging with house training. Some people don’t have the time to deal with that…and some people have carpet throughout their house and don’t want to deal with that. Most people expect a five month old pup to be mostly housetrained.
Much of this just has to do with him not ever being outside in his life. It’s a whole new world outdoors and there are so many things to look at and be distracted by. Once he feels more comfortable outdoors, I’m hoping the housetraining will click. I keep reminding myself to be patient.
There are other considerations for Slinky too. I’m so glad I’m not the person who decides which dog goes to which homes.
He is a sweet boy though and we encourage people to apply for him. I love most things about him except that he won’t consistently go to the bathroom outside.
Carver was over on Saturday and spent a lot time with Slinky.
Slinky does love people…He is quick to snuggle in for some pets.
As you can see, the grandkids and dogs have sucked up a bunch of my time. It takes me about 20 minutes several times a day just to try to take Slinky out. I don’t have a physical fence so they both need a walk when I take them out to the bathroom. It’s not a long walk but a couple of blocks…each on their own because Slinky needs limited distractions.
Having challenging dogs and so many dogs back to back has been a little hard on me but I know it was the right thing to take them. They all needed to away from where they were and moved a step forward towards permanent life long homes. I’m that first step.
If anyone is interested in applying for either Caesar or Slinky, you can find an application HERE.
Needless to say, not much has gotten done around here…just dogs and grandkids.
I just wanted to thank you. I’ve had much difficulty potty training my new pup. If I took her out often enough she would mostly go outside, but she would not let me know she needed to go out. You’ve talked about using dog door bells. So I got some and within two weeks she is using them. Thank you. No more accidents.
I love bell training the dogs. I’m so glad it worked for you!!
Rat terriers are very protective of “their person” and I bet that’s what Peppa was doing when she growled. The new person came near you (who she considered to be “her person”). They are very loyal. I bet Caesar will make a wonderful pet for someone! They are very snuggly and like to sleep with you, under the covers. We had elementary age children with our first Rat a terrier and she was very good with them…..even let them dress her up. I don’t know how they do with younger children. Each dog, of course, will have their own quirks depending on what they have experienced in their short life. I sure wish I could adopt Caesar but we are in South Carolina! I agree it may be good for you to deliver Caesar so that the new owner isn’t “invading” your home and Caesar won’t feel such a need to be protective. Wow, the dogs are a lot of work, Jo. You are such a trooper.
Ask the rescue if they think Slinky would do better with an easy-going confident dog in his new home. It’s probably hard for you to figure that out right now. Some dogs are just more of a challenge than others!
You’re amazing! Thank you for everything you do. From quilts, to grandkids and helping these precious pups find their happy forever homes. Bless you. ❤️
Re the transition to outside, have you tried using a puppy pad outside? That helps some dogs figure it out. You might need to anchor it with stones or stakes.
Any way you can split the behavior you want into smaller, reinforce able pieces will help you help him.
YES…we tried that…He’s a bugger as far as training goes but so sweet!
You said, “Needless to say, not much has gotten done around here…just dogs and grandkids. ” I would disagree. You have been taking care of the most important things–people and dogs–living and breathing creatures.
Oh so patient! You sure do wonders with all the dogs. Since I am about 20 plus years older than you, I do not think I could handle a puppy and the training one would need, but I am so glad there are people like you willing to devote time and effort to helping the doggies in need.
Slinky is adorable!