Zoe Foster

Zoe - showing off her bad leg

Zoe is still here and probably will be as she has had no interest.  The rescue owner wants to have her leg amputated because she thinks she will get adopted that way.  I hate to have it done unless it is truly needed.  She walks and runs and jumps just fine with it.  I am thinking of taking her to my vet for a 2nd opinion, but will have to pay for it myself.  Zoe also is very jumpy and very mouthy.  I normally train my dogs with positive reinforcement, but that did not work for Zoe's biting so I am ashamed to say that I resorted to a nose tap and that is working much better. I know her behavior comes from being in the shelter her whole life until she came here. It is hard to get the pups that have been in the shelter for so long because they are so crazy. She is a smart little pup and has learned sit, down and touch quickly.  She has not mastered loose leash walking yet, but she is not a strong puller so walking her is not an issue.  I am trying to get her trained well in case she is not adopted and ends up staying here.  I actually have thought of keeping her,  but that would put an end to fostering as there is just not enough room in my house or money in my pocket for another dog.  It might be nice to have the same dogs in the house for a while and just be able to work with them.  Lexi and Lacey both need some training time too.  I will have to think on this.

Zoe and Zena and a Broken Leg

 

 

 

 

Zoe and Zena

Zoe and Zena arrived yesterday.  We got an e-mail on Friday night late telling us that Zoe had been limping and they had an x-ray done showing that her right leg had been broken at some point at the growth plate and this is how it healed.  Our choice was to have them send her or leave her behind where she would be headed for the back door.  So now she's here and we will be getting the leg checked to see if anything can be done about it at this point.  These pups were from a litter of seven and five came to our rescue and into foster homes.  I think the other two went to Maryland.  They are five months old and have spent the last three months in the shelter in a 10x6 foot kennel.  It is amazing how good they get along with people.  Unfortunately my dogs are not as welcoming as they usually are and have been kind of standoffish and aloof.   The pups keep trying to make friends with them, but they pretty much just get ignored.  The only one who will play with them is Whitley who is the last dog I would expect too. They are not potty trained at all so we are going thru a lot of paper towels and Nature's Miracle.  And it has been raining non stop since they got here.  They have no manners at all and get into everything!  We are working on that.

Lucy Adopted

Lucy was adopted on Friday.  She and one of the rescue owners pups were adopted together.  I am hoping they are not to much for the couple that adopted them.  Hopefully we will hear how they are doing today.  I was not real happy with the couple that adopted her - I really think they are biting off more than they can chew, but we will see.

Yesterday we sold our crafts at a fundraiser for a local non profit animal hospital.  It was a long day in the hot sun with very little profit.  Need to think of new ways to raise $$ for the rescue.  

Deliiah Adopted - Lucy Here

Delilah was adopted August 7. I cried all the way home.  I get so attached to puppies.  Anyway she went to a great home in the country.

Lucy

Lucy snuggling with two of my grandnieces

Lucy came in this past Sunday - she looks so much like Delilah that I thought they were siblings, but the sending shelter said they were found 15 miles apart.  After being here a couple of days I can see Lucy is much more outgoing and is not afraid of a lot of the things that Delilah was.  She is also loves to be snuggled where Delilah liked to lay by you and be petted.  I am hoping she isn't here too long so I won't get too attached to her.  We have been busy with rescue events, but is is helping to move our pups so we can bring more in.  It does take up a lot of weekend time!

Adoptions Way Down.

Delilah still waiting for forever home

Well we have only had one application on Delilah and it was from a family with three very young children.  Our rescue will not adopt out puppies to families with young children because we usually get them back.  We have many pups in our rescue now and the shelter we pull from has so many they need to find rescue for.  It just breaks my heart when I see them.  There is a little black pup that we are pretty sure is Delilahs sister.  I am working on Black Dog Dad to let me bring her up.  But so far it's a big no.  I don't think he would be so against it if dogs were moving, but with adoptions so slow he is afraid we will not be able to find a home for her.  Delilah came in with a litter of six shep mixes and one boxer mix and so far only two pups have been adopted and it's been almost three weeks.  Last year at this time most of them would be adopted.  Most of the pups I brought up were around six months old and they were usually gone within two or three weeks. Unfortunately the economy is really affecting the people that would adopt, but now can't afford it.  It just sucks!

Waiting for Delilah

Delilah playing in her foster home in South Carolina

Finally got confirmation that Stephie whom we are going to call Delilah is coming on Sunday.  Can't wait to get her as I have not had a young pup since last August.  I am hoping my big dogs do not scare her as they can be overwhelming. She is still healing from all her injuries and they said there might be a problem with her eye.I hope it is not serious.

Lexi and Whitley have been driving me crazy the past few days with their craziness.  They play so rough and I always have to intervene so things don't get out of hand.  I bought Whitley a front hook harness yesterday and took him for a walk - he didn't do as good as he does on the halti and I was not as comfortable either as I have no way to control his head if we run into trouble.  I try to be calm and relaxed when I am walking him, but I am always on Alert for other dogs or kids running around or on bikes.  He really needs a lot more work before he is adoptable.

Whitely goes to Nanny's House

I spend a good part of every day with my mother.  She has dementia and I quit my job last November to take care of her as she was not liking her caregiver too much (part of the dementia).  So the one good thing about it is I get to spend more time with the dogs and I usually take one with me as my mom likes dogs.  Lexi and Lacey are still to jumpy to take and Maddison will whine the whole time we are there to go out and play ball.  So right now I alternate Missy, Dutchess and Whitley.  My mom has a huge yard with woods in the back so we have alot of wildlife wandering around.  Today was Whitley's turn and he got to hang out with me all day while I cleaned the enclosed porch.  We did some clicker training and took several walks.  Unfortunately, he can't be off-leash as his recall is not so good.  We did flush out several squirrels, a couple bunnies and the same deer twice.  I think it was a good day for Whitley.

Tennis Balls and Dogs Teeth

Last night at training class for Lexi I was told that chewing on tennis balls will wear a dogs teeth down to nothing.   I had never heard of this, but my 10 year old Maddison has the worst teeth - many worn down to nubs- and guess what? She was always a tennis ball maniac. She will chase a ball until she drops. When she brings it back she always chomps on it several times before she drops it for me to throw again.  She loves the air kong squeaker toys.  I did some research on the internet and only found a few articles about this.  I feel bad that I let my Maddison ruin her teeth.  Has anyone had any similar problems like this with their dogs?

A Year with Lexi

                                                           Lexi with her sister Allie June 2010

Lexi came to us a year ago as a foster puppy.  There were 5 pups that came up from Darlington SC, and we took Lexi who was the only black puppy in the litter and her sister Allie who was chocolate. Allie was adopted out within a week.  Lexi is now ours.  She is suppose to be my daughters dog, but since she is away at college most of the time, most of the work of raising her went to me.  This dog has been a challenge since the day I took her out of the crate at the transport pick up.  She is not a bad dog - just very, very busy.  She wants to play all the time.  She jumps, counter surfs and barks her coonhound bark when she wants your attention.  We tended to overlook all these things because she is a love and she gets along with every dog she meets.  Every dog is her friend and she will stand still and let them sniff her and then turn around and play bow to them.  She has gotten along with all the other fosters that have come and gone.  However, I did get to the point of being annoyed with her all the time so I started taking her to clicker training.  This was one of the best things I ever did, for her and for myself.  I have learned so much and after the initial 6 weeks of classes I signed up for 20 more classes just because I had so much fun and I still learn something new every week.   She is learning, but at just a little over a year old we have a ways to go.

                                                                Lexi  May 2011

Whitley the Foster Dog

Whitley is my 14th foster dog since I started fostering in May 2010.  He has been here since Thanksgiving and he has only had a couple of people interested in him.  I feel bad for him because Lilly #15 foster dog came and had her leg amputated and was adopted pretty quick.  Whitley is a big boy and 5 years old.  I normally get in pups that are between 5 -8 months and they all go fast.  For some reason I stepped out of my box and took Whit and it looks like he might be here forever.  He is fine with all five of my girls, but if you put him on leash or he sees a dog on the other side of our fence he turns into dogzilla.  We have been going to clicker training and working on his issues.  I don't think he will ever be reliable, but I have learned ways to manage him.  He is very good in the house, rides well in the car and walks good on the leash as long as another dog does not get too close.  He minds me and is a very loving dog.  Good thing since it looks like no one wants him.