What We Do for Our Pets

[girlnamedsue]

That's good to hear that Andie made it back to a warm bed. Although the 'roughing it' was good for her physical shape, mentally this is another blow to an apparently fragile girl.
I understand Foster families are always desperately needed, but I think perhaps that that well meaning foster should be re-evaluated. The resident dog and Andie should not have been put together in the first 24 hrs, they should hve been kept separate and gradually introduced. Secondly, my biggest pet peeve about dog on dog agression-- it is almost always caused or exacerbated by human interferance in normal dog behaviour.
The resident dog probably was commuicating to Andie that she better keep her respectful boundries-likely first in subtle dog ways not noticed by people- and then when the Person pushed Andie further into the "disrespective dog zone' the resident dog was forced to be more demonstrative- resulting in the person 'correcting' this normal dog reaction to a percieved transgrsession. This corrective yelling cause Andie to engage her 'fight or flight' instinct. It is unfortunate that many dogs chose 'fight' instead and end up in even bigger trouble.
Sorry for the rant--like I said, pet peeve- i hate that so many dogs get labeled aggressive or bad because of humans trying to anthrpomorphize our pet animals --and end up in shelters. You can't tell a dog to 'just be friends' because we said so like we do with human kids. Dogs pick who they like and for their own reasons. Sometimes the best you can get is a disgruntled tolerance... and Foster dogs don't understand 'temporary'
I'll knock it off now

[BimmerRacer]

I don't know the full story since my wife was not an adoption coordinator for Andie, but I didn't see where the article mentioned how and when the dogs were introduced.

Also, there are times we pull these guys out of high kill shelters just days before they are scheduled for you know what. Sometimes an intended place for them gets occupied by another dog which perhaps didn't get along with their new family or their existing pet, or another dog which was suppose to go into a foster home ends up being sick with Parvo or who knows what else and has to be kept separate from the others. Point is, sometimes we have to reshuffle things on the fly and we don't have a permanent facility where we can board these guys. ACs sometimes end up with 4-5 foster dogs in their home while we look for new fosters/adopters. Anyway...

[girlnamedsue]

Jason,

I didn't mean to sound critical of the rescue organization, that wasn't my intention. The article had said that Andie had been in the foster's care for 24 hours when the man raised his voice to correct his own dogs percieved aggressive behavior toward Andie which spooked her.
My point was only that in a perfect world (yeah right) there would be time for full measures to be taken to ensure a foster dogs smooth transition. I was not realizing the emergent nature of the placment requirements for this particular rescue group.

I understand when situations change rapidly ya gotta do what ya gotta do to get an animal to a safe place.. that's the bottom line.

[BimmerRacer]

Sue,

But the article also didn't mention if the dogs were introduced previously or not. As I said, I don't know the full story. I could find out, but to be honest, I don't think it matters.

Sometimes these dogs are so timid and unpredictable you just don't know what they'll do next.

Case in point. http://www.k9lifesavers.org/why-we-do-this.php

Shelby ran away the first time after a few months and was found 3 days later. She was chipped at that time as well. When her AC went on vacation, we took her in for a week or so and she ended up staying with us for a month or so. She was super timid at first, especially with me. She got along great with our dogs and soon figured out that I am not so bad by watching me interact with them. But it would still be up and down most days. We would go from moments like these






To her being totally freaked out anytime I moved a muscle.

She was adopted by a nice couple with another dog. They looked like they got along great and from the pictures they sent us within days of getting Shelby I though "Wow, she is finally HOME"! I was jealous looking at them thinking that they must be giving her drugs, lol. She actually was on some meds to help with her anxiety. Anyway, she just looked THAT comfortable and happy.

As I am sure you saw from the link I posted, Shelby bolted from their house two days after getting there. She has not been found. We looked and flyered for months, day and night. People, hounds, traps, etc. No dice. My only hope is that maybe someone took her in and gave her a good home. Or maybe she's still out there somewhere and will turn up.

This could be a lengthy discussion of course, but you are right, bottom line is "ya gotta do what ya gotta do to get an animal to a safe place". Few years ago I had no knowledge of overcrowded high kill shelters, puppy mills, snatching dogs to be used as bait for illegal dog fighting, you name it. I has no idea that many shelters use gas chambers. It really is an eye opener.

[Bugman]

While we were unpacking from a week at the beach to attend our son's wedding, we pulled some of the goodies out of the care package they had prepared for us. Of course Toby had to crawl up on the bed for a nap. We couldn't resist staging a couple of pictures.

[dgunnels]

Looks like the same care package I pack for DH when he's away on business. Actually I think Toby and my Tippy would get along smashingly. Pun intended.

[pooky]

gotta love em . . .

stephen

[Marge]

It's been five months since Shaka left us. We left her raised dog bowls in the kitchen because Gunner would visit and we left her Chariot in the garage because we just couldn't part with the memories.

We agreed a few days ago to maybe list it on Craigslist and posted the following (Wiley insisted on posting a small $$ amount to make sure it went to someone who really cared):

Stroller for Dog or Pet - $15 (East Valley)


"This stroller is modified to hold up to a 65 pound pet (cannot be used for a child). Our Black Labbie got serious arthritis which made it nearly impossible to go on walks. We bought this stroller, modified it so she could lay in it and continue to go on walks with us. She LOVED it. She is in a better place now, where she is able to run and play on her own. Her "chariot" needs a good home where it might help another furball have a better quality of life.

The chariot has a sun shade and storage beneath (excellent for water bottles/leash/keys/etc.). Folds up for packing in a car trunk. "

We included the photo from the first post in this thread.

We figured we wouldn't hear from anyone.

We got email from folks who did not have a need for it but said they cried when they read the ad. We had folks from out of the area say how they wish they could get it because they had a three legged dog and it would be perfect. We had a lady come tonight and pick it up for her little Dachshund...said she liked to do charity walks and wanted her furball to be able to go with her, those little legs not able to keep up. She is doing the upcoming Pat Tillman walk and said she is thrilled they will be able to do it together now.

It's so nice to know Shaka's chariot has found a good home.

[lati_cz]

me and my Coco, every time I put helmet on she goes crazy, she loves to ride....

[GraniteGirl]

Originally Posted by Dan

Has anyone used any of these Dremel-like nail trimmers?

We have the PediPaws trimmer and it is very quiet, being battery operated and all. It is fine for the little dogs, but it does not handle our Rhodie's nails at all. I sometimes wish I had the one with the dremel engine

[Marge]

Hey, where's a helmet for Coco?

[Bugman]

We found a new bed for Sam, our dog, to replace the old one in the sun room. The new one is very cushy. Of course, Sam being Sam, is very suspicious of anything new. I've dragged him on the bed a couple of times and we've seen him sniff it a few times, but not sleeping on it.

This morning, while we were having coffee in the sun room, Toby decided he didn't want to sit on our laps any more, jumped down, ambled over to Sam's new bed, climbed on and proceeded to get very comfortable. This was taken at least an hour later. We'll see what Sam does now!

[jml102863]

been sick to my stomac the past few days , as I recenly found out he has a torn ccl { thats the equivilant of an acl in humans}more than I can afford to get fixed right now so hes resting alot and taking pain pills and joint meds.

[7echo]

Hi Jim (jml102863)
What sort of repair did they offer for the damage?

I have had 2 dogs with a similar injury have the ligament replaced with mono filament and it worked great. A lot less expensive than having the expert joint guy but in synthetic ligament.

Both my dogs went back to catching the frisbee, no problem.

[jml102863]

hi dave , Im actually feeling like a bad father , hes been limpin off and on for a few months...just when he starts walking good we start playing rough , then hes limpin again...my girlfriend took him to the vet behind my back {bless her heart} . he recomended the surgery where they cut the bone and screw it back together, roughy 2k. Im looking into all my options...this is the first that I ve heard of using monofilament. is there a name for this proccedure?