Thursday, March 28, 2024

A watery run

We've had about 2.5" of rain over the past week or so. That's more than the thin layer of topsoil we have around here can handle, so much of the water is just standing on top of the ground. Even where there are no puddles you splash as you walk. I don't see how anyone ever made a living farming around here. But the sun was finally trying to break out late this afternoon and the dogs and I were bored, so I took a group of five out to the pasture to run – Norman, Bailey, Paisley, Elvis, and Ford.

Norman ran, and ran, and ran.

Paisley and Ford both had an interest in a tennis ball they found.

Bailey did her pouncing act and then ran to another place to do it again,
without any reason to believe there was any prey about.
Norman just ran after her.

Ford stuck pretty close to me most of the time.

When the ground dries out enough I'm going to get someone out to cut the grass in the pasture.
Bailey will be disappointed for a while but I plan to let it grow again.


Ford and Norman are my only two fosters at the moment. 
That will change soon.


Norman, Bailey, Elvis, and part of Paisley

Ford has a pretty coat, but his legs and belly got wet and muddy out there today.

Bailey thinking (hoping) she's located a mouse.

Here's all five in one picture: Paisley, Ford, Norman, Elvis, and Bailey

Ford was not interested in hunting but he ran with them sometimes.

 Bailey was torn between wanting to run and wanting to hunt.
Mostly she ran and Norman followed.



Paisley and I actually played fetch for a while. I had no idea she was into it.
It's probably the most normal dog behavior she's got.

This wasn't out on today's run, it's Candace in the kitchen. But it's a remarkable picture because she came up to me on her own, touched me with her nose as if wanting attention from me or just wanting to connect. This is not something Candace typically does, she's normally very aloof, so it was very nice to see.






Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Fostering stinks


The dog in this picture is Rugger. He had been seized from his prior owner who kept him in a basement on a bare concrete floor. Rugger had virtually no hair when he was first seized due to a raging skin infection. He waited out the court case in a shelter where he received treatment, and he had already recovered a lot when he came to me, but the skin infection was a recurring thing and oh my dog did he stink. This picture appeared as a Facebook memory today with the caption "Why are stinky dogs the most affectionate?"




Rugger was with me for many months as we worked through his medical issues and worked to find an adopter who was willing to take them on, knowing that it was a chronic condition that would have to be managed, probably for the rest of his life. But that adopter was found and I cried my tear ducts dry on the long drive home the day of his adoption. 



Rugger wasn't a young dog then and he may have passed away by now. I heard from the adopter in the beginning but haven't for a quite a while. And that's fine, that means the dog was successfully re-homed. That's the goal. I have never regretted it one bit. In fact I've never regretted trying to help any dog. I don't regret the pee and the poop, the chewed woodwork and chair legs, the time, work, and money put into fostering. I don't even regret taking a chance on a dog that ultimately had to be euthanized. Even when we failed, at least we tried, and gave the dog a chance it didn't otherwise have. 


But, as bad as the smell was, that's not what I most remember about Rugger. The first thing that comes to mind is how happy he was, how loving and trusting he was, and how grateful he was for the kindness and care he received as a foster. Because he was never really a "foster." As long as they are in my home and under my care, they are my dogs. As long as they are here, they just assume this is their home, and they relate to me as their human, not their temporary caretaker. How can I do anything less in return?


Not all fosters smell bad, but you can count yourself lucky if that's the worst problem your new foster presents. There are dogs that are easy to place (Biscuit is my most recent example). Many, especially owner-surrenders, just need a short term waystation until a new home is located. Sure, some will cause you lose sleep as they learn to deal with the disruption in their lives and routines for reasons that they can not know or understand. But I've never had a new foster take more than a couple of days to learn to accept being crated and that's a skill that will benefit them greatly in any new home. You can do a lot of good for a dog in a short period of time. 



Although there seems to be more people involved in rescue than ever, the demand always exceeds the supply of foster homes. Backyard breeders won't stop producing puppies as long as there is a lucrative market (don't even get me started on the goddamn Amish). 



Rescue groups like Green Dogs are all in need of fosters. Many shelters have fostering programs as well. There are breed-specific rescue groups for any breed you can name, and any decent breed affinity group will also have a sub-group dedicated to rescue of their breed. A bad experience with one group is not a reason to turn away from the greater cause, there are many others out there and all of them need help. 



The idea behind this post was to promote fostering, not to scare people off. As tough as it can be, it's also incredibly rewarding, as anyone who reads this blog with any regularity must understand. You'll meet a lot of people with more dog skills than people skills, and eventually call them friends. And yes, fostering brings a lot of joy to the humans you'll encounter as adopters too. But that's merely an incidental benefit, a side effect that arises from the true reason to foster – to help a stinky dog like Rugger.

So in this world of the simple and odd,
The bent and the plain, the unbalanced bod,
The imperfect people and differently pawed,
Some live without love,
        That's how they're flawed.
                            - Berkeley Breathed

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Biscuit's adoption day

Biscuit drew a lot of interested applicants so he didn't have long to wait after the first one fell through. His adopters came and met him at the adoption event last Sunday and their application process was finished up with a call to their vet on Monday. They were very excited and came down as early as possible on Tuesday to take him home. I had kept him in the a/c yard with Bailey Tuesday morning but I took him out to the pasture for a little run time before they arrived.








Things seem to be going well in the new home so far. He met their other dogs and wore them out running in their big back yard. He met the neighbors' dogs. He's learning things around the house. He likes ice cubes. 

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Close, but no cigar

Ford and Biscuit both were nearly adopted this weekend. Ford's prospect ended up adopting another dog elsewhere. Biscuit's prospect decided against adopting at all. That's all right, their time will come. It has to be right for the dogs and adopters too. All of this happened on Friday and Saturday, so I took both boys to another adoption event on Sunday. Biscuit has a number of interested applicants, and one couple came to meet him today. They seemed to like him but their application isn't approved yet so both dogs came back home with me.

I've had a busy weekend, on my feet and on the go all day, both days. That's the surest sign of spring, there's a lot to do. It's Sunday evening and I'm going to bed early tonight. 

Ford and Biscuit

















The pictures above were from today's adoption event. I only stayed about an hour because I had things to do at home.

Saturday I scored a lot of bulbs at Costco, cannas, begonias, caladiums, sedum, and two giant elephant ears. I planted them in starter pots and put them into my cold frame. Of course, I had help.

Paisley


Candace


Candace and Paisley

Paisley, Maya, and Elvis

Paisley

The potted bulbs in the cold frame.


Clay and I are down to one vehicle so I had to take him to work at Patch today before the adoption event. After I finished my planting and puttering Sunday afternoon, Bailey and I drove back to Patch to bring him home. I had a beer, Bailey had several dog treats.