Bitchy McBitcherson's Blog

Category: rescue

  • Foster Time

    So, I’m back to fostering dogs again.  I didn’t post about the first one this year because I almost immediately found a great home for her.

    I’ve got a pair of puppies in now, and am drowning in all things puppy.   Mr. Watson isn’t happy.  For that matter, Mr. Tori isn’t all that happy either.

    CharlieThe truth is, this is incredibly bad timing.  I have NO time to do the puppy dance right now.  But it was a favor for a friend of a friend kind of thing, and the other options were not good, and it isn’t the puppies’ fault that they are homeless.

    So, two puppies and possibly a third on the way, depending on how it goes.

    They are big. The person didn’t get them to me when they were young enough to just be in that stupidly cute puppy phase that people fall in love with.  They are approaching 20 weeks old, and really I need a second foster.  They are too old to still be together, it would be better for them from a behavioral development standpoint to be separate now.

    To a large extent all a dog needs when looking for a home, is a place to safely stay, somebody to feed it, and somebody clean up after it.  That’s why shelters do work.  Foster homes means that at least they don’t have the added stress of being around all that commotion, which is very difficult on some dog temperaments.  I really try to do more though.  I try to have a foster dog boot camp, doing everything I can to help them on their road to being the best dog they can be, so that they are more adoptable, and more importantly, so that stay adopted.  People rarely admit they are the type to give up when the going gets rough while they are out looking for a new dog, but even rescues with rigorous screening procedures get returns.

    So, I’ve got two puppies here, and we are working on crate training,  potty training them, teaching them to walk on leash, teaching them, Sit, Down, No, Drop it, Off.  They are still puppies, so everything they see goes in their mouth.  Their mouths are full of sharp little needles.

    linus5Yesterday morning, I was trying to wrangle them both outside for their morning potty break at the same time.  I was running late, and in theory would definitely be more convenient if I took them both out at once.  We aren’t having in house accidents, but I am very restrictive about the time they can spend loose inside.  Outside, I have specific areas where I want them to go to the bathroom.  I’m not happy with just anywhere.  So, I was out there leading them to the approved potty area, when Linus decided he’d walked far enough and started to pee.  I said no, and kept moving him toward the right area, but then Charlie tripped me, and as I tried to get my balance, Linus started to pee again, this time down my leg, pee filling up my tennis shoe.  In case you were wondering, it is very warm and unpleasant feeling.  I had to still get him over to wear he could potty and be praised.  Got Charlie pottied, and then got the hose to spray down the areas that he was not supposed to pee, like, my foot for instance.

    When it was time to leave the house I couldn’t find my other pair of shoes.  Pee shoes were out of commission while I tried to get them clean.  The other shoes… well I had a memory of having to take them away from a puppy and putting the shoes somewhere out of reach, but I couldn’t figure out where.  10 minutes later, I needed to get help from another pair of eyes.  We finally found them, out of puppy reach as predicted.

    Last night, I’m ashamed to say, he then managed to pee on my foot again, yep, another pair of shoes down.  You know the saying.  Pee on me once, shame on you, pee on me twice, so much pee on me.  Yes, I was trying to shortcut having to walk them both separately.  Today I’ve done much better, only taking each one out on their own so far.  Soon they will get a play break to play together, but like I said, developmentally it is better for them to be apart at this point.  I let them play together because I am lazy and it tires them out faster.

     

  • Gilbert

     

    Gilbert – isn’t he adorable?

     

    This is Gilbert at 11 weeks old.  He was turned into ACT V after suffering from a dog attack which caused bite wounds and multiple broken bones.  He is a healthy, happy puppy overall, but needed surgery to set the breaks.  He has turned out to be a little booger who has so far found a way around every “cone of shame” contraption that they’ve put on him, requiring multiple fixes to stitches, bandages, and the external hardware that is part of what is holding his bones in place while they mend.  Yes, I am particularly sympathetic having previously owned a dog who was a Hou(n)dini of cone escape.

    He’s healing great now thanks to ACT V, but he could definitely use some sponsors to help pay for his medical expenses.

     If you can spare a few dollars, every bit helps, and if you fill in “Gilbert” in the SPONSOR a pet field of the online donation form, all the money will go directly to his care.  You can also send a check to the address listed here and designate the donation to Gilbert’s care.  ACT V is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit.

  • Finally Friday

    It’s been a tough week in the dog world. Not my own dogs, they are fine.

    In the rescue world, things have been a bit rough. It is difficult. It is worth it, but difficult. I try to focus on the worth it part, but some days are harder than others.

    What else is up? It has been warm, and almost all the snow is gone. The backyard is a complete and total swamp. I don’t want Indy and Watson to run around back there, because that is a disaster.

    Indy got her bloodwork results back. She is in really good shape for her age. Good enough that she was cleared for dental surgery. So, that is where she is today. I am nervous about it, not so much because I fear something will happen during surgery (although, of course I will be anxiously awaiting the call that says all is well). I am mostly nervous about starting some kind of chain reaction.

    I give Watson things that are meant to be chews that last a while, and he quickly consumes them. Back to the chew shopping. Apparently, I have another power chewer. I’m not surprised in the overall scheme of things, but I am a bit surprised to have this issue at 12 weeks with the items I’ve been offering him.

    This weeks puppy class was again good, but Watson got less play time in because the other pups there were so small, and he was a bit of a bull in a china shop. Still a great learning experience for him, but it burned less physical energy. Luckily, I have a play date scheduled for Saturday with some big dogs.

    My mother is back for another visit, to help me with some things and mostly to help me with Watson while I get stuff checked off my To Do list. The timing for adopting a puppy was less than excellent, so part of how we came to the conclusion we could manage it anyway, came from her willingness to come back to help. Watson clearly recognized her when she walked it the door. It was so adorable. He likes people in general and is always excited to see new people, but he was just beside himself with sheer wiggly waggy puppy happiness to see the woman who bottle fed him so many meals. We didn’t know whether he would recognize her, but he did.

    I might have created a twitter account for Watson. Great. I’m becoming one of THOSE people.