Foster Journal
April 2000 Part 1: Thinking about fostering; volunteer orientation;
Buddy
April 7, 2000
I got another newsletter from the humane society and they are still
looking for foster homes. They are really pushing this "Initiative
2005" for Pittsburgh to become the first eastern no-kill city
by 2005. They don't want to ever turn away an animal (which the existing
no-kill shelter does when they are full) but they don't want to kill
them anymore just because they don't have space, so they want to
recruit tons of foster homes. They have plans to majorly expand their
facility, and one of the other shelters is already adding on to their
building.
There is an orientation on Monday night at 6:00 so I think maybe
we'll go to that. I'm supposed to call and tell them we're coming,
so I guess I'll do that tomorrow. They also want people to train
dogs but of course you have to go to the shelter to do it, and that's
kinda inconvenient. So I think we'll find out more about fostering,
and who knows, we might end up really doing it. Kinda scary! I like
the dog aspect of it but it's scary for me to deal with the people.
So depending on how things go on Monday, we might end up with a
new foster dog sometime in the next couple of weeks. In the newsletter
they said they need people to foster very young puppies (which we
couldn't do since we're gone all day), hyper adolescents (just what
we need!), and older dogs that are too stressed by being kenneled
all the time. We'll see what we find out on Monday and I guess we'll
go from there.
April 10, 2000
Today was the volunteer orientation at the humane society. I figured
we were gonna be a little late because Warren doesn't get home
until after five when
he has an afternoon patient, and it started at six, and we had to go through
rush hour traffic. We left here at 5:18 and he accidentally went the wrong
way and all of a sudden we were there. It only took 20 minutes. We were way
early, so we walked around and looked at the animals. We found out where
the meeting was going to be held, and we went in and nobody else
was there. Eventually
the person in charge showed up and she had a big (huge) adolescent male dog
named Buddy with her. Dobe/shepherd, she said. Apparently he was
found as a stray
but he had an AVID chip. They scanned the chip and contacted his owners...
who said they didn't want him back. He was very friendly and playful and
he ran around greeting everyone as they came in and trying to get
them to throw
his squeaky toy. We filled out a form and then we watched a video. Then she
talked for a while. It was just a general volunteer meeting so she only talked
a little bit about fostering. She said that they want you to take them for
at least 2 weeks to evaluate them, make sure they're housetrained, etc. and
then you can take them back, or you can keep them until they are placed.
At one point she said something like, "I know at least one
of you is interested in fostering," and she looked right at
me, and then she said, "and
Buddy here is looking for a foster home." I would have probably volunteered
to take him right then and there, but Warren was concerned that he's just
too big and unruly, and he's probably right.
People kept filtering in late, and we were about halfway through
the meeting when some lady came in and got greeted by Buddy and was
totally PETRIFIED. The only other guy there (besides Warren) sounded
kinda embarrassed when he said, "That's my wife." She was
plastered against the wall and Buddy was just trying to say hi and
she was terrified. The person in charge put Buddy on a leash and
passed him off to somebody to hold. Everybody was laughing hysterically
at the scared lady. The dog was big but he was the goofiest, silliest,
happiest dog you could ever hope to meet, and he never jumped or
barked or anything. If you could have seen how scared this lady was...
it was hilarious.
Anyhow, I don't know exactly what happens next. I guess I have to call them
back again and tell them yes, I am interested, and then I guess we go and get
our first foster.
April 11, 2000
"go back there and get buddy. it sounds like he
will fit right in with your animal family."
But you don't understand.... When I said he's big, I was not clear
enough. I mean, he is REALLY big. Bigger than me, I think. And like I said, I would
have taken him anyway, but I don't want to annoy Warren with our first foster
dog. Obviously this is not something he would be doing on his own, and I was actually pretty surprised that he agreed to let me do it. So I have to be careful.
"i think buddy is calling you. . . . . ruff, ruff, ruff"
"you're really gonna do this, aren't you?"
Was there ever really any doubt? =) The only obstacle was getting Warren
to agree to it, and that was easier than I thought. He's pretty tolerant
of my
dog hobby.
"so, does this mean that when you come to visit you
will have one more dog?"
Probably. As long as it fits in the car....
April 12, 2000
The humane society left a message on the machine today. They wanted us to
foster Buddy. I asked how he is with cats, and they said he wanted to play
with the
cat but he didn't try to attack it or anything. So I said we'd come get him
and try him out.
So he's here. He's huge and totally clueless. I think I 'll try to get
them to keep him for us next weekend cos all the animals will not fit
in the car
together. And I don't think you and dad would be too pleased to have him
around. He's really nice, and not at all mean, but he's just so BIG.
Everybody is getting along. Echo stood on him and Brin humped him and
Keek hissed at him, so now he knows his place.
He's really big.
Did I mention that he's big? And totally clueless. And he howls in
his crate.
"i'm so glad. congratulations. I knew you'd end
up with buddy. he sounds like a great dog. he probably doesn't know
that he's big.
he can't help it, you know. does he stay in the yard? is he good outside? what
tricks did you teach him? I bet if you do some tricks with the other dogs,
and let him watch, he'll figure it out. I 'm so happy for buddy. great news."
I could barely hold
him on the flat collar they put on him. I think he is bigger than
I am, and he is strong. We brought him home and he instantly peed
in the yard. He appears to be housebroken. We introduced him to our
dogs outside. No problems. When we took him inside, the cat hissed
and raced out of the room. I offered Buddy some food but he didn’t
want it. I took all the dogs back outside. I asked Brindle and Echo
to sit before I opened the door, because that is our routine. Brindle
sat but Echo was distracted. I repeated the command. Buddy sat! Apparently,
someone has been working with him. Since then he has sat on cue a
few times but has ignored the cue most of the time. He doesn’t
seem to respond to his name.
We played ball a little. Buddy would
get the ball and bring it back but he didn’t want to let it
go. I ignored him until he dropped it. When I tried to throw it again,
he grabbed my arm very gently.
I told him no and he stopped. He seems to have great bite inhibition,
but with a dog of his size, I would prefer to eliminate the mouthing.
We
took all the dogs for a walk. I had a prong collar that fit Buddy
so I walked him on that. He was very easy to walk but I wouldn’t
want to try it without a prong collar or a Gentle Leader. Later,
he happily chewed a sterilized bone on the bedroom floor. Brindle
decided he wanted that bone, although he never had any interest
in it before. I took the bone away to prevent a squabble. Buddy
didn’t
growl when I took it, although he did try to hold onto it. He
never attempted to get on the bed when he was in the bedroom.
I
introduced him to the crate. He went into it without much trouble
when I put his bone inside. I let him go in and out a few times
but unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to really
acclimate him to the crate. I did not feel comfortable letting
him loose at
night because of his strong interest in the cat. So I put him
in the crate with his bone, closed the door, and prepared for
the worst.
For a few minutes, I tried leaving the room when he started fussing
and returning as soon as he was quiet for a moment. But he didn’t
seem to be getting it and it was past my bedtime. So I gave up,
turned off the light and went to bed. Remarkably, he was quiet
after that.
He whined a little but that was it. Maybe he understands that “lights
out” means bedtime.
April 13, 2000
"so, just what kind of dog is buddy? besides big.
like kramer? he's big. and he certainly was clueless for quite
some time. and what's buddy's
story? dad thinks you're nuts. I just accept it and get on with my life."
I'm kinda surprised I didn't get any mail here from you guys today.
I bet G wasn't surprised to hear about Buddy. She was telling
me to
go get him a couple
days ago. If they hadn't asked me specifically to take him, I wouldn't
have offered. I was planning to call yesterday when I got home
and tell them I was ready to foster SOME dog (like, a normal sized
one), and I figured they'd want to meet with me again and go over
the rules and stuff. I didn't think
they'd just kinda hand a dog over to me.
Anyhow, I said we'd give it a try. "When should I come pick him up?" "Whenever
you want." "Well, how long will you be there tonight?" "The
kennels will be open until 7, and I 'll tell them to give you a collar and leash
and some food." I thought maybe they'd want to go over the rules or
give me some tips or something. Nope. I signed my name on a paper and walked
out
with the dog.
Anyhow, I 'll take some pictures tonight and send them. I wish today
was Friday. I feel bad leaving him alone in a crate all day cos
he's not used to that.
I should have waited to pick him up until Friday or Saturday. Oh well,
maybe next time I 'll be less impulsive.
April 13, 2000
Keek woke me up very early this
morning. I tried to ignore him but I was mostly awake anyway, so
I decided to get up. Buddy whined a little when I got up but he settled
down when I went to take a shower. Then I let him out and we all
went outside. He peed like a good boy. I was debating about what
to do with him while I walked Brin and Echo because I didn’t
want him loose in the house, but I also didn’t want him barking
in the crate while Warren was sleeping. So I decided to walk all
three dogs at once. It worked surprisingly well. Brin and Echo walked
nicely on my left and Buddy cruised along on my right. When I returned,
I had breakfast. Buddy can stand and look down at the tabletop, but
he never tried to help himself to anything.
Brin and Echo had their
breakfast, while Buddy ate about half of his in the crate and then
started whining. Eventually he settled
down and I let him out. It was still very early (like 5:30) and
I had a lot of time to kill, so I put Buddy on a Flexi and took him
to the playground. He exercised very nicely on the Flexi, although
he did try to grab it and pull on it a couple times. Whenever he
did that, all I had to do was stop “playing” (in other
words, I stood still and let the leash go slack so there was nothing
for him to play tug against) and he gave up that game. When I started
to jog around the playground, Buddy grabbed my foot. Again, it
was a very inhibited bite, but still unacceptable behavior. I immediately
stopped, told him NO sternly, and he let go. He played ball a little,
found a big stick to carry around for a while, and then we went
home.
I cuddled poor B&E on the futon while Buddy rested quietly
on the floor. One more trip outside, then he went in his crate
and I
left for work. He howled a little but I couldn’t hear anything
as I left the house.
Buddy was waiting quietly in his crate when
I got home. He had shredded the bedding I gave him, but that’s
okay. He did his business outside and then we went for an uneventful
walk. We
practiced sits
and downs in the kitchen while dinner was cooking. He knows the
word sit and he does this fairly reliably on cue. He sits almost
as fast
as Brin and Echo when they're waiting for me to open the door
and take them outside. He has also started sitting for attention
without
a cue. Nice! For downs, he is still following my hand. Sometimes
he tries to paw me instead. I told him to “shake” and “paw” but
he didn’t seem to recognize that.
We took Buddy to Pet Supplies
Plus to buy a citronella collar to curb his howling. Buddy was
well behaved in the store and he even
got to play with a cute little 16-week-old pup. He was very gentle.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have any citronella collars in
stock, and it will take 5-8 days if I order one from a catalog.
I
gave Brindle and Buddy some rawhide bones. I only had little four
inch ones and I expected Buddy to finish his in one bite,
but Brindle
finished first. Buddy took the rest of his bone outside and buried
it under the porch.
He still doesn’t care for the crate, but
he will go in easily now. He just doesn’t like to stay there.
I’ve been putting
him in, giving him a treat, and letting him come right back out.
At bedtime, I didn’t feel like listening to him howl, so
I tied him to the bed for the night instead. He was quiet all night.
April 14, 2000
"buddy is soooo cute!!!"
Mom said so too. It's a shame he's so big because I bet he'd
be really easy to place if he was a normal size. He has a
great temperament.
"if they could shrink him a little bit, I would
want a dog just like that! bigger than a min pin, smaller than
a buddy. anyway, I think it's cool that you're hosting a dog. what
if you start to really like
him and want to keep him?????"
Right now I 'm totally neutral about him. He's nice and all but he's
not special to me. He's just a dog. I probably will start to like
him but he's not the right kind of dog for us. It could never happen
because he doesn't "speak" to Warren. Besides, then I wouldn't be able to foster anymore.
"how is everybody getting along
now? any problems? what does keek think?"
Keek hates him. Buddy just wants to play but that would be a disaster! Keek
has been living on the fridge, top of the cabinet, top of the computer table,
and in the living room (no doggy access). As far as I know he didn't even come
into the bedroom last night, so this morning I moved his food into the computer
room. He started eating right away. Poor Keek.
The dogs try to play with him but then they get freaked out when he tries
to play back. He really wants to play. He needs a huge dog buddy. (Ha, Buddy
needs
a buddy.) And Brindle has some issues. He thinks he owns everything in the
house. I gave Buddy a bone that Brin and Echo NEVER played with. All of a
sudden, that bone is the greatest thing ever. And Brin gets really snarly
if food is
around. Buddy still isn't really eating. It is weird to be around a dog that
doesn't want to eat.
"that's another bad part of getting such a large
dog. I bet he eats a lot."
Actually, so far he won't really eat, which really puts a damper on my training
method! We weighed him yesterday when we went to Pet Supplies Plus for a citronella
collar (unfortunately they didn't have any) and we were both surprised to find
out that he only weighs about 60 pounds! He's long and tall but he's skinny.
I wanted the collar because he howls in the crate. I didn't want
to use a shock collar because I was worried he would associate
the shock with the place rather than the behavior, and I don't want
him
to be scared of the crate. Warren said he howled for about 20 minutes
after I left yesterday, which really isn't that bad, except that
Warren was trying to sleep. Last night I decided to just tie him
to the bed, and he was quiet all night. He stood up a couple times
and looked around, but mostly he just slept. I tied him there again
this morning when I left, and told Warren to crate him before he
leaves. I don't think he'd need to be crated at all if I didn't have
the cat and dogs to worry about. He seems to be totally housetrained
and he doesn't seem to chew stuff, although he did destroy the bed
that I put in his crate yesterday.
"buddy looks like a very nice dog. he doesn't look
that big. I think you should keep him."
He is nice but there is no way I 'm keeping him. I want to help him
learn to be good and then send him on his way and get a different
one. He already sits to
go outside, and today he sat to get his leash on. If he wasn't so darn
big, he'd be pretty easy to place. I think he should go live with
a nice young adult jogger.
He would be a great jogging partner. He has a really different temperament
from my dogs. He's more detached, less in-your-face, not as freaked
out by people.
He's not very affectionate though. And he barks and whines a lot. If somebody
takes his bone, he cries and then starts barking. If I leave the room,
he does the same thing. That's why I want the citronella collar.
C. called to check up on Buddy. I told her he's doing great. I said I could tell that somebody had been working with him because he sits
to go through doors and to get his leash on. She was happy to hear
that. I told her we are going home next weekend and she said we could
drop him off on Friday and maybe he'll get adopted on Saturday. If
not, we could pick him up after we get back, or we could leave him
there for a while. Sounds good.
April 14, 2000
Buddy is settling in and is eating
better. He will take treats now, so we worked on sit, down, crate,
go to your place, and “off” (not mugging my hand for
food). He caught onto “go to your place” quickly enough
that I think someone taught him that before, or maybe he was taught
to sleep on a blanket. He also caught on to “off” rather
quickly, although at first he licked my hand nonstop for about
a minute. I haven’t seen him startle to the click sound yet
but he seems to be learning anyway. He is good at sitting to go
outside, although he usually complains about it.
We took him to
PetSmart, looking for a citronella collar again. He was well behaved
in the store and got a lot of attention. The
store had a collar but it was too expensive. We'll just have
to deal with his barking, and hopefully we’ll have a collar
for the next foster. He actually isn’t a real nuisance barker.
He barks for a few minutes when he's left alone, and then he settles
down. If I put a chewy in his big bone and give him that when I
crate him, we can sneak out without any barking. He barks when
he is playing with the dogs, or trying to play with the cat. Sometimes
he makes a sound like, “I love you!” As long as he's
in the same room with us, he's quiet and mellow for such a young
dog.
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