Foster Journal

April 2000 Part 2: Buddy

April 16, 2000

This morning I got up early and walked a bunch of dogs. Then we went to the freestyle event again. The freestyle was a lot better today cos it was off leash. I really love watching border collies do freestyle. Or anything. They have so much energy. They're a lot more fun to watch than the dogs that look like they don't even want to be there.

I trained Brin and Echo a little cos I was all inspired by the freestyle. They are both learning how to do laterals (walking sideways) and Echo is finally learning how to go backwards. Buddy practiced being quiet in his crate. He's not very good at that but he's getting better.

I took Buddy for his evening walk and everybody in the entire neighborhood had to comment on him. Terry (the guy that Brindle loves so much) liked him a lot. The lady up the street was outside with her daughter and granddaughter, and then two other people came to visit them, and every single person had to stop and pet Buddy. The daughter really liked him and even asked how much he would cost. She said they live in the country and it would be nice to have a dog like him around. But her husband didn't go for it. Then a guy and his wife were going for a walk and they commented on him. Then three boys were trying to guess what kind of dog he is. (They guessed right.) One of them said he would try to find somebody to adopt him. I told him to come and let me know if he finds somebody who's interested and the other kid said, "Yeah, I know where you live, with Brindle and Echo." Then we went around the corner and another guy said hi, and then two guys were on their porch and they wanted to know what kind of dog he is. Buddy wanted to say hi so I took him up to get petted. Then a little boy ran away but then he came back and wanted to pet Buddy. His mom was really nice. She was asking me all about the foster thing and she thought it was really cool and said it's really nice of me to do it. She wanted to know if they need people to foster cats, too.

So what I want to know is, why hasn't he been adopted yet? Every single person I saw just HAD to comment on him or ask about him. If he's such an attractive, well-behaved young man, why doesn't anybody want him? Is it really just cos he's so big? Warren said maybe he barks a lot in his kennel and that turns people off. I'll have to ask.

Well, I have to go order a citronella collar. I found a "cheap" one. It probably won't be here in time for Buddy to use it, but it will be a good thing to have if I keep doing this fostering thing.

"I like reading your dog stories. :) and I wonder too why somebody hasn't adopted buddy already - a lot of ppl have/like big dogs. I mean, he's not as big as a st. bernard or anything. and he's so cute. wouldn't it be neat if somebody in your area takes him and then you and brin and echo can visit him sometimes?"

I wasn't there at the time, but Warren was talking to the people next door about him. They already have two fairly large dogs. Warren said he told the guy about the fostering thing and the guy made a big thing about not saying that loud enough for his wife to hear because she'd take every animal that needed a home. Hmm, sounds like our house.

The day after we got Buddy my leg muscles were very sore and the only thing I can figure is that I was very tense. I was really kinda freaked out, like, "What on earth was I thinking?" I feel a lot better knowing he's going back on Friday!

April 16, 2000

Buddy got a lot of attention on our evening walk. He was a great ambassador for the Doberman breed, shelter dogs in general, and especially the foster program. He was very polite and friendly with everyone, even a little boy who was shorter than he is. People were initially intimidated by his size, but were pleasantly surprised by his great temperament. I told everyone that he is available for adoption and at least one person promised to spread the word since he is such a sweet dog. Several others ALMOST seemed interested in adopting him, but were put off by his size.

We had a thunderstorm tonight. Apparently, Buddy is scared of thunder. He kept trying to get in bed with us every time he heard thunder. Eventually I had to crate him because he wouldn’t stay on the floor. Luckily, the storm ended shortly after I crated him, and he was quiet the rest of the night. Maybe now he thinks crates are good for escaping thunder.

April 17, 2000

Gail suggested: "people don't like getting big dogs. I think they want little puppies, then if they get big they don't mind. it's a shame you couldn't get that lady with the big yard to take him. he'd have liked it there. maybe you should advertise him as a "great watch dog." protect your property. scare off bad guys. that kinda dog."

But that would be false advertising! He's a big, whiny, clumsy puppy. He doesn't bark at anyone but me, cos he wants attention.

I was sort of half awake last night during the storm, and I noticed a large dog head and two large dog paws appear on the bed. I sat up and asked him what he wanted. He tried to crawl up in bed. I petted him a little and he lay back down. After that, every time it thundered, he tried to get up in bed! I couldn't believe it. He never cried, or tried to run and hide (well, he was tied to the bed so he couldn't have, anyway). He just wanted to come up and cuddle. Of course he's much too large for that, and I don't want him to learn bad habits (so far he's pretty good about staying off the bed). After I pushed him off for about the tenth time, I decided to crate him. I figured maybe he'd feel safer in there. He cried for three minutes (seemed longer!) and then he went to sleep and was fine until morning. Big silly dog.

April 17, 2000

This morning’s walk was difficult. I had all three dogs. I mistakenly thought Brin would not pull on his regular collar (he did). It was raining so I had two leashes in my left hand, and another leash and umbrella in my right. Then Echo pooped and I had to pick it up. I need more hands.

Buddy is getting used to wearing the Gentle Leader, as long as the leash isn’t attached to it. He acts like a pony that doesn’t know how to lead. I think he’s one of those dogs that would do better on a prong collar, but I know that a lot of people think they are cruel, so I doubt if his adopters will use one. Maybe they will use a GL though, so I want to get him used to it.

Buddy has really bonded to me and I’m not so sure it’s a good thing. He whines and cries if he’s not with me. He has also started whining for no reason (that I can see), even if he is with me. He is very pushy sometimes when he wants attention. He’ll put his head on me and lean really hard. I should probably not pet him when he does this. I guess he has mild separation anxiety (who could blame him?), and I suspect he’ll outgrow it once he settles into a more stable home. Echo was the same way when we got her.

He had to sleep in his crate again tonight, because once again he kept trying to get on the bed. He never tried that for the first four days. I think his real personality is starting to show now. Instead of being sort of morose and quiet (like Echo was at first), he’s now acting more like a typical exuberant adolescent. He’s eating well now, too, and it turns out he is very food motivated.

April 18, 2000

We did some training tonight and Buddy did great. I’m beginning to wonder how much training he had in the shelter because he catches on to things so quickly, it seems like he’s done it all before. We did sit, down, shake, go to your mat, come and sit in front. Then I showed him how to target my hand and we did some “heeling” complete with (not quite automatic) sits. And he quickly learned to retrieve a dumbbell. And I can lure him to lie on his side.

He is also doing better with the cat. Keek is more likely to stand his ground now instead of running off, and Buddy respects him. If Buddy gets too nosy, Keek smacks him on the muzzle. They can sniff each other and basically stay calm. But I’m always there to supervise because Buddy wants to play with the cat and I don’t think that would be safe.
Buddy went along to Dairy Queen and yelped when we left him in the car.

April 18, 2000

I'm about ready for Buddy to go back! In the last couple of days, he has apparently started thinking that I 'm his mommy. That's okay, I can understand why he'd think that, but he can't let me out of his sight, and it's really annoying. He cries if I leave the room and he can't follow me. I left him with Warren while I walked B&E and he carried on the whole time. Last night he started trying to get on the bed. First it was just his head, which I tolerated. Then he started putting one front paw up, then both front paws, then all of him except his back feet. I kept telling him no and pushing him off but it didn't work. Two nights ago I felt bad for him because he was scared of the thunder. But last night he was just being annoying. I had to crate him because he just wouldn't stay off the bed. So he cried. And howled. And barked. And I was trying to sleep. Just like always, he shut up within about three minutes. But then he started up again about twenty minutes later. Cried for another three or four minutes. And he kept this up, off and on, for like an hour. Just as I 'd start to fall asleep, he'd start again.

The good news is, if he's crated at night, Keek will actually come around. He slept with me a little last night. He's not pleased about the Buddy thing. They have sniffed noses a couple times and Buddy wagged his tail. But he just won't leave Keek alone and Keek gets annoyed and smacks him (too bad he's declawed!) and then runs away and jumps on top of the kitchen cabinets.

When I ordered the citronella collar last night, they told me it should be here in one or two days! According to the catalog it should take 5-8 days, which is why I put off ordering it and tried to buy one at the store. If I had just ordered it right away, this barking problem might be solved by now. (I sure hope the citronella thing works!)

I'll take off Friday and we'll come early. I think we'll take Buddy back on Friday morning. They don't open until nine though, so that means we will be getting a late start. But we'd be back Friday afternoon instead of Friday night. How does that sound? I don't want to take him back a whole day early, so we'll keep him Thurs night and I 'll take him for a good walk on Friday morning.

April 19, 2000

Buddy is very whiney. He can’t stand to be away from me. It is annoying. But other than that, he is a good boy. The girl across the street seemed seriously interested in adopting him. But she had to ask her mom, so I’m not holding my breath. She is supposed to let me know today. I’m not sure how I feel about it, because it would be great to get him a new home, and she seems to like dogs, but she is sort of clueless. She does not have a fenced yard. But she does have another dog for him to play with. They seemed to get along okay. Buddy wasn’t interested in P at all, but he isn't interested in most people. Except me.

April 20, 2000

As expected, P did not get back to me about adopting Buddy. I think I’m glad. She’s a bit clueless. Some kids in the neighborhood were pretty clueless, too. I told them he’s up for adoption and one of them thought I would give him the dog right then and there, for free.

The citronella collar arrived and I tried it on Buddy. (No, I did not wait four days like the instructions recommended.) He was a very quiet dog all evening!

April 21, 2000

We went to the shelter to drop Buddy off in the morning, before heading out of town to visit our families for Easter. The shelter was closed for Good Friday but they were expecting us. Traffic was light and we got there too early, so we took Buddy for a walk in the park. He pulled and bucked on the GL. Buddy howled when we pulled up in front of the shelter. We'll leave him there through next weekend, and if he isn't adopted by then, I guess we could take him back for a couple weeks, although I’m not sure how much more I can do for him. Plus, he was getting too attached to me. I have already evaluated his behavior and taught him a couple things, and now his best chance of being adopted is to be at the shelter when somebody comes in looking for a big, friendly, young dog.

April 24, 2000

I knew there would be a message from C. waiting for me, but I expected her to say, "When can you come and get Buddy?" Instead, she said, "Buddy was adopted!" I'm just thrilled! Her message was short so I don't know any details. Isn't this great? I'll have to ask Warren when we can get the next one! Hmm, I just thought... what if that girl across the street actually went and adopted him? But I doubt it.

"wow!! buddy was adopted. with only one day to get adopted. see, there you were. worried about what you were going to do about him when you got back. and he got adopted. well, you said he was nice. and he was cute. good for buddy."

"that's great!!! wow, that worked out perfectly. so, who's next? go get another one."

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