Foster Journal
November 2000: Ranger's Dog
Aggression Problem; Bingo!
November 8, 2000
I can't remember how much i told you about the Ranger saga. I had
left two messages for his new mom (Lisa) about getting together
sometime
(and remember, that was actually HER idea, not mine, so it wasn't
like i was being pushy or anything) but she never called back.
I finally
broke down and called Ruth yesterday. I filled her in and asked
her if she had talked to Lisa recently. She hadn't but said she
wanted
to check up on Ranger anyway. She just called me and said she
also left two messages but no one called her back. She actually
went over
to the house today and knocked on the door. Nobody answered.
Nobody barked, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. She
thought it
was odd that the screen door was locked. They could have left
by a different door, or they could have been inside and just didn't
answer.
She taped a note to their front door. She said if she doesn't
hear from them by tomorrow, she's going back. Apparently the woman's
sister
(i think) lives next door or somewhere close, so i think Ruth
is planning to go there and try to find out what's going on. We
are both wondering
if Lisa may have gotten sick. She had mentioned that she was
sick for a long time and that's why they hadn't gotten a dog until
now. I don't
know what was wrong with her. Anyhow, i'll let you know if i
find out anything.
"wonder what is going on with ranger's person? what
if they want you to take him again?"
Well, then i guess i'll take
him again. =) I'll do whatever i have to do. Maybe i could get
him a muzzle for when he's loose with the other animals, and
the rest of the time he would be crated. But i hope i don't have
to do anything at
all. I hope they get it figured out. I'm glad that Ruth is involved now so
it's kinda off my shoulders. It could be that the lady just changed
her mind for whatever
reason, and then she started getting annoyed that we kept calling. I wonder
if the humane society did a follow-up call. They are supposed to
be doing that now,
i think, for every adoption.
November 9, 2000
Turns out her boyfriend erases her phone messages before she
gets them. This was one of my ideas too, but i didn't think he
would erase FOUR messages before she got them -- especially since
we
called at all different
times. I called once in the evening while he was at work
and once on the weekend, and Ruth called twice during the day.
She's trying to
tell me that she never got any of those messages. But on
the phone just now, she told me she didn't want to meet at the
park, since Ranger
is so dog aggressive now. But i'm almost positive that the
only time i mentioned meeting at the park was in the first message
that i left
for her. So if she REALLY never got that message... well...
how
would she know i wanted to meet at the park? And she said
something about
how i mentioned that i really wanted to see Ranger. I only
said that in the second message i left.
Anyway, at this point
it's all funky and i really don't even want to meet her anymore.
But i kinda have to now. I told
her to call me sometime
and she said she'll probably call next Sat and we can get
together next Sun. But not at the park. So it's probably gonna
be really
dumb. I was picturing walking our respective dogs on trails
at the park.
Now we probably shouldn't even take ours, if he really
is that aggressive now. He pulls on leash and he lunges at other
dogs.
She said she can
barely hold him, and even her boyfriend has trouble.
She said
something about taking classes from somebody at the shelter but
that she probably couldn't start until January
and she wants to
get him under control before that. So Ruth might help her.
Ruth is a trainer but apparently she does more obedience-type
stuff
and not
much behavior modification type stuff. I would offer to help
her but i'm really not qualified. I'm one of those people
who
knows just enough
to be dangerous.
One good thing about meeting them is that
i could show them the Gentle Leader and maybe the prong collar.
The prong might
not
be a great choice
cos i have heard it is not the best idea for dog-aggressive
dogs. They see a dog, they lunge, it hurts, and they just
get madder.
But the
GL should help. I'm just worried she'll say they can't
afford it (it's under $20). You know me, i'll probably end up giving
them one. I'm
stupid like that sometimes.
Guess i better spend some time
this week reading up on dog-aggressive dogs. I think it is truly
pathetic if the
shelter really
can't help her until January. If they are concerned about
keeping
adopted dogs
in their new homes, they really need to get on top of
things like this. Here is a woman who is actually willing to work
on a behavior problem
instead of dumping the dog, but there's nobody to help
her. I'll have to figure out the scoop on that one.
November 11, 2000
"are you still meeting ranger's person tomorrow? i guess it
would be interesting
to see what's going on."
No, that's supposed to be NEXT
Sunday. But i'm not gonna hold my breath. Like i said,
it would be nice
to give
her a chance
to try the Gentle
Leader.
November 17, 2000
How would you like to have an extra doggy around for
Thanksgiving? His name is Bingo. He's kinda spaniel-y.
They have bassett/lab
on the website. He's a year old, neutered, housetrained,
not too big,
good w/children, and very loveable. He was originally
adopted from the shelter but his people are "moving." She
was reading me some of the stuff they wrote on the
turn-in sheet. Did he have
any behavior problems and what did you do? Answer:
Yes, yelled at him.
Did you ask us for help with behavior problems? Answer:
No.
She said i could think about it and let her know
on Monday, but i said i might as well commit to it
now
cos it would
be easier
to pick him
up tomorrow. I told her to make sure he has his rabies
shot and his microchip, and i mentioned that we have
tried to
pick up
dogs before
and they weren't ready for us. So hopefully they'll
take care of it before tomorrow. I'll call the kennels
before
we go tomorrow
just to
make sure.
I didn't consult Warren but i think he'll
be okay with it.
(later...) Some people are looking at the dog right now. If
they don't adopt him, somebody is doing an adopt-a
thon
at a Giant
Eagle this
weekend and they are going to
take him along for that. So, no new dog this weekend.
(still later...) Those people didn't adopt him, and somehow he
got crossed off the list for Giant Eagle. So... i guess we're getting
him tomorrow.
Maybe. Unless
she calls again.
November 18, 2000
We got Bingo this morning. There's a semi-new girl working
at the shelter and she has her act together. She had
all his paperwork
copied for
me, and she brought
him right out so we didn't have to sit around for half
an hour like we usually do. He's sort of nondescript
and rather
overweight,
but
it turns
out he has a
super temperament. He pulls like a freight train. Other
than that,
he doesn't have any behavior problems so far. He gets
along with the dogs
and doesn't
chase the cat. He's housetrained. He doesn't whine and
pace like some of the other
fosters did.
We took all three dogs to the park. We could
just tell that he wouldn't run away, so we let him off leash. He
was fine.
He doesn't
actually
come when called but
i think he just doesn't know his name. There was only
one other dog at the park when we got there but eventually
lots of people
and dogs
came.
They were all
dark colored, medium sized dogs, so it was really hard
to keep track of where ours were, especially since we
had
to
watch
three this time.
They
were all very
good. Bingo started walking off with other people a couple
times but he did very well for a dog that had only known
us for a couple
hours!
There were some clueless people there who thought
it was a good idea to take the leash off their dog outside
the
gate, and then
open the
gate and
try to get
the dog to go through while they stood outside. Of
course several
other people's dogs escaped through the open gate,
but they all came back.
Brin went around
the end of the fence but he came back in when somebody
opened the gate for him. I wasn't too worried. I figured
he'd come
back eventually.
He seems to understand
now. Plus, i had turkey and rice baby food.
Eventually
our faces were frozen so we left. I bathed three dogs. They were
all very good. Bingo couldn't
jump in the
tub so i
had to lift
him. Wow! He weighs
55 pounds. I think he'll be going on a diet. Anyway,
now he is shiny and smells nice. He is snoozing on
the floor
behind
me.
He seems
like a very
well-adjusted
dog.
November 19, 2000
"congratulations on getting all three dogs to sit and look
at the camera
for that last picture. maybe you should be a pet photographer."
Yeah, but did
you see the look on Brin's face? He hates foster dogs. Poor little
neglected Brin.
November 20, 2000
No major problems. He's a normal dog. He eats whatever i give
him, he potties outside, he plays with
toys, he even fetches, he doesn't
get
into stuff,
he comes when called, he's quiet, he's
friendly, he's just a good dog. He's not crate
trained but it doesn't matter. He had the
run of the house today and everything was fine. He has a couple
minor problems, like
jumping up
for attention,
pulling on the leash, and chasing the cat.
He has
to
sit
for attention, he's learning
to walk on a GL, and i haven't figured
out
exactly what to do about the cat yet. I can tell he won't
hurt Keek. He's
just curious
and
wants to
play. But Keek
gets freaky and runs and hides.
November 21, 2000
"bingo sounds like a good dog."
He is. He's no trouble at all.
He settled into the routine right away. Just now when i got home,
i let
everybody outside and looked around
and realized
that
all three were pooping at the same
time. Talk about "regular!" They
are on a schedule.
Right now he's snarfling on the futon.
He's the easiest foster yet. He still
thinks he's
allowed
on the bed,
and he jumps
all over me
when i
get home. Other
than that, it's like he's not even
here. But somehow i suspect we'll
have him for
a long
time. He's the
sort of
dog that
people wouldn't
appreciate from just
looking at his picture. It's his
temperament that makes him stand
out. Physically,
he's sort of nondescript.
When we
were at the
park, i had
trouble
telling which
one he was. Good thing he has that
bright red collar.
November 28, 2000
"Stacy" never called back about Bingo. She
said she would have to get a ride with somebody, so
she was gonna try to figure out
when she could come
to meet
him and then call me back.
And she didn't call. I told her she could come see
him any evening this week cos
i didn't want her to have to wait until the weekend. But now i'm kinda
hoping
it
does
go
til the
weekend because
then
we could meet
her at the dog park. I'm a
little freaked out about having four kids at the house, you know?
She lives
on the North
Side,
close
to the shelter,
so i
guess she was
thinking i would take the dog
there to meet her. But i'm not doing that. I couldn't anyway cos Warren
never
gets
home
until
like 7 or
8 these days.
(later...) Stacy just called and
she wants to wait until Saturday
at
noon, so
i told her
we should
meet at
Frick Park instead.
I told
her how
to get there so
hopefully she will go to the
right place. It sounded like
she is used
to going to
a different
part of
the park. She
said
she'll give me a
call on
Saturday morning.
November 29, 2000
"what's up? got any more dogs?"
No, i think three's enough.
Did i tell you somebody's gonna meet Bingo on Saturday? She
has four kids so i thought we should do it at the
dog park instead of
here! Hopefully the weather
will be decent. If not, maybe we'll just have to meet at the
shelter.
It's
a pain
to
go all
the
way up there. But
in a
way it would be
convenient if she ends
up adopting him cos we wouldn't have to make another trip.
We'll see.
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