Journal

The shelter called about a possible foster dog named King. He is a two year old German Shepherd that has been at the shelter since July 11. They want to get him into a foster home because he is so housetrained that he will not potty in the kennel, so he needs to be walked regularly. He's not neutered yet so they're gonna put him on the surgery list and call me to let me know when we can pick him up. Supposedly he is pretty mellow, good with kids, etc. and "should be easy to place." (Then why is he still there?) Didn't ask about cats. She said they have a lot of shepherds right now.

Warren and I figured, even if we end up moving, we need to be here for a couple months anyway, so we might as well take him for a while.

So we'll probably have an extra dog when you come to visit. =)

"sounds cool! :) can't wait to meet him."

Well, for all I know, he may get adopted this weekend. But I 'm sure we'll end up with some kinda shepherd. This is regatta weekend, so we weren't sure if we should take on a foster right now, but you know me, if they ask me to help a dog, how can I refuse? Besides, we might not get him until next week depending on when he gets neutered. I'm a little intimidated by the idea of an intact adult male shepherd but we'll see.

King is here. King is big. King is not neutered. He supposedly has kennel cough and they can't neuter him until he gets better. They gave me medicine for him but I haven't heard him cough yet.

Everyone is getting along, although Brin and Echo both had to try mounting him. Silly dogs! He chewed through his leash in the car on the way home but other than that, he is being very good. We're gonna get a chain. Oh, he can easily jump over the baby gate. I'm probably gonna keep him leashed or on the tie out when I take him outside. He could easily get out of the yard. They told me he is an escape artist. We put the window down for him on the way home and he tried to climb out. But he seems really mellow. He hasn't noticed the cat yet but we took him into the cat room at the shelter and he was not impressed, so I think Keek will be fine.

Right now he's sleeping. He grunts when he lies down. He already cries for me when I leave the room. Well, actually, he did that once and then after that he just jumped the gate and came to me.

When we picked him up, C. (who did our orientation and got us to foster Buddy) was there, and she asked if she could take a picture of us. She seemed to really like King. She said she took him for a walk with her own dog. One of the volunteers (J.) was planning to come to the shelter a lot this weekend to take King out to potty, since he won't go in his kennel. He wanted to foster him but he is only allowed to have dogs under 35 pounds, so he got to foster a puppy. (Not fair!!)

He is not sweet like Sassy but he already seems to know I'm gonna take care of him. He sits on command (they do a good job teaching that at the shelter) and he seems to understand "no."

Did I mention he's not neutered? I'm not used to that!

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King can’t be neutered yet because he has kennel cough. I agreed to take him unneutered while he recovers. We picked him up this evening. He is a pretty GSD with floppy ears. He’s big (72 pounds and underweight) but he’s surprisingly gentle. His head is huge. His paws are as big as my hands. I think he’s shorter than Buddy but a lot heavier.

They said he’s an escape artist and knows how to open doors. He tried to climb out the car window on the way home. He also chewed through his leash in the car, and we had no idea until we got home. He jumps the baby gate with ease, and I’m sure he could get out of the yard if he tried.

King knows how to sit and shake hands. He is very food motivated and he seems to learn fast. He isn’t too bad on leash but he doesn’t want to walk beside me. He tries to walk in front, and a lot of times he just pushes right into me. He’s too strong for me, so thank goodness he’s so mellow. If he gets to the end of the flexi and tries to pull, I just stop and he runs back to me.

He’s on medication for the kennel cough but it doesn’t seem to bother him much. He gets a little out of breath when I walk him but it’s more of a wheeze than a cough. He takes his pills without a fuss.

I started conditioning him to the crate but I could tell he wasn’t ready to stay in there all night, so I put up the gate and let him loose in the bedroom. He was fine all night.

I crated King this morning while I walked Brin and Echo. He carried on the whole time, barking and trying to get out. I worked with him some more, especially on going in and out of the crate, and staying in the crate for a few seconds at a time, but he still goes nuts if I go out of sight.

He hung out with me and the dogs all day. He is interested in the cat but he isn’t obsessed like Sassy was. I think he’ll be fine in a home with cats. He loves the dogs. And the people at the shelter said he’s great with kids.

I gave him a bath outside with the hose. He was calm through the whole ordeal. When I was brushing him afterward to try to remove some of the flea dirt from behind his ears, he put his head in my lap and I could almost hear him saying thanks! He appreciates being taken care of.

In the evening, we crated King while we went to the regatta. When we got home, THREE dogs greeted us at the door. Somehow he escaped from the Furrari crate. He just kinda pushed his way through. Surprisingly, nothing in the house was damaged. There were clothes strewn all over the floor, and one of my sneakers was in the dog bed. But nothing was chewed, and Keek was unharmed.

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"he's so pretty!!!!!! and your dogs look like chihuahuas next to him, my lord he's big!!! he's bigger than buddy was, right?"

He really is pretty. And he really is big. I don't think he's taller than Buddy but he's a lot heavier. His head is just huge. And he apparently has been allowed to do whatever he wants for two years. He doesn't respond well to being physically made to do something. Not that he gets mean, just that he doesn't do it. He doesn't pull on leash but he walks into me a lot, and I keep shoving him back beside me and he keeps trying to walk diagonally in front of me. He rushes through doors, although I can get him to sit before I open the door. Once I open it though, watch out! Luckily I had enough extra links for Brin's old prong collar (the really big one) that I can get it around King's huge neck, so at least I have some leverage for moving him around if need be.

I didn't crate him last night cos I knew he'd carry on, and I didn't want to deal with it. And I had nothing to tether him with cos all the leashes have been chewed. So I just put up the gate and hoped he'd stay. He did. This morning I wanted to take B&E for their walk first, but when I left him in the bedroom, he immediately jumped over the gate and tried to come along. So I muscled him back into the bedroom and stuffed him into a crate. Unfortunately I didn't put the bark collar on so he barked and cried and woke Warren up. Then I walked him, but we had to come back cos he started coughing. I tried to do a little obedience work with him at the playground. He's pretty clueless. Much more like Buddy than Sassy. Well, he's a boy.

I gave him his pills for his cough. His mouth is huge and I had to stick my entire hand in there so I could stuff the pills down his throat. He was good though.

He really is mellow, like they kept saying. So far he mostly just wants to sleep. He's old enough that he doesn't need to constantly run around and chew things. If I ignore him he just goes somewhere to lie down and hang out. That's what he's doing right now.

"wow, a.... you are really something else. wow. just wow. that's all I can think. wow."

Yesterday I was brushing King and noticed all these little black dots all over him, especially around his ears. You dog people know what that means, right? Flea dirt. I did the test to make sure -- when I got them wet they turned red (gross). So I brushed a bunch of it out but he really needed a bath. I wanted to give him one anyway cos his coat felt oily. The other fosters felt icky like that too. Since it was so nice out, and since he's so BIG!, I decided to wash him outside with the hose. I tied him to the deck and started to hose him off. I had Warren there to help me just in case, but I was actually able to bathe him by myself cos he was SO GOOD! I lathered him up and rinsed him off and he just kinda stood there andlet me. He even stood still to get dried off. We stayed outside for a while and he dried really quickly in the sun. He doesn't seem to have a lot of undercoat. He dried faster than Brin does. I brushed him some more to get more of the flea dirt out. He put his head in my lap and I could almost hear him saying, "Thank you!" He really appreciates having somebody take care of him.

I did some clicker training with him and he did pretty well. He is good at sit. We worked on down a little, and I made him go in and out of the crate a bunch of times until he got used to it. Then we went to the regatta, so I had to crate him.

It was midnight when we got home. I didn't even notice that THREE dogs greeted us at the door. Warren had to point it out. We made sure that Keek was still alive (he was fine) and went upstairs to survey the damage. The crate was intact, with the door hanging open. How did he do that?? They told us he was an escape artist but I didn't believe them. The corner of the crate was sort of popped out of place, and there's a little gap there now, but it's not ruined. There were dirty clothes scattered around the house. I found one of my shoes in the bedroom and the other one on the dog bed downstairs. But nothing was chewed. Things were just moved around. The toilet paper was untouched, thank goodness, cos we just got a new pack of 12 double rolls. The bark collar was totally out of juice, so apparently he barked the entire time and wasn't bothered by the collar.

I have no idea what to do with him the next time we go away. He jumps baby gates and opens crate doors. But he didn't destroy anything. So I guess I'll just let him loose next time and see what happens. (What choice do I have?)

"that's neat that he let you bathe him, and he appreciated it. I 'm amazed that he got out of the crate, I guess you are too, huh? he just kinda busted his way thru, it seems. wonder what was going on in your house while you were away, I wish there was video!!"

I'm going to set up the camera next time. Except I don't want to crate him anymore but Warren wants to. I think he'd be okay loose. In fact, I think he's better loose cos he seems to panic in the crate. We crated him a second time when we went back to the regatta today and he got out again.

"I think he will probably be good if you just let him out. but dog-proof a little before you leave."

Well, this is what I wanted to do, but Warren insists on crating him. He had a shepherd before and they didn't have a clue how to train it and it ate the entire kitchen. So he is afraid to let King loose in the house. But I 'm pretty sure he'd be fine. Warren wants to reinforce the crate so he can't get out but I 'm afraid he'll end up hurting himself if he tries to get out and can't. And of course he has piles of clothes and stuff all over the floor so if anything did get chewed it would be his.

We got home and of course King was loose again. Some clothes were moved around and my sneakers were upstairs again but nothing was chewed or destroyed. Warren is planning how to reinforce the plastic crate. We decided not to try the wire crate because he might get his leg stuck or hurt himself somehow trying to get out. I think he'd be fine uncrated but Warren's not convinced. I was only worried about Keek getting hurt but King shows no signs of being a cat killer. He sniffed noses with Keek and wagged his tail and that was that.

A little while after we got back, the phone rang. It was R. from the humane society. She had some people interested in King! Actually it sounded like she had several different interested parties, but she weeded them out (somebody just wanted a "guard dog") and gave me the number of a woman named M. So I called her and told her she could come meet King. She said she'd be here in an hour, and she was right on time. She brought her daughter, who is probably like 12 (i'm not good at figuring out kids' ages). They adored the dog and he was really sweet with them. She said they are in the process of moving to a farm. They have HORSES!! Her daughter has her own pony. They have two cats and a Bichon. The new place has a big fenced yard. They wanted a dog that would be mellow around the horses. King seems like he could handle that. The daughter wants to take him on trail rides!!! They already own a big crate. They seem like they are real animal lovers. The daughter wanted to take him home. He gave her kisses and she hugged him the entire time. He rolled over for a bellyrub. They saw the fleas on his belly, which I just found earlier today.

They are supposed to call me tomorrow and let me know for sure. I really hope they decide to take him. I'll have to call the shelter and figure out how long we should wait to do the neuter. He doesn't seem to be bothered much by the kennel cough but Warren said you have to be careful when they have any kind of respiratory stuff. (He knows these things.) So I'm thinking maybe a week. So I'll have to take lots of pictures cos he probably won't be here much longer! I REALLY hope these people adopt him. The mom liked him a lot and even did some tests, like seeing if he was growly when he had his bone (which he wasn't). So she seems to have some dog sense. And the daughter loved him. I can just picture her riding her pony through the woods with King tagging along. I hope they don't change their minds. The mom liked the idea of saving a deserving dog, and she felt bad for him cos he's so skinny. So I'll let you know tomorrow.

We took King to Pet Supplies Plus for some flea stuff. We got the three pack and treated all the dogs. So hopefully we averted disaster. We should have done it right away but today was the first time I actually saw fleas on him. I was kinda hoping that he had been dipped at the shelter and the flea dirt was just left over. But I guess they don't dip them.

"king sounds like an interesting dog. it's a good thing that he is good, since he is such an escape artist. that could be a lot of trouble. I hope those people take him and give him a good home with the horses."

I can't stay on long cos I'm waiting for the flaky lady and her kid to call me back about King. They promised they'd call today. Finally I called them and left a message. I'm really mad at them. Why don't people have the courtesy to just call back and say they changed their minds? At 5:30 there was a message from the shelter that there was a couple there who wanted to meet King and could I bring him? I didn't get the message until just a little while ago cos I was out bathing King again with some flea shampoo (the stuff we bought yesterday did not work!), and the shelter closes at seven so I didn't bother calling them back. I wanted to give Marilyn one last chance to call. But I'm not gonna hold my breath. Hopefully they got a phone number for these other people and I can call them tomorrow. What a hassle. King looks nice and shiny. But he's still scratching.

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M and her daughter were supposed to call me today to let me know what they decided about King, but they never called. H. from the HS called and said there was a couple there who wanted to meet King but I got the message late and didn’t bother calling. I hope she took their name and number. I don’t want to ferry him back and forth to the HS anyway. If somebody wants to meet him, they can damn well come to my house. I have no time for flakes. If they are interested enough, they'll deal with it.

The Zodiac topical flea stuff had no effect, so I got some flea shampoo and gave the poor dog another bath. He was so good!

I really like this dog. Warren seems to be annoyed with him. I don’t know why. I think he’s sweet. He really appreciates me, and he follows me around, but he’s not as demanding as the other fosters. He goes into a crate really well now, but I only put him in to feed him. He’s loose in the house when I’m gone and he deals with it just fine. I don’t think he cries for me.

"yes, I 'd be worried about that too. can't you just put him in the least destructable room, in the crate? I 'm thinking it would probably take him a little while to escape, then he'd just be in that room."

Well, there is no way to keep him in just one room. We have no doors on our rooms. There used to be a door on the bedroom but we had to take it off when we got the carpet, and, well, it just never got put back on. And he jumps the baby gate.

But it's okay. We left him totally unconfined for the last two days and he didn't do anything bad. He just rearranges stuff. Mostly clothes and my sneakers. He loves those sneakers. He never chews them though. Just carries them around.

Well, they never called. I called them yesterday evening and left a message for them to please call me back either way. They didn't. I think that's very rude. Looking back on it, Warren pointed out that the kid was the one that was going nuts for the dog but the mom was noncommital. So it's no big surprise. No horses for King.

Yesterday H. from the HS left a message saying that there was a couple there asking about King. I didn't get the message until after they closed. I called today to find out if these people left a name and number. They did, so I called them. J. and L.. He's a truck driver. They got lost on the way here. They really liked King. He was friendly with them. They kept saying how pretty he was. Apparently one of their relatives was at the shelter adopting a lab puppy, saw somebody walking King, and told them to check him out. Their kids are grown and they have no other pets. They had a dalmatian but he was not healthy. He had bladder stones and they spent thousands of dollars on him before he finally died at less than two years old. They sounded like they took good care of him, walked him, trained him, loved him. They must have been here talking to us for about an hour. J didn't want to leave the dog. Finally they left and said they will call the shelter and me tomorrow to figure out when they can get him, because he still needs to be neutered. I'm not gonna hold my breath this time. But they really seemed committed.

Warren had to go get tires for the car (anyone counting how much money he already had to put into this "cheap" car?) but as soon as he gets back (hopefully soon) we are going to take King to the shelter. J. and L. are going to be there to fill out the paperwork. King will have to stay overnight. He'll be neutered tomorrow and they can pick him up tomorrow evening.

L. said she will keep in touch with me to let me know how he's doing. Yay! I told her even though he was here less than a week, I'm sad to see him go.

I called R. (HS person who was helping to find a home for King) to tell her the good news. She said I saved his life by agreeing to take him. He was about to be PTS. I know they always hint at this ("wouldn't want anything to happen to him") but she was the first person to actually say it.

G. said I should be expecting another call from her soon. She said there is a collie mix that was neglected/abandoned and their humane agent saved it. The owner lived in a trailer and the dog was kept outside in all weather. Then the owner went away and left it. She said the dog is terrified of thunderstorms. They're going to keep it a while to see if anybody adopts it and if not, I said I would foster it.

Hope Warren gets here soon. They close at seven.

"once again, you go girl! you are the queen of foster dogs! woowoo! :)"

Okay, we took him back. We got there while his new people were filling out their paperwork. I took a picture. We went to look at the dogs and we saw the one that we might foster next. Her name is Shadow and she's really calm and sweet and neat looking. Warren liked her. (Uh oh!) This is the one I wrote about before, that was tied up outside in the rain. H. said that she was soaked when they brought her in. People just make me sick.

H. said they take in about 60 cats EVERY DAY and adopt out about 20. You do the math. I assume it's probably not quite as bad during the winter (fewer litters). She didn't give me numbers for dogs but she did say that they keep them about a month. So I guess what I'm doing is a drop in the bucket, but it does make a difference for the individual dogs that I help. But it's very sad.

J and L took King for a walk. We found them on our way out and they promised to call and let us know how he's doing. They seemed very happy. Me too, in a bittersweet sort of way.

"I'm glad to hear about king. I wonder why those other people didn't call back."

They're flakes, just like all the people that called about Sassy and then never followed through. It occurred to me yesterday that the people who are serious will tell me right away. At first it seemed logical to me for people to say they wanted to sleep on it and get back to me the next day. But I have NEVER gotten a call back from a person who said they needed to think about it. With Sassy, and now with King, the people knew right away that they wanted the dog, and they said so. I'll have to see if that holds true for the next one.

I'm a little worried about the next foster. If we really do end up with Shadow, I'm worried we're gonna like her too much. The dogs we've had so far have had great temperaments but they didn't seem like the kind of dog I'd have. Shadow is cool. She looks to me sort of like a too-tall border collie or aussie but she was totally calm, quiet, and sweet. Looked like she'd be really smart, and from her past, I figure that she would appreciate somebody taking care of her. So I kinda hope she is adopted before we get her! Even Warren liked her, and you know how that goes. If she "speaks to him," well... what can I do?

It's too bad King's already gone. He would have probably scared you a little but I know you would've like him. Warren just said it's probably a good thing if we don't end up fostering Shadow. Apparently he really liked her, which is unusual cos she has long hair.

"well, you have plenty of space in your house. and, I 've always figured, once you have two the routine is already worked out for a multiple-dog family. so it probably wouldn't be that big of a change to have three."

Warren just got a call from C., the other humane society person. I guess G. is on vacation. That explains why she didn't answer my email about Shadow. Anyway, she has a different dog (not Shadow) that she wants us to take. I said okay (of course). I didn't get to talk to her so I don't really know anything about the dog other than it's a male spaniel mix, housetrained, not neutered, and out of time. It's unfortunate that she didn't call until today because I could've OK'ed it, they could've done the surgery, and we could have gotten him settled in over the weekend. Now I guess we have to wait until next week. See, they won't do the neuter until they're sure they have a foster home lined up because... well, you can figure it out. It's incredibly depressing. Especially now that I know that if I ever refuse to take a foster, it's probably not gonna make it. What are they gonna do after we move?

Warren said C. also told him that we really did save King's life. It's weird, I mean, I know that we saved all of them, but the way everybody's talking, King was absolutely out of time. Warren got the impression that if we hadn't agreed to take him right then and there, they would NOT have kept him until he got over his bordatella so they could neuter him. I guess that's why they let me take him unneutered.

You never met him, but he's such a good dog! And all it came down to was a couple of days! J and L were already interested in him before we took him but they didn't go to see him right away. They might have gone to adopt him and he would have already been gone. It really blows my mind.

I took off work today, just because. Anyway, G. called this morning and said King was returned. Apparently he has severe separation anxiety. He got out of the crate and destroyed their house. They tried keeping him in the garage and he destroyed more stuff. He had scratches on his muzzle from trying to escape. She said she felt like the people really were trying, but they just didn't know what to do with him. So they took him back. I told her he did get out of a crate here, but he was loose all day every day with no problems. She thought that maybe he was okay when he was here because of the other dogs.

She asked if I wanted to foster him again, or if I wanted to foster Shiloh instead. I told her I'd definitely foster somebody but I didn't know who. I asked what would happen to King if I didn't take him. She said that they could put him up for adoption again and just warn people that he has separation anxiety and needs another dog for company. Warren and I discussed it and decided that there really isn't anything more we could do for King, other than to take him for a while if they were going to put him down, which they aren't (yet). Warren was not too keen on getting King back, especially if he really does have a problem that he didn't seem to have before. He has issues about a German Shepherd he had that chewed on furniture. He was talking about modifying the crate so King couldn't get out, but I would worry that he would hurt himself trying to escape. I am a sucker and I feel sort of obligated to take King back, but I think Warren would really be upset if King ended up chewing stuff and causing problems.

She said we could come and meet Shiloh, so we did. Shiloh is a husky mix female, about 2 years old, stray, and very pretty. She was found by a cop and taken to the shelter. She was sick most of the time she was there (about a month). Apparently she was in a foster home for a while but then she was returned because of her campylobacter infection. Now she's healthy. She is very skinny and super friendly. We decided to take her. Except... oops, she wasn't spayed yet because she had been sick. So we are supposed to go back tomorrow to pick her up.

I'm not holding my breath though. There was a lady there walking dogs, and she saw Shiloh and said she wanted to foster her. Apparently she had seen her before but didn't know she was still there because she was in the back. She wanted to foster her because she thought she would get along with her other dog. (?)

Anyway, I think the lady got mad at us because we didn't say, "Oh, okay, you can foster her then." I almost felt like we should do that, but they had called ME and asked ME to take the dog and I said I would. I take whichever dog they say needs a home. I don't go in and TELL them which dog I am willing to foster! So I'm kinda mad at this other volunteer for being so picky. I kinda suspect they might ask me to let this lady foster Shiloh, since they know I'll take whatever dog needs me.

So we'll probably get a new foster tomorrow or Friday, but who knows what dog it will be. I kinda hope it's Shiloh cos she's cool. Spastic, but small enough to be manageable. She reminds me a lot of Bowser, except she's a red-brown color and she has prick ears like a real husky.

I called L. (King's adopter) to try to figure out more of the story, but she said she'd call me back after she called somebody at the shelter and a dog trainer. So there's a chance they might still be willing to work on King's problem. I think maybe he needs medication (Clomicalm) and behavior modification, and in the meantime, a secure outdoor kennel, but hey, what do I know?

I'm hoping we get this little Shiloh dog instead of King again or another huge dog. It's not fair that I always get the big ones. I should let them come see my house. They probably think I live on a big farm with millions of acres.

"sorry to hear king was returned."

I really didn't know what to do when she asked if I wanted to foster him again. I kinda feel responsible for him. I don't think he should be put down. He's not incurable, I don't think. He didn't have any trouble when he was with us. But Warren will not tolerate a foster dog that might destroy stuff and I understand that and I don't want to push the issue. He's been amazingly good about all this fostering stuff.

Shiloh was spayed and we can pick her up tonight. I'll be sending pictures! She's adorable.

"and there you are, with your dogs. and keek. can't forget keek. I kinda got lost in the dog fostering story. I can't keep up."

Yep, we have three dogs now, and of course Keek. I kinda got lost in the fostering story too. It's been kinda confusing lately. We could have fostered four different dogs this week. First the spaniel that got adopted, then Shadow, who also got adopted, then King who was returned, and now Shiloh (and we don't even really understand why she's in foster cos she hasn't even been up for adoption yet). We got Shiloh.

They are doing lots of construction downtown and we couldn't go to the shelter the way we usually do, so it took forever. We got there and of course everything was hectic. Several people were adopting some little beagle/collie pups, and the one couple was upset because they found out they couldn't take their pup home until she was spayed. Somebody from Great Pyrenees Rescue was there looking at a dog that was supposed to be a purebred Pyr (I don't think it was). Some lady dropped off a little black cocker that looked absolutely terrified to be there. Warren always tries to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I think that woman had to be evil to take that poor dog to the shelter. It tried to follow her when she left and the staff person had to drag it back to the kennel.

Anyway, it was hectic and people kept asking us why we were there, and we told them, and then supposedly somebody was going to get the dog, but they never did, and we just sat and sat and sat. Finally somebody found the paperwork and gave me the rabies certificate and I filled out the fostering form. Still nobody got the dog. They came out and said they couldn't find the rabies certificate. I said it's right here, someone already gave it to me. Finally they brought Shiloh out and we left.

She peed right away when we took her out, so she seems to be housetrained. She hopped in the car and lay down most of the way home. She peed again when she got out of the car. She just wanted to sleep when we got home so that's what she did. She seems really mellow but I know it's just because of her operation (she was spayed this morning). When we met her yesterday she was kinda spastic, so I'm sure she'll be hyper in a couple days.

I took pictures but they aren't good because she wouldn't stay still. She wouldn't take treats and she doesn't seem to know any commands. She's VERY skinny. But she's so pretty. The pictures don't do her justice.

The dogs are all getting along fine, although of course Echo had to growl and get in her face and harass her. Shiloh has totally ignored Keek so far and Keek hasn't gone into hiding, so I think they'll get along fine.

I think Shiloh picked her new favorite person (and it's not me!). Right now she's on the floor next to Warren. She settled down on a pile of his dirty clothes and hasn't moved in about half an hour.

Shiloh finally pooped (in the house) and it was soft but formed, so she is mostly better. She's still on the bland diet with some kibble mixed in. Some people came to meet her (C, husband and two kids). They had another dog from the shelter (GSD) for about a month and it started snapping at the kids so they returned it. Shiloh got along fine with the kids. (So did Brin!) They are supposed to call tomorrow. I will see if my theory is correct... they didn't say yes, they definitely want her, so I doubt if I will hear from them.

R. called this evening to find out how King is with cats. There is a couple with another dog and a cat or two who might be interested in King. I think he would be okay with cats. Not as good as Shiloh, but I think it could work. He's almost out of time so I hope they take him. R. also wanted the number of the couple who returned King after he destroyed their house because there is another shepherd they might like.

C and her husband and two kids came to meet Shiloh last night. She was really good. They liked her and she liked them. C actually called back today and said they want to adopt her! We are taking her tomorrow around six. I took lots of pictures and video of her today.

Shiloh is such a fun dog! She's nowhere near housetrained. But she makes up for it in loveable-ness. She's a very happy, playful girl. She snuggles and tries to be a lap dog. I think her new people are gonna really enjoy her.

R. called last night. She's the one who found the people who originally adopted King. She said there was somebody interested in King and they wanted to know how he is with cats. I couldn't even remember. It's a good thing I write this stuff down. According to what I wrote, he's okay with cats (not like Shiloh though). She said they were supposed to go meet him tonight. I called the kennels and H. told me King was adopted earlier today. I don't know if it was the people R. talked to or somebody else. But the important thing is, he found a home! (and just in time....) I'm so relieved. I was trying to figure out if I really could manage him and Shiloh at the same time. I decided there was no way I could let him be put to sleep, so I was gonna take him back cos he was out of time. Now I don't have to, and now Shiloh is going away too!

"it's so weird how that worked out like that! you know what... when you get a place where you can do it, you could open a boarding house for dogs, and you could charge ppl and watch their dogs for them, and still foster some dogs too. cos you'll be such a pro at it, familiar with all sorts of different doggie personalities and behaviors."

Speaking of which... It's a shame that I only had Shiloh and King for a week. There wasn't time to DO anything with them. Their "doggie personalities" didn't show up for about a week. Especially Shiloh. I don't know why they told people about her so soon after we took her. I mean, it sure beats having them for two months (like Sassy). But I feel like part of my job as a foster mom is to do some basic training. It just wasn't possible with Shiloh. First she was sick, and then her true personality didn't start to show until about a day ago. I feel like maybe I misinformed her new people (obviously not intentionally). She was pretty calm while they were here, but it turns out she's kind of a spaz. She's getting mouthy, jumpy, and whiney. She's not even remotely housetrained but I did warn them about that.

On the positive side, now she's playful and healthy and food motivated, so I know I could teach her lots of stuff with the clicker, but I have to give her back already.

Anyhow, we took Shiloh back today. Warren said she "spoke to him" but he wasn't listening.

There is pee all over the carpet. Time to use the new Little Green. We gave that dog way too much freedom. She should have been crated. But poor Warren is home most of the time now, and he couldn't stand to hear her yowling in the crate. So she was loose and unsupervised most of the time. I chained her to the dog bed at night, which worked pretty well. Warren went to school today and left her loose and she didn't get into anything. She did pee and poop on the rug though.