Archive for the ‘behavior’ Category
Meet puppy Sugar Maple
Sugar Maple is a sweet, energetic little girl, born to a mama who looks to be part Golden Retriever/Labrador mixed with a setter or hound. Her mama, Willow is also up for adoption and is a mellow, playful, cuddly and patient dog. Her pups really take after her. Sugar Maple, who I just call “Sugar”, has a longer coat that is nearly white. She has a dainty look with a lot of spunk. Sugar is nearly house trained, having had the luxury of spending lots of time outside. She has had her first set of puppy shots, has been microchipped, and is on flea and heartworm preventative.
Chloe is ready for adoption
Chloe is a sweet, gentle dog we had while she nursed her puppies. She is a small dog, about 45 pounds with a beautiful reddish coat. She looks like a Golden mix, maybe with some Sheltie or Border Collie..She was adopted out but her adoptive family did not meet her needs and she was very unhappy. Fortunately they released her to my house again and in just two days she is back to her sweet self.
Chloe is a dog who is very smart and she is used to getting what she wants. Therefore, an experienced dog owner would be best. She would really benefit from obedience training as a way for her to learn to use her smarts in productive ways. She has climbed my 5 foot chain link fence (once) and regularly jumps the 3 foot chicken wire fence we use to separate the yard. However, she usually just stays in the fenced yard with our other foster dog and her puppies. She is not difficult to handle and responds well to mild verbal corrections. She walks well on a leash and used to only need a buckle collar, now a prong is helpful in the beginning. She needs a daily walk of at least a half an hour, more would be best. She is fine with other dogs but sometimes shows some fear at first.
Chloe is not fond of her crate and will protest with barking and clawing at it. I have found that if I ignore this and use an electric no-bark collar she settles within five minutes of my crating her and is fine on my return. I have left her no more than 3 hours at a time during the day and crate her the entire night (8+ hours). She is crated in a room with another dog and that may help her. Her adoptive family claimed she had “severe separation anxiety” but I don’t see that. She spends most of the day with other dogs in my yard and very little one on one time with me. I do think she would like more people time but she isn’t the most cuddly dog. Likely she will be more cuddly when she trusts you. She has been through a lot.
She would do best in a home with another dog and a home where people are around most of the time. She would not do well with someone who works full or even part time regularly. A stay at home parent would be best. She loves my son (6 years old) and his friends but they tend to say hello and ignore her. When she was at my home previously I categorized her as the easiest and sweetest dog I have ever had. I felt then that she could go to any sort of home and she’d be fine. Now, however, she has some baggage so trust will have to be earned by her next owner. But do not get me wrong, this dog has a ton of potential and is very sweet.
If you are interested in giving Chole a forever home, apply through H.E.L.P.
Chloe returns unexpectedly
Chloe returns
Our early summer foster Chloe (recently called Amber) is back…it didn’t work out with her adoptive family so she is back here with me. Sometimes this happens. Apparently she was acting very anxious when left alone and actually destroying parts of the house and her crates (yes crates). And I posted about her escape from the second story window, right? Anyway she wasn’t doing well and her adoptive family decided they could do no more for her. I have to respect that decision.
SO…things just got extra crazy over here. But the good news is that the dog I saw coming out of the car – ears flat against her head, teeth bared, growling and barking a warning not to get close, tail tucked hard under her, crouched down low – is not the dog lying here calmly as I write. She was VERY fearful in our first minutes together and didn’t stop barking. I just sat there and eventually she came up and sniffed me, backed away and then sniffed again and looked at me. I said, “yes, it’s me.” She then began sniffing the entire driveway, 
every inch of it. For once, I let her lead me and she sniffed her way to the puppy pen. Mike brought Willow out and we walked them together for a few minutes and everyone did fine. Then I put the two mamas into the pen with the pups and watched. Chloe’s tail, which was still tucked but less so by this time, sprang right up and began to wag happily…she remembered! You could see her sniffing the pups, remembering puppies but not these puppies…but it didn’t seem to matter to her after a bit. She licked them, sniffed them all over and lay down and rolled around as they crawled all over her – just like she used to with her group. It was wonderful to see. Meanwhile, Willow took advantage of my stationary position and the lack of puppy attention and jumped up on a chair next to me and let me pet and pet and pet her. Everyone was happy. I just sat there feeling happy for Chloe who has had a hell of a 6 weeks…she deserves this happiness.
The difficult thing for me was that I had second guessed my decision to let this family adopt her in the first place. It is hard not to think “what if I had honored my instincts and said “no” – then none of this would have happened.” I don’t think most people realize the position us “rescue folk” are in – we get these dogs in terrible shape…we clean them up, get them healthy, teach them how to live in a house and give them some manners and just when they are good members of our families we have to let them go…to perfect strangers. We try to screen, interview and I know for a fact that this process of trying to determine a good match really pisses some people off…believe me, I’ve been yelled at a lot more than I’d like to be lately. But we do this to try to prevent the heartbreak that happens when we are wrong…I know that Chloe’s adoptive family is feeling terrible right now. I don’t think there is any easy way to let a dog go, not one that you’ve spent time loving and getting to know. But I just wish there was a way to know for sure if they and the dog will be a good match. I do know that I learn more and more each time I place a dog. And I really do learn more from my failures than my successes…still, I hate to see the suffering.
So, if any of you have to deal with us rescue people, and our annoying applications and redundant questions, please have a bit of patience. We are just trying to do our job well. And if any of you want to give Chloe a second chance at happiness please let H.E.L.P. know…she’ll need a family with a lot of dog experience, one where the main “pack leader” is home full time, and preferably a home with another dog, a high fence, and lots of love.
Franklin impresses again
I have been going to the vet a lot lately, dealing with the Kennel Cough coursing its way through my pack. On this particular day I was feeling bad about leaving Franklin home alone again so I decided to bring him along. He loves car rides, getting all fluffy as the wind blows him from the open windows (I transport him in his bedtime cage).
Franklin
Anyway, he was very sweetly sitting on his opened cage as the vet was listening to Bella‘s heart. He was taking extra long because he thought he heard a murmur but then decided he hadn’t. As he was bending over her, listening through his stethoscope Franklin was watching intently, head cocked. Then I hear the unmistakable sound of him mimicking a heartbeat! The first time I heard that sound was after I was cuddling him close to my chest a month or so ago. He was lying his head on me as I scratched his neck. As I pulled him away and brought him up to my face to talk to him he looked me right in the eye and made an unmistakable heartbeat sound! I figured he had heard my heart as I scratched him. So, at the vet when he made the sound I was shocked…could he really have understood what was going on?? He has never made that sound randomly, only when mimicking me or when he hears my heart. Very very weird. He may be WAY smarter than I realize. Good ‘ole Frank Frank.
Puppy update on little Angel
An update on Angel (formerly Violet) of Chloe’s litter:
Wanted to attach some pictures of Angel, she is doing really well and for just being with us for three weeks its like she was always here. She has moments of biting but we always direct her to her toys which she happily goes to.
She is growing quick, and its always fun watching her explore the yard. We have discovered she loves the water as she jumped into the play pool with the girls. She really is precious and loves sitting next to me while I work on the computer.
Thanks for all that you did with her, you have a fantastic gift with animals and I hope everyone appreciates that.
Update on puppy William
An update on William, from Chloe’s litter…
William at 6 weeks old
We had him at the vet Monday (diarrhea for a week after a trip to Pennsylvania; no worms, probably stress.) He’s up to 17.5 pounds and is well on his way to being huge. Now that he’s not pooping all the time, the sleeping has improved. He was in his crate from 9 pm until 6 am last night. He does love his sleep.
Biting continues to be a huge problem. The 8-year olds cannot enjoy him at all because he’s always biting and mounting them. We are in puppy class, but we will need additional training. I have been redirecting, but I must be doing something wrong, because usually he just gets too wound up. I hope we get it figured out soon.
Like Poppy, William went to several baseball games and was such a charmer. We had several comments that he looks like he should be on tv.
I thought we had a handle on potty training, but yesterday he went in the house within a half hour of being out. He does go to the front door when he needs to go, but not every time.
I hope everyone is enjoying their new family members. Most of the time we are, so I’m praying that we resolve the biting issue and get on with enjoying William.
