Understanding a Foster Dog’s Past
Doing rescue work with abandoned dogs is difficult, but those of you who adopt these dogs are the real heroes. It is a long and painful process, acclimating and rehabilitating a dog that has been abandoned, mistreated, or just ignored most of their early life. I have often recieved concerned emails from the families who open their homes to the mama dogs we foster. Their concerns are about the dogs’ strange, unpredictable and odd elimination “rituals.” Other concerns involve the dogs’ fearfulness around children, men, new situations or being left alone. Many rescue dogs take a long time to “warm up” to certain members of their families. Other concerns involve the dog’s distructive behaviors – chewing up wood trim, carpets, chair and table legs, digging holes in drywall. And still other concerns involve aggression toward other dogs or new people.
Willow
All these “problem behaviors” are normal dog problems but in a rescue dog they will be weirder. This is difficult to explain, but the behaviors also include hints to what the dogs’ life must have been like prior to being rescued. Take elimination issues for example. In a normal dog, they will poop in the house most of the time near the door …showing they get that they aren’t supposed to potty in the house, but haven’t quite figured out the whole solution. A dog with a “history” will hide their poop in the house, or poop in your bed or pee in their bed, or act really weird about pooping on a leash. One of my recent fosters, Willow, had and still has a strange way of acting on leash as she is about to poop. She circles like crazy, nearly running back and forth and looks practically frantic as she is obviously trying to find a place to poop. She would nearly pull my arm out lunging about. My first impression of her was that she seemed very underinformed (a nice way of saying stupid) about the ways of the world – she didn’t even know how to walk down stairs or how to walk on tile floors! I figured that she must have been tied up on a short leash all her life. Given that, pooping was probably really stressful for her. She likely spent a long time trying to find a place to poop where she wouldn’t be stepping on it and of course probably failed as she was tied up on a short lead. I suspect that this may be the case because when she wasn’t on a leash she pooped more easily and with less running around. But who knows, really? Only she does. But think about it… what if she was tied up on a short leash ALL HER LIFE. What would that do to a dog? I try to imagine what that sort of deprivation, containment, and isolation might do to a dog as I try to help their new families address their behaviors.
sweet Bella
It is of course the same with all the problem behaviors that rescued dogs come with. Their problems “hint” at their history. Our rescue, Bella, came to us when she was about 2 and very pregnant. My story about her past was that she was driven off her property by being shot at and before that she was often teased by groups of kids who were around 10 years old. When she came to us she was scared of kids that age and would growl and snap at any kid that came up to her. She was deathly afraid of loud noises, especially gun shots (she would literally flatten herself out on the floor and run for it whenever she heard one). And we discovered a sad piece of her history one night when Mike came home from work. She had always loved Mike, right from the start. Every night he would greet her with his arms outstretched over his head, holding his lunch box and his gym bag and say in a loud voice, “Belly!” and she would squirm with delight and lay on her back at his feet begging for a tummy rub. We don’t usually get a newspaper but one day there was a free copy on the driveway so Mike picked it up on his way in. He entered the house and Bella came running to greet him. He spread his arms wide and said “Belly!” and she took one look at the newspaper in his hand and ran down stairs and hid under the couch. So, add being hit by a newspaper to our story of her history. This happened months after she had come to live with us.
Dogs and cold weather
So, the weather is getting colder. Dogs, like us, can acclimate to the weather change and handle it well. Especially when walking. Leaving your dog tied up outside is another thing, and they would need the proper shelter in order to survive our cold Illinois winters. I, personally, don’t like the idea of leaving dogs outside, unsupervised, for a long time (or overnight especially! BURR) but my dogs do get used to the cold and enjoy an afternoon playing outside on those more mild sunny days. But even on the most frigid days we are out there walking. Our dogs can tolerate any weather we can tolerate. The only thing I’ve noticed is that at 10 degrees above zero, something happens with the salt and the cold, and my dogs’ feet seem to start to burn. I know this because above 10 degrees they walk normally but below that magic number they start to pick up their feet in a way that seems to suggest they are really hurting. If I had the luxury of sidewalks I’d use them, but where I live there are no sidewalks so we walk on the street.
So, I have a rule – no walks if the weather gets below 10 above zero. When it gets that cold I don’t want to be out there either and so we do more inside. A treadmill walk is wonderful and you can find many used ones on Craig’s List. I put my guys on the treadmill for 25 minutes each (while I knit!) on those freezing cold days. But any other day, they and I are out there for our full walk. You’ll be amazed at how much you’ll come to tolerate the cold. Just wear something over your face and head and good boots on your feet. And also, pay attention to your dog. She may have a higher sensitivity to cold or her feet may be more tender. Then my dogs. If that is the case, you may have a different “cut off” number than I do.
Also, there are dog booties out there to help protect more sensitive feet. My favorite are called Muttluks and can be found at Amazon. They are sturdy, stay on great, and last. Don’t go with cheap dog booties if you are really looking for something to stay on your dog’s feet and keep them protected from the salt and cold. These boots really work. Yes they are more pricey but I walk my dogs every day and I had a set that lasted, sadly, longer than the dog who wore them. My guys now spend so much time outside all year round that they have tougher feet than my dear Sadie did, living in the city with me. But she loved her boots and wore them easily. The Muttluks website has a list of frequently asked questions that explain how to size your dog’s feet and how to acclimate them to wearing the boots. And you will have a good long laugh when you put them on your dog’s feet – my dogs both lifted their feet VERY high into the air and walked very deliberately when they first had them on!! Very funny.
So, don’t worry about the cold weather that is on the way – just keep walking and you and your dogs will get used to the cold together. And wear the proper gear and everyone will be happy!
Deer Kisses for Juno
Here is an update on Juno (formerly Cherry of Willow‘s goup), and some amazing photos…
Juno is doing great; she’s getting to be a big girl. She’s 31 lbs, as of last Friday, and growing quickly. She is outgrowing her crate, and we’ve graduated her to sleeping on a dog bed (just last night). We still keep her penned in with fences during the night, but she likes her bigger bed and she continues to be a great and quiet little sleeper.
You were quite correct in telling us that she was an active girl, because she is certainly so! She likes being outside, so she spends a good part of the day in the backyard chewing sticks, rolling large stones (which she likes to push around with her head—very cute), and digging holes. Her new favorite activity is chasing tinkerbell. She goes absolutely crazy chasing the flashlight beams—she can do that for about 90 straight minutes. When we go outside in the evening, she looks for the flashlight beam. Of course, we’ve discovered that this makes picking up her poop in the evening a bit of a challenge when she’s with us. She loves the game so much that she can spend the next half hour after we’re done playing still looking for tinkerbell. Along the same line, she also enjoys chasing shadows (and her tail).
Juno is a very smart girl; we’ve discovered that she learns tricks (and how the world works) very quickly. She is curious but very easy to train. Sometimes she gets a little nippy when she’s out of control, so we’re finding ways to calm her down or we take her out somewhere where she can run full out. We can tell that she is trying her best not to bite, but we can tell that it is so hard for her—still, she is much, much better about not nipping, and it is getting better each day. Her adult teeth are coming in, so she’s definitely in the teething stage. Her house training is pretty good; she’s using the bell at the door to let us know when she needs go out. She has an occasional accident when she is so excited that she forgets to let us know she needs to go or if she gets mad at us. We’ve adapted to both situations by taking her outside, and so far that has been a good solution.
She is a very lovable and wiggly little girl, and she has made lots of friends in the neighborhood. She’s hangs out with the neighbor’s dog fairly often, and she met a couple of other dogs in the neighborhood—all of which have extended invitations for playtime.
We took her up to a cabin in Wisconsin, and she met a fawn. The fawn is provisioned, so it hangs around on the property looking for food. We (including Juno) discovered that the deer is quite friendly, and, as you will see, is not afraid of dogs. In fact, once Juno figured out that the deer was Ok, she played with her for three days. Juno and the deer liked to play chase—mostly Juno attempted to get the deer to chase her. On the open grass, Juno very quickly discovered that the deer can run her down easily, so Juno resorted to diversion tactics—running around bushes, under chairs, around us, etc. Every morning, Juno would go out and look for her deer buddy. I’ve enclosed a couple pictures, and I will be sending you a CD with pictures and movies.
-S
Time for a Tucker update
Here is the latest from Tucker (formerly Oak of Willow‘s litter):
Tucker at 3 months
All is well here and Tucker is growing like a weed!! Dr. again this Friday, but at 3 months already 32 pounds!! He is a delight! We are moving along on potty training and I am hoping another month and he will have it knocked. Tucker and Montana are fast friends and as much as she hates all the tugging, pulling, wrestling and biting….she would have it no other way. I have attached some pics for your viewing pleasure! Tucker is smart…he knows sit, shake and sit up…we are working on lay down and down in general and of course he is ALL TOO familiar with NO. Plenty of bones and toys to chew on so no major chewing episodes, knock on wood.
Hope all is well with you and all his brothers and sisters are doing well including Willow!!
Teaching dogs mindfulness video
I was at a professional conference last weekend – a conference for my other profession. There I met some wonderful people. One woman in particular really cracked me up. I love how I can meet someone I totally click with in such a random way. Some of the conversation we had involved her mistaking me for the mayor of my small town – you get the picture.
Anyway, she has two lovely dogs to whom she tried to teach mindfulness. Mindfulness, for those of you who don’t know, involves the intense focus on one thing that is happening right now and inhabiting the experience of it completely. She showed me a video of her trying to teach her dogs mindfulness, and at first it seemed she was unsuccessful – the dogs nearly took her fingers off trying to eat the food. However, as I watched the video again I saw how the dogs are totally focused on her and the fruit – completely in the moment. For us, we tend to teach mindfulness through sensations, the feeling of the coolness in the mouth, the texture of the fruit, the sweetness and the liquid sensations as they explode on the tongue…the dogs could care less about that. But notice how they completely inhabit the experience of consuming the food. They are completely mindful in those brief moments of inhaling the fruit. So, who knows, was it a success or a failure? Either way, I loved the video. Enjoy.
Teaching Dog Mindfulness video (requires Quicktime)
For every dog there is a perfect home
Remember Chloe? She had quite a time this summer. I am happy to report that she seems to be doing really well in her new home. It just shows you that for every dog there is the perfect home. I hope that we’ll have a chance to see her soon when we have our reunion for her pups…sometime in November. Here’s the update:
Things are going very well with Chloe. My Mom and I are taking her to school at PetSmart on Saturdays for an 8 week beginner class. She has adjusted quit well and is learning quickly. She seems happy and full of energy at home, but is still a little shy around other people. She is making progress though! We continue to walk her for 30 to 45 minutes each day or Mom plays ball with her in the basement. She loves that! We continue to work on the separation and leaving her for short periods of time. When both of my parents leave, Chloe still barks, howls, but for shorter periods of time now than when they first began leaving her for the practice sessions. She does settle down after a while and goes to the window to watch for them. She doesn’t destroy anything, or try to get out. I think she is just calling for “her pack”! They are up to leaving for 30 minutes. They do that once a day now. She is really excited when they come back. We would love to come to the family reunion. I would love to see her puppies. Let us know the time and
place and thanks for the invitation!R-
