A Day with Sioux

Earlier this week, we had the pleasure of taking care of a sweet old rescue dog named Sioux. She is a 9.5 year old German shepherd and had been sent to a sanctuary near Los Angeles when her owner passed away. The sanctuary recently lost their land, and 70 dogs were in desperate need of rescue. One of our board members at the shelter fell in love with Sioux's photo on Facebook and had her transported here. Our house served as a pitstop until Sioux's foster family was ready for her.

Sioux has a quiet dignity and gentle disposition. Her hips are not in good condition, so she can't sit at all, can't climb stairs, and has difficulty getting in and out of the car. But she loves to walk and loves to be nearby.

The lick granulomas on all four legs show that she has been stressed. I was given a spray ointment for them, so hopefully, they will clear up as soon as she gets settled somewhere. She was very cooperative when I brushed her, tried to clean her ears (they were so dirty, I just couldn't get them clean), and trimmed her nails.

Cabana took to Sioux right away, as I knew she would. Cabana was extremely respectful, but I saw her watching me curiously as I groomed Sioux. I could see the wheels turning in her head, like, "Hmmmm, that's what Mom usually does to me." Having another dog in the house always makes Cabana more affectionate toward us, which is actually a nice improvement over her usual aloofness.

I had been told that Sioux had food aggression issues and should be fed separately from other dogs. But after giving a few treats to both Sioux and Cabana, I couldn't see a single indication of trouble. So I put their food bowls down a little ways from each other, just to be sure, but there weren't any issues. In fact, Sioux left the last bite of kibble in her bowl, then went to check out Cabana's (empty) bowl. During that time, Cabana came over and ate Sioux's remaining kibble, as well as the kibble Sioux had dribbled on the floor. I know Cabana would NEVER have done that if she had any concerns about Sioux's response. This might be too anthropomorphic, but I almost felt like Sioux purposefully left the last bite for Cabana, like she was giving a gift to her host. She did this at dinner and again at breakfast the next day.

In the photo, you can see a black spot on Sioux's side. I thought it was dirt and tried to rub it away, but it turns out to be a permanent spot. A beauty mark, a bigger version of the dark pigment under Cabana's left eye!

I took Sioux to the park in the morning, and she LOVED it. She seemed to truly enjoy socializing with the other dogs, even if she wasn't able to romp much. Every human became her new best friend.

I hope Sioux's age and bad hips won't keep someone from adopting her. Senior dogs definitely have a lot going for them! Sioux is so easy and would be a wonderful pet for an older person or a family with young children. I'll post an update when she gets a home, which I predict will be soon!

Read more...

Update on Francie

Since I'm on the subject of previous foster dogs, here are a couple recent photos of Francie. After being at the shelter for over six months, Francie is now sitting on top of the world. Thanks to her new owner for rescuing her and giving her a chance at a great life. It's what every dog deserves.

Read more...

Two Days In

Two days into fostering Francie, and we are settling in okay. It's not easy, but it's not terrible. This morning, I fed the dogs near each other, which was a baby step in the right direction. Neither of them are food guarders. Francie was only eating about half her food when we first brought her home (she never ate much at the shelter either), but I'm happy to see that her appetite has improved greatly. She still leaves a bit of food in her dish, which I've been letting Cabana finish eating--I want her to feel there are at least a few perks to having Francie in the house.

I took these photos a few minutes ago, and in reviewing them, Cabana's discomfort is evident in each one. Cabana tolerates Francie, but she doesn't enjoy her one bit.

Francie is just so bossy. If Cabana is sitting near me, Francie comes over and makes Cabana move, then she lays all over me, trying to claim me. Whenever she does stuff like this, I put her on tie-down or in her crate. It seems to be working because Francie is getting slightly less bossy. Just slightly, though.

I feel bad when I restrain or confine Francie, but that's the only way that Cabana can relax. (FYI, I never leave the dogs alone together.) I was telling my shelter volunteer friend about how guilty I feel, and she reminded me that up until two days ago, Francie lived in a concrete cell with one hour of exercise and interaction if she was lucky. Now, she has a soft bed, a doggy door leading out to a yard, plenty of exercise, lots of cuddles, and a clean, quiet, stable environment.

Another volunteer told me that the dog above got put down at the shelter today. He bit someone the day after Francie did. The story is that someone stuck their fingers through his kennel bars, and he bit them. I don't know how much damage he did. Francie's bite was accidental, but this dog's was on purpose, I guess you could say. I still don't think it warrants losing his life, but that's the way the shelter is doing things now. So I'm glad Francie is out of there; otherwise, she'd be in their freezer.

Read more...

Book Review: The Lost Dogs

My vacation dog book reading riot included The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and their Tale of Rescue and Redemption. While I can't say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book, mostly because I found the writing style a bit dry and clumsy, the subject matter was very interesting.

Despite the sad beginning of this story, it truly is a happy "tale of rescue and redemption." Most of the dogs turn out to be loving, healthy pets, with quite a few of them passing the Canine Good Citizen test and even becoming therapy dogs. Only a very small percentage are yet unable to overcome their aggression toward other dogs. The majority of the dogs didn't want to fight at all, which was a big problem for Vick and a large part of the reason why he treated them so badly (as punishment for not fighting).

The myth about pit bulls being dangerous is so prevalent today. It's a travesty that these sweet, loving animals continue to be regarded as uncontrollable monsters. Pit bulls want so much to please their humans, and it is this very trait that makes them popular for dog fights. They do it, going against all their own instincts, because a human is MAKING them do it.

Meanwhile, I have my own pit bull rescue story, playing out at our local animal shelter. Here is pit bull Francie, pictured with my husband and shelter dog Loki, in the shelter play yard. With the exception of while I was in New York, I have been going to the shelter daily to exercise Francie for at least an hour. Some days, we run together, sometimes we walk. I try to vary the route and expose her to as many situations as possible. We have been back to the park for Chuck-It a couple times when it's quiet and we can keep a distance from other people and dogs. We go for car rides (she no longer humps the dog bed in the back seat), walk on busy streets, stroll through quiet neighborhoods, and shop at pet stores.

While I'm out and about town with Francie, I've noticed that she gets a lot of attention. It's probably a combination of factors--that Francie is a striking pure white, the disconnect of seeing a "scary pit bull" being walked by a 5' tall Asian woman, and that she walks SO nicely on leash. Oh yes, Francie has come a long way in her leash manners. She heels beautifully, sits at the stop lights, and when she sees a nice patch of grass, she lays down and rolls over for a delicious tummy rub--she is one affectionate girl.

On busy traffic days, I've had as many as 5 people poke their heads out of their car windows to yell things like, "What a great dog!" I decided to capitalize on this attention by making Francie a little jacket that says "Adopt Me". People probably just think she's my dog, but I want them to know she could be THEIR dog! My ploy is working because yesterday, a guy pulled over, rolled down his window, and handed me his business card, saying, "Give me a call about that dog!"

Hopefully, someone will adopt Francie soon. She's been at the shelter since November of last year, the poor baby. (She scratched her face yesterday by shoving her head under the chicken wire fencing in the kennels.) It will take the "right" kind of person to be a proper fit for Francie, but that person is out there. We just have to find him/her--soon!

Read more...

Our Own Dogtown

After watching every episode of every season of the show Dogtown on Netflix, I have been itching to help shelter dogs get adopted. Martha has been inspirational to me with her stories of volunteering at her local humane society. This past week, my husband came across a plea online for volunteer dog trainers at our local animal shelter, so I gladly signed up. Today was my first session with the shelter training director, who strongly believes that every dog in the shelter should have the opportunity to get basic obedience training (sit, down, wait, stay, leash walking). It will help them be more adoptable and help them transition more successfully to their new homes. She proudly told me that this shelter's annual euthanasia rate is 1.3%, which I thought was awesome.

The story of this chocolate lab was in our local papers, brought into the shelter because he had been found roaming the streets in a severely emaciated state. He weighed less than 40 pounds, about half what he should weigh, and his hind-end fur had been lost to urine burns.

Here's what he looks like today, on a walk with a volunteer. He has gained over 20 pounds and is doing great. The former owner was arrested and faces a felony dog cruelty charge.

Kelti is a sweet 3-year old yellow lab who has lived her whole life in a backyard without attention or direction.

I got to walk Kelti for a little while today, but she was just all over the place on the leash. She doesn't respond to her name (which, granted, may not have been her name for very long), so we're starting at ground zero. It's sad to think that no one took the time to teach her something as basic as "sit" for the past three years.

Like all shelters, our shelter is inundated with pit bulls. It seemed like almost half the dogs there were pits. This one is extremely sweet and totally adoptable to someone who can handle a high energy dog.


I'll get assigned to two dogs and spend 2-4 hours a week working with them. Hopefully, I'll get to see them progress and improve and go to great families and homes. Maybe they'll even get dog blogs of their own someday!

Read more...

Doxie-Huahua Puppies

My younger daughter has been asking for a guinea pig or ferret or tiny dog. Some small cuddly creature that could sleep in her room and would presumably teach her 16-year-old self to be more responsible.

I don't think this scenario (rodent or dog) will be happening anytime in the near future. But when a dog park friend told us about a litter of chihuahua-dachshund puppies at the shelter, we went to take a little look.

I believe it was originally a litter of 7, but there were 4 left when we went to see them. The 4 pups are somewhere in this puppy pile.

Here's my daughter holding one of them.

And my daughter's friend has another one. They took turns holding all of them, but whichever two were left in the pen would cry to be held, too. We just didn't have enough arms to go around!

I felt it was fairly safe to visit them, since they had already been spoken for (phew).

Wishing you happy homes, puppies!

Read more...

Tuesday Topics #28 - Is Two Really Better Than One?

This is my favorite photo from the "Best Buddies" photo contest at MarthaStewart.com. Click on the link to see a slideshow of all the friendly pairings.

The photo leads me to the subject of this week's Tuesday Topic--getting a second dog. We are just LIGHTLY considering it, mind you! My family ended up really enjoying our week with Bucky, although he wasn't exactly the best match for Cabana as a playmate. But it was nice having more dog to go around. Even though Cabana was career changed for being "too much dog", she's not always ENOUGH dog for four humans! More importantly, the right dog would be a great companion for Cabana.

We could raise another puppy for Guide Dogs--but not all members of my family are into puppies (I know, how could you not be into puppies??). We also considered fostering dogs for rescue organizations. I really like this option because the need is so great--and it isn't a lifetime commitment. Personally, I enjoy the temporary nature of both raising for Guide Dogs and fostering. But my family isn't on that page with me--they don't relish the transitions and the unknowns, whereas I'm attracted to those challenges.

So we've been looking into getting a rescue dog. Surfing Petfinder.com is addicting (hi, my name is Mimi, and I'm a Petfinder addict). But do we really want a second dog? Isn't one more than enough?! Asking a friend to watch one dog isn't too difficult, but how many people would be willing to watch two? What about the expense, the vet bills, the massive amounts of dog hair, and piles the poop? I like having a clean house--isn't that going to be nearly impossible with a second dog?

I know many, if not most, of you have multiple dogs. Why, are you nuts? Any regrets? Or is it like, if you have one, you may as well have two? Strong doses of reality welcomed--lay it on me!

Read more...