The Foster Dog Tails

Heinz, RIP

2011-05-04T07:48:00.001-06:00

Unfortunately, Heinz was not doing well when I got up this morning. He went to the vet and the decision was that the time had come. RIP.

Heinz, the visiting sick puppy

2011-05-03T05:23:00.003-06:00

From The Foster Dog Tails

The shelter asked me to leave Karma at the shelter and to take in a puppy we have that has Parvovirus. Can't keep the puppy at the shelter without keeping it on the cat side of the house and having someone who can only be around the puppy. Here at my house, I can work from home and clean up after the dog all day. He is a sweet little guy and I hope he makes it. He isn't eating and all he wants to do is curl up in my lap. If he makes it through the next couple of days, he will be here for a month. I am having to adjust my wardrobe to find stuff that I can wash in bleach or even better, spray bleach on. I found a rain suit that I have is a good one because I can wash it in bleach and I can also spray myself down with bleach during the day if I need.

Food

2011-04-29T07:05:00.002-06:00

I was out of food for the dog this morning. I used up the last of it last night and didn't feel like going to the pet store. What's a foster dad to do? I did what seemed obvious, I made her matzah brie and salami and gave her some pizza crust. She seemed to like it.

Names

2011-02-16T20:00:00.002-06:00

It struck me while walking the dogs that the 2 dogs I have right now are named Karma and Mojo. Somewhat of a genre of naming.

1 year of Karma

2011-02-16T16:36:00.002-06:00

Okay, I haven't written in 6 months. What can I say, things settle into a routine and I don't feel like writing. Yesterday was 1 calendar year for Karma. She is officially my longest foster. She is so sweet, I constantly wonder how she is still with me. She has her shortcomings, but if you are aware of them, you can manage them. You can't leave her with a rawhide around anyone who is younger or anyone unconfident around dogs because she guards them with a nasty growl. She isn't that wonderful with a lot of other dogs because she is dominant and plays rough. Interestingly, I did find a dog from the shelter who she gets along well with and who can take what she dishes out and dish his own back. Little 21 pound Mojo mixes it up with her quite well and they have been together quite a few times now. Here is a video of them playing in the backyard earlier today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egrjeo8KAYE

For a little guy, he keeps up with her really well.

Adoption fees waived

2010-08-10T08:47:00.003-06:00

The shelter is doing a special promotion right now on our longer term residents. The dogs / cats who have been at the shelter more than a year are having their adoption fees waived in August. I think this is on the right track though if not successful, we should probably extend it a bit. I have been busy lately on weekends with school about to start again for Ben and with projects and family visits, etc. Next weekend Ben will move back up to Dallas and after moving him up there, I should have more time to devote to the shelter and to Karma's advertising.

Things have been going pretty well with Karma other than an issue we have been having where she will growl/bark at Ben and sometimes charge him when she is laying in a room with me with a rawhide (or even sometimes with just a stuffed toy she is enamored with at the moment) and Ben walks by or comes to the doorway. If I tell her no, then she drops her head and skulks away, but it is concerning to Ben and also to me. I have started taking up the rawhides and need to only give them to her with the door shut.

Karma has spent 3-4 day weekends at the shelter a few times over the past month or so and she doesn't like it. Now when I take her to the shelter she won't get out of the car. I driven in the back gate a couple of times and closed the gate and opened the car. She gets out, but after the first time, she figured out that I am putting her up and she hangs out by the car until I get a leash on her and bring her to her pen or inside.

I need to brainstorm with the shelter folks some additional advertising ideas on our long term dogs. Karma/Oreo/Rigby deserve good homes and we need a way to show them off even at the expense of the more easily adoptable dogs. I need to start taking Karma to all the adoption day events I possibly can and also putting on the "adopt me" vest. It is a bit hot to be wearing a vest, but she needs to find a good home.

When I picked Karma up on Monday,I heard that Baxter came for a visit to play with Karma this weekend. From what I heard, she wasn't sure about him for a few minutes and then they remembered each other and played and played. Wish I had been there to check that out and to say hey to Baxter. Baxter's new owner is a shelter volunteer, so we may be able to do it again sometime.

The shelter has been trying to match up Karma with another dog so that she has a playmate, but we haven't hit on the right combo. We tried her with our big chocolate lab, Buster, but she got after him and he didn't like it and shied away. We her to behave and took them in the meet and greet area and let them off leash, but they just ignored each other. There are a few new dogs this week, so perhaps we can try again with another.

Thundershirt

2010-07-13T06:23:00.002-06:00

Linda mentioned the thundershirt for dogs with fear problems and I bought one for Karma. This morning we went out the door for a morning walk and a minute later she was pulling her way for the front door. I didn't hear anything, but it is a bit misty here and there and she headed right for her closet hiding place, so I assume it was thunder. I went in the closet and put her shirt on and made it nice and snug. It was a bit harder because she wasn't standing up, but was sitting. I left her there in the closet and a few minutes later she came out to see me. I adjusted her shirt a bit and she wandered around with me. I took her out back and she didn't run right in the house. I pushed around the manual mower and she wandered around. I was hoping she would go to the bathroom, but she didn't, but she also didn't run inside.

I tried taking her out on a leash again but we only made it down the driveway. Inside she seems fine. She is laying here in the computer room with me on her comforter chewing on a rawhide. No running to the closet in fear, so I take that as a good sign that it is doing something.

Rain, rain, go away

2010-06-28T19:58:00.003-06:00

Karma doesn't care much about rain, but she hates thunder. It has been storming tonight and she has been panting and hiding. I just went into my bedroom and she was laying in the master closet curled up with her stuffed duck in her mouth in the dark. Alas, what can you do?

Run-mate

2010-06-07T18:34:00.002-06:00

I decided on Saturday that Karma needed a runmate. Being a female, male was the obvious choice, but the choices right now are a bit limited. I thought perhaps Toby might be okay as he had come in with Daisy and they shared a run for a while. I talked to Desiree and Sarah about it and they said Toby and Daisy had been separated because they stopped getting along and we all agreed that Toby is a bit of spaz, but I said we should try. Sarah got Toby and I took Karma and we went for a walk and brought them together but it was a face to face meeting which is never good. Toby went for Karma but missed and we kept them apart. I gave them each some petting and Toby let Karma come up and sniff him and she let him sniff her some and we went for a walk together with no incidents, but it seemed like there was mostly indifference between them and it was very hot out, so we took the dogs in and then took in the rest of the dogs. Perhaps one of the new dogs that came in, but I didn't see anyone that just jumped out at me.

New Toy

2010-05-20T09:37:00.001-06:00

I posted this on Facebook, but didn't post it here. Karma has a new squirrels in the tree toy with 3 small squeaky squirrels in a plush tree. She has to put her mouth in there and grab out the squirrels. She loves to get them out by grabbing their tails and slinging the tree back and forth. She has figured out how to get them all out in much less than a minute and then I have to reload it.

From Karma

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/fYGkWaIbQoxpWX_zmiSWhg?feat=directlink

It's a dogs life if you are lucky.

2010-05-20T09:31:00.002-06:00

Here is a shot of Karma hanging out in the window while I am working at the home office. The window sill is just the right height for her to rest her chin on it and look out the window.

From Karma

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/IqX4noDAc0JWlA9DGen7Hw?feat=directlink

Bouncing like a Tigger

2010-04-20T13:48:00.002-06:00

Karma was excited to see me yesterday as I was up at the shelter to fix some window screens and pick her up. She was bouncing up and down like a Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. After all the other dogs went in to have supper, the dog caretakers let her run in the yard and she came over and kissed me while I was fixing the last screen and then went off running. She was hopping on me trying to get me to finish and take her home and I soon did and she came home and layed on a comforter and fell asleep. We went for a short walk and she went in and out and wandered around and just hung out with me while I watched some TV and had a conference call. Same old "follow you around" Karma.

A week at the shelter

2010-04-12T14:18:00.002-06:00

My house is a wreck with painters here this week. There is texturing material, spackle, paint, etc all over the place. There is paper on the floor, plastic over furniture and it all around isn't a place that a dog should be if it can be avoided. Thus, Karma will have to stay at the shelter for a few days until this is finished. They are making a lot of progress already today.

No love for Karma today

2010-03-27T16:42:00.002-06:00

No one visited with Karma today. The person that wanted to meet Karma yesterday didn't come back today to setup a meet and greet with their dog. Perhaps tomorrow. He seemed to really like her, but not sure whether the dog they previously adopted from the shelter is a good match for Karma or not. Time will tell.

Much better about getting into the car

2010-03-27T07:57:00.001-06:00

Back when I used to do the monthly Petco adoption day,I remember trying to get Karma into the car to take to the adoption day and she was resisting all the way. Even when walking her in the yard at the shelter, she would pull away if walked too closely to the shelter's van. Now that we have gone back and forth to the shelter a lot she seems much more eager to get in the car. When I open the car back, she puts her paws up, but doesn't jump right in. I have to lift her, but that isn't too hard. Just the fact that she isn't pulling away is great.

Chewed window sill

2010-03-11T11:47:00.001-06:00

I haven't had a bit of damage from Karma until this morning and even then I have no idea how it happened. We got up early, went for a walk, she was carrying around one of her rawhides and laying down and chewing it. I remember there was a rawhide on the top of the window sill in the room where I was working and I thought her chewing the rawhide was kinda loud, but it wasn't until later that I looked down there after she had left the room for a while and I got out of my chair and I found that she had chewed up the corner of the window sill. It isn't where her rawhide was sitting, so I don't know how it came to pass. Oh well, another little repair to add to the other dog chewed window sills that will soon be repaired.

The camera adds 10 pounds, but Karma adds 52

2010-03-10T09:08:00.001-06:00

They say the camera makes you look 10 pounds heavier, but I did a differential weight by picking up Karma and getting on the scale today and she adds 52 pounds to me.

Some lightning, some thunder and a whole lot of pacing/panting

2010-03-09T14:30:00.001-06:00

It was stormy last night and Karma was very agitated. I didn't make a big deal over her behavior so as not to reinforce it. It was calm before bed, but during the night it got stormy and she was pacing and panting and crawled under the bed for a while. She really doesn't like loud sounds.

Another week of good Karma

2010-03-06T12:25:00.002-06:00

`Things have been going great with Karma. She is a follow you around kind of dog. She will hang out in the room I am in when I am working or watching tv and just lay on her comforter on the floor. If I sit on the floor with her, she is right up on me to get some petting and to lay next to me. She sat in my lap on the floor yesterday to get some extra petting. If the tv volume is too loud and there is any gunfire or other loud noises, she runs to another room, but she is starting to get used to the fact that it is just tv. I left her home for about 9 hours yesterday and still nothing disturbed in the house.

Karma is good on walks with a couple of minor exceptions. Just like Baxter, she will try to take off after any trucks with flat trailers passing in the street. I think it is because the shelter is right next to a uhaul place. She is also shy about walking along the wooden fences where there are barking dogs on the other side that she can't see. We have adjusted our route to miss the long sections like that.

Karma home alone

2010-02-25T15:17:00.001-06:00

I left Karma alone in the house not crated today while I went off to work for a few meetings. I had closed the bedroom doors, but she had the roam of the main part of the house. The only thing I found amiss when I got home was that she had taken one of my winter gloves off a chair in the kitchen area and it was on her comforter. Aside from some dog hair on it, there was no problems with it. A great result.

Skittish

2010-02-24T12:58:00.001-06:00

Karma has been doing well. I put her in her crate for 20 minutes Monday night while I ran to the store and she didn't want to go into the crate, I had to drag her to it. I left her this afternoon so I could go to the office and the same reaction. Overall she is doing really well. I was watching a movie last night and when some fireworks went off in the movie, she ran off to the back of the house. She also didn't like the tank fire in the movie. She is overall pretty confident when we go walking, but occasionally she will shy away from a fence where another dog is barking or see something out of the corner of her eye and get spooked. I think it is just getting used to her new surroundings. I need to work on putting treats in the crate at different times so she will be going in the crate more without being shut in. She has been going in and out of the crate, but doesn't want to be told to go in there and left at home.

Settling in

2010-02-23T12:24:00.001-06:00

Karma did well last night. She was pacing around a bit in the new environment and was kind of nervous when walking down the block to the mailbox, but she slept on a comforter at the foot of the bed last night and aside from getting up to reposition herself, she seems to have stayed there all night. This morning we got up early and walked the 1.5 mile loop. It started raining about 1/2 way around and she wasn't too happy about that and stopped and looked back at me a few times, but we pressed on until home where I dried her off. She has been laying around on the floor most of the day as I work on the computer. We went out before lunch for a walk in the snow. I put a jacket on her but the flakes kept falling on her face which made her shake. She seemed to take it pretty well and she seemed to start knowing the way to go on the loop. Now she is curled up on the floor in the computer room as I work.

Karma comes home

2010-02-22T18:23:00.000-06:00

I picked up Karma this afternoon. I will post some pictures here later. She seems to be doing okay. She has been sniffing around outside and I can't tell if there are general dog smells that interest her or specifically her old buddy Baxter.

Karma

2010-02-19T23:01:00.002-06:00

Well, I just read the daily shelter update and the meet and greet with Karma didn't go well and so it looks like I will probably be taking her into foster.

Very quiet

2010-02-19T22:38:00.001-06:00

The house has been quiet since Baxter was adopted. After having him so long, it is strange to not have a dog. I thought I was going to foster Karma, but she got an application, so it has been about 3 weeks with no dog. Tonight I was at a dinner where people were sharing their dog pictures and it was strange not to have one.

Between dogs

2010-01-30T18:18:00.002-06:00

Well, it has been a hugely long time since I could write this, but I am between dogs at the moment. Baxter was adopted and went home today. I had mixed feelings after so long, but I am happy that he has finally found someone.

After a long hiatus, baxter is back

2009-11-29T21:13:00.003-06:00

Brought Baxter home this evening. He hasn't been home for like a month. There were 2 weeks with Oryo, 1 week with Mike and Shelli's dogs and the week of Thanksgiving. He is laying curled up in his crate relaxing, calling it a night. Wonder if he will sleep in there tonight, if I should close the door or if he will want to wander into the bedroom and sleep on the comforter on the floor. Hmm, what to do? Tomorrow is supposed to be really cold, it is already getting pretty chilly outside. I will have to put his jacket on him in the morning.

The good, the bad and the stinky

2009-11-13T10:01:00.002-06:00

The cleaning ladies came yesterday. I met them at the door and told them that Oryo likes to growl at new people and isn't very trusting. I put a jar of treats there for them to have some to drop for him and asked them to not try to pet him or look at him, but rather just to toss a treat in his direction and go about their business (kind of Cesar Milan's no talk, no look, no touch). Jeny tried to pet him anyway and he wasn't having any of it. One of the other ladies took a handful of treats. Oryo was leery of the first treat and didn't pick it up so I took him back with me to the guest room and he stared out in the hall as they worked. One of the cleaning ladies kept tossing him treats occasionally and he got used to it and started to follow them around a bit. He let one of them pet him and overall he was very good with no more barking or growling.

I was sorting some old race packets yesterday to break them down and recycle the old papers in them and I went out on an errand and dinner and left some boxes with shopping bags full of stuff on the chairs at the table. When I got back, Oryo had jumped up at one of the boxes and knocked it on the floor and stuff had spilled all over. There were 2 bags in that box, 1 had "give blood" rubber bracelets in little plastic wrappers and blood bank pens and the other had Snickers Marathon energy bars. There were about a dozen bars around the room and into the next room with teeth marks through the wrappers and one had a corner ripped off but no evidence that the dog actually ate any. I cleaned up the mess and sealed the box and put it up out of reach.

I planned to bathe Oryo with some tar shampoo today as he is always itchy and it is good for that. I was going to wait for this afternoon, but on our walk this morning, he rolled in the dew filled grass of a yard and came up smelling like poo. Then he felt the need to shake off, yuck. We went home, I put my dirty stuff in the laundry and put him in the tub. He got an early bath and then I got my shower.

Another week of Oryo

2009-11-11T15:36:00.002-06:00

Oryo spent the weekend at the shelter while we had family stuff going on here. He did well last week other than being guarded around new folks and nipping my teenage son who was home from college and he felt threatened by when Ben came close to his doggie cave and then was between Oryo and I. I am waiting on a followup with the behavioralist to see what to do about that.

I have left him free to roam the house for 6 - 7 hours yesterday and today. There were no issues with anything being chewed/torn, but he did have pee accidents in the house both times. I know he had gone to the bathroom before I left in each case, so perhaps the volume of water I am leaving him is too much or perhaps he needs to be left in his crate so that he remembers to hold it. Both times, when I came home, he went right out and did "all his business" and he hasn't had any poop accidents in the house. I praise him whenever he goes outside, so I just need to work on how long he stays inside alone and whether to leave him out of his crate. We haven't had any accidents when I am home, so that is a good indicator at least.

I was just walking Oryo down to the mailboxes. He doesn't like it there because there are dogs inside the wood fence right by the boxes so he stays away from the mailboxes themselves. He wriggled out of his collar and he headed home and waited at the door as I was walking behind him. This collar doesn't get any tighter. I think a Martingale collar is better for him when he walks.

A good first day

2009-11-04T15:51:00.002-06:00

Well, the first night with Oryo went fine, no chewing of his crate bedding or any noises, etc and the first full day yesterday was good also. He went out to the bathroom when I let him out and when we walked and didn't have any accidents. He eats well and follows me around the house to hang out with me. His confidence level as measured by his tail on our walks is picking up and he seems to be learning the way that I want to walk. His tail is up for the whole route but he shies away from a fenceline where there are barking dogs along one sidewalk. He seems to prefer laying on the cool floor to the comforters which is fine. He ate the ends off a bone that was sitting around here yesterday and a couple of hours later he got up from laying beside me and walked over to the comforter across the room and spit up. I appreciated that he went to the comforter to spit up as it was a dog comforter and it was easy to just pick it up and take it outside and hose it off instead of having to mop the floor. He didn't have any other stomach issues and I think it was just too much of a good thing. I left him home today in his crate for half the day while I was at my office. I chose to change out the bedding in the crate for just sheets instead of leaving any temptation for him to unstuff a comforter and he didn't do anything to the sheets. He was happy to see me, to get out of the crate, to jump up and down and head outside to "take a break".

The tale of the tail

2009-11-03T08:00:00.002-06:00

I put Oryo in his crate last night about 10:30 after letting him out for one last bathroom break and shut out the lights. He was quiet all night and was waiting patiently for me to open the crate at 7 when I came back out there. He hadn't messed up his comforter at all and he went right out and went to the bathroom and came in looking for some breakfast.

I got Oryo ready for a walk and decided to put on the Adopt Me vest. He was a bit leery of it but I got it adjusted and he was fine. He went right to the door and I got him to sit and I put on his leash. He trotted outside and we went for the 1.5 mile loop. His tail sits up as he runs around the house, but as we walk, the tail moves from up to mid level. If he hears a noise or a dog barking, the tail comes down a bit. He isn't extremely confident, but he isn't tucking his tail under and hiding. He does sometimes scoot out to the side to get away from a perceived threat, but mostly just walks along happily trotting ahead with tail at mid-height.

Oryo

2009-11-02T20:58:00.002-06:00

I brought home Oryo tonight. He is a bit uncertain but overall seems fairly calm. Picture at http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12900568. He is laying on the comforter on the floor here in the office with me while I am on a conference call. He has been following me around the house, but that is expected as the house is new territory, but he and I have spent time together before. He seems just as happy to curl up on the floor. His rep at the shelter was that he would tear up "stuffed things", but he hasn't made any moves on any of the comforters on the floor here yet, but again, it is new surroundings, so that may be keeping him "on". Have to determine what to leave in his crate tonight and see how he does.

This and that

2009-10-30T21:36:00.003-06:00

The leg is seeming fine now. Baxter has been very well behaved even though he hasn't been getting a lot of exercise. He has been laying around when he isn't allowed to go anywhere. He did find a phone jack splitter on the ground in my room and chew it up, but that's all he has gotten into this week. My sister in law came over with her 2 dogs to meet Baxter because I am going to dog sit and the meeting went fine. Her dog Curly was a bit protective of me and didn't want Baxter coming over to me, but I made a point of petting him in front of her and then petting her and taking a treat away from her and giving it to him. Baxter just kept trying to induce the 2 dogs into playing but didn't get far with it. I think things will be ok if I have the 3 dogs at once, but Curly may get a bit testy.

I took Baxter to the shelter this afternoon so that he could spend a little time outside with Karma. While I was there, I pumped the excess water out of the courtyard. Monica talked to me about taking either Payton or Oryo into temporary foster. Payton could use a break from the stress of the shelter and Oryo is being a pain with the other dogs and needs some "home" experience which he seems to have never had. It is a tough call, but I will take one of them home next week. Still pondering it.

Baxter's back home

2009-10-26T19:02:00.001-06:00

The leg is doing much better. I have to keep him off it because if I let him go around too much, he starts to show just a hint of a limp. He still has a few more days of Rimadyl and then I will start slowly reintroducing walks.

Injured leg

2009-10-19T15:20:00.002-06:00

Baxter hurt his leg running down a flight of stairs last week. I was at a friends on Wed evening and he was upstairs. I called him to come down and he came running down the stairs, turned at the landing and came on down and then he was holding up one leg. I was a bit concerned. He limped his way to his bed and home and aside from jumping on the guest bed to nap when he wasn't supposed to, he was pretty subdued. I let him out back in the morning to go to the bathroom, but that was about it for him. He was still limping but no visible trauma. I took him to the vet Thurs. morning and the doc said it is most likely just a sprain and to give him Rimadyl for 2 weeks and keep him pretty quiet. He is hanging in his crate at the shelter now since I had a busy weekend.

Not so brave now

2009-10-09T08:54:00.001-06:00

Wed. Baxter and I went walking after work. We headed out and we walked past the hedge between my neighbor and her neighbor where there is a electric power meter that often smells like cat and sometimes has a cat on it. Baxter turned at the hedge and headed right over there. He put his nose almost right up there and there was a cat laying there. It hissed loudly at him but didn't move. He stood there staring at it and after 10-15 seconds, it hissed again and took a swipe at him. He jumped back and yelped. I got a hold of his head and took a look and didn't see any scratches or blood, but he was not interested in going right back to hassle that cat. That cat put him in his place but good. It has been rainy and so we haven't been back by that spot, so I don't know if Baxter will dash right over there again or not, we will see later when the rain is supposed to stop.

Cassie in the house

2009-09-20T10:28:00.002-06:00

Cassie is back with me as I mentioned before. She is doing very well, doesn't seem to limp noticably and can go for a walk without any problem. In fact, she really loves to go for a walk. She is still dog reactive, so I have to avoid fences where I know there are dogs on the other side that will bark at her. She is surprisingly strong. The new rubber tubing leash I got from my mom is really springy but she will stretch it quite a bit. She saw a frog this morning as we went for an early morning walk and true to doggie form, she followed it around for a minute, but then she got bored. I already miss the fact that Baxter almost never poops when he goes on a walk. Cassie does. I forgot a bag yesterday when we went to go get the mail and she did her business right there in the neighbor's yard at the mailboxes. I had to come back and get it. Oh well, she is a good girl.

Dogs and frogs

2009-09-10T12:01:00.002-06:00

If you have been a reader here for a while, you remember Hermes and the frogs/toads and the video of him trying to play with them. Baxter has been chasing geckos in and around the house of late and this morning as we went for our morning walk in the dark, he came across a frog on the sidewalk and started sniffing it and then followed it around the grass and was pawing in its direction to get it to play. After watching in amusement for a couple of minutes, I decided it was time to move on and he grudgingly came along.

A few minutes later during the walk, it was getting a little lighter outside and we were walking down the sidewalk and Baxter slowed a bit to walk alongside me. I noticed a man getting in his car on the other side of the street and I couldn't help but wonder if Baxter was being protective of me or was pulling closer to me for his own protection.

2 weeks at the shelter

2009-08-31T11:14:00.002-06:00

Baxter is going to be going to stay at the shelter in mid September through beginning of October as I will be dog sitting Cassie and she is not dog friendly. I have been thinking about introducing the 2 of them and trying to set my role as pack leader in place to try to get her to be more tolerant, but since this is just a 2 week thing, I will not upset the apple cart and not risk any injury. Baxter does fine at the shelter and Stephan will be making a nice donation to the shelter to cover boarding costs, so it is a win-win.

Eating in peace

2009-08-31T11:10:00.003-06:00

I haven't posted in a bit, have just been busy. I noticed at dinner last night that Baxter has been being good about not bothering me or my friend Lori (when she visits for dinner) during dinner. He had been a real pain at mealtimes and it was hard to ignore him, but I seem to have been getting that going better and he came to the dinner table last night and was ignored so he went to lay back down on his comforter. He didn't make any fuss or come back over time and time again which was really nice. I really need to work on the stay command and "place" to be most effective, but it is nice that I might not have to "place" him during a meal.

Seatbelt

2009-08-16T19:55:00.001-06:00

I took the jeep with the top off to pick up Baxter after having left him at the shelter for a week. I had to get a harness because the seatbelt leash I had for him didn't stay locked if it went in a certain angle. I put the harness on him and put him in the front seat and threaded the seatbelt through the loop and he couldn't move much or jump out of the car. He was hot and tired and was twisting around a bit so that he could lay down. He wasn't too happy about the harness but he was able to lay down with the belt really pulling tight on him. I don't think he will get willing in the jeep again.

Dragging the bowl around

2009-08-06T06:21:00.002-06:00

I don't remember if I mentioned this, but Baxter has started putting his foot in his water bowl if it is empty and dragging it around the floor. Since it is a metal bowl, it is a good way for him to let me know that he is out of water. Since it is so hot outside, I am not apparently doing well enough keeping up with his drinking water, but he lets me know.

The Chihuahua pack

2009-07-29T21:38:00.001-06:00

Baxter and I walked over to AJ's today to get something and Baxter went in the house and met her pack of 5 ankle biters. He was patient and didn't get on any of them. 2 of the females tried to give him a hard time but AJ put them out. They were hassling him and he ran at the front door and knocked open the storm door. Apparently the little Chi's don' t do that but a 65lb Baxter needs a wooden door between him and getting away from the yapping little dogs. I got him to come back in and things were fine.

New "Adopt Me" vests

2009-07-28T21:49:00.002-06:00

I got 2 adopt me vests in the mail this past week. I put one on Baxter to walk him. They aren't too big and are of good quality. http://www.houndgear.net/images/VestDetailSnap.jpg I got a medium and a large figuring that he should just fit the medium. He does. We put the large fully adjusted out on Baloo this weekend at Petco. Baloo is a Great Pyrennes mix, a big boy.

Chow hound

2009-07-14T10:43:00.002-06:00

Baxter has always been extremely food motivated. He is really into treats. Unfortunately, he is getting a bit overly interested and I need to get some advice on how to curb his behavior. I caught him counter surfing last week when I left a sandwhich there and he is always right on top of Ben when Ben has pizza. He also comes right up to the table when we are eating and tries to check out the food. I have gotten up and backed him up and gone back to sit down and eat, but he comes back. If I put something in his Kong, it will distract him while it lasts, but that isn't the ultimate solution.

Crate

2009-07-14T10:35:00.002-06:00

Well, I have stopped crating Baxter during the day. He has settled into a pattern whether I am working from home or not of laying around during the day and not being overly active and then expecting me to be active with him in the evening. I haven't been crating him at night either, though I am having some second thoughts on that. Ben had a couple of friends and their computers over last night and Baxter wanted to come sleep on the floor in the bedroom so that was fine except that he wanted to get up and wander around the house and I had the bedroom door shut. I put him back out of the room and he came pounding/scratching on the door to get in. Overall, not very successful. I should have just put him in his crate and said good night.

Went running/walking with Baxter this morning. For the first 1/2 mile or so he was a little ahead of me and wanted to stop here and there and sniff and pee. Then we walked a bit and then ran the last mile home and he stayed right next to me or a foot behind me the whole way home. I prefer him to stay beside or just behind me.

Long hot shelter weekend

2009-07-05T17:12:00.002-06:00

I took Baxter to the shelter Friday evening so I could have some quiet time and so he would be there on Sat/Sun. I came to find out that we were indeed going to be closed on Sat (4th July), but decided that I was going to be there doing work anyway and so to leave him. Also, I was headed to Houston early on Sun so better to have him at the shelter. Just picked him up and he is happy to be home. He is laying on the cool floor chilling. Ignoring the month plus that I had Cassie, Baxter has basically been here about 6 months. Not sure what to do to "market" him better, but it is time to do something. He is a lovely dog. He has settled in to my routine of hanging during the day and then gets "energetic" in the evening when I am available. He will make someone a good companion, but we have to find that someone.

Welcome to stray dog week

2009-06-24T14:09:00.002-06:00

I came home this afternoon to pickup the dog and drop him by the shelter for while I am away this weekend and I had a call from my friend Nick who is missing one of his dogs. She got out on Sunday and they heard yesterday that she was at CTSPCA but of course the shelter isn't open during the week so no one answers the phone. I mentioned that I was headed up to the shelter and Nick asked me to look for her. Sure enough, she was at the shelter and had been microchipped and given bordatella. I dropped off Baxter and took kickapoo with me to return her home. I told Jolie to make sure to call and make an appointment to bring the rest of the dogs up to the shelter to have them microchipped.

Picked up a stray

2009-06-23T07:05:00.004-06:00

We went to pick up the mail down at the box yesterday and a little brindle pit pup wandered up to us. She looked to be about 3-4 months old and she was wearing a invisible fence collar, but no tags. She is very friendly and I called down to the house and had Ben bring a leash over. I walked her down the block to see if anyone was looking for her, but no one came out and she went to lay down in some grass. I picked her up and took her home to get some water and she and Baxter played for a few minutes and then I took her around the corner to the local vet to have her scanned for a chip. Sure enough she was chipped and I gave my contact number and took her home. She and Baxter got along great and ran around and then laid on different dog beds and chewed on bones. The owners called me about 10 minutes later and came and picked her up an hour or so later. She lives a block and 1/2 from the mailboxes.

Smack talk with no back talk

2009-06-17T06:47:00.002-06:00

Baxter barks at stuff in the yard or at visitors until he gets comfortable with them or at other dogs barking over our fence, but ". ". ". when we go walking, he is very friendly to other dogs. He doesn't bark at them at all. Most of the other dogs we see on walks ". will "talk smack"! to him or the dogs on the other side of fences "., but Baxter just wags his tail and keeps his mouth shut.

Now", I am not saying he is without faults. Ben showed me yesterday a wireless controller for his PS2 that Baxter had chewed on a couple months ago and how he couldn't plug it in or use that guitar controller for Guitar Hero ". I trimmed back the plastic and got it plugged back in. The little destructions can be annoying.

Got treats in the mail yesterday. A dozen small boxes of Blue Dog treats. Amazon has them on sale and I got like 12 boxes (7.5 lbs total I believe) for 16 something including shipping. Baxter seems to like them ".

Walk, bark, walk, nap

2009-06-16T07:21:00.004-06:00

Picked up the dog yesterday afternoon at the shelter. He was so hot. He came home and plopped on the concrete floors and was basically a lump for a few hours before he perked back up. We went for a walk for 30 minutes and he was perky again. About 10pm, I was working at the computer and he decided to call it a night and went and got in his crate. When I decided to head to bed around 11:30, I didn't bother to close the crate door. That was fine. He did get up around 3:30 to bark a bit and pace to the back window, but I heard him head back to the crate. Around 6:30 he got up and came to the bedroom to check on me and I took him for a walk/jog. I haven't been running in months it seems and I ate crap all day yesterday, so it was mostly walking with a few short run segments thrown in. Now he is settled back into his crate napping. The windows are open since it is still in the mid 70's and he is just "chillin."

Little kids

2009-06-09T10:15:00.002-06:00

I meant to post last week but never got around to it. I have seen mixed results from Baxter with kids. I have a number of times in the past stopped to let kids of different ages pet Baxter and he used to take it well, but we have him listed as no kids at the shelter. We were walking along late last week and 2 little kids (say 2 and 3) came running noisily out of their house and he started looking at them nervously. We walked right on by and he looked back to "cover his flank". I am not a big fan of little kids that age myself, so I was in agreement with him. We did have another time a few weeks back where we were walking by some kids, one of whom has met Baxter and petted him before (I would guess she is about a 3rd grader) and we stopped so she could pet him and she had a friend there sitting on his bike and Baxter was shying away from both of them and so I said maybe another time and we walked on. I guess the safest thing is to stick with "no kids".

Rabies shot time

2009-06-09T09:33:00.002-06:00

Took Baxter to the vet this morning. He is 61 lbs. They were amazed how he has grown since they treated him for his puppy strangles when he was a little bitty thing. He was great and the shot didn't phase him one bit. We came on home, he went out in the yard and now he just wandered into his crate and is hanging looking out the window.

Sitting

2009-05-27T07:19:00.003-06:00

Baxter has been doing fairly well at sitting and waiting for the OK to exit the front door. He was sitting in the backyard this morning starring up at the fence waiting for a squirrel to come into the yard. He just scratched at the back door and when I went to let him out he stepped out and then stood there stalking a squirrel, waiting to run.

We met several dogs over the past 2 days while out walking. Baxter has been good with all of them, trying to induce them to play, large and small, no matter the size. It has been good. He has of course gone nuts over cats we have seen, but the harness keeps me in control and I just give him a tug and say let's go and we are off and moving and leave the cats alone.

Pretty good week

2009-05-26T07:03:00.002-06:00

It has been a re-adjustment going back to Baxter from Cassie, but he is doing fine. I got him some new stuffed toys and they are good. They haven't been torn apart yet. He has nibbled the little ears off, but that hasn't caused an issue. He is outside right now sitting watching for squirrels to come back so he can chase them. He has been good in the house and last night he got back in the swing of taking himself to his crate when he was ready for bed. He has been eating fine though he seems to prefer to get food from his treatstik than from his bowl. Treatstik as seen in

Baxter's home

2009-05-19T14:59:00.003-06:00

He is ready for a walk but I am waiting for Ben to get home from school to say hi and then we will hit the neighborhood.

New foster for Cassie

2009-05-17T17:37:00.001-06:00

Cassie has a new foster home. A new foster person for the shelter wants to foster Cassie and my deal with Monica was to take her until she found a new foster situation for her. I am cleaning up all the dog stuff in the house and will be bringing Baxter back home.

Chew, chew, chew

2009-05-16T09:56:00.002-06:00

Cassie redirects her energy to chewing. On the plus side, she only chews things that you give her to chew, doesn't take stuff on her own or go for the furniture. She loves a rawhide or a bone. She was coughing and spit up a bit of bone fragments earlier this week, so I took away all the bones and that has passed. She does still have a big hip joint bone that she can gnaw on, but I cut out the rib bones. I have a twisted rope toy that is knotted on the ends that is about 1 inch thick rope and Cassie chewed it in 2 pieces (chewed through the middle) this week. I also have a chewing bone that is hard plastic that is advertised as good for cleaning the dogs teeth and she has been working hard on that one, but it is holding up just fine. She continues to eat well and continues to hang out well during the day but at days end, she is playful and wants to go run. Alas, we have to keep that to a minimum, but she can be redirected with a stuffed bone. I had a Kong "ball" that had the slits along it you could put cheese spray in and you could put treats in the middle, but she chewed it into pieces (the red kind, not the black super chew proof). Overall, still a great dog to have around and loves to sit or lay down and be petted. Haven't seen much negative behaviour with her other than greeting people too energetically and her aggression toward other dogs.

Back to the shelter

2009-05-04T17:36:00.001-06:00

I had roofers here replacing my roof this past Friday and I had a group coming in to do a project at the shelter so I took Cassie with me. She did fine. She is aggressive toward other dogs and needed to be crated to limit her running around, so we kept her in the office. I asked if she should start coming back on weekend days and the answer was yes. She went Saturday and Sunday. I just posted some more pictures on Picassaweb of Cassie. http://picasaweb.google.com/dklinecp/Cassie# She is looking good. She is always raring to go and I have to keep her slowed down.

No more bonyness (sp?)

2009-04-25T11:24:00.002-06:00

I was looking at Cassie last night and I don't see any of the bonyness that she came to us with. She is going stir crazy and will try to engage Ben and I in play, but will settle down when stroked or ignored enough. I need to get a new picture of her and post it.

Sweet and bored

2009-04-20T20:36:00.001-06:00

Casie is very glad to see me when I get home every day and goes nutsy wagging and leaning. She tries to run around and play. I hate to force her into the crate, but I think I may need to do more of that. Her weight is looking better, but she isn't being reserved enough with her movement but I need to enforce that.

Really wants to run

2009-04-15T21:11:00.002-06:00

Cassie is staring out the window wanting to go out and bark at other dogs, run along the fence, chase squirrels, etc. She has gone out with me in the backyard a couple of times and gone zooming away chasing something and I have to get her to come over to me and go inside because she isn't supposed to be running around on her leg and shouldn't be expending the extra calories. She is a bit bored inside, but she doesn't express her frustration by breaking/chewing anything, so that is good. She is looking better and she eats everything I put in front of her and that is plenty. She is a generally happy dog.

Maybe a little less skinny

2009-04-12T19:15:00.002-06:00

Hard to say if it is just wishful thinking and too soon, but I think Cassie is a little less bony. She is eating great. I have been giving her as much food as she wants and she has been tolerating it fine. She is eating wet food and then goes for the dry when she is still hungry. She just went to the kitchen for a snack of dry food though I think it is pretty much gone. She seems a little bored and she tries to run around a little, but I stop her. She is a very active dog normally, but between the bum knee and the low weight, she can't afford the pain or the calories. She is so sweet and very deferential.

Skinny girl

2009-04-10T06:46:00.002-06:00

Baxter is at the shelter and I brought Cassie home last night. She is skin and bones. The general thinking is that she has been in some pain and hasn't eaten. She got too much exercise at the shelter or she was cooped up in her crate there too much, not sure which. They have been feeding her wet food at the shelter for a day or 2 and she has been eating. They also put her on some joint supplements and on Rimadyl (anti-inflammatory that is std for dogs with knee surgery). She seems to be eating fine this morning with the wet food here (which I mixed with some white rice to help with the backyard scooping). Pictures at

http://picasaweb.google.com/dklinecp/Cassie

Dog switch

2009-04-09T08:15:00.001-06:00

Cassie isn't doing well at the shelter, so Baxter is going to go back to the shelter for a week or 2 while we try to get Cassie straightened out and hopefully put in full time foster with Boxer rescue. I will post Cassie photos today when I get her here and have time to cleanup.

Snorie, McSnores-a-lot

2009-04-06T19:40:00.002-06:00

Baxter just came home this evening from a "shifted" weekend stay at the shelter. I brought him home Fri night, but left him Sat./Sun. nights at the shelter. I didn't go to the shelter on Sunday and so figured it was better for him to stay over and then I had the insurance adjuster here for my hail damage claim today, so left him there until this evening. He is already sacked out in his crate snoring. I had laundered his comforter for in there this evening, so it is all dry and warm and he seems content.

March is coming to an end

2009-03-31T08:28:00.002-06:00

It has been 3.5 months with Baxter and no nibbles of interest. He is the sweetest thing and has been a great foster other than the chewing on the wood outside when left to his own devices and bored. I think he would do fine in an active family that will take him out to play or will send him to doggy day care a day or 2 a week to really tire him out. He uses his crate as his personal space and just lays in there with the door open when I am working from home and he is chilling. He likes squeaky toys, puzzle food games, etc. He is an all around great dog. He has been sitting at the door 100% of the time before walks and is getting better at stay at the door (I use "wait"). I can open the door and he will just sit there until I tell him let's go. I need to step up the training some. I think "leave it" should be next as he is a chow hound and stole my half eaten bagel off the counter last week when I left my plate up there for a while and was in another room. I need to figure out how to get him more exposure. I think perhaps some additional adoption days other than just my own.

caricature

2009-03-31T08:20:00.003-06:00

We had an artist at the shelter this past weekend doing pet sittings and volunteers with shelter pets. It was a fundraiser. I got mine done with Baxter. He got the better end of it. Oh well.

I didn't fall off the face of the earth

2009-03-23T19:22:00.002-06:00

Just haven't blogged in a few weeks. Things around here are status quo. Ben had a Lan party this week so the house was full of teen boys and Baxter took it all in stride. I moved his crate into the dining room so he would have some privacy and he spent a moderate amount of time hanging out in there. He was always trolling for any food items that might come his way, but otherwise pretty much hung our waiting for me to walk him.

He has been nibbling on the decaying wood on the doggie digging box again. I pour some white vinegar on and he leaves it alone. I need to get some timbers and replace the rotten wood. I have been taking dog treats out with him and burying them in the gravel and he sniffs around and finds them. He really likes it and he is not bad. I didn't think he was much of a scenter, but he does fine.

My friend Lori has been bugging me about my lax habits with him at the door so I started making him sit before putting on the leash and he picked it right up and now sits for the leash. I am working slowly on stay when the door is opening, but haven't put enough effort into it. He is smart enough that he gets it right away, I really need to work on his impulse control.

We just got back from a walk and there was a cat next to a drain and he saw it and moved toward it but the cat didn't back down. I had to restrain him and he was growling and spine was erect and he was jumping up in the air trying to get over to it. He really wanted to get into it with that cat.

Busy, busy

2009-03-05T21:43:00.002-06:00

Have just been too busy to blog. Work has kept me hopping, even some on weekends. I left Baxter at the shelter on Friday last weekend and didn't even go on Sat. but went for a few hours on Sunday. No one has shown any real interest in Baxter. Karma had an application and if it is approved, she will likely be going home this weekend so it will be time to find Baxter another dog to share a run with when he is at the shelter. Baxter has been being fairly good though he has done some chewing on some decaying wood on the deck and in the dog digging box. There is one pole on the deck that Baxter seems to have a real interest in. There were insects flying into an empty knot hole on the side of it and he was really chasing the bugs and I wonder if they were termites or some type of wood eating bug as he keeps going back to that spot. I took at stick and smashed inside the hole in case there were any bugs or eggs, but it makes me wonder if he isn't sensitive to/smelling wood eating bugs. I went out and poured some white vinegar over the spots he was chewing to discourage him and have to keep a better eye on him out there. With all my long hours, he hasn't been getting a good night walk. I have been getting in one in the early morning and one after work, but not a "calm down and go lay down one". He has been chewing on bones and playing with stuffed toys and then going and laying down in his crate which has been nice for me.

Backyard

2009-02-21T09:46:00.001-06:00

I don't know what it is but I won't complain. Baxter never poops on a walk. He does pee, but he only poops when he is in the backyard. We went for an hour and 20 minute walk this morning to tire him out for the Petco adoption day and we got home and he went right out back and did his business. I like it because I have a scooper out there and don't have to bag on the walk. It is the little things in life.

Wow, a week

2009-02-18T21:59:00.002-06:00

Since my last post. Baxter spent the weekend at the shelter from Fri-Sun since I was doing marathon course stuff all weekend. He was really happy to see me on Sunday. He spent most of Sun. evening and Mon. morning just laying around. My friend Lori came over Monday night and I was out getting groceries for dinner. When I got back and started prepping, I heard Baxter on the treadmill. She had gotten him on there with no incline, but moving along at 3.0 mph. She didn't even have real treats, just pieces of his regular dog food.

I went to the office on Tues. and he was really glad to see me at the end of the day. He was bounding with energy after hanging out in his crate all day. I took him to Petco to buy some bones and took him for a walk. He was off the wall with energy later in the evening and then calmed down. Today he was enjoying the warm weather and hanging in the yard mostly. We went for a couple of walks and he crashed in his crate while I did conferences calls. A few status charts and I will call it a night. He goes into his crate to hang out and lay around and if I don't go close the door when I go to bed, he is still in there in the morning. I have left the door open a couple of times in the last week with no problem.

I can learn

2009-02-12T06:36:00.002-06:00

I have been full of meetings lately. But, after the deck chewing the other day, I have been trying to be mindful of what the dog is doing and not just let him go out. I have been trying to play with him off and on and also get him out for his walks when I get a chance in between calls. He really likes to play with tossable things in the backyard. I have the MegaTuffy ring, I have a flying disk that is a 1/2 thick ring on the outside with a mesh of fabric inside that he likes to rip, a plastic frisbee and some rope pulls. He chases after them and then stops to chew them. He will bring it to me to play tug or I can walk over and he lets me grab a hold and pull. He will let me take it from him and throw it again.

I was thinking last night that I used to want a doggie door so that the dog could go in and out at will, but now that I consider it, it would be a mess. The backyard doesn't have good grass right now and is muddy and if the dog was bored and went out and started chewing, I wouldn't know.

The dog does go and get on the treadmill and wait for me because he knows he gets treats. I was on a call yesterday and couldn't handle the noise from the treadmill, so I couldn't let him do the treadmill, but he went off and played by himself and it was fine.

Worn out

2009-02-10T18:00:00.002-06:00

Baxter and I went for a short run this morning (our normal walking loop) and he hung out while I worked from home until midmorning and then he went in the crate while I was at work. When I got home in the late afternoon, he and I went for a walk for 40 minutes or so and then he lay around a little but seemed a bit antsy. I took him out back and threw the flying disc toy (well, a couple) and he chased them and chewed them and played tug with me for good while until he was huffing and so I brought him in for some water. Now he is wandering about, laying on the tile and deciding whether to go hang in his crate or to find a bone to chew. It sounds like bone is going to win out. Now dinner wins. At least he is getting some energy expended.

Chewing

2009-02-10T08:16:00.003-06:00

I got Baxter a new chew squeaky toy. He seems to really like it along with the head of one of the other old stuff toyed which I keep restuffing. It was very rainy yesterday morning and I took Baxter for a walk during a break in the rain. We got drenched on the last 3 blocks. I had a meeting downtown at lunch and crated Baxter for couple of hours and then was busy here and then had an appt. away and he was crated for a couple of hours. Then dinner and a long conf. call. I let him out back and played frisbee with him for a bit but then left him there. Well, this is why he was returned to the shelter. Destructive boredom behavior. He was chewing on some sticks and then decided to chew the baseboard of the deck. I went out and stopped him and brought him in. I dropped off my conf. call and took him for a 30 minute walk and he settled down for the evening. If I had been thinking instead of so busy, I would have put him on the treadmill while I was listening on the conf. call, but I got absorbed.

Foam cover

2009-02-03T23:18:00.001-06:00

Nevermind that comment about foam faucet cover intact the other day. It was, but not anymore. Dogs do love to tear those things to pieces. Oh well, only costs like $2.

Baxter on treadmill

2009-02-03T22:17:00.004-06:00

Finally took some video with digital camera tonight. Uploading one to YouTube right now and another piece on Facebook. Will post links later when uploads are completed. The YouTube video should be at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6uQ3mNL7A8 when it is finished processing the upload.

More muddy feet

2009-02-02T14:14:00.002-06:00

Just went to close the backdoor because Baxter had come in a minute or so ago and I noticed that his paws were awful muddy. I took him out with a towel to clean his feet and I heard water. I looked over and there was water pouring down from the faucet cover out back. The cover was still on (freeze cover) but water was coming down and the dirt underneath it had big foot prints in it. I took the cover off and turned the valve to shut off the water. It must have been running for a little while because it is very muddy right there. Not sure how he managed to get the water on with the foam cover still intact.

Antsy

2009-02-02T10:04:00.003-06:00

Baxter seems energetic this morning. I took him for the usual 1.5 mile loop earlier. He played out back a bit also, but it is windy and cool. I was on the phone with my boss and I had to stop him from nibbling on the corner of the molding. Twice. I took him out back and threw him a stick. He has plenty of sticks to chew on out there. He did that for a bit and then came in. I gave him a kong with some treats in it and he messed with that for a while and finally I decided it was time for some treadmill. He did 7.5 minutes at 5% incline and 2mph. I am experimenting with more incline and think I can go a few more degrees with no problems. The pace is a tough one, but incline also makes it tougher, so I think that is the least innocuous way to do it for now.

I meant to mention that Cassie was doing much better on Sat. when I saw her. Of course then she was running around more and starting favoring off her bad leg again, but it seems that some crating did her well, but she gets totally stir crazy.

Friday night at the shelter

2009-01-30T20:10:00.001-06:00

Well, things didn't go as quickly tonight. I was covering the 5-9 again and I got here a bit before 5 and the food was out for the dogs but I needed to walk them all in and then I needed to clean the outdoor runs. No CSRs tonight and it seemed to take me forever between getting the first one in and the last. I quickly cleaned outside and started back through getting the dogs out. The intake dogs had to wait until I got all the little dog room dogs out and then I carried out the intake dogs (well, most of them). I was getting flustered at how long the after dinner walks were taking but you need to get them to do all their business or you clean it up at the end of the night. I didn't quite make it to getting all the dogs their after dinner walk when I decided I needed to scoop up Maggie/JD because it was too cold out for them to stay out. I got the last dogs out and walked Cassie and put her back in. I checked the crates and cleaned up a bit and then brought Jessie back in and then the little dogs and then the intake room and then the big dogs. By then, it was around 8 and I still needed to do some more cleaning. I just finished and am taking a break before checking the doors/windows and turning off the lights/radios and letting the dogs go to bed. I have a little more time before 9, so I will go do a bit more cleaning and then call it a night. I am going to an Eagle court of honor for 9 boys from the old troop tomorrow, so Baxter has to spend the night here again so that I don't have to bring him up in the morning.

Thurs. night at the shelter

2009-01-29T17:27:00.002-06:00

Here I am at the shelter hanging out while the dogs finish supper and rest a bit. Sarah is on vacation and lots of people are covering shifts for her. I was out last week so signed up for this week Thurs/Fri. I forgot that it was Chinese New Year or I could have signed up for more nights since I don't have any night time calls this week. Baxter came to the shelter with me. He has been coughing a bit over the last 2 days but Mallory told me had his bordatella in Dec. so it shouldn't be that. I gave him some Benadryl and it seemed to help until he was pulling hard on his leash and then he was hacking again. I will keep to the Benadryl and see how that goes. I brought him with me to the shelter tonight so he could see Karma and also so that I don't need to crate him at home. Ben is doing his senior project presentation this afternoon and I left the house a little after he did so that I could get here in time to ask any questions to Mallory and make sure I could get in. The spare keys are supposed to be dropped off to me tonight so I can lock up.

There is a new boxer mix here named Casey. She is totally off of her right rear leg. She has a knee surgery scar. There is a note on the board about doing a followup at ATA, but she is pretty lame on that leg right now and the knee looks oddly shaped to me. She is mostly boxer and has a natural boxer tail. She seems very nice, but underweight and injured. Sad.

Winter Time

2009-01-28T22:15:00.003-06:00

Well, I was gone last week and Baxter stayed at the shelter so no blog posts. I picked him back up last Friday and I worked at the shelter on Sat. and while I was there Genieve was sorting doggie clothes. I picked out 2 jackets for Baxter as the weather has been turning cold. I walked him in his Fido Fleece yesterday and today. He doesn't like his paws messed with and you have to put his legs through the jacket, so that is a challenge with him squirming, but he looks warmer in it and he doesn't seem to mind it when it is on. He loves to go for a walk and it facilitates it, so he is ok with that.

From Baxter

Baxter has done a few more treadmill sessions. Tonight I had him up to 2.4 mph while I was feeding him jerky treats. He was fine at that speed but as I looked down, I saw his paws were very dirty/muddy and he was tossing dirt off the back of the treadmill. I only kept him on there like 5 minutes and then I had to take him out to clean his feet outside and then come inside to sweep.

This and that

2009-01-17T20:05:00.002-06:00

We did more treadmill on Thurs. evening. Baxter did about 7.5 minutes or so. He kept going as long as there were treats to nibble from my fingers. He was doing 2.0 mph, so pretty good stuff. Ben did a little bit with him on Friday also. Today we had an adoption day at Petco and Baxter was very energetic. He was whining wanting to play with the other dogs. We only did like a 30 minute walk this morning and that was about it and he needed more.

I am gone next week so Baxter is parked at the shelter until I pick him up Fri or Sat. next week.

More on treadmill

2009-01-15T07:31:00.003-06:00

Baxter is really interested in the treadmill. He was back there yesterday and I turned it on and put it up to 1.2 and he hopped on and walked at the front of it looking for me to give him treats. I didn't have any and so he hopped off after about 10 seconds. I took him on there this morning after our walk because he was seeming very frisky. I had purchased some new training treats from Nutro that are like little squares of jerky and I broke them into smaller pieces. I turned it on and set it to 1.4 and he hopped right on and started walking. I went around the front of the treadmill and put a piece in my fingers and let him nibble it as I held it in my fingers. We went on that way for more than 4.5 minutes. I need to work on spreading out the amount of time for each treat. My fingers got nibbled quite a bit but that is okay. He really seems to go for the treadmill with no leash required, but the trick is to get the speed up more, to reduce the number of treats and to extend the length of time. Overall, it is very encouraging.

The dog next door

2009-01-12T21:08:00.002-06:00

My neighbor has this little dach/min-pin mix puppy. She is at least 6 months or more younger than Baxter and she has been hanging around at the common fenceline. The dogs have been running back and forth up and down the fence and Baxter has been chewing at the lattice work that goes along the bottom of the fence in a drainage easement at the back of the property to try to get his head over to visit her. I put a block of cement in front of that spot, but he started digging a little bit in front of that. I brought him inside and then took him for a walk for 2 miles or so and that seemed to take the issue away (and I think the puppy went inside). He is laying down napping now (no treadmill tonight, we did a long walk instead).

A short walk on the treadmill

2009-01-12T15:26:00.002-06:00

Put Baxter back on the treadmill last night. We are still experimenting and this was only the second time. I put him on a leash and brought out the hot dog pieces and he was following me closely. I got him partially on the treadmill by holding some hotdog from in front of it through the opening above the motor and then passed his leash over the handlebar. Lori turned on the treadmill and Baxter was still just walking with his front feet though some repositioning of the treats finally got him on. I got Lori to move the speed up to 1.0 mph and that seemed okay. I didn't want to give Baxter too much hot dog so had him eating it from my fingers while I tried not to let him have all of the piece but that wasn't great because some little bit would fall on the belt and he would put his head down to eat it. The whole thing was just 3 minutes on the treadmill and I need to find smaller treats to give and something I don't mind him having a bunch of. Baxter returned to the treadmill a number of times during the evening to see if I was going to bring out more hotdog and he even went over and sat on the belt waiting, so I see that as a good sign. I need to figure out the correct treat and smaller bits and give him more sessions and longer sessions, but with a few weeks practice, he could get used to the treadmill.

Muddy feet

2009-01-08T09:40:00.002-06:00

I am cleaning a lot of muddy paws these days. There are major patches in my backyard and Baxter likes to go out and chase squirrels and wander around. He is an active young dog. I have been walking him at least 1.5 miles twice a day and other short walks. We took a run the other morning and he did fine. His biggest issue is that he walks in front of me and can end up blocking, though when running he falls more beside. I have been using a Gentle Leader Easy Walker harness with him and it works great.

I weighed him this morning before giving him his monthly HW preventative and he is just under 60 lbs. I left him home in the crate yesterday while I went to work and he of course was fine. We played with the Chuckit flying squirrel in the yard yesterday and he really liked it. He ran and ran and ran. He has been taking advantage of the various comforters around and hanging whereever I am. I want to try to get him on the treadmill tonight. He was walking his front feet on treadmill the other day when I was holding a hot dog for him. Hope to get in front of treadmill today and hold the leash and hot dog so he is all 4's on. Haven't had any destructiveness, but he has been chewing various chew toys, stuffed toys, etc. Just have to keep up with his energy level and make sure he is worn out daily.

Curled up in his crate

2009-01-06T11:33:00.002-06:00

Being a shelter dog, Baxter is quite comfy in his crate. I showed him the crate yesterday with the door open and he wandered in and laid down. After we went for our last walk last night and he wandered the house a little bit, he went into his crate and laid down while I watched the bowl game. I shut the door when I went to bed. I had to chase him off the living room sofa twice today but he hopefully he will catch on to that quickly. He is curled up in his crate with the door open right now.

Baxter

2009-01-06T07:04:00.002-06:00

I couldn't find a solution to the allergy problem, so I am unable to bring Moolatte back into foster. I hate to give up on the challenge of socializing him especially as I see how well he takes to the dog caretakers at the shelter, but I don't have another way other then spending extra time with him at the shelter. In the interim, it has been too quiet here without a dog (other then Ben nagging me that we need a dog), so we went to the shelter last night to look at our short hair dog options. Alisand had suggested this weekend that I take home Stringer to give him a break from the shelter. I considered taking Alamo and Stringer home for the week for a break or taking Baxter as a foster (all 3 dogs were adopted and eventually returned). Ben was leaning toward Baxter so we went and met with Baxter and decided to bring him home.

Baxter's wrap from his adopters who returned him is that he was very destructive. Based on all I have read and watched, that is the hallmark of a dog who needs more exercise. Baxter is listed as a Pit/Boxer mix and both are high energy breeds. I have heard as much as 2 hours of exercise a day for a Boxer. My plan is to do multiple 30-45 minute walks a day with him and see how that works out. I also want to try to get him working on the treadmill.

Happy New Year

2009-01-03T14:37:00.002-06:00

Well, I have gone dogless since before Christmas. I am at the shelter today and Moolatte was his old shy/running away self. I played with Baxter and Tracy for a while and then caught Moolatte ( he will run around but then will sit as you approach) and petted him and scratched his neck and took him for a couple of walks. He is doing about the same as he was before coming home. He barks at the men who walk by his pen as he hovers toward the back so as not to get too close to them. I am not taking any dog home tonight, but want to figure out what to do for tomorrow. The options are not a lot different than when I dropped him off before Christmas. There isn't a good alternate dog unless I want to take home a little tiny one. Perhaps I should just wait.

What to do about Moo

2008-12-26T13:49:00.002-06:00

Moolatte is hanging at the shelter while we are out of town for a few days. He was with us for 1 week and it is hard to tell if I am making any progress at all. It seems like every morning when I get up he is his old timid self again and running around away from me except in the kitchen. Once I pet him some in the kitchen, he seems to get better, but not great. I have gotten him to come lay by me and let me pet him and even give him a belly rub, but it is slow progress for 1 week. When I went to drop him off, he came in the office and saw Mallory and he wagged his tail and went right over to see her.

With Lori's allergies, it probably makes sense to get a different dog, but the choices of a short hair dog are pretty limited right now. I am still undecided as to whether to pick Moolatte up at the shelter on Monday or not.

When does this dog go

2008-12-23T12:12:00.000-06:00

The dog hasn't gone in the house, but he hardly goes outside and he doesn't go to the bathroom when we take walks. It is a mystery.

Petco

2008-12-22T16:18:00.002-06:00

I took Moolatte to the Petco Lakeline adoption day this past Saturday. He was very apprehensive and wouldn't go up and greet anyone but he would back up to me and I would pet him and tell them to come over to pet him. I got a lot of questions about what kind of dog he is. A lot of people commented on how pretty he is and how interesting his markings are. By the end of the 3 hours, he was ready to go home. He did let me pet him a bunch and spent time backed up to me, so that actually helped our relationship. At home, he took more petting. He is least timid in the kitchen and will come in and sit for petting and I had Ben come over and pet him with me. When I would stop petting, he would put his head under my hand for more. He even sniffed over at Ben's hand for a little petting. I left Moolatte at the shelter last night as I was having my friend over for candle lighting and she seems to be allergic to him. She and I were rubbing his belly and petting on him on Sat. evening and she started to get itchy eyes and a tight throat. It was time to leave for a bit and I left him at the shelter Sun. night and cleaned the place so she could come back for candle lighting. I brought him home this afternoon, but am not sure if it will work out because of the allergy thing. I figure that Ben and I will be here at least a few days since Ben had his wisdom teeth out this morning, so Moolatte can hang out here and then if we leave town, he can go to the shelter and if I am to hang out with my friend this week, it won't be here.

Housetrained

2008-12-20T08:44:00.003-06:00

Moolatte is definitely house trained. He hasn't gone to the bathroom in the house at all and I leave him out of the crate at night. He started eating Thurs. night though I haven't seen him poop. I hope he isn't constipated. He is eating fine with some leftover rice/ground beef in his food. He doesn't seem to like to go out for walks. He is okay getting the leash on but doesn't want to go out the front door. I don't think he likes riding in the car and I took him to the shelter yesterday to pickup our stuff for adoption day. I think he is hesitating to go out front because he doesn't want to get in the car. Today we go to Petco for an adoption day, even if I have to carry him out to the car.

So, he is a burier

2008-12-18T17:24:00.002-06:00

Moo hasn't eaten much here. Hasn't touched his food in his dish and wasn't interested in the hot dog pieces we offered him yesterday. He did eat a couple of little dog biscuits, but before that, he was doing something with them. I saw him doing it a few times more today and figured it out. I had tossed the dog biscuit on a comforter folded up on the floor for him to lay on and he went over and touched his nose to the cookie and then started pushing the covers with his nose. I couldn't figure out the scooping motion before and then it dawned on me that is how KD used to bury stuff. Sure enough, if I threw the top layer of comforter over it, he was happy. He just did it with a chew stick and then he layed down and pulled the cover layer back a bit to chew on it. Too funny, I have to take a video to post.

Was that Baxter I saw at the shelter tonight

2008-12-17T19:51:00.001-06:00

I was picking up Moo this afternoon and I could swear I saw Baxter in the meet and greet pen. I forgot to ask Andrew on my way back out. Guess I will find out on Friday.

I have a thing for the shy ones

2008-12-17T18:49:00.003-06:00

Picked up Moolatte this afternoon. One of the reasons I chose him was that he is so timid and especially shy around men. I have gotten him to be comfortable putting a leash on him at the shelter, so I thought that was a good enough start. He is extremely unsure of himself, but seems to be "hanging out with me" wherever I go at home and he is well mannered on the leash other than walking back and forth in front of you so that he could end up on either side. Well, I guess he isn't well mannered, but he doesn't pull, so that is nice. Quick pics from cellphone camera attached.

Next visitor - Moolatte

2008-12-16T15:07:00.002-06:00

Well, I talked with Monica last night and discussed CeCe, Karma, and Moolatte and we decided on Moo. I told her I couldn't get by last night and that I would try to get by today to get Moolatte and see how things go. The car is cleaned out and I need to put up the pet barrier before I go to get him. Pictures later.

Well, he's gone

2008-12-14T21:41:00.002-06:00

Ryan went home today while I was leading an adoption day. He is officially adopted. Desiree, hope I didn't teach him any bad habits you can't unteach. Also hope he has a good first night and takes to his crate.

Now it is time to consider who to bring home next. I have 3 candidates in mind, will have to mull it over and perhaps tomorrow night bring someone home.

Somedays it isn't a great day to have a dog's life

2008-12-10T10:06:00.002-06:00

The cold front came through yesterday afternoon/evening and then the rain came. It was cold and rainy and sleety and Ryan needed to go out to potty. Somedays "it's a dogs life" means it is nice to be able to lay around and just get petting, etc. But not being able to just use the restroom on an evening like last night make that saying mean the opposite. I didn't envy him running out to the back of the yard in the rain/sleet to hike his leg on a rock.