Here We Go Again

Big news!
Walter was adopted and is doing well in his new home.
Now I have two new kids to get to know. One is a poodle mix named Taffy. She is six pounds of white fluff. She looks a lot like a tiny lamb. She is a big baby, wanting to be petted all the time.
The other is Levi, a wonderfully charming border terrier. He is about 3 years old. Taffy is 2 years old. Taffy came from an animal hoarder along with her brother Tate. Levi was rescued from the Tulsa pound, and I must say that whoever let him go is a darned fool. Their loss. Big time. He's a great little guy. Loving and smart and fun to be around. He is low to the ground like a dachshund, but with a bright, happy terrier personality. He is simply adorable.
Both kids are almost housetrained. They need a bit of reminding from time to time. They get along well with Slim and spend much of their days going outside, chasing squirrels, chasing each other, and then racing back inside to plop down and take a nap.
I took them to PetSmart last Saturday and felt sure they would be snapped up, but no takers. It was a slow day. I'm taking them both again tomorrow and I hope we have better luck. I really want to get them settled into new homes with owners who really appreciate them.
We have some fantastic dogs right now for adoption. Now all we need are some fantastic dog lovers to come forth and stake their claims.

P.S. Hey you pug lovers! Norita just brought in two or three pugs for adoption. Better hurry up and get your applications in.

The Backslider

Walter is a backslider. Just when I think I am making progress with him, he backslides.

I tied a leash around my waist for a week with Walter attached to the other end of it to be sure that he didn't sneak off and pee when I wasn't looking. He is a sneaky pee machine.

This afternoon I let him inside to play with Mister Darcy on the couch for awhile. When I went to let the dogs out before it started raining buckets, there was a bucket of pee near my kitchen doorway. Walter!!

I know it was him. There is no pee until he is loose in the house.

Back to square one. Back to the leash.

I can tell people that he is housetrained with a doggy door, but that's as far as we can go with Walter right now. I haven't even tried to see what Slim will do. I have a feeling he will hike on everything in sight. I will have to give it a whirl soon. He is using the doggy door 98 percent of the time and I'm very happy with that.


Slim is funny with the doggy door. He rears up and then knocks the heck out of the door with both feet. I mean he goes after it! Walter didn't use the doggy door at all until this week. He finally used it to go outside, but he hasn't used it to come back inside yet.

Next week Walter will probably backslide and not be able to use the doggy door anymore. He really is a perplexing dog. He is affectionate and sweet, but very stubborn. That's the Chihuahua in him, I know. If anyone has any advice for backsliders, feel free to offer it up!

Take It Easy, Folks

A word about people who get ticked off when they have applied for one of our dogs and we ask them about expired vaccinations and no heartworm preventative purchased for their current pets. Zowie! Do some of them get hot under the collar! They preach that they take wonderful care of their pets and that every dog they have is happy and healthy. Yadadayadada. Now how are we supposed to know this? These people are strangers. They could live in trailers full of debris for all we know. All we can do is check veterinary records. Sometimes we do a driveby to make sure there is a fenced yard. We're volunteers. We do what we can do.
We're not accusing them of abuse. We're not accusing them of anything. We're just asking.
So calm down, people! If you're late getting Spot vaccinated, so be it. Never heard of heartworm preventative? We will bring you up to speed.
Also, those folks who say it is more difficult to adopt a dog from us than it is to adopt a child . . .
really? Really?? Right. Let's cool it on the exaggerations.
Take a deep breath. Exhale. Relax. We aren't the Dog Gestapo. We're just trying to find suitable homes for dogs that we've rescued.
Geez.

Easy Peasy

It's a big day at Debby's dog house. I adopted out TWO fosters yesterday to a lovely family. Little Paco and his pal Major both went to the same family. They are chihuahuas I've had here since February. They were breeder dogs and Paco was terribly frightened. They are both normal furry kids now. They are shy of new people at first, but beyond that they are fine.
I have my fingers crossed that they will fit in okay there and the family won't call and want to return them.
That happens sometimes and it's very discouraging. You try your best to find a good fit and to determine if they people have sensible expectations of the dog's capabilities. When they call and want to return the dog after a few weeks, or days, or months, it is upsetting all around. I have two returned dogs right now -- Walter and Tootsie.
People sometimes ask me, "Wouldn't you rather they be returned instead of staying with people who aren't happy with them?"
Yeah. But I would rather the people look into some training for the dog and themselves and work through the relationship with their new family member. In our society, we expect too many things to be easy. Easy on the eyes. Easy to buy. Easy to sell. Easy to get into relationships and easy to get out of them. Too easy, if you ask me.
I miss Paco and Major. I know Slim misses them because they were his bunk mates. I'm going to look at the dogs we have right now that need to go into a foster home and choose one to bring home. I was going to select two of them, but I need to leave some space in case one or both of the chihuahuas are returned in the next few weeks.
I believe this family is committed and they aren't expecting the dogs to know instinctively what is required of them. However, every time the phone rings I flinch.