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The kids and I were watching animal planet and they were showing a dog that was rescued from a shelter and covering the search for a new home for the dog.
Emily asked me if people did that around here. Now, the kids have been pestering us for a dog for some time....we had said we wouldn't get another one until we had a good, safe fenced area for one. Well, they switched to pestering us to build a fenced area!
Then, my aunt Cherie rescued a Great Dane that a family bought as a puppy, then decided it was just too much work and put the poor baby in the backyard and basically ignored her. When Cherie rescued her she was almost 30 pounds underweight.
Well, now she's sleek and healthy and steadily gaining weight and the absolute sweetest, gentlest, most wonderful dog in the world. So that had put me in the mind to consider adopting again in the future.
Anyway, today, Emily starts asking if there are rescues around here and I said yes. She was curious, so I decided to show her websites for animal rescue organizations nearby, thinking this would be a good teaching opportunity to talk about responsible pet ownership, etc.
Well, we get on a site and I learned the disadvantage to kids that can read. Emily says "Is that her birthday?" talking about a date under a dog's picture.
No, it's her euthanasia date - and it's Monday. When I told Emily, she flipped.
"Mama, we have to SAVE HER!"
And you know what - I want to save her too! I can't believe I got myself into this situation. But now I can't stop thinking about her, and the idea that she might be put down on Monday, it's killing me.
posted
*whimper* Oh, for heaven's sake, adopt the dog! Please! She's so adorable and looking at her makes me want to cry. This is coming from someone who, if I had my own house, I think I'd be in danger of getting All Manners of Animals. Especially rabbits. People adopt them during Easter, realize they are too much work, then ABANDON THEM OUTSIDE ON THE STREET! Now I REALLY want to adopt a rabbit, or 2, or a couple of cats or both... I asked my landlady about it. She didn't exactly say no... so maybe there is hope that once I get a better job, I'll get a rabbit or two or a cat or two... But please adopt her. she's only 12 weeks old.. Also, next week I'm going to the MSPCA... It will take every bit of self control not to adopt EVERYTHING.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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That is horrible. That is one of the worst...I just...they've had that dog for two weeks...it's a puppy...and they're just going to kill it? That is one of the worst things I think i've ever heard. I'm crying.
This is why i shouldn't look at animal rescue sites either
Posts: 3516 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Well, you're in luck, because all of the dogs in the Alabama Boxer Rescue have been adopted! Otherwise I'd try to steer you that way, since Boxers are so famously good with kids and families. Plus I'm biased.
I'd have to caution against adopting a dog simply because they say they're going to put it down on Monday. Especially a 12 week old puppy. I say this having spent my morning mopping up urine in the living room... if you don't think you're ready for a puppy in the house, you should really listen to that voice. Please be ready to commit to this dog for the duration of its life, even when it's peeing on the rug, jumping on the kids, mouthing arms and legs when it's teething at 5 months, digging in the yard... And make sure that this particular dog is a good fit for your family, in terms of size, coat length, and personality. Impulse pet buys aren't really the best way to go about bringing a crazy wild animal into your home.
I spend too much time on the Boxer message boards, I just know it.
Now, I need to get home so I can, quite possibly, mop up some more pee and get barked at incessantly. We're working on it. Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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quote:People adopt them during Easter, realize they are too much work, then ABANDON THEM OUTSIDE ON THE STREET!
We are guilty of jumping on the "Get a rabbit at Easter" bandwagon, though I should point out we did it much more responsibly than most people.
My husband had raised hutches of rabbits before, so knew how to properly care for her. We did not abandon her, we took care of her, the kids took turns feeding her and cleaning her cage and she was with us until she died of natural causes. Her name was Daisy.
As for the dog - yes, I'm sorely tempted. My husband would freak, but there are advantages to having him out of the country on a mission trip now and then. And once he got home he'd be so besotted he wouldn't be upset, he loves dogs too.
We do need a fence though, so I'd have to go first to Home Depot and buy the materials to fence in a nice dog run and get a shelter.
But...my neighbors next door don't have a dog, and the previous home owners did and have a nice dog run and dog house already built...I wonder if I could just move everything? The neighbors might appreciate getting it out of their yard, since they don't use it. Hmmm...
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Zeugma, you are absolutely, positively right.
About everything - even the boxers - they're my husband's favorite breed.
Yes, it's not something to do on an impluse, and as I said, I'm not ready for one because we don't have a good, safe place for the dog to be when we're not home. I'm not big on leaving dogs inside the house when you're not there - too many experiences with chewed up furniture and destructive behavior that comes up when a puppy gets bored.
Plus, I really, really wanted to adopt an older dog. For several reasons - usually out of the destructive puppy stage, and older dogs have more trouble being adopted and are euthanized more often.
In fact, I had found several older dogs that fit the bill of what I was looking for....but I don't want to rush out and get one before we're ready, which includes getting the outside fence and shelter up.
But I could conceivably get that done over the weekend. That's why it makes it a tough thing - even if I didn't adopt that dog, there are a lot of others that need homes. It's just sad to look at her picture and think someone would really euthanize her. Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Yeah, euthanizing dogs breaks my heart. Cats and rabbits too, it's such a waste. I'd rather get an older animal myself. Baby rabbits I've read are harder to toilet train and they get into EVERYTHING. Kittens also can be a handful even though they are so cute. I want an animal that is at least a year old, past adolecense, more like a teenager. I cannot WAIT to get a pet... The waiting will drive me nuts. Maybe I'll just volunteer to work with animals or something until I get one of my own.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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We have a boxer. We wanted an English Bulldog. We got a boxer because we looked at dog adoption sites. *grin* Rocky is kind of like a bulldog...he has a smushed face, anyway... He was listed as a year old, but he was easily a year and a half old when we got him. We took our son with us (not sure if that was a mistake or not, he wanted ALL the dogs) to make sure the boxer was child-safe, and they fell in love with each other. When we got the boxer, we didn't have a backyard. We lived in a two bedroom second floor apartment. I took him (and our other dog, Lucy) out for potty three times a day! When we were out of the house, they were both crated. They are relatively happy in their crates. Of course, they would rather be with their people, but their crates are safe, comfy havens to spend the day in. We now live in a much bigger house, but still do not have a fenced yard. I tie them out three times a day (only when we are home!) on safe tie-out cords. They frolic and whatnot. I think they have happy lives. I hope they do. Rocky the boxer has been ridiculous at times (they do like to chew!), but is really the best dog for our family. Don't tell, though, Lucy's my favorite (shhh!). The most important thing (IMO) in introducing a dog to your home is making sure that the children know 'dog manners'. That made a HUGE difference for us. We had a labrador when Chris was little that bit him after three years of torment (she finally had it with him pulling on her ears). We made sure when we got Rocky that Chris knew the rules.
Posts: 1545 | Registered: May 2002
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My ideal pet would be one that is already altered, around 1-3 years old, at least medium size (I want a dog big enough that it can keep up with my husband while he's jogging, he likes to take dogs running with him) and of course good with kids.
Man I'd love it if it were already housebroken or crate-trained but I don't mind doing the training. I don't care about the breed, the color, or the sex. I care about disposition more than anything.
I sent an email to the main animal rescue organizations in the area telling them I'm looking for a family pet, and mentioned several dogs I saw in my searches earlier. I'm hoping that I can work with the organizations to make a good match.
Here are some of the ones I saved as possibilities besides the little girl that is going to be euthanized Monday:
Aspen Right size, absolutely beautiful and described as sweet and loving. A lab mix, and I love labs.
Casey Looks like a pure bred yellow lab, spayed and about one year old.
BJ She looks like such a sweetie! Described as calm, well mannered, and loving. But, they also said she was nervous, and nervous dogs can act aggressively, so that may be an issue.
Toby Housebroken and crate trained - gets along with cats and kids. That puts him on a short list for sure.
Tanner I emailed them to see what they meant by No Small Children and whether we'd qualify. He's already housebroken, just over a year old, described as passive and calm and good with cats. Perfect!
Ruffy A labradoodle! (lab/standard poodle mix) She sounds wonderful too, I like that she's had obedience training, but her owners got rid of her because their child was afraid of her. I'd have to know more about that, before I could commit to her. Bernie Now he's just gorgeous. I keep going back to him, but I don't know if he's a good fit. He's big, very big and while I love big dogs and we have plenty of room I don't know if he would be good with the kids. Though they adore the Great Dane and the 100+ pound bloodhound our neighbor owns and aren't scared of them or hesitant around them. He's listed on their site as one they've had for a while and really need a good home for. I'm guessing his large size is probably a contributor to that. So he really needs a home.
But then they all need homes, and I can't take them all. Kind of wish I could! Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Um, I live next door to purebred Berneese Mountain dogs. There is no way that Bernie is a Berner mix, even if he is big, and Berner is a trendy breed to be. The head and build are all wrong, and he'd never have blue eyes, since brown eyes are dominant and passed on in Berners. He's Aussie mixed with a large hound, maybe Dane. I'd bet on it.
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I like Bernie best. What eyes. So beautiful and alluring. now I am looking at pictures of rabbits and cats and it's making my heart hurt. I have got to BEG them to let me have a rabbit if I can get one.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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AJ,I pretty much don't trust any of the "dominant breed" guesses, because that's all they are, guesses. And no one can be familiar enough with all the breeds to be able to accurately state what breeds a dog is a mixture of.
I once had a shelter pup that I thought might be a lab mix. I took her to the vet and asked him what he thought and he said "She looks like a young brown dog to me."
That was the last puppy I adopted from a shelter - and I've been skittish ever since because she had contracted coccidiosis from the shelter, and died in my arms less than a week after we adopted her. Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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\\\\\I can't believe "rescues" that euthenize.///
What would you have them do instead? Rescues and shelters don't want to euthanize. But something has to give.
Let me give you an example and you give me the solution that does not involve euth. I promise you there is no exaggeration given.
Inner City shelter. Late May. The doors open at 8am. There are two women standing at the front door. Each with a box of kittens. The first box has 6 kittens that belong to the woman's cat. The woman has been to the shelter before with a box of kittens, but doesn't want to keep her cat in or take the certificate to get her spayed for free. (It's unnatural, don't you know?
The second box has 4 kittens that are hissing and spitting. The man found them in his garage and had to wear heavy gloves in order to handle them.
There are 60 cages in back alloted to holding cats (seperate from the adoption area) - half for strays, half for owner surrenders. Strays have to be held four days. The first box gets a cage - the last available owner surrender cage. The second box is tough because, in reality these kittens aren't strays - they're feral.
We are now left with no open cages in the owner surrender area and 2-3 in the stray area. It's 8:15 now. If anyone turns in their cats or kittens during the day (and people decidedly will), where will we put them?
Well, 6 kittens and 2 cats got adopted the day before but it only cleared up 3 cages because the kittens were together. The person that cleaned the cat room noticed that several cats are started to sneeze - they are breaking with URI and it will spread.(This happens when the cats are overcrowded.) A minor condition but the adoption rate will plummet if the cats all have runny noses and eye discharge.
The shelter has a sickroom and some of the cats can be moved there but the room also houses stray dogs that come in injured and animals in various conditions. Still we want to save these cats - it's a freakin' cold for Pete's Sake. (Let's try for foster homes.) Moving the 3 cats back pending a foster home opens up 2 more cages in the catroom but fills up the sickroom.
The shelter manager looks at all the cats and decides to allot some room in the puppy room for cats. The birthrate for puppies is lower in the spring - still we do have to make room for the puppies.
Okay, so we have 6 cages in the cat room, and six borrowed cages in the puppy room. 57 cages of strays and owned cats in the back. (Many of these cages housing litters - or siblings) 3 sick cats that need foster.
The shelter is comprised really of 3 shelters, but the calls to the other shelters indicate that they can only take 2 cages of cats each.
Calls go out for fosters for the sick cats but all the homes either have fosters or the people are burnt out. Bring the animal back when it's well, and walk out the door with more is the cycle.
The employee that cleaned the catroom is worried. Part of her wishes she hadn't said anything - maybe she could have hid the sneezing. Another worker points out to her that it wouldn't have helped and would have spread sickness. Both of them decided to take one of the cats home to foster - although they each are also fostering a litter of kittens which are listed on petfinder.com. Each does not know how they are going to break it to their spouse.
Meanwhile calls are going out to cat rescues - can they take some of these cats? PLEASE? No room at the inn.
In the time all this has happened 4 more cats have come in.
The adoptable kennels have 2 open dog cages. Stray dog section is overflowed and the shelter is borrowing room in the cruelty area where some of the dogs are too vicious to approach. The dogs in cruelty are awaiting a verdict on whether or not their owners will be prosecuted. Between the strays and the cruelty cages there is 1 free cage.
There is also an owner surrender dog area with 2 frees cages. So let's say there are 60 dogs in back and 2 open dog cages in the adoptable area.
The other shelters can take a couple dogs, a couple of the dogs are purebred and can go to rescue.
Of course, more dogs will come in throughout the day.
The shelter manager goes around and tells the staff that the shelter is on overload. We will NEVER turn an animal away, but we now will have to tell people honestly that we are in a really tight spot and hard decisions have to be made.
The woman that cleaned that cat room does an intake on a 12 year old hissing cat that does not use the litterbox. She advises the surrender that the cat will go to sleep. The surrender tells her that she should be ashamed of herself and she thought the shelter was there to help animals. The employee apologizes, and explains that even at a less crowded time of year this cat would be tough to adopt out. The surrender calls her a Kevorkian and tells the people walking in that the shelter loves killing animals.
The employee contemplates the fact that she makes a little over minimum wage, has - as of a few minutes before - 7 foster animals, 4 pets of her own that she would not give up for anything, and a love of animals that has sustained her throughout her life - and she is the bad guy in this.
The employee gets another employee to take the cat back while she does an intake on the two cowering dogs with the frayed ropes around their necks. The dogs have a roof over their heads for the first time in their lives. What they don't have are names. They also crap and pee their way throughout the shelter. They are shy beyond belief and it's actually scary putting them in the cage -potential fear biters. Gee, long term foster could maybe bring them out of their shells. They are mixes so no rescue org will take them.
The animals keep coming in throughout the day, the fosters, rescues, and other shelters are still full. 3-4 dogs get adopted. A cage of puppies get adopted. 2 caged of cats get adopted.
And we are going to avoid putting animals to sleep how again?
I don't agree with a shelter or rescue posting a euth date - it would have people adopting for the wrong reasons - but it's unfair to act like the people that work with animals aren't tortured over it.
Nobody wants to have to decide whether to put to sleep the sweet older cat or the adorable litter of kittens. Nobody wants to euthanize the dog that is lashing out because he's scared. Nobody wants to see an animal go to sleep because she's sneezing. Nobody wants to rescue an animal from an abusive home only to have the animal not make it up for adoption.
What is the solution? I mean the solution which enough people will actually do which involves sterilization, humane treatment, and a lifetime commitment to one's pets.
I worked at an animal shelter for 4 years. At the end of those 4 years I had a breakdown. I supressed great pain for years - it's a job requirement - and at the end of my time there the dam broke. I sobbed my way to work every day. I was diagnosed with compassion fatique - first cousin to "shell shock."
It's very easy sometimes to blame the shelter or the rescue rather than all the individuals that neglect their animals - maybe it's easier to focus on a single entity, rather than the cruelty that happens down the street from us - but these are some hardworking compassionate people that are literally on the front lines.
Anybody who has worked at a busy shelter has more nightmare images emblazoned on their psyche than they will ever know be able to purge. Michelle
Posts: 152 | Registered: Jul 2004
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And so angry - I've never owned a pet I didn't spay or neuter and I don't understand anyone who keeps an unaltered pet. (excepting, of course, people who are committed to responsible breedership like AJ)
There is only so much the shelters and rescues can do. And so few good homes, and way too many people who shouldn't have pets to begin with. Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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That sounds completely agonizing and makes me want to not volunteer at a shelter because I know how much it work hurt to have to put a healthy animal down. It makes me so mad. How hard is it to just get the animals fixed or to just not get a pet if you are not ready for the responsibility? This is why I constantly keep weighing the disadvantages and advantages of pet ownership because I don't want to traumatize an animal by taking them back..
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Michelle, people who work at shelters deserve the most profound respect and thanks the community can offer.
In my perfect world, people who don't spay and neuter pets should have Really Bad Things done to them. Thank you for cleaning up other people's messes.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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It's an overwhelming job and there is always someone to tell you that you are not doing good enough.
Our shelter didn't have a set amount of time for animals to be up for adoption - once an animal was up for adoption, as long as he or she stayed healthy they stayed up for adoption. It still became part of the job to bond with an animal and then see the animal become ill or not make it up for adoption. There was not a whole lot that could be done other than cry and go back to work.
It was a job where you had to neglect your feelings. There was no day when my own dog went to sleep over an extended lunch and I went back to work. Or the dog I worked my ass off to get put up for adoption and then find a home, only to have her go to be spayed and be riddled with tumors.
And the constant frustration with people. All the animals that came in with no id!
I remember there was an ancient stray chihuhua. So old that I knew this dog would not be put up. I took the dog for a walk every day, and eventually they signed him off (decided to put him to sleep.) I actually walked into the room two hours after when he was supposed to go to sleep and he was still there because they were running behind.
I decided to take him for a last walk. I had him out and one of my co-workers came running up to me to tell me the owners were there. That was pure LUCK and something that a dog tag would have fixed. Michelle
Posts: 152 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Our org does not HAVE a shelter right now. We have to DAILY decide which animals are the "right" ones to save from the "pound", juggle the owner surrenders and then add the "found" ones to the mix with very few of us able to foster and fewer of us not FULL to the gills. Our pound here had a 24 hour "turnaround" because of budget cuts. The facility is little better than a closet with a fence around it as it is. After 2 weeks there everyday trying to help out, dh said NO MORE - too much crying, nightmares, etc. I save the ones that I can foster (mostly kittens).
One of members had 12 pups (2 litters - rescues), 12 cats, 4 kittens and 7 adult dogs. Cant do any more... and yet finds the space for one more kitten (poor thing) who was dumped and scared and burned by the car that she crawled into.
Then comes the "ONE MORE" - a biting vicious spitting feral cat that will not be handled. She gets farmed to our feral cat program, which means that after spay and vaccs, she becomes a barn cat. If we could find a barn. But noone wants her, so she either
A. spends the rest of her life in a crate 24/7
or
B. gets put to sleep
What else can we do? This beautiful beast gets put down so that she doesnt have to be miserable. She was a Christmas kitty, FYI. Lost interest early, so they fed her and left her alone. 1 year later this is what they have.
I pray everyday for compassion to become more universal.
Posts: 3 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Syn - Even if you can't go into a shelter to volunteer, how about fostering? Also, if the local shelter does off-site adoptions (adoptions from parks, etc) you can always volunteer for that - happy, happy endings. Michelle
Posts: 152 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:The woman that cleaned that cat room does an intake on a 12 year old hissing cat that does not use the litterbox. She advises the surrender that the cat will go to sleep. The surrender tells her that she should be ashamed of herself and she thought the shelter was there to help animals. The employee apologizes, and explains that even at a less crowded time of year this cat would be tough to adopt out. The surrender calls her a Kevorkian and tells the people walking in that the shelter loves killing animals.
The temptation to retort "Well, you're the one bringing it in. Why don't YOU keep it?" would be overwealming.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Yeah, honestly, we all said variations on that to people. I would have some compassion for someone with a cat that was not using the litterbox. There is only so much you can deal with though:
"I'm sorry, but if you have had this cat for all these years and can't deal with it, why would anyone else? And the next person might be abusive!"
"You aren't even going to try?"
-Sigh-
What was harder were the people that turned in animals because they didn't match the furniture or jumped on the furniture. Or because they were moving and moving the pet would be a pain.
The first day I worked at the shelter someone turned in a 7 year old cocker spaniel and when I asked why they told me, "I guess we just don't love him anymore!"
I have - oh, a plethora of pets - and I love them all more every single day. One of my dogs will be 16 next month(God willing), another will be 11 in May. My other 2 dogs are nuts! But they are my family. Michelle
Posts: 152 | Registered: Jul 2004
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MamaMaureen - Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks ClaudiaTherese. Well, I've healed as much as I ever will.
And there were also good memories -happy endings, good adoptions!
There was one time when a rescue driver picked up two shepherds. One of the dogs had been shot (fairly bad, but not life threatening) and the other was guarding him. Our rescue driver had a hell of a time getting them. The shot one ended up in the injured room and the other one ended up in strays. The owner came in and I took her back to look for her dogs. She found the one in strays first and kept insisting the other one had to be there - that they were too close to have separated. Of course the other one was in the injured room. When the dogs saw one another they hugged (I swear) and then pressed up together and up against the woman.
If anyone ever watches Animal Cops, Detroit on Animal Planet - that's the shelter. Michelle
Posts: 152 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Michelle and Mama, thank you for the work that you do!!!
Belle, I'm glad you're being so responsible about this. And I'm glad you're looking at shelters. We adopted our dog Max from a shelter when he was 4 months old (he's almost a year old now) and he has been a great pet. Interestingly enough, though he'd been at the shelter almost his entire life, he was basically potty-trained when we got him - it took about 2 weeks to finish the training.
Best of luck on finding the right dog for your family. Unfortunately, you can't save them all, but giving even a single dog a loving home and family is pretty good in my book.
quote:I'm not big on leaving dogs inside the house when you're not there - too many experiences with chewed up furniture and destructive behavior that comes up when a puppy gets bored.
What we did when Mishka was a puppy was to crate her when we weren't home. That way, she didn't do any damage or chew anything harmful. She gladly ran into the crate on command, because we gave her a kong toy filled with peanut butter as a reward. We left her some toys to play with. (Although when she got really bored, she entertained herself by chewing a hole in her bed (inside the crate) and pulling out the stuffing.) After she was about a year old, we left her uncrated when leaving for a short time -- then we left her out for longer and longer absences, until finally we weren't crating her at all.
We did the same thing with our younger dog, only she was about a year old when we got her. We crated her when not home and at night for about a year, too, because she had a well-established chewing problem when we got her, and it took a while to correct.
We haven't had to crate either one for years now, though sometimes they like to go into crates to sleep. When we're gone, they mostly sleep on the bed (when we come home, there are two large round warm depressions in the comforter), although we have an invisible fence and a dog door so they may go out if they wish.
Crates are awesome.
[ March 05, 2005, 12:00 PM: Message edited by: Yozhik ]
Posts: 1512 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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I made it through today without going to the shelters.
I am going to put up the fence within the next week or so, so that will be done before we bring a dog home.
We already have a crate for a large sized dog, sitting in storage in our garage, so we'll have that part covered.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Michelle, that was incredibly painful to read, and I'm sure that tht pain was only a tiny drop compared to what you expereinced working for that shelter.
I've been volunteering at a low kill private animal shelter, just walking dogs, cleaning cat boxes, and giving attention starved cats and dogs both some attention. My allergies have been acting up, and I've decided to quit because of it (and because I'm worried about bringing disease home to my cat). I'm thinking about doing foster work for the shelter though. I'm not sure how my cat will respond to that though--I'll have to see. I may have to just content myself with donating to the shelter.
I grew up in the country, and all of the pets we adopted were either strays, animals that people were planning to kill, or animals that were being abused and were voluntarily given up by their owners. We had a fairly steady stream of strays, mostly dogs, that came wandering in, but luckily all of our neighbors felt similarly to the way we did about animals, so we all just kind of traded off with adopting them. Sometimes a newly adopted dog would really bond with someone else's dog, and would end up adopting that other family as their own. Mostly, though, they were just neighborhood dogs. Everybody loved them, took care of them, and fed them. If somebody couldn't afford to take a sick dog to the vet, or didn't have a vehicle (some of the elderly people out there didn't really drive), one of the neighbors would do it. It was really a good situation for both the people and the animals both. Brought everybody closer together regardless of species. Looking back I'm surprised that the dogs didn't form packs and harass the local cattle, cats, etc, but they generally didn't. Occasionally we'd have one or two that chased cattle, and had to be penned in when people weren't around to keep them from doing it, but it wasn't much of a problem.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Noemon- I have fostered well over 100 animals (lots of litters helped boost the numbers) and my animals all did fine. I did make it a policy to keep the fosters separate for at least 10 days though - and sometimes for the whole foster period.
The hardest foster to give back was one of the last ones. The most adorable Pom puppy! I loved him but just could not justify another pet. I would carry him around in a baby blanket.
I was fostering him because one of his testicles hadn't descended at our shelter believed in not adopting animals out until they were able to be sterilized. This went doubly so for purebred animals.
Anyhow, I was working and an older couple came in looking for a small dog. I suggested Chester, although I still needed to hang unto him a little longer.
I was supposed to go with a friend of mine from the shelter so he could meet a greyhound he was interested in adopting. The Petsmart was right by the older couples house so - killing two birds with one stone - I arranged for the people to meet Chester there at the same time.
The woman begged me to approve her for Chester. I did and in the end let him go to them on a sterilization contract because he was in no hurry to drop that other nut!!
They have sent me the most hysterically funny pictures (my fave was where he was walking around with a paper towel roll on the end of his muzzle)
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Michelle, what was the average length of time that you'd end up fostering a pet before socialization was complete and it was adoptable?
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I have a dog that my parents keep, but they are moving in a few months and can't keep her. The condo in AZ won't let them have dogs, and since they will be traveling between MI and AZ twice a year it is just too much for them to handle.
I have been looking for an apartment that would let me keep her, but I can't find one in this area, and I can't move too far away as JenniK and I share one car to get to and from work.
Penney has been with us since I took her from the shelter the day she was going to be put down.....10 years ago. It is killing me, but if I can't find a place then we have two options. My parents either take her to the pound, or they have her put down.
She has some heath issues, all minor, but I would take her in a second.
I don't know what will happen, but the whole thing just makes me really sad.
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My mom made a mistake when I was in middle school, she started volunteering with All Breed Rescue Alliance of Southern Indiana. We had an airedale, who was like six at the time, and I had always wanted to show obedience in 4-H, but that just wasn't logical with this dog, she was too smart for me. At the end of eighth grade I finally wore both parents down, and got a very very shy little sheltie, he was almost two, and when he came into rescue weighed just over ten pounds, he was at 15 in two weeks, and now a teeny bit over weight at 20.
It was probably the best thing I've ever done.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Kwea, do you or your parents have any friends that could take her? Is there any way to arrange your schedules so that you could manage riding in together from further away? Could you afford an old beater for a second car? Could your parents help you out with getting a second car? There has to be some solution that allows your dog to spend her remaining years happily.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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\\\Michelle, what was the average length of time that you'd end up fostering a pet before socialization was complete and it was adoptable? ///
Well, I fostered for many reasons beyond socialization. Sometimes the animals were a little too young to make it up for adoption, or had an upper respiritory infection, or there was just no room at the shelter.
Each foster had different terms. At less busy times of the year I would foster for a few weeks and then bring back. At busy times of the year I would keep them at home, the shelter would list me as the contact on Petfinder.com, and I would arrange meetings at the shelter or in the potential adoptors homes.
I don't know the particulars of your shelters policies but 2 - 6 weeks would probably be in the ballpark. Michelle
Posts: 152 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Kwea - I know you say your parents can either take her to the shelter or have her put down, but it's pretty much the same thing. Most shelters don't routinely pufa (put up for adoption) animals that old unless the shelter is low on animals and the animal has an angel on his/her shoulders. (When tough decisions have to be made often the deciding factor might come down to the animal resembling the pet of the person making the decision, or a well-times tail wag/purr.)
If you run out of options find out from the shelter manager what the chances are - and if they are not good - consider taking her to your vet and being with her at the end. Or at least asking to be present at the shelter if they are planning on doing it right away.
If you can manage to hold it together it would be a huge comfort to her! It makes a real difference to the animals fear level to have someone famiiar there. Michelle
Posts: 152 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Breyerchic- I have three Shelties currently, and have had 4 total. (I also have a flatulence prone Greyhound.)
One of my crew is going to be 16 and April (from Sheltie rescue.)One will be 11 in May (actually the first Sheltie I got - from a breeder - from then on only did rescues and shelters). I also have a little bizaare girl that is probably around 13 and is from the shelter. I had another Sheltie from the shelter - Paddington, he passed away at approximately 14. Michelle
Posts: 152 | Registered: Jul 2004
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We looked around for our doggie, we tried to get one from a shelter. But we *needed* a smaller dog, and no shelter within an hour and a half's drive radius had even medium sized dogs.
We crate-trained her, and she whines when we leave her in the crate for a few minutes, and just settles down. She can now be left in my brother's room (with the crate) uncrated for short whiles, and she doesn't sleep in it anymore. But it's familiar and she's okay being alone for short times. Oddly, she was housetrained almost right when we got her, as a puppy. She whined to be let out, and we did, right from day one. Though it took us a day or two to really figure out what she wanted.
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I can't believe "rescues" that euthenize. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Plus I'm biased. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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And once he got home he'd be so besotted he wouldn't be upset, he loves dogs too. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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(excepting, of course, people who are committed to responsible breedership like AJ)![[Group Hug]](graemlins/grouphug.gif)
