Foster Journal

April 2000 Part 1: Thinking about fostering; volunteer orientation; Buddy

April 7, 2000

I got another newsletter from the humane society and they are still looking for foster homes. They are really pushing this "Initiative 2005" for Pittsburgh to become the first eastern no-kill city by 2005. They don't want to ever turn away an animal (which the existing no-kill shelter does when they are full) but they don't want to kill them anymore just because they don't have space, so they want to recruit tons of foster homes. They have plans to majorly expand their facility, and one of the other shelters is already adding on to their building.

There is an orientation on Monday night at 6:00 so I think maybe we'll go to that. I'm supposed to call and tell them we're coming, so I guess I'll do that tomorrow. They also want people to train dogs but of course you have to go to the shelter to do it, and that's kinda inconvenient. So I think we'll find out more about fostering, and who knows, we might end up really doing it. Kinda scary! I like the dog aspect of it but it's scary for me to deal with the people.

So depending on how things go on Monday, we might end up with a new foster dog sometime in the next couple of weeks. In the newsletter they said they need people to foster very young puppies (which we couldn't do since we're gone all day), hyper adolescents (just what we need!), and older dogs that are too stressed by being kenneled all the time. We'll see what we find out on Monday and I guess we'll go from there.

April 10, 2000

Today was the volunteer orientation at the humane society. I figured we were gonna be a little late because Warren doesn't get home until after five when he has an afternoon patient, and it started at six, and we had to go through rush hour traffic. We left here at 5:18 and he accidentally went the wrong way and all of a sudden we were there. It only took 20 minutes. We were way early, so we walked around and looked at the animals. We found out where the meeting was going to be held, and we went in and nobody else was there. Eventually the person in charge showed up and she had a big (huge) adolescent male dog named Buddy with her. Dobe/shepherd, she said. Apparently he was found as a stray but he had an AVID chip. They scanned the chip and contacted his owners... who said they didn't want him back. He was very friendly and playful and he ran around greeting everyone as they came in and trying to get them to throw his squeaky toy. We filled out a form and then we watched a video. Then she talked for a while. It was just a general volunteer meeting so she only talked a little bit about fostering. She said that they want you to take them for at least 2 weeks to evaluate them, make sure they're housetrained, etc. and then you can take them back, or you can keep them until they are placed. At one point she said something like, "I know at least one of you is interested in fostering," and she looked right at me, and then she said, "and Buddy here is looking for a foster home." I would have probably volunteered to take him right then and there, but Warren was concerned that he's just too big and unruly, and he's probably right.

People kept filtering in late, and we were about halfway through the meeting when some lady came in and got greeted by Buddy and was totally PETRIFIED. The only other guy there (besides Warren) sounded kinda embarrassed when he said, "That's my wife." She was plastered against the wall and Buddy was just trying to say hi and she was terrified. The person in charge put Buddy on a leash and passed him off to somebody to hold. Everybody was laughing hysterically at the scared lady. The dog was big but he was the goofiest, silliest, happiest dog you could ever hope to meet, and he never jumped or barked or anything. If you could have seen how scared this lady was... it was hilarious.

Anyhow, I don't know exactly what happens next. I guess I have to call them back again and tell them yes, I am interested, and then I guess we go and get our first foster.

April 11, 2000

"go back there and get buddy. it sounds like he will fit right in with your animal family."

But you don't understand.... When I said he's big, I was not clear enough. I mean, he is REALLY big. Bigger than me, I think. And like I said, I would have taken him anyway, but I don't want to annoy Warren with our first foster dog. Obviously this is not something he would be doing on his own, and I was actually pretty surprised that he agreed to let me do it. So I have to be careful.

"i think buddy is calling you. . . . . ruff, ruff, ruff"

"you're really gonna do this, aren't you?"

Was there ever really any doubt? =) The only obstacle was getting Warren to agree to it, and that was easier than I thought. He's pretty tolerant of my dog hobby.

"so, does this mean that when you come to visit you will have one more dog?"

Probably. As long as it fits in the car....

April 12, 2000

The humane society left a message on the machine today. They wanted us to foster Buddy. I asked how he is with cats, and they said he wanted to play with the cat but he didn't try to attack it or anything. So I said we'd come get him and try him out.

So he's here. He's huge and totally clueless. I think I 'll try to get them to keep him for us next weekend cos all the animals will not fit in the car together. And I don't think you and dad would be too pleased to have him around. He's really nice, and not at all mean, but he's just so BIG.

Everybody is getting along. Echo stood on him and Brin humped him and Keek hissed at him, so now he knows his place.

He's really big.

Did I mention that he's big? And totally clueless. And he howls in his crate.

"i'm so glad. congratulations. I knew you'd end up with buddy. he sounds like a great dog. he probably doesn't know that he's big. he can't help it, you know. does he stay in the yard? is he good outside? what tricks did you teach him? I bet if you do some tricks with the other dogs, and let him watch, he'll figure it out. I 'm so happy for buddy. great news."

I could barely hold him on the flat collar they put on him. I think he is bigger than I am, and he is strong. We brought him home and he instantly peed in the yard. He appears to be housebroken. We introduced him to our dogs outside. No problems. When we took him inside, the cat hissed and raced out of the room. I offered Buddy some food but he didn’t want it. I took all the dogs back outside. I asked Brindle and Echo to sit before I opened the door, because that is our routine. Brindle sat but Echo was distracted. I repeated the command. Buddy sat! Apparently, someone has been working with him. Since then he has sat on cue a few times but has ignored the cue most of the time. He doesn’t seem to respond to his name.

We played ball a little. Buddy would get the ball and bring it back but he didn’t want to let it go. I ignored him until he dropped it. When I tried to throw it again, he grabbed my arm very gently. I told him no and he stopped. He seems to have great bite inhibition, but with a dog of his size, I would prefer to eliminate the mouthing.

We took all the dogs for a walk. I had a prong collar that fit Buddy so I walked him on that. He was very easy to walk but I wouldn’t want to try it without a prong collar or a Gentle Leader. Later, he happily chewed a sterilized bone on the bedroom floor. Brindle decided he wanted that bone, although he never had any interest in it before. I took the bone away to prevent a squabble. Buddy didn’t growl when I took it, although he did try to hold onto it. He never attempted to get on the bed when he was in the bedroom.

I introduced him to the crate. He went into it without much trouble when I put his bone inside. I let him go in and out a few times but unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to really acclimate him to the crate. I did not feel comfortable letting him loose at night because of his strong interest in the cat. So I put him in the crate with his bone, closed the door, and prepared for the worst. For a few minutes, I tried leaving the room when he started fussing and returning as soon as he was quiet for a moment. But he didn’t seem to be getting it and it was past my bedtime. So I gave up, turned off the light and went to bed. Remarkably, he was quiet after that. He whined a little but that was it. Maybe he understands that “lights out” means bedtime.

April 13, 2000

"so, just what kind of dog is buddy? besides big. like kramer? he's big. and he certainly was clueless for quite some time. and what's buddy's story? dad thinks you're nuts. I just accept it and get on with my life."

I'm kinda surprised I didn't get any mail here from you guys today. I bet G wasn't surprised to hear about Buddy. She was telling me to go get him a couple days ago. If they hadn't asked me specifically to take him, I wouldn't have offered. I was planning to call yesterday when I got home and tell them I was ready to foster SOME dog (like, a normal sized one), and I figured they'd want to meet with me again and go over the rules and stuff. I didn't think they'd just kinda hand a dog over to me.

Anyhow, I said we'd give it a try. "When should I come pick him up?" "Whenever you want." "Well, how long will you be there tonight?" "The kennels will be open until 7, and I 'll tell them to give you a collar and leash and some food." I thought maybe they'd want to go over the rules or give me some tips or something. Nope. I signed my name on a paper and walked out with the dog.

Anyhow, I 'll take some pictures tonight and send them. I wish today was Friday. I feel bad leaving him alone in a crate all day cos he's not used to that. I should have waited to pick him up until Friday or Saturday. Oh well, maybe next time I 'll be less impulsive.

April 13, 2000

Keek woke me up very early this morning. I tried to ignore him but I was mostly awake anyway, so I decided to get up. Buddy whined a little when I got up but he settled down when I went to take a shower. Then I let him out and we all went outside. He peed like a good boy. I was debating about what to do with him while I walked Brin and Echo because I didn’t want him loose in the house, but I also didn’t want him barking in the crate while Warren was sleeping. So I decided to walk all three dogs at once. It worked surprisingly well. Brin and Echo walked nicely on my left and Buddy cruised along on my right. When I returned, I had breakfast. Buddy can stand and look down at the tabletop, but he never tried to help himself to anything.

Brin and Echo had their breakfast, while Buddy ate about half of his in the crate and then started whining. Eventually he settled down and I let him out. It was still very early (like 5:30) and I had a lot of time to kill, so I put Buddy on a Flexi and took him to the playground. He exercised very nicely on the Flexi, although he did try to grab it and pull on it a couple times. Whenever he did that, all I had to do was stop “playing” (in other words, I stood still and let the leash go slack so there was nothing for him to play tug against) and he gave up that game. When I started to jog around the playground, Buddy grabbed my foot. Again, it was a very inhibited bite, but still unacceptable behavior. I immediately stopped, told him NO sternly, and he let go. He played ball a little, found a big stick to carry around for a while, and then we went home. I cuddled poor B&E on the futon while Buddy rested quietly on the floor. One more trip outside, then he went in his crate and I left for work. He howled a little but I couldn’t hear anything as I left the house.

Buddy was waiting quietly in his crate when I got home. He had shredded the bedding I gave him, but that’s okay. He did his business outside and then we went for an uneventful walk. We practiced sits and downs in the kitchen while dinner was cooking. He knows the word sit and he does this fairly reliably on cue. He sits almost as fast as Brin and Echo when they're waiting for me to open the door and take them outside. He has also started sitting for attention without a cue. Nice! For downs, he is still following my hand. Sometimes he tries to paw me instead. I told him to “shake” and “paw” but he didn’t seem to recognize that.

We took Buddy to Pet Supplies Plus to buy a citronella collar to curb his howling. Buddy was well behaved in the store and he even got to play with a cute little 16-week-old pup. He was very gentle. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any citronella collars in stock, and it will take 5-8 days if I order one from a catalog.

I gave Brindle and Buddy some rawhide bones. I only had little four inch ones and I expected Buddy to finish his in one bite, but Brindle finished first. Buddy took the rest of his bone outside and buried it under the porch.

He still doesn’t care for the crate, but he will go in easily now. He just doesn’t like to stay there. I’ve been putting him in, giving him a treat, and letting him come right back out. At bedtime, I didn’t feel like listening to him howl, so I tied him to the bed for the night instead. He was quiet all night.

April 14, 2000

"buddy is soooo cute!!!"

Mom said so too. It's a shame he's so big because I bet he'd be really easy to place if he was a normal size. He has a great temperament.

"if they could shrink him a little bit, I would want a dog just like that! bigger than a min pin, smaller than a buddy. anyway, I think it's cool that you're hosting a dog. what if you start to really like him and want to keep him?????"

Right now I 'm totally neutral about him. He's nice and all but he's not special to me. He's just a dog. I probably will start to like him but he's not the right kind of dog for us. It could never happen because he doesn't "speak" to Warren. Besides, then I wouldn't be able to foster anymore.

"how is everybody getting along now? any problems? what does keek think?"

Keek hates him. Buddy just wants to play but that would be a disaster! Keek has been living on the fridge, top of the cabinet, top of the computer table, and in the living room (no doggy access). As far as I know he didn't even come into the bedroom last night, so this morning I moved his food into the computer room. He started eating right away. Poor Keek.

The dogs try to play with him but then they get freaked out when he tries to play back. He really wants to play. He needs a huge dog buddy. (Ha, Buddy needs a buddy.) And Brindle has some issues. He thinks he owns everything in the house. I gave Buddy a bone that Brin and Echo NEVER played with. All of a sudden, that bone is the greatest thing ever. And Brin gets really snarly if food is around. Buddy still isn't really eating. It is weird to be around a dog that doesn't want to eat.

"that's another bad part of getting such a large dog. I bet he eats a lot."

Actually, so far he won't really eat, which really puts a damper on my training method! We weighed him yesterday when we went to Pet Supplies Plus for a citronella collar (unfortunately they didn't have any) and we were both surprised to find out that he only weighs about 60 pounds! He's long and tall but he's skinny.

I wanted the collar because he howls in the crate. I didn't want to use a shock collar because I was worried he would associate the shock with the place rather than the behavior, and I don't want him to be scared of the crate. Warren said he howled for about 20 minutes after I left yesterday, which really isn't that bad, except that Warren was trying to sleep. Last night I decided to just tie him to the bed, and he was quiet all night. He stood up a couple times and looked around, but mostly he just slept. I tied him there again this morning when I left, and told Warren to crate him before he leaves. I don't think he'd need to be crated at all if I didn't have the cat and dogs to worry about. He seems to be totally housetrained and he doesn't seem to chew stuff, although he did destroy the bed that I put in his crate yesterday.

"buddy looks like a very nice dog. he doesn't look that big. I think you should keep him."

He is nice but there is no way I 'm keeping him. I want to help him learn to be good and then send him on his way and get a different one. He already sits to go outside, and today he sat to get his leash on. If he wasn't so darn big, he'd be pretty easy to place. I think he should go live with a nice young adult jogger. He would be a great jogging partner. He has a really different temperament from my dogs. He's more detached, less in-your-face, not as freaked out by people. He's not very affectionate though. And he barks and whines a lot. If somebody takes his bone, he cries and then starts barking. If I leave the room, he does the same thing. That's why I want the citronella collar.

C. called to check up on Buddy. I told her he's doing great. I said I could tell that somebody had been working with him because he sits to go through doors and to get his leash on. She was happy to hear that. I told her we are going home next weekend and she said we could drop him off on Friday and maybe he'll get adopted on Saturday. If not, we could pick him up after we get back, or we could leave him there for a while. Sounds good.

April 14, 2000

Buddy is settling in and is eating better. He will take treats now, so we worked on sit, down, crate, go to your place, and “off” (not mugging my hand for food). He caught onto “go to your place” quickly enough that I think someone taught him that before, or maybe he was taught to sleep on a blanket. He also caught on to “off” rather quickly, although at first he licked my hand nonstop for about a minute. I haven’t seen him startle to the click sound yet but he seems to be learning anyway. He is good at sitting to go outside, although he usually complains about it.

We took him to PetSmart, looking for a citronella collar again. He was well behaved in the store and got a lot of attention. The store had a collar but it was too expensive. We'll just have to deal with his barking, and hopefully we’ll have a collar for the next foster. He actually isn’t a real nuisance barker. He barks for a few minutes when he's left alone, and then he settles down. If I put a chewy in his big bone and give him that when I crate him, we can sneak out without any barking. He barks when he is playing with the dogs, or trying to play with the cat. Sometimes he makes a sound like, “I love you!” As long as he's in the same room with us, he's quiet and mellow for such a young dog.

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