December 2, 2001

Yesterday we were getting ready to go to the park and I put Lucky's vest on. But we weren't ready to leave yet. I actually thought, "Hm, i probably shouldn't put that on her until we go, because she might chew it or something." But I did it anyway. And she chewed it. She bit right through the front strap, right where it connects to the vest. So I don't even know how to fix it because it is probably too thick there to sew through it. I put it back together with a pin and put it back on her. She tried it again! I sprayed bitter apple all over it but she didn't care. So she went to the park without her vest.

December 5, 2001

I placed an ad for Lucky. It started today. I'm mad because the girl wrote it differently than I said, plus there is another ad for almost the same dog, but better.

Mine says: terrier mix 4 yr old fem, black, 35#, house trained.

The way she wrote it cost me a bunch of characters and I had to take something out to make it fit. And I know from last time that people don't know that # means pounds. I don't know why they don't have a way to submit it online. I will mail it in next time.

The ad directly below it says: TERRIER Mix fem 1yr 30lbs. beautiful very affectionate & gentle, nds gd home

So nobody is gonna call on mine when there is a younger, identical dog that is also beautiful, very affectionate, and gentle. I wish I would have paid the extra money for another line or two. I feel stupid now. They didn't have a cheaper rate for non-profits (the other paper does but we typically don't get as many responses from there). So I wanted to keep it as cheap as possible since it's not like anybody's gonna reimburse me or anything. The minimum was $15, but each extra line was only $3 more, so I should have just written more. Darn it. I bet I won't get much response at all. Wasted $15 and I'll probably end up just taking her back next weekend and hoping for the best.

Okay, so here is what the ad says: terrier mix 4 yr old fem. black, 35#, house trained.

I got the first phone call. She had two questions.

1) Is she housetrained?
2) How big is she?

Now I remember why I hate doing it this way! Actually I think she was confused about the two different ads because she mentioned the 1 yr old terrier mix. So probably everybody that calls will be confused. My plan is to direct everyone to the website as early as possible in the conversation.

December 8, 2001

I've had some calls off and on but nothing promising. Sometimes they want a smaller dog, or a bigger dog, or a younger dog. The biggest problem has been that most of them have little kids and I'm just not sure how she'd be. I know she would be fine with older kids. But she gets possessive of her stuffed toy and I don't think that would be a good combination with a little kid. I don't think she'd bite but I know she'd growl if a kid tried to take her stuffie away. Her initial evaluation said that she guards her toys, but I didn't see any indication of it for a long time. Apparently she only guards toys that are really special -- like her stuffed bone with a squeaker in it. Echo would have eaten the stuffing out of it but Lucky just carries it around. It's great for when she gets excited because I can give it to her and it keeps her from barking!

I think if I don't get any decent leads this week, I'll try taking her back to the shelter next weekend. Depending on how many dogs are there, she would have a pretty good chance of getting adopted. She's so darn cute.

We went to the park this morning, even thought it was kinda raining. We didn't stay long but it was enough to wear the dogs out. They've been sleeping all day.

December 9, 2001

I had a bunch of calls about Lucky but it's always the same story: "I was looking for something a little smaller." I really don't think she's a big dog. She's actually one of the smaller fosters I've had. But whatever. And like, if the ad says she's 35 pounds and you want something smaller than that... why would you call??

Lucky likes tennis balls. She was playing all by herself today, throwing it and then chasing it and running back to her crate to chew the fuzz off. She a crate nut. She loves her crate.

December 10, 2001

I just spoke with a man who might be interested in adopting Lucky. He said his last dog died in 1994 and he hasn't been
able to think about getting another one until now. He said he likes to get dogs that nobody else wants. They have a 14 year old daughter. I decided not to refer him to the website because, for some reason, nobody ever gets back in touch with me after checking out her pictures (if they bothered to check the website at all). I am thinking that maybe the pictures do not do her justice and she is just the type of dog you need to meet to appreciate. He sounded extremely interested in her, so I took a chance and asked them to meet us at the HS tomorrow evening. For all I know, he will fail to show up, but he did sound very interested, so hopefully it will work out. I have my fingers crossed and I will keep you updated!

Of course I haven't actually gotten around to sending out any cards yet. From now on I plan to either get them to write their address down for me, or I will just make a copy of their adoption application.

December 11, 2001

Yesterday I got a call about Lucky. It sounded promising because they just have a 14 year old daughter (no young kids) and they thought she was a good size. It was weird but I got a vibe that they were planning to take the dog sight unseen. So I decided to meet them at the shelter so that they could adopt her immediately if they wanted her. And they did! Lucky really wasn't doing a good job selling herself. She was acting spastic, which was really a shame because she's not normally like that. She kept wandering around the room, sniffing stuff, and basically ignoring everyone. But they liked her and they adopted her on the spot. Everyone at the shelter was really happy that Lucky finally found a good home. She will most likely be sleeping in bed with the daughter tonight. I don't think they are going to use a crate when they leave her home alone, but she won't be alone much, and hopefully they won't have any problems.

December 18, 2001

Someone on my fosterdogs group (not a local person) said that her group calls adopters after 1 day, 1 week, 6 months, and then every year to make sure everything's okay. Sounds kind of ambitious but is probably a good idea. And that reminds me that we never did hear anything from the person who adopted Zoey. I sent her a Christmas card so if it's not returned, I guess we can assume the person still lives at that address.

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