Foster Journal
November 2002: A Home
For Murray?
November 2, 2002
We took the dogs to the park. This was the first
time Murray went. He was a total goofball. This is the first day
it's been decent
out, so all the dogs at the park were wound up from being
inside too much.
Brin and Murray played really well together. They did that
cool thing where they stand up on their back legs and kinda wrestle.
They all
got really muddy. We recognized a lady with the dog she adopted
from the adoption thing we went to a couple months ago. The
dog seemed
happy. I had to bathe 3 muddy dogs. Now they’re all sleeping.
November 5, 2002
It's raining today so I didn't get a chance to walk
Murray. He's healthy now, and wow, i forgot what it's like to have
a young
dog in the house!
He's very active. And just within the last 2 days, he now
chews stuff. I got used to being able to basically let him have
the run of the house,
but now i have to watch him or crate him. He chewed up a
pen, he and Echo got a hold of my bag of candy corn and ate that,
he
chewed a hole
in the carpet (luckily just the yucky carpet), and... something
else, i forget. Oh, and a battery. He can get out of the
wire crate. I don't
really understand how he does it but it happened twice, so
I can't leave him in there anymore. And last night he kept
us
up all night.
It was the first time I crated him at night, cos i never
had to worry about him chewing stuff before. He did NOT like
being
in
there. He
wagged and thumped (hard to believe how much noise he can
make), and then he cried. Finally I put him in the crate in the
computer room,
and put the TV on for him. And we put the other TV on to
drown him out. Eventually around 2:00 he settled down. (I get up
at 4:30.) So
tonight I think i'll try tying him to the dog bed, but i'll
have to clear everything off the shelf first.
I feel bad complaining
about him. Right now he's sleeping peacefully. Hmm, i guess that's
part of the problem!
November 10, 2002
I went to the dog aggression seminar this weekend.
It went from 9-5 both days but i left early today cos i didn't
want to spend
my entire
weekend there. It was really good. She showed videos
and did demos with real dogs with aggression problems (mainly
toward
other dogs,
not people). All in all, it made me feel like Echo's
problem
really isn't very bad, and that I'm handling her correctly,
so that made
me feel good.
Warren brought Brin when he picked me
up today and it was really funny to see how people reacted to him.
We
had been
instructed
not to touch
any of the demo dogs, and we spent hours studying
tiny little possible signs of aggression. So the people
started filing
out and saw Brin
and were acting really wary of him. Then I told everyone
he wasn't there for the seminar and he isn't aggressive
at all.
Then they
all started oohing and ahhing and petting him, and
he did his little pit
bull wiggle.
We went to the park this afternoon. There
were no other dogs in the fenced area, but they still ran
around
a little. Luckily
I
didn't have
to bathe them this time. Now i have a bunch of
email to get through, and laundry that I didn't get a chance
to
do before.
I kinda
feel like I missed my weekend. Oh well. The seminar
was good and I'm
glad I went.
Remember the lady that called about
Murray and said she'd get
back to me? Well, she actually called back
today. She wants to come and meet him sometime
this week. So if all goes well, you
guys
won't get to meet him. It's too bad cos he's
really fluffy and sweet and I think you would've
liked
petting him.
All the dogs are sleeping now.
November 11, 2002
The lady is coming
to meet Murray on Thursday. I am a little concerned because
they don't
have a fence
and she was thinking
of getting electric fence. I advised her
to just fence a small part of the yard with actual fence.
We talked
about crate training
and she
is going to get a crate, but she is worried
about not having enough space for the crate and wonders
if she
could put
it
in the garage.
Sigh.... I will have to be very assertive
with her. This dog (well, all dogs, but especially
this one)
needs to
be with
his family
AND needs a good sturdy fence. Should I tell
them they can't have him?
I don't know, maybe i can educate them. With
three young kids it seems pretty likely that
the dog
will escape
eventually. I can't
deal with
another Mrs. D. But maybe they will be okay.
She homeschools and is home a lot. And she
was researching
crate training
and
stuff
on the
internet. So she seems to be willing to learn.
Who knows. I will just have to see how they
strike me
on Thursday.
November 14, 2002
The Ls were here to meet Murray. They were
very nice. Murray was kind of shy. They
are going
to let me
know what they
decide. I
think they
were a little worried that he would be
scared with all the kids and their friends coming
over. I think
he'd
get used
to it pretty
fast
though. We are dropping him off Tuesday
evening to be neutered. So if they don't adopt him
and we still
have
him when we
come for tgiving,
at least he'll be neutered. =)
Keek was
very sociable with the visitors. The one kid held him by the collar
and
he just
dealt with
it.
November 15, 2002
We're meeting Murray's family at the
park tomorrow. They want to see him
in a different
environment
to see if
he is a little
less
shy.
November 16, 2002
We were supposed to meet Murray's
family at the park today but it
is rainy and
probably very
muddy. So
we met at the
shelter. I had told
them that if the big training room
wasn't available,
we could take Murray to their house
just to see how he acted
there.
When
we got
to the shelter, we found out that
the dad stayed home to clean the
house
in case we ended up going there!
Luckily the room was available.
We took Brin
along to make
Murray
feel more
comfortable.
He did a lot
better this time. He wasn't acting
shy at all. The kids gave him treats
and
dragged him around
by the
leash.
He was fine.
He didn't
even freak
out when they started crying and
fighting with each other. It kinda
sucked that
we had Brin
there cos
the kids liked
him better!
Brin
knows lots of tricks and loves
attention and treats, and he was amazingly
tolerant with the kids. Murray
wasn't acting very interested in the kids.
Gabe really
wanted a dog
that knows how
to fetch, and
Murray
doesn't (yet). He is the oldest
(8 1/2) and
he is the one that really wants
a dog, so they are
kind
of letting
him
pick. And
he was kind
of lukewarm about Murray, so who
knows. But the mom really liked
him. We spent
about
an hour
with them
and she seemed
to finally
believe
that Murray isn't a dangerous dog.
(A little knowledge is a bad thing
- she
read somewhere
that shy dogs
can be fear
biters,
so she was pretty
sure Murray was going to maul her
kids.)
November 19, 2002
We are dropping Murray off at the clinic tonight for neutering.
The current plan is that we will pick him up when he's done, and
the Laurents will then pick him up here on Friday. I told them to
make sure they do all the paperwork before then. If that is a problem,
let me know.
It seems to be a good placement. They homeschool, so the dog will
have lots of company. My only concern is that they don't have a fence,
and with 3 little kids running around it seems like it's just a matter
of time until the dog slips out the door. (He's that kind of dog!)
They seem to be leaning toward an electric fence, which I guess is
better
than nothing. At least they are planning to use a crate, so that
is a good thing. If we can talk them into attending obedience classes,
so much the better. =)
So I guess I'll be ready for the next one whenever you need me!
What about the pathetic looking 3 legged elderly one on the website?
Or whichever dog you recommend -- I trust your judgement.
---
Hello to you!
I am very glad to hear about Murray -- they are certainly taking
their time about making this decision -- that is very reassuring
actually! If you don't need any time off I would be VERY happy to
find another foster dog for you ... do you have any holiday travel
plans?
Gretchen
November 19, 2002
We have to drop Murray off tonight
to be neutered tomorrow. Hopefully
he'll
be ready
tomorrow
night. The Ls finally
decided they definitely
want to adopt him. I have mixed
feelings about it. I think it's
pretty likely
that Murray
will escape
from
their house
once or
twice. They
do not have a fence yet, but
they will probably get one. I think
once they
realize that I'm
right about
his getting
out,
they'll
break down
and put up a fence. And the mom
said that it would be twice as
bad if
he got out,
cos if
the dog ran
towards traffic,
there would be a
kid running along behind him.
So she seems to realize that a
fence is a good idea.
They don't
want Murray to sleep in the bedroom.
I have no idea
why.
They want
him to sleep
in the "family room." I
normally would say absolutely
not, but since she
homeschools her kids, Murray
will be with people all day.
So I think he
could deal with being alone at
night. Hey, it could be worse
-- lots of people
let dogs sleep
outside
in doghouses. At least he will
have a warm place to sleep. And
during the day
he will get lots of attention
(probably more than
he even
wants).
Anyway, they thought it
might be hard on Murray to
recover from
his surgery
in a
strange place,
especially
with
three kids who
will want
to hang all over him. So I
am going to get him after his surgery
and
keep him
until
Friday. She said they
have some
kind of
activity day
at church on Sunday, and the
dad is planning to stay home
with Murray
and
bond while
the kids
are
away.
=)
Gabe (the oldest boy) seemed
to be disappointed that Murray
doesn't
know any tricks yet.
One of the dogs
they almost
adopted was
sort of pre-programmed with all
the
standard tricks. And he also
really liked
Brin's tricks. I thought it would
be good to teach Murray something
basic
like "shake" before
he goes to his new home. So I
got out the froot
loops. Seven repetitions and
Murray shakes like
a pro.
=) At that point I felt like
I really missed out on training
a
nifty, smart dog. I had a month
with him; why didn't I have fun
and teach
him lots of cool stuff? I suspected
he was smart right from the beginning.
I
thought about it and came to
the conclusion that I
unconsciously
avoid training the really special
dogs because training is when
I really bond
with them, and I know that it
would be disastrous
to
let myself
get too attached. I will have
to go back through my journals
and stuff to see
if that holds true.
Just thinking...
Zoey was one of my favorite
fosters. I feel
like
I really
let down
by returning her
before she
was adopted,
and
I never
found out where she ended up
because the phone number they
gave me was
disconnected. Anyway,
I got too
close to her,
and I know
why --
I spent a lot of time working
with her because she was really
shy
and scared
of
everything.
I took her
for walks
and gave
her lots
of treats
whenever cars went by. And
she got so much better! And I got
*so* attached
to her.
It sucks because
I *love*
training, and
I know
that it makes
for an easier transition into
a new home.
But it makes me
get too involved and too attached.
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