Elvis has left the building...again

As many of you know, sweet Elvis, a boy we first fostered back in June, was returned to us about a month ago. Honestly, he was the last guy that I thought would be returned but I was glad they didn't keep him if he was as afraid of them and their home as they said.

None of the fear aggressive issues were seen here but I did see problems with leash aggression due to high levels of anxiety when he was near a street.

Tonight he went to his new home and I'm crossing my fingers that all will go well. He got pretty stressy during goodbyes and was being somewhat alpha with Pearl and tried to start a fight a couple times. It's not behaviour that I've ever witnessed with him but I can tell he was ramped up and the best bet will be for him to be kept separate for awhile until he settles and feels safe enough to just be himself in the home and then there won't be an issue. His doggy sis, Pearl (was called McMuffin with New Rattitude so you may remember her), is as easy going a rat terrier as you'll ever meet so I think she'll forgive and forget his bad manners tonight.

In this photo you see Pearl watching as Elvis desecrates her beloved Skinneeez squirrel. He then went onto growl at her when she tried to take the squirrel back. She really was quite tolerant of him but a girl does have limits. So send calming thoughts to Elvis and Pearl and their parents as they work on integrating this nervous little guy into their household.

Still crazy...

We've now reached a new level of craziness here with 8 dogs at the house. Last winter when we fostered Star's litter of pups we had 9 in the house but at least with the pups the mess was contained to as far as they could toss their poo through the wires of their ex-pen. The 2 extras aren't fosters - we're dogsitting some friends' dogs and to give them credit they are easy dogs compared to any of the other 6 in the house. Actually, individually none of the dogs are difficult dogs but when you put them together in this big of a pack it makes life difficult.

Nimh and Elvis both have possible adopters so at least there is hope for a calmer household in the future. After they go home we are going to try to keep it to 2 fosters at a time for awhile to give ourselves a break after the crazy summer of foster overload at our house.

Kanga is a month past her surgery now and although she still lifts her leg to walk, she uses it fully when playing with Elvis. I'm thinking she'll be ready for surgery number 2 in another 4 weeks.

I decided to split up Frisby and Nimh because although they are bonded, it is more a co-dependent bond that tends to bring out the worst in both of them. Nimh likely has a home but Frisby will still be looking. He's a cute little 11 pound guy who is a bit anxious so should probably not be in a home with kids or large dogs. He loves to snuggle and is great with people as long as they aren't wild, crazy and loud.

Well, that's the latest. Happy October to you all!

The latest from the hound house

Sweet Lucas found a great home and was handed off to his new family on Sunday. I just E-mailed them to see how the transition was going. This sweet little guy can be a bit growly in new situations but he found a hardcore dog family who will happily give him the time and space to get used to his new family. His 12 year old Jack Russell Terrier sister should keep him in line if his new mom and dad are too soft with him though. :)

Since Lucas went home we had room finally for Elvis to join us. He had been staying with an adopter after being returned because of being overly fearful in his new home. He's doing great here and has been acting as a physical therapy assistant for Kanga. When she plays she forgets to hold her leg up and Elvis always wants to play. Kanga is happy to join in and gets regular sessions of using her leg. It is really speeding up recovery.

Frisby and Nimh are continuing to work on housetraining so they do spend a lot of time crated which is kind of a bummer. They went to work with me one day last week but Nimh wanted to be held all day so it didn't work very well. Even though she is 8 pounds she thinks she's a pocket dog. They are hilarious together and so cute and tiny. If you know of anyone who might be willing to offer this dynamic duo a loving home, point them my way. Their image event album can be found at http://imageevent.com/newrattitude/frisbyandnimh I can't take any new fosters until I find a home for at least 2 of my fosters because we are so full right now.

Oh - don't forget to enter your photos in the New Rattitude Rat Terrier Calendar contest! They are accepting entries until 9/30 over at http://www.newrattitude.org/

Meet and greets

Lots of foster dogs meeting and greeting yesterday:

Gatsby met the guys who have applied to adopt him and he really took to them, which is a big deal for shy, nervous Gatsby. It looks like this may be a good match for him.

Elvis met the other half of the couple who has applied to adopt him. I think that Elvis will really enjoy life with their active fur-girl, Roxy who loves to play just as much as Elvis does.

Emma came to work with me for the last few hours of the day to greet people with her permanent underbite grin. She was a big hit and a couple people have expressed interest in her.

And last but not least, Miss Prairie's adopter picked her up and she left for a home loaded with toys, soft beds, treats and love. Have a great life our sweet little Prairie Dog.

The pack is thinning a bit and I am breathing easier - 4 fosters is definitely overload at our house.

The gangs all here

Well, most of them, anyhow. Prairie is being babysat at her honorary grandma's house while this house of crazies settles down. She has a very good application and should be heading for her forever home this coming weekend.

The plane load of New Rattitude critters arrived yesterday and the cargo workers were practically begging us to take them away. Nervous from the novel experience of a plane ride the three of them were barking up a storm. They settled right down once were in the car though.

Getting them on the plane was a bit of an adventure for our IL volunteer. She had one of the boys, Gatsby, with her but the other 2 dogs, Emma and Munch, were being transported from their shelters in Western IL to our volunteer and arrived just an hour before she had to get them on the plane. Imagine her surprise when Emma, who was expected to be 15-18 pounds was 25 pounds! Since she didn't have a crate large enough to fly Emma she had to purchase one from the transporter and then rush all the dogs to O'Hare. In addition to being a big girl, poor Emma had a horrible flea infestation.

Luckily I was forewarned about the fleas and was able to talk a customer at work (also an adopter of one of my dogs) to run down the street for me to the vet's and pick up a Capstar. I was leaving for the airport from work and wouldn't have time to get to a vet. Capstar tablets are used to kill all the fleas on a dog within 30 minutes and then are supposed to be followed up with Frontline. At the cargo facility on our end we gave her the Capstar tablet and then as soon as we arrived home Troy gave her a bath while I fed our dogs along with Munch, Elvis and Gatsby. Emma then ate and with a full belly and flea-free she was feeling MUCH better. Her and Elvis chased each other all over the yard and soon Munch and Gatsby joined in and it was a wild blur of spotted dogs.

As you can see in the photo, Emma is a bit of a mutt. We are calling her an honorary rat terrier. She has a wire coat that will be beautiful now that the fleas are gone and her hair will start thickening where she was chewing on herself. Her ears are floppy and it looks like before she became a "stray" she had recently weaned a litter of puppies. She has quite the underbite and all her bottom teeth show when she is relaxed so it looks a bit like she is making a face at you.

Gatsby is a brindle patterned rat terrier and looks like he might have a little Boston terrier in him. He's incredibly thin so we are feeding him a puppy food three times a day and trying to get some weight put back on him.

Munch was transported over the mountains to his foster home in Yakima. He is a pure-bred rattie and is hilarious. He's all crazy puppy and has much more energy than he does coordination. What a fun, wild little guy.

In the photo you can see Emma, playing in the back yard with Elvis.

Finally: new dogs arriving tomorrow

Wow! There is all kinds of exciting things going on. First and most exciting of all is our girl Franny has an application. Not just any old app but a really great app that I think would be an incredible home for our little lowrider foster. They are coming out to the house to meet Franny on Sunday and we are super excited.

But before then there is a TON of rescue work going on. After 3 weeks of planning and organizing we finally have not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 (yep that's right) 4 rat terriers flying into Sea-Tac airport from Chicago. The dogs are actually from all over the Midwest and even one from Tennessee. Two of the dogs will stay with us - I'm crazy but not crazy enough to take 4 new ones!

One girl, Cedar, is actually flying to her forever home. She was fostered in Wisconsin and was driven down to Illinois tonight. Her new parents will meet us at the airport to take their new baby home to Bellingham.

Girl, number 2: Tellie was an owner surrender to a high kill shelter near Sweetwater, TN. She was temped for two weeks by one of our Tennessee foster homes and then hitched a ride on a transport of 5 rescued rat terriers coming north from Louisiana on Tuesday. She is a very sweet 2 year old tri-color girl and weighs 12-13 pounds. We will keep her with us until Sunday when we will drive over the mountains to meet her foster mom who will take her to her home in Yakima.

Girl, number 3: Tiny Prairie (named for both where she came from and the Thomas Pynchon character of the same name) was a stray who ended up in the animal shelter in Joliet, IL on March 31st. Thanks to her being so cute and sweet she was able to make it all this time without getting put to sleep, in spite of the fact that the shelter was overcrowded. However, they couldn't hold off forever and it was getting near the end for her. Thankfully our Illinois foster mom was able to pull Prairie and she will be fostered here with us. Prairie is about 5 years old, weighs about 6-7 pounds and will be needing a dental and possibly knee surgery during her time with us. Can't wait to meet her.

Boy, number 4: Elvis is a short little 1 year old (I think) dog who was found running along a busy highway. After almost hitting him someone was able to catch him and took him to the shelter. This scared little guy and 2 other ratties brought in around the same time almost didn't make it out. They were scheduled to be put down but New Rattitude talked them into stalling for a day so we could get a volunteer out there to pull them. The female was adopted but Elvis and another boy, Simon (now Captain), were pulled for New Rattitude foster care. Simon will head to Ohio soon. Elvis is sweet, quiet and a little timid. He is a teddy rat terrier so he has those short little lowrider legs like Franny does. We'll be fostering him but I'm guessing a cute little youngster like Elvis won't last long. The photo shown above is of Elvis.

So tomorrow the dogs come in, Friday Prairie will be spayed and have a dental, Sunday morning we'll take Tellie to Eastern WA, and then Sunday evening Franny will be meeting her possible adopters. Lots of great stuff!

Oh - another great rescue story - Our foster mom in Yakima had a stray little rat terrier that was found on the Yakama Reservation surrendered to her and she will foster this tiny, young girl for New Rattitude. Her name is Winnie and she is very sweet. She is white with unique brindled spots and face. Look for her soon at www.newrattitude.org in the dog house section of the site.