Surgery Day

Maile was dropped off at the vet this morning and will have her knee repaired today. Poor girl has a rough day ahead of her but hopefully this will allow her to start using her right rear leg more. Right now she barely puts weight on it when standing and will lift it up when running.

As many of you know, orthopedic surgery for dogs is costly and even with the substantial rescue discount the vet it giving New Rattitude it will still cost about $900 to repair Maile's knee.

We are fundraising to raise money to pay for this surgery and you can find information on how to donate (as well as info about Maile's story) at www.newrattitude.org/clinic.htm

Thanks everyone for your support of this great rescue that makes sure the dogs in their care get the medical attention they need.

Pupdate: Stevie Goes Camping!

Remember Ellsworth (now Stephen) from earlier this year? Well he's doing great in his adoptive home and took his first camping trip recently. He did great and had a blast tent camping, hiking and sailing. Good job Stevie. He really liked the camp chair so his mom and dad decided he might need his own on future camping trips since they only have 2.

When they got home he and his brother Sullivan were worn out from such a great adventure!

Stevie stealing his dad's chair

All cozy, snoozing in the tent with his brother Sullivan

Back at home, recuperating from his adventure on the couch

Maile Has Arrived

Maile has moved in for the next couple weeks while she gets her knee fixed and she has proven to be the easy, laid back girl we were told about. While she does love to play and run around, she matches her energy level to the dog she is playing with and listens when the dog wants space. Good girl, Maile!

Maile

Introductions were super simple and within the first 10 minutes together Chima and Salinas had decided she was safe and not a dog to worry about.

Salinas checks Maile out

Within a few minutes Maile was old news and their entire focus was on the treat bag.

In fact she's so easy that she has been loose in the house with the other dogs and doing great. Not a single snark from anyone!


She'll head to the vet for radiographs and a surgical consult on Wednesday morning but for the next couple days she can just relax.

Play Nice!

Chima is by far the most playful dog in our family but due to her size and her intensity, she often scares the crap out of the other dogs. It's sad because she wants to play so bad, but typically this is how a play session goes: 1) Chima initiates play. 2) other dog accepts and bitey face/wrestling begins. 3) Chima gets excited and barks intensely in the dog's face pushing them into a corner. 4) Game over.

That scenario plays out for the most part in less than 15 seconds. Often it ends in a fight, me yelling and both dogs freaked out. We have been in this rut for a long time so recently I decided I needed to change things up so that Chima had a chance to be successful and get some play time. Since Serra wants to play with Chima still and hasn't been scarred by Chima's attempts I decided to work with her and Chima this week before she heads to her adoptive home.

Next stop: Lucha libre?!:  El Perro Loco vs La Cobra de Rosa

The problem is that Chima gets overstimulated so quickly that the play turns into a fight. How I started working on this is I let the play get initiated, let each girl get a bitey face move in and then I created a distraction so they back off each other and look at me. They then get that "break" reinforced with treats and/or praise and then when they discover I'm not that interesting they go back to playing. I keep at this, always monitoring play so that I don't give Chima the chance of driving herself into a frenzied barking fit. You can see an example of this in the video below. Slowly but surely the length of play lengthens before I step in and distract the girls into taking a break. And then miraculously over the course of a morning Chima starts to give herself breaks. Better yet, she will even pause when Serra steps back to take a breather and respect Serra's need for a break.

Note the tennis ball fuzz hanging stuck in Chima's mouth

As we have new fosters who are willing and able to play with Chima, we'll keep practicing this. The bad news is that she's practiced the intense level of play for a long time so that's a lot of momentum to overcome. However, the longer we practice successful play with built in breaks, the more she will be reinforced by this type of play. Previously, the play always ended in a pretty overwhelming, way that was no fun. But now she gets reinforced by more play, and lots of praise and occasionally treats when breaks are inserted into the play. That is a lot more fun and worth doing more of. And that is how we will make that behavior worth continuing.

Serra attempts the controversial butt pin

It's easy for us humans to get stuck in a pattern of behavior with our dogs - yelling and reacting to something that frustrates us. But the reality is that the behavior is not going to change if we, as the adult guardian, don't step in and provide some positive guidance to get things on the right track. For Chima and I, all it took to get that change started after a year of frustration was one morning of me consistently paying attention. And the payoff for that is reinforcing to me as well as Chima. Because it sure is tough not to feel happy as I watch her wiggle and flop herself around on the floor, tail wagging madly and Chewbacca sounding noises coming deep from her throat.

And now just for fun, watch how Sal enjoys playing by herself, completely oblivious to the mayhem whirling about her as she focuses on her favorite pasttime: toy destruction.

Just chewing on her ball

Serra and Chima roll closer but Sal is oblivious

They now wrestle over the top of her and she is still unphased

The result of such concentration? Successful tennis ball destruction and a carpet covered with yellow fuzz

Dogsitting

After Serra heads home Maile will be arriving this weekend to stay with us for a couple weeks while she gets her knees fixed up. Her knees have pretty bad luxation so she needs surgery to fix that. The surgery carves a deeper groove for the knee cap to sit in and then sews up the ligaments to hold the knee cap in place better. Currently Maile is unable to put much weight on her right leg and we want to fix things up so she can be the active youngster she is without living with constant pain.

The good news is she has an adopter all ready for her once her surgery is complete so we'll just get her fixed up and send her on her way to her new life.

As you can imagine, surgery is expensive and New Rattitude is currently raising money to cover Maile's medical care. We know that she will need at least one knee repaired and the estimate for that with our rescue discount will be $900. We should know next week after radiographs and a surgical consult if she will need the second knee repaired as well. Any amount you can donate towards her surgery will help. To learn more and find the Paypal button for donations you can link to New Rattitude's Canine Clinic page.

Adopted! Serra Has A New Home

Little Serra is a sweet, sweet girl and she found a great home that she'll be heading to this weekend.

Serra

She'll live in West Seattle where she'll get plenty of walks and attention. Her new parents know all the dog friendly places in town and plan on taking Serra with them everywhere.

Hanging out with the pack

So have a happy life, sweet Serra! You are a great little girl who brings joy to all who meet you.

The Off Button

A lot of times you'll hear me and other Rat Terrier fans talk about Ratties as a terrier with an "off button". That's because while they can be crazy and full of terrier energy if they are getting the exercise they need, they can also just chill out in the house if nothing interesting is happening.

Serra kicking back on the warm deck

Serra is no exception to this rule. While she loves to chase her tennis ball and romp around the yard, if I'm working on the laptop she is typically snoozing at my feet or on the dog bed next to where I work. Even outside she eventually will slow down and rest in the sun.

Resting on the dog bed next to where I was working on my laptop

Certainly, a few of my foster dogs have been missing this "off button". Most of them where either Rat Terrier/Jack Russell mixes or some of them were full Jack Russells. But for the most part Rat Terriers love a mix of energetic fun followed by lazy snoozing in patches of sun. I'm not dissing Jack Russells but I have lots of friends who rescue Jacks and they will be the first to tell you that Rat Terriers are sweeter, calmer versions of their very smart and often delightfully naughty dogs.

Taking a nap between my feet while I work on the laptop at the table