100 Dogs

Besides just being cute and sweet, there's something else that is special about Rothko. He is our family's 100th foster dog!

Rothko - Foster dog #100

We bought our first Rat Terrier, Frodo, from a breeder in December of 2005 and over the next year we fell so in love with the little guy that we considered getting a second Rat Terrier. We weren't sure though so I had the idea of fostering for a Rat Terrier Rescue. I figured then we could have that "2nd dog" but would be saving more than just the one we would save if we adopted a dog. And now here we are, with three Rat Terriers of our own, two foster Rat Terriers and 98 others we have fostered over the last seven years.

My heart dog, Frodo

Initially in 2007 we were fostering for another Rat Terrier organization and our first ten foster dogs were through that group. When New Rattitude formed in August 2008 we changed groups and have been with New Rattitude ever since.

Our first foster dog, Smudge

Weirdly, our first foster dog wasn't even a Rat Terrier. He was a tiny black Chihuahua puppy with a broken leg who we named Smudge. I cried for a whole weekend after he was adopted but decided I could live with the pain of goodbyes if it meant more dogs could be saved. So often people say to me "well, I just wouldn't have the heart to let go of them!" The reality is if you really have a heart, you let them go, knowing that there are hundreds of others waiting for that life saving foster spot. Happily it got much easier to say goodbye the longer we fostered. It wasn't that I loved the foster dogs any less, I just learned how to think of them as someone elses's dog and over time I saw that the families they went to gave them wonderful lives.

Catty, one of our more challenging foster dogs whose adopter has become a close friend

In the past seven years the dogs have taught me so much. I've dealt with just about every physical malady in dogs that I had heard of and some that I had never heard of. I've also dealt with some very gross stuff that only a dog could share with you - dogs eating poop and then puking it up on the carpet an hour later, a dog who left tapeworms in my bed, and every weird wiggly worm that could come out of a dog has graced our doggy septic tank.  

Mama Star and our first (and hopefully last) litter of foster puppies

My understanding of dogs has deepened as well. Whereas I started out thinking of them simply as cute pets, I now appreciate how nuanced their personalities can be and how amazingly complex their language of movement, gestures, and body language is. It fascinates me so much that I now attend many seminars a year to learn how animals learn, how they relate to people and to other dogs, how to help them manage and overcome fear, what makes them tick....

Our 10th foster Tilly was the first highly fearful dog that we fostered. We adopted Tilly and she has made amazing progress over the six years we've had her. She's now 13 years old

They have pushed me to the edge emotionally a few times as well. I've fostered and done behavioral rehabilitation on a few very difficult dogs and of course those are the dogs who taught me the most about both dogs and about myself.

Callista came to us from a shelter in Texas and had been infected with distemper. It was the first time we had to deal with a major disease. Sadly Callista had to be euthanized when the disease moved into her brain. It was one of my most difficult times in fostering. We also had two puppies at the time who caught the disease from her and one pup died and one lived.

It has become a huge part of who I am and is an amazingly fulfilling job and I thank my family for all of their support and help with caring for the dogs. I also thank the volunteers that I work closely with both as fellow foster parents and as a regional rescue coordinator for the Pacific Northwest. Now, onto the next 100!

Our current pack: Tilly, Salinas, Chima and Frodo

If you've ever thought of fostering, New Rattitude is a great organization to work with. They give tons of support, offer stipends for food, pay veterinary medical expenses, cover flea and heartworm preventative and more. To learn more about fostering with New Rattitude go to www.newrattitude.org/foster.htm

Learning

When you foster dogs you see all kinds of issues. A lot stems from lack of training and is pretty simple to work on with some basic training. Equally as frequent we see dogs who didn't get the proper socializing as young dogs and have grown into underconfident, anxious dogs. While not everything can be undone, with time and patience there is so much we can do to help them.

The longer I foster, the more the dogs teach me and the more difficult the issues, the more I take away from the fostering experience. Don't get me wrong - I'm not really a fan of working with dogs that have a ton of baggage, but sometimes I end up with those dogs and they've definitely enlarged my understanding.

And the longer I do this the more it seems there is to learn. That's why I'm so excited to be attending a Kathy Sdao seminar this weekend. It's a two part seminar: What Not to Err, and Plenty in Life is Free. Hoping I'll finish the weekend with lots of new training ideas for working with the dogs and helping them have a strong start when they move on to what will hopefully be their final home.

Pictured below are the four dogs that have taught me the most over my journey as a foster parent. While fostering them I hit pivotal moments in growing my understanding of dogs and of the human-dog connection.

Tilly

Tilly was my 10th foster dog, and the first puppy mill breeder bitch that I fostered. She was 7 when she was rescued and had never been socialized. She was my introduction to fearful dogs and there were times when it felt like it was almost cruel to keep her alive, her fear was so great. Tilly really taught me that there is a way to connect more deeply to dogs but that I had to stop being so rigid with my "training plan" and instead let the dog set the pace and the type of training done. We ended up adopting her and she is now 11 yrs old and is a feisty 7 pound character. While she still is fearful in new environments and with new people, she no longer dissociates when around new people and at home she has turned into a brave and bossy little thing.

Catty

Franny, now named Catty, was another puppy mill breeding bitch. While Tilly completely shut down and went almost catatonic when frightened, Catty lashed out and was reactive when she was anxious. Catty helped me learn that the whole theory of "being the alpha" is not only ineffective, it will damage the trust a dog has in a person. I also learned that there is a difference between actual aggression and a dog who acts out from a place of fear. Actual aggressive dogs are very, very rare. Almost always there is some source of anxiety or fear that fuels most dogs labeled as aggressive. Catty found a wonderful adopter who has since become a New Rattitude volunteer, my Co-State Coordinator for WA and OR, and a close friend, so I'd say it was a pretty successful adoption. She's doing great in her home and has gone from not being able to be around other dogs to now being a house dog in a fostering family with new dogs regularly coming and going.

Huckleberry

Huckleberry was another undersocialized dog who had learned in his home that the only way to get a human to listen was to bite. Dogs give lots of signals, and Huckleberry always gave a ton, but when humans refuse to listen to them, sometimes a bite is the only thing that works. Pretty sad. He had lived in a home where the 2 very young kids were unsupervised with him and the dad did lots of yelling and intimidating. Huck was very afraid of men and we did a lot of work around rewarding him for using acceptable ways of letting people know he was overwhelmed. He also got lots of socialization. He now is doing great in his new family and they have continued the socialization work that we started with him.

Langley

And finally Langley. Just like humans, the environment a dog is raised in has a lot to do with the kind of dog they become. Most of the dogs that have behavior issues seem to have them as a result of how they were raised. But also just like humans, some dogs have mental health issues - neurochemical imbalances that lead to behaviors that wouldn't be called "normal". Langley taught me that sometimes behavior modification and extra activities and exercise is not enough. Sometimes medications are needed to help a dog move past anxious or compulsive behaviors. Langley has come so, so far. While he can still be a challenge on occasions, for the most part he's pretty typical high energy dog now. He's still waiting for that person who can see past the "issues" to the loveable, goofball of a dog that he is. I can honestly say that you will rarely meet a dog more sweet-natured than Langley. He wants to please so badly, and he connects strongly to his people. Even before the medication and training work when he was so anxious he never once snapped at me, even when I was restraining him from things that he had very strong compulsions toward. So Langley continues to teach me things and I hope that someday someone will see him for the gem that he is.

Franny's happy ending

I am happy to announce that after a year in foster care our sweet girl, Franny, has found a furever home. This short little rattie had a rough start to her life but will now be settling into a wonderful home and the hurt of the past will just be a bad memory.

Her life started about 5 years ago in a southern Indiana puppymill. She lived there as a breeding bitch for about 4 years until the mill was shut down and Franny found her way into rescue. She spent about 3 months in foster care in Indiana at which point she was transferred to WA where she had a better chance at adoption. And she was adopted here - twice. The first adoption never really went through because Franny attacked the lady's dog at our house when she came to pick her up. The second adoption lasted 5 days. Franny was very panicked and it was discovered that she couldn't be around cats due to her high prey drive and she found their large (very sweet and calm) basset hound intimidating. After that it took over a month to get her calmed down and back to how she was before she left.

Franny had reactive aggression. Aggression seems a strong word because she never bit, but just sounded pretty vicious and scary when she was frightened. When we had new fosters in the house her reaction was to kick butt now and ask questions later. Her idea being that they couldn't attack her if she got them first. Eventually with desensitization she would get used to them but it took a couple weeks.

We decided that we needed to find Franny a home with people who were over-the-top dog lovers but didn't have any animals - not easy to find. But finally, 9 months after she came to us, we found the perfect spot for her. No dogs, no cats, no kids - just 2 parents for her that love to go for walks, live in a neighborhood full of squirrels and gardens and trees - great for sniffing. They have experience with dogs that have anxiety issues and are dedicated to helping Franny relax and feel at home with them.

As a foster parent you always want to feel like your foster dogs are going to a place where they will be cared for as well or better than they were with you. In this case I believe that Franny will be even more comfortable and will get plenty of love and more attention than she did with our wild pack. With so many new foster dogs coming through our house it was stressful for Franny to deal with them. Also, our family's schedule is pretty varied and it was tough for her not having the consistency she thrived on. In her new home it will be just her - Queen Franny - and I believe that is exactly what she needs.

Thanks to her new mom and dad for giving her this chance at happiness and thanks to all the New Rattitude people who helped her along that road from puppymill breeder to loved family member.

The latest

So sweet little Tess has come and gone. She was only here for 2 weeks before heading to her loving home! We still have Franny but it will be another week before our next foster arrives.

Washington has 3 fosters coming from the Midwest and South next week. Two females will be fostered by our Yakima foster mom and a male will stay with me. We are planning some vacation time in June so getting someone to stay at the house with the dogs has taken some doing. Actually, the new foster will be watched by a previous adopter and then someone will stay with Franny, Tilly and Frodo and watch the house for us.

Right now I don't have photos of the new WA kiddoes because we aren't totally positive which will end up here but as soon as we have pics they will be posted. They are scheduled to fly here on on Thursday the 3rd so the Midwest team better get moving and find us the 3rd rescue we need! It shouldn't be hard because unfortunately this time of year is what us rescues call the dumping season. Sadly there are always plenty of dogs to choose from at the high kill shelters.

The Latest

So all sorts of stuff has happened since I last blogged and life has been getting in the way of me keeping the blog up to date.

Quixote arrived and is the best little guy. He had his knee surgery and this week the bandages were removed. Now the challenge is getting him to start putting weight on the leg again since he's a bit of a wuss and avoids any chance of pain at all costs. It's only been a few days though so we'll see how he's doing in another week. In the photo above you can see him all wrapped up and enjoying a cone-free moment.

Franny took awhile to get used to Quixote but with 2 weeks of slow introduction they now are actually wrestling and playing tug together. This is going to be key in getting Franny acclimated in a new home. She just needs someone who is calm and patient and will slowly let her adjust. When it comes to people though she is quick to adopt you as her new best friend, especially if you pet her and hand her a few treats. Then her nub starts wagging so fast it just looks like a blur.

Sweet little Jake has an application all the way over in Edmonton, Alberta. He will have a rattie brother and sister to keep him company up there and get to spend lots of time hiking, the lucky little guy.

Frodo had a lesion removed from his left front armpit. We were pretty scared about it, but thankfully it was just a benign histiocytoma so there's nothing to worry about now. Both he and Quixote are very happy that they are now cone-free.

Only a couple weeks until the Rat Terrier Jamboree in Sweetwater, Tennessee. I'll be flying there to hang out and enjoy all the other rat terrier fans and getting a chance to meet the rescuers that I spend so much time communicating online about. It is absolutely beautiful country-side there in SE Tennessee and the April weather in gorgeous. If you ever have some vacation time in April I highly recommend attending.

Katie and Franny

Well, it was discovered that Franny does not mix well with cats and big dogs so she was returned and is back here at home with us. Unfortunately, Katie is a big dog. Well, big as far as 12 pound Franny is concerned. So life has been a bit complicated trying to keep these two completely separate. Franny is gated in the kitchen with a bed and toys and Katie is out in the living room and comes to work with me. Franny is settling down now that she sees Katie isn't a threat but still not enough where I trust her off leash around her.

This may not be a problem much longer, however, because Katie already has an application that looks good. They are coming out to meet her tomorrow and hopefully this big lug of a rat terrier will have found someone who will love and care for her forever. She's such a good girl - so loving - and I know that whoever ends up with her will be very lucky indeed.

Dog juggling

Boy, I thought things were crazy when the puppies were getting ready to go home! Once again it's busy because of all the dogs coming and going.

Happily, Franny has finally found a home to call her own and will be moving there this Friday. There she will be welcomed by her new mom, a son, and a new furry basset hound sister. I really think that Franny will be happy here and I KNOW that she will be well loved.

Star has also struck gold and will likely be going home next week. All that's left is the home visit before the family is approved. They came out to the Pet Market to meet her and it was love at first site (when Star wasn't trying to shoplift bison bullies). She will be an only child, but who knows. Maybe awhile down the road we can talk them into finding her a sister or brother. ;)

That takes us down to zero fosters so Saturday we will be welcoming Samantha back into the New Rattitude fold (seen in the photo above.) Sam is a returned dog. Some of you may remember way back a year ago that one of our foster parents here in Washington fostered New Rattitude's first litter of puppies. Allie the rat terrier gave birth to 2 humongous puppies and as they grew we figured out they were probably boxer/rattie mixes. The pups' names where Benny and Katie. Well poor Katie has been returned twice - not her fault - but she's had bad luck. In November 2009 she was returned because her owner was having financial difficulties and also didn't have time for her. She was adopted almost immediately but her new home has an elderly person living there and with Katie being an active 32 pound puppy, you can see how problems might arise. So as of Saturday Katie, now called Samantha or Sam, will be fostered at our home. We will work on basic training with her and hopefully find a home that could use a loveable, energetic medium sized dog.

Two other Washington fosters look like they will be heading home soon. Mila will be moving from Yakima to her home in Issaquah and Fisher has a good application in Federal Way. Congratulations to all these great rescued dogs who have found a permanent home.

Puppyless in Seattle

All the pups have headed to their forever homes and are settled in and doing well. The office is clean and empty of puppy paraphernalia and I no longer have to get up an hour early to be able to get all the morning dog chores out of the way. As much as a relief as it is, we really miss the little fuzzheads. What a sweet little bunch.

So now we are down to Franny and Star. Franny has a good application and assuming all the interview go well she will finally be on her way to her home as well. She has been in foster care nearly a year now - in Indiana from March 2009 to September and here from September 2009 'til now - and is very deserving of a home of her own. Such a little character - we always say she's a bit like that character on the Hallmark cards? Maxine?

Star has had several apps but they always seemed to be folks who had already applied for another dog elsewhere and had Star as a backup dog. Odd because she has a wonderful, loving temperament and I would have thought that she would find a home before all the puppies were ready to go home. Hopefully soon.

The photo above shows Star and Hurley (original name was Rom) wrestling on their last morning together. Star was a great mommy until the end, always taking time to play with the puppies and keep them busy.

The pack

I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted to the blog. It seems like all my time is spent cleaning up after puppies. If I rush it still takes a full hour and a half in the morning to get everyone cleaned up, fed and pooped and cleaned up again before I can take a shower and get ready for work.

The puppies were listed on Petfinder and Adoptapet.com today and already we have applications for Rom and Sisko. We are going to miss them SO much after they go to their homes. When you watch a pup be born and care for it since birth it's tough to keep from getting too attached to them.

Franny and Star both are doing excellent with their housetraining and are such good girls. Franny has learned the "sit" command and "in your house" (which means she needs to go in her crate) and we are working on "leave it" and "drop it" with her. Both girls are very food motivated and smart so training them is easy, it's finding time to work with them that's the difficult part.

Star went to work with me yesterday and was so good. She greeted the customers like they were long lost family (still working on not jumping up on people) and when she wasn't doing that snoozed behind the counter in a nice cushy bed.

So that's the latest. If you know of any families who have the time, love and energy for a young puppy be sure to let them know about our little Trekkies.

Holiday Hugs Drive

We know that money is tight this year for a lot of people, but here's a way that you can make your money do twice the good. Over the holiday season we have a "Holiday Hugs Drive" going on over at the New Rattitude Website. A generous donor has offered to match holiday donations to New Rattitude's vetting fund up to $1,000. So if you make a $25 donation that means $50 will be put into the vetting fund. Pretty cool, huh? We've already had about $650 in donations. Remember, you can donate in someone's name for a holiday gift. New Rattitude will send a card to the person whose name you are donating in letting them know that you have donated money in their name to New Rattitude and telling a bit about how we use donations.

Another way to help us earn an extra $1,000 would be to tell everyone you know about the shelter challenge over on www.theanimalrescuesite.com . The contest ends on the 20th, I believe so we only have a little more time to widen our lead. The 2nd place group for Washington state is VERY close to our vote count and we don't want to lose this at the last moment like we did last time. E-mail everyone you know and ask them to vote for New Rattitude, WA (Northwest Region) daily.

The dogs here are doing great. Franny is now reliably house-trained and the puppies are now reliably NOT house-trained and making many messes, many times a day. Star is less enthused with her role as momma now that the pups are 6 weeks old. She is still nursing them a little but spends more time out of the puppy room than she used to.

Fun Franny

Franny is turning into a very fun, playful dog. She is the only adult dog in the house right now that will tolerate 4 month old little Peanut's puppy antics and wrestles with him and plays chase for quite awhile before she gets tired of it. She loves lying on the back of the couch so she can see everything going on and although she doesn't like it, will go to her crate and sleep there if led on a leash.

She still won't be able to be in a household with another alpha dog, but somewhere out there is a household that will love and cherish this little dog who's loaded with personality and just needs a new start to life.

She is really slimming down now, thanks to the Sojos mixed into her kibble (veggie mix that replaces some of the kibble) and all the wrestling with Peanut. I'll have to get photos later so show that she has a waist now. Anyway, busy, busy... talk later.

Franny and Peanut updates

Well, it was a bit of a disappointing day. Franny had an awesome application and today was the day that she was going to go home. We had agreed to do a short trial just to make sure that she got along with her new furry siblings. Well, when her new mom came to pick her up Franny and one of the dogs, Dudley, took a distinct disliking to each other.

I've seen this happen before for the first 15 minutes or so when there are territorial issues and the dogs are still checking each other out. We let the dogs off leash in the back yard and several times Franny full out attacked the sweet little rat terrier boy. I've seen her be snippy with other dogs at the pet store but never have I seen her full on start fights. It was pretty traumatic for little Dudley as Franny is much heftier than he is. She does fine with Frodo and Tilly but I think she will definitely need to go to a home where none of the resident dogs have alpha tendencies. Tilly and Frodo are about as omega as you get so Franny doesn't sense a challenge with them and gets along with them fine.

Peanut went to the vet this morning for his distemper vaccination booster. As usual everyone was in love with him and he charmed the staff when he escaped into the back area of the vets when the vet opened the door to the exam room. He made sure he ran around back there and gave all the vet techs kisses before he let the vet catch him and bring him back to the room for his vaccination. He is now 9 pounds, 4 ounces and is about 15 weeks old. I just got his information to the New Rattitude pet publicists, who list the fosters on petfinder.com and adoptapet.com so he should start to have some application rolling in soon.

Peanut and Franny

The two newest dogs have arrived! They flew in yesterday morning from Chicago and are doing great.

Peanut is 12 weeks old and a smart little guy. He seems to be house-training himself! He does have kennel cough and so right now he has to hang out in the rec-room in an ex-pen until he is feeling better. He has plenty of puppy energy and a big appetite so he's not too sick.

He's going to be a big rat terrier. At twelve weeks he's already nine pounds so he will likely be around 20-25# full size. He's a beautiful little purebred tri-color with a very sweet temperament. Some lucky family is going to get quite a special dog.

Franny was transferred to us from another foster home that was needing to lighten their foster load. She's a type B rat terrier (shorter type sometimes called Teddy Roosevelt terriers) and is quite a character. She was part of a puppy mill bust earlier this year, but it was thought that she was one of the house dogs so she doesn't seem to have the temperament issues that you can have in mill dogs.

She has packed on the pounds and is on a doggy weight loss plan right now. Once she's slim and trim I'm guessing she'll be 12-15#. She loves to run around and play chase with Frodo and seemed to enjoy her 1 mile walk last night.

Busy, busy, busy!

Stella went home a couple days ago to a very excited family. She was so enthralled with treats and the bag of Deli Fresh dog food that I had brought with me that I don't even know if she noticed that we left. What a sweet little dog.

Another foster parent decided she wanted to take on the litter of puppies that I had been working with her to rescue so I have found a couple other dogs needing a foster home. Franny is actually just being transferred from another foster home. She is a puppymill rescue from Indiana although it seems that she was one of the family dog so she doesn't have some of the social issues that some of the puppymill rescues seem to have. She's a 3-4 years old Teddy Roosevelt terrier (type B rat terrier) and you can read about her on her Petfinder.com Webpage.

The second dog that will be flying in this Sunday with Franny is a male puppy who will be a big boy. Right now he is about 11-12 weeks old and is already 9 pounds! At full size he will probably be around 25 pounds. We are still thinking about what to name this little guy. Both dogs will be transported to Chicago and will fly to Seattle non-stop and arrive in the evening.