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.

Lots goin' on

So we are starting July off with a bang (no fireworks pun intended) and there will be 5 new dogs flying into our 3 WA foster homes this weekend. Thanks to the WA foster parents who are going into overload to make room for these great dogs. Summer is what rescue people call the dumping season. All those Christmas puppies that seemed such a good idea end up at shelters and then you have the people who are planning a long vacation and decide they don't want to bother paying the money for boarding (trust me, this is very common) - whatever the excuses, the animals come into the shelters in droves. I am so impressed as I see the New Rattitude volunteers and other groups working together, sharing transports, networking, doing all they can to rescue as many of these forgotten dogs as possible.

Tomorrow evening the first three fosters will be flying into WA from Chicago. These one of the little guys I've already told you about - Gatsby from IN who was a stray, half starved from his time on the streets. Then we have Munch, a 1 year old pure bred rat terrier who has been in a Southern IL shelter since April. They held him longer than the usually hold since he was so young but due to lack of interest in him he was out of time. Thankfully the shelter works hard to find rescue groups to take their dogs. The other dog is Emma, a very mixy and hairy and adorable terrier who was also in a Southern IL shelter and was scheduled to be put to sleep earlier this week when the IL New Rattitude State Coordinator begged them to wait while she worked her magic. Munch will be heading to a foster home in Yakima where he will hang out with their pack and NR foster girl, Tellie. Gatsby and Emma will be staying here with me. Yep, we have an overly full house right now. However, Prairie has a very good application and I believe she will be heading to her forever home very quickly. She'll meet her new dad on Saturday morning.

Then, on Sunday a flight from Austin TX will bring 2 more dogs to WA. Hirf is an 8 week old rattie mix puppy who has a touch of demodex mange that we will treat. He'll be healthy in no time and ready for a new home then. The other dog I don't know as much about but her name is Bambi and she is under 2 years old, and is a terrier-Chihuahua mix (heavy on the Chihuahua as is the norm in TX.)

So welcome the new crowd to Washington. Hopefully they'll find great homes quickly and we'll be able to save a few more this summer.

Gatsby

Well, we are full up right now but I couldn't say no to this little guy who was scheduled to be put to sleep either today or tomorrow. We'll find a way to squeeze him in and I'm sure that Elvis will love having another youngster to play with. All of the other dogs just get irritated when he tries to play with them.

Gatsby (was called Shack in the shelter) was a stray for who knows how long and when he was found he was starving. His ribs, spine, hips, all jut out from his body but he is otherwise healthy and VERY happy. He is one of those dogs who seem to grin when they are happy. He is about 1 year old and very playful once he gets to know the place he's in and know that he's safe. His coat has very beautiful brindle markings, I hear, and you can see in the photo that he has radar dish ears that never miss a thing.

Right now he is being temped by the New Rattitude person who pulled him for me, Jessica, until he is ready to be flown to the Seattle area. We look forward to meeting the little guy.

Gatsby was one of about 10-12 rat terriers that were urgent this week. I wish we could save more of them. If you know of anyone who might be interested in fostering, let me know. New Rattitude covers vet bills, flea treatment, and even a stipend for food. All we need is your time and TLC.

Elvis and Prairie

Well, we are back from vacation and Elvis and Prairie did great with their dogsitters. Both dogs are super easy, house-trained, etc. and I'm guessing that as soon as they are listed on Petfinder the apps will start rolling in for them.

Elvis loves attention so I'm hoping to find him a spot where he won't have to spend a full 8 hours alone each day. The best home for him will have another dog in it as he loves the company of other small dogs. Not too fond of big dogs, though.

Prairie on the other hand would do fine with or without other dogs in her home. She is a lap dog, through and through, and it would be awesome to find this girl someone who is retired and will be able to spend lots of time with her. She loves Elvis and actually likes to use him as a bench to sit down on so she doesn't have to lay on the cold floor.

Both kiddoes are house-trained which is a lovely break from what we are used to. As much as we love them though the summer dumping season has begun so I hope I'll find good homes for them soon as I have a long list of other dogs who are in urgent need of rescue. As usual we have lots of desperate dogs and no foster spots open. sigh.

If you know of someone who would be willing to foster let me know. Through fundraising and adoption fees New Rattitude is able to pay for the vetting, heartworm preventative, flea treatment, and even a stipend for food. We just need folks who have the time and energy to love these dogs until a spot is found for them.

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.

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.