32 posts tagged “foster”
Yay, another happy story from one of my former foster dogs, Mel.
Dear friends at Wild Heir, It has been a year now since we adopted Melody from your group, and wanted to let you know we are doing great!! She has really come out of her shyness for the most part, and is a joy to our family!! Enclosed are pictures, one at Sullivan's island, on the beach, which she loves, and the other with my son's dog, Izzie. They are best friends, love to wrestle and play tug of war as you can see. We live in VA, but out son lives in Charleston, so we were there to visit last week. I wish you could see her in person, you would be so proud, as we are!! Thanks for taking care of labs like Mel, and providing a place for families like ours to find a wonderful dog. Keep up the good work!
I always love hearing from the people that adopted dogs I fostered. This was sent in for a Happy Tail entry from the people that adopted Barkley earlier this year.
Imagine that after years, you've decided to expand your household pack to include a companion for your 9-year old Lab, Maggie. Given Maggie's small size, you search the Lab rescues for another small one so as not to daunt Maggie. Having learned of Barkley, a 60-lb lab who was rescued from a shelter, the pack drives 8-hours to meet him at the Wild Heir South Carolina lab rescue.
You haven't taken into consideration that he was 60-lbs when you learned about him, i.e. a few months prior when he was only 9-months old. You arrive to find a 75-lb giant of a Lab who leaps over couches in one bound. ("He's not 60 pounds anymore...") He puts his paws on your shoulders and looks you in the eyes. But Maggie, whom you feared would be quite displeased with a year-old clumsy brother, is delighted with him, and you can't help but be either.
Barkley appears to have no qualms about leaving South Carolina with unfamiliar people and dog, in an unfamiliar SUV - leaping in the back (momentarily). He merely views the back seat as an exercise hurdle to get to the front. ("uhm, he's in your seat." ) You open the door, take him around to the back. By the time you're back in the car, he's back in the front. Repeat two more times.
He never appears confused or anxious about arriving in a new home. He paces the bed every night ("Did we get an insomniac?") until you realize he just wants on the bed. After that, you - and Maggie - are pillows for him to lay across while he sleeps. When it comes to sleeping, he never applies "lay down" but rather falls across you from a standing position. He buries his nose in your neck for the entire night.
All dogs are friends, all squirrels are foes, and moles are to be to be carried carefully in one cheek. ("What's in Barkley's mouth?) Leashes and Maggie's collar are edibles ("Why isn't Maggie's collar on? Why are her ID plates on the floor?") His Nylabone and tennis balls are pacifiers. Water is for slobbering across the kitchen, requiring you to put a rug down. Maggie's head is for drooling on. Vacuums are a terror, causing you to have to replace the Plexiglas door he broke through to escape one. (He wasn't injured.) Couches are for you to sit on - with Barkley's entire self on your lap. Maggie is his most beloved big sister and best friend whose side he won't leave.
Maggie, now 10-years old, is a pup again. Post-breakfast is Labrador wrestlemania, as indicated by the joyous sounds of thunder throughout the house and by every rug accordionned against a wall. She loves an ambush - hiding under a desk or chair and leaping out at him with a playful "snap snap" of her ferocious fangs. Every play session begins with each giving each other nose licks, and then pandemonium ensues. She lets him chase her just long enough to gain momentum and turn on him - the chased becomes the chaser - and he seems as delighted as she. She has taught him that the first thing to do every morning is check the tomato plant for new green tomatoes, thus ensuring we never get to eat a ripe one.
Such is our life with our beloved rescue Lab, Barkley. If you rescue a Lab, you will be blessed to have the same love, affection, fun and frivolity as we do.
I've been getting fairly regular updates from Barkley's new owners about his antics, most of which make me laugh (BTW, if you've ever adopted a rescue dog that lived in a foster home, send them updates...we love to know that a dog we fostered is doing well).
Being a pretty tall dog, counter surfing comes pretty easy for Barkley. I always kept an eye on him when he was in the kitchen and made sure there wasn't anything edible within reach. It didn't keep him from trying to counter surf though. At his new home, he seems to be having a little more success.
this is what happened to the flour i'd spread out on the counter to knead dough ...
when i pointed to the counter and said "no!! no! no barkley!" he just wagged and wagged his tail
Sazy makes foster dog #4 since I started doing the fostering thing. She appears to be some kind of lab mix although what the other part(s) of her might be I can't really tell. She's pretty tall and big bodied, but to me, seems to have kind of a smallish elongated head for her body size.
So far she's settled in pretty nicely with the other dogs, although she doesn't seem to like when they come sniffing too close. No dust ups yet, just a bit of soft growling.
Overall, she's a pretty sweet dog, likes to go exploring and walks pretty well on a leash but could use some additional leash training.
Over the next few days I'll work on figuring out what kind of training I'll need to do with her. She knows Sit but doesn't seem to know down. Seems to know her name reasonably well.
It's taken a few months, but Barkley has finally been adopted and is heading off with a nice couple to his new home in West Virginia.
I had planned on taking a bit of a break before taking on a new foster, but it looks like I'll be taking on Sazy instead.
Barkley may have a new home to start the new year off in. Got an email from someone who was interested in getting a lab as a companion for her 9 year old Lab. Barkley's still a very enthusiastic and energetic young lab, so I don't know how well that would go over with an older Lab but we'll see.
A few shots of Barkley in action at the dog park
Barkley made his first trip to the dog park today. We stayed there for a couple of hours and aside from the first few minutes of greeting and sniffing, he was pretty much non-stop running the entire time.
If he wasn't chasing down (or being chased) by one of the boxers, he was wandering around exploring, wrestling or playing with the other dogs. Didn't get to test out his retrieving instinct because he was too busy having fun with the other dogs to notice the ball.
It was definitely nice to see him running off all of that excess energy. If anybody out there with an active lifestyle is looking for an active young lab, I have one for you.
After a trip to the vet, Barkley is now free of the last staple from his neutering operation. Taking it out was definitely a non-trivial operation too. This last one managed to get crimped around some skin at one end, and required some extra bending and a big yank to remove it. Barkley tolerated it pretty well, although I know he wasn't enjoying it. It was a big honkin' staple too. Even the vet was was surprised and commented that it wasn't the usual skin staple that would normally be used.
It'll be a couple more days before Barkley can head out to the dog park while the area finishes healing. Looking forward to that day. It can't come a moment too soon.
So far, Barkley is showing himself to be a very stereotypical young Lab. He's very active and rambunctious, very clingy, always curious, and if you're not watching him closely, getting into trouble.
We're still working on his house training. I know he's quite capable of holding it while he's in the crate, but outside he always seems to want to pee every couple of hours. I think he's starting to get it through his little brain that he's not supposed to pee inside though, but it's still a work in progress at the moment.
He does pretty well at walking on the leash. Doesn't pull too much, but he does tend to wander around and if you're not careful you'll find your legs wrapped up by the leash.
He's starting to get a little bit better about being in the crate at night. He's down to whining and crying for only 15 minutes before settling down now instead of the loud anguished and tortured cries he used to make.
Haven't been out to the dog park with Barkley yet because he's still got a staple in him from his neutering operation. It looks like the staple can come out so I'll try to get him in to the vet tomorrow or Tuesday and get one of the vet techs to remote it. Then we can let the fun begin.
Nala (L) and Barkley (R) sleeping
