Confessions of a First Time Foster

Message from Joan:

I am making progress with Charlie, but it is very slow. I’m afraid that I’m not following all the vet’s directions either. He is still so shy and scared I can’t imagine how bad his life must have been. I lifted my hand to turn a book page while sitting on the sofa and he jumped up and went outside.

He’s at least stopped barking at me when I move. During the night he wakes up every time I have to go to the bathroom (oh, the joy of getting old) and runs out of the bedroom and waits by the door until my legs are up in bed again. And this is sleep with taking the Pro-quiet. It works and puts him to sleep but he is still so very aware of everything going on.

He will now sit about 4 feet from me but that’s as close as he is comfortable. I managed to get him onto my lap yesterday for about 20 minutes of petting. I tricked him. He was sound asleep on the sofa and I fell on him (I’ll bet he wished I was smaller) and maintained contact, turned him over, and petted his back. He wasn’t sure what to make of it and gave me more distance today.

He is still addicted to chewing up leashes, straps, paper, magazines and even a bungee cord. The vet told me to wash him with the antibacterial shampoo but I didn’t want to send him into a frenzy. I can put up with a smelly dirty dog if it will stop him from being so fearful of me. I may ask the vet for some valium for him. The sore on his belly is getting some better but his ear is really itching him.

He is due for his hip x-rays this Friday but if he is still so untouchable I may wait another week. I think that the psychological issues are more important to him in the long run. He is swallowing his antibacterial pills with cheese (he likes it better than the chicken). I still have to put it on the porch and close the door so Maggie and P.J. don’t rip it off. He watched Maggie and P.J. getting belly rubs and later in the bedroom he rolled over and looked like he wanted a belly rub – but he saw me coming closer to him and ran outside again.

I had some friends over and tested him. He wouldn’t allow either of them to get close but did allow the lab to get close and sniff and try to play with him. I’d like to get him used to me so we can do some hip/leg therapy in the bath/pool/hot tub. I think it would be great for him but, again, it’s not worth scaring him to death.

He is so sweet and non-dominant that I’m sure he’ll find a good home when he gets used to humans. For now, he doesn’t trust humans. Do we have any limitations on the vet bills for these rescues? I know the hip/knee fix can cost a lot of money. His running doesn’t seem limited since he can beat Maggie around the house during the blitz. He does have a Chester type limp. His URI seems to be getting better since he’s not sneezing as much.

Message from Marilyn:

Charlie sounds like Miss Darcy. She seems to be doing much better, but has a long, long way to go. I haven’t given her another bath either. I may try tomorrow.

She came over and got into the doggie bed next to my chair and was okay and then when I got up, she ran away. She follows me everywhere and she ran over to me and I put my hand out and she gave the slightest little lick and ran away. She has no problems with the other dogs and that’s a good thing. I feel that she wants so much to join in, but just can’t.

I was cleaning out some drawers and she had to see what was going on and sat on the treadmill…more use than we give it. She came in the doggie door last night, but has not used it since. She really needs a bath, but if she seems to upset, we can wait on that.

If Charlie needs surgery, we can get a quote and if it’s not crazy, then we can do it. We have some money and have gotten a few good donations lately…so, let’s think about doing this if it will make his life better. He is young and has many years ahead.

Dr. G. gave me some valium for Darcy…for the times when we need to do things with her. She lets me put ear cleaner into her ears each night…no problem there. Might give her a half before we attempt another bath. I have some serious scratches on my arms from the last one…don’t need that again. I haven’t given her any valium yet.

Thanks for the update Joan, I knew you would work with him and understand his needs. This is such a learning experience…you know how much they hurt inside and that hurts me.

I can never take Brother and Sister to the Vet at the same time. It was doable when they were pups, but these days, try to walk them both on-leash at the same time and I’m nearly drawn and quartered. And for some reason, if they ride together, Sister gets carsick; individually, there’s no problem. The Vet’s only five minutes away. So my plan was to take Brother first, have him checked over, then come back for the second visit with Jackson and Sister.

My little internal voice told me not to do that, to just take three individual dogs on three individual appointments. I didn’t listen to the little internal voice. Lesson learned: Always listen to the little internal voice.

Brother’s appointment went smoothly. Drive, arrive, shots, treats, wag, home, done. Then the fun began!

Sister was not too pleased about being in a closed vehicle with a puppy she was still doing her best to ignore. Both she and Jackson constantly jumped from the front seat to the back, he chasing her and she trying to escape. When I pulled into the parking lot, I had to sit there for ten full minutes trying to get them to calm down enough to go into the office. Of course, a woman with a sheltie in the back of her Jeep pulled in to the space next to me…I’m absolutely positive she was inside telling the staff about the crazy woman yelling at the two dogs in the truck.

I was absolutely exhausted by the time we got inside. Sister got her boosters, then Jackson got his. He kept backing up on the table, trying to get away. I had Sister, who was completely ignoring all of her obedience training, on leash on my right hand and was trying to scoot the puppy toward the Vet with my left, while Jackson was doing his best to retreat backwards away from the Vet. Easy? NO, of course not! The way my luck had been over the past couple of days, I was worried that somehow I’d get the distemper shot in my left boobie. Somehow we did enough shuffling so that he was properly checked over, pronounced sound and ready to go home.

The Vet expressed interest in Jackson for some friends of his; the groomer also asked about adopting him for her mother. Two at once! Just like everyone else, though, they’d have to file an application through bichonrescue.org. I wouldn’t mind the groomer’s Mom having him; I’m sure he’d be loved, not to mention clean and clipped. And even though the Vet had expressed interest on behalf of his friends and not his own family, I could hear a Momma’s voice in my ear saying “A doc-tah! A DOC-TAHHHH!”

Thankfully, the groomer offered to help take the dogs back out to the truck, so I gave her Jackson to hold (yes, hoping she’d form an attachment). When we got home, and I got them back inside, I returned to try to clean the upholstery…to discover that one, the other or both had relieved themselves all over the mail in the back seat. Gah!!

It took about fifteen minutes to get everything liveable again, and as I was sorting the ruined mail in the kitchen, Brother and Sister wandered in. I checked them for reactions (they’d had severe reactions as pups and lesser ones in later years). No problems. Jackson looked OK as well. It seemed we were going to get through the day relatively unscathed. Time for a nice cup of tea.

And literally, in the time it took to fill the kettle, turn around, put it on to boil and grab a mug, Jackson blew up like a balloon and was staggering.

I don’t even remember scooping him up, getting back on the road and calling the vet. The next thing I remember was pulling in to the parking lot and rushing Jackson inside. I took a seat in the waiting area, and when I was called in, for some reason I couldn’t get up from the chair. It took a minute to realize the immobility was caused by pressure on my wounded toe, so much adrenalin was coursing through my system. But I suddenly felt that in full force.

They must have thought it was an emotional moment and not a physical one, because the tech took Jackson from me and went into the back room of the clinic. He had been so quiet and lethargic, that when he started his regular yelping and whining, it sounded great. Then sudden silence. Then they were bringing him back out to me.

He was yelping like a mad thing at being handled and examined. The sudden silence was when they gave him the shot to stop the reaction. They asked if I could wait around for 15 minutes or so, so they could monitor his progress. Of course. He was still lethargic so I just held him against my chest.

The waiting room was deserted. The staff was in the back doing their closing-up routines. Jackson was warmer than usual, and I felt his breath against my neck as it gradually evened out.

I had such doubts in that moment. I wondered if this had been a bad decision, and if the reaction and the toe and all the barf and poop were somehow signs telling me that I should give this puppy back and let someone else Foster him. Obviously I wasn’t cut out for this. I knew full well that the Vet and his staff all believed I was certifiably insane as it was; they’d all seemed somewhat skeptical when I brought Jackson in. I really didn’t want to try to find another Vet. This one listens and really cares about animals. His kids are involved with animals, and I like the idea of passing that to the next generation. His staff is knowledgeable and puts up with me. But it was pretty clear to everyone at that moment…I was just a bad foster mommy. That’s all there was to it. Probably a bad mommy overall.

Somehow during all that I had unconsciously started rocking and snuggling Jackson tightly. His head was less balloony; his eyes were less swollen and were going back to their proper color. The Vet sat down to look, and said his muzzle was less swollen. We could go home.

Once home, I set Jackson on a soft towel in his cage for a long nap. Brother and Sister came to investigate. When I checked back ten minutes later, they were stretched out alongside the cage, keeping watch.

Message from Marilyn:

Darcy slept in a crate in our room last night and slept like a baby. She ran out with the pack this morning and went to potty. She is actually running around the house. She won’t come to me and when I pick her up, she still freezes, but she seems quite content on her little bed. This is a whole new world to her. She is afraid of Fred, which is very unusual. He went to take her out and she wouldn’t go until I came too, then she just pranced out the door. I can’t believe she was pregnant when the other rescue picked her up and now I see on the folder that they also pulled many teeth. I don’t want to even imagine what her life was like at the mill…too hard to think about. Miss Darcy is still very shy, but likes to follow me around and when I look at her she goes the other way. We just took our nightly walk and she is doing so much better on the leash. I let her run the yard with the pack during the day, but will keep doing the leash thing at night. She is eating well and seems content, not happy, but content. This is going to take some time, but we have time and lots of love.

Message from Kathy:

Lester is doing good. He is making improvements everyday. I am getting really attached to that little guy - he is absolutely a joy. We got a kick out of him playing and running with my other dogs through the water sprinkler today. Also he has discovered the fun of tearing around the yard 100 miles an hour !!! He is such a blessing.