Confessions of a First Time Foster

Paris has been coming out with us with just a dangling leash. She doesn’t want to run, so it’s safe enough, but OTOH she hasn’t been coming well when we call. So I think that privilege needs to be revoked. ::sigh:: Three dogs is a lot for two handlers! (Paris is paper-trained and doesn’t need to come out with us, but she wants to and I’m happy to encourage her to cross-train.)

I do not like housetraining a dog with a UTI. Yes, the second urinalysis (which the vet ran only after a bit of an argument) came back with white blood cells, so we’re putting Angel on antibiotics. (We still owe the vet another sample after Angel’s out of heat.) Sadly, Angel’s cloth diaper doesn’t protect as well as the disposable ones did. That we now have to leash her to a belt or crate her (or at least gate her into the kitchen) became evident after a series of spots appeared on the freshly cleaned carpet within an hour of her being outside. (arrrggghh!) Angel’s diaper was damp — I can only hope that she’s the sole perpetrator! At least now we’ll know if she’s innocent, since we’ll know exactly where she’s been.

Message from Joan:

My vet is still trying to figure out how a little dog raised in a cage can get so strong.  When Charlie ran even the vet tech who ran track couldn’t catch him.  When you catch him ( I have confidence you will) leave him on a leash.

Marilyn sent me some chain leashes which he can’t chew to death – but it does mean that it sounds like Casper the Ghost all night when he drags it around my ceramic tile floors.  When I wash the cloth one I’ll put him back in that.  That is if I can get close enough to take the leash off.  These dogs had a strange life before and I wish I had more details.

Maybe if you take the food away every now and then he will get curious.  That trick did work on Charlie.  He got to the point that he even went into the kitchen looking for his bowl.  On the other hand I got him in bed with all of us and he stayed there until about midnight.  I think that they were also drugged at some point.  Every tranq the vet gave him made him crazy hyperactive.  She said that is often from over use of the drugs.

I found myself wondering if they would ever find humans to be o.k. for them.  I know he thought that being in bed with all of us was wonderful.  He took a giant sigh and settled in to sleep like a log.  I wish I saw more of that.

Just remember that if you can see [Einstein] he really didn’t want to run away from you – he’s just confused.  Otherwise, he’d be in the next county by now.  Good luck