Confessions of a First Time Foster

I’ve gotten some emails asking why, when I changed this puppy’s name, I chose Jackson.

For a lot of Fosters, it’s a tradition to change the dog’s name. Change of name, change of luck. Since Jackson seemed to recognize the sound of his original name, I wanted to preserve that “aah” sound in the middle.

Although you might expect to see a lot of Snowballs and Biancas and Sugars, you’ll find among the Fosters that names having to do with whiteness or fluffiness are shunned. Too many dogs come in with such names, and it would be too much to discuss Snowball Number 14 vs. Snowball Number 67. So creativity is encouraged.

You can always get a good name from the entertainment world. The BratPack, for example, is going through a Flintstones phase. They recently adopted out Mr. Slate, but they’re about to run out of names. I guess the Jetsons are next, or maybe Aqua Teen…Master Shake isn’t vanilla, so it’s acceptable.

You should not name a dog with any word that sounds like a command. So nothing that rhymes with “no” or “sit” — but of course, I know you’re training with verbal commands and simultaneous hand signals, right?

The most popular names for dogs right now are Max and Sam for males…Lucy and Molly for females. No Tiffany, Jennifer or Jason. If you’re really stumped, try going here or here for ideas.

My biggest benchmark is the Back Door Test. Go to your back door, open it, and shout the name you want out to the world three times. If it doesn’t sound stupid, prurient or embarrassing, you probably have a winner.

But to answer the original question…Jackson is, of course, named after DeForest Kelley. Thanks for asking!

Message from Craig:

Please call me. I got a call from the people with the 3 pups and mom and dad. They tell me I can pick them up tomorrow night.

Message from Marilyn: 

Just talked to Craig…he is going to get them tomorrow night…unless they change their minds again.

I will meet him at the Wildwood exit, bring the five pups home and put them in our barn and get them vetted next week and then we can work on foster homes. Since they have not had any shots, best to keep them away from other dogs for now.

raig said he would come over on Sunday and help with baths, etc., if we need him to.

Sometimes you have to break a little heart for its own good.

All of the cables in my office are sheilded, but somehow Jackson had his heart set on digging underneath one of the bookcases to get to a power cord.

I can’t have that. So I grabbed the squirt bottle. Immediately Brother and Sister high-tailed it out of the room, as they have been squirted before and do not like water in any non-drinkable form. So I turned the bottle toward Jackson and fired.

Apparently Jackson finds the water squirt very refreshing.

He found the first five refreshing, even turning his face into the mist. He didn’t even mind when I turned it from spray to stream and zapped him. He seemed to really enjoy that while he continued to dig under the bookcase.

I had no choice. There is one tactic that I keep as an absolute last resort. I picked Jackson up, brought him up to my eye level, and roared at him. “I…said…NO!!!!”  Then I put him back down on the floor. He glanced at me and then took off into the living room. I didn’t follow.

The deed was done…I had become Big Scary Mommy. I hated to do it but it had to be done. Sometimes you have to break a little heart for its own good, even if yours breaks too.

I didn’t see Jackson for half an hour. When he did appear in the doorway to the living room, he settled down there and just looked in at me. I put my hand down and beckoned, but he didn’t approach. I went back to what I was doing. When I checked again, he was no longer there.

About an hour later, I checked…Sister was stretched out in her usual spot on the ottoman, and Jackson was sharing the sofa with Brother, stretched out and touching heads.