We'd like to announce our new friend Hope. Some of you may have seen her picture in the paper, as she was a quite news-worthy story of survival. Poor Hope was trapped in a remote quarry, on a ledge, and had to be rescued by firefighters and animal control officers. They know she was there for several days, but it may have been even longer than that. Her feet were mangled from trying to claw her way free. She was emaciated and dehydrated. Hope came out of that quarry basically catatonic, terrified of humans, but without any aggression...she appeared to just give up, assuming that the humans were there to "do her in" once and for all. That really makes up fear what kind of experiences she has had in her short life, and makes us REALLY motivated to show this girl the happier side of life.
Hope will be arriving at NMAR shortly, from a wonderful transitional foster home. She has already been spayed, and vaccinated, and she is heartworm positive. We have been told that Hope is slowly, slowly, slowly letting her guard down with humans, but is absolutely thrilled to be around other dogs. We decided the perfect place for her to learn the ropes and prepare for adoption would be with Gunny, Oscar and Linc The Cat...and of course we must not forget the less famous kitties Millie and Tobbles who are every bit as supportive of dogs in need. Due to all that Hope has been through, she needs to be in a home setting, not at the NMAR facility, as she needs constant interaction right now, and the support of good animals who will give her security as well as teach her how to be an upstanding citizen.
Monday, 4-20-09:
Hope arrived yesterday afternoon and she is a complete doll baby. She has definitely come a long way since her catatonic state, but she is a very very very timid girl. The leash is not her friend, unless she is dragging you off somewhere that she wants to go. Yesterday, when she realized that Kayla and I were trying to actually inform HER where she needed to go, she would hit the dirt like someone was dropping bombs.
After spending some time with her, a few more pieces fell into place regarding her history. She has one or two puncture wounds from some situation with a dog that wasn't happy to share her company. There are some slices at the tips of her ears that were apparently very dirty, infected and nasty when she was first pulled from the quarry. The vet is certain they were cut, on purpose, with scissors. We're not talking about the sick practice of people cutting off their own pitbulls' ears to have the naturally-born floppy ears "perk up" or look tough or be less of a "grab on" in a dog fight. Hope still has 2 full ears...someone just cut slits out of the tips for some (even more) sadistic reason. Heck, maybe they were testing to see if their scissors were sharp enough to lop off a "more important" dog's ears. Or they wanted to test her pain tolerance. Or they were just being sick freaks who were getting a few jollies from a puppy's suffering.
Even after her time with the original foster group, and the weight she has put on, she is still thin. And her coat (though now clean thanks to the first rescue group ) is in horrible shape. Remember how Gunny was just patchy, discolored, flaky, balding, rough and in an overall bad state from obvious lack of nutrition? Well, same deal with Hope. She is also missing complete toenails...not broken off like we expected, but pulled clean out, leaving holes in her toes. That poor girl fought hard to get out of that water.
Which brings up another point. Kayla has been to that quarry. She says there is no way that puppy fell in accidentally based on the layout of the place. SOMEONE THREW HER IN TO DROWN HER. The drop itself should have killed her...in some places, the drop is 75 feet. The (clear) water is so deep is is pitch black...the quarry is that deep. There are areas where there are no holds to grab on and climb out. So, after being hurled to her (supposed) death, this little girl paddled around until she found an area where she could at least haul herself out of the water. Based on the lack of toenails, and the wounds that are STILL not healed, we're willing to say that she didn't get out on her first try. She fought like hell to live. Kind of appropriate that she came here to be fostered with Gunny, huh?
So, the first night was relatively uneventful. She adores her "cave" (crate) and is very happy to spend long hours there. She met The Boys yesterday, slowly, but by evening she was off leash with both Gunny and Oscar in the fenced yard. We need to keep the activity level low, due to her recent spay, but she SO wants to run and box with The Boys. Apparently, with the other group, she was hit or miss with how safe she felt with dogs. But she took to The Boys immediately, and they seem fine with her being around. Hope has spent some time with Linc The Cat, singing her "woo-hoo" bark (it is REALLY funny to hear!) trying to encourage him to play with her.
She did manage to get the first growl out of Gunny that I have ever heard....that brazen puppy was stealing toys out of the block-headed pitbull's MOUTH! Gunny tolerated it once, though he looked shocked and offended. After that, he started growling, and he wasn't playing. I will be keeping a close eye on this, as Hope was CLUELESS and thought it was a game. Silly puppy. It is usually GUNNY who does the toy stealing around here.
Hope is opening up to me more, but is definitely a bigger fan of the animals than of me. She will let me pet her, on her terms. Sometimes you can tell she wants to come join me and The Boys in a snuggle session, but is scared...then gets frustrated that she is scared...so she just bounces around and "woo-hoo's" some more! She will follow me on leash about 50% of the time, often freaking herself out and then flopping around like a hooked fish. She was terrified of walking through doors, but in just one day has improved and walks through easily about 80% of the time.
Not bad for less than 24 hours' worth of time I'd say. Go Hope! This is a very fun little girl who will be a fantastic companion as she feels more secure. If you have patience, and some experience with timid or traumatized dogs, this may be your girl. You can send in your adoption applications for Hope at any time. Based on your situation/schedule/set up and how Hope is coming along, we will determine when she can be released for adoption, and who Her Human will be.
I'll keep the updates coming.
Amy
Tuesday, April 21st:
Hope is an amazingly resilient little girl. She went from being terrified of walking through doorways, to walking in and out of them all by herself, every time. She also went from cowering in the back of her crate when I opened it, to greeting me at the front of the crate, wagging her tail and wiggling. Not bad for less than 48 hours.
When I walk through the door after work, I can hear her tail banging the walls of her crate as she wags it in greeting. She also "talks" to me when she first sees me...more "woo-hoo'ing" like I have mentioned before. Hope is doing her very best to get The Boys wrapped around her little finger, and she is making big progress. Even Gunny, who growled at her yesterday for stealing his toy, is now playing tug of war with her, using his very favorites bones and stuffed animals. My biggest challenge is keeping her HAPPY and QUIET at the same timet, as she is not supposed to run too much so soon after being spayed. She LOVES to run, and is almost as fast as Oscar (who is a Speed Demon !). I think once she gets stronger, she may very well be faster.
She has this very entertaining way of playing when she gets excited...she jumps, all kinds of ways. She sometimes goes straight up in the air and spins 360 degrees. She sometimes hops like a frog. She sometimes hurdles herself OVER things, including both of The Boys.
Hope is also A Gatherer...she will gather all of the interesting toys in the house, or yard, and make a pile. She doesn't necessarily have any interest in PLAYING with the toys right then...she just wants a central location. Poor Gunny comes right along behind her, taking back whichever toy it was that she stole. And the next time he puts the toy down, she is right there to pick it up and put it back in her pile again. Gunny is learning to keep one eye on The New Kid at all times.
Hope is also sleeping through the night in her cave (crate) without any complaints. We are working hard on the potty training, but she seems very unfamiliar with home life. From what we understand, she was primarily in a kennel situation with the other rescue folks, with some "house time", but not full time. So, she's still unclear about why this crazy lady keeps her on a leash in the house, and takes her outside to this one area of yard every time she turns around. It doesn't help that she doesn't seem to be a real frequent potty-er, so we are both tying to figure each other out as we go along.
This is one FUN little girl!!!
Tuesday, April 21st---again but in the PM : )
Very shocking stuff. I was in the backyard playing ball with The Boys and Hope was hanging out being a heckling fan. My next door neighbor, who is a man, got home from work and The Boys ran off to the fence, barking their heads off, to say hello. Little Hope took off after them, just WAGGING her tail, heading straight for the man. She got about 15 feet away and went "oh wait a minute, I don't know you..." then came charging back at me, STILL wagging her tail. This is HUGE, not only because this is the first new person she has encountered since she came to "Casa del The Boys", but also because this new person was a man...and she was even more afraid of men than women when she was first rescued.
Amy
Thursday, April 23:
Hope continues to amaze me. If someone didn't know any better, and was a fly on the wall in my house/yard, I'm sure they'd think she was just a regular puppy, with a regular history. The way she has improved is incredible. I give credit to The Disney Magic Factor that seems to surround My Pack.
You'll recall the unbelievable way that My Pack embraced Gunny when he came, nurturing and protecting him, reminding me of the sweet critters in Disney movies. Well, we've got the same thing working with Hope, though less sweet, and more unbelievably patient and tolerant. Poor Oscar spends a good part of his day having his neck gnawed on by Little Miss Thing, as she attempts to "engage" him in some rough-housing. Poor Linc The Cat has been head butted several times, for the same reason. Both boys just sit and take it. Gunny seems to dish it out a bit more than the others. He teases Hope with toys and runs off, steals her toys, head butts her for no apparent reason...then they both take off like lunatics. When The Boys are wrestling, and Hope hears them, she runs across the room or yard and "piles on". In the morning, when The Boys wake up and make their way to the back door for a potty trip, they both stop by the front of Hope's crate, sniffing noses and wagging tails , saying Good Morning. Millie and Tobbles just sit and stare as Hope comes flying up to their chair or bed or table. Occasionally, hope will start the Hoover thing, sniffing the heck out of Tobbles' back or tail, and there the cat sits.
Hope crates like a champ. She calmly spends hours in there during the day while I am at work, without any destruction to her toys or blankets. She sleeps through the night in her crate without any trouble. As of last night, she figured out that when I started filling food bowls, all dogs needed to report to the appropriate crate and wait patiently for a meal, and she "loaded up" without a word or a look from me.
Her time on a leash is getting better---little if any "fish on a line" behavior anymore. We are still staying within my fence, as she has not had her booster shot yet, and I don't want her out visiting. After her booster, I will attempt walking her down the block, in a well-fitted harness, in case she starts scrambling. I'll probably bring The Boys along as a security blanket too.
Amy
Friday, April 24:
So, Hope gave Frisbee a try last evening. All the pups were in the yard taking part in their own favorite way...Oscar being the true athlete of the sport, Gunny doing a great job ripping his Frisbee to teeny pieces, and little Hope taking hers around for a walk. She actually *did* pounce on one or two rollers that I tossed for her, but I think the thrill wore off quickly.
Today all 3 had their baths. Even though the weather was gorgeous, and The Boys always get outdoor baths, I wasn't willing to risk Hope freaking out and getting away. So, she had the tub package. I got everything ready, then went and brought her into the bathroom. It wasn't until I was settling her in the tub that I had that "oh no" moment and thought about her time in the quarry, swimming for dear life for who knows how long. She had the same thought apparently, and started to panic as her feet touched the water. Thank goodness that 1)she is small 2) she trusts me most of the time 3)she doesn't have an ounce of "fear driven aggression" in her, because I had to stick really close for about 30 seconds to keep her from launching herself across the bathroom---cheek to cheek, hold on tight, speak soothingly, type sticking close. The poor girl was terrified, and then she seemed to be willing to give me the benefit of the doubt. By no means did she enjoy herself, but she tolerated it. And she is nice and soft and shiny now.
How amazing it is that she IS willing to trust me and give me the benefit of the doubt! This is a special, special dog.
Amy
Sunday, April 26:
Hope had her booster shot on Friday evening. Not one bit of trouble, she was a very good girl. We also started her back on antibiotics, as one of her mangled toes seems to be giving her a little trouble again.
She was very friendly when Beth came to give her the shot, didn't show any signs of her previous "terrified ways". Hope has also been spending lots of time "working" the neighbors, who visit with her through the fence and give her (and The Boys) dog biscuits. Now that she is through with her shots, I'll introduce her to the neighbor's sweet chocolate Lab female, explore the neighborhood on walks, and work towards testing her out in less familiar territory.
I made a video of Hope to try and promote her more and find her the perfect Forever Home.
Enjoy...
Monday, April 27:
Hope went on her first mini-walk yesterday. Off she marched without The Boys. About 1 block into it, she realized she was somewhere unfamiliar and started to get a bit panicky. So, we ended on a good note and headed back.
This evening she walked out to the end of the driveway with me to toss out some trash. We noticed a neighbor across the street and walked over to say hello. Definitely not as brave without her fence...tried to run off, hunkered down low, had a little nervous pee-pee going on. Overall, a very good job though, as she let a totally new man (scary) in a baseball cap (scarier) pet her...she even *thought* about going to him when he crouched down and called her. She got about 1.5 feet away from him and changed her mind. One of my cute little 2 year old neighbors who LOVES The Boys came running down his driveway calling "doggie, doggie, doggie!" and I had to run herd on him to keep him away---no clue what Hope thinks of kids. He's a good kiddo and listened well. Tried again a few minutes later. Then finally, on his third attempt, when Hope was already hunkered down on the ground, I let him come closer. He was able to pet her gently, and she stayed still for him without any kind of "bad" behavior, though I can't say she was totally on board with hanging out with strangers. We kept it really brief, and when she was ready to head back, we headed back.
Wow, what a difference between her within my property line, and her that little distance beyond. Inside my fence, you'd never know she had any baggage. So, we will keep taking baby steps each day...go get the mail, go put out the trash, go water the flowers...just functional stuff that is over quickly....no time for her to really think about it.
She and Oscar are getting serious about their playtime. Tonight they were really wrestling hard. Remember when you used to wrestle with your Dad, and you'd make one little move and he'd play it up like you were the strongest person EVER and fall down and carry on like you were killing him? That's what this reminded me of. Hope (all 35 *short* pounds of her) would jump on Oscar (all 70 *lanky, tall* pounds of him), and Oscar would immediately fall on his side and throw his head back. Hope would grab his neck or collar and tug on him, like she was hunting down a grizzly bear, so proud of herself. Oscar's expression was priceless...like he was going over his shopping list in his mind, staring up at the sky, watching birds, then would occasionally thrash around a little bit to encourage her before going back to his shopping list.
Last night, The Boys were in the bed with me while I read, and Hope was on the floor engrossed in a chew toy. Oscar was already asleep, and his head was just barely hanging over the edge of the bed. When Hope got tired of her toy, she came to investigate, sat up on her hind legs, and grabbed Oscar's ear. She kept pulling on it...a little bit more than being gentle, but not really rough either...like she was a kid grabbing and tugging the hem of her Dad's shirt to get his attention. Oscar pried open one eye, peered down at her, and went back to sleep, despite the fact that Hope did not let go. I had to intervene on that one. Poor Oscar. She is wearing him out.
Wednesday, April 29:
Last night, Hope met the "cookie neighbors" without the benefit of a fence to hide behind. She did very well, all things considered, but was still very very very nervous.
After a few false starts, Hope approached both members of The Cookie Couple and sniffed hands. The encouraging thing was that she kept going back to The Cookie Husband (and there were no cookies involved last night)...this is encouraging as she was previously more afraid of men than women.
Their dog was out on her run to potty, and when she (a very happy, friendly, but energetic Lab) came bounding over, Hope was scared. Once Hope figured out that we were beyond the reach of the run, she was better, but she was still concerned about the dog. Since Hope was so nervous, I did not want them to meet nose to nose just yet....figure we'll work up to that. They visit through the fence all the time, so it shouldn't take too long.
As with the other neighbor interaction, Hope was quite obvious about when it was time to head back, and she dragged me straight to the fence to see The Boys...it was like she was saying "man, am I glad to see YOU guys----it's crazy out here!"
Thursday, April 30:
Yesterday evening, Hope went on her second car ride with me. I'd have to call it a success, as this time, she did NOT pee all over my back seat. She was nervous, moved back and forth a lot, though she did lay down several times, and she did stay in the back seat without any trouble. I am pretty sure car rides never happened pre-rescue, except maybe the day she was driven to her attempted drowning and abandonment. So, you can't blame the poor kid. I will try and take her on short errands more often, just to get her used to the idea.
She is also over her fear of the garage. For a few days, she would walk OUT of the open garage door to go outside, but she would refuse to come back IN the garage to get to the house. She was terrified...bucking on the end of the leash, trying to bolt. She is over that now, just trots right back in, ready to come inside for a cookie. Random things like that pop up every so often...things I don't expect to be an issue. She hides her baggage pretty well around me, but memories must rear their ugly heads every so often.
Friday, May 1:
Hope had another car outing, this time to come hang out and visit with some of the NMAR gang. Unfortunately, she was VERY resistant to getting into my car, to the point of almost dragging me down the driveway out of the garage, taking out roll-out garbage cans, recycling bins, and garden hose holders that dared to be in our way. Hoping to use the power of a positive role model, I called Oscar out to demo how it's done and to keep her company. It didn't help at all...it was like she didn't even see him. I was able to---finally---get her into the car, and once inside, she did seem to take comfort from being with Oscar. It is definitely not an area of strength for her just yet.
Over at NMAR, she did a surprisingly good job of visiting with a few humans, and even initiated going over to new people for snuggles and scratches. She was equally happy to see men or women, and really let her guard down a great deal. I had only intended to stay for a few minutes, but she did so well that the three of us stayed and visited for over an hour. It was a beautiful evening to sit around outside and recount the days' events with some friends. Hope laid down beside new people, hanging out and relaxing, even requesting belly rubs shamelessly. I think she has the potential to be quite the little flirt. Of course Oscar is happy to spend time with anyone who acknowledges how fabulous he is, and really, who WOULDN'T recognize that obvious fact?!
Hope also had a little playtime with Kayla's 70 pound dog, Brutus, who took her on a walk to give her more exposure to friendly, well behaved dogs. Initially, Hope was very timid around Brutus, tail jammed up tight, head down low, backing away. But once she realized that Brew wanted to be buddies, she started pawing him in the nose, bouncing up in the air and spinning 360 degrees, all in an effort to get him to play. Both Hope and Brutus seemed to really resent their leashes, and were looking for a fenced area to go run some zoomies together.
Although still resistant, Hope got in the car significantly more easily, and rode home like the tired puppy she was. Overall, a very, very good outing.
Saturday, May 2:
What a difference a day makes. Less than 24 hours earlier, getting in the car was a traumatic event, despite Oscar's moral support. Today, I opened the car door, and before I could even call her, Hope was jumping in the back seat for a solo car ride! She had 3 opportunities to load up, and all 3 times, she popped right in the car like it was the easiest thing in the world.
She seemed very excited to head back over to NMAR today, and was happy to trot along for a walk up the driveway. Her leash walking has come a LONG way. Long gone are the days when she was just dead weight at the end of a leash...that no one could get to move, despite every effort.
When she noticed one of her new human buddies from last night walking out to the parking area, she was wagging and wiggling from 40 feet away. She didn't care that he didn't realize she was there....she was bound and determined to get over to him to say hello. Boy, when she got there, she was beyond excited to get her belly rubs!
Hope had the chance to visit with 2 big dogs that were at the rescue looking for a new brother or sister. She did remarkably well with both of the dogs, as well as their dad. She also had a blast visiting with some of the NMAR puppies through their kennel fences. We spent some time keeping Beth company in her workshop while she finished some artwork, and as simple as that sounds, it was a BIG deal. Beth's shop is very full with all kinds of potentially intimidating materials and smells and sounds, and apparently lots of dogs are worried about entering. But Hope was happy to come on in and lay in the doorway while Kayla, Beth and I talked about tomorrow's Big Event at The Palmer Building.
This evening, we had some WILD storms blow through for about an hour and a half. Gunny, who normally doesn't worry about storms, told me they were coming before they even started. Oscar, who also doesn't react to weather, stuck close. Hope continued to do her best to put a dent in her big Nylabone, totally oblivious to the ridiculously loud storm. All in all, a very encouraging day.
Monday, May 4:
Thanks to everyone who made it out to the Sunday Fun Day yesterday! How great was it that the rain held off?
Lots of people read Hope's story and saw her pictures, asked about her, and donated generously to Gunny's Hug Booth in order to help the dogs at North Meck. Gunny was exhausted last night, but happy to help spread the news of his foster sister.
Hope went up to meet "our" vets up at Lakecross Veterinary Hospital in Huntersville. The plan was to get a quick follow-up heartworm test while Gunny was there for his annual appointment, and Linc The Cat was there for a follow-up xray for some bladder drama that has been plaguing him for awhile. Unfortunately, Hope had more going on than we had anticipated, and we managed to increase the ever-present vet bill balance that NMAR has. So much for a quick and easy bloodtest!
Hope is definitely heartworm positive. It was not a false reading on her other test, like we were really hoping for. She appears to be *minimally* positive, but unfortunately, positive is positive. Hope also has Demodex mange, which is the very treatable, mostly not contagious variety, that is linked with crappy nutrition, lots of stress and bad care. The vet was also concerned about her very red feet and missing toenails, said there is no telling what is going on with all that, could be Staph infection, etc, so to be safe we keep up the antibiotics. Throw in that the dewormers she has gotten for the worms in her intestines were not quite enough, and she is still full of worms.
So, she is getting ANOTHER two weeks of antibiotics instead of being done tomorrow. She is getting yucky liquid medicine every day for the next 8 weeks or so for the Demodex. Once she is off of that medicine for 30 days, we are allowed to continue to manage her heartworm care the way we had previously started. She also needs this powdered de-wormer to be mixed into mushy canned food for the next 3 days for the intestinal worms, and then in 3 more weeks we do it again. Throw in Benadryl twice a day for itching, and you have her routine. I'll be making a chart, as Gunny needs twice-daily Benadryl for allergies this time of year, and Linc The Cat has his own routine of some once a day/some once every other day medicines, as well as special food. That's a lot to remember.
Hope was a very good girl at the vet. She is now 42 pounds, and the official office consensus is that Bull Terrier (like Spuds MacKenzie) is the mystery gene. To be fair, Beth actually guessed that the first day she saw her...she knows her dogs! Hope was very cooperative, no fussing about her shots or her exam. Poor girl had to get skin samples taken to test for Demodex, and that is no fun....basically looks like some rug burn right under her eye. Ouch. She walked right up to all the staff, wagging and sniffing. Overall, rode very well in the car, despite the very carsick Linc The Cat crying and gagging in his cat carrier. Geez, it was a rough day for these guys!
Thursday, May 7:
Hope's not very happy about all of this rain. Apparently the Little Maniac
is not a fan of getting her feet wet. Eventually, her desire to play overtakes
her prissy girl behavior, and she runs and slops around in the wet grass with
the boys. As she has gotten more comfortable, her high energy level has become
more apparent, so outside playtime is a MUST every day, even if it is only for
brief periods. I am still keeping her in her crate for the majority of her
inside time, as we continue to work on potty training.
Everything else is going well. Last night she showed some food aggression when
Oscar walked by her crate during the administration of medicine disguised in
sloppy cat food. Thankfully, I always feed all dogs separately when a new one
comes into the house, and Hope's crate door was latched. She is fine with
humans being near her food, and she is fine with the other animals being near
her toys. The way that she gobbles down her food indicates that she is not over
the fact that she was starved for a significant portion of her young life, so
honestly, I am not surprised that she guarded her food from Oscar and growled
like a Big Girl. Most of the rescue dogs who have undergone starvation show
that tendency with other dogs...very easy to address and manage.
She has finished her 3 day cycle of the yucky powder and slimy food for the
intestinal worms (until we repeat in 3 weeks). She is tolerating the yucky
liquid medicine that I have to squirt in her mouth (for the Demodex) very well.
She takes her antibiotics and Benadryl pills like a champ....she loves that
peanut butter I use to hide them.
So, the other day, I am walking by the patio door and happen to glance out on
the way by. It was one of those moments when you look at something, realize a
component is out of place, but your brain needs time to process. My first
impression was that Hope seemed very tall, and then a half a second later it all
clicked...she was sitting in the dead center of my small patio table, like a
centerpiece. Just as pretty as you please, perched up there, surveying her
surroundings. Since then, it has become a favorite spot for her, and she often
carries a toy up there to keep by her side. Hopefully one of these days I'll
get a picture. Speaking of pictures, I'll see if Terry can add a couple to
this entry. They are from the day she arrived at NMAR. They give a little
insight into just how skittish she was when we met her...but remember, it was
500% better than when they pulled her from the quarry. She wouldn't walk
anywhere on a leash when she arrived at NMAR, so the cheese picture is Kayla
trying to coax her to walk herself into my car. Ultimately, she was lifted in.
Cheese can only do so much.
Sunday, May 10:
Hope is doing great. She has been out for a few more short walks, and is catching onto the idea of NOT dragging me along like she is a sled dog. She met two new neighbors today, and despite their hats and the tools they were using to dig holes for fence posts, she was very willing to say hello and get belly rubs. A few times she flinched, or tucked tail and scooted, but overall, she seemed to really enjoy meeting new folks. This evening, she also had a face to face meeting with The Cookie Couple's not-quite-3-year-old chocolate Lab, and it was a non issue. They both seem to be on the same page as far as being wild, happy, playful, maniacs, so they got along great. I invited the Cookie Dog over to run in my fence, as she doesn't have one of her own. She and Hope had a GREAT time, slobbered all over each other, ran like fools. Hope got a little too exuberant about chewing on the Lab's neck, and was corrected with a bark and an appropriate nip of the air in Hope's direction. Hope took this very well, seemed embarrassed that she had been corrected, and played more carefully after that. The Boys stayed inside, as I didn't want to overload The Cookie Dog with an additional 125 pounds of dog to deal with. Maybe next time.
It's great to watch her play...it's like she's a much younger puppy, learning all the "skills". Gunny went through the same thing---like he hadn't ever had a chance to actually BE a puppy, so when he ended up somewhere safe, he finally gave it a try. That's what I am seeing in Hope too.
Hope continues to take her medicines without any complaint, and without any obvious side effects. She really is such a trooper. Amazingly, to my knowledge, she has had only one person ask about adopting her. Turns out he found a different dog to adopt, who fit in better with his dogs. I'm shocked that Hope hasn't gotten more interest from potential homes. Please spread the word about how great she is. We want all of the NMAR dogs to find great families, but poor Hope REALLY deserves a chance for a family of her own...people that will continue to give her the chance to experience all the fun stuff that she missed out on for so long. Remember, NMAR is willing to consider homes from outside of our area, and has even done some (very) out of state adoptions. Of course these people were all FANTASTIC folks, so if you know of another fantastic, non-local, family that might be a good match for Hope, don't let them be discouraged by distance.
Wednesday, May 13:
Took all three dogs for a walk together for the first time this evening. There is just way too much on my plate right now for me to walk revolving dogs, and it was time for The Boys to be more consistent with their good manners, and Miss Hope to start doing some Big Girl things. It was not pretty at first, and I was pretty sure I'd land on my face at least once. Ironically, I figured I'd split The Boys up on either side, and pair Hope with one of them. Turns out, she was actually the biggest Wild Card, and needed one of my hands all to herself. For the sake of (my) self preservation, Hope was cut very little slack, and she fell in line pretty quickly. Due to the high activity level in my neighborhood on such a pretty evening, I couldn't just keep walking around the various streets, as there would be too many challenges (dogs, bikes, kids), so we just worked one leg of the block back and forth. God bless Oscar, he was in my Wheel Position (if anyone knows anything about teams of horses pulling wagons and such)...I got to the point that I'd say "Oskie, LEFT" and sort of angle my body, and he'd slow down and almost pivot the 180 degree turn, taking all of us with him, as we were all connected. Then he'd fall back in line. He learned that tonight...it only took him about 4 times before he started reacting to just the word "left". He is one crazy smart dog. Now, not to say that if a cat had crossed our path at the wrong time that I wouldn't have ended up with
road rash all over every appendage, or that I could walk through a busy park this way, but I still think it was pretty dang impressive for our first attempt!
Hope continues to rock The Boys' world, wearing them out and driving them crazy. She is a little pest! She wrestles with Oscar like SHE is the 70 pound dog instead of him. When he wrestles with Gunny
and needs a break, Oscar runs off, as he is a lot faster than Gunny. Unfortunately, Hope is just as fast as Oscar (super fast!), so he can't get away from the little rapscallion! Sometimes Gunny will get upset...he sees that Oscar needs a break and Hope isn't getting the hint, so he will try and pull Hope off of his brother (NOT an easy task!), then get in between them and "block" her like a little football player. The Boys like Hope a lot, but it is nothing like the bond that they have with each other. Oscar has jumped clear over Gunny before to block the path of a snarling dog that has come aggressively towards Gunny while on a walk, and Gunny has done the same for Oscar. I guess they both adhere to the philosophy of "don't mess with my brother".
Sunday, May 17:
OK, before I start the update, I am going to do some shameless begging, the need for which to be explained shortly. Does anyone have any dog toys that their guys just don't like, or that you bought on sale somewhere and never used, that you'd be willing to donate to The Cause for Little Miss Goofball? Or heck, maybe you are feeling really generous and want to get Hope a little something for Memorial day?!!? Now, I'm not talking about fluffy, fuzzy, cute squeak toys or puppy-grade rubber toys...I am talking about heavy-duty, adult grade busy toys....like Kongs of different shapes or sizes, those "Pitbull quality" toys that look like lunch-plate-sized truck tires, big Nylabones, etc. Let me explain why....
You see, some trainers will tell you that members of the Bully breeds, do not need to have any soft, fluffy toys. They say they will: 1)destroy them and 2) decide that all soft and fluffy things, like throw pillows, slippers and pet cats, are "legal". Personally, I have not had issues with The Boys, and the house USED to have really cute, fluffy toys scattered around. Note the past tense. Hope has gutted them all. Quickly and efficiently. I have gotten her several Nylabones, and a Kong or two, but apparently she is making up for lost time and going through the "I am a puppy and I have the attention span of an orange" stage. To get more variety of "toys", she will (quickly and efficiently) locate and abduct unattended shoes, leashes and laundry in hopes of dismemberment. So, for all the times when she is allowed access to a blocked off area of the house for supervised play time, I am playing referee when she finds things I thought I had put away. I am hoping that if I increase the number of options in the toy box, I may get a little more peace during inside playtime.
If you find anything in the doggie toy basket that Rover would like to recycle, or if you spread the word at work to any other Hope fans and take up a Second Chance Toy Collection, you can mail it to NMAR, to Amy and Hope's attention, or if you live close by, you can always drop stuff off at the facility and say hey to the other dogs. The mailing address is:
NMAR
PO Box 241 Harrisburg, NC 28075
If you want to stop by, please call Beth ahead of time and check that someone will be around to thank you.
Now the Big News of the day is that Hope went on her first outing to Petsmart this morning. She was unbelievable. After pausing at the automatic doors, she went through the store like she'd been there 500 times. We picked out a new, pink, buckle collar (her pink polka dot collar is ADORABLE, but it has that plastic snap-together type fastener which I do not trust----dogs that pull hard enough can pop those open). Hope initiated going over to sniff people and say hello, enjoyed belly rubs from several strangers, and Woo Woo'ed at all the dogs that walked by, trying to get them to play with her. No one would believe that a month ago, she was basically catatonic. It was so much better than I had even hoped for. I think she is ready to go out to community events and NMAR functions to start tracking down Her Forever Home. Hey, if they don't know to come looking for her, we'll get out there and try and track them down! : )
Thanks for tolerating the shameless begging on Hope's behalf. And of course thanks for the continued support of Hope and all that NMAR does.
Wednesday, May 20:
Hope has been going through Oscar withdrawal for the last few days. He came in 3-legged-lame on Monday afternoon, requiring a trip to the vet. Having been through an ACL repair surgery with my Original Dog, Hokus, I was really upset at how similar the injury presentation was. Despite the look of horror on the faces of the staff up at Lakecross when we walked in (it REALLY looked like a blown ACL), the exam revealed no evidence of a tear. Probably a sprain of one of the smaller ligaments due to an unlucky twist or slip or knock while out playing with the pack. So, poor Oscar has been "on restriction" with leash walks around the yard only, just for potty purposes, and some Rimadyl for pain. But this inconvenience for him is WAY better than going through surgery...he may not realize it, but *I* sure do!
Gunny and Hope have had more time to pal around with Oscar's absence from outdoor playtime. In typical adorable fashion, they both greet him like a long lost King when they get time to visit with him inside in the evenings. Hope is getting more laid back about her supervised House Time out of her crate. She still tries to Woo Woo the cats into playing with her, sometimes butting them with her nose and snorting on them, occasionally herding them...but it all seems to be hyper puppy play and nothing sinister. Linc, of course, takes it in stride and tries to wrestle back. Millie and Tobbles glare, and Hope seems to get the point.
This evening, Hope had another playdate with The Cookie Dog from next door. Gunny joined in as well, and it was a happy, friendly group. The Cookie Dog is just as wild as my guys, so there was lots of running and wrestling. Hope did fabulously....she truly seems to love everyone and every dog. She has gotten really comfortable with The Cookie Couple, and will Woo Woo at them as soon as they come out of their door or get out of their car....sort of reminding them that she is there and to please stop by to say hello when they get a minute. Not bad for a catatonic pup, huh???
Friday, May 22:
We played the Walk Three Dogs At A Time game again this afternoon, though Oscar had to come home early to protect his knee. It went well, a little challenging as Oscar has extra energy from being On Restriction, but still very well. After returning Oscar to his crate, I took The Two Red Dogs for a longer walk to give Hope some more leash practice. It is a work in progress, but she is trying hard to figure out what I expect of her.
Along the way, one of the Boys' cousins, Sandi, heard us coming and darted up the road to say hello. So, in trial by fire fashion, Hope had her first experience with being charged by a loose dog while she was on a leash. Hope couldn't have cared less, she was so excited to see another happy dog heading her way that she wiggled and Woo Woo'ed and bounced around. She and Sandi has a nice visit, and then we escorted Sandi for the short walk back home (a whopping 3 properties). Sandi is a dominant female dog, who doesn't always like other dogs, and it went very well with Hope---not a single issue.
When we got to Sandi's house, Hope had her second ever encounter with a human pup. Remember the
first encounter (on day 2 or 3 with me) made her pee on herself in fear? Today, she was SO happy to see a 2 year old human and a 2 month old human...lots of sniffing and licking of the toddler, and some (bad behavior) paws up on the Mama human who was holding the infant---Hope really wanted to see want that was all about. She did wonderfully with the kids, though the teeny variety is a little too small for her puppy energy. I bet she would be really excited to live with medium to large sized kids though...as long as they like to run and play!
I know I have said it before, but the way that this brave girl has come around in such a short time baffles me. On top of Sandi and the 2 kiddoes, there were 2 new adults to meet, and NONE of the experiences gave her the least bit of worry. I'm pretty sure the people who pulled her out of that quarry and who gave her the first safe place would never recognize her at this point....what a turnaround!
Sunday, May 24:
Busy day for Hope. First, a car ride to run some errands (and her very good car behavior continues). Next, a trip to the rescue to visit with the NMAR gang. The humans are pretty much a non-issue at this point...she is happy to see anyone and everyone (though she seems to have a soft spot for Derek, Beth's boyfriend). Kayla's 115 pound German Shepherd , Sampson, was visiting today, and since he LOVES to play, we thought he and Hope might have a good time together. Holy cow, Hope has never seen anything so BIG and it took her by surprise. This is the first time in a LONG time I have seen her so nervous. Sampson was a very good boy, very well behaved, and after a long time of keeping him on a leash, Hope warmed up to him enough to pal around a bit in the fenced yard. They never did get to the run and wrestle routine, but there were a couple of gentle right hooks to the nose as they 'boxed" a little, and there was lots of paired sniffing of the interesting yard smells. The good news is that, despite her wild and bossy antics with The Boys, and her happy/hyper play with a few neighborhood girl dogs, she seems to know that each dog needs to be approached as an individual. She doesn't rush in like a bull in a China Shop and start bossing every new dog around. Sampson's body language is very different than what she is used to (and did I mention he is HUGE?!), and she was very submissive and respectful of him. She also went straight to me and the other humans for security when she got nervous...how wonderful is that?! Humans used to be
Number One on her list of horrible things.
Once we got back to the house, it was Bath Day for all 3 dogs. Gunny and Oscar do well with the
garden hose, but I am still worried about Hope freaking out, getting loose, and running off...so, she was a tub bath. Yikes, that was a feat in and of itself. Poor girl is very worried about baths, very wiggly, and very tricky about ways to get loose. Needless to say, I'm tired, but I have 3 clean dogs! Now, if only I had the energy to get the house cleaned...
Thursday, May28:
Quick update, but very positive things....Hope has learned to "sit". Took her about 5 seconds to figure it out. When everyone comes in and gets a cookie, the 3 dogs line up and sit down one by one. Hopefully I will get a little more time to try some additional obedience in the next few days.
Even better news, she seems to be getting the idea of house training. Or maybe more accurately, *I* am finally understanding her signals. Regardless, Big Happy Dance! Don't worry, I am not foolish enough to believe she is actually, officially house broken yet...she is still a baby after all...but she surely is on her way!
Saturday, June 6:
Hope went for her first ride in The Big Truck this morning, with Oscar for company. Don't worry, they rode in the back seat, as all dogs should, not in the bed!
All 3 dogs will be going to assist with a presentation for the rescue, and 170 pounds of dog in the backseat of my little 2-door car is too much. We will have to take the truck to get everyone/everything there in one trip. Gordy---aka The Big Truck---is a loud fellow, and a tall fellow, so I wanted to give Hope a test ride and see how she did. It took her a few seconds to figure out how to get in something that big, but she rode well. I left her and Oscar in the truck for a quick errand---windows cracked/parked in shade/early morning trip with cool temperatures (please please please be mindful of this with your own dogs---heat stroke is a horrible and unnecessary way for dogs to die and can happen it just a couple of mintes). During my 5 minute trip to the store, Hope climbed up front and found my granola bars. She didn't leave a crumb, and managed to tear open the foil pack without eating ANY of the wrapping. So, I guess we could consider it a good job. Yes, I know it was Hope and not Oscar as: 1) she gets into EVERYTHING in 2 seconds flat and 2) Oscar is left alone with food all the time and he knows not to touch it.
We went over to Petsmart to do a little training in a busy environment and she was very good. Nothing seemed to bother her. She has the attention span of a gnat because of all the good smells, but the important thing is that she was excited and not scared! Oscar was wonderful as always, fell right into work mode. I did some work in an empty area of the parking lot, and then back in the store, walking the 2 of them in one hand, and they did great, even with the distractions. Hope almost gave me a heart attack as I was checking out at the cash register though. Somehow, as I was signing the slip, she was gone out of my hand---no idea how she managed it. She headed straight for the (automatic) door and I left Oscar sitting at the counter and ran after her...I was able to step on the end of her leash JUST as the door to the parking lot swung open. Hope was clueless, didn't realize she was headed for any trouble, just excited to go exploring. I felt my hair go gray, but I'll live. Oscar gave her a look to let her know her behavior was inappropriate.
Still no more applications for, or interest in, Hope, except a note or two from people thanking us for saving her. We REALLY need your help finding her a permanent home. She is happy here with The Boys, but it is not the same as if she had a family of her own. I am trying hard to keep her from getting too attached to me, as she is already super attached to The Boys. Times are tough for people right now, and they are not adopting dogs, trying to save a little money or wait for "a better time". Unfortunately, they don't realize that the dogs need them NOW, not later. So, thank you for continuing to spread the word. Hope has loved every dog she has met so far, gets along with everyone and lives with 3 cats. I think she'd enjoy playing with kids who are old enough/big enough to handle it if she tried to climb into their laps or bump into them to get their attention---she has lots of puppy energy. I have a feeling she is making up for lost time from when her life was no fun at all. All this to say, I think she would fit in well in lots of different situations, unlike some of the more challenging dogs who can't live with cats, or only with certain dogs, etc etc etc. Hope's only real prerequisite is that her Forever Home has people in it who like to PLAY and have energy to do fun things with her!
Tuesday, June 9th:
Big steps on the potty training front. Miss Hope is consistently talking and wandering back and forth when she needs to use the bathroom. It is still a little tricky to decipher, as she talks a lot anyway, and is usually pretty mobile, but I err on the side of caution. Pretty much every time I take her out, she potties whether she needs to or not! Good girl!
I've also been carefully observing her interactions with Linc The Cat during all of her time here with us. I think I finally have her figured out. At the beginning, it was hard to get a sense of her intentions when she got near the cats, but now I am quite certain she just considers them small playmates. Granted, I would never leave a young, energetic dog like Hope unsupervised around cats, as I know enough to cross all my T's and dot all my I's. Basically, Hope simply wants to play---A LOT---and if The Boys aren't up for it, she'll take whoever else happens to be around. She butts Linc with her nose like a dolphin, and she sort of squashes him with her head when he is laying down, but Linc is in no way concerned. She will chase
the other two cats if they run from a room, but it does not appear she has any desire to actually CATCH them...she just likes to run. Linc will lay on his back and lazily bat at her with his paws while she ducks and weaves like she is a boxer in a prize fight. If she gets at all rough, Linc will half-way pop her in the face, and that's really all it takes for her to settle down. When she is tired, she calmly walks by the cats, looks at them, and keeps on moving. The other day, I had all three dogs laying around me, chewing on bones, while I worked on the computer, and Linc was laying right there in the middle.
Now, keep in mind, I have very dog-friendly cats. They don't give off that nervous prey energy, or run in a blind panic the way "dog-unfamiliar" cats do. My guys have always had dogs around, even strange dogs that come and stay over, and they have always had positive experiences. They are dog savvy, but not fearful. This is another reason so many NMAR pups have rotated through this house, even if only for playdates...my cats do a good job of letting us humans get a feel for a dog's potential to live safely with cats. The dogs also experience a little Kitty Boot Camp where they learn appropriate play skills without getting an eye scratched in reprimand. Like I've said before, my crew is a pretty magical Pack.
Saturday, June 13:
Yesterday, Hope took Gunny along to the NMAR facility to meet with a group of volunteers from Duke Energy. Between NMAR volunteers and Duke volunteers, there were probably at least 30 people around her, with lots of 10-ish and up year old kids. We felt it would be nice for the Duke volunteers to see two of NMAR's more public stories live and in person, so I took The Red Dogs over to give a little talk and have a little visit.
Get this...Hope was not one bit worried about any of it. She was definitely distracted and nosey, and preferred sniffing the grass over visiting, but she wasn't nervous when people approached her, and was very happy to get some extra attention. That is so HUGE. Talk about coming a long way in a short time!
I realized something on my drive over to NMAR with The Red Ones....last May Gunny came on the scene and garnered unbelievable amounts of attention, support, donations, and adoption applications. This May, almost exactly one year later, Hope arrived. As I have mentioned before, aside from the occasional email from wonderful people who express support of what we are doing with Hope, but who aren't in the position to adopt, the mailbox has been empty for Hope. Not only does she have an inspirational story
, like Gunny's, but she is also a really user-friendly dog, also like Gunny. She's happy, smart, easy to get along with, house broken, cat-friendly, dog-friendly....not a tough placement, typically. Unfortunately, in this topsy-turvey economic time, the animals are really suffering because of people being afraid to take on another expense...and I bet most people don't even realize how bad it has gotten. Talk about the difference 1 year has made. Poor Hope. The timing really isn't working in her favor.
As a side note, I want to talk for a minute about summer temperatures. Last week, a very good friend of mine, who is a FANTASTIC and incredibly conscientious dog owner had a horrible scare. While out for a walk one evening, her 11 month old American Bulldog suffered heat stroke. She didn't just get over heated, she had full blown heat stroke. In other words, a life-threatening emergency often accompanied by unhappy endings. They were not doing anything different than she had done many times before, in weather that was not overly hot or humid. Her girl was taken to the ER vet immediately upon manifestation of the symptoms. Still, she barely pulled through, and had to stay in ICU at the ER for a week. Most dogs in her condition don't make it home. She is a very blessed dog. These summer temperatures are tough on all dogs, and it can be "too late" in a VERY short period of time. Some dogs are at higher risk---weaker, younger, older, and Bully breeds that are predominantly muscle. Dogs with higher muscle mass do not have the body fat to assist with dissipating heat. Please take extra caution with these dogs. I have been neurotic about this ever since my friend's scare, as all three of my resident bullies were outside in their yard playing at the exact time that my friend was fighting to save her dog's life.
That said, even with my recent, renewed awareness of the potential for disaster (in addition to a personal experience with Oscar getting over heated during playtime), I had a scare of my own today. At about 8 AM, I left all 3 bullies in the shady back yard with two big and over-flowing water bowls. I knew I'd be home in a couple hours, and the dogs would be inside by late morning. When I arrived home, at least 50% of my yard was still covered in thick shade. Although the temperatures were rising, it was not beyond what my guys were used to. Here is where I miscalculated. Oscar enjoys lots of rest time in the shade. Gunny and Hope do not. From what I can piece together, Gunny and Hope spent a lot of time playing and running right before I got home. They got hot, so they drank...and they drank all of the water. Oscar was fine. Gunny was VERY hot, and Hope was somewhere in between.
I got them all in the house, cranked up the air conditioning and turned on all of the ceiling fans. Gunny immediately drank a lot of water, and I kept adding water cooled with ice cubes to the bowls. Hope likes ice cubes, so I gave her several to eat while I attended to Gunny. She drank some, but not as much as I would have liked. I took a soft ice pack from the freezer and used it on Gunny's head, chest, tummy, armpits and groin while he laid on the linoleum floor. Gunny started to look a lot better, so I filled up Ziploc bags with ice and moved The Red Dogs to the tile entryway where the floor is REALLY cold. I laid Gunny down on the icy tile, and stood Hope beside him (getting cold on their pads also helps to lower body temperature). While Hope stood, I rotated 2 Ziploc bags filled with ice all over the body parts I listed previously. It was a little tricky tending to 2 dogs at once, but it could have been worse...it could have been all 3! Oscar stayed right beside the other dogs the entire time, no matter where we relocated to---it is uncanny how he tunes in to medical issues with other animals, and even people sometimes. As I discarded one ice pack for a cooler one, I'd pile the "used" ice on Oscar just for good measure. God bless that dog...he will just lay there with packs and melting bags and whatever else I pile on, for as long as I tell him to.
As soon as the breathing was significantly calmer, I switched from ice packs to cold water, and used a squirt bottle on their heads/necks and also to encourage more drinking. I tell you all of this in case you ever find yourself in a similar situation, or in case a friend ever calls you for help. These guys were not suffering true heat stroke, and it was still very serious. If you had heard Gunny's breathing, I promise you would have been worried.
Everyone is fine, though they were pretty tired. Hope was restless, and although I have not been letting her on the furniture, today the only time she rested was when she curled up on a chair...and I sure wasn't going to correct her. At one point, Oscar was curled up in "his" wingback chair, and as big as he is, he covered 90% of the seat. Hope was still antsy, and she went straight to Oscar. She jumped up and squished all 4 of her feet in that small, unoccupied space. Then, she laid down, exhausted....all 45 pounds of her right on TOP of Oscar. He never even picked up his head. Of course I moved her, as Oscar's
body heat was the last thing she needed. Do you see why I say "God Bless That Dog" when I talk about him?
Thursday, June 18:
Hope is really growing up and settling down. Now don't get me wrong, she is still full of puppy Rah-Rah energy at playtime, but she now actually seems to enjoy just RELAXING every once in awhile. Typically, anytime all 3 dogs were loose together, it was a regular WWF Smackdown. But as I type this, I have 3 dogs laying by my feet, 1 chewing on a bone and 2 (including Hope) resting quietly. I don't barricade the entire house anymore, every time she is loose for 2 minutes. I don't lock 2 of the 3 cats in my bedroom to insure peace while Hope patrols. Hope can now wander in to check on the cats and leave quietly without trying to convince them to play tag. She does still enjoy bringing me my slippers, one by one, but what 9 month old puppy doesn't do that?
The biggest break through happened about 10 minutes ago. She ventured off from my office a few times, returning when I called her. Then, she was gone for awhile and very quiet, so I snuck out to see where she was hiding. I found her sitting by the back door. When I let her outside, she immediately found a perfect spot to go poop. That, ladies and gentlemen, is life altering.
Come on guys, she is such a great dog....there has got to be someone out there for her...don't give up the looking on her behalf.
Tuesday, June 23:
Holy cow, what a day for Miss Hope! She and The Boys were invited by Piedmont Natural Gas to come to their corporate headquarters in Charlotte, and be the stars of a Lunch and Learn. It was a great opportunity for Beth and I to talk about NMAR, adoption, and dog fighting.
I knew having Oscar there was a no-brainer...he's my "easy" kid when it comes to things like this. I knew Gunny would be fine unless I tried to walk away from him, then there'd be screaming. I knew Hope would be excited to see all the people, but I had no idea how well she'd be able to handle the multiple hours involved in travel, set up, presentation, break down, and travel home.
Again, Holy Cow! She was INCREDIBLE! I handed her off to the PNG team to hold while I kept The Boys beside me during my speech. Hope had never seen these people before, but that was not an issue. Talk about a snuggle bunny....wow, did she WORK it, being a super well behaved, calm girl! At one point, true to form of all the dogs that live in my house, she was laying across the lap of the man who had her leash...her eyes were closed and she was enjoying her belly rubs. She waited until it was all over to be a pest and ask The Boys to wrestle or play. Perfect timing.
Thanks again to all of the PNG staff who attended...we had a blast. All 3 dogs were out cold for the entire ride home! Being the center of attention can wear a pup out you know!
For this presentation, I made a new Gunny slideshow, complete with some very adorable new pictures. If you'd like to see it, you can visit.
Wednesday, July 8:
Hope has had a very busy week. She had family in town, including an 11 year old and a 14 year old (humans, just to be clear) plus adults. This opened up all kind of possibilities for extended play
and fun. She got extra opportunities for leash walking and obedience work (with the 11 year old task master), and more time loose in the house. There were more people to monitor for possible potty malfunctions, making indoor playtime less of a fulltime observation assignment. Miss Hope had a blast, and let everyone know her thoughts on various situations...Woo-Woo "you are not paying me enough attention"; Woo-Woo "I want you to take me outside"; Woo-Woo "you are not playing with that toy the right way...here let me show you"; WOO-WOO "I am so incredibly happy to see you I can't stand myself!". Outsiders must have been puzzled by my family, as the preferred term of the week became "woo woo" and was used liberally in conversation, both at home and out in public. Also, conversations were paused midsentence as Hope interrupted with her proclamation, we'd reinforce her input by echoing with a human woo woo of our own, and then resume without missing a beat. I am pretty sure it will continue to be used in the family for a long time to come.
Picture taking continues to be a challenge due to Hope's "busy" nature, but here are a couple of her with a toy that she was given by Piedmont Natural Gas when she presented at their Lunch and Learn. When I get a minute, I'll send along some very short video clips of her busy little self.
I noticed that one of her stitches from her spay surgery, that are supposed to be internal and dissolve, is poking through the skin. Her surgery was several months ago, so this is something that requires a trip to the vet. I plan to drop her off in the AM for a check up. I expect that they will have to pull that stitch out. Poor girl.
Thanks for continuing to spread the word about our girl. She got 4 thumbs up from visiting family this week, with comments like "she sure is a pretty little thing" and "she really is a good puppy" and "what a sweet girl"...of course there was also "that is one busy pup" and "she sure is a loud sleeper".
Thursday, July 9:
Hope went to the vet today. Unfortunately, the stitch was not out *quite* far enough for them to be able to do anything about it, so we will be employing warm compresses for awhile. Hopefully it will continue to "work its way out" a bit more and either fall out or give us a better hold so we can snip it.
She was a very good girl for her visit. We entered the building and she immediately started the woo woo's. Definitely announced herself. She cracked up all the people in the waiting room. They all commented on her huge personality. I left her and came back a couple of hours later, and at least 3 different employees made a point of telling me how incredibly sweet she is. Of course I asked them all "Really? You think so? You want her???" but as is typical with animal lovers, none of them had any room at The Inn. Keep your fingers crossed....one of these days, we are going to run into Her Human...I just know it!
Tuesday, July 14:
Little Miss Nosey saved a turtle this morning. While out for the First Potty Break Of The Day, she was so cute as she sniffed out a pretty small box turtle who was digging a hole in one of our flowerbeds. She was fascinated by the little thing. Good thing Hope was so alert this morning, as Oscar would have surely found Tiny Turtle soon, and the last time he did so, it was no so pretty.
One winter, he discovered a turtle that dug into the dirt/mud under our fenceline and I discovered him playing football by himself, using the turtle as a ball! I think he had also tried to use the poor turtle as a substitute for a rawhide, as there were a few gnaw marks on the ridge that goes all the way around the shell. Those shells really are amazing though, to hold up to Oscar's 70 pound antics with just a few minor marks. I relocated the turtle, who did survive. He moved on to a new place, after taking a good bit of time to recover from his ordeal. Poor little guy probably suffers from PTSD now. And ol' Oscar wasn't trying to hurt him, he just thought I brought him a great new toy that smelled really interesting.
This morning when I relocated Hope's turtle to a wooded area outside of our fence, Oscar was prancing along beside me, all excited for another really cool toy like the one he remembered.
So, Hope saved the day. This one might have been a little too small to survive Pitbull Keepaway. Plus, I wonder if it was a she who was preparing to lay some eggs? I don't know much about turtles, but I can't imagine she was hunkering down for the cold weather already!
Saturday, August 1st :
Wow, I just realized Hope has been with us for over 3 months already. Poor girl...we all had really expected that someone would be moved by her story and take her into their family quickly...we didn't foresee her being passed over for this long. It just goes to show how much people have changed their lifestyles and their spending with this economic mess. Adoptions are WAY WAY WAY down, as people are just not taking on another mouth to feed. When an "easy" dog, with a heart-wrenching story, takes this long, you know things are bad. The poor animals are the silent victims...you don't really hear about them on the news. Rescues are closing left and right, as donations are almost nonexistent and more and more animals are being dumped as families "cut costs", and throw out their pets. The rescues that are still functioning are doing triple duty on 1/10 the budget. More and more animals are having to be turned away due to lack of room...this means more and more animals are being set loose by their owners to fend for themselves or being brought to the pound. This means animals at the pound are not getting any extra days before being put down if not adopted, and no one is adopting because they are trying to save money...it's a horrible cycle. So, we are muddling through the best we can, and we appreciate all the help and support that you guys offer us. Thank you for educating your neighbors who tell you they plan to bring Fluffy to the pound where they are sure she'll find a great new home. Thanks for encouraging people to spay and neuter their pets, ESPECIALLY THESE DAYS!
Back to Hope. Not too much is going on around here. She continues to be a good girl, a funny girl and a busy girl. Her interactions with Linc The Cat have toned down a bit...they still wrestle and play but Hope is not so wild. She is consistently ignoring the other two cats...I guess she has picked up their vibes that they have no desire to wrestle and every intention of popping her on the nose if needed. I am letting her snuggle with me on the couch more (I know, some people are not on board with this, but to each his own) and she is thrilled. She, like most Bully dogs I know, has to be touching whenever possible. Not just me, she likes to have contact with Gunny or Oscar or the cats. She is a touchy feely pup. Hope continues to surprise me with her recall of the little obedience work we have done. She also picks up routine quickly, and problem solves well. She figured out how to bump open her unlatched crate so that when I tell everyone "crate up, go nite-nite" she can get herself in and waits for me to lock her door. She also knows that when the gang comes in from outside, it is cookie time...I call out "OK, line up" and I have three eager faces in a neat row near the cookie jar. If they don't all sit immediately, I say "everyone needs to be sitting for cookies" and boom, any remaining bully butts hit the floor.
Thursday, August 6th:
With life as crazy as it has been this summer, time has gotten away from me and I haven't gotten Hope out in public as much as I would have liked. So, on Sunday, she and I took The Big Truck down to Petsmart to buy more heavy duty Nylabones---just some "girl time" as we left The Boys home. By the way, the dogs LOVE riding in the truck, it cracks me up...and to reiterate what I have said in prior posts, they ride IN THE CAB of the truck, not in the bed....EVER....that drives me nuts how unsafe that is, yet people do it all the time!
So, she wore her little red "adopt me" superman cape that I made her, and off we went into the store. She was so happy to be there, she is such a nosey little ham! She wanted to visit with every human she saw. At one point, an employee came over to say hello to her, and while she was being loved on, Hope caught sight of her first dog in the store that day. She starting Woo-Wooing immediately, in high hound fashion...she was so excited she couldn't stand herself. It made everyone laugh...Hope is anything but subtle. The 5 month old puppy came over and they played very well, then they both hung out while the pup's mom and I chatted and tried out different toys. Hope did correct the pup at one point....not sure what he said, but he obviously mouthed off in doggie speak...his mom says he has a bit of a Big Boy attitude at times...some verbal reprimands from Hope, and then it was forgotten. Later, we encountered an adult, female Lab who approached Hope in a very tense way and pushy way---and without any warning for, or invitation from, me I might add. Hope was very submissive, which made me happy, but I still broke up the interaction as the Lab's owner was clueless. She let her dog come at Hope again, eyes burning holes into Hope, fur raised, body tense, head low, and again Hope stayed submissive while I blocked the other dog. One of the trainers was watching and was very appreciative that I was reading the other dog better than its owner. Finally, the owner said "oh, yea, she really doesn't get along with any other female dogs." Seriously??? Yet you throw *my* dog under the bus and make no efforts to work with *your* dog??? People kill me. OK, just another perfect example that is has NOTHING to do with the breed, and EVERYTHING to do with the owner and the individual dog.
Hope also ran into several kids under the age of 8 or 9 years old and she was GREAT with them. Wonderful manners, no jumping, just lots of rubbing, one or two licks, and an occasional Woo-Woo. All in all, it was a very good outing and Hope proved herself to be a very solid citizen.
Saturday, August 8th:
As a part of my plan to up the ante on her socialization work, Hope went out to Happy Hour yesterday. We went to meet up with a friend and her new foster Lab. OK, truth be told, this better end up being her new *adopted* Lab, but technically, she has her "on trial". She is a first time dog owner, and needs a REALLY easy dog, but I think this may be it.
The girls got on very well. Hope continues to present a very submissive posture when meeting new adult dogs. They hung out together, sharing a water bowl, doing the occasional face-licking and prerequisite butt-sniffing. The only excitement happened when Hope ambled by the other dog who was laying beside my friend. After over an hour of the same behavior, for some reason, this time the Lab decided to be protective of her human/her space. She let out a pretty big warning growl and Hope flew backwards and yelped. Then Hope positioned herself behind my chair and proceeded to talk smack...not at all aggressive sounding, but like she was sticking her fingers in her ears, sticking out her tongue, and blowing raspberries. Apparently the Lab wanted a different reaction, and she kept growling and reprimanding, which made Hope egg her on more. Pretty brave words from a puppy hiding behind my chair! It was an opportunity for me to show my friend how to reprimand/be consistent, but I gotta say, I was having a hard time keeping a straight face with Hope's antics. The Lab would calm down and then Hope would pipe in with one small bark of backtalk and the Lab would get so irritated with her....and I am quite sure Hope was doing it just to push the Lab's buttons.
They got over it, and much to my friend's horror, I even left her in charge of both dogs while I headed inside. They were fine. I think it may have been a case of a grouchy, hot, older woman taking out her irritation on the young whippersnapper. We even went on a short walk together so I could give my friend some pointers on handling dogs on leash, and the girls were happy as could be. One of the good pieces of information I gleaned from the afternoon was that Hope seems to read dogs very well. Even as energetic as she is, she is not a pest with dogs that obviously do not want to play. While the Lab was laying down, Hope might walk back and forth to get a good look-see at the crowd, but she was very calm and never bothered the resting dog.
Hope did occasionally put her paws up on the windowsill to watch the activity inside the building, but that is not surprising based on her nosiness. I also noticed that she has learned well from The Magical Pack, and she did not even consider begging for any of our food. Even when the Lab tried to get her head up on the table, Hope completely ignored the smells. Although I could tell she really wanted me to let her go visit each table full of humans, she was sufficiently contented by passersby who stopped to pet her if they so chose. The only hitch in that plan was when two 12-ish year old boys walked by on the sidewalk (about 20 feet away). As soon as she saw them coming, she got very alert. When they got in the general vicinity, she let loose with a full volume Woo-Woo...which got the attention of the whole place...and was wagging her tail like crazy. The kids cracked up and you could tell they really wanted to see her too, but would have had to hurdle a brick wall to do it. On our way out, we did pass a young toddler who was fascinated with the dogs, and Hope let the little girl pet her and got in a few kisses.
Yesterday, I also discovered that Hope likes to "collect". As I cleaned out my closet, she kept taking items from my piles and my bags, and taking them over to the dog bed. While I have been typing this, I can't tell you how many times I have had to repack items of clothing into those bags....she would take them out piece by piece and bring them to me, very proud of herself. In the last 5 minutes, she has also brought me both of my slippers---one by one of course---from the other room. If someone were so inclined, I think she would quickly learn to retrieve specified things...the paper, your slippers, a beer...just saying, she is VERY smart!
Friday, August 14th:
We had a big scare with little Hope this week. Our girl remained happily energetic, even when she awakened me at 2AM to go outside and had a little "Bad Butt". No big deal, happens often in dogs, so I treated her per the typical protocol. I came home at lunch and found that she had had one episode of vomiting. Again, no big deal, gave her one more dose of medicine, which she was unable to keep down. I decided to be safe rather than sorry and had wonderful miss Jenn from NMAR take her up to the vet for me while I headed back to work. I assumed they would give her the once over, maybe do an xray to be sure all was well, but that she probably just needed a shot to slow down her belly so she could keep her Bad Butt pills down. It has happened to Oscar before and is quite common.
When I arrived to pick her up after work, I was shocked. Despite her energy level heading up to the vet, Hope had a fever of 105.5 (101-102 is normal), her white blood cell count was very high (indicating an infection) and they couldn't see her GI tract well on the xrays (because of inflammation of her abdominal cavity). She had become very lethargic since arriving at the vet, and I was told "Hope is very, very sick". There was talk of all kinds of scary things, like exploratory surgery, very high medical bills, and potentially bad prognoses. I was a basket case, and when I called Beth, she was just as bad. It was 5pm...would she make it through the night, did she need surgery at the emergency/specialty clinic? Did she need vet supervision all night long? Could they find out what was wrong with her without insanely expensive procedures that NMAR just can't afford?
I have been a client at Lakecross pretty much since they opened, long before getting involved with NMAR, having followed the husband of the hubby/wife owner team from his previous location. Dr. Tom Hemstreet has been "my" vet for 11 or 12 years now, I trust him implicitly, and thankfully he was working that afternoon. Several of the staff had been involved, caring for Hope, and come up with possible diagnoses and treatment plans. After my meltdown, he came in and helped me put things in perspective. He told me that Hope was safe to spend the night at Lakecross (which is not a 24 hour facility) and did not need to do go an overnight vet....and he took the time to tell me WHY he could be so sure. We talked about the worst case scenario, but he informed me that there were a couple other scenarios that were also possible, so that it was not time to panic. He took me through all the components and symptoms of all of the possibilities, and of course Hope did not fit neatly in any one category. It's never easy with these guys, is it??? He ruled out exploratory surgery, and told me how we would get our answers without it. We would treat her and get her comfortable for the night, then re-xray in the morning and continue with tests from there. I sat with Hope, talking with Dr. Hemstreet, until long after closing. He told me he had blocked off a surgery slot in his schedule for the next day, just in case we found something that we could address with an operation. The techs stayed and gave the meds she needed, explained more things to me, and loved on our girl. Although I felt better than I had initially, I went home terrified of what the morning tests would reveal, as one possible scenario would require putting Hope to sleep the next day. I did not sleep well, I prayed my butt off, and I spent the night wrapped around The Boys waiting for morning.
I got a good report at about 8AM....Hope's fever was slowly coming down, she was perking up and no longer needed Morphine for pain. I have a sinking suspicion that Dr. Hemstreet, who is not an early bird, rolled in significantly early that morning to check on our girl, as he was already well into more diagnostics by 8 AM. When I called, he was in the process of using barium to get a contrast on another set of xrays....this would be our decision maker...it could either give us the answer of how to continue treatment, or it could give us the bad news that Hope needed to be put to sleep. The results would take a few hours.
So, I showed up before lunchtime, to hear the results, visit with Hope, and unfortunately be there with her if the news was bad and we had to send her over The Rainbow Bridge at such a young age. As I walked into the lobby, my phone was ringing and it was Dr. Hemstreet. We laughed at our timing, and he was coming through the door to get me as I was hanging up. As I followed him to the xrays, I wasn't breathing. He led off immediately with "these are very good" and followed it up with "bottomline, no surgery". He later clarified with "I am not going to cut into this dog" just to make sure my brain was ready to absorb the information.
So, long story kept long, Hope had a very bad case of peritonitis. It may have also been pancreatitis, but because of the cloudiness of the xrays and then the barium sort of getting in the way of everything, we can't be sure. There were no blockages and there were no perforations. She stayed at the vet for about 48 hours and was a perfect angel for the staff, who fell in love with her. She is on antibiotics for over 3 weeks, has to eat special food that is easy on her gut, and take it a bit easier than normal. All is all, she should be just fine. The Boys missed her, and when she came through the door, Linc The Cat was right there, licking her face. I've allowed her a little more freedom/imposed less crate time, and she has slept in the room with us for the last two nights. She curls up on one of the dog beds and happily sleeps there all night long, and we haven't had any accidents or issues.
August 17th:
Hope is physically and mentally back to normal...our happy, bouncy, busy girl. Still on special food, though I started transitioning a little of her standard food back in this morning. Still on antibiotics and probiotics, but tolerating them very well. She is back to terrorizing The Boys and wanting to play at every opportunity. Phew, glad that scare is behind us!
She has been loose at night for the last 4 nights now and doing great. The first 2 nights, I separated cats from dogs since Hope can get excited about cats at times and I didn't want to miss any drama when in a deep sleep. Hope slept quietly in a dog bed on the floor for nights 1 and 2. Nights 3 and 4, the door was cracked to allow cat traffic (I hate to ostracize them, as the 15 year old cat typically sleeps in the bed with The Boys, and the other 2 migrate through in a free range fashion). Those same nights, Hope decided to join the crowd in the bed (I know, a future home may have to break her of that habit, but in this house, the whole packs piles on at night). I think Oscar is the most patient soul ever, as Hope used him as a pillow at several points in the night. She also spooned up with Gunny, which actually works for him as he does this to Oscar. Tobbles, the 15 year old cat, was not going to be put out of her bed by this extra mutt, so she snuggled in as well. She kept at least 12" between her and Hope (normally she is spooned in and touching both Oscar and Gunny), but to get positioned, she actually leapt OVER Hope a couple times. Hope did very well, did not get overly excited. I will always keep a close eye on her with the cats, as she gets so boisterous and does seem to have a strong prey drive , but I am starting to feel like Hope gets it....Linc The Cat is legal for rough-housing, the other 2 cats are not.
Saturday, August 22nd:
Hope has been doing very well with her extra freedom in the house. As long as she goes potty IMMEDIATELY before it is time to settle in for the night, she is allowed to sleep out of her crate, in my room with the rest of us. I no longer have to lock the cats out/dogs in. Once Hope is down for the night, she has learned to *stay* down. She does prefer the bed with the rest of us, and snuggles in peaceably with dogs, cats and humans alike, without difficulties. She is much better around the non-wrestling cats, consistently recognizing that they are off limits. She will talk to them....whine and occasionally Woo-Woo....but is very respectful of them.
Today we headed down to Petsmart to continue with the socialization work. She was a star. She visited with very young puppies, small dogs and dogs her size or bigger. One dog was apparently picky about which dogs she wanted to be friends with, yet she tolerated Hope just fine...apparently Hope was only giving off acceptable and appropriate energy. She visited with a BIG greyhound who was trying to bounce her into play mode, but Hope was a little overwhelmed. Even then, she was very good, just acted submissive and tucked up, did not get grumpy in the least bit. After a few minutes, she came out of her shell, but remained very calm, no wild play like she does here with The Boys. She had the chance to visit with lots of admirers who were very complimentary of her amazing temperament. There were several kids there today, even some tiny 2 year old-ish sized ones. Hope was THRILLED to see them all, especially the littlest guy. He was dancing and wiggling and trying to engage Hope, and she was right there, mirroring him....he'd jump up and down, and she'd bounce in place. He'd hop back and forth from one foot to the other, and she'd get into a play stance and tap the floor with a front paw. But even when he hopped in really close to her, or made sudden moves, she had wonderful manners...no jumping at all, no nervousness or backing away, no barking at him. The best way I can describe it is that she was grinning the entire time she played with this boy. She liked his brother and sister too, and enjoyed all the petting, but boy she liked that little guy A LOT!
We also headed over to Home Depot. The employees loved her. One suggested she become a Home Depot Dog, stay there with them, and wear an orange apron. I can actually see it....her prancing up to people with that big grin and a "how can I help you" button. Several customers stopped to visit with her as well, and again, the more kids they had, the more Hope liked it. It dawned on me about halfway through our visit....she has come a LONG, LONG way from that terrified, catatonic puppy that arrived at NMAR a few months ago. That store was packed, there were carts of all shapes and sizes, people carrying big stuff overhead or dragging things behind them. Just the items they have in stock must be overwhelming for somebody so little. She took it all in stride and seemed to enjoy every minute of it. The only thing that bothered her was that not every single human wanted to visit with her. Oh, and one thing that did actually make me really sad. In the Garden Center, she was having a wonderful time, until we came to the aisle where the man was watering the plants. She froze and backed up. When I tried to detour around him, we encountered some puddles of water on the floor. She panicked, scrambling backwards. I guess any sort of water gives her flashbacks to being trapped in that quarry. It took me a minute to show her that I was not going to make her go in the water, that we were going to go around it. She was still not OK with that plan, and we had to move an entire aisle over from the puddles. She kept her eye on the water the whole time. Poor baby. Those scars are deep.
Thursday, August 27th:
So a wonderful man named John Woestendiek came to our attention when he was a columnist for the
Baltimore Sun. He helped NMAR out by running some of our dogs' "autobiographies" as well as a feature on Gunny, and finally one about me writing all of the "autobiographies" for the NMAR dogs. John left his column at the Baltimore Sun last year, but continued writing on his newly launched site,
I contacted him a few days ago, asking if he could tell the story of Hope and the Magical Pack in another attempt to find her the perfect Forever Home. He came through for us, as always, and as of this morning, Hope's story is up. Check out his site...you may have to scroll down through a few stories to find her, depending on when you get around to looking....John adds multiple stories per day to his column. He did a great job though, so please support him by checking it out.
Hope continues to turn into a wonderfully behaved adolescent. She has been allowed more and more
Free Range Time when I am here to supervise, and she has been allowed to be loose for sleeping at night. Knock wood, we haven't had any accidents, though I do keep a close eye on her and take her outside often. She is also being VERY good with the kitties, and Millie and Tobbles (the most cautious of the 3 cats) are moving around the house more freely even during Free Range Time.
Monday, September 7th:
Not a whole lot of new stuff is going on lately, but all is well with Miss Hope. She's had a few visitors (not for adoption, just for social reasons) and has been a doll...super friendly, well behaved (except for a bit of exuberant bouncing upon arrival, which is being addressed), and cute as ever.
No accidents in the house in QUITE some time. Every night, she's been sleeping through the night, loose, with the rest of The Pack. I must say, it is adorable, though crowded at times. She is "pile-on-er" and like the rest of the gang, must be touching whoever is closest. Usually, as she snores loudly, she rests her head on somebody...most times Oscar, who suffers though the weight of her big head like the Old Soul that he is.
Hope and Linc The Cat continue to wrestle around. Last night, Hope was in the middle of a big drink when she saw her buddy and ran over to pin him to the floor with her chin. Linc came to me to complain and he was soaking wet...Hope had spit her mouthful of water all over his back. He is another Old Soul...takes it all in stride.
From what I have heard, no applications or interest came from Hope being in that popular blog a couple of weeks back. In fact, she hasn't had ANY applications that I know of. One of my friends from work met her for the first time this weekend, and thought she was just fantastic. She said to me "Surely when people meet her in person, they will fall in love and want to take her home?" Unfortunately, the people who do fall for her all have too many rescued pets already, or aren't in a position to add to their families...we keep plugging away, but as I have said before, it is an unbelievably hard time to be a dog without A Home---unless you are a fluffy little puppy, people are not as likely to take you in right now. Poor Hope isn't the only one affected....look at Annie and Jonesy and the rest of the NMAR gang who have been looking for YEARS. If anyone has any ideas of how and when and where to showcase these fantastic adult dogs, please drop us a line. I have been consulting with other rescue groups and foster homes hoping that they have some strategies we were accidentally overlooking, but apparently, they are hitting as many brick walls as NMAR. The homeless animals continue to suffer long after we hear talk of the economy starting to "bounce back".
Monday, September 14th:
As I just wandered through my bedroom, it dawned on me that I have been delinquent in my Hope Journal Duties. Why did it dawn on me then, you ask? Well, as I turned on the light in my room, I rudely awakened two happily napping Bullies who were sprawled out in MY bed---Hope being one of the two culprits. She and Oscar were as stretched out as they could be, laying side by side, sort of spooned together, heads on pillows, totally relaxed. Pretty dang cute. Another "I have GOT to go buy myself a camera!" moment.
Our girl is fine, although we did have another mini-scare on Saturday AM. The "bad butt" symptoms returned. At about 3AM, the smart girl woke me up to go outside to go potty. I did not realize we had an issue until the 7 AM trip when I went to investigate the results in the morning light. I gave her some medicine, decided not to feed her any breakfast and headed straight to the grocery store to buy a thermometer. I was a little worried about the 1 year old puppy wiggle factor, wondering if I could get a temperature taken without a second set of hands, but Hope was perfect. 100% cooperative. She did not have a fever, she kept her medicine down for several hours (before I had to leave the house), and our vet told us he was in favor of my plan (meds, probiotics, no food, eventually rice). This is the type of thing that is very common and normal in some dogs, no big deal...her last scary episode was a huge shock and we believe was unrelated. This was more an example of what I have dealt with many times over the years with all of the canine crew. So, all is well, her tummy is happy, she is back to eating her regular food (as opposed to plain rice), and she should stop her tummy pills shortly. The vet said if she ends up being prone to tummy troubles, we may switch her food to something a little milder on the digestive process, but other than that, no worries.
I will say though, she was NOT pleased with my plan of no food followed by limited amounts of plain rice. Boy oh boy did she let me know that she was hungry and unhappy...some serious Woo-Woo'ing going on in this house.
She just reminded me to tell you another fact...she talks in her sleep. A lot. I can hear her in there now. Very low key Woo-Woo'ing in a sleepy voice. She is too cute. We have GOT to find this girl Her Family!
Sunday, September 27th:
All of this rain has made for a stir-crazy Pack, complete with Cabin Fever. Although a good amount of mud-wrestling has been allowed and encouraged, and walks/drives in the rain have been taken, there has been way too much House Time. The Boys, being older, are handling it with less agitation, but Miss Hope has been a bit whiney. She goes to the windows and sings to the squirrels----she really enjoyed it when I had all the windows open! This girl is FASCINATED by squirrels, and will pace the property, nose straight up in the air, whimpering and doing the "air tracking" thing---which I hear is a more developed skill than using the nose on the ground to track. She wants to wrestle constantly with Gunny, and she patrols the house a great deal. When we are all settled in reading and such, she prefers to take half of the space that is only big enough for one dog. Thus, poor Oscar and Gunny have been sat on, or squashed over, quite a bit since the rain has started.
The really good news is that with all this time loose in the house, she has been able to convince me that it really is safe to label her Potty Trained. She will actually whine and pace to get my attention, then go and stand at the back door until I let her outside. I can't remember the last time she had an accident (knock wood). Good puppy.
Sunday, October 4th:
Linc The Cat was dangerously close to being out of his prescription cat food, so Hope, Gunny and I headed down to Petsmart to get some more. Lord knows, a hungry cat is not a happy cat, and must be avoided at all costs. The plan was for Hope and I to take a quick trip, visit a few shoppers and their dogs, grab the food and head home. But Gunny had other plans. He wasn't on board with being left behind, so I figured, what's one more? Of course then Oscar cussed me out but good as The Big Truck left without him...poor guy, there was just no way to handle all three of them safely in an exciting place like Petsmart. So poor Oscar got neglected.
Of course Hope and Gunny were wide open when they figured out where we were going...Gunny tends to "sing" when he gets really excited, so as I am maneuvering through a crowded, weekend parking lot in The Big Truck, I got to enjoy some Pitbull Anthem sung by Gunny at the top of his lungs. Good times.
The good news is that even when Hope and Gunny are both over the top excited, they are still very happy and friendly critters. I have no worries that they might start talking smack to a dog or bark at some human that is wearing a funny hat. Gunny can go anywhere, and be surrounded by anything, and I am not at all concerned about how he will handle himself. Turns out, Hope is following in his footsteps.
Today, as I stopped to chat with one of the trainers from the store, Gunny and Hope continued to reorganize themselves, sniffing here and sniffing there, switching sides, and just being wiggly in general. They needed to get some energy out, they weren't causing me to have to move, weren't yanking me around, so I wasn't concerned. I just kept readjusting leashes as needed, and maintained my little 8 foot bubble of our personal space as I chatted. Apparently, not everyone feels that maintaining their bubbles, and those of their children, is important however. Out of nowhere, this 3 year old human pops from behind the display case in front of us...OK, no big deal, both dogs are fine with kids. A split second later he bounces forward, touches Hope gently on her nose with his index finger, and jumps back. Again, no big deal, Hope loves the attention. I tell the little boy that he did a good job being gentle, tell Hope she is fabulous, and he disappears. Thirty seconds later, there he is again, does the same thing to Gunny. Again, I tell the boy he did a good job, praise the dogs, and the kid disappears. I figured the last thing I needed was a squealing, nervous three year old bouncing around, so I'd reinforce what he was doing right. At this point, I still had no idea which adult he belonged to. As I walked around the store, we ran into him a few more times, this time with adults in the distance, not watching at all. The boy ran forward a few times, got nervous, and ran away (I guess without that display as a shield, he was a little less brave). By the time we made it over to the cat food, we saw him again, and this time he started racing back and forth, right past the dogs. Again, no attention from the adults. Finally, as he comes over and touches Hope again, the adults finally notice...and they start reprimanding him for going up to a strange dog. Well heck, by now Hope and Gunny and he are old friends, not strangers! The adults go back to their conversation, the kid comes back to the dogs at least three more times as I read cat food labels, and the adults never noticed.
By this time, the little boy was carrying two tennis balls, and offered one to Hope. Keep in mind, I have two dogs, a 10 pound bag of cat food, plus my purse, so if we hit a snag, it's going to take me a minute to intercede. I don't even put Oscar the Therapy Dog in situations like this if I can avoid it, but I was sort of stuck without any adult back up. So, the little boy offered the tennis ball with his teeny hand, to Hope's big mouth, and she was as careful as she could be when she took it from him. She'd hold it for a second, drop it on the floor, the kid would pick it up, and the scenario would repeat. I managed to untangle myself from the game and headed to the cashier. Guess who wanders up behind me with his adults about 10 feet away? Now the little guy decides that both dogs need a ball, yet only offers one, right in between the faces of Gunny and Hope. Hope was a little closer, but Gunny REALLY likes toys, and Gunny can get a little excited when he takes one. So, arms still full, all I had was my voice to calmly say "Gunny, no, leave it and wait"...keep in mind that OSCAR knows all those words and can follow a multiple step command like that, but Gunny is pretty remedial in his training. However, Gunny is a saint when it comes to little folks, and I think he understood the intent of my tone. He let Hope take ball #1, and then when I pointed out ball #2 to the boy, Gunny waited for that to appear. It was at this point when the adults finally noticed, and starting scurrying around, herding the little boy away to another line. I figured we were done, but turns out I was wrong. As I am, still, holding 2 dogs, rooting through my wallet for Linc's prescription info, my customer card and some sort of payment, a little blur comes around the blind side of the checkout counter....and the little blur lead in with a dog treat clutched tightly in his fingers, his arm fully extended, as he jabbed it towards Hope's face, stopping about an inch away from her nose. Hope waited patiently as I used familiar cookie words to clue her in that this is an OK scenario. Just as I tell Hope it is OK to take the cookie, the adult shows up, grabs the kid, tells him he must ask first if a dog can have a cookie (I have yet to hear this child speak one recognizable word). Bless Hope, she waits, and then the kid, once again, starts to put the cookie dead center between the mouths of the two dogs. At this point I pull both the dogs back and tell the adult that they have to wait, and each dog must get a cookie, one at a time so I can control them. You can imagine that all these false stops and starts might get a dog a bit excited, so down went my purse beside the cat food, and I got up close and personal between the dogs. Hope was as gentle as ever as she took hers, as I expected her to be. Gunny got a little extra warning, telling him "easy" and "gentle", but again, Saint Gunny seemed to have it under control and was very careful as he took the treat.
I finally headed towards the door, thinking "phew, thank goodness THAT is done!". Well, as we step onto the sidewalk, a guy is heading our way with a Jack Russell at the end of his leash, pulling for all he is worth, heading straight for us. I stop, as it is not all that easy to reposition 100+ pounds of Bully dogs while juggling cat food and a purse...I assume it would be common knowledge that the good choice would be to swing wide with the 10 pound dog. Well, you know what they say about assuming. That guy let his little dog buzz right under my dogs noses, then glared at US. At that point there was nothing left to do but laugh (and be glad the red dogs are such sweet dogs) and use the "you guys wanna go in the TRUCK???" trick to distract them from the little creature under foot. I have to say, I was glad to get them home. Quick trip to the store indeed! But the good news is, we sure did get a lot of positive feedback about what a sweet, sensible girl Miss Hope really is. Thursday, October 15th:
Not a whole lot new with our girl. The rain is getting on her last nerve. She is not a big fan of getting her feet wet, but cannot live without her daily smack down, so needless to say, there has been some serious indoor wrestling going on in this house. As a matter of fact, both of The Red Dogs are flipping around behind me on the couch as I type this. Oscar does his best to lay low, and leave the craziness to Gunny, who seems to actually enjoy the body slamming and the sliding off of the couch repeatedly.
Hope and the three cats have developed a very funny relationship. Tobbles, the fifteen and a half year old, sleeps curled up by Hope's head in the bed at night. Hope seems to control her wrestling urges with her somehow. Millie, the more timid cat, has given her stamp of approval and will roam the house freely even when Hope is out of her crate. If Hope forgets herself and tries to play with, or chase, either of the girls, one good hiss is all it takes for her to skulk off. Now with Linc The Cat , Hope enjoys some good rolling and nibbling. If she forgets herself with him and gets a bit rough, he yowls at her, but she still doesn't take him seriously...it's like she knows he can take it....and he does take it because even after a hearty yowl, he will come right back for more in about 15 seconds.
Gunny is anxiously awaiting Halloween and the related trick-or-treating. Unfortunately, his primary plan and his backup plan as trick-or-treating escort with some of "his" human kids have fallen through, and we are still organizing a group for him to accompany. He had a BLAST last year, wearing a wizard's hat, taking teeny kids door to door, waiting patiently at the bottom of the steps as they rung doorbells. I think Hope would love it too, but would be a wild thing that would require my undivided attention...she loves kids so much, she tries to get to them as soon as she sees them. Since Halloween is Gunny's favorite, he'll get first dibs.
Monday, October 19th:
OK, so Hope was recently switched a special dog food that addresses her food allergies . It has worked well with a few of the rescue's dogs in the past. Unfortunately, it is very pricey.
This weekend, I visited the manufacturer's website in order to search for coupons, etc. I stumbled upon an Amazing Dog contest, judged by a single photo. The grand prize includes a year's supply of this expensive food. The piece that wasn't as important to me was the seat for the dog on the company's float in the Rose Parade....then I realized that might be a really great opportunity to spread the word about dog fighting, bait dogs and all animal rescues in need. So, Gunny is taking one for the team, and has been submitted as an entry. In case it's hard to keep all of my critters straight, Gunny is the pitbull rescued from use as a bait dog. He lost a leg and required 2 complex surgeries to his throat to repair the crushing injuries. He is a little hero, and has become the Spokesdog and Ambassador for North Meck, for his breed, and against dog fighting.
If any of you feel so inclined and want to pass Gunny's link onto dog lovers via email or facebook or whatever, it would be MUCH appreciated. It would be so cool for Gunny to get to be a voice on such a large scale.
Thank you so much for considering to vote for Gunny....it will mean about $1200 in food for NMAR, and a pretty fantastic chance to tell the story of dog fighting.
The cool thing is, there were 4 votes for Gunny before I even found the picture was up on the site, so he has new fans! Go Gunny! click the link on our home page to vote for Gunny.
Thursday, October 29th:
Hope's story of survival, and the work of The Magical Pack, has made it into another dog blog....another very well-read dog blog....so maybe Her Human may stumble upon it this time. Fingers crossed.
Nothing much new to report, life around here is focused on campaign strategies and work for Gunny's contest. Hope did make it out to Birkdale last weekend, though with the cooler weather, the outside traffic was less willing to stop and chat and visit. Hope continued with her fascination with kids of all sizes. When we first arrived, she refused to leave the sidewalk to sit at a table, was pulling back, and woo-woo'ing in a distressed sort of way. I thought she was afraid, and attempted to coax her in. I finally caught on that she didn't want to leave the sidewalk because a group of 6 or 7 year olds was heading our way with their parents, and Goodness knows, she didn't want to miss out on THAT opportunity! She spotted kids coming from a mile away, and that included teenagers. At one point, twin 18 month old girls came along, and were absolutely intrigued by Hope. They kept hopping in, touching her nose, SQUEALING in delight, giggling, stomping their feet, waving their hands, and hopping back. This was some movement and some pitch that would make a lot of dogs either terrified, or possibly even elicit some bad behaviors. Hope was a little puzzled at first, but never scared. I think Dad was pretty impressed, and I bet if we'd been able to keep him around for longer, he might have over-ridden Mom's desire to wait a little longer to get a new dog. : ) Even people at nearby tables were commenting on Hope with the kids. She was absolutely mournful if they didn't stop to see her, or played with the other dogs instead. I heard one patron (who was originally a bit afraid of the dogs) cay to her husband, "would you look at that....they're not kidding....that dog SERIOUSLY loves kids!" She must have overheard me telling people about Hope's preferences earlier in the evening.
Friday, November 6th:
While Gunny had a big morning (see his blog for details about his visit to elementary school) Hope had a big evening. She accompanied Gunny to The Wine Vault (remember the place where Gunny had his Meet and Greet?) to meet some friends and raise some money for NMAR. Gunny wore his brand new Donation Dog
jacket and Hope wore her all-too-familiar Adopt Me vest.
We had a great time, got to visit with some other volunteers and dogs they were fostering, and catch up with other friends who came to lend a hand. We certainly got a lot of attention, and had several people comment "I sure wish my dogs were as well behaved as Gunny and Hope!". That was nice to hear.
Hope made several new doggie friends, and lots of new people friends. She and Gunny worked the crowd, handing out Vote For Gunny cards and NMAR business cards, and gathering donations. The staff of The Wine Vault were awesome, telling the customers that we were there, explaining about Gunny's contest and handing out cards. I'm hoping we can make this a monthly thing.
Hope and Gunny both worked really hard, and were completely tuckered out by the time we went home. They slept like rocks all night!
11-20-09:
Hope went to see Santa tonight. NMAR was invited to bring dogs to a tree lighting event up in Huntersville, so The Whirling Dervish donned her adoption jacket and her reindeer antlers and pitched in to help out. Yes, she really *did* wear antlers, and yes, she really *did* keep them on! As you can imagine, the event was jam-packed with kids, which is just how Hope likes things. She was fantastically well behaved, even with very excited kids, hopped
up on hot chocolate and sugar cookies, who were waiting anxiously for horse drawn sleigh rides and time with Santa. As wild as Hope can be during playtime with other dogs, she is really getting the hang of when to be calm and quiet. And she is always wonderful with kids. She got lots of compliments about how well she behaved and how gentle she was. Unfortunately, no one wanted to add
her to their family despite her wonderful personality.
November 29th:
Hope went to camp NMAR while The Boys and I headed up North for Thanksgiving. It was a good opportunity for Miss Queen Bee to be out of her element and not the boss of all she surveys. Beth said she was pretty unsure of herself, rather scared, and very subdued in a new environment/with new people, but she quickly got in the groove. She played with all of the dogs that Beth has living in her home, but also went to daycare out in the big play area with the dogs that are up for adoption. Hope spent time with everything from tiny puppies to big hound dogs to little lap dogs. She got along with personalities from bossy to timid, and everything in between. Thankfully, she did just as well with girl dogs as boy dogs, which I was wondering about since she is such the Queen of Sheeba around here with The Boys. Apparently she never did reach her baseline place of "true Hope" in the week that she was up there, but she was happy and OK. She was actually still a bit overwhelmed and confused when I picked her up----she didn't even seem to recognize me. But once I got her back here, she surely recognized The Boys, and even Linc The Cat, and was a wild, wiggly, happy mess. Linc was so happy to see her, he was hopping around on his hind legs, trying to jump on her the way she was jumping on The Boys. Sure wish I had video of that. I've told you, this house is home to a truly Magical Pack. So, good information about Hope's preferences, and good experiences that helped her learn some more life skills for dogs.
December 20, 2009:
Hope had to spend time with the “Manny” recently, while I made another trip up North to help with some family health issues. She, Gunny and the cats stayed here with the house sitter, while Oscar and I hit the road. Oscar was called into action as a Therapy Dog to accompany me as we handled the new medical developments in my family. Their Manny gave everyone a glowing report, said Hope was “a very good girl” and didn’t get into any trouble at all.
She continues to hate all this rain and frost and the resulting mud in the yard. Hope is definitely a little Priss Pot when it come to getting wet. Sort of hard to imagine her in Princess Mode now, as I watch her and Gunny throw each other around like a WWE wrestling match…but I guess she is a complex lady. Oscar, the biggest of the group and probably the wisest, is currently under my desk as I type this, avoiding the chaos.
A good friend came over last night to do some Christmas visiting. Unfortunately she lost both of her dogs to illness recently, unexpectedly, and in just a matter of a few months. It’s been a hard adjustment, and she wanted some Dog Time. The Magical Pack was more than happy to comply, and Hope was exceptionally helpful…first acting like a lunatic and bouncing on and off of her lap (and head!), but later curling up beside her and napping quietly while my friend did a little crying over missing her guys. I commented that Hope sure has come a long way from that catatonic dog who was terrified of people, and my friend’s reply was “Yea, she seems to have worked through those issues alright”. It is amazing to me the night and day difference between who she really is, and who she became at the hands of cruel people.
Monday, December 21, 2009:
Today was Bath Day, once again. Even on a good day, getting 180+ pounds worth of Bully Breeds into and out of a bath tub can make for a sore back. Today, I was already having a bit of back pain, which motivated me to see if I could do a little training to make my life a bit easier.
So, I grabbed a box of Christmas treats delivered by a favorite doggie Aunt this weekend, and started with Oscar. Oscar LOVES the water, to a point of being obsessed. However, he is not a fan of the tub, and prefers outside baths. He is the biggest dog in the household (70+ pounds) but also the most trained, and water loving, so I stacked the deck in my favor. I made the experience all about COOKIES IN THE TUB (!!!) and happy praise. Oscar climbed in, without ANY assistance, in a grand total of about 2 minutes.
Gunny went next. Three legged tub-climbing can be physically challenging, so it went a little slower. I did have to give Gunny a little boost due to his fear of sliding, but it only took about 5 minutes, and Gunny did 80% of the physical work.
Lastly came Miss Hope, who has a very valid reason to be terrified of water, what with that attempted-murder-via-drowning experience and all. She won’t even voluntarily walk in the bathroom if there is any question that water will be flowing. So, I had to use a leash to get her in the room, and once inside, she was not receptive to cookies for a couple of minutes. We just hung out, I ignored her until she started showing interest in the cookies/showing less fear. That was when the over-the-top praise and tons of cookie pieces came into play. So, altogether, I’d say Hope was in the tub about 8 minutes after entering the bathroom, and once I got her front end started, she hopped all the way into the water by herself. Maybe a 50-50 split of physical effort for her/me? And no panic and scrambling like it used to be to get her in the water.
All told, a MUCH easier experience on my back! And I expect that as I continue to use the COOKIES IN THE TUB (!!!) approach on future baths, this will turn into even less work for me. Nothing like baby steps and positive reinforcement. I wish more people would be OK with the concept that if you put in a little extra time on the front end, praise every little effort towards the goal and not just the final product, that you accomplish your goal faster in the long run. And with less stress for all involved.
Sunday, December 27, 2009:
Hope and I had a Girls’ Morning Out and ran a few errands in The Big Truck. It dawned on me how far she has come---from having to be coaxed and lifted into cars with a few episodes of fear-inspired peeing on the back seat, to throwing herself joyously into the monstrosity of the truck we call Gordy. No more whimpering and whining, just happy curiosity or naps during rides.
Hope accompanied me inside Petsmart to get an ID tag for Gunny’s new Superhero collar (always, always, always have tags on EVERY one of your dog’s collars, whether you have a microchip or not). She was thrilled to be there and did her best to greet anyone she laid eyes on. She kept her Woo-Woo’ing to a minimum until….we were in line to pick out a tag, and let a lady go ahead of us because we were still browsing. Well, the lady’s purchase ended up needing a price check, which involved a long wait for a manager. During that time, more people and dogs entered the store and Hope had had enough. She Woo-Woo’ed progressively louder until someone got in line behind her and gave her the attention she was demanding. It was pretty embarrassing. She was definitely telling the employees off. When we finally got out of line, the tag engraving process took longer than Hope was OK with, and she chattered away the whole time. Thankfully more quietly, by still audibly. One lady “talked” with her on her way by, saying things like “listen to what you have to say…” which would make Hope talk MORE and the lady would comment “hmmm, really. Tell me more…” and Hope would. It was really very funny. I head the lady comment to her friend when she left, “that dog is really trying to talk!”.
Sunday January 3, 2010:
Happy New Year from our little woodland elf. She is such a goofball and entertained the pet sitter greatly while I was at the Rose Parade. This gal had never sat for me before, and told me many times she’d be thrilled to stay over any time, that my Magical Pack is a blast and no trouble at all. Good things for a mom to hear about her kids. She got quite a kick out of Hope’s Woo-Woo’ing and her dolphin imitation with her “nose bumps”.
Poor Hobbit Girl developed a urinary tract infection while I was gone. Didn’t really start kicking in until right before I got home from the airport apparently. Poor girl busted out of her crate, so you can imagine my surprise when the little woodchuck greeted me at the front door…I was sure I’d walk in to chaos. But she hadn’t chewed a thing…she had had a couple accidents due to the infection, but that is to be expected. I think she was desperate to get away from the accidents she had had in her crate. I was home about 4 hours after the pet sitter left, but even so, I guess the infection really got to her. I was able to get her some pain meds last night and start her antibiotics today, so we shall see how she does. If things aren’t a lot better in the next couple of days, she’ll be visiting our favorite vet again to run some tests. UTI’s can be related to stress, and with me being gone so much lately, I’m wondering if that is our issue.
So, happy thoughts for the Woodland Creature. She’s in some pain and the symptoms are pretty bad, so a quick recovery is in order!
Tuesday January 5, 2010:
Just realized I needed to explain all my pet names from the last entry…sorry, thought you already had the background. Hope is a very unique looking dog, with a very expressive little face and Flying Nun ears. There is just something about her looks that makes you ponder. A friend came to visit before Christmas, and out of the blue, she proclaimed “Hope looks like a little woodland creature…like she could be Frodo Baggins’ sidekick in a Hobbit adventure.” And it is true.
She is doing much, much better with the urinary tract issues. Her symptoms started improving in less than 24 hours, and she is tolerating the medicine quite well. She isn’t having any more accidents, or breaking out of her crate in a panic to get outside, and she isn’t asking to go outside every 30 minutes. So, hopefully, once the meds are finished, it will continue to be smooth sailing. Please keep your fingers crossed for Miss Thing.
Tuesday January 11, 2010:
So, when you need to teach a horse how to load on a trailer, you don’t wait until the day you’re in the middle of a medical emergency or a flood and then try manhandling a 1200 pound animal. You start when they are young, when you have nowhere to be and no time constraints to get there. You take as long as it takes, with a happy and self assured horse as your benchmark for how much to do. Turns out that putting a little extra time in up front saves you time in the long run, not to mention decreasing the risk of physical harm to yourself or the horse.
Last week, I decided to apply that concept to bath time with the 180 pounds of dog that live here. We started Cookies In The Tub the last time baths were due, with a goal of less physical lifting on my part (but still some for Gunny and lots for Hope), and les anxiety on the dogs’ part. Pulled out some treats and off we went. That was on Bath Day. I took the horse trailer theory further, and this week, we have been doing Tub Practice. No water, lots of treats. We have very special, really yummy treats that are only used on big training work…like Tub Practice or Gunny’s community sessions for the Canine Good Citizen Test.
This week, we continued. On Sunday, Oscar hopped in all by himself in about 20 seconds. Gunny hopped in all by himself in about 2 minutes. Hope pranced happily into the bathroom, no leash (remember on Bath Day I needed to pull her in on a leash before I tried to bribe with treats once in the bathroom). So, she walked to about 1 foot from the tub to get her treats, and that’s as far as I pushed her, wanting it to be positive and happy. Planned to pick away bit by bit over as many days as it takes. I let all three dogs come into the bathroom together and watch each other. One by one, as they were done, I rotated them out, as otherwise Oscar would keep jumping in the tub instead of Hope or Gunny, assuming they were taking too long!
Tonight we tried again. In the kitchen, I grabbed the treat bag, told them “COOKIES IN THE TUB!!!!” and the pack thundered down to the bathroom. All four of us entered together, and I just pointed and said “Oscar, TUB!” and he immediately leapt in. Good boy, lots of treats! Got him out of the room and did the same to Gunny, and he hopped in in about 15 seconds. Good boy, lots of treats! Out he went. Then Hope. She *thought* about throwing herself in, and you could see her thinking “holy cow, what did I almost just DO?!” and back away. She did come close enough to lean her chest against the tub to eat treats, and one time actually put her paw up for a brief second. Good girl, lots of treats and end on a good note! Just for fun, I let all three dogs back in and said “PITBULLS IN THE TUB!” just to see what would happen. Gunny and Oscar both jumped in immediately and stood there together looking adorable---will get a picture at some point. Hope was happy and wiggly and stayed close to The Boys which is great progress too.
Later I walked in the bathroom, Gunny followed me, and jumped right in the tub for no reason----hysterical. I think I will need to change the mantra to “PITBULLS IN THE TUB!!!” just because it is more fun…and my goal is to get all three in there at once, just to say that we could.
Saturday January 16, 2010:
Put COOKIES IN THE TUB to the test today with all 3 dogs. Decided to add dog to tub, THEN add water, and that went very well. Hope went first so the tub would be all the way dry, and I did still have to pick her up, but she wasn’t as freaked out. Here and there she was even calm enough to nibble some of the Super Special Snacks while getting all sudsy. Gunny and Oscar kept trying to bust in the door for their Tub Time during Hope’s bath.
I couldn’t delay Hope’s bath for more training opportunities as she was STINKY and she had a date at The Wine Vault last night with a new boy named Maverick. He’s a little bit of a younger man, as well as a shorter man (Chihuahua/Basenji mix and up for adoption with Angels of Gaston County) but they got along very well. Hope is such a Busy Dog that she was desperate to visit with anyone and everyone. It took her a good 2 hours to be mellow enough to lay on the couch beside me and chew a bone or nap. As always, she was as friendly as could be, and went out of her MIND when she saw kids. She does get a bit keyed up when super excited about the kids, so she needs bigger kids or really close supervision. It’s like she can’t get enough of them, and wants to nudge them with her nose, or keep them from walking away when they have to leave. Last night I even saw her----very gently---take a hold of a little girl’s sleeve in her mouth, like she was saying “don’t leave me!” We will be working on impulse control in her training/outings!
Wednesday January 20, 2010:
Hope is back on antibiotics. The urinary tract infection didn’t clear up with the first type of medicine, so now she is on a different drug for the next 2 weeks. Poor girl. Happy thoughts for Hope please. She was an angel at the vet…well, maybe not an *angel* exactly, as she was REALLY loud, woo-woo’ing at anyone and everyone in the office, lobby, waiting room…I had to take her outside a couple times for her to get over herself. She wanted to play SO badly with dogs, cats, kids, staff members, clients…it was killing her. So, I guess the good news is that she is a happy girl even when she isn’t feeling well. Currently, she is snoring beside me on the couch, so she must be feeling halfway content!
Sunday January 31, 2010:
Hope had a big time in all this snow!!! She was HYSTERICAL and I wish we’d had a video camera. Sporting her pink argyle sweater, she ran and bounced and slid and leapt. This is one agile girl. I’m thinking she would kick butt in agility if her handler could keep up with her! Anyone out there looking for an agility dog with a larger than life personality?
Hope had company from SC this weekend and was so excited she couldn’t STAND herself. There is no doubt that Auntie Rachel felt loved, though Hope and I need to start working on her impulse control as far as ways to express her feelings! She could not get close enough, lick and sniff enough, nose butt enough for the first 12 hours Rachel was around. After that, it was just an extra Pack Member, but those first 12 hours sure were animated. I have decided that Hope is the happiest dog who has ever lived, period.
She got a shout out in an article about Gunny, which was very cool. Read it here:
http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/News/Pages/LebanonRoadElementarystudentspartnerwithrescue-dogGunnytohelpabusedanimals.aspx
Sunday February 14, 2010:
Happy Valentine’s Day from Hope! With all the pink everywhere, this is Hope’s holiday. She is such a fun dynamic…a totally girly girl who absolutely must wear sparkly pink collars and sweaters, but who also knocks her Big Brothers around like a pro wrestler.
Hope had lots of fun playing in the snow this weekend, but we had a casualty. Her adorable pink
argyle sweater took a major hit, as the Whirling Dervishate 50% of the collar (while wearing the sweater!) in about 5 minutes of unsupervised outside time. So far so good as far as tummy issues go, but I am keeping a close eye on her.
Sunday February 21, 2010:
I hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy the incredible weather this weekend! There was lots of doggie fun with the Magical Pack...hiking, frisbee fieldtrips, community outings to Petsmart and Lowe's, yard work, and so on.
Gunny is getting very good at heeling beside a shopping cart on our outings to Lowe's, though this weekend he was very disappointed by the less-than-friendly looks he got. We had one Mom approach and ask “does you dog like to be pet?” which I though was a very nice approach---better than “does your dog bite” which we get a lot. She and her young daughter visited with Gunny, but everyone else either ignored us or glared at us. Not a lot of fun. The cashier looked horrified that I chose her line to pay for my items. I simply said “You don't like dogs, do you?” and she blurted out “NOOOOOOOO!” glared at Gunny and shrank back. Somehow, she managed to do her job and take my money, and I managed to remain polite.
I got a little adventurous and took both Gunny and Hope on a short hike today. Oscar and Hope can do the long ones, and Gunny would try, but he'd end up hurting himself by overdoing it and trying to keep up with his family. So, we kept it short today, and the two Red Dogs did very well. We ran into lots of people and other dogs, and even so, I managed to keep everyone straight. It's actually really good practice for these two to see humans and dogs and NOT be allowed to go visit. Up until this point, they acted as if the whole world was put here just for them to socialize with, but they are actually doing a great job dialing it down lately. Some people definitely dove out of our way, some people thought they were the cutest things ever, and one man said “wow, you sure do have your hands full...they're really giving you a workout”. I think he was talking about how fast we were moving, but truth be told, *I* was making the *DOGS* move quickly. See, if you get the feet moving, you have an easier time of getting the brain to come along for the ride. Works with horses and dogs. Standing still or ambling along can invite trouble in some situations...too more opportunity for their minds to wander and them to say “oh, hey, I know them....let's go say hi...” or “oh, crap, I think I hear a monster in the woods, I need to run for my life/kill it” (depending on the species in question).
Hope's off her Prednisone, but had to take a few days' worth of tummy medicine. I was a little worried it was related to the sweater-eating-incident, but she is doing much better. I gave her the last pill tonight, so fingers crossed that the recovery doesn't disappear one the meds are gone. If that happens, we worry a bit.
