Maddie and Harp

Maddie got to have two play dates with her Golden Retriever boyfriend, Harp last weekend! They had a blast and tired each other out!

A happy, dirty Mad Dog!

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Fosters

We are still fostering here and there for Road Trip Home.  We just got done with these two rascals.  Beau and Arlo were found together and no owner was located so Road Trip Home took them. They are good boys and will be adopted quickly.

Maddie is still the best foster sister ever. She loves to welcome the newbies.  She and Beau were quite cute playing together. She was so gentle with him.

I also got an update on our shar-pit mix foster that I personally fell in love with when I saw her in the rescue album for that shelter.

I normally do not get involved with which dogs Road Trip Home pulls from shelters, but remember it broke my heart that this dog had followed her owner into the animal control facility off leash. Such a loyal, trusting dog just tossed away. RTH pulled her for me and we fostered her. Later she was sent to the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk, Maine and was adopted a couple of weeks later.

I received an update from Jai's adopter. Jai has a stay-at-home mom and 2 young boys. She also has a canine sibling that she plays all day with except for when they are napping together. The boys are really cute and bring blankets and pillows into the living room so they can all nap together. So sweet! Jai is just such a sweet and deserving dog. I am so glad we saved her.

At the same time we were fostering Jai, we were also fostering Dinah, the lab. She ended up having a few issues that needed to be worked on. Animal Welfare Society did a great job working with her. However, after a few months, she still had not been adopted. Sometimes when a dog is not getting adopted for whatever reason, they will send them to another shelter. Being a new face at a different shelter is all it takes in some cases. Dinah was sent to the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society and adopted the following weekend. In fact, the 4 dogs the two shelters traded were all adopted that weekend!

We also fostered Pinta, a painfully shy, little, yellow lab for a few weeks. 

Pinta made a lot of progress with us, but she was still very fearful of strangers. Because of her shyness, I was worried she may go unnoticed at the shelter so I made this little video of her to show what she is like once she is settled in. I thought it turned out great! I am not sure if it helped her get adopted, but she was adopted quickly and I really appreciate Jen at Animal Welfare Society taking extra good care of her to minimize her stress of the big change.

Right now we are foster free for a few weeks.

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Mad Dog

Miss Maddie got spayed 2 weeks ago right after a 4 day agility trial so we have not done much in July.  But I do have some photos and videos from May and June.

My friend, Beth Bradshaw took the above photos and those of Maddie and Teg below.

Look! Maddie and Teg have synchronized strides!

 Awkward!!!

 A typical Maddie facial expression!

We also had some fun on 4th of July weekend at Summerwind Farm.  The landowner is so gracious and wonderful to let us play there. Are you happy, John? :-)

 Maddie takes full advantage of the fields!

Here is a training clip from way back in June.

 

Since then, most of the guides have come off the weave poles.  Right now, Maddie is prone to popping out of the poles early so I usually have the last 2 guides on there.  I am still not sure when her agility trial debut might be. I really do not want to rush her. She is sensitive and does not handle making mistakes very well so I definitely want to make sure she is pretty solid on the weave poles.  I want her to be set up for success. We have 3 or 4 opportunities to do matches this fall so that will be a great way to get her some agility practice at some of the venues we will be competing at in the future. ADSENSE HERE

Bella and Maddie

Another lazy blog post for me where the dogs do most of the work. Ha!  This is Bella, a young hound, we are fostering for ten days.  She actually leaves on Saturday and then we will be free of fosters for the next month and a half due to our busy agility trial schedule.

As far as playmates, the Lab was too much. The Brissel Catahoulamation Sparrier was too little.  But Bella is just right.  It is so nice to have a good way to burn off some stressed, rescue dog steam.

And it is fun to watch!  I did get a some video for you folks that like video. I personally think the pictures are a lot more fun and silly to look at though.

I got a lot of comments about Seven and Maddie playing (Hooligans post).  Many people were surprised they do not hurt each other.Well, they shouldn't hurt each other. What fun would it be if you got hurt every time? Ex-racers, especially, have had a very unique experience of actually spending the first 10-12 months with their littermates. Most puppies are placed into new homes between 8-12 weeks and how they are socialized after that is up to the new owner. Ex-racers, however, got to spend a lot of time wrestling and racing around with their thin skinned brothers and sisters so they received the consequences for biting too hard or being on the receiving end of it.

So with that said, I still do use muzzles when my greyhounds are playing with each other since they are more likely to need stitches if there is a squabble or even an accidental grab than most other breeds of dogs. But I would expect there to be no issues 99% of the time.  So that is why I was not concerned about one muzzle-free photo session.

Of course, when Maddie plays with other breeds, I am very picky about who her playmates are since she is usually the only one with thin skin.

If Maddie was rough and inappropriate with other dogs and had to wear a muzzle, I would not let her play with them. She is so gentle with floppy ears and long fur.  In fact, I have not seen her grab for fur since she was 12 weeks old. I would bet that a long-haired dog in daycare gave her a lesson in not doing that.

We heard that our last foster who was transported to a shelter in Maine was adopted a few days later by an older couple. Perfect! I thought she would be great for an older person who just wants a cuddle bug and walking companion.

Bella needs just the opposite. I would not label her as high energy, but she is still such a puppy and would do well with an active, busy family with kids and/or a playful dog. She will also probably need a good month to really settle into a routine and just get over the newness and excitement of it all. ADSENSE HERE

Playtime with Harp

Also at the last agility trial, Maddie got to play with her young, golden retriever boyfriend, Harp. They play so nice together and it was a great way to burn off some puppy energy at the beginning of each day. 

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Mad Dog Happenings

I promise I have not kept Maddie hidden on purpose. We just have been busy!  I am starting to ramp up her training. In obedience, we are narrowing our focus and training just the Novice level exercises.  And in agility, I will gradually start raising the jump height, teaching her the weave poles, and training the big contact obstacles.  I will be sure to get some video as she progresses.

This post is mostly about summer fun and what Maddie has been up to the last few weeks.

There has been some splashing!

And some retrieving!

Unless the stick to retrieve is in deep water.

 Nope... too deep!

 Maddie definitely chooses not to swim which if fine. It is not a high priority.

There is plenty of fun to be had in the shallow end.

We also visited SummerWind Farm (Yes, the landowner is awesome. That is for you, John.) and Maddie and her whippet friend, Tattie, got to run together again.  This time, Tattie is 9 months and a bit stronger and faster than she was a couple of months ago.

And Maddie, of course, welcomed our foster lab.  She is so nice to everyone!

And I weighed Maddie a week ago and she still is not 60 pounds.  Almost, but not quite.

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