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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The Last Few Weeks

So behind in blogging again. We made it to Nationals and back again.  We did not have anything really great to write home about and our videos are awful.  Usually my friend, Jerry, and I will video each other.  But out of a couple hundred dogs, Riley and his German Shepherd, Ex, were surprisingly only a few dogs apart so we both paid for the professional videoing so we would not have to worry about it.  What a mistake!  The quality was horrible and they are frustrating to edit.

Riley, always the bridesmaid, completely bombed the Time to Beat Class. Slightly bombed the Standard class.  She did really well in Jumpers and I made the mistake that caused us to have an off course.  And then finally we ran clean in the Hybrid class. She did do all of the tricky stuff we had been practicing so I was happy about that.

Seven ran clean in Jumpers and Hybrid, but ran past the weave poles in Time to Beat and had an off course in Standard.  All in all, we had a fun trip, but I would have liked to have run better.

Time to get back to just running and finishing their second agility championships.  Riley needs 3 more double qualifiers and Seven needs 6.

Miss Maddie is coming along in her training. Now with Nationals over, the focus has switched back to her. Ever since her first season she has really matured. She just seems so much more grown up now for some reason.  I hope some of the playful puppy comes back.

I think her little boobies are pretty funny. I am just used to my greyhound girls being a bit more flat chested. I believe they should go down eventually.

Here is a video clip of some recent training.  I think Maddie looking pretty good.  She is cautious and does not want to make any mistakes.  I think she will speed up as she gains confidence.

It really is time for us to start practicing at other facilities and on different equipment. We are starting to make some plans for that.

We also have been doing a lot of fostering for Road Trip Home. Right now we have this little yellow Labrador Retriever.

She is quite shy.  She has gotten pretty comfortable with me, but is still very suspicious of my husband and everyone else.

She came from the local crappy, county animal shelter. Road Trip Home pulled all three.  I think she is probably the one in the back of the photo (below).

She will be transported to Animal Welfare Society in Maine on May 9th to find her forever home.

We also fostered this black Labrador Retriever.  Not our favorite foster. I will just leave it at that. She will do great in the right home.

And then a very special foster was a Shar-Pit (Shar-Pei X Pit Bull Mix).  I saw this photo in a rescue album on Facebook for the crappy, county shelter. Usually I am pretty tough and know that we cannot rescue them all, but the fact that this dog followed her jerk owner into the shelter off leash really bothered me. How could you surrender such an obedient, loyal dog?

I watched the album all week.  I offered a fairly significant pledge hoping to tempt a rescue group to take her, but nothing materialized.  Finally it was Monday morning and she had to have commitment by 3:30 PM. So I emailed my friend, Heather, from Road Trip Home to see if we could look at her. The group in Maine had asked that we not pull anymore pit bulls, but that if one was special that we could ask.  So Heather asked and they agreed they would take her if she passed the temperament test. And she passed.

So after being quarantined, she came to our house for a few weeks of fostering. She was so funny, sweet, playful, attentive, and wonderful. Fosters come and go, but the husband and I love her. Just so precious!

I wondered and there was some discussion, but in the end we were able to tell her goodbye about a week ago. She has been up for adoption for a few days now. Hopefully it will not be long before she finds her forever home who will appreciate everything she has to offer.

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Neighbors

Good fences make good neighbors. At my training field, I am having trouble with the neighbors that moved in maybe a year ago. My agility field is at my parents' house. I had horses at home when I was in high school and college and the old riding arena is a perfect field for agility.  The agility field itself is just post and board rail and then there is a pasture fence that surrounds the whole thing.  So I have never felt the need to put wire fencing on my arena.  It is too much space to allow fosters and new dogs to run free, but it has always worked well for my hounds once they have a bit of training.

Well, the latest neighbor has two dogs in a large fenced backyard that parallels my agility field somewhat. They do not share a fence line, but the two dogs have a perfect view of the action while I train. We are used to being barked as we have dealt with that over the years, but this new neighbor has a dog that digs under the fence. I blogged about the problem once before and one of the solutions was to put dog poop in the holes which I did and it worked very well. The dog turned his attention to a tree and would dig at a tree inside of his yard out of frustration and boredom while I trained. Then the rains started and the ground is now very soft. The dog has returned to digging under the fence and is to the point that there are simply too many holes for me to try and fill plus it is not my responsibility.  It is not even my fence! The fence line is long and the ground is soft so the dog quickly finds a new spot to create a hole that allows for escape in short order.

Luckily the dog is not aggressive, but he cannot be on my field while I am training the other dogs. I cannot be in the middle of an agility course and suddenly he is there while my dogs are climbing or jumping at speed. It is dangerous. And Maddie cannot deal with such distractions at this time and would likely run off into the sunset with him.

I have returned him to the owner a few times. The kids and wife who answered the door had little to say and no apologies for the intrusion. I would politely indicate where the latest escape hole was. It was obvious they were trying to block off some of the larger holes, but all in all, their dogs are outside, untrained, not exercised, no activity, and are looking for something to do. My parents provided me with the husband's email address and phone number. On two occasions, I left a voicemail explaining that the dog had gotten out and was interfering with my training and that I needed for this problem to be solved.

On the last occasion, no one was home and he escaped 3 times. I returned him the first time to the pool area, but he easily pushed open the gate to the larger yard. 2nd time I tried to put him on the back porch, but could not close the door. Plus it was disgusting. It reeked of urine and had dog poop all over it... and this WAS a nice house! The third time, I just left.  I left the second voicemail to express my frustration. I was calm, but I'm sure I sounded irritated.

The next day, I emailed and texted the neighbor to let him know I would be training that afternoon and to please put the dog up during that time. Keith (aka jerk neighbor) finally calls back and his first words are:

"You have been rude to my wife and I." 

I was speechless. All I could think of is how mortified I would be if my dog was interfering with a neighbor's activities. My tail would be tucked and I would be apologizing. I would have been grateful for the help in filling the holes and appreciated the warning of when to put my dog up. I certainly would not have ignored two voicemails as I would want to open up the communication and figure out how to solve the problem without a war. So I was speechless.

He stated that they knew the dog was a problem, that they didn't want him running around the neighborhood, and that they were doing everything they possibly could, but that the dog was just going to get out sometimes. He suggested that if I wanted him to continue to work on the problem that I ought to be more cordial and neighborly. Really? We had never even had a conversation up until this point because he had ignored me.... I never had an opportunity to be rude. I was speechless.

He finally questions with "okay?". No, its not okay. I told him that he acts as if I had called them names and cussed them out (which I had not). I told him that containing his dog was his responsibility and that I would seek the assistance of animal control if he was not going to be able to contain his dog.

Jerk neighbor went on to explain that it was not his problem that I had a training facility back there and that lots of dogs ran loose in the neighborhood including my parents' dogs. That was a flat out lie as my parents contain their dogs indoors and in a fenced yard 99.99% of the time. I agreed that many dogs ran loose in the neighborhood, but they were on the street and in the front yards and not on my field. "Your dog cannot be on my field."

The phone call made me so angry. I wish I had said this or that, but the truth is that none of it would have penetrated jerk neighbor's ego.  At least I did not say anything regrettable and now that I am calmer weeks later, I think I handled the call perfectly. Long pauses in conversation were better than saying something you should not on the fly. I was polite, but firm.

Since then, the dog has been kept on the porch or tied inside of his yard.  Poor dog just wants something to do. I just do not understand why someone gets a dog when they do not keep the dog in their house, train it, walk it, play with it, and/or love it. You are asking for all sorts of problems when you think you yard should have a dog in it.

In the meanwhile, my awesome husband fenced in my agility field. It will not keep out a very determined dog, but at least it will keep me from being surprised by a strange dog on my agility field. I can now relax and concentrate on my own dogs. ADSENSE HERE

Hodge Podge

It has been awhile since I have blogged. I just have not been inspired to write I guess and needed a break. I figure it is time for an update though. All in all, everyone is healthy, happy, and sound. That is always what is most important!

We fostered another dog for Road Trip Home. His name is Jackson and we decided he was a Chowder Collie. He might actually have been an Australian Shepherd mix, but Chowder Collie was much cuter. Anyways, he is a very nice dog and was sent to the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk, Maine on January 10th and was adopted 2 days later.

Jackson kissing Maddie

Of course, Maddie loves to engage fosters in play. Jackson was a little too rough for me to allow them to play outside, but I would let them wrestle indoors. The camera did not love them... 2 black dogs in action indoors. Lots of blurry photos, but here are a few that turned out.

 Maddie is so vicious!

Soon after Jackson left, I was supposed to go to a three-day agility trial in Tennessee, but learned that my morning heel pain was plantar fasciitis. I had heard of it, but never knew what it was, but apparently a lot of people deal with it at some point in their life.

While packing for the trial, barefoot or in slippers, the heel pain became unbearable and the next morning it was the same. It was crippling. An internet search led to my self diagnosis and do-it-yourself treatments. I stretched, iced it, got the special boot you sleep/rest in, and rolled my foot on a ball. It helped immensely and I felt better that afternoon, but I thought I would cripple myself if I went to the trial. The three hour drive (of course it is my right foot), the miles of walking for three days, the set up and take down, and then another three hour drive home. I decided to stay home. But the sweet hubby came to the rescue and offered to take me to the trial and so I was able to compete Saturday and Sunday. Thank you, Stephen!

It was not a great trial for Seven. I believe she only qualified one time. Just some real goofy mistakes. Nothing really to blog about. BUT her wrist is doing great! The last time she tweaked it where she has acute pain for about 5 minutes has not happened since October 13th! There was a time when it was happening once or twice a week. Then two or three times a month.  Then maybe once a month. I just cannot tell you how pleased I am. We will definitely be continuing our current course of action.

Riley did much better, Double Qualifying on the first day and almost did the same on the second day. The error was such a fluke. It was a tight turn off a long line of jumps and she just ran around the chute on the turn. I should have decelerated to cue collection and a tighter turn. So her QQ streak ended with eight in a row. Not too shabby and now we will just have to try and break it. We are headed to a four day agility trial next week!

I have also decided to compete Seven and Riley at the AKC Agility Nationals in March.  I was not planning on going, but the Invitational (much closer to home) changed the footing and I was not going to run the girls, Seven especially, on mats. Her wrist needs forgiving footing. Since both are running so well and this is likely Riley's last chance to go to a big event, I decided we better go. Next year, is in Reno, Nevada (so far away) and after that Riley will be 9 years old. It is now or never so off to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania we will go.

On a fun note, Katrina, a Facebook and Blog friend, saw Riley and I on CNN. They pulled footage from the Incredible Dog Challenge that we competed in a few years ago for a Westminster story. The clip is fairly long and can be seen at the link below. After the commercial, we are at the 1:10 mark. Very cool!

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One Is Not Like The Other

It is not what you think! The Labrador retriever is just a foster dog.  Now that we have some extra space in our home, we thought it would be nice to do some fostering for an organization called Road Trip Home.  It is a local organization that pulls puppies and dogs out of overflowing, Georgia animal shelters and transports them to shelters in the north that do not have enough unwanted litters or strays to keep their shelters full. They have adopters, but often not enough dogs.... what a nice problem to have!  So Road Trip Home gladly does their best to supply them with as many Georgia shelter dogs as they can.

My close friend, Heather, runs the organization and my vet provides quarantine boarding and services at a discount.  Road Trip Home focuses mainly on animal shelters in rural areas that have no adoption program. These shelters keep strays for seven days so the owners have a chance to claim them, but those that are turned in by owners and those unclaimed after seven days are euthanized unless saved by a rescue group.

Cain was found as a stray and no one ever came looking for him.  I did some additional work to find his owner because he is just such a nice dog that I thought someone would miss him, but it appears they did not put forth much effort.  So Cain leaves for Massachusetts on the 28th.  He will be very easy to place there and will make someone a great pet.

Roaching like a greyhound

And then next Saturday, my husband, Stephen, is participating in a charity bike ride benefiting Road Trip Home.  He plans to cycle 100 miles from Smyrna, Georgia to Anniston, Alabama. We are looking for sponsors and trying to collect as many donations as we possibly can because there is a local company MATCHING DONATIONS.  So $25 equals $50!

If you love this blog, have learned something, or have emailed me privately for some extra help and would like to give thanks, I would really, really appreciate a sponsorship for Stephen.

If you would like to donate and can spare a few bucks please go to this website (CLICK HERE) and then click the Donate button. Please put "Stephen" in special instructions.

Thank you!  I promise not to ask for anything else for a very long time!

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And Then There Were Four

Stephen's angels - Stacker, Julie, and Allie

We went from six to five greyhounds when Julie passed away exactly a year ago.  Then Maddie brought us back up to six.

Reagan, Riley, Maddie, Seven, Allie, Stacker

And then in the last month, we lost Allie and Stacker.  All three were my husband's greyhounds.  He adopted them before we got married and they would be the reason we met. He would not have joined a greyhound club had he not had any greyhounds, right?

I did not blog much about Allie, Stacker, and Julie since they were not "my" hounds.  People thought it was funny, but we truly had his and her hounds.  His hounds were definitely Daddy's hounds and my hounds are definitely Mama's hounds.  Reagan is the only hound we consider "ours", but honestly she is probably more his than mine at this point (recall she became noise phobic and terrified of travel so she can not participate in sports like my other hounds).

No Passing Sones aka Julie

April 1, 1999 - June 3, 2012

Julie was a very easy hound and caused no trouble at all. A very passive girl, friendly and sweet. In his tribute on Facebook, Stephen said:  There are few things in life that can transcend time. Throughout history one thing that has been written over and over again is the canine's companionship to its master. Through thick and thin over the last ten years I have enjoyed this. Now, I'll carry on with one less in the pack. Farewell, Julie. You changed my life in more ways than you'll ever know. I am forever thankful for your companionship and I will always look for you at my side in the days, months, and years to come.

The Last Hour with Julie

Allie was nicknamed "The Mule".  My parents joked that they had to hold a mirror under her nose to make sure she was still alive when they would babysit her.  She was quite lazy.... unless there was food involved and then it was if she was struck by lightning.  The girl loved to eat!  But she was a slug if no food was included.

Stephen said:  Today I said goodbye to Allie, the hardest working hound I've ever had. From coursing to tracking to retrieving to whistle-recalls, she loved all of it. Over the last 9+ years she was by my side, earning a treat from my pocket. Tracking was my favorite outing with her. She was an ace at finding a gloved prize in a hay field. Allie was my happy dog and always had a tail wag for everyone she met. Rest in peace, my friend, and run in joy...

Stacker was part of the June 28th birthday trio.  Seven, Riley, and Stacker were all born on June 28th.  It was so interesting and random because none of them are littermates and we did not find out until after they had been adopted.  We were really hoping to get birthday #14 out of Stacker next month, but it was not to be.  He simply tired out.

Stacker won some trophies in his lure coursing days and was our most successful racer.

Curiously, Stacker was diagnosed with bone cancer over a year ago.  The diagnosis stuck when we x-rayed it a few weeks later and then again a year later.  Our vet was sure it was bone cancer in a metatarsal, but the corresponding toe had been amputated so Stacker never limped except for when he got a hairline fracture which prompted us to x-ray it in the first place.  The hairline fracture healed, he stopped limping, and the cancer progressed somewhat, but never spread beyond the metatarsal and never created a tumor.  Our vet asked if he could send off the bone for a study and we said of course.  Osteosarcoma was confirmed.  Dr. Toby had never seen bone cancer progress so slowly. It was not Stacker's cause of death.

P's Stacker FCh aka Stacker

June 28, 1999 - May 20, 2013

Stacker aged well.  Just a few weeks ago, he was still loping a few laps around the yard.  Although his hikes were much shorter than they used to be, it was impressive that he was still climbing hills and jumping into the husband's Xterra on his own.

Stephen said: Live Life in the Moment – Spending the last decade with the hounds I’ve learned a number of things. The most important of those lessons is something that comes very naturally to them: Live Life in the Moment. To live each and every day of your life excited and overjoyed to see someone is an amazing feeling. My big, goofy boy left me Monday afternoon, happily chomping away at a tray of steak as the sedative set in. Living life in the moment. Over the last ten years, Stacker has helped me change the course of my life. Along with his sisters who have gone on before him, my trio of hounds saw me through thick and thin. I’ve loved every minute of their companionship and wouldn’t trade it for the world. There’s something very special about the bond between a hound and an owner that recognizes it and makes it the best it can be. I can only hope that I live my life going forward in way that my hounds thought I did.
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Julie:  "Is that, Stacker?"

Allie:  "Yes, I think it is."

Stacker:  "Is it okay for me to go?"

Us:  "Goodbye, Sweet Hounds."

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So now there are four.........

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