Rebooting With Chopstick

Simon was interested to know who some of the puppies I've lost were. And he really wanted pictures to see. But turns out 2009 wasn't exactly a digital photo era for me, so we lack a lot of photos of fosters. This made Simon very sad. 

So, he wanted to honor our current Chopstick. 

Choppy was rescued in 2017 and joined our family in May 2017. 

Chop loves to carry shoes in his mouth, dig holes, lick Simon, eat laying down, run and bark at cars, and go on walks. 

He doesn't like police sirens or thunderstorms. 

Aging, Younging, & Inbetweening

The shiftiness of senility daunts me.

One day he seems to with it. Even the vet who sees Kobe every 6 months or so can see he has it together. "He even knows to growl at me," he says. So I go home and try to keep everything normal.

Then I turn around and he's looking at me blankly while peeing on the floor.

Yeah, not so normal. So NOT normal.

Less normal that I came home toady and he was unable to get traction on the floor (concrete and hardwood) because his back legs were tremor ridden. I thought, "I'll carry him to the elevator, then down 8 flights, and then another several hundred feet to the grass to pee." Cause cleaning up is THAT HARD. Well, he's actually almost 1/3, my weight now...and that's officially harder. But it took my attempt to realize that.

Maybe weight training needs to speed up to stay in line with Kobe's needs. No more putting it off.

So, younging to keep up with the aging, and maintaining and navigating the inbetweening.

I can handle that.

To my new lofty neighbors,

Excuse me, ma'am. Yes you. The woman who walks her 3 large dogs on long retractable leashes only she can't retract them because she's juggling too many dogs...1 dog above the 2 pet limit for our building. Yes you. I see that you have some of those building provided disposable dog waste bags tied to one of your leash handles. Can you tell me why you never use them? As I walk by and see your dogs squatting and straining to poo, I try to make eye contact with you hoping to shame you into picking it up but you never look over. I've even considered asking if you'd like to use one of my bags. But I'm afraid to get too close, as your unruly dogs don't seem to mind very well. And since my dog is old, I'd rather he not be assaulted by your horde of animals.

Oh, and you sir. You, over there. Yeah, your dog is in my and my dog's business and you seem to have no regard for this being a community space and not your personal backyard. This is an open street. Cars drive on this street. You coming down here and unleashing your dog to have him run willy nilly is not only unsafe, but IT IS ILLEGAL. I know you want him to have freedom to roam. Perhaps you should look into visiting a fenced dog park or buying a backyard. But, for the time being, I will stick my foot in your dog's chest to keep him from trying to dominate my dog's face. Yes, I know this is natural dog behavior, but I have no intention to form a 'pack' with your unmanageable dog. Therefore I see no point in letting him hump and risk starting a fight. Since my own dog has alpha tendencies, I KEEP HIM ON A LEASH so I can control his actions. Perhaps you should consider this too. Oh wait, that might interfere with your ability to two-handed text on your phone and ignore your dog while you're down here. Oh well.

Oh, and you, other guy. Thanks for picking up your dog's poo in one of these clever bags. I really appreciate you doing so. Can I just ask one favor? Can you not just tie it off and throw it on the ground? Sure, I like being able to see from a distance that there is poo there, but, come on. I already have to contend with the landmines left from every other dog owner like 'lady with three dogs' and 'unleashed texting guy.' Surely, you don't think that the two trashcans on your way back to the building are only there for looks. They do function nicely as trashcans.

And you, nice guy who also lets his dog roam unleashed. When you tell me, "Oh, he's friendly," as your dog is bee-lining at full speed towards my elderly & crotchety (but most importantly LEASHED) dog, why don't you ever consider that maybe my dog isn't friendly? What would happen if this approach by your dog were considered a threat to either me or my dog and mine react to protect? Would you think that it's my fault? I'm just trying to be prepared for the inevitable.

And to most of the rest of my neighbors: you all seem perfectly nice. I'd really like to meet and talk to you as I am walking my dog and bagging his poo. But, I am so turned off by your inability to respect this common area, that I don't want to start talking and then get snarky when your dog squats and you fail to clean it up. It would be like if I were outside my old house in the weeks before we moved and my miserable next door neighbor were to come over and ask why we decided to move. "Because you are a miserable old lady." Yeah. AWKWARD. So, I just kept my head down to avoid having to talk to her. And I'll do the same with you, my new lofty neighbors, unless I see you scooping poo. Then I may wander over and have a little chat and pet your leashed dog.

Love,
Me

Who has a puppy? Everybody does!

So, Cliff and I decided to uproot ourselves and move. Long ago we decided that living where we were was not working for us. Although we loved the 5 1/2 years we spent in our home, the community surrounding us was...well...not a community at all. After careful consideration, we decided to move into a large downtown Dallas loft building, where we instantly felt like a part of the community. And Kobe, too, was welcomed. Our new building is so pet friendly, that most people know your pets name before yours even.

Kobe's stress level was evidently raised initially (as seen by Cliff's repeatedly stepping in things he wished he hadn't). But, he has folded quite well into the mix of crazy dogs, crazy smells, and some even crazier people. Where his senility was becoming more and more obvious, he now seems more with it. I know our vet is right that we need to keep his life pretty low-stress, but what we found was that changing things up the way we did forces him to exercise his brain more. He seems more and more like his old self every day. Well, if you can ignore how it takes him twice as long to get up and how his kidney failure requires he drains his water bowl twice a day.

So, a win for us and a win for him.

Since our building restricts us to 2 animals, and we've already met that limit (Kobe and Cliff...ok, Kobe and Kitty) we can't foster while we live here. But, we already resigned ourselves to not fostering for a while for Kobe...so that's not exactly new news.

So, a new blog name is in order...and I've ordered "Party Like a Puppy."

Yeah, I've got your Biscuit

I consider myself a pretty understanding person. Although I may jump to conclusions sometimes, I always leave a little bit of room for me to have presumed wrong and will readily admit when I've not given someone a fair shake. Additionally, I've tried to avoid profanity here, as I want everyone to feel comfortable reading this blog.

I will warn you now that both items in the prior paragraph are violated in this post.

My anger cup runneth over.

You. Hey you. Yeah, you- the asshole who pulled over on the side of the road and dumped your dog on the street. You drove off without any regard for her even though she's, presumably, given you many years of her love and devotion.

What did you think would happen to her as you dumped her and ran on that rainy night? She's old. Probably as old as Kobe with cloudy eyes and stiff back legs. Seriously? You take her many years of youth and then just cast her away like fucking trash when she needs a bit more from you in her old age- only a bit more understanding and patience maybe?

No excuse you have will make any difference to me. Don't have the money for her medical needs? Not actually your dog and you don't want to take care of her? She doesn't get along with the spouse/girlfriend/kid/mother-in-law? There are appropriate solutions that do NOT include dumping your poor, elderly dog on the street. If you had cared enough about her to inquire about options, you would have had many to choose from.

You don't deserve to know the kind of life she is going to have now that she's finally rid of you. I could wish for you to feel the pain of abandonment in your own old age that you subjected this poor dog to - but that would be heartless...and I'm not like you.

Good, Bad, Disappointing, & Good

First the good. Then the bad. And then the disappointing. Finally the good again.

The good! Kobe's latest test results do support the thought that his kidney failure is a slow progressing one. We will continue to keep an eye on his blood work and have it completed every 6 months just to be on the safe side. My vet even thinks that we are fortunate to have accidentally stumbled upon this, as the change in his food will help keep him healthier for longer. Most dogs get diagnosed later in the disease, when food doesn't have quite the impact as it is having on Kobe.

Now the bad. Over the past couple of months we have noticed some pretty significant changes in our boy. If a dog could win an award for housebroken-ness and predictability, the Kobe of 1998(ish)-2008 would win gold (yes, he predictably 'guards' me from all things dangerous- tin foil, flashing lights, car horns, kids, anything on wheels..the list goes on). Our poor guy seems more like a puppy now than ever- having accidents in the house, restless at night, anxious and under my feet all the time, and chewing on things he hasn't chewed on since he was a year old.

My vet informs me that these are all classic symptoms of senility. My baby boy is no longer a baby. Worse, he is slipping into the human equivalent of Alzheimer's. According to my research, by dogs aged up to 11, 1 in 3 dogs show symptoms. And dogs 11-16 (Kobe's age group) 2 in 3. At least Kobe's statistic is in the majority. I'm sure there has to be loads of information and support on the interwebs for me to comb through in the next days and weeks.

The disappointing news is that one of the best things you can do for Kobe's cognitive deterioration is to keep the house as stress-free and as predictible as possible. So, this puts a pretty significant hold on fostering.

The second good? There's a new shelter opening up only a block or so from my office. Since the puppies can't come to me- I will go to them. Hopefully I can volunteer at this new shelter (or another if need be) to help relieve the guilt I feel for not fostering. Hopefully I can impart some of my experience on a new shelter's volunteers...or at least still help the needy dogs in some way.

Maybe this blog will evolve into my experiences as a shelter volunteer...I guess I'll have to think of a new name.....

Notes from the Kobe Front

I know this blog is about fostering, but sometimes we learn our greatest lessons from our own companions during foster 'down time.'

The cat was a little tired of being chased, so we're taking a break from fostering to give him time to relax. Little did I know that we would desperately need this time to focus on our tireless teacher, Kobe.

During our first ever vet visit for allergies, Kobe was given the steroid prednisone to help keep him from itching. Although he's an incredibly healthy dog (at least physically ;)), Kobe started to react poorly to this medicine. Upon further testing we've come to know that our poor baby is in chronic kidney failure. Now, once I cried and got that over with, I realized that this is much more common than I thought, and Kobe still has the chance to live out his many senior years comfortably. After a few weeks on new food (what?!?! it's not organic?!?!) we will retest his levels to gauge exactly how progressed we think the disease is. Kobe is feeling a little better already, as my clean (sans dog pee) floors can attest to. He's just totally thrilled to be eating this new decadent canned food.

Having a senior dog is starting to show its challenges. The rewards, however, are countless.

Oh, The Lessons We've Learned

Kobe, our 12 year old grumpy dog, is not too old to learn. In the past year he has absolutely mastered "Roll Over." Almost too well. When I say "Sit" or point to the floor he almost automatically goes into a roll. Now we're trying to correct that.

What else has Kobe learned? Well, my former food aggressive dog was caught sharing his bowl of food peacefully the other day with little Sadie, our foster. It was one of the sweetest things I have seen, as his food aggression has been a trouble spot. Now, by no means do I think the problem is permanently solved. I do, however, see that there is hope.



See? It's not just humans that learn from fosters.

Sadie, who we affectionately refer to as Smoky Edna, has found herself a wonderful home. She will be going to live with a kind woman who, I am sure, will fuss over and pamper her to no end. Smoky Edna holds a very special place in my heart, and I'm ridiculously happy that she's going to have the home she deserves. Thankfully, we have her for a few more days before her new home is ready. But, when she leaves I will miss the cuddly little bear on my lap who has such an adorable snore.

#41 - Sadie the Christmas Foster

Each year we seem to have a Christmas foster. Last year it was Matty and her babies. This year it's little Sadie.

A gentleman, Mike, from the rescue we work with was given Sadie by a family who could no longer keep her. They found themselves having to move in with family members who did not like her, and she was being kept in the garage with little to no contact. Knowing that Mike was involved with rescuing, and with his guarantee that he would find the best home possible for her, the family handed Sadie over.
Within moments of arriving at our house last Sunday, Sadie crawled into my lap. From there, I knew she'd fit right in. She warmed up quickly to both me and Cliff, and will follow us equally around the house. When she's not curled up in a little ball or cuddling, Sadie likes to get belly rubs, play with Kobe's toys, and chase her extra long tail. Yes, she chases her tail. I thought she was walking in circles the first time I saw her do it- it was a slow chase. But, sure enough...she's chasing her tail.

Kobe and Sadie are a lot alike. I know she's 7 pounds, and a Chihuahua, but they could be siblings. She loves to play and growl, get a belly rub and growl, and love on you and growl. It's not split personality, she just vocalizes with a growl- it's incredibly cute. Gentle pets, especially on the face, are met with a still body and closed eyes- like she's concentrating really hard on your love. And she has the most adorable overbite. It's just enough for the tip of her little tongue to stick out a little and make you love her all that much more.

I've heard today that applications are already coming in for her. I'm sure she won't last long with us, but during that time we sure will be kept laughing.

Happy Holidays

Cliff and I have had conversations lately about adding additional volunteering and community work to our plate. This came about during our breakfast pre-shopping extravaganza last Monday. Over his crepes and my chilaquiles, he brought up that he would like to volunteer. I had to remind him that we DO volunteer- fostering dogs- did he forget? No, it has just become such a part of our lives that the effort blends right in with the day to day. The discussion ended with a renewed energy to expand our volunteer service, but this dialog got me thinking about starting the conversation with all of you about trying your hand at fostering yourselves. Most everyone I know is a dog lover and understands the statistics of pet overpopulation. They then try to help be a part of the solution through adoption, volunteering, and donations to humane services and rescues. Fostering, though, is such a vital step in the process.

Fostering provides an animal the opportunity to feel secure and safe so they can relax and show more of their true personality- giving potential adopters a clearer picture of who they truly are. Also, foster homes provide needed structure and positive reinforcement to improve their dog manners and become a better companion. If a dog has an illness or is overcoming an injury, foster homes provide the warm and calm environment to enable recovery.

That's only some of what fostering does for animals. I can't even think of the many ways in which fostering helps us. Patience, unconditional love, commitment - just to name a few. Most of all, we are rewarded repeatedly by our fosters by the look in their eyes of gratefulness, the small steps we make repairing their spirit, and the kisses on our hands (sometimes faces) in appreciation. But, there's truly no greater reward than knowing that we have been a part of the process of saving the life of an animal.

You can have this too. The only experience we had before getting started was the experience of raising our own animals (and those of you that know Kobe- I didn't do so great with him...so my experience wasn't all that awesome). We've picked up a lot of knowledge and many skills along the way, though. And we'd be happy to share it all with any of you who wish to take on my holiday challenge:

There are so many dogs in need of a foster home - Fred is just one. I met him at an adoption event a few weeks ago and he's very sweet. He's currently boarded at a facility, but would benefit greatly from having a foster home. Any chance any of you in the DFW metroplex want to try your hand at fostering? Fred would love you for it.

Happy Birthday Dexter

Two years ago today, Dexter's brothers and sisters were born in a vacant field underneath a rusted out bed of a truck. Two days later, they were brought to our home with their mom Babe, where they stayed for several weeks. Our friend Alecia fell in love with Dexter from the get go and adopted him the moment he was available.














It's one of our great joys in life to see our babies be able to grow into happy and healthy dogs. Dexter certainly got the awesome home he deserved with Alecia and Jeff. Seriously. Look at that face:



Thanks for the photos, Alecia!

#40 - Mimi the Great

Mimi - the name calls to mind the image of a grandmother. Perhaps this is because Mimi was EJ's (my brother-in-law) grandmother. Mimi the foster dog was no granny.

When I picked her up from the vet last Friday I was expecting to receive a 'nervous' dog, as this is how she was described to me. But she was just as much nervous as she was a granny type- not at all. She bounced around my car the whole way home, and once home, she bounced happily around my back patio. Mimi was an almost instantaneous bonder who would easily crawl into my lap, jump from the floor straight into my arms, and wag her tail ferociously when petted. Cliff agreed that she was pretty awesome. Even though she would occasionally forget who he was if he'd been out of sight for too long, and bark at him (I think it's Cliff's beard). I truly think that if we'd had possession of her much longer...she would have been adopted by us. Cliff argues I say this each and every time.....and he's sorta right (but don't tell him that).
Friends Kyle and Ambre took one look at her photo and were sold. They came to meet her at an adoption event on Saturday and I took her to their home to meet their Chihuahua, Bella, yesterday. Things went so well that they finalized the adoption.

It's a real joy to be able to be a part of the process of helping a homeless animal find a new home. It doesn't always work out that we get to remain a part of a former foster's life, so it's particularly special for us when it works in our favor that we do.

So, it's on to foster #41. Stay tuned.

Sweet Sweet Cassie

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we had Cassie, a Bassett Hound mix, as a visitor. Cassie is currently in her own foster home (with Paula), but Paula was going out of town. Since Cassie is bit of an older dog, she deserved to come stay with us instead of boarding.

Usually Kobe is disagreeable with dogs bigger than him (not to mention kids, flashing lights, anything on wheels, thunder, our t.v. receiver, lately even my hair iron...you get the picture). But since Cassie is a bit older and slower, he really liked her. In Kobe's 11 years, I have never once seen him instigate play with another dog....until Cassie. It's too bad she really didn't feel much like playing.

When it was dinner time, she would wiggle and dance so much that she instantly seemed puppy like. Once done eating she would quiet down and crash out on Kobe's bed. She took over his bed actually- but he didn't seem to mind much.

Last Sunday she went back to her foster home with Paula. Hopefully she'll be adopted soon!


-thanks for the picture, Paula!

Happy Nugget

Just before Halloween, our little Miniature Pincher Helga arrived for us to foster. I picked her up at Toothacres (the boarding facility that the rescue we foster for uses for some of their dogs) and brought her directly home. She cried a bit in the car, as I am sure she was confused and a bit frightened. I thought once we got her home, she'd acclimate quickly (nervous dogs are becoming old hat for us). But, she decided to take her sweet time. In that time though, she endeared herself to us unlike most fosters. Cliff even declared her as his (gasp) favorite!

Cliff decided that she would be called Nugget. We thought long and hard about calling her Goat, but Goat just wasn't the right fit for her (we sometimes find our own nicknames for our fosters). She does answer to Helga, so we'd still call out to her with her real name. Although shy, Helga possessed a lot of personality. She loved to sit on a soft blanket next to us on the couch, and would follow us around the house room to room.

My sister Michelle's co-worker and his girlfriend just happened to be looking for a companion for their Miniature Pincher Roxy. So, Brandon and Cindy came over the night after we got Helga to meet her. Although she was still shell shocked, they could see the potential she had. It took a few weeks to happen, but when the adoption went through, Helga gained a whole new family (thanks, Brandon, for the photo):

The Begining

Hey everyone!

Most of those near and dear to us are used to getting an email update each time we have a foster. Well, I've finally figured out this blog thing and intend to keep everyone up to date via this method. Having all of the information in one place will save me a lot of time searching and searching through old emails.

I can't remember exactly how many fosters Cliff and I have had. I'll try to list them out as best I can and close to the correct order (their aka names are their actual names...Cliff and I sometimes find our own personal names for our fosters):

(Update 12/24- this list will be updated as we go.)

1. Cindy Sue
_________
2. Sister Mama
3. Bean
4. Hannah
5. Buckley
6. Georgette
7. Trooper
_________
8. Spotty Mama (now named CoCo)
9. Tuna (aka Tina)
_________
10. Chili (aka Rose)
_________
11. Hummus (aka Kendra)
12. Kenny
13. Foie Gras (aka Kent)
14. Kylie
_________
15. Jack
16. Bella
17. Pepper
18. Chewy
_________
19. Porsche
20. Maserati
21. Ferrari
_________
22. Diesel
_________
23. Juicy Juice (aka Deuce)
_________
24. Tessa
_________
25. Shorty
_________
26. Oliver (aka Alex)
_________
27. Babe
28. Sparky (now named Dexter)
29. Piggy
30. Chop Suey
31. Rolo
32. Sarah
_________
33. Matty (aka Marcia)
34. Ernie
35. Etta
36. Sue (now named Missy Sue)
37. Otis
_________
38. Nugget (aka Helga)
_________
39. Cassie
_________
40. Mimi (now named Bean)
_________
41. Smoky Edna (aka Sadie)
_________
42. Biscuit
_________
43. Remi
44. Foxy
________
45. Maybe
46
46
48
49