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.