This

That is all.

Formal Training Begins

Yesterday I began documenting formal daily training sessions with Toby to track his progress.  We are doing short 10 minutes sessions.  We began by working on the beginnings of "leave it" (where he is rewarded for not fixating on the treats in my hand) and on the "sit" command.  Filming the sessions allows me to go back and watch my own techniques so I can improve, and make is easy to see and appreciate his quick progress, making training more rewarding.

learning to play

Toby has recently learned to play with "toys."  Not normal dog toys usually, but the most popular plaything we have around our house: empty toilet paper rolls.  Only recently, after living with us for going on a month, has he figured out that he can pounce on them and throw them up into the air and carry them around and chew them, and boy does he enjoy it!  He runs around and jumps into the air excitedly, tossing the chewed cardboard scraps over his shoulder.

Then, he discovered a new interest: empty plastic bottles.  Truman loves the sound they make on the wood floors, so I gave Toby one (under supervision) and he chased it around making a racket.  Toby took interest, and then something completely new happened.  They began to play tug-of-war.  It was awesome to see this frightened, skittish little guy suddenly figure out one of the greatest joys (I suspect) of being a dog.  They were evenly matched.  Sometimes Truman would win and run off with the bottle, sometimes Toby would win.  But they were tugging hard, with Harriet acting as a useless referee, barking at them when she felt they were acting inappropriately.

Seeing him playing, carefree, not anxious that I'll abandon him, appearing so well adjusted and normal-dog-like, it was clear that he's coming a long way.

Since he's coming along so well, I feel like I can also poke fun at him a little.  Recently, I figured out who he reminds me of.  Behold, the likeness:

Pup Profile: Topaz

Official Name: Topaz
Alias:  Topy/Toby
Alleged Breed(s):  miniature poodle
Suspected Breeds(s):  poodle + some springer spaniel
Color, in terms of coffee beverages:  latte-mocha swirl
Approximate Age:  5 years
Background:  Ohio puppymill
Our Foster Since:  Sept. 22, 2012
Temperament/Personality:  Sweetheart!  Loving, affectionate, friendly but also hesitant; expresses trepidation about new people for a moment, but once he finds they mean him no harm he adores them and follows them around; he loves to lay with someone on the couch and sometimes insists on being petted.  He adores being brushed, and is patient for baths and other grooming.  Learns quickly from clicker training.
Level of House-training:  making progress; he is crated overnight and does not eliminate in his crate; he is kept in a room with a linoleum floor during our work day and has twice had an accident during the day.
Behavior Challenges:  some separation anxiety, expressed through barking (no destructiveness though); sometimes jumps up when walking on leash.
Known Health Issues:  none, other than some car-sickness.

Considerations:  He enjoys and is submissive toward other dogs and continues to learn from them. He has met at least one kitten and was curious but respectful of her distance. He has been friendly toward and tolerant of children.  He does not like to go to the bathroom with a person close by and would benefit from a fenced yard.  He barks when left alone at night, but is fine when crated in bedroom with people.

To Adopt, Contact:  Luv4K9s
For More Info:  Topaz on Petfinder

and we're back!

Topaz the Poodle(ish)

This is Topaz.  He is a kind, sweet, loving puppy mill survivor.  He is about 5 years old.  He is, to be honest, my most challenging foster so far.  Which is to say that he is remotely challenging, compared to my previous fosters who were absurdly easy.

His biggest difficulty is that, in his desperate attempt to gain human love, he walks very close to my feet, sometimes tripping me, and every so often jumping up when he's on the leash outside.  I suspect he was trained to walk on the leash using treats, so he is expecting to get something if he jumps, but this will fade quickly.

He gets along beautifully with other dogs.  He loves meeting new people (he backs away at first until he realizes they aren't going to hurt him, then he follows them everywhere).  And he was even a total sweetheart with my sister's new kitten...

...whose name is Frankie.

taking a break

Truman (above/left) and Harriet (below/right)

So, lately we've been taking a break from fostering.  I'm not going to pretend that I was happy about this break, but I share a house with others, so their feelings matter.  I'm pretty sure Truman would be happy to have new dogs come into our house every single day.  Harriet appreciated the break, and I think it did her some good, but she did not request it, what with her being a dog and all.

No, my co-human requested we take a break for a little while.  And I wouldn't normally address relationship issues here, but since this was directly related to dog fostering, I will, because I can't imagine it is an uncommon scenario.

It was hard for me to understand why B cared one way or the other about me fostering dogs, because I am the one who takes care of them when they're here, and we already have two dogs who he has no problem caring for, so in my eyes, it's not that big a deal adding another dog. 

But he explained that it was simply the stress of having another dog who isn't as comfortable and adjusted to our home, who may or may not be fully house-trained, who may or may not be afraid of loud noises and sudden movements.  And perhaps writing that just now is the first time I've really grasped why it might be a burden on him even when I'm doing the caretaking.

Regardless of my ability to accept and understand on an intellectual level, however, I had found myself getting increasingly irritable and angry over the past couple weeks, as people asked if we were currently fostering any dogs, and I felt my answer for why we weren't to be slightly unjustifiable.  We can!  And there are plenty of dogs that need foster homes!  Why aren't we fostering? "Because my partner doesn't want to right now" was what it came down to, and that made me a little bit resentful.

So, I told him that today.  I said "intellectually, I totally respect your decision and care about your needs... but emotionally, I'm finding myself feeling increasingly angry about not being able to do something I really care about, and I'm not sure what to do about it."  This was followed up by a really good talk about what he needed from me if we were going to start fostering again, and now, he has kindly agreed to let another dog be a visitor in our house if I am a little more active about minimizing its affect on him as he enters into a potentially more-stressful-than-usual phase in the coming months of work.

As a result, we will hopefully have another foster dog again very soon, and I am thrilled about it! 

At this moment, I am sitting on the couch in the living room with my laptop, B is on his laptop in the recliner, and I am flanked by our two sleeping dogs.  It is quiet and peaceful, and I can totally understand the appeal and comfort of this little family.  But I feel such a sense of purpose from fostering dogs, of bringing another dog who has suffered because of irresponsible people, and helping that dog be comforted in this peaceful environment, even as the foster dog disrupts some of that peacefulness.  I can't wait to meet our next house guest.

hard reality

The Boston terriers my sister has been taking care of went to new foster homes this week, because she could only take care of them for a little over a week (she had initially agreed to take them temporarily because they were in need of emergency foster homes). 

Both dogs were fixed on Wednesday, and at that point, Daria went to her new foster home to recover from surgery.  Bart stayed with my sister until yesterday when he went to his new foster home.  We took him to Luv4K9's adoption event at Petsmart to do the tradeoff, and it was kind of a rough goodbye.  This was my sister's first foster experience, and saying goodbye was difficult and teary.  One of the Luv4K9s volunteers tried to comfort her by reminding her that if she hadn't stepped in and helped those little dogs, they might still be stuck in sub-standard conditions, which only made my sister feel more emotional.  Then, a customer at Petsmart took "pity" on her tears, and offered to help her "buy" Bart...

Now, this was where I started to get rather frustrated.  Because I know that this woman believed she had good intentions, but she was showing evidence of the whole systemic problem with pet-overpopulation.  She kept saying "How much is the dog? I'll pay for half of it for you." This was a lovely and generous idea if we were talking about a piece of furniture or a painting, but Bart is a living creature who requires an ongoing financial commitment.  If my sister, a 20 year old college student living on her own for the first time, can't afford $200 to adopt a dog, what happens when the dog needs to go to the vet?  The woman simply didn't seem to comprehend this.  She felt pained by seeing my sister cry, and thought the solution was "buy her a dog to make her happy right now" rather than considering "what is best for the dog?" 

And that is so often the way people get dogs, thinking "this will make me happy" and projecting those same feelings onto the dog, rather than thinking honestly "what would be best for this animal, who has needs that are different from mine?"

To her credit, my sister made the right decision, a difficult one, despite strong social pressure from an older lady, and despite her own desire to take care of sweet, affectionate little Bart.  She said goodbye and exchanged numbers with the new foster mom so they can stay in touch. 

So many people get dogs without being ready for the full commitment, without taking into account how many areas of one's life this decision can affect.  This is exactly why there are so many abandoned and unloved dogs.  I mean, seriously, it is so unbelievably common.  One (i.e. me) can become quickly jaded by the commonness of stories like "we found this dog abandoned, tied up outside the pet store" or "this dog was pulled out of an un-ventilated shed along with 40 other dogs that all needed vet care."  Seriously? Yes, seriously.   Every day.  Some people seem to think "they're animals! Can't they take care of themselves?"  No, they can't.  Because this particular type of animal has been bred and designed by humans to need us.  So... they need us.

Sometimes being a responsible animal lover just sucks.