Blizzard's family have been holding out hope that an outstanding medical issue would be resolved but unfortunately - it has not and the diagnosis was just made more severe. They feel they have no other choice but to offer Blizzard the opportunity to grow up in another home and to this end asked me to take him into foster. Being a big, deaf, goofy adolescent could have posed a real issue getting him a placement but a client and friend who already has a deaf Pit Bull we are working with in Therapy dog training has taken him in. We did an initial meet and greet and the two get on like they are best friends. They adapted their play styles to each other and it wasn't long before Zoomies ensued. I took him down to Petco today to give him a bath and do the handover to his new foster family. We will keep you updated with how he goes!
Phoenix has been doing so well...she has met tons of people to ensure her socialization is where it should be, has played with several of the dogs in my classes - both large and small and is really developing into a confident and bright pup... Sophia Yin recently released an article that I think sums up my feelings on how important it is to get your pup out and about in a safe way. Sequestering them until they are 4-6 months old will not only make it harder for them to relate to people and other dogs but greatly increases the chances of them having fear based issues in the future...
After I got back from my trip - the first thing to do was follow up on some adoption applications for some of our fosters from over the holidays. Just a few short months ago - I had 9 dogs. I am a foster failure extraordinaire. I see so much potential in every dog that I end up keeping them all. Part of my conversation with my step-mom over the break was about letting go of those dogs that I originally only took in to help someone out or through Pawtential's rehoming service.
I had been slowly letting go. Knoxx and Jinx had gone to great homes and I had some really good applications on Kai and Jett which on follow-up were wonderful options and both boys have since been adopted! Congrats boys!
Welcome back!! I hope your holiday season was all you wanted and more. Sorry for the delay in updating...after everyone returned from their holidays and all of our Board & Trains went home - Jinx, Blizzard, Sophie and Ellie - I took a break and headed up to see some friends for the new year and visit my Step-mom in VA. It can be hard to get away at times and this was just the trip I needed. I was looking forward to some well earned R&R. But then, just as I was heading out - I got confirmation about some pups that I had been checking on for a while. A momma dog had wandered onto a ladies property pregnant and had delivered a litter of 8 pups. The lady took her and the pups inside, made her comfortable and began looking for a placement for them all. Mom looks like a Pointer mix to me and Dad is unknown, but there are 2 red merle, 2 blue merle and 2 with bobbed tails which means that Dad must have had some Aussie in there somewhere.
And you know how I am about Aussie mixes, so when she said she needed some help with the litter, I was delighted to help! Like the J's - this little one has come to me to finish weaning at only 3 weeks old. I picked up our newest member on my way through to VA and from Day 1 she has made an impact. The timing worked well as I had all this time off to dedicate to her and make sure she was off to a great start. She is a darling little thing and I really look forward to watching her grow!
