# New Foster dog



## e.rigby (May 28, 2011)

Oh where to begin... .... 

On Thursday of this week I get a phone call from a friend of mine that just says 'Hey, call me' ... I also get a text from another friend with this picture: 










and these words: This is an owner surrender at the campbell county animal shelter in danger of being put down.... know anyone who would want this dog???

I put two and two together and figure my other friend was calling me about the same dog and in the back of my head I had already decided to foster (in fact, my friend helps run the foster department of the animal shelter and knows that I would foster should the right dog come along - since I've fostered many times in the past)

So I call her up and leave a message and get a call back about an hour later... the story is as follows...

This dog was in foster care, the foster program coordinator was away on a missions trip outside the country and the foster parent in charge of this dog decided the dog was 'too much to handle' and instead of making the right calls and contacting the people necessary to place the dog in a different safe house she took it to the local animal shelter. This shelter is currently over run with unwanted animals and the kill rate is pretty high right now. Any dog that comes in as an "owner surrender" is euthanized the same day (considering they don't have to hold the animal and they just don't have room no matter how 'adoptable' the dog is)

My friend was at the shelter on that particular day to pull two dogs to foster. She sees the shepherd and starts to inquire about her and that's when she finds out the details above.

Come to later find out, the foster home was the dog's (actually, she's only an 11 month old puppy) 3rd home. The foster was a 'foster to adopt' home and had, had her for 4wks.

She was surrendered because the foster mom claimed she was dog aggressive and fear aggressive to people.

My friend, who's also a vet tech and trainer, pulled her on top of the two she was originally going to pull and so that's when I got the initial call.

This girl is a COMPLETE sweet heart... though she is very undersocialized and scared to death of the world. 

She has great potential and accepted me within minutes. She WILL bark rather ferociously at new people... but mostly people who stare at her. If approached correctly, she immediately becomes this sweet melty gushing dog. She also barks at dogs, but not all dogs. It just seems to depend on how 'scared' she is and how she assesses the situation. 

I work at a vet clinic as an assistant and I had her in the kennel area. She was able to walk by the runs full of dogs barking at her... but in a different area a small terrier mix was literally barking it's brains out pretty aggressively and she retaliated with her own aggressive barking.

However, when I got her to my house I put a basket muzzle on her (to be safe) and let her meet Reagan. She was terrified and tucked her tail and just shut down. She did this with pretty much every one of my dogs... though Virgil, my GSD, absolutely terrified her (esp when he decided to bark at her... he's a great dog but completely took advantage of her being a giant wuss)... she peed when she saw him. 

Virgil's on strict crate rest anyways for a slipped disc in his back, so he was only allowed to be on leash to meet her. She didn't want to 'meet him'

Today (the second day I've had her) she's a bit better though still scared. I let her drag her leash around in the back yard with the four smaller dogs just running around and she just avoided them. She was keen on exploring so that's a plus. I then let her meet Virgil again and she didn't want to 'meet' him but she would sit by me as he sniffed her and didn't try to run when he decided to bark at the trees (since trees produce squirrels and just barking randomly at the leaves is one of his favorite bored past times... and these past two weeks of crate rest have left him incredibly bored...)

She's being kept in a very large (great dane sized) crate down stairs in a quiet room. When I go down to get her she is so happy to see me and acts like this sweet adorable (but giant) puppy... when she comes out of that room she's cautious and when she sees the other dogs she freezes (even though they just ignore her).

It's going to be a long progress... but the first goal is to build her trust in me... then to start training... then to start counter conditioning. She's young and though she 'sounds' bad she's really not that horrible... she is quick to accept strangers so long as they behave appropriately and follow my direction... so hopefully we can start making up for the lost socialization time.

I was told that if for some reason she was 'too much to handle' to return her and they'd euthanize her... well, that's not going to happen. It does make me a bit sad though  If she were a small dog with issues she wouldn't be given such a horrible fate... but since she's a big puppy and looks scary she's doomed since everyone else in her life has failed her...

I took this last night (I lifted Virgil onto the couch, he's not allowed to jump up there.. and sadly he had to go right back in his crate after this picture... it so makes me sad but perhaps him being on crate rest will give me the much needed time to dedicate to this new foster girl). Don't let the smile fool you, she's a giant chicken who just loves soft comfortable couches!

She's also not 'actually' given this kind of freedom... but for a picture I made the exception. She's only allowed around the house on leash (though she's not gotten to the point she wants to be in the main house area... I tried today and she was too stressed so we will have to take it VERY slowly). 










She's, again, just 11 months but was spayed (I can only presume) extremely young. Thus, she's SUPER tall (but that could also come from horrible breeding) Virgil is a male and is at the top of the height limit being 26inches... he's also well built and weighs 81lbs... this girl is 27inches and very underweight at just 66lbs. She makes Virgil look like a stocky old man!


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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

That's a great looking pack you got there. I'm glad she was able to be pulled.


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## jakes mom (Feb 29, 2012)

Yes a lovely bunch. All good luck with your new foster girl 
________
Sue


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## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

Gorgeous pack! Thanks for taking her in. She looks much happier already.


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## Zisso (Mar 20, 2009)

You are her angel without a doubt! Thank you for giving her a chance to have a real life with love and affection.

A friend of mine is fostering a female Mal that was found in the mountains in Thailand. She had a bad leg, they tried to fix it at a vet there and failed, then the dog was sent to Canada, where another foster couldn't handle her and then she came here and to my friend. The dog is 4 years old, a typical hyper Mal, untrained, unsocialized and a total basket case. I met the dog the other day, and I have to say that if she can ever be rehabbed, it will take a ton of work. In the two hours I was there, she attacked me 3 times. She has a very soft mouth and never broke skin, but she is a liability for anyone that has her at this point. The worst part for my friend is the dog barks all night long due to being crated, and she can't let the dog loose at night because she has 4 dogs of her own and two don't like the foster. 

Being that I do not do fostering, this was a good insight to some of what you all do and I totally admire anyone who can do it. You take on so many issues and work miracles in fixing these dogs who have had less than stellar lives.


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## e.rigby (May 28, 2011)

Thanks everyone. She's a good girl inside... she's just so distrustful of the world. While we went on a walk today (the first since I got her) she was alert to every little nose. However, I was prepared with grilled chicken and a lot of praise and she didn't lunge or bark once. She was rewarded whenever a runner or biker or kid or stroller or dog passed us. Hopefully in time she'll learn to anticipate reinforcement when she sees these things and start associating them with pleasant feelings/emotions rather than ones of fear! Like I said, deep down she's a good girl. She's so incredibly sweet with me and my boyfriend and we only just met her... she met a client and her dog today and barked at her (the client has a fear aggressive GSD - we've been working on him for some time and he's gotten so much better) so she knew how to approach her and within minutes she (my foster girl - who I think I'll call Sadie) was all about this new person!

To think, they weren't even going to give her a chance simply because she had managed to fall into the wrong hands so many times in her short life and been so misunderstood that they labeled her as unfixable and unmanageably aggressive :/ 

Then again... water hoses may still have to worry!


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## Zisso (Mar 20, 2009)

That photo of her with the garden hose IMO is a framer!!


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## Beau (Feb 12, 2012)

Zisso said:


> That photo of her with the garden hose IMO is a framer!!


I agree!

Thank you for giving he a wonderful new home, full of promise and hope! She doesn't realize it yet, but she just hit the foster lottery!


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## e.rigby (May 28, 2011)

Sadie (what we've chosen as her new name) made a couple new friends today!


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

Bless you! Sadie reminds me of the foster that we took in to help out a rescue organization that wasn't able to handle German Shepherds. He became so attached we ended up keeping him. He was older, so I wasn't able to remove all the reactive behaviors toward people, but he does well with other dogs.


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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

She already looks 1000 times happier than when she was in the shelter. The kennels can greatly impact a dogs' behavior.







e.rigby said:


> Sadie (what we've chosen as her new name) made a couple new friends today!


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## lorihd (Nov 30, 2011)

just wonderful that you took this beautiful girl in. what a transfermation in just a few days! (love the hose picture


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## e.rigby (May 28, 2011)

Yup... she's soooo very DA  










And the dog to the left is Harley, he use to be incredibly fear aggressive toward other dogs to the point if he saw one, even FAR off in the distance he'd go bezerk and not calm down for a very long time... he's come a LONG way! This was taken on the 3rd day I had Sadie (the foster) ... so she's really not as bad as she was made out to be! 










She's a good girl, I can see past the fear barking to know she isn't as bad as she sounds... plus, she's proving to be very trainable!


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## e.rigby (May 28, 2011)

Video update: 

Sadie and Harley! - YouTube


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

She's so pretty! Thank you for fostering her!


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## e.rigby (May 28, 2011)

I'm just hoping I can make a lasting difference so that she can find her forever home! I don't think I could stand knowing she's going to be passed around anymore... or worse, stuck in a shelter on death row!


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## e.rigby (May 28, 2011)

Sadie has finally found her forever home  She leaves to live with her new dad this Sunday! I'm so excited for her.

And today while at one of the local shelters I came across a dog that had been in a kennel there since June. Everything is set for me to pull her on Monday as a new foster.

This is her. No name yet...


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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

I am so happy for her. Hopefully this new girl? will find a home soon too.


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## e.rigby (May 28, 2011)

Yup, the new one is a black (and tan, or maybe a bleed through?). She's 8 months and as far as I could see she had no issues. She's been at the shelter since June  So I'm going to foster and train her and after she has a few basics down, seek to find her a home!


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Yay YOU!

All-breed fosters often simply don't understand that the fearful behavior some of these dogs exhibit in scary new situations is not necessarily who these dogs really are. Given a chance to find a little self-confidence, relax in a home that "gets" them and gives them time to let the stress of the shelter fade away, they reveal their true personalities. So many of these pups turn into totally different dogs, but too many of them die before they get the chance. Thanks for giving Sadie a third or fourth chance to find her forever home and blossom into the wonderful dog she's supposed to be!


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## lorihd (Nov 30, 2011)

how wonderful sadie gets a new home (thanks to you) and that a new dog also gets the chance to have a forever home (thanks to you). Love reading this thread, very inspiring


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## e.rigby (May 28, 2011)

I took her to her new dad today. It was bitter sweet. She did VERY well with him. We had a training session and I showed him how to work on the different cues and she was responding perfectly. She was happy and confident and seemed to fit in very well. However, as I left I had to get him to hold her back because she wanted to follow me out the door. 

Hopefully she'll bond to him just like she did me (I already saw it happening today)

I didn't make a big deal about the goodbye.. kind of wanted to cry on the drive home. She's in a great home. So that makes it all worth it!

I'll update here or make a new thread when I have more information on the new foster shepherd!


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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

I know the feeling of the bitter sweet endings.You are glad to see them start the next chapter of their lives,but you miss them too. Does she have any other dogs to play with?

When are you bringing your other foster home?


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## e.rigby (May 28, 2011)

I pulled the new shepherd today. She received her DHLPP and RV at the shelter, however, when I got her in the car I noticed she had fur missing around her muzzle so before I got home I stopped by the vet and they did a skin scrapping. She has Demodex mange  

She's on a 30 day 1x per day treatment of Ivermectin to get rid of the mites. She will need to go back in once all the medicine is gone and get another skin scraping. 

She's a real sweet heart. She seems to love everyone and enjoys dogs. She had no fear of my Shepherd and she wanted to play with the Aussies. She's a bit nervous in new environments, but I think she can overcome that part easily with some socialization outings.

And some pictures!


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## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

just have to say your pack is beautiful, your fosters are truly lucky dogs!!!


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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

Beautiful girl


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## Dooney's Mom (May 10, 2011)

Thank you thank you thank you for rescuing her- she looks so sweet. and that picture you took was just awesome!


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