Little Gifts

I made a stuffed toy for my foster boy who just left and I stuffed it with stuffing left over from his play time here - unwashed. As he was leaving my sister embarrassingly rubbed it over all the dogs and us so it would be full of familiar smells. I think his new parents thought she was a bit 'earthy'!

What a ripper idea!!!!

Dogs continue to amaze me. Oscar was back to his usual self today. When his new family came to get him this afternoon he spent time getting re-aquainted with them. I never expected him to be a family dog - I thought he'd be more suited to a single person, but there he was wagging his tail with the kids and playing tug. He walked straight out of the house, down the stairs, quick piddle stop on the front lawn then straight into the car next to the son. WTF? I usually have to push him off the verandah and encourage him into the car with treats! I got a text later to say he had done the whole trip home with his head on the daughters lap. Poor Dannie has been all teary that he has gone and the other dogs are doing Sad Sack impressions. I'm a little teary too but more because how fantastic an outcome this is for him. I can see him becoming a whole different type of dog in a family environment, with kids to play with. They want to keep in contact but they don't need my approval - they will give him far more as a family than we could ever give him here. You just never know how things are going to turn out for rescue dogs sometimes but it is good to at least be part of getting them ready to start a new journey with more confidence. We're going to miss you Snorkel Boy!

My sister's dog wants to hump the others after she eats and the other two are trying to play while this is happening and I'm yelling at them all to settle down. It's like they feel the need to celebrate having had a meal! My laundry where I prepare their meals has 2 doorways. The two youngest dogs (one a foster) like to run circles through the laundry, kitchen and work room as I prepare the food, but the funny thing is they run in opposite directions. My sister's dog does circles too but just at my feet in the laundry. Because of the direction she runs in my girl then dances backwards on her back legs in front of me as I walk to put her bowl on the floor. Beats me how dinner could be so exciting every single night!

Oscar has found a lovely new family and will be going to live with them from tomorrow. He is breaking my heart at present though because he seems to sense change is in the air and has started chewing on himself and scratching and his eyes have gone gunky again. I have not made any preparations for his departure - absolutely nothing has changed here, but he still seems to know. He didn't even eat all his brekkie this morning. I'm just going to continue doing things the same rather than react to his new behaviours. Wish him luck for a smooth transition. Once he settles into his new home I know he is going to have a wonderful life.

I just use those plastic key tags but I try and match the colour to the collar and dog. When my foster kids are out in public they always wear a bandana anyway. I've finally made some 'adopt me' ones up that have a shar pei pic on them and the rescue groups details, so the tag is unlikely to be seen.

I got some reflective wrist bands from Kathmandu quite cheap. I wear one and one hangs on the leashes.

I think there are a couple of ways to attract potential foster carers. My first suggestion is to contact your local council and see if it is possible to send out a flyer with dog re-registrations. Councils in QLD used to do it with rates notices but you really want to target pet lovers. Do you have signs up at local pounds? Are there popular pet shops where you could set yourself up one saturday morning to talk to pet lovers? When people find out I foster dogs they have no idea how it works. Flyers should include a carer and dog story and state the resources/support you provide your carers as well as what you expect from your carers. If there are any pet or animal expos on you could also set up a stall with the specific purpose of recruiting. You could also check with your dept of communities or families and when they are recruiting for foster carers for children see if they would let you distribute flyers as not everyone who goes to their presentation nights or training ends up being right for caring for children. There are also some people on benefits who would make great foster carers but they might think they can't afford to care for an animal on their income. The rescuer I support provides good quality food which I choose to supplement, and all medications, etc so some rescue groups leave a foster carer with very minimal cost outlays and this could be a selling point to people on Centrelink benefits with time and love to give.

I've worked in child protection for many years. The cases of abuse continue to grow and the severity and length of some of the abuse is hard to imagine. I firmly believe people know right from wrong but still there is an element of society that simply doesn't care about anyone but themselves. They justify their behaviour with a myriad of excuses. Everything and anyone around them seems to have no value. Education and reminders are always important but the percentage of people this will affect and change the behaviours of is small compared to those that simply don't give a toss about the acceptable way to treat animals, children, spouses, the elderly, etc, etc, etc. I honestly don't know how you change that.

I second the vet check. I remember someone telling me they had no idea their dog had gone blind until they moved into a new house and the dog started acting all strange. Obviously it had the old house mapped out. But on the other hand - did you build your new house? Could it be an old renovated house with ghosties????

I've got a shar pei foster dog here who is so laid back we didn't think he knew he was actually a dog. In the two months he has been here he has not barked or growled or even got the hump about anything. But my scary side of the family came to stay with us on Wednesday night. Thursday morning my sister and I had to take her dog to the vet for an operation. While we were out the foster boy bailed my dodgy sister up in the hallway. He wouldn't let her past our bedrooms to the bathroom. He was growling and barking at her. Dogs are such a good judge of character!

If you do a search for the word 'anxiety' under the training thread you will find a couple of useful article links. I was facing that situation here with a foster boy so I started researching last week briefly.

What about using a pallet as the floor/base for a larger dog house? If it doesn't need to be moved they sit up off the ground which would have to help keep it dry and insulated? I'm not good with building stuff though so feel free to ignore my suggestion if it is lame!

Re a temporary shelter - when we went camping we took a beach shade/pop up tent with us just in case and everyone commented what a great idea it was. It was bought from an op shop but camping places like Anaconda sell them for $20. They will give shade and protect from wind and rain. They can be pegged into place. If you were closer I'd loan you mine! Please keep updating on here if you get stuck with anything. I live southside of Brisbane and depending on how your transport from Toowoomba to the airport pans out could probably assist with an overnight stay and delivery to the airport if that became necessary. Hopefully Tonka will still remember you and settling in wont be too traumatic. Remember this happens with rescue dogs all the time and with a little extra tlc they find their feet again fairly quickly. Dogs are oh so resiliant.

What a beautiful, happy girl. RIP Sabine.

Very sad loss. Bye Ziggy.

I posted this info in the dogs craft thread as well but Kwik Sew pattern 3357 is a no sew dog coat that goes up to 66cm. It wouldn't be hard to make it longer to suit a larger sized dog and you should get 2 coats out of the one piece of fleece fabric. So it is a cheap and easy option for DIYers who can't sew.

I have a pied SBT and my sister has a husky/shep cross and we used to meet her friend's teensy chi down the park. The chi is crazy and is usually hanging off one of our dogs but people were always worried our dogs were trying to hurt it. Now with shar pei foster dogs when we walk around the neighbourhood we get comments on our odd combo of breeds, like we couldn't quite decide what we wanted so we were trying out a bit of everything.

I have a shar pei foster boy here. He came to me quite malnourished and lacking in life. He went straight on Black Hawk Holistic kibble (but has also had Candidae grain free kibble) and was eating a cup of that every 2 hours for the first couple of days. He still needs 3 feeds a day 2 months later to keep him feeling and looking healthy and with the one cup of kibble each meal he gets either a couple of dessert spoons of greek yoghurt, half a tin of sardines or 3 chicken necks on top. I can't believe how much he eats really but it is the quality that also seems to be so important for some dogs/breeds. He was being fed by his previous owner but it was takeaway scraps, tinned dog food and human snack food and he was just wasting away. With other shar pei I have substituted a cup of kibble for a whole chicken carcass but this boy can't seem to eat anything big like that. A previous foster boy used to love his carcasses. It took him ages to eat it but he was oh so happy at the end! I don't know actual nurtitional differences but in this house a carcass is a whole meal while a couple of necks are generally fed on top of something else. Do you feed more than once a day? You could also try that to see if it suits your girl better. My other dogs eat two meals - a token one for breakfast and the main meal at night.

Thank you for the info Emp! Always useful to know about things like this for the foster kids!

I have a foster dog who was surrendered. I know his first/previous owner loved and doted on him but circumstances meant she could no longer keep him. I could see the sadness hanging from him when he arrived. It took weeks for him to settle in and show what a truly lovely boy he is. I'm sure if his previous owner turned up now, two months on he would still go crazy to see her.

I know, I have been slack with the photos mainly because Oscar prefers to be indoors and with his dark coat inside photos aren't so great. He has grown into a very loving and funny boy. I so wish I had photos to reflect that but I'm also a bad photographer. We will be going to the Peinic this Sunday and if I'm lucky I can get one of the good photographers to take some snaps of him. As for Delilah - well that girl is just so cuddle-ish-us! She is so tiny but so full of spunk! Once she is ready for a forever home she will be beating potential adopters off with a stick!

What kind of hormones are on the bandana? I'd never heard of that before but it sounds practical/sensible. The boys are looking so fantastic now!

Same here - I knew it was going to be a cold winter because my sister's shep/husky girl has been shedding and growing and shedding and growing for weeks now, which is very different to most years where she just sort of thickens up and then sheds when it warms up. She constantly has dags hanging off her at present.

I haven't updated about our smooshy boy for a while. I think he is looking wonderful now with his weight back up, sporting a nice thick coat. He is going through a phase of wanting another feed at midnight (we stay up late here) but I figure if he is hungry then feed him! He is a total cheeky monkey but still does new things even after 2 months with us. Last week he started to nose us when he wants something (usually his midnight meal, right on the dot!) and this past weekend he started getting up on the lounge chairs for a kip, once was even on top of my legs like my girl does. He talks all the time and makes a purr like sound when you rub him in his favourite spot. I've been making some coats for Ams' rescue dogs and tried one on Oscar. He does love to frock up! Mind you the coat making has required some creativity as one of Oscar's bad habits is that he steals fabric from the sewing room and takes it out the back for a chew. He prefers the taste of muted tones but looks much better in bright colours! Oh and Ams has the most beautiful pei puppy at her place - Delilah is just built for cuddles! If we are lucky Ams might stick a photo up of the little maggot? She has practically taken over the Peiradise page on FB!