Jump to content

Foster Dogs


Recommended Posts

All the other Gundagai dogs have been quite angelic and Juniper looked so demure in her pound photo. Who knew she was like a force of nature :laugh: Apparently she doesn't keep still ... first thing we're going to have to train is an off-switch! :)

I texted her temp carer yesterday and asked how things were and she said: "The house is still standing". :rofl: I'm sure she can't wait until we pick up the naughty Kelpie!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All the other Gundagai dogs have been quite angelic and Juniper looked so demure in her pound photo. Who knew she was like a force of nature :laugh: Apparently she doesn't keep still ... first thing we're going to have to train is an off-switch! :)

I texted her temp carer yesterday and asked how things were and she said: "The house is still standing". :rofl: I'm sure she can't wait until we pick up the naughty Kelpie!

:rofl:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be fair, the temp carer owned Kelpies a long time ago and currently has 3 little Shih Tzus so I suspect having a naughty, untrained young Kelpie was a little overwhelming :)

We picked up Cylone Juniper today. Least we know she's good with small fluffies :laugh:

juniper13.jpg

juniper14.jpg

She had a good romp in our backyard with our doggies

juniper16.jpg

juniper17.jpg

She's smallish. About Dodge-sized at around 12 kg

juniper19.jpg

She's very, very scared of people still

juniper30.jpg

But is a very sweet girl with lots of potential. I started working with her today with a clicker. Nothing fancy, just getting her used to the concept. I'm happy to say that we have managed to find and activate her off-switch.

juniper32.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure her off switch is activated after a good romp with her new foster siblings who have similar energy levels to hers, yes?

I'm sure after a few days at your place, she'll come out of her shell a lot more with regards to timidity... can't play coy at treat time, or you miss out, right?

She's had a lot of changes recently - it is quite normal to be a little unsure for a little while - but under your care I'm sure she will really flourish.

T.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure her off switch is activated after a good romp with her new foster siblings who have similar energy levels to hers, yes?

I'm sure after a few days at your place, she'll come out of her shell a lot more with regards to timidity... can't play coy at treat time, or you miss out, right?

She's had a lot of changes recently - it is quite normal to be a little unsure for a little while - but under your care I'm sure she will really flourish.

Awww thanks! She's a really nice little dog. Very naughty and crazy but as she's completely untrained, that's not surprising :) She's had a few time outs but seems to be catching on now.

Playing with the dogs in the yard

juniper39.jpg

juniper41.jpg

juniper42.jpg

juniper47.jpg

Learning to chill

juniper34.jpg

Time-out for being too rambunctious

juniper53.jpg

Off-Switch activated - humans on facebook means dogs must chill out in dog beds :)

juniper54.jpg

juniper55.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

tdierikx and DD, to be honest, it hadn't occurred to me that the similar energy levels would make a difference because our three are so slothful when around the house. They're very active outside and when at dog park etc but in the house, they tend to just sleep and chill but she does seem to have slotted herself in quite well.

A lot of the fosters when we first get them are quite twitchy and restless but our resident dogs do seem to settle them after a while. Here she is chilling with Dodge in A Tangle of Kelpies :)

juniper56.jpg

Juniper's certainly much less anxious now, she's coming up for pats. I can get her to through doorways. Initially, I had to send our dogs to places I wanted her to go i.e. call out "kitchen" or "outside!" or "study!" or "inside!" and she'd follow but now she's willing to come through a doorway. She will come up if I crouch down but if anyone's walking near/towards her, she will run away. My 'cheaters' way of addressing this is I lock skittish fosters in the kitchen with me when I'm cooking/baking. I'm walking back and forth and ignoring them and they seem to relax as they realise: "OMG human is approaching me ... oh she isn't coming at me at all". It's a way to keep an eye on them while cooking but also relax them.

I got a really, really lovely update today from former foster Baxter's family. They adopted him more than a year ago (early September 2012) and still keep in touch and he is soooooo pampered. He was a nuisance barker when we got him, had no mealtime manners, knew no tricks, was so skittish when people patted him. He was still a bit shy when we adopted him out but his family have done really great work with him and he's not scared of people at all anymore. He was originally going to be an outside dog but he's very much inside and part of the family.

Anyway, this is the update:

"Just wanted to send through some photos and give a quick update on Baxter. We had decided that his birthday would be on the first weekend in September (until we recently saw on his vaccination certificate that his date of birth is in March, oops), so we had a little party for him and Rachel made him a cake (see attached photos). He didn’t seem too impressed by the party hat, but the little guts attacked the birthday cake with gusto.

baxterupdate01a.jpg

We took him over to the coast a few weeks ago. He was a bit intimidated by the ocean at first, but then followed me in and seemed to be enjoying it – until when he was swimming back to the shore and got dumped by a wave. It wasn’t a big wave (it’s a dog beach), but I think it scared him a little bit, so no more ocean dips for Baxter. He did love running around on the sand though, and there was a quieter part at a river mouth and he was happy to go for a splash there (see photos).

baxterupdate02.jpg

baxterupdate03.jpg

baxterupdate04.jpg

baxterupdate05.jpg

baxterupdate06.jpg

He’s just been for his vaccination booster and the vet was extremely happy with his health. He still bugs me every morning to go for a run. We went for a 12km run yesterday morning around the lake and back, and I thought this would tire him out, but no, I was stuffed when we got back, and he went straight out into the backyard to chase flies (still his favourite pastime)."

I'm so happy for him because he was so wretched and unwanted in his previous two homes and the poor boy had also done a stint in the pound :'(

nova00.jpg

Edited by koalathebear
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shoot! If that doesn't bring a happy tear to anyone's eye, I don't know what would. Lovely, Koala. You must (and should) be so proud.

Thank you! I love all the fosters we've had through here and all of their owners keep in touch which is sooooo nice for me.

I love your idea of keeping the scared dogs in the kitchen with you while you work. Saturation therapy.

It's gradually working! She's getting used to the loud noises and while she still darts off to the side, her 'circle' is getting smaller :laugh:

Juniper hung out for a while as Office Dog to keep my husband company as he was programming :)

juniper58.jpg

She chilled out with Hoover

juniper59.jpg

Hoover and Elbie tell her off when she noms them too much. Dodge is too soft and lets her nom him to death so the poor thing is covered in little scabs and lumps. We have to supervise their interactions now because while she is very gentle with humans, she's a bit rough with Dodge. He has Stockholm's Syndrome though and loves her and still likes to share a dog bed with her!?!

Received the loveliest update about Ollie, our foster who was adopted in September 2012.

His mum says: "Don't get around to facebook much these days but thought you might enjoy a few pics from the back garden. No bum biting but lots of wrestling - Pip still has a lot of play in her for a 10yr old ACD. Thought you might like the ones of Ollie racing around the garden- I couldn't keep up with him. Pip of course just lay on the grass and watched his tomfoolery..... Queen Pip and running, you have to be joking! Need to get you a photo of the kids giving Ollie hugs- he loves all the attention.

Pip and Ollie are firm buddies which exactly what I was hoping for, although Pip has had to share the couch and the kid scraps. Actually Ollie has us all wrapped around his paw. Mum and dad pick him up every Tues along with the kids as I work late on a Tuesday. He gets to hang out with the grandparents, their 3 dogs and 2 cats and is in 7th heaven. Gemma at 2.5 is really funny as she keeps trying to tell him to spin, but she hasn't,t quite got the arm movement right yet and he keeps trying to shake her hand. V funny. "

Ollie and Pip

ollieoct2013_01.jpg

ollieoct2013_02.jpg

ollieoct2013_03.jpg

ollieoct2013_04.jpg

ollieoct2013_05.jpg

ollieoct2013_07.jpg

Ollie's sister Queen Pip, the 10 year old ACD :)

ollieoct2013_06.jpg

ollieoct2013_08.jpg

Edited by koalathebear
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...