Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log
SUNDAY DECEMBER 8 2002
Sunday 7:30 p.m. - This is Bill, filling in for Pat tonight ...
Pat doesn't have time to write tonight because we've been on the road from noon till six making home visits to two probable adoptive families, and we took along with us a half vanful of dogs: Melissa, Dakota and Jimmy. Dakota WAS adopted and remained at his new home. A wonderful, dog-loving family, who already had three dogs. After a long introduction period, they all got along . Lot's of photos (from me) and story (from Pat) to come in the morning. Melissa's adoption is still contingent on a few things, and she's going to be a Christmas present (if everything works out), so we'll withhold the details and photos of this story till after Christmas. ... And it's been more than three months since our last print newsletter, and we've got to get a fresh mailer out soon, so we'll be working on that. ... The necessity to raise funds to sustain this mission never seems to end. ... And I'm sure it won't end until we achieve sustainable dog and cat population growth by way of spay and neuter--WITHOUT having to use euthanasia for anything other than to stop constant and extreme discomfort (suffering) near the end of a terminal illness.
Pat's UPDATE posted Monday morning:
Puppy Dakota is adopted, Melissa may be adopted
Sunday was a super busy day! Bill and I spent six hours on the road visiting two prospective adoptive families' homes, but it was well worth it as Puppy Dakota was adopted and Melissa may be adopted soon.
We began our trip to Plano a little after 12:00 noon. The first stop was to see how all went with Melissa at her prospective new home. Details of this visit will come later since Melissa is to be a Christmas present (a very carefully thought out Christmas present, which Bill and I completely understand). We don't want to give away the surprise by telling about this potential adoption right now. We took Jimmy along for this home visit too, but Melissa was clearly the dog of choice.
We should know within the next day or so what the decision will be about Melissa being adopted by the family, and until the decision is made, Melissa will remain at our Happy Home for Strays.
Dakota's adoption
After the first home visit we went on to the second home visit with three-month-old pups, Dakota and Jimmy.
The
parents of this second family had called us wanting a playful
dog (or pup) to become a part of their family of two well behaved
sons (living at home with a third son away at college) and three,
previously rescued, dogs. The family wanted a playful dog to be
a companion especially for their four-year-old Black Lab named
Kaila, who needed a playful friend, since the other two
dogs in the family are "senior citizens" now, preferring
to sleep the day away on the couch rather than to run and play
with Kaila. This high energy dog needed a playful friend, the
dad said.
When we arrived, the family greeted
us and took an instant liking to Dakota. Then the Dad brought
out their big pooch, Kaila, who was so excited about seeing Puppy
Dakota that we at first couldn't tell if her growls and barking
were an aggressive warning to this little fellow or most likely
were given out of excited happiness to see a new little friend.
Initial introductions
When we introduce dogs to other dogs for the first time, both dogs must be on leashes.
Knowing if two dogs will be compatible is often easy but can be difficult. It's really easy when the two dogs who meet for the first time instantly like each other, which is shown by happy tail wagging and kissy sniffy greetings along with playful, bouncy dances in front of each other. When dogs immediately behave this way, we can let them off their leashes in a fenced area right away, and they always take off running and playing.
It's also really easy to know their compatibility when the two prospective companion dogs show an instant dislike to each other, which is shown by either one or both of the dogs snarling, showing their teeth and growing aggressively before they even get near each other (which is why we introduce all dogs on leashes). When either one or both of the dogs show extreme aggression, we take the introduction no further.
The difficult introductions are those when we are unsure about one of the dogs by his or her behavior, such as Kaila's first reaction toward Dakota.
Both dogs were on their leashes when the dad brought Kaila outside to their front yard (neutral territory) to meet Dakota. As soon as Kaila spotted the pup, she came bounding over to Dakota in an excited flurry of loud barking and growling. We couldn't tell at first if this was an aggressive "get away from me, pup!" or if Kaila was just plain super happy and excited to meet this little friend (who was now very frightened of Kaila).
When in doubt, walk them side by side
Whenever we're in doubt about how well the dogs might get along, we walk them side by side, which usually calms down the overly excited fellow as the dogs begin to realize that neither is going to attack the other. We walked Dakota and Kaila back and forth and back and forth on the front sidewalk in the light drizzling rain, and finally Kaila calmed down enough for some sniffy greetings. Kaila finally seemed to accept the happy-go-lucky pup.
The next step was to take the two dogs to Kaila's back yard to see if Kaila would accept the pup there (in her territory), and all went along okay. Kaila became very playful (or wanted to become very playful with Dakota), but Dakota was still a bit overwhelmed by the memory of Kaila's initial barking and growling, so Dakota preferred to hide behind any big person's legs! Kaila flew around the yard in her excitement of having a new little friend, then took off at full speed heading toward the family's swimming pool, and went for a swim in the cold water!
With the back yard visit going smoothly the dad dried off sopping wet Kaila, and we all went inside to the warmth of their home. As excited Kaila flew around and around the living room trying to engage Dakota in a game of chase, Dakota took refuge beneath the coffee table in front of the couch, where he "hid" as Kaila zoomed by him. (We all thought their partially decorated Christmas tree would surely tumble, but it didn't.) Finally Dakota realized this big, furry black dog was really being friendly, and Dakota began to feel more at ease. Playful barking began between the two of them, and all was okay!
Dakota came out of his hiding spot and went to play with the two sons who had already fallen in love with the little pup. They showed Dakota how to go up and down the stairs and began discussing whose bed Dakota would be sleeping in.
Then the two, small, older dogs were brought out to the living room from their sleeping places in one of the bedrooms, and these two dogs were introduced to Dakota, which went fine and after that short sniffy greeting, the older fellas waddled back to their beds.
Dakota is now happy with his new, wonderful forever family!
Bill and I head for home
Finishing with the second home visit, Bill and I drove the hour and a half (over 90 miles) back to our shelter in the pouring down rain, and we arrived home with Melissa and Jimmy shortly after six p.m. It was dark and still raining as we pulled up the drive, and Guy, who had stayed to cover for us and take care of Julie dog's insulin and meal, met us at the gate to help get the two dogs back to their kennels.
All went okay in our absence, Guy said, but Tipper had gotten too rough with Puppy Pepsi during the afternoon, so they returned Pepsi to his original kennel with his mom, Krissy, and brother, Pepper.
Jimmy misses Dakota!
After putting Jimmy back in his kennel I turned on the heat lamp in his shelter while Guy took him a bowl of puppy food, but Jimmy was not interested in eating. He wanted his best friend, Dakota, and he immediately began searching all around the kennel for his little buddy. When Jimmy realized Dakota was not there, Jimmy sat beside his gate in the rain and looked toward the house, crying pathetically for his little friend. This was just too sad for me to bear (worse for Jimmy, I'm sure), so I went to Freckle's kennel, which she shares with her remaining pup, Leo, and I borrowed Leo to spend the night with Jimmy. This made both pups happy, and they took off to share the bowl of puppy food and then began clumping around playfully in Jimmy's shelter.
Another quick trip outside in the rain with Toby, Blackie and Snowflake, and then one last outing for Frosty the Husky (the dog convalescing from her gunshot wound) and dog care was done for the night.
*Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log
*Photo Pages
*Saturday Adoption Day December 14 - Location(s) to come.
*Our Dogs for Adoption - Volunteer Shannon's page
*Our Dogs for Adoption listed on Petfinder.org
*Our Mission & How We Got Started
*"Goodbye, Danny Boy." - An example of the only acceptable use of euthanasia
Special-needs
dogs raise vet bill!
If you would like to help with the vet expenses, you may send your tax deductible donations directly to:
Morton Small Animal Clinic
1404 E. Tyler Street
Athens, Tx. 75751
and please make a note on your check that the donation is for Straydog Inc. so they'll be sure to apply your donation to our Straydog account. (Or you may send a donation directly to Straydog Inc., P.O. Box 1465, Gun Barrel City, Texas 75147.)
As always we thank you, very, very much, for your help.
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