Mood:  hungry

What a long weird weekend.

My friend Tanya emailed the foster woman  to tell her that we was appalled by the way the woman was running her organization and that according to the online description of Andy, I would have been a perfect match. The woman’s response was slightly more irritating than her original message.

I appreciate your concerns regarding this matter, but truly, this does not reflect Best Buddies practices.  I am Andy's foster mom, and there's nothing I'd like more than to place him in a wonderful home.  I'd also like very much to help your friend, Rebecca, find just the right dog for her, but to be honest, I don't have any foster dogs, nor do I  know of any, that could be left home alone for 9 hours a day without getting bored and developing destructive behaviors.  Because I didn't know of any foster dogs that could be left alone for so many hours, I did not have any alternates to suggest to Rebecca. 

The facts of the matter are that Andy's description for the website was written only a few days after he came to live here when none of us knew very much about him.  It wasn't until last week when he was adopted to a very kind and loving family that we learned that his separation anxiety was as serious as his thunderstorm anxiety.  When he was left at home for just 30 minutes, he destroyed wooden blinds and a window facing in their new home.  Of course, he was returned to me.   We learned  through that experience that he's going to need a home where he's not often left alone.  My husband is retired and I work part time, so someone is here with Andy nearly all the time.  In a situation like ours with the other dogs and us here, he doesn't exhibit separation anxiety.   Because we are home nearly all the time, we can be on the lookout for approaching thunderstorms, and can get him inside in an interior room, and can sit with him until the storm is over.  I can't imagine what he would do at home alone all day if it was storming.  I'm sure he'd be terrified.  Andy's description on the website should be changed, and I will submit those changes to the webmaster as soon as I have time, but with a house full of foster dogs and hospice dogs to care for, I have to prioritize what I do. 

Rebecca, I sincerely apologize for not going into more detail in my response to you.  I wish I had a foster dog that would be a good match for you, but I honestly don't.   Most of the adult foster dogs I have are dogs with "issues" and dogs who have special needs, medical or otherwise.  Then, I have puppies who are still much too young to be left alone for many hours.  If I can be of any help at all to you in your search, please let me know.  Again, I do sincerely apologize for not elaborating further in my email to you.  It's been an extremely long day, and I'm just very very tired.   I should have waited til tomorrow to reply to your email, but I thought you were probably anxious for a response.  I really try to do the best I can at accomodating people and helping them find what they're looking for.  I'm sorry I disappointed you.  I've been doing this for seven years, and this is the first time anyone has complained, believe it or not.  Please don't give up on adopting a foster dog or shelter dog because of this unfortunate incident.

I admire this woman for what she is attempting to do but it is obvious she hasn’t the first clue on dog training and behavior. Andy is a PUPPY and will display puppy behaviors. Every puppy I have met has some separation anxiety and it takes time to train the puppy to know that it will be okay if it is left alone. My question is…why isn’t this dog crated? It can’t tear up the house if it is in a crate. The dog doesn’t need to be crated forever. Just till it learns the rules of the house. As for the fear of storms…her part about taking him into a room and sitting with the dog until the storm passes is only strengthening his fear. Dogs look to the pack leader (YOU) for guidance in scary situations. If you act scared or nervous the dog picks up on that and will act the same as you. In this case the dog should be provided at safe place to go (a crate with a blanket over it) and you act as normal as possible. Hasn’t this woman ever watched the Dog Whisperer? I was going to write her back but decided to leave it alone. It breaks my heart to see Andy living this way because he could be a great dog.

Saturday afternoon I drove down to the local ASPCA... I sat in the parking lot for about 20 minutes just getting up enough nerve to go inside. All sort of thought ran through my head. What if I am rejected again? Can I really afford a dog? I know Lennie said he would help but what happens when he goes to Iraq? Am I really ready for the commitment? One of the animal control officers was going to his car and came over to see if something was wrong. I told him that I was thinking of going in and that I was just wondering if this whole adoption thing is something I should do. He said that it wouldn’t hurt to check the place out. So I got out of my car and went on in. I sat with a counselor for about 30 minutes. We discussed my wants, needs, and concerns in owning a dog and she was very patient and understood my apprehension and even stated that it was good I was being cautious. She stated that I had done a lot more research in owning a dog than half the people that come in. She then took me back to see the dogs. If you live and Raleigh and have never been to the center it is actually some place you should check out. It is one of the best shelters I have seen. The dogs are color coded for age and personality type. This is an attempt to steer people away from just selecting a pretty dog instead and go for a dog that will suits their lifestyle. My color dogs are the Purple – Teacher’s Pet and the Orange- Busy Bee and Goofball. I went through the dogs with the counselor and selected a few I thought might be a match.

Meet Buck!

Buck is a golden retriever chow mix and is a beautiful dog but was too interested in chasing his tail and was easy distracted by other things. This is not a good thing when you are out hiking. You need a dog that can focus. These are traits that he can be taught but just didn’t get the feeling he was for me. This is good because another couple had fallen in love with him and planned on putting in an application.

Then came Sampson.

Sampson is a Shepherd Akita mix and was a great dog. I was talking to the counselor at one point and Sampson got in my lap and rolled around. He definitely needed to be the center of attention. Might not bode well for a cat who also needs to be the center of attention.

Next in was Linus...

Lastly…Anderson

Anderson is a 5 month old Border Collie Mix and probably my favorite dog of the day. The volunteer brought him in and he immediately started worming his way into my heart. He went over and pick up a rope toy and brought it to me so we could play tug of war. When he was done with that he went and got a ball for me to throw. He would bring it right back and curl up in my lap for a belly rub and then wanted me to throw the ball again. When he got tired of playing he came over and got in my lap and just wanted me to snuggle him. Anne it was sort of like Bilbo lying in your arms like a baby.

I told Lennie we would go over when he got back into town. I know he is excited but I am still a little unsure about owning a dog. We will see. There might be a dog out there that we just can’t do without.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.