These are the dogs that I foster. I'd like to become a canine behaviorist, but until I do, I intend to foster and rehabilitate dogs with behavioral problems. And the money I make from my pet portraits (http://believepetportraits.blogspot.com/) go towards supplies for these homeless dogs. The dogs and I thank you for your contributions!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Goodbye Teddy..... TT_TT
Kristen just left to take Teddy to her house. Kristen is going to be Teddy's new foster mom now. On one hand, I'm a little relieved to see Teddy go. She was a lot of work and did quite a bit of damage. But all in all, I'm bawling my eyes out. I thought it would mostly be because I'm sad to see her go, but surprisingly that's not why I'm so upset. When the behaviorist put Teddy in the back of her car, Teddy was scared shitless. Literally, she defecated out of fear. I've only seen her do that twice. She was terrified! And as her foster parents, me and Chris are the ones she was looking to on how to react to this terrifying situation. But instead of being there for her, we let people she didn't know drive off with her. I feel like just when she was finally able to trust us, we betray her. I betrayed her. And I know that's silly, dogs don't hold grudges or think like that. But she was terrified and instead of helping her, I stood there watching and let her worst nightmare come true. At least when I returned Jack, I knew he would be ok. But Teddy's hurting and I'm not there for her any more and THAT'S what pains me most. TT_TT
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Bad Teddy! >:(
As Teddy comes out of her shell more and more, she's been getting more and more mischievious. I've had to replace several things now that she's chewed up, like my cell phone, my blinds, my bed sheets, my rice socks, a t-shirt, my car seatbelt, NUMEROUS leashes, the bento box I bought in Japan (I was nosad about that, but luckily I found the same exact one on Amazon!), and most importantly, electrical cords! My iHome adapter was the first casuality, which cost me over $20 to replace. She chewed up my phone charger and is working on my new one. She chewed through Chris's PS3 headset and I had to buy him a new one. I found bitemarks in my laptop cord, but luckily she hasn't done any damage. These can all be replaced of course, but I'm worried she's going to electricute herself one of these days.
I tried everything! I leave her stuffed toys to destroy, stuffed rubber Kong toys, she has 2 different bones and a hoof, and she insists on eating my expensive stuff :/ She likes the Busy Bones we give Briar and Breeze to keep them busy, but she's a heavy duty chewer - she eats a large one in 5-10 minutes, and they're expensive! She chewed almost completely through my seatbelt in the 10 seconds it took me to catch and stop her. I finally bought Bitter Apple Spray and hosed down my electrical cords (which is probably why she didn't damage my laptop cord and hopefully why she won't continue on my new phone charger). Hopefully that'll stop the electrical cord issue. I happen to think I'm a pretty patient person (not trying to brag, just make a point), but even I have my limit, and I've found it's about $200.
I'm wondering if she was chained up a lot at her old home. She associates leashes with lack of freedom, she refuses to go in her kennel if I'm in the room, and Breeze was strapped in the car when Teddy tried to eat the seatbelt holding her. And she apparently came in with a homemade collar. If it was made with some sort of wire, that would explain her eating everycord in my room. It's not separation anxiety, she ate through Chris's headset while he was in the room sitting next to her. So I'm kind of at a loss for that one :/
She's also destroyed my carpet, though that's not really her fault. But I would prefer she used the puppy pads I put out for her insyead of chewing them to pieces and then scattering those pieces all over the room for me to clean up and leaving me a wet mess on top of whatever other destruction she's caused. I'm seriously afraid to walk in my room when I get home to see what she's destroyed this time.
She's gotten much better on walks and at the park (the other day she took cheese from a stranger's hand forcthe 4th time, but this time the stranger was a man!! Go Teddy!!), so now it's about time I start teaching her manners. So far I've been accepting if not encouraging behavior like pulling on the leash and begging for food because at least it's a behavior! It shows a curiosity in her surroundings and an interest in our attention completely different than when she was shut down. She can deal with fear now. She still shakes sometimes and hides behind me, but she shows normal signs of anxious dog behavior instead of shutting down and letting whatever it is happen to her. I think she's finally confident enough that her rehabilitation can start turning more into training. I don't think she would react too badly from a correction, as long ad I'm careful not to be too harsh. I'll start with not pulling on the leash, that's probably her most annoying habit. Although the begging is pretty annoying too, but I'm still pretty happy she's asking for attention. Unfortunately it's been determined that she needs more help than we can give her, though both me and Chris disagree. But it's not our decision so she'll be leaving us next week.
I tried everything! I leave her stuffed toys to destroy, stuffed rubber Kong toys, she has 2 different bones and a hoof, and she insists on eating my expensive stuff :/ She likes the Busy Bones we give Briar and Breeze to keep them busy, but she's a heavy duty chewer - she eats a large one in 5-10 minutes, and they're expensive! She chewed almost completely through my seatbelt in the 10 seconds it took me to catch and stop her. I finally bought Bitter Apple Spray and hosed down my electrical cords (which is probably why she didn't damage my laptop cord and hopefully why she won't continue on my new phone charger). Hopefully that'll stop the electrical cord issue. I happen to think I'm a pretty patient person (not trying to brag, just make a point), but even I have my limit, and I've found it's about $200.
I'm wondering if she was chained up a lot at her old home. She associates leashes with lack of freedom, she refuses to go in her kennel if I'm in the room, and Breeze was strapped in the car when Teddy tried to eat the seatbelt holding her. And she apparently came in with a homemade collar. If it was made with some sort of wire, that would explain her eating everycord in my room. It's not separation anxiety, she ate through Chris's headset while he was in the room sitting next to her. So I'm kind of at a loss for that one :/
She's also destroyed my carpet, though that's not really her fault. But I would prefer she used the puppy pads I put out for her insyead of chewing them to pieces and then scattering those pieces all over the room for me to clean up and leaving me a wet mess on top of whatever other destruction she's caused. I'm seriously afraid to walk in my room when I get home to see what she's destroyed this time.
She's gotten much better on walks and at the park (the other day she took cheese from a stranger's hand forcthe 4th time, but this time the stranger was a man!! Go Teddy!!), so now it's about time I start teaching her manners. So far I've been accepting if not encouraging behavior like pulling on the leash and begging for food because at least it's a behavior! It shows a curiosity in her surroundings and an interest in our attention completely different than when she was shut down. She can deal with fear now. She still shakes sometimes and hides behind me, but she shows normal signs of anxious dog behavior instead of shutting down and letting whatever it is happen to her. I think she's finally confident enough that her rehabilitation can start turning more into training. I don't think she would react too badly from a correction, as long ad I'm careful not to be too harsh. I'll start with not pulling on the leash, that's probably her most annoying habit. Although the begging is pretty annoying too, but I'm still pretty happy she's asking for attention. Unfortunately it's been determined that she needs more help than we can give her, though both me and Chris disagree. But it's not our decision so she'll be leaving us next week.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Excited Teddy!!
Teddy did something amazing! She's been getting really excited about our daily walks to the park, but usually we put the leash on Breeze, Breeze gets excited, and her excitement gets Teddy excited. A few days ago all I had to do was rustle around with the leashes and Teddy bolted out of the bedroom into the living room by me and started jumping up and down in excitement!! Just like a puppy!! She made it very difficult to put the leash on, but when I did she bolted to the door and waited there anxiously for the rest of us, lol. It makes me so happy to see her happy <3
Since she loves her walks so much, I decided to try to use that to get to know strange people better. So the day after Arron came with us on our walk. He fed her cheese in my room, like usual, and she ate it, like usual, but then we all went for a walk. Arron was kinda trailing behind us, which made Teddy nervous as she couldn't see what he was doing, but after a while she stopped looking behind us to check on the 'threat'. When we got to the park he sat down at our usual picnic table and me and Teddy walked in front of him, back and forth, a little closer each time. And by the time we left the park she still didn't trust him, but she was alright with his presence. So on the way back home, without her seeing me, I handed the leash to Arron. She looked back, saw who had the leash, was definitely nervous, but kept walking with our pack! She kept me in between her and Arron (which made walking a little tricky, the leash was in my way!) but she knew he was the one with the leash and she kept walking anyway. When we passed a few people it proved to be too much for her and she went into a mild panic, but as soon as I took the leash back she calmed down again.
And today, since she loves other dogs so much, I thought I'd use that to get to know strange people. So we all went to the dog park today. Of course I didn't take her off the leash (I don't think she even knows Come Here yet), but we went around meeting other dogs and people. The car terrified her, I finally had to pick her up and put her in, but she didn't defecate out of fear like the last time she was in a car. So that's a minor improvement. But once we got to the park she was fine. We just walked around smelling interesting smells :) She met a lot of dogs, most of the friendly, a couple that freaked her out. There was one incident in particular. She was meeting with a new friend when a different dog barked loud and suddenly and scared the shit out of her! She jerked away so hard that when she got to the end of her leash she broke the ring on her harness! Luckily the jerk was enough to stop her so she didn't keep running and she stayed still long enough for me to attach the leash back on.
We went by the pond in the dog park. I figured being mostly lab she'd like water, but she hardly went in. She got her toes wet long enough to have a good drink and then went away. Hmm :/ But she did have her awesome moments (they seem to happen several times a day now!) There was a woman I sat by chatting with for a while and Teddy actually approached her curiously. She got within a foot of her! Willingly! Every time the woman stuck her hand out to pet her or to let her sniff she dart away, but when the woman ignored her Teddy went up to check her out! There was also a man she kind of approached. Walking by him she was nervous, but as soon as we got behind him she inched toward him to check him out. She didn't get nearly as close as she did to the woman, but even approaching a strange man to sniff him is a HUGE improvement!! It makes me so happy :D
Since she loves her walks so much, I decided to try to use that to get to know strange people better. So the day after Arron came with us on our walk. He fed her cheese in my room, like usual, and she ate it, like usual, but then we all went for a walk. Arron was kinda trailing behind us, which made Teddy nervous as she couldn't see what he was doing, but after a while she stopped looking behind us to check on the 'threat'. When we got to the park he sat down at our usual picnic table and me and Teddy walked in front of him, back and forth, a little closer each time. And by the time we left the park she still didn't trust him, but she was alright with his presence. So on the way back home, without her seeing me, I handed the leash to Arron. She looked back, saw who had the leash, was definitely nervous, but kept walking with our pack! She kept me in between her and Arron (which made walking a little tricky, the leash was in my way!) but she knew he was the one with the leash and she kept walking anyway. When we passed a few people it proved to be too much for her and she went into a mild panic, but as soon as I took the leash back she calmed down again.
And today, since she loves other dogs so much, I thought I'd use that to get to know strange people. So we all went to the dog park today. Of course I didn't take her off the leash (I don't think she even knows Come Here yet), but we went around meeting other dogs and people. The car terrified her, I finally had to pick her up and put her in, but she didn't defecate out of fear like the last time she was in a car. So that's a minor improvement. But once we got to the park she was fine. We just walked around smelling interesting smells :) She met a lot of dogs, most of the friendly, a couple that freaked her out. There was one incident in particular. She was meeting with a new friend when a different dog barked loud and suddenly and scared the shit out of her! She jerked away so hard that when she got to the end of her leash she broke the ring on her harness! Luckily the jerk was enough to stop her so she didn't keep running and she stayed still long enough for me to attach the leash back on.
We went by the pond in the dog park. I figured being mostly lab she'd like water, but she hardly went in. She got her toes wet long enough to have a good drink and then went away. Hmm :/ But she did have her awesome moments (they seem to happen several times a day now!) There was a woman I sat by chatting with for a while and Teddy actually approached her curiously. She got within a foot of her! Willingly! Every time the woman stuck her hand out to pet her or to let her sniff she dart away, but when the woman ignored her Teddy went up to check her out! There was also a man she kind of approached. Walking by him she was nervous, but as soon as we got behind him she inched toward him to check him out. She didn't get nearly as close as she did to the woman, but even approaching a strange man to sniff him is a HUGE improvement!! It makes me so happy :D
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Happy Teddy :)
Teddy is getting so much better! She's really starting to enjoy our walks. Her tail is up and wagging and she enjoys sniffing around and REALLY enjoys running! She runs all happy and jumps around like a puppy, it's really great to see. She's gotten used to cars now, they pass all the time and she barely slows down. Sometimes we pass other people. Today we passed a family of 5 or so and she was definitely hesitant to go towards them, but once I led her out on the street in the bike lane, she felt much more comfortable. Kinda funny, she'd rather face an oncoming car than pass strangers walking away from her.
But when we got to the park today, there was a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 kids and a puppy, playing basketball near where we usually hang out. So me and Teddy gave them a wide berth and wandered around them. But as an experiment I started heading towards the family. I was hoping since Teddy loves other dogs so much the playful puppy might entice her over to the family. And she stuck pretty close to me and didn't go near the strangers, but she followed me pretty close to them. I finally stopped 5 or 6 feet away long enough to tell them how adorable their puppy was and then I let Teddy go back. She was definitely wary, but she willingly followed me to within 5 feet of a small group of people she didn't know! A definite improvement :) I'm curious as to how she'll react if I let Arron take a walk with us. Will she freak out all throughout the walk or will she accept him as pack and start trusting him more? I think I'll experiment with that when Arron's free.
When we get back from our walk I always put the bowl of water in my room so Teddy can drink from it. This time I decided to make her work for it a bit. I put it out in the hall instead. And Teddy made several false starts before tucking tail and running, but after just a few minutes she made her way out of my room to drink. Whenever there was the slightest noise she was dart back in my room and this happened a couple of times, but after the first few noises didn't hurt her, she decided it was safe to finish drinking her water. And when she was done, THEN did she dart back to my room, lol. But improving every day :D
Another something little. When I got home from work I was giving Briar some love and Teddy approached me and gave me a lick. It was such a small thing but just the fact that she took the effort to stretch her head over to me and lick my hand just to let me know she was there was amazing. She came to me looking for attention! And when I rub the side of her face she leans into my hand. Such a small thing, but so different than the shivering unmoving mass that cowered when I walked into the room that she was 2 months ago. Her improvements make me so happy! :)
But when we got to the park today, there was a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 kids and a puppy, playing basketball near where we usually hang out. So me and Teddy gave them a wide berth and wandered around them. But as an experiment I started heading towards the family. I was hoping since Teddy loves other dogs so much the playful puppy might entice her over to the family. And she stuck pretty close to me and didn't go near the strangers, but she followed me pretty close to them. I finally stopped 5 or 6 feet away long enough to tell them how adorable their puppy was and then I let Teddy go back. She was definitely wary, but she willingly followed me to within 5 feet of a small group of people she didn't know! A definite improvement :) I'm curious as to how she'll react if I let Arron take a walk with us. Will she freak out all throughout the walk or will she accept him as pack and start trusting him more? I think I'll experiment with that when Arron's free.
When we get back from our walk I always put the bowl of water in my room so Teddy can drink from it. This time I decided to make her work for it a bit. I put it out in the hall instead. And Teddy made several false starts before tucking tail and running, but after just a few minutes she made her way out of my room to drink. Whenever there was the slightest noise she was dart back in my room and this happened a couple of times, but after the first few noises didn't hurt her, she decided it was safe to finish drinking her water. And when she was done, THEN did she dart back to my room, lol. But improving every day :D
Another something little. When I got home from work I was giving Briar some love and Teddy approached me and gave me a lick. It was such a small thing but just the fact that she took the effort to stretch her head over to me and lick my hand just to let me know she was there was amazing. She came to me looking for attention! And when I rub the side of her face she leans into my hand. Such a small thing, but so different than the shivering unmoving mass that cowered when I walked into the room that she was 2 months ago. Her improvements make me so happy! :)
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Teddy... getting better every day
Teddy did AMAZING today!! Briar and Breeze didn't get any exercise yesterday so when we got their leashes out, they went nuts, wrestling and running from room to room. And when they got to my room, Teddy started running and jumping around with them!! So I put the leash on Teddy and she walked with me to the front door! Willingly!! She pulled a lot on the leash, but it seemed to get better when I caught up to Chris, Briar, and Breeze. It seems she feels safer when she's part of the whole pack instead of just me and her. She shied away from any passing cars and from the screaming kids when we got to the playground, but once we got to the open area and let Briar and Breeze off their leashes, Teddy seemed pretty happy watching them have fun and smelling around. We lay in the grass together for a while and she seemed to enjoy it. She liked me petting her, gave me a few licks, and even approached Chris once or twice to let him pet her. And when we were walking back, her tail was up and wagging!! I've discovered she likes to run (too bad I have such lousy endurance or we could have a lot of fun doing that). And Arron came over and threw her some pieces of food and she ate them! Not from his hand or anything, but considering how afraid she was of men and even Chris until a couple weeks ago, that's an incredible improvement! Arron was sitting 3 feet away and Teddy was comfortable enough to eat! o(≧∇≦)o
Teddy.... halfway there!
I've been fostering a dog named Teddy for the Canine Rehabilitation Center and Sanctuary. We don't know much about her past, but she is extremely shy and terrified to everything and everyone. She wasn't doing too well at the humane society (every time someone walked by she'd hide so she had no chance of getting adopted whatsoever), so Kristin Ivey of CRCS adopted her from the NHS and let us foster her to hopefully bring her out of her shell. I'm starting this blog partway through her journey, so here are my facebook statuses and texts to Kristin and a dog trainer friend Iana so you get an idea of what's been happening so far:
August 29: Well, Jake fell through (Briar got snappy with him :P ), but we took home a different dog to foster - Teddy. She's a sweet black lab mix who needs some socializing, poor girl is super shy and afraid of everything. But with Breeze and Briar's help, we'll break her out of her shell :)
August 31: Teddy, our current foster puppy. She's really sweet, but super shy and we introduced her to our pack hoping to bring her out of her shell a bit :) At the moment she mostly hides under Chris's desk, but she's now letting us pet her, taking treats from our hands, and starting to hold her head up instead of staring at floor. Slowly but surely! :)
September 3: I didn't think we were making much progress with our super-shy foster dog Teddy, until after I unleashed her after taking her out and she DIDN'T bolt to the back bedrooms! Instead she bravely explored the living room and even poked her head in the kitchen when I was making her dinner. So I just put it down there. And she ate it. In the kitchen!! *sniff* I'm so proud :')
September 7: Teddy thought my phone was a chew toy! :O
...I'm not really that mad, I had insurance so all it means is I get a new phone :)
September 10: As Teddy comes out of her shell, she gets more explorative. And more mischievious. She especially likes chewing holes in my clothes and going through the bathroom garbage, lol. I'm just glad she's no longer hiding under my desk practically comatose all day! :)
September 13: Teddy is kissing and wagging more than shaking :)
September 13: She'll look me in the eye now :) I look at her and she doesn't cower away
September 19: Teddy had her behavioral assessment today. It went as well as can be expected, not well :/ She's made a lot more progress with me than the test shows, but she got nervous because she didn't know the test administrator. But I know how good she's gotten :)
September 19: Teddy's assessment set her back I think.... it scared her so much she's not even responding to me any more :( I couldn't get her to leave my room, not even when I put pot roast outside the door!
September 23: Teddy slept on the bed with me and Briar last night! :D I was curled in a tight little ball 'cuz she was taking up half the bed, but that's a small price to pay! :D
September 24: The upside to Teddy hanging out on my bed: she doesn't pee on it any more. The downside: she eats on it and gets my sheets drool-y and dog-food-crumby. Yuck :P
September 26: Ever since her assessment she doesn't want to come out of her hidey-hole. Not for treat even :/ She'll come out when I'm not in the room but she'll just hide again. She isn't willingly going outside at all. But when we get in the living room she sprints for the door.
September 29: I just saw something miraculous. Briar and Breeze were really excited and playing and when they ran into my room, Teddy play-bowed and started jumping around with them!!! \(^o^)/ And when they ran out, she chasrd them out the door and almost into the living room!!! \(^o^)/ Hooray for patience, playing dogs, and miracles!!!
September 30: She's been doing really good today! She kept coming out in the living room to see what me and the dogs were doing
October 2: So Teddy hidor a while again after Chris came back but it didn't last long. She's coming in the living room more and wagging more :D Chris has been feeding her and this weekend my brother's going to come feed her. Hope it'll help :)
October 2: Teddy started eating one of my new books. On dog behavior. Lol
October 4: Can any of my Renoite friends help me out? I need a few people to come to my place and feed our foster dog. She's painfully shy and needs to meet new people. Any volunteers? :)
October 4: We saw Teddy and Breeze playing!!! o(≧∇≦)o They were wrestling on my bed! Of course Teddy hid when I looked in but I could hear them play-growling! :D I've gotten her to come with me with the leash on but the walks still terrify the living hell out her. Our walks are never pleasant :/ She does NOT like traffic and we've got construction by our place right now so she's even more nervous.
August 29: Well, Jake fell through (Briar got snappy with him :P ), but we took home a different dog to foster - Teddy. She's a sweet black lab mix who needs some socializing, poor girl is super shy and afraid of everything. But with Breeze and Briar's help, we'll break her out of her shell :)
August 31: Teddy, our current foster puppy. She's really sweet, but super shy and we introduced her to our pack hoping to bring her out of her shell a bit :) At the moment she mostly hides under Chris's desk, but she's now letting us pet her, taking treats from our hands, and starting to hold her head up instead of staring at floor. Slowly but surely! :)
September 3: I didn't think we were making much progress with our super-shy foster dog Teddy, until after I unleashed her after taking her out and she DIDN'T bolt to the back bedrooms! Instead she bravely explored the living room and even poked her head in the kitchen when I was making her dinner. So I just put it down there. And she ate it. In the kitchen!! *sniff* I'm so proud :')
September 7: Teddy thought my phone was a chew toy! :O
...I'm not really that mad, I had insurance so all it means is I get a new phone :)
September 10: As Teddy comes out of her shell, she gets more explorative. And more mischievious. She especially likes chewing holes in my clothes and going through the bathroom garbage, lol. I'm just glad she's no longer hiding under my desk practically comatose all day! :)
September 13: Teddy is kissing and wagging more than shaking :)
September 13: She'll look me in the eye now :) I look at her and she doesn't cower away
September 19: Teddy had her behavioral assessment today. It went as well as can be expected, not well :/ She's made a lot more progress with me than the test shows, but she got nervous because she didn't know the test administrator. But I know how good she's gotten :)
September 19: Teddy's assessment set her back I think.... it scared her so much she's not even responding to me any more :( I couldn't get her to leave my room, not even when I put pot roast outside the door!
September 23: Teddy slept on the bed with me and Briar last night! :D I was curled in a tight little ball 'cuz she was taking up half the bed, but that's a small price to pay! :D
September 24: The upside to Teddy hanging out on my bed: she doesn't pee on it any more. The downside: she eats on it and gets my sheets drool-y and dog-food-crumby. Yuck :P
September 26: Ever since her assessment she doesn't want to come out of her hidey-hole. Not for treat even :/ She'll come out when I'm not in the room but she'll just hide again. She isn't willingly going outside at all. But when we get in the living room she sprints for the door.
September 29: I just saw something miraculous. Briar and Breeze were really excited and playing and when they ran into my room, Teddy play-bowed and started jumping around with them!!! \(^o^)/ And when they ran out, she chasrd them out the door and almost into the living room!!! \(^o^)/ Hooray for patience, playing dogs, and miracles!!!
September 30: She's been doing really good today! She kept coming out in the living room to see what me and the dogs were doing
October 2: So Teddy hidor a while again after Chris came back but it didn't last long. She's coming in the living room more and wagging more :D Chris has been feeding her and this weekend my brother's going to come feed her. Hope it'll help :)
October 2: Teddy started eating one of my new books. On dog behavior. Lol
October 4: Can any of my Renoite friends help me out? I need a few people to come to my place and feed our foster dog. She's painfully shy and needs to meet new people. Any volunteers? :)
October 4: We saw Teddy and Breeze playing!!! o(≧∇≦)o They were wrestling on my bed! Of course Teddy hid when I looked in but I could hear them play-growling! :D I've gotten her to come with me with the leash on but the walks still terrify the living hell out her. Our walks are never pleasant :/ She does NOT like traffic and we've got construction by our place right now so she's even more nervous.
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