12 March 2013

Well, I've been here a good long time with foster mom and she thinks she's really starting to understand me. She says I have a dominant personality mixed with an anxious disposition. She says I'd make a terrible pack leader, but I just don't know it. Hehe, she can say that agian. I want to be in charge of the other dogs, but I just can't seem to get it right. Biting and snapping at them just doesn't seem to get me what I want. Who knew?

So here is what foster mom thinks happened when I got adopted. Me and the other dog were getting along really well and playing all the time. Well, a lot of times when I'm playing here I get the idea to dominate the other dog. Which is exactly what I did with my old buddy and he was the type of dog that doesn't back down from a challenge. The result was a nasty fight. After that my anxious disposition took over because I really really really don't like fights. Anytime he would come near me I would growl and snap because I was afraid of another fight.

Long story short I wound up at foster mom's house and had to re-learn my position in a dog pack. It took nearly a month for me to come back outta my anxious shell and start to socialize with other dogs again. I'm doing pretty good now. I can be around the pack and mostly I do good. Every now and then I try to dominate Chloe, but foster mom comes over and tells me to give her some space. I haven't tried to dominate her lately.

I lived with Dex for a little while, but kept trying to dominate him and foster mom finally moved me to a pen by myself. I got to socialize daily with Bear and now me and him are staying together. So far so good with him. He has anxiety problems too and is afraid of getting hurt, so we kinda give each other some space. We play a little, but not a whole lot. He loves to run back and forth or around in circles and I like running beside him. It's good exercise for both of us. We're both husky mixes, so we keep up with each other pretty good.

Foster mom says my ideal home would be as an only pet or in a home with a very experienced adopter and a dog that really avoids fights. I like to chase cats and jump on kids, so no cats or kids for me. I'm pretty high energy, so room to run and play is a must. I'm really smart and want to please my people, so an adopter that likes to teach me things would be awesome. I'd probably make a pretty decent agility dog. That sure would be fun!

Well, that's where I am right now anyway. I'm still looking for my forever home and I'm still learning the pack rules, but foster mom says I'm doing great and I'm a good girl. You can't argue with praise like that right!

Back on the Road to My Forever Home

My adopters came out to see me last weekend. I ran around with Zeke some, it was good to see him again. They talked with foster mom the whole time. After some time to think they have come to the decision not to re-adopt me. Foster mom says this is for the best. It wouldn't be fair to either me or Zeke to wait for the next altercation to start and then me have to go through that stress phase again. I want to send out love, hugs, and kisses to them. I know it wasn't the easiest decision in the world, but I appreciate the chance to find a new home where things will be even better.

So now, I'm looking for a new forever home. My preference is to be the only dog or to have an owner who is really experienced with my type of issues. Foster mom says if you have any questions about me, to paw-mail her and she'll be happy to answer them.

Day 29

Oh My Dog!!! What an exciting day I had today. Foster mom finally had time to take us all on a real long walk. It was pretty fun, but it started out real bad.

We had a new dog walking with us today. His name is Bruno. He's just a puppy. He's three months old and is a lab mix. He is pretty nervous when he meets new dogs too and just like me Dex gave him the fright of his life. Things went a little worse for poor Bruno though.

Foster mom was letting us all loose to go on the walk when Dex ran up to Bruno to say hi and Bruno got scared and screammed bloody murder. Well, Tipper being the unstable girl she is heard the scream and was ready to fight. Foster mom grabbed my leash and practically threw me back in my pen. Then she went running to break up the fight that she already knew was gonna be very bad.

Tipper couldn't hurt Bruno because she was wearing her basket muzzle, but she did knock him over and that caused a chain of dog fights to start all around. Foster mom got Tipper backed off and then she went after Phantom and Flat. Of course, Choso jumped in because she always does whatever Phantom is doing. Flat was defending herself by biting back and lunging at the cattle dogs. Foster mom somehow managed to give Phantom a command to back off and then she was able to stop Flat from lunging at Choso.

That was the end of the fight, but poor Bruno had went and hid on the back porch and was sitting by the back door barking his head off. Foster mom locked Tipper up and let me out with everyone else. Then, she went to check on Bruno. It took a lot of reassurance, but pretty soon she was walking off the back porch with him on his leash. Poor little guy was really scared. The first dog that walked up to him set him to screaming again. Foster mom just told us all to give him some space and she talked to him till he calmed down again.

After a little while, we were able to start our walk officially. Bruno stayed on his leash and walked with foster mom until we got to a little clearing. That was when she rolled everyone over in turn and checked for any injuries. Choso got a little bite behind her ear. Flat had a little scratch and Cowboy has a small bruise. Other than those minor injuries everyone was okay. Oh yeah, and Bruno lost a puppy tooth.

Little guy was still scared and growled whenever one of us would get too close. Foster mom said he'd be better off walking, so we all got up and walked away from him. When we got a good distance away, he started to follow us. Well, him and a kitty that had wandered up. We went out to the goat field and played a little. I sniffed Bruno to let him know I was a nice girl. I guess all of us did that at some point during the walk.

We left there and went to the big oak tree. Bruno wasn't following us, so foster mom called him and he came running. Me and Dex decided to run over and escort him over. Well, he got scared and must've thought we were chasing him because he turned around and ran back to the kitty. Dex stopped following, but I thought it would be okay. Then Bruno turned around and screamed at me. I just turned away, so I wouldn't scare him anymore. Foster mom came and got him back on his leash. She told me it was okay, I was only trying to help. I did a really good job turning away and not being provoked by his odd behavior. She was proud of me.

Part of the way to the oak tree foster mom took Bruno's leash off and he did okay. He stayed with us and then all of a sudden he ran right into the middle of the pack and he was okay again. He had a good time following Cowboy around. I sure was glad. I was getting worried about the little guy.

This was about the time that foster mom realized that she hadn't even been watching me. I have become so integrated into the pack that she doesn't even have to worry about me anymore. She gave me lots of pets then. That was a great moment.

We got back to the dog pens, but foster mom wanted to keep walking. You certainly weren't going to hear me complaining about that. If I've learned one thing, it is that I have loads of energy. I can keep up with those cattle dogs pretty easy. Okay, sure they might be fast, but I've got plenty of stamina.

Anyway, we walked to the other dog pens and Bruno was happy to see his brother Tipp in the last pen. He really wanted to stay, but foster mom says Bruno has to stay inside for a little while longer. She finally had to leash him up, so he would go back home with us. I gave Dex a kiss on the way back to our pen. That's right, I licked him right on the face and he licked me back! Foster mom was watching us and I could see her start smiling.

The day didn't exactly start off well. There was that horrible dog fight and then poor Bruno was scared senseless. I learned a lot today though. I learned that it takes the whole pack to help a scared dog. It isn't what one of us does, but how we all act together. Foster mom said I did a great job trying to show Bruno that everything was okay and she is proud of me for being part of the pack and helping him to calm down. I guess today was my day to give back what the pack has given to me. And, of course, I gave and got a little kiss at the end of my walk today. (And foster mom did her best not to do a cart wheel in celebration.)

Day 28

No walk again, but I did get to watch foster mom, Phantom, and Cowboy herd up the goats. A man came and bought two of them. He didn't speak the same words as foster mom, but they understood each other well enough. That's pretty neat. I don't speak like foster mom either, but we can understand each other.

Day 27

No walk again. Foster mom and foster grandpa had to run to the college and buy a code for one of his books. They came home with pizza!

Day 26

No walk today. Foster mom's grandma took her to buy a washing machine for the new house. What a nice present.

Day 25

I had another wonderful pack walk today. The first thing I did was run around with the cattle dogs again. That is really fun and then we walked all the way to the end of the fire break and followed the fence row to the big oak tree.

We saw the coolest thing on the way. Four baby armadillos went running into their burrow right in front of us. I stayed next to foster mom, but some of the other dogs actually got close enough to sniff them. You should have heard foster mom fussing at them to come back. She was afraid they would hurt them, but they didn't. Foster mom paused for a second and let us sniff the burrow. Those little jokers hide deep underground, so we can't get to them.

We walked to the goat field next and foster mom saw a truck coming, so she took a detour into the woods, so we wouldn't chase it. We went back to the goat field after the truck passed and I discovered a tasty little treat. I saw Flat eating these little black things on the ground, so I decided to try one too. They were so yummy, I ate and ate and ate. Foster mom said I did good eating them right next to Flat. Our heads were practically touching. She also laughed and told me I was eating goat poo. She said not to worry, all the dogs love it and no one has ever gotten sick from it. I don't care if it is poo. It is delicious.

We walked through the woods to get home and I took off to the fire break. Foster mom called me back because I had gotten too far ahead. I guess I've learned the way home pretty well. When I got to the pack they were looking for Dex. Why he keeps wandering off around this spot is anyone's guess. Foster mom says he is just independent and likes to wander some on the walks. He joined back with us after a few minutes.

We found foster grandpa near the dog pens and me, Dex, and Tipper all went to greet him and say hi. I saw Pup sitting beside a tree and went over to say hi to her. Foster mom said she couldn't see us for the tree, but she thinks I may have greeted her properly. That is pretty huge for me. Anyway, after a little while we went back in our pens and ended our super fun walk.

Some of you may have noticed that foster mom changed my breed listing today. It was Lab/German Shepherd, but now it is Lab/Siberian Husky. Foster mom has been wondering about my curly tail ever since I got here and found some time to research it last night and thinks I must be part Siberian Husky to have wound up with this cute tail of mine. She first thought Chow Chow, but I don't have any black on my tongue. Then she thought of a Shiba Inu or Akita, but my weight falls almost perfectly between the two. Finally she came across some pictures of several Siberian Huskies all holding their tails just like I hold mine. Then, eureka, that must be it. The more she researches it, the more it fits.

Anyway, let see, I had a great day today. I got to play and socialize with the other dogs and foster mom has learned what my breed mix is. At least we think we're closer than before. Foster mom says I have come such a long way and she is very proud of me. I'm just enjoying my time with the pack.

Day 24

We got to go on a super long walk today. When I came out of the gate I ran around with the cattle dogs for a good long while. I was doing my best not to dominate Cowboy. Foster mom said I did a great job and it looked like I burned off a bunch of energy in the process. Those dogs might be quick, but I was keeping up with them pretty well.

After that, we walked out to the goat field as usual to play a little. Foster mom found a big shady spot that had lots of room for us to play in and I had a good time running around with the pack. Foster mom says I am acting more and more like a member of the pack.

Next, we walked through the woods to this huge oak tree. It looks realy old. It is really pretty with lots of smaller plants growing on its branches. I spotted some cows on the other side of the dirt road. They didn't seem to be too worried about us, so we got a real good look at them. They are really big, but the cattle dogs say they look quite small for cows. Wow, I can hardly imagine a cow that makes those two look small.

Foster mom walked us back to the goat field and we walked all the way to the other end. We stopped at the tractor tire to get some water, but apparently the heat had made it all go away. Bummer, I was thirsty.

From there we walked to the other dog pens. Dude and Chloe have been joined by a couple of puppies. There names are Bruno and Tipp. Foster mom apologized to the dogs in those pens. Apparently, it has been a while since they got to take a walk. She says soon we will all be moving to the new house. The backyard will be fenced in and everyone will be able to play in the yard together. Wow, that sounds neat.

Foster mom saw a man walking down the road, so she quickly marched us all to the middle of the woods, so we wouldn't scare him. We couldn't have gotten out of the fence, but she didn't want us barking at him. We started to go home, but then noticed Dex wasn't with us. Foster mom took us back to the other dog pens and we still didn't see him. She thought maybe he had already gone back to his dog pen, so we headed off in that direction.

Halfway home we saw Dex running back for his pen and foster mom shouted at him to turn around. He heard her, but still seemed confused. Foster mom waved her arms in the air and shouted again and sure enough, he saw her and came running. Poor guy had just gotten a little turned around. He joined back up with the pack and we continued our walk home.

When we got to the firebreak there was something interesting on the ground. I started sniffing it and then Cowboy ran up and sniffed it too. Foster mom was really pleased. She said she was shocked I could handle Cowboy's nose nearly touching mine for almost three seconds. She was extremely impressed, but then I am an impressive girl.

We finally got to our pens and foster mom got everyone in, but me. I was standing outside ready for another walk. Foster mom bent down and called me and I came running. I guess for a good petting I could go back to my pen.

I had an awesome day today and foster mom concurs. She says she was very impressed with me today and I really showed her that I can make all the improvements I need to. Before today, she says she doubted me a little, but I showed her just how adjustable I can be.

Day 23

Foster mom was super busy today, so no walk. She was able to finish pulling the weeds in the okra field though. Now she says they get to start all over at the beginning again.

Day 22

We went on a short walk today. Not a whole lot happened. Foster mom kept us moving the whole time, so we didn't really have much opportunity to sniff each other much. I had a nice walk though.