koalathebear

Cutie :)

He's doing well. He's stopped barking and lunging in the car now. Still a bit overstimulated but much improved.

Thanks BC Crazy. Regrettably I'm not the only person who has suffered/continued to suffer. Some of the stories are here: On a more positive note though, True's trial adoption was confirmed. They love her Yesterday we went to pick up the crate we had loaned them and she had a brand new comfy crate Collar So happy for the girl. We have a new foster. His name is Jerry. We hadn't actually intended to take on another foster at this point. Jerry came from the pound at the same time as True so had been in care for about 7 weeks. Unfortunately, despite being a really lovely dog, he has some separation issues and is really terrible in the car so when his carers heard that True had gone on trial adoption, they asked if we'd be willing to take on Jerry as they couldn't handle him. His training progress table is here. I'm very happy with his progress.

True's doing awesome on her trial adoption and getting along great with the three resident cats. I don't think there's any risk of her failing her trial :) Also got an update on Rookie. Yesterday, Rookie and his owner successfully completed our Beginners assessment at CDC. CDC policy at this level is just pass/repeat level, with a certificate for those who pass, however his Instructor likes to encourage and reward by also presenting ribbons to the top 3 in the class and guess who got the blue ribbon? Here is Rookie proudly showing off his certificate and ribbon.

True's going on trial adoption tomorrow to a wonderful home. Here she is with her hobo bag - donated by a generous donor! Normally we buy it all but this time we had donated funds we used to buy the puppy bag She's enjoying lying on Hoover's Birthday Bed :) While in care, we worked at breaking her of her habit of counter-surfing. She attended the RADAR stand at A Pooch Affair in Canberra She tried hanging around sheep, although wasn't very good at it :) We will miss the beautiful, beautiful girl. * In much less happy news, I regret to say that I am one of the many people who shared my unhappy experiences with a different rescue group on the Outcasts page. As a result, I've had my facebook reported a number of times and disabled (it's still down). A number of other people who are standing up to bullying are also experiencing similar issues with constant harassment via facebook reporting and notifications. All of my posts/photographs on rescue dogs on facebook are now gone and I'm not sure when they'll be back. My account is actually already verified but facebook seems to still temporarily disable it when a harasser takes it upon himself to report it as a fake account. Let's just say that it's a very eye-opening and extremely ugly side of rescue ... Fingers crossed that my FB comes back up so that I can at least get all my photos back! :)

True's doing so well. She went for a visit to Belco Pets this morning. We are very relieved - it turns out that True is already desexed. West Wyalong found stitches that they thought were desexing stitches but weren't sure and they couldn't find a tattoo. Fortunately Brudine looked harder and found a desexing tattoo lower down in her ear that was hard to see because the skin is dark! Sooooo relieved they didn't have to cut her open given that the vet said that the wound would have had to have been EXTRA large in order to get a good look around. So the lucky girl only had to be microchipped. She even got tested around cats today and was fine. She needs some training and exposure to more situations, female dogs, people including small children ... and she'll be ready to adopt. She already has THREE adoption applications in a waiting list for consideration even though we won't be adopting her out for another month. It is very strange though ... Why would anyone desex her, look after her (she's in good condition) and then not look for her at the pound? She's a lovely dog - no issues that we can tell so far except that she's a bit of a princess about toileting in the rain ...

What does: "I am preoccupied with more than one animal I help" mean?

Thanks guys. Will definitely see if there are other options for her without cutting her open. I feel like she's been through so much. A month at the pound already and now the potential of unnecessary surgery. She is very shiny and lovely ... just completely untrained. I've had a few fosters like this where we can't believe how the dog ended up being dumped at the pound because they were so lovely ... Just goes to show that one person's trash is another person's treasure because the dogs we foster have been thrown away to die like garbage and yet when they go to their new homes they are so precious and so beloved, it's so beautiful to see. Lovely True.

Awww thanks guys. We're so happy with all the dogs we've fostered and the gorgeous people who have adopted them and continue to keep us updated. We had our new foster dog arrive on Thursday from West Wyalong pound. Meet RADAR True. She's 3 years old and at 21kg is very chunky for a Kelpie girl so we have put her on a diet. She's the dog on the left. The dog on the right, also from West Wyalong is Jerry, who is going to be fostered by the family who adopted our former foster Juniper True has proved very hard to photograph so far - doesn't like the camera and has absolutely no training so doesn't sit or stay still for the camera. She's a lovely dog though. More details about her here. While completely untrained, she is very calm and friendly. No bad behaviours or aggression and has taken well to the crate, puts herself in a dog bed/crate/on a mat and sleeps quietly through the night. She will make a really lovely pet when she's trained up. One sad thing is that the West Wyalong vet told us that when they vaccinated her for me, they took out what they are almost sure were desexing stitches - but because she has no desexing tattoo in her ear, we can't be sure that she's desexed. We can't adopt her out undesexed so we will have to check. I asked if there was any non-intrusive way to check if she has a uterus e.g. ultrasound etc? I phoned 3 vet clinics and it pretty much seems to be the case that we will have to have the poor girl cut open to check ... I feel terrible for her.

I feel sad that people feel this way about rescues. Not all rescues are like that. You're on my facebook and you see how I treat my applicants .. I certainly don't interrogate them. If I did, I doubt they'd still keep in touch after the adoption and I'd say most other carers in my group are the same. A friendly chat is always better for obtaining information than an interrogation - and I'm always very appreciative that people are considering a rescue dog - even if it turns out my dog might not be suitable for them.

Absolutely. The more homes a dog goes to, the more unsettled it can become ... For adopters I feel 'good' about, I let them have extra contact with the dog even before the trial adoption - hanging out for the day, walking the dog etc, maybe even a one night sleepover. It's not because of the trial adoption period - our group offers a 2 week trial, during which they will refund but after which they will not rehome the adoption fee but my husband and I offer a guarantee for the life of our foster dogs to take them back with a full refund. For us, it's to try to find a way to best ease them into their new homes. For some dogs, they will transition better if they've had lots of contact before they move to a new home. Other dogs are mega adaptable so I feel fine just handing them over at the commencement of the trial. Absolutely. Ideally no one should meet the dog until they've passed the yard check because if they meet the dog, fall in love and then fail the yard check it can be quite upsetting. I sometimes combine the yard check with the meet and greet but remind the applicant that they are not getting the dog unless the yard check is satisfactory - and it's not because they might not have a great home for a dog, but they may not be the right fit for THIS dog and if it's not the right fit, I will try to find them another dog in care that might be suitable. We always get emails after the yard check saying: "Hope we passed, we loved the dog - can we adopt? :) " If a dog's under application, I still do yard checks for other promising applicants telling them that I can put them in a waiting list if the first application falls through. I bring the dog and one of my own dogs along so that they can see the different personalities and we talk about what they are after in a dog - so they don't see it as a 'failure' of a yard check, so much as an opportunity to meet two different types of Kelpies and see what they like. I have to say there are plenty of applicants out there who expect that just because they are interested in the dog, they have an automatic entitlement to the dog. You would not believe the number of times I've seen people say: "I want to adopt x dog. What's your address? Coming to pick it up." recently a foster carer got subjected to a lot of abuse and anger just because she wanted to have a chat and have the applicant fill out the application form. The applicant assumed it was like a pet shop system where just because you want something you can buy it ...

I get an inquiry via petrescue. If the blurb sounds promising right away, then I phone them, have a chat, ask them to email me the written application and set up a yard check time. If they've already filled out the application first and sent it to me, then I read it, phone them right away and set up a yard check. If the petrescue application sounds dodgy/crap, I email them and ask them to submit a written application before I decide if I want to phone them. Some go away when they see they have to fill out a form, others fill it in and I decide then if they're worth phoning and chatting to. So I reply to all inquiries, but may not phone or do yard checks for everyone. For me, the yard check is a good chance to see how they interact with the dog, how the other members of the family interact with the dog, if everyone's keen or if it's just one person wanting the dog. Some applications are just so amazing at the first instance that I'm pretty sure it's a go-er even before I phone them - but I never make up my mind for sure if they should adopt the dog until after the yard check.

You are so right. If as rescuers we just hand a dog over a half decent home without making sure we think it's the right fit, how are we any better than BYBers or pet stores? As you've pointed out, all rescue groups have different policies and you can find one that is the right fit - both as an adopter and as a foster carer. I left my old group because I disagreed very strongly with some of their policies and I found that I had to fight very, very hard to place my dogs in the homes where I felt they were better placed. My current group gives me the support I need and also trusts my decisions so I'm much, much happier. We've never had a dog returned and all of our adopting families keep in touch with us and send us updates so I have no regrets for always making sure it's the right home before I agree to adopt out a dog...

Same. I have a few "mandatories"and the rest are flexible. I'm not going to burst into tears if a dog misses out on a great home because there are plenty of other ones out there, too. We train our dogs up, socialise them and make sure they're ready before they're adopted so we often have a few very good homes to choose from. I think a lot of rescuers take an inflexible, one-size fits all approach which is wrong (i.e must be home full time, must do dog sports no matter what etc etc) but I believe it's my obligation to make sure I find the best possible home I can for a dog in my care. If someone is unhappy and goes off to buy from a pet shop or a BYB then I don't think they were the right applicant for my dog. I had someone abuse me because he wanted to breed from one of my fosters. I tried to explain the reasons to him politely but he got abusive. I'm sure he went out and got a dog from a BYB, but that doesn't make me think I should have adopted to him. I believe we should always be polite to applicants and not be judgmental. Some applicants actually need training for their existing dogs first before they get a new dog i.e. a new dog isn't a substitute for enrichment/training of your existing dog so I've suggested training tips or behaviourists to applicants. If someone isn't right for my dog or misses out, I'll talk to them and see if I can help them find another dog - whether from our group or elsewhere. Recently I had long chats and gave lots of advice to someone who didn't get our dog - he adopted a Kelpie from another rescue group but still made a $200 donation to our rescue group as a thank you. While some would argue a good home is better than death/no home at all, I'm in no rush and happy to hang on to my dogs as long as it takes to find them the perfect home for them. I personally don't see any issue with being picky - I'm the dog's only advocate and If I don't do my utmost to look out for the dog at the point of adoption, then it will be too late after that. As mentioned, it's about having the appropriate criteria tailored to the dog and the applicant.

Recent visit from former foster Smudge :)

Some updates on other fosters. Former foster Juniper: Former foster Smudge and her owner were visiting Canberra and came and had dinner with us on Friday Left to right: Hoover, Smudge, Elbie, Reggie and Dodge :) Over the weekend we went to see both Juniper and Smudge run at the flyball More photos are here :)

Rookie went on trial adoption last week. He had a bath and posed with his hobo bag Not much in his hobo bag because his new family already had all the gear bought for him! Different from the families where we lend collars, leashes, crates and give them poo bags etc. :) Dodge said goodbye to another buddy Sweet Rookie Only a week into his two week trial, his family have confirmed that they will be keeping him and he has found his forever home. Here is Rookie being followed downstairs by his brother Hunter Rookie on the left and Hunter on the right We will miss him horribly but are very happy for him

Rookie went out and about today His socialisation checklist is going well and his new family can't wait for him to join them! We'll miss him horribly but he's going to an owner who's an obedience instructor, has two resident dogs and is actually a foster carer for a different Canberra group. Very dog savvy so we kept him longer to socialise and observe rather than train him up - as she'll want to do a lot of training :) We'll be taking this collar off him soon ... we'll miss him heaps. He's been one of the easiest dogs to foster ...

Yup - he was desexed and had to be bucketed for a while. He's doing well now though and actually going on trial next week. The family wanted to adopt him sooner but we wanted him a bit longer to socialise him more. Naughty Rookie :) It's been his only bad behaviour so far - counter surfing! Sharing a crate with Hoover :) Former foster Smudge, looking lovely as ever Former foster Maggie, recovering from knee surgery - she's doing well

I struggle with the desexing issue greatly. I don't like early desexing because we generally foster Kelpies who will frequently go to performance homes so sometime I try to foster older dogs or if I foster a pup, i try to hold onto it for as long as I can so that it's not desexed too young because my current group will not adopt out if the dog is not desexed (and I understand their viewpoint). Desexing contracts are difficult to enforce and I have seen instances of adopters ignoring such contracts. If I have a dog in care who has been desexed before 12 months, I am upfront with the adopters who may wish to use the dog for performance sports. I see both sides of it but I think that the backlash that rescue would suffer if they didn't desex would be huge - and also it would be so diametrically opposed to the purpose of rescue ... if rescue allowed oops litters because it didn''t desex, then it would would be adding to the problem rather than alleviating. Can you imagine how much condemnation for being unethical a rescue would receive if it did not desex? ETA: our group that also has a policy that if they take on a litter, the mama dog must be desexed and our group pays for the desexing. The last time we took on a dog, the owners were very sweet. Even though we offered to pay, they paid off the desexing fee in instalments because they were so grateful we arranged for a discounted rate and they were also grateful we rehomed the pups.

Cutie :) Look at his waggy tail Black Dog Central In training for his Forever Home! :)

His fur was starting to grow back and he was able to go for short walks and he was doing some little stepping exercises around the house over an obstacle course. This was 25th October This was 30 October 2014 This was 10 November 2014 And this was him at South Durras this year (March 2015) - fully recovered

We found other ways to keep him from licking his inflamed skin - he hated the cone so here's the cone on his leg instead of his head. Got a lot of cuddles and sympathy. He was crated and kept on leash for the first week or so. Here he is with bunny, sheep and some frozen veggies on his sore leg More friends sent him "get well" gifts to encourage him.

On 11 October, we took him back to the vet for a check-up and to get his bandage removed. Unfortunately he apparently had a really, really bad reaction to the bandage and the pain patch. Taking the bandage and pain patch off was extremely painful for him and he was very, very distressed even though he's usually incredibly stoic. So he had to be bucketed with a collar that was ironically named the 'fun' collar. He was very wretched Saddest Kelpie in the World ... But he rested a lot