koalathebear

Late last year, our 4 year old Kelpie Hoover, injured his ACL. It was quite an upsetting experience but we got through it and he's fine now, but I thought I'd share his story so that other people who might have to go through the same thing know what it's like. On 30 September 2014 during a visit to the dog park, we noticed that Hoover was running a little strangely. He was still very, very fast and agile - but he was hopping a little. Around the house he wasn't limping at all - seemed to be walking normally and didn't seem to be in pain. So on 1 October 2014 we took him to the vet for a check up, hoping that it was just something very minor. Unfortunately, it turned out that Stoic Hoover had struck again and he had damaged his knee. They told us that he had a "ruptured anterior (cranial) cruciate ligament" and would need some titanium parts bolted to his knee and 6-8 weeks of strict rest. It would cost $2,800, and we should do it as soon as possible before he damaged his left knee by putting all his weight on it. We seriously had no idea but apparently it was very obvious to the vet when she examined him - his leg was just kind of hanging On 2 October 2014, we took Hoover in for x-rays. Dan was able to convince the vet staff that Hoover could lie still and did not need to be sedated. He was perfect, but definitely not too happy about it. One xray on his side, then this tricky one where they needed him flat on his back for a front-to-back view of the knee. Fiona was able to carry him and keep his leg in place while the nurse and Dan left the room On 7 October 2014, we took him in for his ACL surgery and dropped him off in the morning. In the meanwhile, Dan had sectioned off all the stairs in the house and in the yard. We picked him up in the evening. The surgery went well. He only tore half of his ligament which means that it was a sudden injury and not progressive. There was no damage to the meniscus. He was very, very groggy and wretched though - Hoover has never handled anaesthesia very well. His friends sent him get well wishes and promised gifts He was very wretched and rested - although he was able to be taken outside on lead to toilet etc. Friends delivered him gift to aid his recovery He sunbaked outside under supervision

We're still working on getting Cricket chilled around his resident cat, to be honest. He's pretty interested in her. It took months for Sunny and Cinnamon to get along - if you see the first photo in the collage, the scratch on Sunny's snout is courtesy of Cinnamon! It happened on day 1 of her two week trial :p

What a sad thread - but there are a lot of good points being made. I do feel sad at the way rescue and rescuers often get demonised here and on facebook. There are a lot of unethical people in rescue but there are also a lot of good ones - just like there are a lot of good registered breeders and a lot of dodgy ones ... A lot of good dog owners and a lot of crap ones. I've had my fair share of bad experience with rescue groups but I've also had a lot of good experiences. I'm not irreplaceable, I can't help all the dogs in need but I can help the dogs that are in my care. I can also help build a support network amongst the carers in my group in Canberra and provide post-adoption support to the families who adopt my dogs if it's needed. It can be hard to be in rescue - I've had to take my phone number off petrescue because I've had people swear at me because I insist on desexing the dog and they want to breed from it ... we get people saying: "I haven't trained the animal at all and it's not behaving well - take it of off my hands NOW or I will kill it ..." I can see how burn-out happens. We are careful to pace ourselves and not take on more than we can handle because we figure, if we burn out, we are no good to anyone...

We've used it on all of our dogs plus our foster dog Cricket. Cricket came from Broken Hill which has a lot of bush ticks. I asked his temp carer to give him an anti flea and anti tick med but she didn't want to and preferred to use tweezers. End result, the poor dog was absolutely crawling with ticks when he came to us. Vets helped us remove a bunch but he still had a bunch. He had over 100. The other dog from Broken Hill had over 200 on her. The ticks really enjoyed sucking his blood We had him vaccinated at the pound and he had served out his quarantine time at the temp carer's place but the ticks were a problem - so we gave him and our resident dogs Nexgard and kept them segregated for 48 hours Within 24 hours, the area around the metal crate had a border of dead ticks and we checked him to make sure that all the ticks were gone. Our dogs suffered no ill-effects. We normally don't need tick medication here because Canberra isn't too ticky and we use a topical when we go to the coast - but if we get any more fosters from tick-areas, I will definitely be sending Nexgard to the pound/temp carer ahead of the dog coming to us ...

Update on Rookie here. He's making great progress. Coming out of his shell nicely. Easiest dog to house-train we've ever had. Is finally eating properly and eats very well around the other dogs. Cricket's visiting for the weekend while his family is at the snow so the house is full of dogs Rookie's getting much more confident - happy to be cuddled, sitting nicely ... we're giving him access to more of the house and he's learning to shake hands. I think he may be learning his name, too. Great in a crate as well. Cricket's trial is still going well and they are pampering him Sunny (was Cupcake) and her previous nemesis Cinnamon the Cat have worked out an uneasy friendship at last :)

New foster was collected yesterday. We should probably call him Marky Mark because he seriously marks everything ... We debated names - Paddington, Titan, Goliath (because he is chunky looking), but in the end Dan decided on Rookie because he is a lovely dog but has zero training and a lot to learn :) Pound photo He's a Kelpie cross, not sure what he's crossed with though. He's very chunky although has barely eaten anything since he got here .. More information about him and photos over here at his blog. He's going to need a lot of work! Upside is, he's a lovely dog - beautiful nature, no signs of aggro towards humans or dogs. He's completely untrained but seems very eager to please people - although I hope he ends up liking food more because I've never trained a non-food motivated dog before!

Thank you so much! We've been so lucky with all of our dogs and all of our adopting families. All of our adopters still keep in touch with us and send us updates. Some more than others, but they all keep in touch - and I know that some people never hear another word about their fosters so we are very lucky. Cricket is doing well on trial :) He's still a bit fascinated by the cat but they are working on it with him and are doing well. I heard that they also took him in to Belco Pets (the pro-rescue pet store in Canberra) and bought him a dog coat, pyjamas, a car harness ... :) Former foster Smudge (parvo survivor) did well in flyball at the Hawkesbury Show on Saturday. She ran is the height dog all day and earned another 0.000 Badge Here is Smudge with her brother Reggie Here is Smudgie with her flyball haul :) Smudge was adopted by fellow DOLer chequeredblackdog who is doing wonders with her in flyball and agility and is kind enough to keep us updated of her achievements :) We have a new foster arriving on Monday

Thank you! We've had such a lovely, enriching experience fostering these dogs ... It's Cricket's last night with us - he goes on trial adoption tomorrow / My husband gave Cricket the traditional pre-adoption bath - so he's soft, clean fluffy and smelling of Aloveen. Here he is with his Hobo Bag His new family can't wait to see him :)

Request posted on behalf of a fellow foster carer: Is there anyone who would be able to do a yard check in Dalmeney NSW, in the Eurobodalla Shire? If so, please contact [email protected]. Thanks.

One of her mums injured her knee badly so Sunny has been comforting her And this is Sunny and the resident cat Cinnamon. Cinnamon didn't like Sunny at first but they now sleep together, lick each other's faces and are kind of friends :)

Awww, thanks all. We have wonderful families who have adopted our doggies. Cricket goes on trial this weekend and I am feeling all emo and sad ... he's so comfortable here and thinks this is his home. I know he'll be great though but look at this little face ... Hahah, he does! Baxter is hilarious. He has a very expressive face. Look how pampered he is. This is when he's with his dad This is when he's with his mum - they have shared custody of him following their divorce Former foster Sunny (was Cupcake)

Former foster Juniper, adopted December 2013, snoozing with her sister Jazz after flyball training Former foster Baxter (was Nova), who was adopted in September 2012, is now living with a cat :) Former foster Twiggy, adopted August 2014 has forgotten her miserable beginnings and is a smiley girl now Former foster Frida, adopted in October 2012 is having a ball with one of her humans Inspired by this post, , I did some Before and After thingies for our foster dogs, too. Not quite so dramatic as some of those photos because luckily none of our dogs were in that bad a state.

Another photo of Cricket while he was spending his day with his potential new family They're on holiday now so the trial will start when they're back in town. Meanwhile, he's with us :) We're doing gradual exposures to cats to desensitise him to them as he finds them very interesting. Not content with being a flyball whiz, former foster Smudge (parvo survivor and adopted in August 2013) is now trying her paw at agility. We caught up with her when she was in town for an agility trial Her new mum chequeredblackdog sent me some other update photos :)

Thanks all. We had a blast ourselves and seeing the dogs have such a great time just made it even better.

Not sure if people remember Nutmeg (from the Nutmeg and Smudge the puppies we nursed back from parvo). Here's her pound photo and the day she was adopted in August 2013 - her family drove from Victoria to Canberra to pick her up :) She's living in Victoria now and doted on by her family

More photos of Maggie (Chimes) (adopted August 2014) at her first flyball competition. She is still a stunning girl and doing really well at both obedience and flyball

They loved him :) He chilled out right away He got along well with Macey the Golden Retriever as they chilled out near one another

Cricket had an informal meet and greet today - if we have a foster, it usually comes with my husband to pick me up at work, so it's a chance for people at work to meet fosters. My husband gave him a bath and also put a bow tie on him :) The potential applicants loved him so we'll do the formal yard check and meet and greet on Sunday and see how he goes. Fingers crossed he gets along well with their Golden Retriever and elderly cat ...

Awww, thank you. I love getting the updates, too and it's nice that two sets of adopters have also become foster carers. I love seeing how beloved the dogs are. here's a photo of our former fosters and their new families

Aww, thanks. Former foster Maggie (formerly RADAR Chimes) earned her first flyball points on the weekend Her new family couldn't be prouder

Sunrise

South Durras 2015

Former foster Chimes (now Maggie) earned her first flyball points today She's doing really well with her new family and apparently also going very well at agility and obedience

Update of former foster Juniper, the former Gundagai poundie. She's still being pampered Still doing great at flyball She hasn't forgotten her pound days and is donating the dog food she wins at flyball competitions back to Gundagai pound. Former foster Cupcake (now Sunny) Former foster Chimes (now Maggie)