Brutus went home to his forever family last weekend. I haven't had a chance to post an update here until now due to the busy-ness of life! :) He went home with a family with teenage children living in the house and no other dogs or cats. From an update, he is doing really well and enjoys taking his toys out of his basket and hiding his bones and they really really love him and think he is great! I am so happy for him that he found the perfect home for him! He really deserved it. It also makes it easier to say goodbye though it was very hard.
I know we had our ups and downs and that mostly was because I let little things overwhelm me :) Once I put things in perspective, things got easier and a lot better. Then brutus and our family got along together just fine. And once I relaxed more, so did he :) And the day he went home was a happy and sad one for me. I was happy that he found the home he deserved but sad that he wasn't with us anymore. Its quiet here... it still is. But this was his temporary home and now he is in his forever home. That is worth all the "sadness" about him leaving! Because now I can foster again for another pup that needs to find his forever home. I am really excited to be helping out dogs in need of homes.
And I can't say enough good things about Cares4pets Rescue. They were really helpful throughout my whole fostering experience and were very patient with all my calls and emails with questions or concerns. I look forward to fostering for them for a very long time and help as many dogs as I can to find their forever homes.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Brutus' two weeks here :)
Even with a bumpy road and some rash decisions made by me before giving things a chance, things are going very well. I have learned alot with this foster experience.
One is to not make rash decisions.... there were several times, i called the rescue to say I couldnt foster the dog... one reason being how overpowering he is with the little kids - he just doesn't know his own size. He is just being a normal puppy but 85lbs of puppy in a rowhome with too much furniture in it and four kids makes for a crowded area. And any time, Brutus would run around the kids, the 2 yr old was likely to get knocked over or sat on. And then I would crate him and feel guilty for keeping him in his crate while I was home... but he does fine in the crate as I give him stuff to chew on there.
The other bump in the road, was him escaping the front yard fence... he scooted under it. I didnt think an 85lb dog could do it, but he did. I got so nervous and frustrated that he wouldnt come back to me and then I wouldnt be able to let him get his abundance of puppy energy out by letting the dogs play out front, I called the rescue a second time and said, I cant keep him as a foster. The thing is, I just needed some time to cool off and I made the mistake to make the decision while in the heat of the moment. And the rescue offering to take him back, I was taking the lazy way out and told them yeah, please take him.
But after a day to cool off and some suggestions on when he protests what i am telling him by using distraction, things are going much differently. I was getting frustrated with whenever i told him No, that he would jump up on me playfully or grab the leash and play tug of war.. Since he is so big, it was hard for me to handle this... my shoulder felt like it would be pulled out of its socket! I am not that strong! LOL
However, I used the suggestion given to me to give him a toy when he does this. And it works wonders! Yay. And dummy me should have realized this as i have four young kids and do that with them. But I think sleep deprivation, takes away some of my brains or something! lol
Anyway, things are going really well. I am able to keep him in the yard and him and Cali play really well together and get both their energy out. He gets two or three walks a day which he loves. I am able to keep him out of the crate more and more even with the kids around, which is great. Then i dont feel so guilty when he is in there. I am a sucker for dogs, but i do have to realize sometimes its necessary to crate and its not hurting him at all.
So not only am I helping a homeless dog, but I am learning how to handle energetic dogs and that I need to take a breather when I feel overwelmed instead of making phone calls or emails :)
Brutus really is an awesome dog and will make his forever family very happy. As long as they are willing to spend the time training him, he will be a very well behaved yet very energetic dog. He will make you laugh (as he did today when he was grabbing baby wipes one by one out of the wipe box as if he was going to use them), he will steal your heart (as he has mine) and he will be worth all the training and time needed for him to be a well mannered dog. He is very eager to learn and even with his protests, he does want to please you. He deserves the best home out there...
Though I know he will find his forever home, i will be sad when he isn't here.. I will miss him and all his craziness... even in the frustrating moments! But who is perfect? Noone! Not me, not the kiddos and not the dogs! :)
I look forward also to fostering more dogs after him and will take all I learned with him with us on our fostering journey... not only has this experience benefited Brutus (as he isn't on the streets, in a shelter or worse) but has benefited me in learning as much as I can about the whole rewarding (and yes sometimes frustrating) experience of fostering.
One is to not make rash decisions.... there were several times, i called the rescue to say I couldnt foster the dog... one reason being how overpowering he is with the little kids - he just doesn't know his own size. He is just being a normal puppy but 85lbs of puppy in a rowhome with too much furniture in it and four kids makes for a crowded area. And any time, Brutus would run around the kids, the 2 yr old was likely to get knocked over or sat on. And then I would crate him and feel guilty for keeping him in his crate while I was home... but he does fine in the crate as I give him stuff to chew on there.
The other bump in the road, was him escaping the front yard fence... he scooted under it. I didnt think an 85lb dog could do it, but he did. I got so nervous and frustrated that he wouldnt come back to me and then I wouldnt be able to let him get his abundance of puppy energy out by letting the dogs play out front, I called the rescue a second time and said, I cant keep him as a foster. The thing is, I just needed some time to cool off and I made the mistake to make the decision while in the heat of the moment. And the rescue offering to take him back, I was taking the lazy way out and told them yeah, please take him.
But after a day to cool off and some suggestions on when he protests what i am telling him by using distraction, things are going much differently. I was getting frustrated with whenever i told him No, that he would jump up on me playfully or grab the leash and play tug of war.. Since he is so big, it was hard for me to handle this... my shoulder felt like it would be pulled out of its socket! I am not that strong! LOL
However, I used the suggestion given to me to give him a toy when he does this. And it works wonders! Yay. And dummy me should have realized this as i have four young kids and do that with them. But I think sleep deprivation, takes away some of my brains or something! lol
Anyway, things are going really well. I am able to keep him in the yard and him and Cali play really well together and get both their energy out. He gets two or three walks a day which he loves. I am able to keep him out of the crate more and more even with the kids around, which is great. Then i dont feel so guilty when he is in there. I am a sucker for dogs, but i do have to realize sometimes its necessary to crate and its not hurting him at all.
So not only am I helping a homeless dog, but I am learning how to handle energetic dogs and that I need to take a breather when I feel overwelmed instead of making phone calls or emails :)
Brutus really is an awesome dog and will make his forever family very happy. As long as they are willing to spend the time training him, he will be a very well behaved yet very energetic dog. He will make you laugh (as he did today when he was grabbing baby wipes one by one out of the wipe box as if he was going to use them), he will steal your heart (as he has mine) and he will be worth all the training and time needed for him to be a well mannered dog. He is very eager to learn and even with his protests, he does want to please you. He deserves the best home out there...
Though I know he will find his forever home, i will be sad when he isn't here.. I will miss him and all his craziness... even in the frustrating moments! But who is perfect? Noone! Not me, not the kiddos and not the dogs! :)
I look forward also to fostering more dogs after him and will take all I learned with him with us on our fostering journey... not only has this experience benefited Brutus (as he isn't on the streets, in a shelter or worse) but has benefited me in learning as much as I can about the whole rewarding (and yes sometimes frustrating) experience of fostering.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Brutus' first day
We just started fostering dogs for Cares4Pets in Philadelphia, PA. We first met Irving (we renamed Brutus) a week ago to do a dog meet with our resident dog a pitbull named Cali who is a bit growly with new dogs until she gets used to them. It takes her a while but once she knows a dog, she is fine and will even snuggle with the dog.
He came here about 9am today. The first thing I did was take him for a long walk to Petsmart and got a training collar and a rope toy. He walked very well and even carried his new rope toy halfway home before he dropped it and then i took it the rest the way home. Then hubby took him for a walk with him. And he played ball with him.
Then Hubby took both dogs out for their first long walk together. HE even played with both of them with a ball. Of course, Cali acted out and did her barking/growling at Brutus but he just rolled with the punches. lol... he was great. Cali even played with him at times but still it takes alot more time for her not to growl at all. It seems she "forgets" to growl and then "remembers" to later on.
Then we brought them both in house and Cali went right for her crate.. I guess she wanted a break from the new dog :) So Brutus got to hang out by himself and investigate his new temporary surroundings. He loves the kids but does need to learn to settle around them.. they get him excited but he does listen to commands so that is very good :)
He is a bit jumpy but again will listen to sit and other commands and we will work with him on it.
Then we took him and cali again as a family - hubby, me and the four kids.... hubby let Cali and Brutus play with a ball together and they did well with Cali doing the usual "growling.. i am going to attack you" then the ok, i will ignore you game she does. He just went with the flow.. lol.. He didnt mind either way.
He loves sticks... a lot! He wont let go of them so we have to work on "leave it" with those. As my kids like to play with sticks too so he steals the sticks from them. They arent too happy about that! lol
We then saw a guy who we always talk to as he walks his Old American Bulldog (or it might be Old english bulldog) who said, "wow, he is a beautiful dog, you should keep him" LOL
Then I ended up taking Brutus for another individual walk as the baby needed a catnap in stroller and i met this lady who was walking her boston terrier which Brutus played with really well I might add... and she was saying how beautiful he was and what a great dog he was. She also said, that i should keep him. hehe. She looked like she wanted to take him home with her. She loves big dogs and especially american bulldogs. He did good with her, but did jump up on her a few times to give her a kiss twice... hehe. I am working on that :)
Then we let Cali and him interact in the house a bit with leashes on but Cali started being really bratty and i couldnt supervise close enough cause I was feeding the baby and hubby was cooking, so we crated him which btw he does great with.
Hubby discussed adopting him instead of fostering but as much as I would love to, I dont know if we can. One, I want to keep fostering and we cant if we adopt him. Two, he is a very big boy and I love big dogs the best however, my parents have a little shore trailer and we wouldnt be able to bring him as the place is small and he is so big. I dont know if i can afford a petsitter so we have to think about it. Plus I have heard there is a bit of interest in him, so it wouldnt be far to him, to not give him a fair shot at those interested. It would only be a week or maybe a week and one weekend but still... i am not a fan of kenneling and i cant afford a private petsitter.
If it were my house, it wouldnt matter... but my parents also have two dogs, though little, but four dogs with one being really big, would be too much.
Well, starting to ramble so thats all for now. I will update post as we go along (or at least try to!)
He came here about 9am today. The first thing I did was take him for a long walk to Petsmart and got a training collar and a rope toy. He walked very well and even carried his new rope toy halfway home before he dropped it and then i took it the rest the way home. Then hubby took him for a walk with him. And he played ball with him.
Then Hubby took both dogs out for their first long walk together. HE even played with both of them with a ball. Of course, Cali acted out and did her barking/growling at Brutus but he just rolled with the punches. lol... he was great. Cali even played with him at times but still it takes alot more time for her not to growl at all. It seems she "forgets" to growl and then "remembers" to later on.
Then we brought them both in house and Cali went right for her crate.. I guess she wanted a break from the new dog :) So Brutus got to hang out by himself and investigate his new temporary surroundings. He loves the kids but does need to learn to settle around them.. they get him excited but he does listen to commands so that is very good :)
He is a bit jumpy but again will listen to sit and other commands and we will work with him on it.
Then we took him and cali again as a family - hubby, me and the four kids.... hubby let Cali and Brutus play with a ball together and they did well with Cali doing the usual "growling.. i am going to attack you" then the ok, i will ignore you game she does. He just went with the flow.. lol.. He didnt mind either way.
He loves sticks... a lot! He wont let go of them so we have to work on "leave it" with those. As my kids like to play with sticks too so he steals the sticks from them. They arent too happy about that! lol
We then saw a guy who we always talk to as he walks his Old American Bulldog (or it might be Old english bulldog) who said, "wow, he is a beautiful dog, you should keep him" LOL
Then I ended up taking Brutus for another individual walk as the baby needed a catnap in stroller and i met this lady who was walking her boston terrier which Brutus played with really well I might add... and she was saying how beautiful he was and what a great dog he was. She also said, that i should keep him. hehe. She looked like she wanted to take him home with her. She loves big dogs and especially american bulldogs. He did good with her, but did jump up on her a few times to give her a kiss twice... hehe. I am working on that :)
Then we let Cali and him interact in the house a bit with leashes on but Cali started being really bratty and i couldnt supervise close enough cause I was feeding the baby and hubby was cooking, so we crated him which btw he does great with.
Hubby discussed adopting him instead of fostering but as much as I would love to, I dont know if we can. One, I want to keep fostering and we cant if we adopt him. Two, he is a very big boy and I love big dogs the best however, my parents have a little shore trailer and we wouldnt be able to bring him as the place is small and he is so big. I dont know if i can afford a petsitter so we have to think about it. Plus I have heard there is a bit of interest in him, so it wouldnt be far to him, to not give him a fair shot at those interested. It would only be a week or maybe a week and one weekend but still... i am not a fan of kenneling and i cant afford a private petsitter.
If it were my house, it wouldnt matter... but my parents also have two dogs, though little, but four dogs with one being really big, would be too much.
Well, starting to ramble so thats all for now. I will update post as we go along (or at least try to!)
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