Ace is Moving On

Ace will be going to another foster home this afternoon. He’s got a cold and we can’t risk Gertie catching it. We’ll ask the new foster family to send updates and photos. Photos of Ace are being displayed on an electronic picture frame at the front desk of the Champaign County Humane Society.

We really like Ace. He’s a very good dog who has had a rotten start in life. He will make someone a wonderful companion. Here’s some of his good points:

He’s crate trained.

He’s housebroken. He signals when he needs to go out (you just have to learn what the signals are).

He’s great with other dogs.

He has no problem eating near Sidney and Russell.

He loves to play and Sidney knows how to push the right buttons to start a romp.

You can take stuff away from him, including his food bowl while he’s eating.

He’ll jump up on the bed to snuggle.

He’s very playful, but also calms down.

This is what I said about Ace in my first post about him. We still believe these things to be true.

We’ve discovered he’s crate trained, he likes tennis balls, you can take stuff away from him, and he wants to be with people, even if he is a little cautious. We think his problem is just a lack of attention and socialization.

So Ace will be with us for a bit to chill out and get some life experiences. He’s a very handsome dog. Ace will be ideal for someone who wants an active dog to run with or to play dog sports.

Ace is available for adoption from the Champaign County Humane Society. Call the shelter for more information or to arrange a visit.

Gertie Arrives, Some Pups Move On

Sometimes things happen very quickly for us and our foster dogs. Today the Champaign County Humane Society needed a foster home for Gertie, a three-year-old, 15-pound Shih Tsu/Jack Russell Terrier mix who they believe to be pregnant. Harriett and I are among the few foster homes that will take on a pregnant dog, so to make room for Gertie some changes were made to our foster lineup.

Fellow foster mom, Kim, agreed to take three puppies to ease the load here. Kim took Demo, her clear favorite, as well as Doogie and Rocky. Those three will be living with Kim’s family until Monday when they will return to CCHS for adoption. We kept Cindy, Kira, Mary, and Schipp because we have potential adopters who will be returning to look at three of them. Those four will be going back to CCHS early next week, too. Contact CCHS if you are interested in adopting any one of the seven puppies.

Ace is still here, but he will most likely move to another foster home or return to CCHS for adoption within the next couple of days.

Gertie’s been here for less than a half hour, so I can’t tell you much about her. She has a severe underbite, tarter on her teeth, and she’s had a bad flea infestation in the recent past. She seems nice and I will be spending time with her to bond in preparation for my duties as birth attendant.

I haven’t mentioned it for a while, but CCHS needs more foster homes. If you’ve been following our blog for a while and our work seems interesting to you, please contact Laura Davis at CCHS. Laura is the Volunteer Coordinator.

Foster homes take in single animals for a variety of medical or developmental reasons, puppies, and pregnant moms. The program is very flexible and CCHS will work within your limits and interest in placing animals in your house. Foster care is very rewarding, and there’s a huge need for more sites.

Ace Update

The intake form for Ace says “No time” as the reason he was relinquished to the shelter. If you look closely at the photo above you’ll be able to count each one of his ribs, and in the photo below you can see how underweight he is. I’ll reserve judgment about whether his body condition is due to withholding food or some kind of medical problem, but in either case I think it is unacceptable that someone would let their dog get in this condition and not do anything about it.

We’re going to ease him into eating fairly large meals and Ace will be checked for parasites on Monday. Since yesterday we’ve learned a few things more about him:

• He’s most likely housebroken. He signals when he needs to go out (you just have to learn what the signals are).
• Despite not passing the dog introduction part of the SAFER test, he actually has no problem whatsoever with our dogs. I think the SAFER results were skewed by his fear of the shelter environment.
• He has no problem eating near Sidney and Russell.
• He loves to play and Sidney knows how to push the right buttons to start a romp.
• You can take stuff away from him, including his food bowl while he’s eating.
• He’ll jump up on the bed to snuggle.
• He won’t let me near him when I am holding the big camera, but  he doesn’t mind the compact point-and-shoot. (I find it interesting that Geo was the same.)

We think he’s adoptable, and with a little patience and training will make a wonderful, playful companion.

Ace

While we were at the Champaign County Humane Society with Cindypup (see my other post about her visit to PupsIsPups), Michelle, the shelter manager, said, “I’ve got a dog I want you to look at to see if you will take him home for a while.” Michelle told us he was a recent arrival and was very scared. He didn’t do well on the SAFER test, but she thought he might just be stressed out by the environment of the Shelter. Harriett grabbed a handful of treats and we headed back to the holding area to meet Ace.

We found Ace sitting in the back of his run shaking. He was scared out of his wits by the barking of the other dogs. I went into the run to see him, and although he ate the treats I tossed at him he wouldn’t come near me. He stayed glued to the corner, shaking uncontrollably. I stayed with Ace and Harriett went off to see if we could take Ace out of his run and move to one of the “Get Acquainted” rooms—quiet rooms where potential adopters can visit with dogs and cats they are interested in adopting.

Harriett returned with a leash and off we went to a Get Acquainted room. There was an improvement in Ace’s behavior in the more quiet environment, and soon he was approaching me cautiously, though he was still unwilling to get too close. I left him to tour the shelter with Cindypup, and while I was gone Michelle gave him a bowl of canned dog food. He wolfed it down, but more importantly, he was instantly her best buddy. Having found the keys to his heart, we agreed to take him as a foster dog.

Ace is an 11 month old Yellow Labrador Retriever. Still a puppy. Michelle read us the list of reasons his relinquisher gave when dropping him off at the Shelter: hyper, gets in the garbage, doesn’t behave, etc…basically a list of common traits of every puppy we have ever had. They admitted he has had no training and they never took him to the vet. What the heck did they expect? He’s so underweight that I think they also forgot to feed him. He’s about a 3 or 3.5 on the Purina Canine Body Condition Chart. (A score of 5 or 6 is considered normal.)

We brought him home and put him in a crate to give him time to relax. After Cindypup left, our friend Tammie asked if she could meet him. He went up to her with no problem. He met the Base Pack, and other than being a bit overwhelmed, he did great. He and Sidney have already had a major romp in the house. We’ve discovered he’s crate trained, he likes tennis balls, you can take stuff away from him, and he wants to be with people, even if he is a little cautious. We think his problem is just a lack of attention and socialization.

So Ace will be with us for a bit to chill out and get some life experiences. He’s a very handsome dog. Ace will be ideal for someone who wants an active dog to run with or to play dog sports. We’ll post updates over the next few days.