Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[stillshimpy]

GenL, maybe you have Placement Magic and whenever you have an interest in a dog, the Placement Signal goes out to the universe and a forever home is found.

Here's hoping it works that way for poor Corsage, who I have to return to Stray Rescue today. She's not compatible with poor Pud. They usually don't recommend mixing female dogs, but thought it would be okay because Corsage is young. Well, it didn't work out that way. Corsage is bigger than Puddles and sadly the fights are escalating with each encounter. I'm now to the point of keeping them entirely separate.

Poor Corsage, she really is a nice dog, but she needs someone who is a better trainer than I am, and the conflict with Puddles led to Corsage starting to mark the house, which I did know that female dogs will do, but apparently that does indicate that Corsage isn't just playing too rough with Pud, they are in an actual, literal pissing contest.

So I was not a successful foster mom. It probably didn't help that my husband, who has no health issues normally, had to go into the ER the night we got her, because a virus had caused an inflammation of the exterior of sack of his heart, resulting in chest pains. He'll be fine, with no permanent damage, but that certainly didn't help get poor Corsage settled in.

Maybe I should try fostering a cat instead. Poor Corsage, but she's super loving and as cute as she can be.

Your dog is beautiful, bosawks! Clearly very loved and fortunate in his person too. I like Max's portrait gallery :-) Thanks for sharing it.

Edited August 21, 2014 by stillshimpy

[Whimsy]

wow @stillshimpy, you had an eventful few days!  Sorry that the fostering didn't work- but that's exactly what I was getting at!! How can the rescue league even comfortably place dogs into homes with other dogs without knowing if their compatible?  Whatever it's fine.

 

I am sure Corsage will find a home.  She looked really sweet.  If you have two alpha females neither would back down in a fight. I hope you don't give up on fostering (even if it switches to cats) because fosters are high in demand.  I'm considering going that route myself.

[bosawks]

Thanks stillshimpy he's old, cranky and neurotic, in other words, he's absolutely perfect.  And since I've had a request for a bigger picture from flyingegret far be it from me to say no so here he is in all of his puppy eyed glory.

 

[stillshimpy]

How can the rescue league even comfortably place dogs into homes with other dogs without knowing if their compatible?

 

You know, truly they tried and it was just one of those things where things went sideways over factors none of us considered.  They did have Puddles and Corsage meet.  They did it at first without me being present, because dogs can be possessive and protective of their people. When Puddles did try to keep Corsage away from us, it didn't look as serious as it quickly got when Corsage was feeling more confident (she'd only been returned to the shelter the day before, she was having such a bad week).  They really tried and they are a fantastic organization.  It was just difficult to predict that there would be such a disparity in the energy levels of the two dogs and then there was something I didn't realize would be such a factor: Despite being younger, Corsage was substantially taller than Puddles.  

 

So when Corsage thought "Hey, I'll play!" at first, it was like getting clobbered from above for Puddles.  Also, in the last ten years I've moved over to only adopting adult, rescued dogs, so it had been ages since I'd trained a puppy.  It's been ages since I've been around a puppy.  Corsage is still a puppy.  

 

Then the real problem is that we treat Puddles almost like a person.  She's allowed on beds.  She's allowed on furniture.  The rescue has great resources, but I think we need to go to training classes to learn how to be better trainers before we plunge in again.  Puddles is wonderful dog and allowed to do a lot in the house....partially because she's literally never destroyed anything or been destructive, and we weren't thinking about how a dog would react to that kind of rule disparity.  We had to put away all toys so they wouldn't fight over them during the adjustment period and for whatever reason it never occurred to any of us -- at the rescue or here -- that that would mean Puddles would be sort of anxious and weirded out by how much her home environment had changed. Pud is super obedient, and entirely housetrained, but we don't follow any "here's the hand command for sit" universal training stuff.  I didn't think about how that would be hard on another dog, because training would be so important for them.  

 

Then, this is embarrassing as can be, but apparently since we moved to Missouri two years ago, we haven't kept her as socialized as we thought we had and it turned out she's really not well-socialized any longer.  Our fifteen year old cat had died and since then, Pud hasn't been around many other animals.  

 

I am not going to give up on the idea of fostering, I just need to actual do a ton more prep work before I try again.  I did offer to do things like take dogs to the adoption events and volunteer or go through some dog training, but this one really is on me with my good intentions and where that road is known to lead.  

 

Thanks for the understanding and encouragement though, sincerely, I appreciate that.  Just want to say that this particular rescue organization is amazing at what they do, I've just never been around stray rescues before, I've only ever rescued surrendered pets and you know, I also underestimated that difference. 

Edited August 21, 2014 by stillshimpy

[harrie]

@bosawks, Max is quite handsome -- patient, too.  I hope you two have fun for a long time. 

 

@stillshimpy, I'm sorry the fostering didn't work out.  But I'm glad Mr. Shimpy doesn't have anything seriously wrong.  I admire your seeking to find a way to work with this group, even if fostering may not be the way to do it right now. 

 

All our animals are adopted, but of the groups that screened, we've only had a home check; they never made our pets meet in advance.  It could be because we've only had multiple cats and one dog, and it can take days to see if the cats are going to get along or at least come to a truce.  We're very lucky that so far, it has always worked out eventually. 

Edited August 21, 2014 by harrie

[Whimsy]

Oh, I wasn't addressing my comment about the dogs not meeting first towards you or your rescue league. Sounds like you took all the right steps. I meant my rescue league and how they seemed surprised when I asked to have the dogs meet first before putting in an agreement to adopt the dog.

I have every faith in the rescue league I went through for Cali. They just get so many offers on all the dogs that they're all spoken for before they get up here. If it's meant to be, we'll find the perfect fur-sibling for Cali.

I still think it's so great you are willing to open your home to foster pets. Keep up the good work!

[Tabbyclaw]

One of our five dogs tore his ACL and had to have surgery, which he is fortunately recovering wonderfully from and he gets the stitches out in a few days. But keeping him inactive while he heals has been an ordeal, because of course it had to be the Jack Russell who got injured. So here's a shot of Parker (named after the Leverage character, and now sporting the same injury she had in the last season) in his kennel, and his "little" brother Syllabub -- seven months old and getting bigger by the day -- keeping watch over him:

 

[stillshimpy]

Wow!! How do you keep a Jack Russell inactive?  Are there wizards involved?  Blood oaths? Deities to bribe? That is a super cute picture, Tabbyclaw. 

 

I understand, GenL, it really is such an important part of a process and it can actually go wrong (as witnessed by me), it seems like it would be standard procedure everywhere.  

[KnoxForPres]

bosawks this is a gorgeous dog! He is amazing. What a wonderful and loyal friend. Hello Max!

[Tabbyclaw]

Wow!! How do you keep a Jack Russell inactive?  Are there wizards involved?  Blood oaths? Deities to bribe?

 

Tiny kennel, short leash, and constant supervision, none of which he's happy about. So far we've not had to resort to prescription sedatives, but the vet did offer them.

[Mini-Mart]

Don't be jealous, but this is what I come home to:

 

http://i.imgur.com/bLb6huq.jpg

 

His name is Ludo, he's a husky/shepherd mix and the love of my life.

[Whimsy]

How adorable!!!!

[stillshimpy]

Must. Cuddle. Must. Pet.

Oh my gods, that is one cute little welcome wagon, Mini-mart.

I'm going to include a link here to a Facebook Page called "Find Lucy" and if you guys have a moment, please look at it. I didn't actually share it on Facebook simply because I literally don't know a soul in Nebraska and although you'd think that would mean that I'd be able to six-degree my way to it, this is going to be more likely to achieve that, since I'm so inactive on FB.

Anyway here's the link for Find Lucy. What a nightmare for her people and for the poor dog, of course.

Okay...so something has gone south with the editing here, so in the meantime? The link in it's pure form:

https://www.facebook.com/helpfindourlucy

Edited September 4, 2014 by stillshimpy

[Mini-Mart]

While less "traditionally" cute, let me show you some of our other lovelies...

 

Icarus, the tegu:

http://i.imgur.com/DfRlUo9.jpg

 

And Latrice, the boa constrictor:

http://i.imgur.com/jz8emBE.jpg

 

[RescueMom]

wow stillshimpy, you had an eventful few days!  Sorry that the fostering didn't work- but that's exactly what I was getting at!! How can the rescue league even comfortably place dogs into homes with other dogs without knowing if their compatible?  Whatever it's fine.

 

I am sure Corsage will find a home.  She looked really sweet.  If you have two alpha females neither would back down in a fight. I hope you don't give up on fostering (even if it switches to cats) because fosters are high in demand.  I'm considering going that route myself.

 

I've been MIA from the boards for a few months due to being seriously busy in my life, so I'm just trying to catch up.  I'm also sorry the fostering thing didn't work out this time stillshimpy, and am happy you are helping out in other ways.  I actually had to move Ms. Brita to a different foster home - she was fine with my other dogs, but started going after my pomeranian.  She was always a little iffy with him, then it got worse.  I don't want anyone getting hurt, so she moved in with a foster who only has large dogs and is doing very well there. 

 

GenL, I'm with you - I don't understand groups that will place a dog without everyone meeting first (including resident pets).  I can't tell you how much vitriol I've had aimed at me for refusing to ship a dog across the country because someone really, really wants him.  Our group policy that every human and animal in the home need to meet before an adoption happens - not only do we need to make sure the animals get along, but I've also done home visits where the applicant's spouse/partner was clearly not on board with adopting. 

 

I am foster-free at the moment, but there is a 4-month-old shepherd mix pup moving in this weekend if he isn't adopted.  We have a foster who takes in litters of puppies from a nearby reservation (usually orphans, she's cared for litters as young as 3 weeks old!), and this guy is getting too big for her setup.  He's got a family coming to meet him tomorrow though, so my fingers are crossed that he gets adopted rather than comes home with me! 

[Whimsy]

Those aren't my cuppa tea as far as pets go, but glad you love them and are proud of them Mini-Mart. 

[stillshimpy]

I think Icarus is cute :-) Also not my kind of pet, but hey, diversity of experience, identiy and preference makes the world more interesting!

[harrie]

Mini-Mart, Ludo is soooo cute.  Puppies are so much fun.  But then, so are dogs.

 

Icarus looks kind of huge - does he have his own room?  Roam the house?  Hope I'm not being nosy, but I am curious how one takes care of a large lizard.  He has a cute face, actually; he looks sweet.   Latrice is purty, too. 

 

 

The closest I've been to having a reptile/amphibian for a pet is when my mom went into assisted living; we went to visit her (1,000 miles away) and stayed in her house while there.  During the stay, we'd occasionally see a little gecko hanging out in the kitchen. He was very cute, and I thought Mom had him there for pest control.  Turns out, she didn't even know she had a gecko.   

[KnoxForPres]

Oh my gosh, Mini-Mart, Ludo is the cutest thing ever. So soft, so happy, so wonderful!

[Mini-Mart]

Harrie, he has a huge homemade crate that takes up a big chunk of our basement.  He doesn't roam much.  He just wants a lot of dirt to burrow into.  Sometimes he won't resurface for days (or weeks, during the winter.)  Pretty low-maintenance.

[harrie]

Thanks, Mini-Mart,   Very cool.

[Mrsjumbo]

http://i.imgur.com/6ql6yUC.jpg

This is Rusty Firestar. My boys named him from the Warrior cat book series. His claim to fame is that one of the Duggars dropped him off at the shelter when he was 4 weeks old. They said he was too vicious!

http://i.imgur.com/sH1dgPy.jpg

Of course, we won't mention the times he looks like this..,

Edited September 9, 2014 by Mrsjumbo

[smrou]

Rusty is adorable!  And on the orange tabby theme I have another cat to share because I am catsitting for my parents' cat, Oscar.  They go out of town kind of a lot and usually I just stop by every couple of days to check in on Oscar because the last time I tried to bring him to my house he and Smudge (my cat) fought like crazy the whole time.  And he's like 14 pounds of pure muscle while my little Smudge is 7 pounds, wimpy, and stupid, so I worry that she could really get hurt.  But I decided to bring him home with me again so he doesn't have to be alone so much.  There's been a lot of hissing, but so far I'm keeping Oscar separate from Smudge and while he seemed really tense at first I think he's started to relax.

 

 

[Whimsy]

He looks relaxed.  ;)

 

I got Cali a travel crate (so we can bring it to our trailer when we go camping).  I think she likes it.

 

 

As I said before, she's a rescue so there's a lot we don't know about her.  She didn't really NEED a crate because she's really good while home alone, etc, but as soon as I pulled this out of the box (it was thundering when I did so she was scared) she tried leaping into it before it was even set up.  So, I guess she was crated before and didn't mind it.  Now she goes in and out of it at will. 

[harrie]

Rusty Firestar and Oscar are  both so cute!  

 

We had an orange tabby for several years; she lived in the woods* outside our apartment building but was very friendly and would sleep in my husband's car (a Suzuki Samurai way, way back when) on summer nights when he left the top off.  When we bought a place, we came back for her, and she came running when we whistled; once in the new place, she never even looked at a door to the outside again.  Her favorite place to hang out was on top of the toilet (or walking along the bed headboard in the middle of the night).   I'll always have a soft spot for the orange ones.

 

 

*We already had a cat; and earlier on, we'd brought in a kitten** who was hanging out on a cold, rainy night.  The resident cat pitched a fit, even shredding to pieces the shirt my husband had been wearing while holding the kitten (luckily, he was not in it at the time).  So we were reluctant to revisit that particular scenario.  Maybe because the new place was still new to the resident cat, or maybe because it was bigger, we were able to negotiate a truce, and they even became good friends. 

 

Here is the happy couple, hanging out on my closet shelf.

 

 

**The kitten found a home with a guy on another floor.  As far as we know, they all lived happily ever after. 

 

 

 

Good for Cali for liking her travel crate; crates can make life much easier.  Of the few things we know about our mutt, one is that he was crated for a year solid (at a "rescue" no less) and covered with crud when the place was busted.   We have a crate from our previous dog - right now it's the cat's window seat -- but we've never asked Handsome if he wants to go in it.  He hasn't moseyed in on his own, either.  

Edited September 11, 2014 by harrie

[stillshimpy]

Aw, it's sweet that Cali feels most secure in a crate. I think that means that whoever crated her in the past really crate trained her well. Rusty Firestar looks wonderfully devilish when not being adorable and I love how Oscar just settles in to do that bliss yoga all cats have mastered.

Okay, so I'm going to ask you to lend me your eyeballs, particularly if you are in Missouri, but even if not? Please take a look.

This guy has been lost for eight months. I get a lot of alerts on lost pets. This one got to me because a lost male, pitbull is going to have a hard time. People are far less likely to chase them down, etc. check for tags, ,what have you. Not that I begrudge anyone that reaction. I know I've seriously imperiled my own neck trying to check a lost dog and even I'd hesitate big time over a loose pitbull. So this poor boy, who is just someone's lost and loved pet, has the deck stacked against him.

Please take a look:

https://www.facebook.com/stacy.jones.39589/posts/974848542540652

I just know I'd be heartbroken. I can't even say what it was about her notice that got to me. I think it was the "Plez help me, I'm lost!" and knowing that people would be afraid to. So if you have a second? Please look and maybe share. It's not an area where it seems likely he was snatched for fighting, so there's hope!

Edited September 11, 2014 by stillshimpy

[KnoxForPres]

harrie your woods cat story kind of got to me. I cried a bit. I think it was that you all were so kind to go back and she came running when you whistled. And lived happily ever after.

Because I'm prone to losing sleep with worry and feeling sick when I hear sad animal stories, I stay away from anything animal related. Post your pet photos has been wonderful for me because I've been able to safely see and read so much kindness. And viewed so many animals who are happy and safe and loved.

[harrie]

KnoxForPres, I cried every night until we went back to get her, which was less than a week; the hub wanted to get her too, but he was less vocal about it.   A number of people watched out for her - one person put out a deli container of water with REX written on it, we'd find leftover chicken (and once a lobster carcass) left out, I put out kibble in the mornings -- so she'd probably have been okay for a while, but we wanted to get her indoors before winter.  She turned out to be quite a character, and we weren't so much kind as incredibly lucky to have had her in our lives.  

[panthergirl13]

How did I not find this thread earlier?? OMG, the babies.

 

I am a member of the Retired Racing Greyhound Rescue Cult. Yes, it's a cult. But a good cult. I can't have a dog anymore because I have developed insane asthma (and please don't say there are hypoallergenic dogs because there really aren't... my greyhound Kelso was as close as I'm gonna get, and I still went lights and siren to the hospital twice.)

 

Here's my heart dog... RIP big guy!

 

 

Edited September 19, 2014 by panthergirl13

[harrie]

Great picture and beautiful dog, panthergirl13.  

[stillshimpy]

Oh he was beautiful!

 

(and please don't say there are hypoallergenic dogs because there really aren't... my greyhound Kelso was as close as I'm gonna get, and I still went lights and siren to the hospital twice.)

Yeah, that's a big misconception about dogs, that there exist dogs that are guaranteed not to trigger allergies or asthma, because it's sadly just not true. Although sometimes people can encounter breeds that are less likely to trigger attacks for that individual, there is no universally hypoallergenic dog (or cat). Sort of import for people to know before another Mexican Hairless dog needs to be rehomed.

It's really cool that you're still involved with rescue groups though, panthergirl, but breathing: it's rather vital!

Edited September 20, 2014 by stillshimpy

[bosawks]

Every dog picture I see just further confirms that I just love dogs.

Every pet is special but dogs just melt my cold, cold heart.

As a kid that's how I knew the Grinch was going to be ok, he had a dog. Heck, I named my dog Max.

[RescueMom]

Here is my newest foster pup, Al (short for Alibaba).  He's a 4-month-old shepherd husky mix that came to my rescue in pretty rough shape with his littermates. We have a volunteer who fosters litters of puppies; she got the babies all happy and healthy, and everyone else has been adopted.  For some reason Al hasn't found his home yet, so we took him in to work with him on his potty training and socialization and crate training and basically learning how to be a good boy.  He's very sweet but OMG is he BUSY!  He's all puppy, that's for sure.  My senior dogs are counting the minutes until they get their quiet home back :)

 

[harrie]

Oh, Al is so cute.  Those ears!  I hope he learns quickly and finds a great home. 

[KnoxForPres]

Oh yeah, Al has it going on big time. He's so stinking cute.

My dog Knox was a puppy when I got her from our local shelter. I wanted to get a 3+ old dog for many reasons but the guy who I hoped would be my future husband wanted "a puppy". Well, we got her mid December and broke up late January. I of course kept Knox dog. She was such a hellion I had a "as God as my witness I will never get another puppy". For several reasons, but mostly because damn that was the most work and exhaustion and "no! Those were my favorite Tevas. All I did was blow my nose!" moments.

I get what the elder dogs are thinking! With that said, I'd likely take baby Al in and do it all again if we were neighbors.

[stillshimpy]

Yeah, I'm back in the saddle for temp fosters, basically I'm on the list for providing a foster home when the regular fosters are on vacation.  Because of Pud's size, the bigger dogs don't really workout, but heck, it's one way to learn how to be a foster home.  I'm with everybody else on the "Oh boy, Puppies.  Argh."  although I guess Pud was 9 months when we got her, she was still housebroken, never chewed destructively and whereas she was an anxious s*** and that did provide some challenges, she didn't really compare to the true PUPPPPPPY experience. 

 

I swear puppies are actually more challenging than babies on a lot of levels.  Yes, they are far more likely to come closer to sleeping through the night, but they have to be constantly watched while up and around.  Babies (and yes, I have a full grown son at this stage, so it's a comparison made from at least some experience) are tiring, but they generally stay pretty much where you put them.  They will not eat your shoes or couch and they are unlikely to ruin all your rugs for resale purposes ;-)  

Good luck with Al, RescueMom.  I love how even his expression seems to say, "What are we going to do NOW? Now. Now. Now.  Let's do something.  Here, I'll eat your boots.  Whaddya mean, No?  Why not?  Let's do something.  Now. Now. N....oh, now I need to pee.  I'll just pee on this...whaddya mean, No?  Why are we going outside?  I don't need to go now.  Oh, but we can do stuff while we're out there! Now. Now. Now."  

[bosawks]

Don't be jealous, but this is what I come home to:

http://i.imgur.com/bLb6huq.jpg

His name is Ludo, he's a husky/shepherd mix and the love of my life.

I'm jealous.

[Dan]

This is Charley.

[KnoxForPres]

Good heavens I want to pick Charley up and squeeze him (gently). What an adorable dog!

eta to spell the pups name right!

Edited October 20, 2014 by KnoxForPres

[David T. Cole]

Gordon Lightfoot's Halloween costume.

http://i.imgur.com/nK4epdw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/IC5knrq.jpg

[stillshimpy]

Someone is a good and patient dog, yes he is!  I'm betting he scores the full size Snickers with that costume.  

[bosawks]

Well, that's a little annoying that he fills out his coconut bra better than I filled out mine.

[harrie]

Oh my, Gordon Lightfoot, how you have changed.  Seriously, you've got to love a dog who's that patient.

 

 

Dan, Charley is a cutie pie!  Love that face -- like "You don't really want this chewie, do you?"  Is he a Jack Russell or a blend thereof? 

[Dan]

Dan, Charley is a cutie pie!  Love that face -- like "You don't really want this chewie, do you?"  Is he a Jack Russell or a blend thereof?

 

Thanks! He is all Jack Russell.

[stillshimpy]

I love that Dan's chewy bone has clearly seen the Jaw Wars :-)  Good boy, Charley!  Better to chew the bone than the shoes.  Pud's Nylabones always end up in that super-sharp state too.  You kind of have to do recon in a room before walking across it too swiftly in bare feet. 

Edited October 26, 2014 by stillshimpy

[stillshimpy]

Oh hey, I really rarely do this but I'm going to share a link to a Change.org petition.  I sign tons of them, but rarely send them around much (because that's a sure-fire way to make people find you tedious, you know?)  But I figure anyone in this thread loves animals and has pets, so this is one that most of us would be interested in.  

 

All the homeless, mistreated and neglected animals in the world and Dryersburg TN wants to euthanize this man's dog for killing a duck.  For freaking real.  

 They need about 60k signatures still, but time is of the essence on this one. If you have a moment.

 

I figured it would be okay to share on that really doesn't have any kind of politics at the root of it.  This is just a glaring lack of common sense. 

Edited October 26, 2014 by stillshimpy

[Whimsy]

Signed!

[KnoxForPres]

I signed it stillshimpy. I live in TN so all the more reason I should.

The rescue org where I got Knox is having a Halloween party this Thursday (btw Knox and Charley have similar pics here with their little paws and rawhide :). Knox dog is best friends with a Corgi in my apt complex named Hammond. Well Hammond hates anything at all touching him, Knox not so much, so here is our plan:

Corgi owner loves all things Brit so we are putting a large British flag handkerchief on Knox' body with pearls around her neck. Working on hat idea. We have a tiny attach leash which will attach Hammond to Knox so she will be the Queen with a Corgi in tow.

[scarletregina]

Here is my shiba, Buttons, being tormented by his Halloween costume. 

 

 

Here he is un-tormented:

 

[stillshimpy]

Thank you for signing, Guys :-) Sincerely.

The dog was originally scheduled to be euthanized on Oct 21st, but postponed until Nov 20th after the understandable outcry.

Here's hoping it works and thanks again.

Knox, I love that idea for a Halloween costume!! You guys got really witty and creative with it :-)

Buttons is a very handsome and very, very patient boy, scareletregina. Good smile on him too :-)