In the Rescue world, things settle down and then they quickly change.  This time it all started last weekend when I was off to a dog show in Sacramento.  I was there to cheer on my granddog and greatgrand puppy.  They did just fine.  I did bring along my netbook and the first note came in, “A question on two dogs”. It is a pair of dogs, male and female, 7 & 4 years old needed to be surrendered as a young family was expanding.  With a 14 month old and another due shortly, very shortly, it appeared that the dogs were not quite accepting the changes that were happening in the family structure.  With the emergence of a toddler, the landscape was changing and the challenges were too unsettling. Then, 3 days after that, a note from another rescue group who had looked at a “brown terrier” in a shelter in Stockton.  It wasn’t a Westie and looked like a Cairn. The next day, the email “Orphaned dog” showed up.  Following the death of the dog’s owner and the inability of the out of state family to deal with the dog, a neighbor was searching for some help with placing a 6  year old female. So, there are 4 dogs to sort out and attempt to find homes for them.  Each is different but the first issue is always the same, I normally have space for a single dog at a time.

This is a nice looking pair, both are on the small side.  Buddy, 7, is the real lover.  He has an issue with his esophagus that takes some vigilance but shouldn’t be a big problem. There is an eye issue to sort out, it could be a major concern.  Ruby, 4,  is the boss, as much as someone allows, she will rule the roost if someone is lax about control.  For the short term, that is not an issue, the old man of our pack here is 15 and he will not brook any nonsense.  In time, if Ruby is here long, I suspect she will be silently in control.  I always feed and pet my dogs first, they very quickly learn my rules but in the dog world, there is an unspoken language of eyes and body language that runs the dog world.   In the past, I have had females who were very subservient where 2 legs are concerned but they  seem to let the male dogs know who the real boss is.  My old man’s response as always the same, walk in the room and ignore them, if he didn’t look at them, if he didn’t “see” them, then he was the boss.  My guess is that Ruby would one day be that dog, the silent queen of the pack.  ”I’m talking to you, old man.” Feeding them will be a small challenge, I understand that Ruby is food aggressive.  With this many dogs, that is not allowed.  As the youngest, her dish will hit the floor last, she will learn.  It usually takes these dogs about 2 days and they quickly understand the rules.  They adjust, especially when they are in a new place. At the moment, there is a little barking going on, nothing between the dogs, just at the wind, or telling me to let them inside.  One thing I learned a few dogs back.  Once they get here, they want to be recognized.  For the first day or so, that is about all I do. I will give them a random pet but nothing serious.  In time, I will do that but they seem to accept me as leader if I take my time and then finally give them extra attention.  It seems to help them focus on the job at hand,” You are the new kid, You are last, You will get your turn, but You will wait for it.” Next, we may have a project dog,” Trinket“.   Her owner died, the family is out of state and declined to take Trinket with them.   Somehow, a neighbor or friend found me through the National club and asked for help.  Here is the first message, Subject: Orphaned Dog

Hi I am looking for a rescue org. near Sacramento. A good friend passed away and her Cairn terrier is in desperate need of a new home. She is 6. spayed, house trained, pure bred, and has papers Thank You

I answered, at this point, I expected Ruby and Buddy would be coming in, if so, I didn’t have space at the moment.  Besides, I had not seen this dog, it might only be someone’s best guess if it was a Cairn.  I asked for a picture, if possible, the name of a breeder, where did the dog come from?  No promises that we could take her at this point, I wanted more information first.  I got several pictures, plus a response that the breeder was in the midwest and not able to contact.  Big surprise there.  Next, I got note that said :

FYI. today i found a good home for the dog

Thanks!

That is good news, there is no reason for us to be involved.  I did send her a note saying she would look smaller once she was groomed, I attached a couple of pictures of another dog we had to dehair.  You can see the Skippy story here. Click the link and scroll down half way, look for Skippy.

I wanted them to know what is possible. I should have known the earlier e-mail was too good to be true. 24 hours later, I got this message:

Well back in need of your help with finding a home for Trinket.  the people returned her after taking her home last night, they have 2 other dogs and they didnt get along.  So hoping to go the rescue organization route so that we can find a home that will work

I answered we would try, I sent notes to two people that lived in that general area hoping for a positive response but I still didn’t have room for Trinket.     Several hours later, I got this note:

UPDATE Just got word that Trinkett was picked up today by a rescue org. so you can rest easy and take me off of your list

Thanks for all of the correspondence!

Another rescue group?  I wonder who that is?  Not a major issue, anyone who helps place a dog is fine with me.   That note came in around 4PM. Everything looked good at that point.  Then, at 8PM, my phone rang.  A club member called and says she has picked up a rescue dog.  Dark color? Yes. Tons of hair?  Yes  Does she answer to Trinket? Yes.  That means we finally have her in our hands.  I’m unclear how the connection was made, but now we have Trinket.  The extra special part is that Glenda has agreed to keep her at her kennel to get her in shape.  Unlike Skippy in the other story, Trinket is large under all of that hair.  She came in about 22#, removing the hair won’t have a big impact on her weight.  So. Glenda will foster her, put her on a diet, and do something about that hair,  In a month or two, we will have a slimmer and trimmer Trinket to place.

Next up, the dog with out a name, I will call her “Stockton” because that is where she is now.  A volunteer from Westie rescue sent a note to a club member who has a Westie.  That note, about the “brown terrier” was forwarded to me.  A youngish female was in the Stockton Animal Control that might be a Cairn. The issue was the same, always the same, not enough room at the inn.  There was a nice follow up note that came.  The Westie contact in Stockton agreed to foster the dog for a short while if we wanted it picked up.  Fantastic, I don’t see that kind of offer every day.  A call to the shelter confirmed she was still there, ready for regular adoption.  I had worked with this shelter before and they seemed to do a good job of placing dogs.  So, I made a decision to ask the Westie person to wait until Monday, “Stockton” might be placed through the Animal Control.  If  was still there on Monday, the Westie volunteer would pick up the dog and CTCNC Rescue would pick up all charges.  I would get the dog from the Westie volunteer as soon as I placed 2 or more of the three other dogs on my list.

As the weekend approached, only the status of 1 dog was firm but things were shaping up as we entered  the weekend.  Saturday morning, a very distraught owner came by to drop off Ruby and Buddy.  They were here to stay.  With tears flowing, his backup driver took over the wheel and he was off to deal with more pressing matters. (Two days later, his wife was in the delivery room.  I know that because he sent an e-mail at the time asking how the new charges were doing.)

Buddy and Ruby are doing fine, the old man of the pack told them what the rules were regarding food and no evidence of food aggression was ever apparent.   No dog issues either, this is an experienced pack and they sort things out quickly.  The owners had included very detailed write ups about each dog.  While I will still hold them for at least 7 days, I did forward the write ups to a couple of potential adopters, hoping for a quick response and a pending adoption. Later that day, I checked with the shelter web site to see what the status of “Stockton” was.  She is no longer on the site.  I found out since that she was claimed by her owner.   Good news for “Stockton“,  for me and for Westie Rescue. Trinket is in good hands and she will eventually be ready for adoption once those extra pounds are off and her crop of hair is reduced. We have Buddy and Ruby here and we are working with them. As we moved through the past week, we followed one dog through to return to her owner and we have 3 other dogs going through evaluation before adoption.  We have another club member who has stepped up and is fostering a dog.  We have made contact with another club who has offered to help foster a dog.  All of this is very good.  It has been a productive week.