Snickers and I are halfway home from having delivered Sophie to her new home in southern Florida. Yes, I drove ALL THAT WAY to take her personally instead of putting her on a rescue transport. She has a tendency to be anxious and need reassurance about new situations; a transport would have been too stressful for her. Plus, I just love to see my fosters in their new homes.

Sophie has a new “mom & dad,” two teenage human sisters and a Shiba brother, Remi. So far, all reports are that Sophie and Remi are doing well and have enjoyed several long walks and some indoor Shiba 500s together. Here are a few pictures from her first day at home. I took the one of Donna and Sophie before I left. You can see both Remi and Snickers wandering around as well. Donna took the other two of Remi and Sophie later in the day after they’d been playing together.

PS Thank you Donna for being such a gracious hostess and feeding me lunch after my long trip.

Related posts:

1. Sophie is Available for Adoption
2. Say Hello to Sophie

I’m always a bit dismayed when people give up on integrating a new dog into their home after just a few days. It is UNREAL the number of people I have spoken to who think (1) that they can tell if their dog would be happy living with another dog based on an initial meeting and (2) that it is hopeless if the dogs fight in the beginning.

What A Difference A Few Weeks Makes!

Secret, Snickers and Sophie waiting for treats together

Actually, Snickers has fought with every new dog that has come into our home, other than Secret. He and Shayna (my favorite foster dog EVER) fought like crazy at first but ended up madly in love with each other after a few months. Sure, some dogs will get along right away, and they might even live together well right away, but that’s the exception, not the rule. The good news is that you don’t have to have any special skills – other than patience – to successfully integrate another dog into your family!

It’s all about baby steps. You don’t throw new dogs together in a house, feed them together, give them access to each other 24/7, and expect them to get along perfectly. You crate the new dog when you’re sleeping and when you’re not home. You gate off parts of your home, so they can spend time apart. You feed them where they can see each other from a safe distance, but not get to each other. You gradually increase the time they spend together. You gradually decrease the distance between them at key times.

Three weeks ago, I couldn’t eat with all three dogs on the same side of the baby gates. Food + close proximity = dog fight. Now, however, all three dogs will sit side-by-side waiting for bites while I eat. I still don’t leave them alone together when I’m not home, but I’m perfectly willing to let them roam the house and yard together all day when I AM home – whether I am actually watching them or not. They still fight sometimes, but not often and not as wildly as they did before.

Remember, traveling the path to peace in the pack requires patience and baby steps.

Sorry about the blurry pic. I was trying to hold their attention with treats in one hand and take the photo with the other hand!

Related posts:

1. Doggy Etiquette, Midwest Style
2. The Family Dog Should be Family

I took all three dogs to the vet today. Sophie’s checkup went well. She gave the vet tech kisses and she wasn’t anxious about anything, even when they microchipped her with that huge needle! The vet says she’s very healthy and in great shape.

He’s not too concerned with the “fly biting” behavior. Since she is so young and it seems to be triggered by anxiety, he thinks there’s a good possibility that it isn’t neurological and it may just go away. I’ve seen some improvement this week, which could be because she’s more used to living with us or because I’ve almost finished switching her from her kibble to our good food, or both. He suggested keeping a log of when she does it so we can determine if there are any specific triggers. The important thing was that he wasn’t really concerned.

Sophie and Snick had a great romp together today before we went to the vet. They started playing in the house and then went tearing out the back door and ran Shiba 500s all over the back yard. It was awesome fun to watch. I want her to go to a home with another dog, so she has someone to play with.

Last night she snuggled with me on the couch. She is like a stuffed puppy when it comes to snuggle time. She definitely needs an owner who will let her on the furniture for snuggle time!

If you’re interested in adopting Sophie, please submit an adoption application! I would prefer to adopt her out locally (or semi-locally) but I will happily drive her to the right home.

Related posts:

1. Say Hello to Sophie
2. Brandy Is Not Well

Today has been a good day for dogs and a lazy day for me. Friday, I spent time figuring out what I do, why I do it, and what I really should focus on. Yesterday, I ran errands and did chores – a typical Saturday. Normally, on Sunday, I would work… work on rescue stuff, work on NSCA stuff, take Snick for his shelter visit, answer email, do some web development or updates for clients or one of my clubs/charities, etc. NOT TODAY!

I started the day with good intentions, but after making breakfast for me and T, I went outside with the dogs and my Brugo full of fresh coffee and it was 52 degrees and sunny. Our yard has been alternatingly frozen and flooded for the past few weeks, so we were all happy to lounge in the sun for awhile. Here are a few photos and videos of our sunny yard time. As you can see, Sophie tries really hard to get Secret to play with her. She mostly steers clear of Snickers so they don’t fight.

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I’ve been working on getting Snickers and Sophie to play in the yard. I usually have to chase Snick around and, once he’s running, Sophie will join in and they’ll run some Shiba 500s together. We’ve done that every morning for the past few days. I never get that on video though, because I’m running around like a lunatic, waving my arms and saying “Get her Snick. Get her!” (I’m sure my neighbors are ready to have me committed.) Even with playing a little outside though, they’ve still been fighting in the house. Whenever they end up in a small space together, Sophie gets excited and starts fly snapping or barking and Snick interprets it as aggressive or rude and attacks her.

Well, today, we had a HUGE breakthrough. I put baby gates up a day or two after Sophie arrived. I lets Snick and Sophie be around each other without fighting and that seems to be helping. Sometimes, when Sophie is relatively calm, I let her out to hang out in the den "with the big dogs." She was pretty good and Snick eventually decided to get off the couch to play with her. I was worried. When he first invited her to play, she play bowed back at him, which was ADORABLE. They played briefly and then she started barking at him. That’s about the time I got the camera running, so this is pretty noisy footage. I was VERY proud of Snickers that he didn’t attack her for barking. It did start to get too heated right at the end though, so I stopped the camera and split them up before it turned into a fight.

So, like I said, today was a good day for dogs. I spent most of my day going outside and back in with the dogs. Of course now I’m paying the price, scrambling to do a bunch of work I should have done earlier today. The dogs are all happily snoozing though, so it’s all good. I’ll catch up on the other stuff.

Note at 12:17 AM: Snickers and Sophie just had their worst fight so far (of course). On the upside, it ended with Sophie cowering upside down in a corner, so maybe she’ll start to figure out she needs to respect Snickers. Maybe.

Related posts:

1. Sophie is Adopted
2. Say Hello to Sophie

This is Sophie (fka Sheba, but that had to change). She is an 11 month old, female, black and tan Shiba Inu. Her owner had to leave the country for work, so she is living with us until we find her the perfect forever home. Sophie will celebrate her first birthday in a couple weeks and she is very much a PUPPY. She has crazy puppy energy and wants to play non-stop all day. Snickers has been giving her the “what for” every time she steps out of line. (There was a good bit of snarking and snarling yesterday but that’s getting MUCH better as she learns to give Snickers and Secret their space. They will let HER know when they want to play with her.)

She’s learning the rules of our house very quickly. She will sit for a treat along with Snickers and Secret whenever they all come in from the yard. She has a hard time waiting her turn – she is third, after all – but she’s getting better FAST. She seems to have learned that she’s not allowed on the furniture yet. (My foster dogs aren’t allowed on the furniture until Snickers gives his approval.) She LOVES to spend time outside in the back yard, so I let her go out pretty much whenever she asks. Mostly, she just loves to play, PLAY, PLAY; she enjoys toy tug, fetch, chase… pretty much any game we’ll play with her, she enjoys. She is affectionate too though. She lets me pick her up and carry her around (and she kisses my face whenever I do). She rolls over for belly rubs and even sat in my lap for a little while last night. She responds quickly to corrections, like if she gets too excited while playing and I feel her teeth on my hand, I can tell her “no” and she’ll stop playing and sit down till I pet her and say “ok.” Oh, and she likes kids. She was playing with the little girl next door last night.

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Facts About Sophie

• Female (spayed), black and tan, Shiba Inu
• Shots up-to-date and heartworm negative
• Date of birth February 15, 2010
• Dog and child friendly. Untested with cats.
• Extremely playful. Would do well with another playful dog for company.
• House trained and crate trained
• Sophie is not leash trained, but my daughter walked her yesterday and she did OK. She won’t be hard to train.

There is one strange thing about Sophie. She “fly bites”… she snaps in the air, like there are flies there. Her owner said that she does it for attention, but I’m wondering if it could be neurological. She doesn’t seem to have any control over it. I have to check it out and talk to my vet about it.

Sophie will be going to my vet for a checkup on February 11, 2011, and will be available for adoption thereafter. I am willing to travel to meet up with the right home for Sophie. There will be a small adoption fee to cover my costs (vet care and travel) and to demonstrate your commitment to her. If you’re interested in adopting her, please complete this adoption application.

Related posts:

1. Sophie is Adopted
2. Sophie is Available for Adoption

Murphy went home tonight! Murphy is technically my MSIR foster dog, but my sister has really been the one fostering him since I left Indiana almost five months ago.

On one hand he’s been an easy keeper for her; he gets along with her dogs, they eat the same food, he’s easy going. But on the other… well, this is the first time she’s lived with an adolescent Shiba. Just in case playing "you can’t make me" whenever it was time to go inside was not enough to try her patience, he subjected to her to A Great Escape too! (My reaction when Debbie told me about this? After I caught my breath… "welcome to the club!")

Murphy has been incredibly picky about choosing his forever family. While he was meeting and not clicking with families, Debbie was getting attached to him and he was growing into quite the handsome boy. Luckily, the PERFECT couple came along – they adored Murphy right away, Debbie really liked them, the MSIR home visit went great, Murphy totally fell for their female Shiba – perfect. So, tonight, Murphy went home with his new people, Allie and Richard.

This is the first time I’ve had a foster dog adopted and I wasn’t there to see them join their new family. Debbie took lots of pictures to share though! Here are some of my favorites.

Related posts:

1. Photos of Foster Pup Murphy
2. Update on Murphy