The Mad, Mad, Minds of Those I Deal With...

In saving these regal hunting dogs, I want for them the things they should have had in life to begin with, and maybe some addl perks, like getting to sleep on the couch when he feels like it, or better yet, actually get to sleep in bed with his adopters at night. Ok, I won't be that demanding of folks...a doggie bed would be fine. But INSIDE IS A MUST. We do not allow outdoor housing for our dogs. So when I receive applications to adopt or volunteer for rescue I look closely for how these applicants intend to house our dogs.

If I see kennel listed on an application, or if I see anything resembling an outdoor kennel while doing a home visit, I'd like to know how much time my dog will spend inside that thing? People seem to think because we have hunting dogs they all belong out back in an outside kennel to fend for themselves until they are called upon. Ummm, first of all, I will tell you this from experience, the more you give the more you shall receive. By that, I'm telling you the dog needs to be a part of the family. Once he has his place in the family, he will give you anything you want, just don't isolate him away from his family. These dogs I rescue can be very industrious. You cannot leave them unattended in an outdoor kennel, without a top (even with a top) for any length of time, or they will figure a way out. Google "dog escapes outdoor kennel once", people think it's FUNNY to record their dogs escaping...but is it really?

You all might think perhaps I'm a tad ummm, over worried about a set up like this? Ok, I been doing this since 1999. Can I relate to you how many stories of people who called me saying their dog was stolen, right out of it's outdoor kennel. One was even in it's kennel INSIDE a fenced yard! No gates were open, nothing amiss. Ya know what I think? The dog got bored, climbed the kennel, then jumped the fence, cuz there was a reported sighting a block away that afternoon, before the guy got home. HELLO? Ok, how about all the smarty pants owners, who think the dog needs fresh air, and the little turd escapes his kennel all the time, what shall we do? So the smart folks decide to tie the dog inside their outdoor enclosure, but never calculate the rope length... wanna say stupid?

Have you ever heard of "fence fighting"? It's when dogs get protective of their kennels or crates or space...very similar to the mentality of a chained dog, guarding it's turf. There is a REASON I say no outside housing folks. Trust me. Don't create DRAMA for me, don't take it all personal. I save these dogs for a reason. I don't save them just so you can be stupid and kill em. I'm only warning you in advance, what might happen...because I've seen it all before. I'm not selectively picking on you! I'm not saying you are a bad dog adopter because your idea and mine differ. I AM saying I will not give you a dog if you intend to keep it outside all the time. It's HOT OUT THERE! It's COLD OUT THERE! There are critters that can enter the dogs kennel, and the dog can't defend himself. Fresh air? Times square? Ummm, NO! The second you put in a full bucket of water, they will knock it over and be without all day till you get home. How much of the day will the dog be in direct sunlight, roasting to death? I've seen the destruction a dog can do to cyclone fencing in quick fashion. You might proudly announce...well, it's better then the dog being locked up in a crate inside the house all day while I work!

Is it really? I know my dog is safely locked inside my house, he cannot escape, he cannot be stolen, he is in his den where he is cool, or warm, listening to tunes while I'm at work. Is this a bad thing? NOPE, not if you devote a little exercise time when you get home. It's less concrete ware and tear on their joints as well!

This dog house was a gift from the folks who surrendered a shorthair to us several years ago. The dog was horribly aggressive to humans, his young body was so deformed from crawling in and out of his dog house. The only time I ever got to kiss this dog was after he was euthanized and could not bite me in the face anymore. You all keep thinking it's a good idea to keep your dogs outside, for their own entertainment? Do you want more horror stories? How about the dog people adopted several years ago who went to town, tied the dog to a tree, and say they weren't gone more then 45 mins, when they got home the dog was sitting up against a tree, never moved...she tried to chew thru her rope, instead swallowed it, and choked herself to death. How about the one that fell thru the swimming pool cover, when left unattended, suffocated/drown not so very fast like while no one was paying attention. Shall I go on?

I'm not telling people these things to make you feel like "less of a dog owner", I'm telling you these things to make you THINK. Afterall, these are dogs. We are the humans, we are the smarter of the two. We make the decisions for them. My decision is, and the decision of WGSPR is, that we will not adopt a dog to someone who intends to keep them in an outdoor kennel while they are gone to work all day, that's 8+ hours a day the dog has to himself to do who knows what? Not on my turf. Don't make me have to baby sit you. You can take it all personal like if you must... but in all reality it's for the safety of the dog I have trusted you with. I think you have the idea, don't push me on this subject, you will not win. Don't let me down now.

The things that never make sense to me...

I find it a damn shame that breeders have no cooth (sic?), and will sell to just about anyone who produces the cash for a puppy. Fact in point. Tootsie! Pictured is Lisa, who is neighbors with Tootsie's owners. The old man died, the old lady has Alzheimers, a son who is a recent amputee lives there taking care of the old lady, and he brought his dog, a submissive lab female. And poor Tootsie goes from being the only one, to nothing, locked in a very small wire crate more then not, because rather then train her, tossing her a treat and keeping her locked up keeps her out of the way!

Well, I'm thinking who in their right mind sells a GSP puppy to an older couple (mind you this dog just turned 7 years old last month), so are you saying that 7 years ago, you could not tell these folks were elderly. Can you not do the math? If the average lifespan of a dog is oh 10-14 years old, wouldn't you do a little reverse calculating here and figure the dog would outlive the old folks? Do you, as a breeder, who claims to know the breed, seriously think old folks will have the energy, or stamina to entertain a shorthair for the next oh...10-14 years? Yet, you overlook the obvious and still take their money and hand over a puppy? And what you never bothered to think of, is when this puppy's entire life fell apart, and it had zero in the manners department, actually had TWO bite reports on it's vet record, so did you seriously think that dog might be a great family pet for the average family, and without a thought in your head about this dog's future? NOPE, you just took the money and ran. It's off to the next litter, the next buyers, the next sale.

I bet you never thought that some day, someone would have to save your dog, to give it the rest of it's life? No, of course not, because you would just cull the pack and probably take unwanted outback and shoot them. Cheaper that way. Well, someone did save Tootsie! She's merely a "diamond in the rough" to us. It took a while, but we got her outta her former hell, the only life she ever knew, and onto what we believe will be a whole new life...the way it should have been to begin with!

It happens every day folks! Today, it's photos of this once beautiful girl, whose elderly owner couldn't care for her anymore, so now she's sleeping on concrete at her local shelter, waiting on me to figure out her next move.

Six years old! Same deal...if the breeder knew in only 6 measly years, this old guy couldn't handle the dog anymore, and my god, look at the girth of her? Ummm, what is the matter with this world? Cocoa lived a quiet life with this elderly guy, and now at 6 yrs old, unless I wanna turn away from her, I have to find her a place. Luckily she was ok with other dogs, even cats...but never was around kids much. So just when you think you got one taken care of...another springs along to reassure my faith in breeders, that as long as they keep spitting them out, selling them to any Tom, Dick, or Oldster, my job will never be done here...and it will never make sense to me.

Responsibilities...

Here she goes again, another angry blog... does it ever end, you must wonder? NOPE, not really... This is our couch eater. I bet you were expecting this?

Well, with our breed (perhaps any breed?) a destructo doesn't always LOOK crazy, doesn't always ACT crazy, but INSIDE, they are feeling it. They don't know any different, to them it's the norm. All the dog knows is they have all this pent up energy, and when they are not offered an outlet, well, violla, 'DESTRUCTO dog' voices his opinion with actions. Those actions ALWAYS get the adopters attention, because, well, a mess is hard to miss, ya know? It generally gets the dog the attention he wanted to begin with, but almost always in a negative tone. Oh if that were my couch, there'd be some fumes coming outta my ears...and in the past, that WAS my couch! I told my dogs with the last leather couch I bought for THEM, if they destroyed it, it would be the last furniture I EVER bought them. Only took maybe three months, and they have carved out holes to bury things in, or curl up in for relaxation. It's 'their' couch, so I don't really care. But I'm holding true to my promise...they will not get another one.

Dogs destroy everything. I'm sick of them going off to the races on my 1928 hardwood floors with multiple nails gouging as they haul-ass. I'm sick of dog hair everywhere, I'm sick of bent and busted crates, I'm sick of fixing holes they dig in my yard, or under my fencing, I'm totally sick of picking up hunks of quilts they ripped apart, and if I have to help one more little chippie, or baby bun, or mousie, to the "other side" cuz one of my dogs maimed it, I might just loose my mind!

Dogs destroy mainly because they are bored. Whose fault is that? Ours. Do I feel sorry for the adopter of couch destructo? HELL NO. Today I got his vet paper work, since adoption...and he is two years behind on everything! The folks say "the vet said he was good". GOOD? The only thing I see good about any of this is that his baby did not get a scratch from the dog, or something, cuz it most certainly is not wise to take care of your baby, but not your dog who interacts with not only your baby, but all your nieces and nephews and other dogs too? I'm so mad, I could spit! We have an adoption contract. It's pretty simply written and it will hold up in a court of law.

Paragraph # 5. Health and Welfare: This dog's optimum health must be maintained through the feeding of quality dog food, adequate shelter, an annual physical and inoculation with the adopter’s veterinarian program, including heartworm testing and prevention.

Now, my board of directors and I have talked ourselves blue in the face when we get a return who had not been to the vet in forever, now costing rescue money, all over again, to get the dog up to snuff on his vaccinations. We discuss having a "follow-up" program. We DO follow up as best as we can with the hundreds of dogs we have placed out there... we have discussed contacting adopters vets once a year, but these days everyone has privacy policies...and afterall it's only a dog you know... If the vet knows this dog came from rescue, and the vet knows our dog is not being taken care of properly, why don't they drop me a letter? Give me a ring? Allert us in some way? Everyone knows who we are...how to find us...it doesn't make sense. I have tried to make the adopter who surrendered the dog back to us to PAY. But it has generally turned into a nightmare, and once a guy even told me he would go into hiding with the dog and not return it afterall, and I'd never know what happened to my dog, just because he didn't like my "tone". HELLO? Who says I need to be all pretty, and nice, and sympathetic to slackers? You have just violated my trust! You violated our contractural agreement about adoption for this dog. And you want me to be nice to you? Ummm, a very wise woman once told me "pick your fights wisely". At first I thought she was crazy...my rescue, my dog, damn it...my rules! But as this guy was threatening me, merely because I busted him about the lack of vet work, I stopped to breathe, consider that simple statement "pick your fights wisely", I swallowed my pide, I called the guy and said "lets start over". He agreed, I got my dog back, he walked away feeling all BIG about pulling one over on me, cuz he figured I was just gonna ask for another adoption fee again and that would take care of any vet work needed. It's not generally that way folks! I am not gonna dupe people and keep making money off the same dog, every time he's returned to rescue! I generally give them to the best adopter the second time...if they wish to make a donation to rescue, all the better.

Why is it, I am not working, yet I networked for the best vet deals for MY dogs, and figured out a way to come up with the money, yet folks who can afford kids, big houses, and dogs, seem to slack when it comes to the dogs' primary vetwork? As far as I'm concerned, there is only one reason. It's only a dog. Which is why, I have to stop and breathe when I get all worked up that they didn't take care of the wonderful gift I placed in their hands, believing in that adopter, taking their word for it, having them sign a contract to cover rescue's own behind; sometimes you just gotta let it go, BE THE RESPONSIBLE and shut up and do what you have to do for the dog, and walk away with what you are given back and deal with it.

Ahhh, with all that off my chest now, and our dog on a weekender with a responsible adopter, doing a trial adoption...I'm praying it all goes well, and that they too, will love the destructo dog as much as we did. Once again, I have to hope and believe, they will take the responsibility off my shoulders and do the right thing. It's a faith I have to continually carry for these dogs. Just like always being there to catch them back, if something doesn't work out. It's the path I chose. I WILL be responsible for them.

Two Sides To Every Story...

Yesterday, the "kids" and I had the extreme pleasure of being invited to Peggy Morsch's east side studio for a photo shoot to kick off her annual Wine & Paws fundraiser event for WGSPR and WI Humane. It's an awesome deal...$30- for 30 min sitting with your pets, bring a 30 lb bag of dog food and a bottle of wine to pass! Now with that out of the way, I have to start by saying...there are two sides to every story... Here is Peggy's: http://peggymorschlifephotography.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/unsung-heroes/

Here's mine: So, you know nothing is ever easy when it comes to kids or animals. Ok, Peggy wanted the kids tired, so we take a walk around the lunch hour everyday, but the night before I gave big, white boy (James) a bubble bath, and it was sprinkling outside, I figured walking them would get him all dirty... but we did fine, he did not get splattered.

Then I had to get ready; clear the shower, slap some make up, get dressed a tad better then sweat pants ya know? Of course, while all this is going on, I gotta photo from an adopter of what his adopted dog of 3 years did to his pretty white leather couch yesterday and he needed to surrender the dog; he was done. Bad doggie!!

So my mind is scrambling, where to go with destructo dog, and I'm watching the clock, and I'm tapping away on my computer and texting to get this situation under control, and still get ready for our photo shoot. Finally, I'm ready, the dogs are up and I'm late, late, late...urgh... and at the same time, we got Brita Cooter dog, in killer mode for other dogs in her foster home, that I hoped would be her forever home, and things were getting better, then BAM, attack dog came out again, and now they want THAT dog outta their house today, tomorrow, the next day...so I'm scrambling to get transport situated for Saturday to move killer north to a new foster with no other dogs. I'm worried silly that this poor new foster maybe won't be able to handle a dog like "killer", then again, she's fostered before, I have to trust her...or I know I have back up in that area... but I'm not hearing anything about transport and my old rust bucket can't be trusted so much to do the entire trip, and this foster mom does't have a car...so while all this is swirling in my brain, I'm loading dogs, cutting across town for our photo shoot. Jim's quietly riding shot-gun, as always, Miracle is clawing the heck outta the back of my van, and I want to kill her, she's jumping up on the windows to see the view, I have no idea where I'm going, get lost, call her, ahhh, finally we get there, I do not trust Peggy's fencing. I'm not letting my dogs off leash...especially Miracle, who would just tap dance off down the street, without looking back... and there's a bird feeder there in the middle of the yard, Miracle goes on point, and that's it...she's a slathering idiot. Bird. So we finally get inside the studio, and try to calm down, cuz the dogs are all buzzed up, but Miracle is our problem...she's just a nervous nilly, pants, paces, sticks to that exit door like glue, tap dancing around. Jim is on edge cuz she is a freak.

Poor Peggy does the best she can with what these two queers are giving us...finally I locked Miracle in the van, and we worked quietly with Jim, and he is a huge ham...but all the sudden we were outta time!

I had the couch killer dog to grab...drop mine off at home first, load supplies and crate for couch killer, traffic is a NIGHTMARE, bumper to bumper...quick, lock mine up, load the van, race off to the surrender meeting location, wait for foster mom, wait for adopter to bring dog...that all goes off without a hitch, race back home, fed poor Jim and Miracle, took my fancy clothes off, put my feet up, popped open that new bottle of wine I got at the photo shoot event...and that was it for me...all except texts with foster mom with couch killer, cuz I have an adopter lined up for him, and they happen to be located in the same area, so they went to see him already least night. I told them they can have a week trial, so they are taking him up north to their cabin this weekend, give it a good go...and I'm waiting for his vet work anyhow, so I can update any of his shots and make adoption folder. And my heart is with another adopter whose adoptive dog bit his 3 yr old child in the face, and is waiting out a 10-day quaranteen to do "the deed". I offered to go handle it, but he wanted to do it himself. I think that's today... and I have a girl in WI who wants to surrender a gorgeous little female for some crappy ass reason, and she's all boohoo, and once again, in my mind it's like "blah, blah, blah"...not really my problem. AND another bird dog rescue friend needs help with a surrender back to rescue, and it's on my turf, so luckily two of our volunteers will help, so I had to twirl that a little too! I know, makes you feel a little breathless? Yup, sometimes I am too! But for me, it feels like auto-pilot. You find a balance I guess; you do what needs to be done.

Unsung Hero? hmmm, when it's you, you don't think about it that way. You just do it. To be written about like that is an honor, brings a little tear to my eye...very sweet. But I don't have time to cry for long, cuz there is another dog out there who needs us. Peggy's right...without skipping a beat, I'm off to the next thing. Alot of days I wish I had my life back...the one before I saved dogs. I know for sure I would NOT be bored...perhaps I'd see more, do more? I do know I'd have a dog tho. But until then, I keep putting one foot in front of the other.