31 January 2007

How do you feel?

Totally OT - I heard of this site on the radio and checked it out. Very cool:

We Feel Fine



My Boxer Rescue Blog

Hi. Since I have fostered so many dogs for Green Acres Boxer Rescue of Wisconsin it has gotten kind of hard to keep all of the dogs straight! I thought I'd keep a blog/diary of each dog from now on starting with Josie. It might be fun for the dogs' future families to read about their time in rescue and it will help me remember the dogs better. By the way, I have no idea what I'm doing or how this works but what the heck, here goes:

Jan 30, 2007
Well, I'm picking up a foster dog tonight. Her name is Josie and she's 3 years old. Don't know much about her. Her owner is moving, can't take her with, has no time,... Her owner really seems to like her - she said that she's a "hoot" - but then again, she's surrendering Josie to rescue so I'm not sure how much stock to put into that. We once had a dog come into rescue because he chewed up all of his dog toys so I always reserve judgment for myself on what a dog is like and if they're nice or not.

I hope introductions with George and Sasha go well. I HATE the first couple days. It's so stressful until I figure out what kind of dog I'm dealing with. Food aggressive? Resource guarder? Sweet? Crabby? Scared? Playful?



and then here's a post from today (regarding last night and this morning):

She's here! I picked Josie up from her former owner, let her hop into my truck and off we went. She rode really well in the car on the way home and seems like a really nice girl. She's a very good looking Boxer.

Introductions went well. George was very barky and Josie and Sasha engaged in some play/posturing, trying to feel each other out. Josie was an only dog so she's not used to having to share - toys, chewies, attention, ... anything. She's not a resource guarder but if she wants something, she wants it right away. She's just not used to having to wait for something. She wouldn't/didn't eat supper or breakfast this morning but I feel that that's because she's used to being a free-feeder and not having set meal times. She'll figure that one out pretty quickly.

George, Sasha and Josie sitting for treats (with their Big Dinosaur in the background)

She REALLY wanted to sleep on the bed with the rest of us last night but I wouldn't let her. It took about 5 tries - with me helping her off the bed each time - until she gave up trying to jump up. She did whine pretty much the whole night however. We've got a big chair, a futon/couch and three dog beds in our bedroom so it's not like she didn't have other options. I mean, it's not like she had a cold cement floor to sleep on or anything. She's a bit spoiled and used to getting whatever she wants, so it's going to be a bit of a struggle at first but she seems pretty smart. She is a very sweet dog, however. I don't want to give the wrong impression. She's very affectionate, very wiggly, and she and Sasha were running all around the house this morning playing keep away. George was sleeping on the bed all wrapped up in blankets. It's his 8th birthday today! He can do whatever he likes.

Happy Birthday to The King!

Josie also came with a big oil drum full of food. It's solid steel and must weigh about 80 lbs.

It's over three feet high and wider than a telephone pole. It's like having an oak tree in the middle of your kitchen.

It's so big... maybe Jimmy Hoffa is inside. I haven't looked.
What do you think, Sasha? Does it smell like a Teamster?



We put her in a crate (with a peanut butter Kong) when we left for work this morning so I hope she'll do OK. I have a feeling she hasn't seen the inside of a crate too often but hey, those are the rules. I could hear her barking as we left so I have a sneaking suspicion that three dogs will meet us at the door when we get home tonight. Cross your fingers!