Phoebe/Kaia update

Well, Phoebe is now Kaia. Phoebe fits her very well and I love the name. But for the first time ever, I have this strong, undeniable "knowing" that her name is Kaia (kye-uh). I was feeling it when interacting with her but wanted to pick something else which is why we searched for a different name and I never mentioned Kaia. But I fight to say Phoebe and have to think about. I love the name Phoebe, but it's not her name. I have no idea where I got Kaia from and why it's her name.
Now the freaky part: Kaia is Greek, which I didn't know. It means pure. The Greek word "phoibaô" means "to purify"... and its root word it Phoebe. The names are closely related. I'm creeped out. I have never felt like I knew a dog's name. We pick their name if they don't come with one, or are happy to change it to whatever we want. But this isn't a choice. I know her name is Kaia. It just is. I don't have a choice. It is also a Hawaiian word, Kaia means "the sea".. check out those eyes in case you missed them.

Even missing a lot of fur from the flea dermatitis, she's blowing coat
like all other huskies are right now.

Belly love!

Thursday 3/27

3/30

 

 

Looking much better!

 

 

 

 

 

Doing her best impression of a wolf

Phoebe

Often at the shelter I seek the huskies. I love huskies, and similar Nordic, spitz type dogs that are fluffy with curved tails and little triangle ears. I saw one listed on Tuesday so circled her kennel number. She was the last dog of the day I got out. Listed as 3 years old, no name.

When I saw her, her bright blue eyes were round and wide. Her pupils were dilated. Ears back. Tail down. Weight shifted back. She was nervous. Skittish. I was cautious and a truthfully a bit nervous going into her kennel. The shy dogs are just as likely to bite (if not moreso) than the dogs that make a big display of growling and lunging and using offense as the best defense. I slipped into her kennel and she turned, crouched, slinking to the far end. As I shut the kennel door I turned my gaze away from her for only a second and when the door was shut and my eyes moved back I found she was next to me. I spoke sweetly and cheerily to her as I squatted down, and again she moved away. I wasn't getting bad vibes, wasn't feeling she would nip, her body language was softening so I went to her in the corner and put the leash around her neck. I am patient when needed- I've spent 10-15 minutes in kennels getting a leash on, and some dogs are so scared about the leash, or of leaving the kennel, I don't even bother with a leash and just spend the time in the kennel doing what I can to show comfort and love.

With the leash on she followed me, past the grooming room where I grabbed a brush, then out and to the interact yard. Perfect leash walking. In the yard I did my usual, took the leash off (she laid down as I did), then ignored her as I went to sit on the bench. I gave her several minutes to sniff around without trying to engage her at all. When I finally called to her she ignored me, continuing to sniff. I tried again shortly after but she ignored again. I approached when she wandered close to me and touched her. I was soon giving belly rubs as she laid down and rolled over, exposing a recently shaved belly and spay scar.

I spent a long time brushing her, which she loved. She is pretty itchy from her previous flea infestation. Her lower back is dry, flaky, crusty, scabbed, and missing most of the fur. Just above her tail looked raw.

I brushed and brushed, and she rolled around and seemed to love every moment of it. Whenever I stopped to pick the fur from the bristles she would squirm and roll and always wanted more.

 

 

I walked her back to the kennel row, grabbed a stuffed frozen Kong, and put her back in the kennel. She seemed excited about the Kong. I went and cleaned my leash, washed my hands, and when I walked by her kennel again on the way out I paused to peek and she was happily licking and chewing the Kong.

Today, I asked staff about her. To see what was going on, why she was still there when she was so nice. She doesn't "show" well in the kennel. She's skittish, scared, and when staring intensely out with those piercing blue eye from the back of the kennel with her ears back, she does not look friendly or approachable. I got out a couple other dogs then got her out again. I couldn't resist as she'd been so, so lovely the other day. When she saw me she had that wide-eyed, freaked out look. I made a kissy sound and talked sweetly to her, and she immediately perked up and started wiggling, and swishing her tail. She remembered me! Leashing her was easy.

I brushed her more in the interact yard, then pulled some treats out. She planted her butt before I even said sit. I had her follow me a couple steps and asked her to sit. Butt straight down. Yay! Good girl. I said "down," and got no response so put the treat at her nose and pulled it down to the ground. She stood up. Ok, doesn't know down. "Sit." She sat. Good girl! Treat. I put a treat at her nose and slowly pulled it down to the ground, just in front of her paws, then along the ground slightly toward myself. This time she leaned forward, putting one paw forward. Yes! Click and treat. Good baby step. Same thing the next time. The next time, wait a second longer.. and.. other leg stretches forward. Yes! Click and treat, and new criteria. No reward unless both feet step forward while her butt stays down. A few more repetitions and she laid fully down, elbows touching. Woohoo, girl girly! I gave a jackpot of several treats on the ground. She ate them then got up. Repeat. Then again, and this time I clicked just as she was getting the last treat on the ground and gave her another treat, wait a second then again, a second and again, a couple seconds and again, clicking and treating her for staying laying down. I repeated this a few times and before I knew it she was easily being lured to lay down and would happily stay down. so I started adding the word to it. I then had her sit a few times so I could get a decent shot of her.

Then it was time for more petting!

And belly rubs!

And rolling!

I went and talked to staff. I wanted to take her home. She doesn't show well, she's stressed, she's freaked out in the kennel, her lower back has the skin issues, and I'm a husky lover. I put her back in the kennel, then first went to medical to ask about her skin to make sure it wasn't something potentially contagious to my own pets. They said it was skin dermatitis, irritation from fleas. I hadn't seen a single flea on her so I assumed she'd been treated for them. I also asked out of curiosity if she was pregnant when spayed, they didn't know, so I don't know if she had puppies or if they were removed [aborted] during her spay a week ago, but she definitely has "mommy boobies" still. I then went to the front office. Both ladies were at lunch, and I hate interrupting their lunchtime but one was about done and said we could chat. She said she didn't have a problem with me taking the dog, but what was the plan. I hesitated a moment, finding the words. To take her temporarily, a couple weeks or so, to let her skin heal, to let her relax and reset from the stress. If a rescue ends up wanting her, great, if not then I plan to bring her back in when she's looking and feeling better. Do need to dog and cat test though first, or if preferred I could go home and bring up my own dog and cat but I'm comfortable not doing it with my own pets. I waited in the office while staff lady went to talk to medical. Other staff lady I was waiting with looked the dog up.. she was the one who found husky girl.

Her story: Husky girl was tied up with a Basset hound to the fence at the shelter, and they were found around 9pm having just chewed through their leads. Staff lady caught Basset easily as he is very people friendly and came right up. The husky girl was not so easily caught and she enlisted the help of another person to herd husky girl into the parking lot, shut the gate, and get her cornered and leashed. There were foxtails in her ears, she was infested with fleas.

Staff lady selected a dog that is good with other dogs and we had them meet. It was uneventful. She stood still as he sniffed her, she showed mild interest but not much and did fine. We put the other dog back and then headed over to the farm animal area to have her meet the dog-savvy barn cat. We were interrupted when another person was having trouble with a dog spinning and fighting against the leash. I hung out with the husky girl so staff lady could help with the other dog. Then people were adopting a horse that had to be walked by, so I stood out of the way as staff lady went to open the gate for them. She was then called away so I went to find the barn cat, Jersey, on my own. I walked over and didn't know where to look for her. Ok, we can cat test later, let's just take her to medical I thought so she can have a check before I take her home- that was the plan anyway. As I'm walking the short distance I intercept another lady who has a moment to show me where Jersey is. The shed-like building behind the one remaining horse, which has fine welded wire mesh-type "walls" at the front which confine Jersey to the building. Jersey is called over. Husky doesn't seem to notice. Jersey rubs against the mesh, husky sniffs and ignores, I encourage her to check out the kitty again, another sniff and ignore. Great!

I take her to medical where staff lady meets me. Husky girl had foxtails in her ears but they seem fine now, so no further medication is needed. Her rump looks better, and they give he a bottle of shampoo that will help with the itching. It's "use as needed" and I'm advised to use it about once a week, every 3-4 days is fine too if she needs it. I can put it on tonight.

As I walked out the door, one of the ladies at the front desk said "Sucker!" and grinned at me. Oh yes, I sure am! Big sucker for huskies!

I am set to go. I put husky girl in my car, drive a short way to pick up an order of raw meat I'd placed a few weeks ago before taking her home. She did fine in the car, no panting or drooling, even laid down a few times. When I got home I left her for a moment so I could put my dogs outside and the cats in the bathroom. I brought her in on leash and let her explore the downstairs, following her, and when she wandered upstairs I opened our bedroom door where husband was sleeping so he could meet her. She sweetly nuzzled his hand.

Once downstairs I let Denali in, they met each other, husky girl wanted to go outside so I opened the door and let her out, still on leash, to meet Kaytu. They did fine and after several minutes I took her leash off. After she'd settled I got Zebulon out and had her meet him, she did fine, and then the same for Everest. Mild interest to sniff them but didn't care about them much..

She warmed up and after several attempts of my girls inviting her to play she gave in a little.
After all the exploring and meet and greets she had a nap. Denali came up and laid next to her.

When she woke up it was bath time. Dirt poured off of her, she was filthy. She is not used to baths and was not having a good time, and was trying to get out of the tub so I kept it as short as I could I washed her legs, back, and sides, using the medicated shampoo on her lower back which has to sit for 5-10 minutes before rinsing. After her bath she had a blast rolling around the dog bed.

I dried her as best I could with a towel. She was scared of my hair drier so I did some counter conditioning with it but not enough to be able to really dry her with it. Zebulon helped some, but then she got a little nervous of the cat playing with her head.

Definitely passes the cat test, and husband and I were discussing names. He said something bright, because of her eyes. I said yes, bright, something equally sweet. We landed on Phoebe which means bright, shining, and radiant in Greek.

The rest of the evening has been uneventful. She ate, I gave her little bitty scraps of the raw food while cutting it up, and she's been sleeping a lot. It must be nice for her to sleep. The kennel row she's in has been exceptionally loud with a lot of barkers recently. That, combined with the stress and a concrete floor, does not lend itself to restful sleep. I suspect she'll be sleeping a lot the next couple days.

Chuni

I have been absent. I've been incredibly busy with a new foster dog, work, home maintenance issues, and a week ago my car was totaled in a nasty wreck when a guy ran a red light and T-boned me, slamming into my drive side door. No time for blogging when life is busy! 

Chuni is worth making time to post about. She's our newest foster. I picked her up Friday, March 7th.

The first post I saw about Chuni was from a friend of mine on Facebook. Chuni and her brother, Tony, were at the shelter and needed foster homes. They had a rescue ready to offer financial support, but the dogs needed a foster home. Nobody stepped up. A week went by. The newest update said that Chuni was not eating. A few days more. Chuni had not eaten for 10 days. She was stressed, depressed, and declining rapidly. Chuni and Tony had lived outside in a backyard for 11 years. No vet care, no grooming, fed the cheapest grocery store food. They both had collars on so tight their skin was indented. They were relinquished when the owner became ill and couldn't "take care of them" anymore. I knew that history. I knew their chances were slim. I needed to try.

 

Tony had some medical issues that were significant. It was a complicated situation but came down to me asking if it was worth it for me to come in with my dog and cat and see how Chuni did with them. I was told Chuni was worth it. My heart wrenched as I knew what that meant for Tony.

Friday afternoon I drove to the San Diego Humane Society with Denali and Zebulon, throat tight and jaw clenched, fully prepared to leave without Chuni if she didn't get along with my pets. I knew what that would mean for Chuni. But my pets always have to come first, and I will not risk their safety. My hopes were low. She, as far as we knew, did not have any interaction with any dogs other than her brother and we had no idea how she was with cats.

I asked to meet her myself first, to see how she was, before having her meet Nali and Zeb. She was in the kennel with Tony. I saw him, but never met him. The staff member helping me got the leash on Chuni and he lead her out to me. She was skinny, and she was terrified. Tail completely tucked under and up, head low, ears sideways, panting, pupils dilated. I squatted down sideways and she basically ignored me. Ok, let's do this. I had her meet Denali first. They sniffed, and Denali left her alone. Good girl Nali! She is very socially adept and can tell when a dog wants to play, and when a dog does not. Nali did a lot of displacement sniffing, pretending to be interested in smelling the metal kennels in the room we were in. I put her leash over a hook and got Zebulon out. Chuni didn't seem to notice him. I knelt down with him in my arms, showing his butt to her. She sniffed then turned away. Hooray! I set Zeb on a chair and Chuni wasn't interested at all. Though I knew her avoidance was probably stressed-based, she did not show any worrying signs so I said I'd take her.

They gave her a medical check, her paperwork, and there she was. Mine to foster, under Ferdinand's Familia rescue. I had my own leash for her. She came with nothing. No collar, no leash, no bed, no blanket, no toy, no food. Just her. And just her was beautiful and perfect.

On the way home I stopped at the local pet supply shop and got about $30 worth of various canned foods. Wellness Core. Taste of the Wild. Canine Caviar. Canidae. Evangers. Merrick. All grain free. No more cheap crap food for her! I wanted all canned food for the water content to help her stay hydrated, and to avoid fillers. She doesn't need to be pooping out half of what she's eating, she needs to absorb the nutrition. That day, she ate. I offered her one small can of food, and she ate it. I was thrilled!! My biggest fear was that she would not eat. There is no way we could let a dog starve to death and she had already not eaten for 10 days. I was going to give her 3-4 days and if by then she had not eaten I would have had a very difficult conversation with the rescue. The pressure was lifted and I breathed a sign of relief, grinning ear to ear and ignoring her as best I could. The next morning she ate and ate, and has continued eating well. I've discovered she likes her food heated up. My friend, who first posted about Chuni and Tony, gave me Grandma Lucy's dehydrated packets and they are Chuni's favorite. After a few days I also made a batch of satin balls (I used a slightly modified Fat Balls #1 recipe with whole eggs) and she has been getting several of those each day too. Finally, after two weeks at this point, we're seeing a little padding on her ribs, her waist filling out. Eating 2+ cans of food plus a Grandma Lucy's dehydrated packet per day, plus satin balls in the morning and a couple spoonfuls of canned tripe each meal. I've since run out of tripe but she's eating great.

 

 

Tony was put to sleep early on Monday morning, March 10th. Being put to sleep is sometimes the best, most humane option for a dog. To be forever free. No more collars, no more pain. I had a strange feeling of not knowing if I should tell Chuni or not. It may seem silly. She can't understand my words. She can't know he is gone. She can't know she'll never see him again. I haven't told her and it feels odd. I don't know if I'd feel better telling her, or if I'd just feel crazy.

The 10th was also the day I gave Chuni a bath.  Apparently a volunteer at the shelter gave her a bath too! I never would have known. The bath at the shelter reportedly removed a lot of black, sticky gunk from her. She did well in the tub, I took my time, went slowly and gently, and removed as much dirt as I could. It was a long bath that I made as easy and quick as I could while being as thorough as possible. It was disgusting, to see the blackish brown water dripping from her face and body. I had filled the tub, wetted and washed her, then let the tub drain as I used the sprayer to rinse her. She was stressed in the tub but did quite well, not trying to escape, and after she had dried she enjoyed being brushed. Her fur feels so much better now, and she smells better too!

That week her temperament and personality really started to come out as she relaxed. She learned to love her crate and put herself there to take naps. She was more active, enjoying daily short walks, and also learning to trust us and enjoy affection. She is skittish and avoids us if approached directly. I've been working hard on that, teaching her that being approached means affection and love. We've been using the 5 second rule of petting and she is begging for affection now! When let out of her crate, instead of trotting off down the stairs, she stand there wiggling excitedly and whining, wanting to get some petting and affection and praise before going downstairs.

I also made a collar for her, since she didn't come with one and had been wearing Denali's. Purple, for her royal, regal princess-y self; purple with flecks of green and pink, for her plum sweet and deeply beautiful temperament; blue weaving and holding the purples together for her brother Tony.

Chuni is lovely. The husband and I both fell hard and fast for her. She will truly be hard to let go. She fits in with us very well. She is quiet, calm, sweet, loving, perfect.

On Friday, March 14th, I went out to get more food for her. I brought her with me. She doesn't have much experience in the car- being taken to the shelter, and from the shelter home with me. She is being transferred to a rescue out of state (more on that in a minute) so I wanted to take her with me. Short, easy trip, she can come inside with me, and it will help her get desensitized to being in the car since she has a trip coming up. We picked up the food. I then went to another shopping center to pop into Office Depot for a minute to get a receipt book for my business. She was doing very well at that point. As I left the shopping center, turning left, a guy ran the red light. He slammed into us, T-boning my car in the driver's side door. My head whacked against the window hard and Chuni was thrown across the back seat. To make that story short, neither car was drivable. Firetruck came, police came, there were cones, and flares, we gave reports, tow truck took my car away, we were on the scene at a very busy, loud, chaotic intersection for 2 hours. Chuni was tethered to a post at the corner. She wouldn't even drink water though it was a hot, clear, bright day. When husband came to pick us up, she was terrified of getting into his car. She ducked away, backing up. Tail tucked under and up. Head low. Ears sideways. Legs bent low, crouching to the ground. I picked her up to put her in and she immediately was panting hard and drooling. My plan to desensitize her had gone horrible backward with a traumatizing situation.

At home I called the insurance company, crated Chuni, then went to get stuff from my car, took me to the doctor to check my head (I'm fine, and Chuni is fine too), went out to dinner, then came home. Chuni wouldn't leave her crate. Husband checked on her once, and I did about 15 minutes after that. I encouraged her to come out by holding her collar up. She came out. I needed her to, to make sure she wasn't injured. She was fine, and she went downstairs and ate her dinner.

Chuni seems fine from the wreck, though I have not had her in a car since. I have been sharing her progress on a forum and someone said she reminds them of their own dog, "All soft and delicate, but [s]he has the soul of a survivor and just quietly plods on through."


The rescue, Ferdinand's Familia, is friends with a rescue in Arizona. Chuni will be transferred there this weekend. I am so, so excited for her future!

Chuni on March 9th, pre-bath.