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.