Cappy

"I have a dog for you," she said. I think that's what she said, the staff lady. The same one who directed me toward painfully shy, traumatized Cricket, and ball-obsessive, hyper Annie (Cricket was adopted, Annie recently went to a rescue in Canada). She doesn't regularly request that I work with dogs, and when she does it's dogs that really need the help. I don't recall asking her what Cappy's issues were. I only asked her what kennel. She looked for me while I was signing in. "Kennel 41."

A ~9 month old puppy bounced up at me. His half-white, half-black face looking excited and frantic as his tongue flopped and licked at my fingers. Bouncing, jumping, licking, as the dog in kennel 40 shrieked and barked and then down the entire row of kennels dogs began barking and jumping on their metal kennel doors. I put the Out For A Walk sign on his kennel, got my leash ready, and waited. I waited until he stopped jumping and his feet were all on the floor. I pushed the kennel door open a crack. He jumped on it and it slammed shut, renewing the barrage of barking down the row. Patience. Silence. Relax. Focus. It doesn't do any good to start yelling, "Off!!" and "DOWN!!" as some people do. I wait for him to stop then push the door open again. Again he jumps up. It takes a few times but within 30 seconds he stays down as I swing the door in. Simultaneously I get the leash over his head and push my way inside the kennel. His nails scratch and dig in to my legs and lower back as he jumps on me, but I stay calm and keep turning my back to him. No, jumping does not get attention of any kind! He stops and I secure the leash around his neck- it's a slip lead and it's not strangling him, I keep it loose but tight enough that he couldn't back out or pull it off.
 

Photo from SDDAC

I open the door and speed walk down the kennel row to the exit door. As we go through and the door shuts he jumps up on me, not making contact with my body this time. I do my best to have him walk nicely to the interact yard. If you pull, we stop. He is very responsive and turns back to me when I stop. I take the leash off in the yard. He immediately jumps. And jumps. And jumps! As I walk toward the bench he walks between my legs, he sits and lays on my feet, and jumps again and again. I grab some toys and wiggle them to get his attention. When I toss one he runs a few steps toward it then spins around and flings himself back toward me, crashing into my legs. Goodness, he's so worked up and excited he doesn't know what to do with himself! My hands were kept up at my sternum so he couldn't grab them, out of habit I keep my hands up around excited dogs. Keeps them out of the way of the dog, and close to my body (chest, face) in case I need to protect myself- though Cappy wasn't worrying me at all, he was just super duper excited. All he was doing was running circles around me, jumping on me, and leaning/weaving/sitting/laying on my feet and legs.

Cappy showing how he likes to position himself while I'm standing or walking.

My methods change depending on the dog, often I start by grabbing 2-3 toys and throwing the in succession to let the dog burn some energy before I ask anything at all of the dog, but as Cappy was not interested in toys here's what I did, ending with Nan Arthur's basic "Relax on a Mat" exercise though I had no mat [http://www.wholedogtraining.com/images/stories/Relax_on_a_mat.pdf]:

First I wanted to stop the jumping because it was painful. I got a handful of treats ready and my clicker. As soon as his feet staying down for about a full second I'd click and treat. He took treats nicely, if sloppily due to excitement. Kept at this for many minutes, gradually having him stay down for longer before I'd click and treat. I had been so quiet this entire time. Silent. He was ready now, more focused, I wasn't tempted to give any verbal corrections and he was focused enough that praise wouldn't spin him up even higher so I started telling him good boy. I asked him to sit, the first time actually giving him any kind of direction, and he did!! Though, instead of sitting facing me, he spun around and positioned himself to be plastered against my right leg facing the same direction I was. Any physical touch was too much for him to handle, he'd start bouncing again and would very gently mouth my hand with his cheeks- very slimy! So my hands stayed up except to give treats.

Eventually I started taking small steps backward and clicking & treating when he followed by walking instead of jumping up. One step and stop. One step and stop. Two and stop. One. Two. Three. Two. Three. One. Three. He was starting to understand how to follow face-to-face as I backed up instead of staying glued to the side of my right leg. Good! Now to add sit. One step back, stop, "sit," click & treat, one step back, "sit," click & treat, and so on gradually working up to taking several steps before stopping and asking him to sit. I worked my way around the yard over to the bench. He was doing great, very focused considering where he started just 10 minutes earlier. As I sat I simultaneously clicked and gave a treat then I stood back up immediately while he was eating the treat. No chance to jump up! Did this a few times, it's a good leg workout. Then sat before I clicked and gave a treat, waited for him to finish then click & treat again before he can think about anything else. Repeat several times. Then I sat, asked him "sit," he did, click & treat. Wait for him to swallow then click & treat again. I stayed sitting and clicked & treated him for sitting, or at least standing without climbing on me. Any time paws came up I stood up and turned my back to him, and he did come up a couple times.

Good boy! Cappy showing that he can 1) Not jump, and 2) Not be stuck to my legs.

Then I stayed quiet again, still sitting, waiting for him to choose on his own to make a good choice. Relax On A Mat. He's been heavily rewarded for sitting so he should offer it himself without me saying sit. I look at him as he stands in front of me. No surprise, he sat without me telling him to! Click & treat for sitting, wait a few seconds between each click & treat, then an awesome surprise showing he really was calming down: He laid down on his own! I gave him several treats, and after that no more treats for sitting. He showed me he was relaxed enough to lay down so when he stood up I waited for him to lay down before rewarding. I kept my hands up in my lap, silent, looking calmly and sleepily at him, breathing deeply and even doing a few fake yawns. In doing this, he was soon on his side and then his back, much more calm! His tail was wagging fast still but the rest of him was pretty still except his chest moving quickly with his heavy panting. I was rubbing his belly slowly, trying a TTouch zig-zag move I saw recently. After a while he sat up between my legs, facing forward, and I petted and massaged his chest, face, and back without him jumping, wiggling, or mouthing at all. It was a really awesome transformation! I saw a glimpse of what a calm and relaxed, happy boy he can be and it was fantastic.

The stages of relaxing and enjoying belly rubs:

"Hmm, I dunno about this."

"Hey, what are you..?"

"Oh, that's nice, maybe I should lay down more."

"Oooh, this is great!!"

"I love this!"

When my legs were going to sleep I slowly got back up to sit on the bench. He sat up under my legs.

That was on Tuesday the 7th. Two days later on Thursday it was easy to enter his kennel. I took the leash off and while excited he was jumping up much less frequently. I told him to sit and he spun around and backed against my right leg, looking up at me happily. I didn't see the frantic look on his face as I had on Tuesday. VERY excited still but not frantic. I clicked & treated for the sit, at least it was a sit! We worked hard for about 10 minutes. After that first click & treat I had him sit face-to-face with me, following and sitting, and he was stellar. If he moved against my leg, no reward. Another volunteer was in the yard next to me, observing as I told her what I was doing. He was doing great so I sat on the bench and put my hand on his shoulder. He was very quickly on his side and back getting calm TTouch type petting. I really need to order some TTouch material, everything I've tried has been so helpful for dogs like Cappy! I spent the majority of the time petting him like that.

Thursday I had him out for a long time, about 45 minutes total. He was a different dog overall! There are no quick fixes so yes he was still a little jumpy and Velcro-y but he was so, so much better than a week before. I took a lot of videos and some pictures. This video was one of the first when he was still a little spun up. For the sake of the video I let him misbehave some by mouthing, pawing my hand (easy to stop, all I would have had to do is pull my hand up to my chest), and when I stood up he jumped up. Once I gave him direction and told him to sit, he showed off really well!


Cappy also played with toys, which was the first time I've seen him do so. He chased a few different squeaky balls and had a great time! I practiced having him sit before throwing the ball, which is what I work on with every dog to teach them not to jump up for toys. Impulse control and patience are important skills.

I took Cappy for a walk and he was able to take treats and did very well, some pulling but learned quickly and will not be difficult to train to walk nicely. After I put Cappy away I went to the office to ask about a play group. The staff lady who sent me to Cappy said she thought Cappy and Lars would play great together. Nobody was available but they told me to come back at 2:30. It was about 1:15, and I hadn't planned on staying that long since I'm sick with a cold. I'm exhausted, coughing, sneezing, my goal was to get Cappy out and then a couple new ones then leave early. I'd have to wait. In the mean time:

Ramona, an older female chow chow who is vision impaired.

Photo from SDDAC

 Ramona had a note that said to move slowly, so I did. She looks much better now than in her pic, she's been spayed so has a bald belly but she was also bathed and brushed as she went to an adoption event last weekend. I found out that she is being picked up by a rescue, and is now out of the shelter! She was exceptionally sweet.

Her back is fine, just different colored fur from shedding I think.

Then I sought Frannie, who anther volunteer told me about. Frannie came in very pregnant and was spayed. She is a really little Staffie and is cute as a button!! She has many scars, I'm not if they know what caused them. It looks like her muzzle may have been wired shut at some point, and she has some other scars on her face and the top of her head. In the interact yard I sat on the ground and she wiggled and squirmed and curled up in my lap, and wrapped around behind me, and whenever I stopped touching and petting her she squeaked little noises and cuddled up closer again.

Photo from SDDAC

I must have had another dog or two out but I can't remember which! When it was almost 2:30 I went back into the office. I saw the lady who asked me to work with Cappy and told her all about what I'd been doing and that I was hoping to get him in a playgroup today with Lars. We made sure it was ok with the bosses and then I got Cappy back out and she got Lars. They did great! No photos as we were both busy monitoring their play, but we let them play for close to half an hour.

I left feeling great. Not physically, but emotionally and mentally I felt awesome. Later in the evening after going to the local farmer's market and dog park I was looking on the shelter website and didn't see Cappy listed. I looked over the photos 4 times and I didn't see his picture. There was no indication that he was at risk of being put down so I assumed he was adopted and had to ask. I woke in the morning to an email saying that yes, he had been adopted!! I was beyond thrilled.

Cappy reminded me a lot of Davy, not just because of his color but his personality. His love for life and people. His goofy, silly, happy puppiness. I cried when Davy was euthanized. I cried so hard I couldn't breathe, and even now I'm tearing up thinking of him. Davy could not be saved despite my training and love. It's one of the hardest parts of volunteering at the shelter, knowing that not every dog will find a home (the save rate at this shelter is an incredible 85% for dogs). Cappy did, and I really hope that this is a dream home where he can live happily the rest of his life.

CONGRATULATIONS CAPPY!!!!!

Shelter Journal 12/5/13

Gumdrop! Never had him out before but he was really great. Nice, not much jumping, loves to catch tennis balls, walks around in the pool, takes treats nicely, knows sit. He does chomp for toys if you hand them to him but that was the only thing I saw that will need a little work. Fantastic boy.

Photo from SDDAC

Crouton! This puppy is getting kind of out of control. It sucks that he's been growing up at a shelter. He is *so* obsessed with toys that I could not get any attention from him at all until I'd picked them all up. Then he spent several minutes looking for toys or something else to do. He's extremely playful, active, curious, and adventurous. He knows sit and down, but was so worked up and full of energy that he was paw swiping and smacking my hand when I offered treats.

My photo, now on SDDAC

Nina! Very anxious to get out, and jumped against the kennel door which slammed hard into my head. The perks of volunteering! I'm fine, she calmed down enough I could get in her kennel. She's strong on leash but walks much better on the way back after being able to run around a bit. In the yard she was so excited she even mounted my leg (general excitement can be expressed that way, it's not necessarily sexual). She had zoomies several times. Ones she'd calmed down I asked her to sit a few times. She takes treats really nicely.

Hennessy! Very jumpy on the kennel door which I don't want to reinforce further, so I turned my back to him and waited for him to stop jumping. There was a bit of stop and go but I managed to open the kennel while he was keeping all 4 feet on the floor. He pulls on leash and is a little rough taking treats, but is really playful with toys.

Photo from SDDAC

Last I got out a new dog, she's listed as a husky mix. I see husky and lab. She's been named Bree. Very sweet girl, wanted to play with the dog next to us in the yard, didn't want to chase toys, seemed to enjoy being brushed and petted.

Photo from SDDAC

And that was it for a short day!

Higgins update: I'm driving Higgins to the rescue foster home on Monday. I'm excited for him!

Shelter Journal 12/3/13

Gonna blaze through this, and post what I can remember!

Sally was first, two older ladies have gotten her out and said she's been hard to handle. Biting and tugging on the leash. One was there and had gotten Sally out earlier so I said let's get her out together and see how she is with me. Sally was completely fine with me but was fixated on trying to grab the leash in the other lady's hand. Once she put the leash down, no problem. Sally does seem a bit more stressed than normal but is still doing pretty good. She's been at the shelter since July.

All the housebroken dogs had been out so I started searching for dogs I hadn't interacted with yet.

Roper! Male pitbull, about 3 years old. He came when called, could be  housebroken or it could just be typical male marking as to why he peed so much. He seemed friendly with other dogs and didn't try to fence fight with the dog in the yard next to the one we were in. He was also not very jumpy and was pretty good on leash.

Photo from SDDAC

 

Next to him is Arthur, who I didn't get any pictures of. VERY handsome blue pitbull. His eyes are no longer red as shown in the photo. Doesn't seem to know any basic commands and was very mouthy when taking treats, so I mostly worked on teaching him to take treats nicely and lick for them instead of putting my whole hand in his mouth.

Photo from SDDAC

Then was Stanley. Older guy, listed as being 6 years old and quite grey around the muzzle. Man was he STRONG. I haven't had a dog pull like he does, it was like he'd been trained for nothing but weight pulling his entire life. Even with my padded leash (which is a life saver) my hands were both hurting. In the yard I was throwing toys for him. I threw, threw, threw, one after another to keep him running and burn off some energy before asking for anything.Once he was calming down a bit and had pottied a couple times I asked him to sit first before throwing a toy. That's when the alligator came out. Leaping up and snapping his jaws shut with a clack trying to grab the toys. I held the toy high above and straight out so he wouldn't jump on me. He jumped up on me a few times anyway during our session. I would wait for him to stop leaping, and then throw the toy and praise regardless of if he sat or not. He needs some patience and to learn that the way to get the toy is by waiting, not leaping and chomping. He was doing ok for a first lesson!

Then I went to put him back in the kennel. In the row, one dog had the feeder knocked out and Stanley rushed over, snapping nastily through the gap. Being on leash, this was maybe 1 second. I made a mental note to write up a behavior form describing it. He didn't want to enter his kennel so I walked in first, and he followed. I had grabbed a frozen Kong for him, I took his leash off with the Kong in front of his nose and then rolled it to the back of the kennel as I tried to sneak out. Something I often do. But he ignored it and instead jumped up on me, and grabbed my hand for a split second with his mouth as he tried to muscle his way back out. I used my body to force him back in, I got the leash back on, and tried again to wiggle out but to no avail and he was getting increasingly more freaked out and stressed, and alligator snapped at me a couple more times but didn't make contact. I lead him back out to the concrete area by the interaction yards where I knew a volunteer was. She was leashing the dog she'd had out. Perfect. I told her to please go tell one of the staff ladies that I a dog I was trying to re-kennel was trying to bite me. She put her dog back and walked into the office.

Meanwhile I kept Stanley moving, as when I stood still he started leaping. I walked him around a yard, still on leash. When I saw one of the ladies coming I exited. He jumped up and snapped on the inside of my forearm, nipping me hard. Staff lady didn't see as she was coming up a slight ramp and watching her steps. I explained to her what he was doing and showed her my wrist and hand, and just then he jumped and snapped her on the arm too. She was wearing a loose jacket but still felt his teeth and let out a gaspy "auw!" I followed her back to his kennel, as did the other volunteer. She got in the kennel with him and we were the backups with leashes ready in case he managed to get out. But he didn't. Staff lady then examined my wrist and hand, and because he technically punctured skin on my hand (though my wrist looks way worse) they have to do a rabies test on him. After this kind of behavior a dog at a shelter is going to die. He has zero chance. He has shown aggression toward people, even coming from a place of stress and I'd even call it panic to some degree. Not a mean intent, but he bit me twice and staff lady once. Though he may not be a "mean" dog, and despite him actually nipping, a dog experiencing so much stress that he lashes out like that is not mentally and emotionally doing well and it is inhumane to keep them alive at the shelter, suffering, in agony. I went and got a Caution sign to put on his kennel, though staff lady said he would be moved soon anyway. She said she would get the paperwork started to document the bite and do a rabies report.

I am pretty bomb proof. At no point did I panic myself or lose my cool, even the moment after he'd nipped my wrist. Mostly I felt bad. I felt- and still feel- so, so bad for the dog. I still took a moment to gather myself and make sure it wasn't just some kind of hormone chemical rush keeping me calm. If he'd flat out attacked me I would have been very upset I think, but all I saw was a stressed out dog lashing out because he didn't want to go back in solitary confinement. Imagine being in solitary confinement for a year and you only see people 15-20 times during the whole year, for around 20-30 minutes each time. The rest of the time you are alone, with nothing to do, just water and food, and listening to nonstop barking. How long before you lost your mind and panicked? I'm sure I'd fight whoever tried to lock me up again too and have a breakdown.

I needed a happy spazzy playful puppy. My day at the shelter was going to end early by my own choice but I needed to end on a high note. Enter Laila.

I washed my hands and went to the office. I spent about half an hour chatting. First about the bite as they got info from me, then just talking. The lady who came out to help said when the other volunteer came in and said someone was having trouble and the dog was trying to bite, she assumed it was one of the older ladies just having trouble with an active, jumpy dog. When she saw it was me she thought "Oh shit, Megan is having an issue?? This is actually serious." The other lady asked if I knew what this means. Yes, I know. Rabies test means the dog will put down, because the test is done using brain tissue. I knew anyway the moment of that nip to my wrist that he was going to be put down because dogs that bite like that cannot be adopted out. They can't. It's a safety issue, it's liability, they can't have that on their conscious to adopt out a dog that is known to behave like that, even if the dog is under a huge amount of stress here. What if he snaps at a child? Or snaps and doesn't let go? I simply frowned and told her "Yeah," and that I felt so bad for him. I asked where he was from, and turns out he was a stray. He'd been at the shelter since October 9th. I don't know if he ever had a good life. He didn't know any basic commands, even sit. He had no idea how to walk nicely on leash. No idea how to play nicely and interact nicely with people. I wouldn't be surprised if he was on a chain in a backyard his entire life. But I'll never know. I will get a call after 10 days to confirm that he did not have rabies. After 2 months in a shelter they would have known by now if he did, so I'm not concerned at all. My hand is fine, and my wrist is more bruised at about the size of a quarter around the darkest purple spot but it's not as bad as I thought it would be and it's not a spot easily bumped. I'll heal, but Stanley is gone forever.

The Stray and the Ad

This afternoon I was taking Higgins down the street to the mailbox, it's a good short distance for an old dog to walk. As we're coming back to my front yard I see a pitbull type white/brown brindle dog with no collar on the corner 2 houses down. I make a kissy sound and say "hey puppy!" and he starts trotting over. I shoved Higgins inside and took the leash off before the dog came up, I've never seen the dog and I didn't want Higgins hurt. I crouch down and he comes right up and I loop the leash around his neck. Gotcha! He's super sweet, didn't struggle or give me any trouble at all. I crack the door open and tell the husband I have a stray dog on my leash and to please hand me my wallet so I can take him to the shelter. I take him to where I volunteer but they say dogs from my zip code have to go to the other shelter. So I take him over there and had to leave him in the car for about 10-15 minutes while I waited to talk with someone.. they need a better front desk, I was so worried I'd come back to a chewed up car or poop everywhere! Would be nice to have a fast check in, or a separate door for animal receiving like our shelter has. Finally my turn, I give them my info and his, where I found him, etc. and they give me a paper and send me around the side of the building to hand him over. I scurried out to the car to find him sitting nicely in the front seat. Got him out and handed him over, and asked if I could be contacted in case he wasn't chipped so I could put up flyers in my neighborhood. She said wait 2 seconds and she'd scan him. She came back and said he has a microchip!! I told her with my luck the dog lives just around the corner from me, and she laughed and said that happens all the time. As I was walking away I overheard her say to the other woman, "That lady handled that dog like he was her own." I took that as compliment to my leash handling skills and confidence. Made me grin! I sure do walk a lot of dogs. I'll probably call back tomorrow or Friday to make sure he was picked up- or at least that the chip info was current.

You can see some old injuries on his back leg ^

Once I got home I was checking my facebook and my friend sent me an ad from CL for a guy selling a husky puppy at 3 weeks old near us. He listed his cell and home number. I texted his cell, and explained my concern for puppies being adopted out that young, and why they need to stay with their mom and littermates. He said the parents are attacking the puppies. Ok, so you hand raise or get help from a rescue! You don't sell them!!! I ended it there (and had a trainer friend call too but they hung up on her) and I called a rescue foundation in that area and they said they'd take care of it. I also sent an email to the staff at the shelter to see what could be done.. I googled his land line so got an address I'd given to both of them. Shelter got back to me and said the rescue had no legal authority so tell them not to go or tip off the guy, they would send an officer from the shelter up there. So I called back and told them that. Whew! Now it's wait and see. If you sell puppies less than 8 weeks old in California, you face a fine of $250. Per puppy. Gonna try to sell puppies that young? I'll send Animal Control to your house! It is severely detrimental to the puppies to be separated so young. Of course sometimes there are special circumstances, but again you will then hand raise the puppies and/or seek outside help such as from a rescue to make sure they are being well socialized and can develop as normally as possible. You. Do. Not. Sell. Them.

A Certain Mr. Higgins

One day I was looking at the photos on the website and saw a scruffy terrier. I squealed from his cuteness! I'm not very girly so the husband had to come see, knowing it must be something good. I clicked the picture to see his info. "His name is HIGGINS!!" I squealed again. Husband smiled, "Aw, Higgins!" We agreed that the name was perfect. I looked at his info. Terrier mix (clearly a Cairn terrier, at least mostly). A number popped out. 10 years old. Was he dumped there? Was he found as a stray? How long had he been there? I didn't have any answers, but amid the silliness and overwhelming cuteness, I felt heartbroken for him. I told husband that Higgins better have a shitty personality, or I'm screwed (meaning that I'd fall for him).

Photo from SDDAC

I got Higgins out the next day at the shelter, which was a Friday, November 15th. He was kenneled with a young poodle mix. Higgins shied away from the leash but I managed to get it on and lead him out. He moved so stiffly and slowly but did the whole walk to the interaction yard. He mostly walked behind me and I made sure to stop when he stopped, and he stopped often.

In the yard he sniffed around, peed and pooped. Whenever I touched him he froze and flattened his ears and licked his lips, which are all signs he was uncomfortable with me touching him. So I let him be. I watched him walk his stiff old man waddle, sniffing, exploring. He was really stinkin' cute!

I ended up carrying him back to his kennel. While petting him I noticed he was thin, but carrying him I felt just how skinny he is. His spine and ribs are much too easily felt. When I put him back in the kennel he snapped at his poodle mix kennel mate. Very appropriate snap, old guys don't want to wrestle and play with young dogs!

I didn't get him out over the next week, but by the following Tuesday it was bothering me that Higgins was at the shelter. I still didn't know anything about where he came from but I saw how stiff and sore he was, and had glimpses of how quirky and charismatic he was. I hurt when I see old dogs at the shelter. Regardless of if they were intentionally dumped or simply got lost, they used to have a family. Someone who took care of them. Snuggled them, played with them. Loved them. And now all that is gone. Years of attention and love, and now nothing but a concrete floor and a feeder. I got out many dogs on Tuesday (Nov. 26th) including all the housebroken dogs. Then when I had about half an hour left I got Higgins out. The poodle mix was gone but he had two new kennel mates. I carried him to the interaction yard, as the back route has a rocky path that I didn't think his paws and sore legs would appreciate. After a few minutes I knew it. I was screwed. I texted the husband, "Would you be ok if I brought home a certain Mr. Higgins?" I waited, and watched Higgins. I waited. No answer after about 20 minutes. I put his leash back on, carried him back to his kennel. While carrying him I felt a lump on the front of his right shoulder but I couldn't tell if it was matted fur or under his skin.

I dunked my leash in the TripleTwo, washed my hands, and went to the office. I told one of the lovely staff ladies that I wanted to foster a dog. She was excited of course! I asked about any known history.

He was found as a stray on October 2nd. He'd been there since. They didn't know anything about him. No microchip, no history, no information. All they knew was what I knew: an old terrier mix. They guessed his age based on his teeth, and I'm guessing from the way he moves and waddles stiffly in an arthritic manner too. I asked if he could have the lump checked, his nails trimmed and eyes cleaned up before I took him home, she said of course and he had to be chipped and get his rabies vaccine too. I clenched my teeth on that one.. no way does a 10+ year old dog need a rabies shot, but I know it's the law here so no use arguing. I asked if I could tag along and she said sure. She got Higgins back out and carried him into medical. They checked the lump first. About the size of a marble, hard, but easily moved. They said it was odd. Not a good word for me to hear. Odd. It's weird. They got him up on the table and got a syringe. They poked the bump a couple times, pulling out whatever they could get out. A little bit of fluid came out, and the tech said she'd put it on a slide [under the microscope] later to see if there was anything notable. Then he got his rabies shot and microchip. He was a little squirmy but not bad. Next was his nails, which he didn't enjoy having clipped but other than a couple wiggle fits was pretty still. The tech did quick him once (cut too short and hit the blood vessel in the nail) and he squeaked and squirmed but calmed down pretty quick. After the nails she got out electric trimmers and he held his head still without a fuss as she trimmed the rock hard goopy crusty ick from the corners of his eyes.

The staff lady carried him back to the office, then went to get food for him. I started rummaging in the drawer of collars and harnesses to find one that fit. I found a couple that were too big, I'm used to bigger dogs! The staff lady came back with the food and found a great collar for him. I left him in the office while I set up the soft crate in my car. I went back, all set, and put him in the car to take home.

I got home and rushed inside. I set up Diesel's old crate in the living room. I grabbed our old sheets and piled them up in the crate. I put Denali and Kaytu outside. I went back out and put a leash on Higgins and carried him inside.

Zebulon walked right up to him, face to face. OH CRAP. I FORGOT ABOUT THE CATS was my first thought. I kept the leash loose but just barely any slack in it. They sniffed noses for a moment and then Higgins kept on walking. Whew! He explored a little and when he got near the back door I pulled the curtain back. I let just Denali in first. It went exactly as I expected. She excitedly went to sniff him and he barked a single strong bark and snapped at her. (When I say he "snaps" I mean an air snap, no physical contact). After they'd sniffed a little I let Kaytu in and the same thing happened. Good! Higgins is not being mean at all. He is old, stiff, and sore, had just been poked and prodded and such, and no way in Hell are my dogs ever going to wrestle and roughhouse with him. They need to know from the first moment to give him space. I think of it as the equivalent of an old man on his front porch yelling at the kids, "Get off my lawn you young whippersnappers!" For the rest of the evening there were bouts of the girls getting too close and him barking, lots of bared teeth that come before the snap, and he even barked at Zebulon when he sniffed his butt too long. I don't see anyone else ever having that problem, Zeb is such a strange cat. Overall Higgins has ignored the cats but he doesn't want to walk right next to them so I wonder if he previously lived with a cat that was quick to swat at him.

I put the girls back outside and carried Higgins upstairs where husband was sleeping. I woke him up by standing in the doorway, asking if he got my text. He hadn't. I said, "This is Higgins," and set Higgins on the bed next to him. I asked him if it was ok, he said he wished we had talked about it but it was fine. We've since discussed it further and while I wish we had discussed it too, Higgins is here to stay for at least the Thanksgiving weekend. The shelter is closed Sundays and Mondays so if things aren't going well by then I have no hesitation in taking him back. Our lives and our pets will always come first no matter how much a certain dog is tugging my heartstrings.

The rest of Tuesday was spent making sure the girls didn't get in his face too much, and having him relax in his crate. He ate well which made me happy because a very stressed dog will not eat. I went to bed at about 1:00am which is normal time for me. I crated him, leaving the crate in the living room. I figured he hadn't really been upstairs and that would be stressful to change locations again, and I want him to be comfortable sleeping by himself since I have no idea what a potential future family would be doing with him at night. Better to not have him used to being in the bedroom. Higgins started barking at 1:30. I immediately got up and went downstairs and carried him straight outside to potty. He peed, I praised him, then put him right back in the crate. He started barking again about half an hour or so later. I went down and repeated the process and he peed again. Well, at least he peed. Back to bed.. and almost immediately he started barking again. I knew he didn't have to pee again so thought maybe putting him in Kaytu's crate in the bedroom would work. Nope. He was panting really hard and started barking again. Husband had work in the morning and by now it was about 2:30am. No sleep for the last hour. I apologized to husband and took Higgins back downstairs. I put him in his crate and turned the TV on. I have dozens on episodes of The Twilight Zone recorded and started watching those. He didn't make a peep the rest of the night. I didn't sleep much in my comfy chair that normally knocks me out- and all our friends who come over and sit in it- so when husband came down in the morning at about 7:00am, I went back upstairs. I figured if Higgins started barking I could ignore it now and wait him out. He didn't make another sound and I slept until about 10:30.

Wednesday he seemed a little perkier. His tail lifted a few times, I had only ever seen it hanging down with the tip curled up. He had a little more pep in his step. He only snapped at the girls a couple times during the entire day; they had worked things out really well. I emailed the staff to let them know he was doing ok, and asked about the lump. I got a reply pretty quickly saying it was determines to just be a cyst. Good news for Higgins! I brushed him some, and I tried to get him to play. He's not interested in any kind of toy. Ropes, balls, flirt pole, cat toys, nothing. I figure he's still too stressed, and maybe too stiff to play well. I got a board to put as a ramp out our back door, it's about a 4-6" drop from the door to the patio but seeing him struggle to hop up it was sad and he used the board right away. He was getting more adventurous and got into the trashcan in the bathroom (which I heard right away) so I put the trashcan out of reach. I had no idea what to do to entertain him, so modified the muffin tin game which is normally played with tennis balls or plastic Easter eggs.


At first I made it super easy by having uncovered treats in the pan before covering any of them. I used the fabric strips I'd cut for the Hol-ee Roller game for my girls. He seems to love this game!

I went to bed at the same time Wednesday night (Thursday morning), and the same thing happened. After going down the second time, I left the TV on with the channel turned to music "soundscapes" and he didn't bark again.

Thursday was very busy cleaning and cooking and getting ready for our Thanksgiving meal. After letting him out in the morning, he came back in and wagged his tail- the first time I'd ever seen it wag!! He was even better than Wednesday, perkier and peppier, more active. Our friends were coming over with their male husky who is 8 months old. I had Higgins completely covered in his crate when they arrived. We let the huskies outside to romp and play. I told our friends that Higgins would snap at their dog, they have an old pug too so their dog is used to being snapped at by old dogs! After letting the dogs run around a bit I let them in, and sure enough Higgins snapped at their husky but he got the hint very quickly and they left Higgins alone. I could tell Higgins was stressed by them playing so I gave him breaks covering him up in the crate and made sure to not leave him "stuck" in a corner. Overall he did great! My friends really liked him. By this point he was much better about being petted too, not so nervous about it, which I think is due to him being in less pain.

That night I put him in his crate about an hour before I wanted to go to bed. I turned the soundscapes channel on and covered his crate. He barked once, I immediately got up, he barked a second time as I was uncovering him, and I took him straight outside. He peed. I put him straight back in his crate and covered it again. When I was ready for bed I sat outside his crate and lifted a corner of the blanket. He was sitting up. I yawned and sighed, and blinked heavily. He laid down. [It's like magic! Check out Relax On A Mat by Nan Arthur]. I pulled the blanket down again and waited. I heard him sit up after a couple minutes so immediately lifted the corner and repeated. Sigh. Yawn. Blink sleepily. Yawn. He laid down. I put the blanket down. I sat and waited for a good 5 minutes. I peeked. Still laying down. Another 5 minutes. I stood up quietly and went upstairs. He didn't make a sound all night!!

Today he was great. So active! I can tell he's feeling better physically, and his stress is coming down as he settles in. Perfect day for a bath!

He shook the entire time, I think from being scared and maybe a little from simply being unsteady on the slippery tub floor. His legs shake sometimes anyway when he's standing still on the floor. I kept one hand under his chest the entire time to support him. He let me wash him all over, and then I used my hair dryer to get him mostly dry. He was doing so well that when he was finally getting impatient with the drying I let him go. I carried him downstairs and out to potty, then once inside I combed him. He seemed to really enjoy the combing! I used a flea comb and backcombed him to get all the fur separated so nothing would get matted. It worked really well.

Licking his legs dry next to Denali

 

I had him do the muffin tin game again, this time with all the fabric strips folded flat. Took him a while and he had a great time! I took him on a walk to get the mail. I snuggled him and pet him a lot. On my way home from mushing Kaytu I stopped and got him a smaller Kong and put his dinner in that. He had a hard time with it so I ended up scooping most of it back out, but I think with practice he'll love it. I don't think he had to snap at the girls at all today.