On Thursday, December 8, I emailed Heather and Liana (adoption coordinator) about potential adopters for Jake, how he can probably go to a family who has other dogs or cats, as long as they either had some experience introducing two animals into the same household, or that they are willing to take obedience classes in the near future. Actually Jake gets along with pretty much everybody, but I don�t want the family to freak out if Jake starts to guard his favorite toys from the other pets in the household. Liana emailed back to say that actually the biggest challenge they have looking for a matching home for Jake is making sure the family won�t leave him in the yard unsupervised at all. However, she has a new applicant in Birmingham that might be good match for Jake. When Liana sent me their application, I like it too, and Liana also sent me their phone interview report, which was done by Catheryn in Valley, AL, who went to Woofstock in August with us and she has met Jake then and really like him too. Catheryn also is the one who paid the vet and boarding bills in Opelika (right next to Auburn) for Channing.
The applicants, John and Kate, live in a twp-bedroom house with an approximately 1/3 acre yard. The yard is fenced on three sides with five-foot high chain link, but the fourth side is unfenced. They are thinking about putting up an electric fence so the dog can play in the backyard more safely. They do not have kids living at home, but John�s grandchildren, who are 10 and 13 years old, visit once a year. John had a Cocker Spaniel 20 years ago. They currently have two cats: Sham is approximately 18-month old short-haired Tabby who was an itinerant from the neighborhood, and Rocky is a 3-month old medium-haired Tabby whom they adopted from their vet. Either of them had been to obedience class before, but they are planning to with their adopted dog, and even from the application and phone interview report, they sound like they will slowly introduce the dog to the cats and supervise closely at the beginning. They own their business so they have flexible schedule, so the dog won�t be crated for long periods during the day. They also exercise a lot, 45 minutes to an hour of walking each day, plus some hiking, and they are planning to walk and hike with their future dog. At first the dog will sleep in the crate, until they feel the dog�s fully housetrained and gets along with the cats, then the dog will sleep on a doggie bed without crate. They prefer a puppy, but they don�t want a Springer with too much grooming requirements.
They sound perfect for Jake, Jake�s coat is very easy to take care of as far as Springers go, and especially Liana said the husband will be the primary caregiver, and Jake�s a more guy�s dog anyways, although I think Jake will bond with the wife too. And since they don�t have a completely fenced in yard, they will probably not leave him outside unsupervised.
After I looked through the application and report, I did a search on Mapquest, and realized that John and Kate live really close to Patty (about one mile away), who fostered Jeremy (who traveled to AL with Jake for foster care in June) and is fostering Buckley. So I told Liana about this, and she managed to get Patty to do the home visit.
Patty did the home visit on Saturday and on Monday, she emailed and said John and Kate sounded great but they were interested in dogs less than 2 years old, so they can train the dog from the beginning. However, John and Kate emailed Heather later on Monday to ask her more about Jake, especially about his tolerance of cats. Heather really likes Jake too and highly recommends him. So on Wednesday I sent John and Kate two most recent pictures of Jake with Anastasia (of Jake watching Anastasia playing with his tennis balls). John emailed back to say they are interested and Jake and said they would call tonight.
Friday, December 16, 2005
I talked to John for about ten minutes last night. He sounded very nice on the phone, nothing contradictory to what he had put down on the application. His wife, Kate, will leave for Fort Walton Beach this morning for a seminar/conference this weekend and won't get back until late Sunday afternoon. I would like Jake to meet both of them, as well as their cats, so we have planned to meet at their house at 7 PM on Sunday.
Their main concern regarding the adoptive dog are their cats. Their semi-feral cat is blinded in one eye and missing a rib from a car accident, so they don't want any dog who would further traumatize the cat. They said Patty's dog, Lucy, is not used to being around cats and tried to chase their cats when they were there doing the home visit, although they were pretty sure Lucy meant no harm. However, they do not want a dog who would chase their cats. Previously in the application and from Patty's home visit, it seemed like they wanted a puppy. I don't know what changed their minds, but they said they realized that a puppy is too time consuming for their schedule, and a two or three year old like Jake would be perfect. Also they are glad that Jake's fully trained (previously I read that they were thinking about starting from scratch?), but they are still planning to take obedience class with whichever dog they adopt for some hands on learning (John seems to have read some books about dog training already). Also, they appear to totally understand that Jake can't be left outside without active supervision at anytime. Their semi-feral cat gets to go in and out of the house by standing by the front door (does not sound they have a cat or dog door). They are keeping the kitten inside and will probably keep him as totally indoor cat. When I say "they", I meant John I guess, since I didn't get to talk to Kate. Anyways, I think they would prefer a dog who gets along with other dogs too, because John frequently walks his neighbor's yellow Lab, Jack, who is kept in the yard down the street a lot of the times. So John gets to exercise the dog. He would like to walk both Jake and Jack at the same time when he gets to know Jake better. Jack the Lab (who's not used to cats either) has also been inside their house before, and the semi-feral cat's reaction is just retreating to the bedroom. John is in his late 50's and would like to have a dog before he gets to be too old to take care of one.
Heather emailed to say that Karen in Atlanta will foster Chris. Karen has fostered Snoopy and is fostering Channing and Marcus, all originally from Alabama. I will transport Chris to Karen on Wednesday when my family and I go to the new Georgia Aquarium.
I went to see Chris again this afternoon, my intention was to give him a bath. My mom insisted on coming, so she was there to help bath Chris. After I picked him up from the vet's office, Chris sat in the backseat with my mom. My aunt sat in the front passenger seat. He whined and shivered pretty much the whole way, even though my mom kept petting him and talking to him (It's okay, etc.). I think he whines when he feels insecure, not exactly wanting attention (I wouldn't reinforce the insecurity by petting, but I didn't feel like explaining the whole training thing with my mom).
When we got to Petco and I walked Chris a little bit outside, he was curious with all the smell and didn't whine anymore. Then I put Chris into the stainless steel tub and turned on the sprayer, Chris whined even louder than before and even tried to jump out several times. It was hard to contain him inside the tub, even though I had the loop collar thing attached to the side of the tub. So my mom held him while I shampooed and rinsed him. He was pretty good when I was shampooing him, but he did not like the water spray at all. Finally it was time to dry him. He did not like the pet blow dryer either, but he leaned against my mom's legs and just stood there, with head turned away from the dryer and whining, while I dried him a little bit.
When we were at the checkout counters, he was very friendly with people. We did not see any other dogs there though. He still smells of some shelter and kennel smells, and I would recommend giving him another bath after Karen gets him.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Jake and I got to John and Kate's house around 7 PM. They were playing with their kitten in the livingroom just before we went in. Their semi-feral cat was sleeping on their bed in the bedroom (John told me when I asked). They had the lights turned down low, very soothing. The kitten dashed to hide behind the Christmas tree as soon as we went inside. I think within 30 seconds of meeting Jake, John has made a connection with him and decided that he's the dog for him. Jake actually spent more time with Kate during the 45 minute visit. Kate said she's an animal lover but not a dog person, more of a cat person (sounds like my sister), she doesn't think she would like any dog, so she said she just told John to pick a dog that he wants. He said he told her "I can't get a dog, WE have to get a dog." Jake worked his magic on Kate and snuggled with her and let her rub his tummy massaging him all over, licked their faces, etc. She said she thinks Jake is something special and she likes Jake (which is a great compliment, as I know it's very hard for my sister to say she likes a particular dog). I think the cats are more of Kate's responsibility, whereas the dog would be more John's. John appears to have read A LOT about Springers and about dog training, I would even say that he knows more about Springers and dog training than a typical Springer owner does, as he explained some of Jake's looks and behavior to Kate. Kate enticed the kitten to come out with a ribbon. The kitten is skittish of strangers too. Jake watched the kitten but stayed in Sit position. Then the semi-feral adult cat walked out, slowly walked around the parameter of the livingroom, watching from a distance (maybe 5 feet). Jake watched him but stayed in Sit also. But when the cat started running and dashing into a closet, Jake went after him, but Kate stopped him by holding onto his leash. Both John and Kate were very understanding and said there will be a transition period when the cats and dog get to know each other.
John asked me some questions about Jake's habits with me, and he said at first he'll keep Jake in a crate at night and during the day when they are not at home, until they can be sure that he's fine with the cats. But he plans to have Jake sleep on a dog bed next to their bed. Also I talked to them about Jake's fatty acid supplement, and he said he takes them too, so he'll keep Jake on it. John said he would like to get Jake groomed the first time by a groomer, then he would like to try to groom Jake himself to get to know Jake better.
Then we went for a tour of the property. I let John take hold of Jake's leash. Jake sniffed their bedrooms and kitchen (they will put away most of the cat's toys, as Jake thinks all Anastasia's toys are dog toys too, and they will think of a way to keep the cat food in the kitchen away from Jake). Then John and I went to their backyard. It was too dark for me to see anything, so I just stayed on their deck as John walked Jake around. They have a small vegetable garden, but John didn't seem to mind when Jake peed on one of their plants.
John and Kate said they have to teach a class on Saturday morning, but after that, they have 9 days off, and they are not planning to have company over or planning to go anywhere for the holiday break. So they will come to my apartment to pick up Jake on Saturday afternoon around 2 PM.
The only concern I have is about the small wood burning stove that's in front of a fake fireplace facade in the livingroom. When we were there, one of the tennis balls (they have several around the house, they said it's for their classes) rolled under the stove and Jake tried to go after it, but John and Kate stopped him. Kate said something about getting a fence/gate for the stove. About the Christmas tree, Jake stayed with my professor for a weekend and they have two trees, one real one fake, Jake left both alone, so I'm not that worried about that.
Heather emailed to say that her dad has a small propane fireplace, but his dogs have learned to leave it alone very fast. But she also suggested some hearth gating systems just in case. I also started emailing John and Kate some more of Jake�s info, so they won�t be overwhelmed with all the info on the day of adoption.
Chris tried to walk around, but once he realized that he can't go anywhere because he's tied to the table, he settled down, in about five minutes. So I scissor trimmed him, he was pretty good with that, and brushed him. When I started blow trying him, he did not like that again, tried to run away and whined loudly. But the weird thing is after about two minutes, I think he learned to like the warm air (the blower at Petco uses cold air), he would still whine softly, but just lied down and seemed to enjoy the warm air a little bit. So I untied him from the table during the middle of drying, and he stayed pretty much.
He was surprisingly very good when I was cleaning his ears. His ears are a little bit dirty, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't have an ear infection. I think the dirt is just from not having ears cleaned in a while. I also checked his neuter surgery incision and poured hydrogen peroxide on it (ran out of rubbing alcohol), it does not look infected.