I emailed Ed and Barbara and asked them to contact me to talk more about Keely.
I cleaned Jake's ears yesterday. He didn't like it, but was very good and lied there for me to clean them.
Samson and his parents came by to visit today.
I called Kathy on her cell phone just a few minutes ago. The connection wasn't very good, I think she was driving. She said everything's fine, Jasmine's doing really well. They went to the vet last Saturday to get the sutures out, and the vet checked the anal glands. She said the vet said they are fine and just need to keep watch on them to make sure they don't get infected again. She said last weekend Jasmine met the rest of the family. She said the little boy (her sister's 2-year-old) likes Jazz, just not to sure about playing with her yet. She said Jazz was ready to play, but they think it'll take a couple more visits for the little boy to get used to being around a young dog. The little boy is used to playing with her dad's 12-year-old Heeler, Tilly. Tilly is old and sick and will probably not last until the end of the year. But she said the little boy just stood by the door and kept asking for "Jazz". I asked how Jazz did with Tilly, she said Tilly growled at Jazz and Jazz backed off, and that was that. She said she just gave Jazz her first bath yesterday, Jazz didn't like it that much, but did very well and stood still for her to do it.
The phone got cut off at this point, I didn't get a chance to ask her about house training and when Jazz home alone during the day, but I'm sure both are fine. And I didn't get to ask about adoption fee and contract. I called back twice immediately but the phone was having hard time finding the subscriber, and then I only got the voicemail. So I'll try to call again later today to ask about the rest.
This afternoon Liana forwarded me email from Kathy that she still has not received the adoption contract for Jazz. So I will wait a few days, if she still has not mailed the contract to ESRA, then I will call her again.
Celina emailed about the home visit report. Celina is also the one who did the home visit for Brenna�s parents. �The property looks gorgeous and well kept. They have an invisible fence but Barbara is planning to walk the dog everyday. The dog will be inside dog part of the family and she/he will have the run of the house. She might get a crate just in case she needs it.
The house is clean, open, spacious and it has hard wood floors and area carpets. Barbara understands that the dog might have an accident or two in the house and she is perfectly ok with it.
They are looking forward to get the dog soon and they are willing to travel half way of all the way to pick her/him up. Barbara seems a wonderful woman who loves animals and she will be a good candidate to get a Springer Spaniel.� I think they even use the same vet as Celina does.
Barbara emailed and said they will call tonight.
Ed and Barbara called tonight. I sent out another email over the weekend asking them to call me on a speaker phone so I could talk to them at the same time. Ed was the only one who talked for the first 60 seconds or so. He talked about why they want an older rescued dog and not getting a puppy, he said they had Aussie and Setter before. It wasn't until after that, Barbara started to join in. There was some small discrepancy between what they told me tonight and what's on their application, but I kind of expected that (not unusual for applicants, there�s usually several weeks between when they sent in the application and when they speak to me regarding a specific foster dog, by then they�ve had more time to think more about their lifestyle and situation and what kind of dog they want), that's why I asked to speak to them at the same time.
I asked them if they have any questions, Barbara asked about what kind and size of crate they should get. I told them Keely had used both plastic and wire crate (I assume she used wire crate at Heathers?) and that I would recommend they crate Keely the first month when they are not at home. I told them it would be better to get a wire crate. I told them Large size would be good, they said they'll get that.
I then told them that my major concern is with invisible fence. They said they got it when they were remodeling their kitchen and had to put their Aussie outside, but overall the Aussie stayed with them when outside so they didn't have to use it much, same with the Setter. They said actually the fence is turned off right now. I told them that Keely is not very good with any force based training so we would not recommend her wearing a shock collar, they said that's fine. Barbara asked if Keely would stay near them without leash then; I said, the first month, I would recommend leashing her, but after that, I think she would bond with them enough that she'll probably stay near them. I told them that Keely has sensitive stomach anyways, so I would recommend active supervision when she's outside anyways, to make sure she doesn't eat grass or other dog's poop. We then talked a little bit about Keely's food intolerance (beef, lamb, artificial preservatives, etc.), they said they can get the special brands of food. They also asked me if she would go through their outside trashcan, because their Setter did that. I said I don't know, but we agreed that because of Keely's sensitive stomach, we have to make sure she can't get to eat any of the trash.
I asked about type of obedience class they went to, since their applications said it was "positive training". They said the class they took was 12 years ago. I asked if they used choke chain, Barbara said yes, Ed said "no, well, only a little when she (the Setter) pulled on leash when walking". So I said if we recommend they take a class over the summer with Keely, if both of them would be able to do it, they said yes, Ed said it would be a good bonding experience.
On the application, it says that they will make their daughter take the cat back if it doesn't work out with the new dog. So I mentioned the cat, and Barbara says the cat is there to stay for another year, until their daughter finishes grad school, so the cat will definitely be there for another year. I think a feline companion would be nice for Keely in a large house anyways. So I talked to them about Keely's food possession, how she would growl at my cat or other dogs when they get near her food, and how she would growl occasionally at humans who get near her food too, but we are working on that. I told them that we would like the new family to continuing working on it, and they said okay, if I show them how to do it. They asked me if Keely countersurfs or if she would get into the cat's food. I told them Keely has never countersurfed with me, but I think if they just leave the cat's food on the floor, I think Keely would fight the cat for it. They said the cat gets two meals a day (not free-fed), I said I just put my cat food on the kitchen counter, or they can put the food in another room and jam the door so only the small cat can get in (like Jake's family's doing).
I also told them about Keely's fear aggression toward other dogs in public. Barbara asked if Keely would be barking at other people, and I said no, just growl and occasional bark if another dog sniffs her behind for too long. I said that's another thing the new family has to continue to work on, Keely's socialization with other dogs, and that she would probably have to bring a bag of treats with her when she goes on walks with Keely. She said that's fine. She asked if Keely would attack other dogs, I said I haven't seen that with her, I said it's very obviously fear-based. She said their next door neighbor has a dog and she said Keely would see that dog a lot. And I said I would show them how I handle Keely when we meet other dogs.
I asked how they are going to exercise Keely. Barbara said she will walk her, and she asked me how much walk I recommend, I said 10 miles a week. I forgot to ask them how much is she planning to walk.
I asked them about introducing future grandkids. They said their daughter is in Chicago living with a roommate, and the reason the cat is with them is because the roommate is allergic to cats. Their son is in St. Louis, living in apartment also. Barbara said neither is attached to anybody right now, so they are not expecting grandkids in the next couple years. They said neither kid have pets either, so right now there's no concern about how to introduce other dogs or cats.
Overall I feel comfortable enough for the next step. I asked them if they are still interested in Keely. They said yes. So we've agreed to meet in Birmingham this Saturday for them to see Keely and for me to show them a little bit how I train her to see if they can manage. If they are still interested after that, I'll bring her up to Nashville. I've called Millie and left message asking her if she would be at her Birmingham house this weekend.
Heather emailed and said, �I agree with everything you've said here. To answer a few of your questions, yes, they can turn off the invisible fence. Most people have a switch or power supply to it in the garage. That's where my mom's is. I agree that Keely doesn't need an invisible fence, and she was off leash here with me out in front of my house, and she was fine off leash. If she got a little too far up my driveway, I would call her and she would always come back. When I walked her down the street, I would leash her mostly because there are a lot of dogs on my street. I always test my fosters off leash on my street because you know the setting on my street is really easy for that with very little traffic and all of my neighbors help with socializing and give treats to the dogs when we go by if I let them or give them some.
Keely never outright went after another dog. It was always defense when she got frightened. One time she was playing with Gunther and he got too rough and she put him in his place. That was it. She never went after Chloe, but when she got mad about something that anybody did, her anger was always focused on Chloe, no matter where Chloe was. She played with Tully, my alpha, like a champ (to my shock)! I'm sure she would do well with their neighbor's dog once she feels comfy. Keely did not like the plastic crate she came to me with as it was too small. She cried in it so I tried others. She did great in a wire crate here and large plastic crate until she was well socialized then I left her loose in the rec room with the other dogs and there were never any problems (Gunther is always crated when I leave and will be for the rest of his life :-)
I think they will really like Keely. She is such a sweet girl at heart. She has her princess tendencies, but she never seemed to have a problem with I carried her around like a baby on my hip either (like when Gunther would get out of control which is a daily and frequent occurrence!)
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Millie said she will not be at her Birmingham house this weekend, but we�re welcome to meet at her lake house, and I took her up on her offer.
I called Ed and Barbara again just a few minutes ago asking them if they had read emails I sent earlier this morning. Barbara answered the phone and said she has talked to Ed about the things I added in the emails (I forgot to talk to them about grooming issues last night). She said they probably won't brush Keely's teeth. I told them then they need to consider taking Keely in for teeth cleaning every six months, or if it's a major concern, it's something for them to consider when deciding if they want to adopt Keely. She said they never had to have their dogs' teeth cleaned before, except one time when the Setter had to be under anesthesia for something else. I told her it would be around $150 each time, she said the cost is not a problem.
In the email I told her that the food Keely is currently on is from catalog (drsfostersmith.com), she said over the phone that she would like to continue feeding Keely that and is okay with ordering from catalog.
She said it's okay if we meet at Millie's lakehouse, and I've emailed Millie to ask for directions to her house.
Barbara said her kids will be there over the weekend and if they could come see Keely too and I said that would be great.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
I made some dog cookies for Lexi, Jake, Keely, and Millie�s Freckles for Fourth of July. The cookies are Springer-shaped, and for each dog, I made one covered with red icing, one with blue and one with white. The fourth cookie has the dog�s name on it.
