Froggie Legs

As promised, here's a picture of Epic's funny frog legs. She does this pretty much every time she lays down. It cracks us up. :)

We let her off leash today on a quiet street during our evening walk. It's hard to keep your footing in this snowy, icy weather we have this week while she's pulling at the end of the leash. She gets so excited in the snow that she just doesn't stop! So we let her off and she seems to have excellent recall. She stayed close and came back the instant we called her. Good Epic! We didn't let her off for long, but it's good to know it's an option.

It snowed!!

Victoria got a rare snowfall and the dogs are LOVING it. Epic does this funny walk when she's excited - she keeps her front legs straight and lifts them up really high with each step - it looks like she's goose-stepping or something. Well, she's been doing it every time she goes outside since the snow started falling yesterday. We now have about a foot of snow on the ground and there is more to come.

The dogs played for a long time in the yard this morning and they both enjoyed the snow immensely. They were zooming all around, eating snow, bouncing, falling over, jumping on each other, and just having a blast!!

(For anyone reading this who doesn't live on the island, this snow is a big deal. We've lived here for four or five years and this is more snow than all the previous snow from the past four winters combined.)

sneaky sleeper

We suspect that Epic was allowed to sleep on the bed in her previous home. The first few nights she was at our place, she WOULD NOT get off the bed at bed-time or stay off when we physically pulled her down. We are five nights in now, and she knows what "off" means, and will do it. She is a fast learner! However, she sneaks back up in the early hours - what a sly dog! Although I'm a light sleeper I didn't wake up when she snuck onto the bed last night, and there she was, fast asleep, when my alarm went off. Sneaky!!

But, like everything else, she seems to be learning what is expected very quickly, and she really does want to please us.

We took her with us into the doggie daycare near our house yesterday to pick up our own dog, and she went nuts. She was bouncing off the fence that separated the entrance from the play area, her tail was going a mile a minute, and she was zooming all over the place - she really, really wanted to play! She's at that age where this behaviour will start to gradually taper off to a sane level, but she will definitely always be a super-sociable dog.

Because of the cold damp weather here lately, we've put a coat on Epic once or twice when we've gone out for walks, but I think she may not like doing her business with a coat on. We've got more cold weather coming up, so we'll test this hypothesis.

Not much to report on Sophie. It's same-old, same-old in the cat room. We're going to work on touching her whiskers until she doesn't care about it, and then we'll touch HER. (and probably get swatted the first few times.) Wish us luck.

Epic and Sophie update

Epic is settling in nicely here. There have been some potential adopters interested in her, but it ain't over til it's over. Actually, in Epic's case, she was already adopted and was given back to the rescue group just a few months later due to divorce! Hopefully the next time it will stick. She is a very endearing girl and deserves a good home.

We worked on leash manners today on our evening walk. Epic has a strong athletic build and is an enthusiastic puppy, and because of this she pulls sometimes. We played the game where I went abruptly in the opposite direction when she pulled at the end of the leash, and she caught on pretty quick. She likes to please. We'll keep working on reinforcing nice leash manners; she's just so excited by so many things at her age that she forgets herself (and the person dangling at the other end of the leash, ha ha). Her pulling is not that bad, but we'll aim to make her the perfect walker just the same.

Here's some Epic trivia: whenever she lies down, both of her back legs splay out to the sides and behind her, like a frog, instead of being tucked underneath her, like a dog. I'll try to get a picture, but whenever you look at her, she gets up to wag her tail at you! Hard to take a picture without looking, but we'll try...

At the opposite end of the social spectrum is...you guessed it, Sophie! The person who got her off the streets was over for a visit late last week and showed us a few techniques for soothing and social cat body language. We've been continuing to spend a little time with her each evening, and now with our expanded kitty 'vocabulary' we are able to put her more at ease. She will sometimes eat treats right in front of us, and she's calm enough to look out the window while we're standing next to her. She consistently lets us touch her whiskers - we get a hiss every now and again, but as our cat expert said, that's just nerves. We also have a strategy for the hissing - we move closer. This avoids positively reinforcing the hissing behaviour. If we backed away every time she showed us she was scared, she'd keep doing it and we'd make very little progress.

Epic

Peanut and Simba have been having a great time at their grand-dad's house, and I understand he will be driving them to their new home on the mainland tomorrow. Grand-dad has reported that Simba's hurt paw is healing up very well.

This past weekend we went to the airport to pick up Epic, a beautiful and interesting looking pit bull (??maybe??) mix. Sam from Bully Buddies sent her over from Vancouver for us. We tried to get her on Saturday, but the Vancouver airport didn't load her on the plane! Poor Sam was very upset. Epic wasn't; she was just having fun socializing. So we tried again on Sunday and managed to get her.

Epic is a happy go lucky, bouncy 10 month old puppy. She is a dog that really tries hard to please. She's enthusiastic and silly and just a generally content dog. She and our dog Arlo are still getting used to each other - Epic is learning not to bounce on Arlo's head and Arlo is learning that she's not that bad, and only wants to play.

She is perhaps a pit-bull, pointer cross. Somebody mentioned there might be some Great Dane in her. I can see it in her face, but the Dane size is just not there. Mark Edit: I think she's got some Dogo Argentino in her. She's an average-sized pit bull I guess. She landed in Bully Buddies for the second time in her short life recently because her owners are getting a divorce. Poor girl!

We will let you know more about her as we get to know her. She is going to be a fairly easy dog for her new owner, I suspect. She's alright being left alone and really is just happiest when she is able to please her people.

Angry Sophie is doing very well - she will eat a treat in my presence now, and I've been able to touch her wiskers without much of a reaction. More on all that later, over and out!!

Peanut and Simba

What an eventful week it has been!!

Sunday night: the dogs finally completed their journey, which had started three days ago in Kansas. In the driving rain we went to the rendezvous location and saw the entire haul of dogs. There were only four in Victoria; the other eight had been sent up to Nanaimo already. The news crew arrived before the dogs did, and Mark got stuck out in the pouring rain, in the dark, trying to hoist kennels into the back of our truck at the same time as he was being filmed and interviewed.

The dogs finally pulled in, and we got to meet Persuasion (call name is Peanut), our girl, and Iruska Simba (Simba for short), our boy.

Monday: The dogs were exhausted. They discovered our bed pretty early on but, despite their considerable height, they both had a bit of trouble actually getting their entire bodies onto the bed. It was funny to watch. Anyway, halfway through the morning the phone rings and it's the same news station that was at the pick-up on Sunday. They want to come over and do a follow-up on the dogs in a home environment. "Great!" I tell them. When? Now? NOW??! ...I think this is where I should tell you that, on that day, our tiny two bedroom apartment was sheltering one feral cat, our regular dog and rat, the two new greyhounds, me and Mark, two other (human) guests from out of town, and in the smallish living room/dining room area, are two gigantic dog crates taking up half the room. Oh, and because of all the bustle, it was a MESS. Yikes!

Anyway, we put on a brave face, cleaned like mad for twenty minutes, and when the reporter and cameraman arrived the place was almost passable. The cameraman got some shots of the dogs doing various things, and I got interviewed, and then the story apparently aired three separate times later that day (I didn't see it). As long as the greyhounds are getting publicity, I guess I can stand to have my messy hair showcased on the local news.

Tuesday: Peanut and Simba did some more recuperating from their trip, and then in the evening they came along with us to Arlo's obedience and agility classes. They did great! Everyone at class was commenting about the news story and wanted to come say hi to the greyhounds, and the dogs were curious and fairly calm and just did wonderfully. Simba learned to "stay" and Peanut, who is having trouble with stairs, did some jumping/walking over low obstacles to learn where her back legs were. They were very brave in the face of so many new experiences!

Wednesday(today): Well, Simba went calmly out into the yard for his morning pee and then walked calmy back into the house again, but there was suddenly a trail of blood behind him! He must have stepped on a sharp rock, because he sliced the pad of his foot very badly. After a quick call to the greyhound people, we were off to the emergency vet instead of going to work. Simba ended up getting stitches in his foot. He seems tired this evening, but he is so stoic - he is not limping or anything.

We got a call this evening from the father of the woman who is adopting these two cuties. She lives on the mainland and he lives here in town. He very kindly offered to take over the fostering for the rest of the week, as he is retired and can be with them for the days we would be at work. He was also very excited to meet them, as he owns two greyhounds himself. This actually works out very well - his wife is a nurse, so they will have no trouble monitoring Simba's foot, and after the weekend is over they will be driving Peanut and Simba to their daughter's house - their new forever home. Life is good.

So tomorrow morning we will drop them off at their grand-dad's house, and we might just get a minute to breathe if all goes well! After that we'll likely be getting another greyhound which was seized from a neglectful situation in the states. That may not happen for a few weeks, however. I'll post more on that once I get some details.

AND...Trinity the puppy-mill Pit Bull is still on. Maybe. We don't know when and nothing is confirmed, but I thought I'd give an update all the same.

Goodbye Demeter!

Demeter went to her new forever home yesterday, and now has another former feral kitten buddy to play with. Having another friendly kitten around will certainly help her to become a completely domesic and people-friendly cat.

We wish you and your new family the best of luck, Demeter!!

T-minus 48 hours...

We have more greyhound info! Peanut (left) and Simba (right) boarded their greyhound bus (yes, really, what did you THINK they shipped them in?) in Kansas, and after a two day, nine-state tour, we'll be seeing them on Sunday in the afternoon sometime if all goes well. Simba is said to be a "very sweet boy" and is four years old. Peanut is apparently "very calm and sweet" and is two and a half. She only ran two races at the track and came in last place both times! This is a good indication that she's one of those dogs who refuses to race. I've heard whispers that these types of dogs tend to be more frightened of men than the average greyhound...not a fact, take this with a grain of salt. Simba, on the other hand, ran 60 races!

It looks like our little rescue group is getting in 12 dogs, which is quite a lot more than I expected. The call was put out that there were many more dogs in need in the states than normal, so it looks like lots of kind people have stepped up to lend a hand.

feral update & greyhound news

We are seeing some (VERY SUBTLE) progress with Angry Sophie. She will now eat a treat when a human is near her, and yesterday when I was tossing treats to her, her ears were not in their normal defensive attack-mode position. They were upright and forward, which is much less stressed out body language than normal for her.

Demeter is still a silly kitten, only now she is apparently a silly kitten with a forever home awaiting her arrival! We are expecting them to come pick her up this weekend, but I have not heard from them yet so we'll see. Her new home already has another feral kitten, so it sounds like it will be a really good match. She's become more bouncy and wired lately - she doesn't want to be petted; she wants to stalk your hand and attack it.

There is a cubby at the top of the stairs in the cats' room where the two of them have been hanging out a lot lately. It is quite high up and I cannot reach it without standing on a chair. I'm sort of conflicted about it. Cats like high, sheltered nooks - they feel safe and in charge there. On the other hand, allowing them to always hide in their nook reduces human contact, which is something our feral girls need right now since we are trying to turn them into well-adjusted domestic cats. Hmm...I think I will ask Donna about this the next time I'm talking to her.

On the dog front, still all planning and no action. We are apparently getting two greyhounds on Sunday, a girl named "Persuasion" (her call-name is Peanut) and a boy named "Iruska Simba". Those poor greyhounds get saddled with with such silly names. It doesn't really matter though; most of them have no idea that they have a name anyway when they're fresh from the track.

And...dare I say it? Our on-again, off-again plans to foster Trinity, the Ontario puppy-mill Pit Bull, are tentatively on again. I will spare you the details until things firm up either way. Again. ;)

The Feral Girls

Tonight I got close enough to Angry Sophie, while she was in the open, to snap a picture. I used the "searching for my wallet" trick, where you just wander along looking like you're trying to find something on the ground, and 'accidentally' get really close to the feral cat instead. Poor girl. I think she likes her own room a lot better than being in the kennel, but she is just not warming up to us AT ALL. We'll continue to try, I guess. I'm told with full grown feral cats it's a much longer process than with kittens. We were also told that because Sophie had her kittens in the wild, she'll be much harder to tame up again. I'll keep you posted.

Demeter, on the other hand, is a silly kitten who likes to pounce on our hands. She's still quite a bit more skittish than a fully tame kitten would be, but we're allowed to move around a bit in the room now without her hiding immediately. She's fine when she's out with us. We are merely solidifying the relationship now - there's no question that she'll do well in a home as someone's spoiled pet kitty. She would actually be fine to be adopted into a home now - it's just that she has to go be in a kennel in the clinic in order to get adopted, and she'll almost certainly regress between homes. We'll keep working on her, with reinforcements of salmon treats and little toy mouses.

News on Asparagus: we thought he was going back to his kennel in the clinic to be adopted out, but it turns out that our greyhound contact could not resist, and has adopted him!! Yay!!! He now has a great home in the country with lots of other cat buddies (not all of them quite friends with him yet), two beautiful greyhounds to tease, and a horse to stare in wonder at. We were thrilled to hear about this development. :)

Anyway, on the dog front: our on-again, off-again plans with Trinity the puppy mill Pit Bull from Ontario are off again. Seems that there is a home on the mainland that wants to foster-to-adopt her, so that is certainly where she should go! With any luck we will get a happy update on that front in a week or two. It would be nice to see her adopted quickly. Kirsta of Hugabull has posted a short note to let us know that Bambi, who I was so worried about in the Duncan SPCA, has finally found a foster home! We are quite relieved about that.

The greyhounds are coming soon! We don't know who we will be getting yet, but it will probably be a short-term dog as there are lots of applications in. I love it when the greyhounds come.