Dace
Revolution in Progress
That is a wonderful story! What a blessing you are to those animals that you help 
Savingdogs-Saving the chickens
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ohiofarmgirl
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yay! i think i love your twinkle most of all!
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savingdogs
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Well, whenever I say goodbye, I always whisper "see you in Heaven" in the dog's ear.
Now, I'm not presuming that I get to go there....just hoping....
But I'm pretty sure those dogs go there. I once read a rescuer's fantasy story that all the dogs they rescued would meet them at the pearly gates and be in awe that their rescuer was arriving. While I'm not looking forward to dying, I would sure like to see them all again!
Now, I'm not presuming that I get to go there....just hoping....
But I'm pretty sure those dogs go there. I once read a rescuer's fantasy story that all the dogs they rescued would meet them at the pearly gates and be in awe that their rescuer was arriving. While I'm not looking forward to dying, I would sure like to see them all again!
ohiofarmgirl
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oh GREAT! just make me burst right into tears!!!!
where are the tissues! golly...
and yes i'm all weepy today b/c i was so worked up about Kai getting her shots. she is fine but i need therapy!
she's 47 pounds already! at 4 months! they all loved her and she was very very well behaved.
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savingdogs
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Of course they loved her. Most people have just barely begun teaching their dog "sit" by four months and as far as good behavior goes, it is just wishful thinking at that age for most puppies.
framing fowl
On a mission
Wow! I read this yesterday and couldn't even say anything because what do you say to something that special... plus I was crying and couldn't see the keyboard. Hope you have a great day!- Thread starter
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savingdogs
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Well I'm glad you guys liked that one, but I didn't mean to make you cry. That story had a happy ending! I suppose Saffire's fear and abuse is pretty sad.
One funny thing I can add about this story....when we first started fostering Bandit, she physically reminded Hubby of Saffire. The ice blue eyes, black with white ticking and an aloof nature. Hubby kept mistakenly calling Bandit "Saffire".......which he meant as a quasi-insult. He also called Bandit "the pointy-nosed dog." Now I call her those names to tease Hubby, who did not appreciate a good dog at first like I did. He appreciates her too, but you have to give him a break, after this many fosters, you do get them mixed up.
He and I have been together so long doing this, we have named different animal traits and breeds by what dog foster they resemble. Freaked out dogs afraid of men are "Saffires", just like boxer mixes with a spot over the eye are "Moxies". Naked dogs are "Tobys"......
Any Saint Bernard fans? I have a story about one of those if you guys are interested.
No big plans today except it is supposed to be the only day without rain for a week! I hope to clean me out some animal cages and pens today.
One funny thing I can add about this story....when we first started fostering Bandit, she physically reminded Hubby of Saffire. The ice blue eyes, black with white ticking and an aloof nature. Hubby kept mistakenly calling Bandit "Saffire".......which he meant as a quasi-insult. He also called Bandit "the pointy-nosed dog." Now I call her those names to tease Hubby, who did not appreciate a good dog at first like I did. He appreciates her too, but you have to give him a break, after this many fosters, you do get them mixed up.
He and I have been together so long doing this, we have named different animal traits and breeds by what dog foster they resemble. Freaked out dogs afraid of men are "Saffires", just like boxer mixes with a spot over the eye are "Moxies". Naked dogs are "Tobys"......
Any Saint Bernard fans? I have a story about one of those if you guys are interested.
No big plans today except it is supposed to be the only day without rain for a week! I hope to clean me out some animal cages and pens today.
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savingdogs
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The Story of Boo
Boo was the first dog. Not our first foster. Our inspiration to foster. I'm warning you guys ahead, this one is a sad story.
I told you Sheena's story, but she was not our first Ridgeback, Boo was. Before we started fostering, we were inspired to start doing so because of Boo. Perhaps this will explain why going back to fostering ridgebacks is like coming home. I do have some pictures of him I could scan in here.
Boo was a big, big BIG dog. Think great dane size. Now that I know dog breeds better, I think he was Anatolean and Ridgeback. Whoever bred that, it wasn't a good idea. He was long and lean like a ridgie but colored like an Anatolean. He had that protective aloofness of the Anatolean blending another overprotective breed in there, with a more fiery temperment, was not an improved blend.
Like Saffire, something had happened to Boo and a man did it, too. We first heard about him on a website......for people looking to adopt ridgebacks. So he was a little scared? Most people wanted a purebred, but we had always loved our mutts, so a 1/2 ridgeback appealed to us, and after a screening process (which we actually enjoyed), we got to meet Boo and a lot of rescue people we liked.
Boo was brought to our house by his foster mom, Holly. She was actually the person who inspired us to rescue. She had driven across half a state to pick him up from a humane society. He was a wreck! She nursed him through his initial weeks of learning to live in a house. He was terrified of people!
After an interval, they found us. Holly drove halfway across another state to come to our house. Despite his fear issues, we were willing to take Boo on (remember dogs always love Hubby?), so we adopted Boo.
Boo immediately fell in love, but not with Hubby who so dearly wanted a Rhodesian ridgeback. Boo loved me. I worked from home at the time, so he never had to be parted from me. He was so huge no one would even come NEAR me, especially with his unfriendly looks. He would bark and lunge at people as well. Obedience training began.
Boo fit in great with our family and was a perfect dog.....with us. With strangers, he was a bad boy. He would bark, act scary, and take lots of work each and every time people would come over. For the first year, we worked and worked with him. He made strides.
We started fostering......he was a great dog brother! We had a second dog at the time and the two of them were great friends for our first fosters. Boo continued to be attached to me at the hip and not really care for Hubby, but he tolerated him, loved him in his way. We started to note that Boo was irrationally protective whenever someone was afraid of dogs....you know the kind of person....never been around dogs and turns stiff as a board when they see them. Boo HATED those people
One of them was a neighbor child, a young girl. He would always try to nip her or keep her from coming into the yard. I started keeping him locked up for fear he would bite someone. BIG MISTAKE. Never do that. But I was new at dog rehab and I did what I thought would work. He just grew more territorial being locked up.
As months went by, Boo got worse, despite working with a dog trainer. Finally, one day, when he had been let out into the yard by my younger son, he bit the scared neighbor girl that he had never liked. He knocked her down and bit right into her belly. It terrified everyone, the children were all screaming. I had been in the bathroom!
I had to come out and command him to stop, which of course he did, he did whatever I said, just when I wasn't around he got into his issues.
I told Hubby he could not live with us anymore. But we could not place him anywhere. For one, he bit people. For two, he was so bonded to me, that it would have been cruel. No one could safely house a dog like him.
So.....we put Boo down. Now....you guys can cry over my story. It was awful. Hubby took him....I could not go. I should have gone. He loved me. Boo was a hard lesson.
But a dog rescuer has things they have to learn. NOT ALL DOGS ARE CREATED EQUAL. It isn't like people. They don't have equal rights. Some cannot be fixed. And a dog that would attack innocents are NEVER worth it. Some abuse and some fears cannot be overcome and you have to recognize when a dog crosses over that line, or you cannot be objective in rescuing dogs. There is a responsibility to the public and to dogdom, as well as respect for the individual life of the dog and the breeds he represents. It made it easier for me, down the road, when I had to euthanize some pit bulls, that I had learned this lesson in my own home with my own dog, and it made me more compassionate with others who I have met that had to kill their own dog like I did, because it was dangerous.
But I think Boo would still be proud of his strange, twisted life. Our little friend grew up okay after the incident, by the way. But Boo made us rescue 358 dogs......so far......and the fact that he died did not deter us, it made us feel more strongly that we were doing exactly what we were supposed to be doing. Not sure why, because he was not a success story. I guess because we knew we had learned a lot with him, things that we needed to know, and his love for me created the need to do something in his honor with that knowledge.
We have now gone back to fostering for the same group that we adopted Boo and Sheena from.
Okay, I promise I'll think of a happier one next time.
Boo was the first dog. Not our first foster. Our inspiration to foster. I'm warning you guys ahead, this one is a sad story.
I told you Sheena's story, but she was not our first Ridgeback, Boo was. Before we started fostering, we were inspired to start doing so because of Boo. Perhaps this will explain why going back to fostering ridgebacks is like coming home. I do have some pictures of him I could scan in here.
Boo was a big, big BIG dog. Think great dane size. Now that I know dog breeds better, I think he was Anatolean and Ridgeback. Whoever bred that, it wasn't a good idea. He was long and lean like a ridgie but colored like an Anatolean. He had that protective aloofness of the Anatolean blending another overprotective breed in there, with a more fiery temperment, was not an improved blend.
Like Saffire, something had happened to Boo and a man did it, too. We first heard about him on a website......for people looking to adopt ridgebacks. So he was a little scared? Most people wanted a purebred, but we had always loved our mutts, so a 1/2 ridgeback appealed to us, and after a screening process (which we actually enjoyed), we got to meet Boo and a lot of rescue people we liked.
Boo was brought to our house by his foster mom, Holly. She was actually the person who inspired us to rescue. She had driven across half a state to pick him up from a humane society. He was a wreck! She nursed him through his initial weeks of learning to live in a house. He was terrified of people!
After an interval, they found us. Holly drove halfway across another state to come to our house. Despite his fear issues, we were willing to take Boo on (remember dogs always love Hubby?), so we adopted Boo.
Boo immediately fell in love, but not with Hubby who so dearly wanted a Rhodesian ridgeback. Boo loved me. I worked from home at the time, so he never had to be parted from me. He was so huge no one would even come NEAR me, especially with his unfriendly looks. He would bark and lunge at people as well. Obedience training began.
Boo fit in great with our family and was a perfect dog.....with us. With strangers, he was a bad boy. He would bark, act scary, and take lots of work each and every time people would come over. For the first year, we worked and worked with him. He made strides.
We started fostering......he was a great dog brother! We had a second dog at the time and the two of them were great friends for our first fosters. Boo continued to be attached to me at the hip and not really care for Hubby, but he tolerated him, loved him in his way. We started to note that Boo was irrationally protective whenever someone was afraid of dogs....you know the kind of person....never been around dogs and turns stiff as a board when they see them. Boo HATED those people
One of them was a neighbor child, a young girl. He would always try to nip her or keep her from coming into the yard. I started keeping him locked up for fear he would bite someone. BIG MISTAKE. Never do that. But I was new at dog rehab and I did what I thought would work. He just grew more territorial being locked up.
As months went by, Boo got worse, despite working with a dog trainer. Finally, one day, when he had been let out into the yard by my younger son, he bit the scared neighbor girl that he had never liked. He knocked her down and bit right into her belly. It terrified everyone, the children were all screaming. I had been in the bathroom!
I had to come out and command him to stop, which of course he did, he did whatever I said, just when I wasn't around he got into his issues.
I told Hubby he could not live with us anymore. But we could not place him anywhere. For one, he bit people. For two, he was so bonded to me, that it would have been cruel. No one could safely house a dog like him.
So.....we put Boo down. Now....you guys can cry over my story. It was awful. Hubby took him....I could not go. I should have gone. He loved me. Boo was a hard lesson.
But a dog rescuer has things they have to learn. NOT ALL DOGS ARE CREATED EQUAL. It isn't like people. They don't have equal rights. Some cannot be fixed. And a dog that would attack innocents are NEVER worth it. Some abuse and some fears cannot be overcome and you have to recognize when a dog crosses over that line, or you cannot be objective in rescuing dogs. There is a responsibility to the public and to dogdom, as well as respect for the individual life of the dog and the breeds he represents. It made it easier for me, down the road, when I had to euthanize some pit bulls, that I had learned this lesson in my own home with my own dog, and it made me more compassionate with others who I have met that had to kill their own dog like I did, because it was dangerous.
But I think Boo would still be proud of his strange, twisted life. Our little friend grew up okay after the incident, by the way. But Boo made us rescue 358 dogs......so far......and the fact that he died did not deter us, it made us feel more strongly that we were doing exactly what we were supposed to be doing. Not sure why, because he was not a success story. I guess because we knew we had learned a lot with him, things that we needed to know, and his love for me created the need to do something in his honor with that knowledge.
We have now gone back to fostering for the same group that we adopted Boo and Sheena from.
Okay, I promise I'll think of a happier one next time.
ksalvagno
Almost Self-Reliant
Those are great stories. Sometimes the kindest thing we can do is have them put down. You gave Boo a loving life at the end so the dog was well loved. I also believe in letting go when you need to.
ohiofarmgirl
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i liked your story and thought it was inspirational! i've always thought you were very brave and this shows it. you made the hard choice - which was best for everyone.
and i liked that you said this:
They don't have equal rights.
sometimes i get accused of not being 'fair' to the dogs.. but dogs dont have 'fair' - they have the hierarchy and following the leader. knowing this helps me understand them better.
and i liked that you said this:
They don't have equal rights.
sometimes i get accused of not being 'fair' to the dogs.. but dogs dont have 'fair' - they have the hierarchy and following the leader. knowing this helps me understand them better.
