Dobrý deň, chceli sme sa podeliť o to, aké to je snažiť sa rozhodnúť, či by ste mali oficiálne adoptovať svojho pestúnskeho psa!
Nie je to vždy zjavná voľba, takže presne vieme, čo prechádzate, ak máte momentálne pestúnske šteniatko.
Po prvé, Lindsay píše o snahe rozhodnúť sa, či si osvojí pestúnskeho psa Lana. Potom Barbara píše o tom, prečo sa rozhodla adoptovať svoje pestúnske šteniatko, Pablo (teraz sa volá Wally West!).
Nakoniec sa snažíme odpovedať na niekoľko bežných otázok, ktoré vám pomôžu urobiť správne rozhodnutie so svojím vlastným pestúnskym psom.
Mám si adoptovať svojho pestúnskeho psa?
Lindsay tu!
To nikoho neprekvapí, ale s manželom Joshom a ja by sme sa pýtali, či by sme mali adoptovať nášho pestúnskeho psa Lana (Robin).
Prechádzali sme sa tam a späť, odkedy prišla s nami pred dvoma týždňami.
Tu je dôvod: nemôžem myslieť na lepšieho druhého psa pre nás.
Ak nebudeme adoptovať Lanu, nebude to kvôli nej. Je to preto, že ešte nemusíme byť pripravení na dvoch stálych psov.
Myslíte si, že by to bola ľahká voľba, ale je to veľmi ťažké! Milujem lanu, ale nie som si istý, či sme celkom pripravení na dvoch psov.
Nehľadám radu, či by sme sa mali prijať. Je to rozhodnutie, ktoré Josh a ja (a náš psí eso) musíme urobiť pre seba.
Napriek tomu som zvedavý, ako sa vy ostatní rozhodli, či si osvojíte svojich pestúnskych psov alebo mačky. Dajte mi vedieť v komentároch.
Všimnite si, že určite nie som ten, kto by sa normálne pripojil k svojim pestúnskym zvieratám.
Podporoval som asi 14 psov a 4 mačky a typický text, ktorý posielam Joshovi, keď zistím, že jeden z nich je adoptovaný, je niečo ako:
“Barkley sa adoptoval !!” vďaka Bohu!!”
A potom reaguje niečo ako: „Woooo!“
A potom prasknem otvorenie piva na oslavu.
Samozrejme, milujem svoje pestúnske zvieratá, ale väčšina z nich je veľmi stresujúca.
Pestovité psy sú veľa práce!
Podpora je zvyčajne veľa práce a Lana nie je výnimkou.
Každé ráno ma prebúdza o 5:00 ráno, vykňkuje a to ma naštve.
Ona všetka pozornosť od Ace, ktorú považujem za mimoriadne frustrujúce.
Kňučí a je príliš nadšená, keď prechádzame prechádzkami iných psov a uvedomujem si, že je agresívna vodítka.
Ďaleko od dokonalosti. V skutočnosti je to skutočne spratok. Ale stále ju milujeme. Je taká roztomilá!
Čoskoro sa o ňu prihláste niekto! „
Aktualizácia 2020: Nakoniec sme našli perfektný domov pre Lanu, veľmi atletickú, nedávno odišla pár, ktorý ju prijal. Žijú na ranči v južnej Kalifornii a sú veľmi aktívne so svojimi zvieratami každý deň. Lana je tak šťastná so svojou novou rodinou a nakoniec sme dostali šteniatko Weimaraner, Remy.
Teraz sa Barbara podelí o svoj príbeh o jej pestúnskom šteňa, Wally.
„Foster Fail:“ Prečo som sa rozhodol adoptovať svojho pestúnskeho psa
Ahoj, Barbara tu! Pravidelne píšem pre tú mutt. Som tiež blogerom na K9S cez kávu a pestúnske zlyhanie! Takto sa to stalo.
Svoje teraz som podporoval svoje šteniatko presne mesiac predtým, ako som sa ho rozhodol adoptovať sám. To bolo v januári 2019.
V apríli 2018 som stratil svoje predchádzajúce šteniatko, boxer Mix, na rakovinu. Niekoľko mesiacov pred tým sa jej brat Buzz presťahoval so svojím bývalým, takže som odišiel z dvoch šteniat v dome na žiadne.
Ten pocit, že sa vrátime domov do prázdneho domu. V skutočnosti to už vôbec necítilo prísť domov. Domov bol vždy tam, kde boli moji psi, a zrazu môj domov nebol nič iné ako prázdna budova.
Aj keď som naozaj chcel mať opäť spoločníka psíka, jednoducho som sa nemohol prinútiť, aby som vytiahol spúšť, keď som našiel nového chlpatého priateľa.
Viem, že to znie hlúpo, ale bolo to, akoby som podvádzal Missy a Buzz. Občas som sledoval malé šteniatka priateľa u mňa, ale nebolo to to isté ako byť s mojimi vlastnými psami.
Ako som sa v prvom rade stal pestúnkou
O 8 mesiacov neskôr, v decembri 2018, som sa konečne rozhodol, že som pripravený prehliadať obrázky adoptovateľných šteniat na petfinder.com.
Pekné ženské šteniatko, Delilah, ma upútala. Bola to väčšia čiernobiela mutt. Keď som sa o ňu začal pýtať, záchranná organizácia mi povedala, že ju podporuje rodina.
Dlhý príbeh, podal som žiadosť spolu s virtuálnou prehliadkou môjho domu a viacerými odkazmi.
Akonáhle bol schválený, išiel som do domu rodiny a stretol som Delilah. Bola to skutočná miláčik a jej pestúnska mama a ja som ju vzal na prechádzku, aby som ju mohol zažiť na vodítku. Bola skvelá!
I would have been able to take her home with me right then and there, except that I had already made plans to go to the beach for a few days over new Year’s with a friend.
Prenajali sme si plážový dom, ktorý nedovolil psom, takže by som nemohol vziať Delilaha spolu so sebou na túto cestu.I asked the rescue if they would hold Delilah for a week until I got back from my trip. To my surprise, they weren’t willing to do that and explained that dogs were being adopted on a first come, first serve basis. fair enough.
One week later, Delilah had been adopted by a different family!
I was disappointed of course, but then a few days later the rescue lady asked me if I’d be willing to foster a dog who’d just been returned after having been adopted a month before. I felt bad for the pup and said yes.
Enter Wally, the Feist Dog
That’s how Wally entered my life and turned me into a foster mom, except back then his name was still Pablo. Pablo-Wally was a 38 lb Feist mix.
If you’ve never heard about that breed, you can read more about it in that Mutt’s article What is a Feist Dog?
Feist mix Wally and Barbara
Pablo-Wally moved in with me in early January. one of the advantages of fostering a dog is that the rescue organization covers all food and medical costs. All I had to provide was TLC and a safe place.
Stressful first few days
The first few days with Pablo-Wally were stressful as we didn’t know each another yet. He didn’t know what I expected of him and vice versa.
So, Pablo-Wally was stressed out the first few days of our new living situation. He showed me just how stressed he was when he decided to lift his leg on the back of my beautiful midcentury sectional. niekoľko krát. GULP!
I thought about it and then came to the conclusion that this had to be stress-related on his part and therefore temporary. However, the behavior itself had to be fixed right away.
So I went ahead and wrapped a doggie diaper around him in a first quick-solution attempt. That worked right away and his leg stayed down.
Another path I took was to leash him inside the house when he wasn’t wearing his diaper and either attach the leash to me or some nearby furniture, e.g. the fridge when I was cooking in the kitchen. When I wasn’t home, I crated him, but never for any longer than 4 hours.
The rescue lady also suggested to give him a few of those relaxation pills that he came with. I think it was Alprazolam, but I’m not entirely sure of the name anymore.
Those combined attempts worked out nicely and he soon stopped wanting to mark inside the house.
Do I really want to keep fostering this pup?!
I’ll be honest and say that that very question popped into my mind when I made the mistake of comparing Pablo-Wally to my late pup Missy.
After all, Missy had never peed on my furniture. She also never did any of his other “interesting” behavior! read on for a few more GULP moments!
The bed destruction
For example, Pablo-Wally had no clue what to do with a doggie bed. ČO?! I still had Missy’s plush round bed, so I was willing to pass it on to him. Technically, she had always been a little too big for it, but she had loved curling up in it.
Pablo-Wally first preferred to lie down next to it. He finally agreed to walk into it when I put a tasty treat in there.
He then figured out fairly quickly that this was a pretty comfy space to be in.
However, just a few days into our foster adventure, he also figured out that it was super fun to bite right into the plush raised rim and pull the stuffing out. GULP! Missy had never done that!!
Pablo-Wally lounging in Missy’s old bed, before he decided to rip it apart!The “anything-plush” destruction
Clearly I also didn’t know that he had a thing for destroying anything plush, regardless of size, shape, and purpose. He destroyed that bed followed by countless plush toys and anything else that was plush, regardless of whether it was a doggie thing or not.
The expensive toy-kidnapping phase
The first few times I took him along into pet retail stores, he managed to “kidnap” plush toys we walked by and then refused to let go.
I ended up having to pay for them, and Pablo-Wally proudly trotted out of the store, tightly holding on to his precious “prey” which was promptly destroyed thereafter. GULP yet again. Missy had also never done that!!
By the way, he’s gotten a lot better at controlling his impulse to simply steal plush toys when we’re out shopping, but he’s still drawn to them. The moment I don’t pay attention, he’ll still grab one. except that now, he allows me to take it out of his mouth.
The itchy skin phase
Pablo-Wally came to me as one itchy pup. I immediately made the connection between his itchy skin and the poor quality dry dog food he was eating.
I have to interject that I’ve been feeding raw dog food since 2015. over the years I’ve come to majorly appreciate one of the benefits of feeding raw, which is the healthy dog skin aspect.
That translates into no itchy spots and no biting/licking/scratching at the skin. and that’s exactly what Pablo-Wally did at nighttime. Every 45 minutes or so I’d hear him lift up his head followed by “scratch, scratch, scratch” and “lick, lick, lick”. UGH! So annoying and it really messed with my sleep!
I remember immediately adding a raw egg to his dry dog food the next morning after scratchy/itchy night one, followed by emailing the rescue lady and asked for permission to change his diet to raw dog food.
Technically she was on board with a healthier diet, but she asked me to choose a food that would be easy to implement by his next adopter.
Translation: No raw dog food, but dehydrated raw dog food would be fine. HOTOVÝ! I went and got some dehydrated The honest Kitchen‘s Grain-Free Beef which helped A LOT. It didn’t eliminate his scratching and licking sessions 100%, but like I said, it got less intense.
When I thought about how different Wally was from Missy, I made the following mental list of Wally’s shortcomings:
Feist mix. Missy was a Boxer mix.
Marks on furniture. Missy never did.
Destroys dog beds and toys. Missy only destroyed plush dog toys when she was a puppy.
Steals plush dog toys from pet retail stores. Missy never did.
Has itchy skin. Missy didn’t – but then again, she was also raw-fed.
Doesn’t like water/swimming. Missy loved both!
Why I shouldn’t compare Pablo-Wally to my late pup Missy
And then it dawned on me. I adopted Missy (along with Buzz) when she was 8 weeks old. As a puppy. That meant that I was there to teach her what I wanted in a pup right from the get-go.
Wally didn’t have that advantage. He didn’t have the luxury of a permanent home with loving humans who gently guided him through puppyhood. Instead, he had been at 4 (!) different homes within the first year of his life. My house was home number 5!
No wonder he was confused and acted up! It was also unfair to compare his physical looks to those of Missy. After all, they were both completely different dogs and it obviously wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t part Boxer.
Once I realized that, my mission was clear. I had to jump over my shadow and give Pablo-Wally the good puppy life he deserved, meaning:
No more changing homes, but one forever home
Regular exercise to fulfill him mentally and physically
Real food over processed dry dog food
Lots of TLC
I came to this realization suddenly, about 4 weeks into our fostering adventure. When I emailed the rescue lady to let her know that I’d like to adopt Pablo-Wally myself, she immediately agreed!
That very evening, Pablo-Wally and I went on a little car ride to buy a doggie backpack for him. I wanted him to have one right then and there, and he’s been loving it ever since!
Wally trying on his new backpack at a pet store in Cary, NC
Will my foster dog think I abandoned him?
Honestly, I think that the answer to this question is usually a big fat “NO”. That’s because dogs are able to adapt to different living situations.
However, it’s one of the questions I asked myself when I weighed the pros and cons of adopting Wally. After all, he had already been at 5 different homes, mine included. I’ll admit that because of that fact, it carried some tremendous weight in my decision-making process.
Ultimately, it was also my main motivator in adopting Wally myself. I really didn’t want him to continue to be passed on from one house to the next. I had a hunch that his itchy skin and his working dog bac
