The Humane Society fosters

As I wrote in my last post, I had shoulder surgery in October. That meant 6 weeks in a sling at home and another 6 weeks doing "light duty" at the hospital where I am a surgical RN.

I thought I might as well foster two dogs from the Humane Society and try to find them homes. My friend, Gail, who is the Director of the Humane Society in Northern MN, brought me an old RottweilerX and a Boxer X. The Rottie X was supposed to be a hospice dog, not one who was going to another home, but one that just needed a nice place for his final days and some love.

It turned out that he was a terror to blind therapy dog Rocket. He wouldn't allow Rocket to pass by him without snapping. Of course, to be truthful, Rocket would sometimes step on him because, he is blind, but my other dogs seemed to understand this and have always moved for him.

Rain, the year old Boxer mix, was even worse with Rocket. She attacked him without provocation at time of the day or night. I couldn't even turn my back on them.

I resorted to locking Sarah and Rocket inside the house and the foster dogs in the heated garage with access to outside.

That was until the day Sarah was sleeping next to me on my recliner, and Rain was sleeping on my legs. Suddenly Rain growled and snapped at Sarah, and my immediate reaction was to push Rain off my lap. Since my right shoulder/arm was in a sling, I used my left hand.

My fast action enabled me to put it right into Sarah's mouth as she was returning the bite to Rain. It hurt like holy hell. I threw Rain off the chair and rocked back and forth with pain. Sarah nailed a vein on my hand, and it was pretty bloody, too. That was a Thursday night.

By Friday, my hand was so swollen I could not close it. I had called one of the surgeons for an antibiotic to take, but it wasn't enough. I had to go to the Emergency Room and have IV antibiotics for 3 days. My daughter had to come out to take care of me. She got on the phone and told Gail to come get Rain that very weekend. So, back to the shelter went Rain.

In the meantime, I still had the Rottie X who was still tormenting Rocket. It got so bad that Rocket would stand in the center of a room he wanted to leave and bark, until I went to him as his escort.

I was feeling the stress in my house. Knowing the peace and quiet I had before the foster dogs came, I yearned to have that back, and to have Rocket feel comfortable in his own home again. Again, I asked Gail to take the Rottie X back, who, BTW, was in much better shape for a dog that was considered "hospice only", not adoptable, than Sarah.

So, it was just Sarah and Rocket and I. Peace, at last. It took quite some time for Rocket to over his fear of moving from room to room. Now, if he barks for me to escort him, I ignore him, and he gives up and walks into the next room.

You may remember I had three Boxers. The third one was Roscoe, my sweet alpha boy, who was surrendered to me in 2004. The woman who surrendered him to my Boxer rescue had never lost touch with me. She stopped by often with treats and just to see her boy.

In the three years, she had remarried and was living with her new husband and 8 year old son from her first marriage. She contacted me to adopt another Boxer, but I never found the right one that I felt would be safe with both the little boy and the older female hunting dog who belonged to her husband. So many rescues have food issues, and I am reluctant to place them with children and other dogs.

At the time of my surgery, I knew I would need help with Roscoe. He is so high energy. I called the woman, Ayanna is her name, and asked if she would take him for two weeks.

But the day I saw their reunion, even though she has been to visit, my heart broke. Roscoe loves her so much, and she was in tears. I said, bravely, "If this works out, do you want to keep him?"

So, that's how Roscoe came to leave me. It wasn't that I didn't love him with all my heart, it's just that it felt like the right thing to do. How many rescues would give back a dog that has been placed for three years? Of course, the difference is, that I never let Roscoe go.

Just before New Year's, she and her new family came to visit so Roscoe could say goodbye to Sarah. Sarah was euthanized January 2nd.

Knowing I would soon be down to only one dog, Rocket, and that he needs a seeing eye dog of his own, my daughter offered to return a 6 year old brindle Boxer named Shelly I more or less forced her to adopt last February.

Shelly came through my rescue, surrendered because of divorce, and I recognized she should be kept in our family because she was so wonderful. My daughter only had one dog at the time, an Am Staff/Lab with a huge chest and head, named Vienna or Nina as we call her. She was also a rescue of mine, and I kept her until 5 years ago when my daughter's Boxer died, then gave her Vienna. She is the most intelligent dog I have ever known (maybe) but she is also dog aggressive.

Knowing I wanted my daughter to take Shelly, we did a very slow introduction between Shelly and Nina. We wanted to make sure Nina did not attack Shelly. As it turns out, Shelly is a submissive female and they became dear pack mates.

However, my son-in-law is not so fond of dogs, and he felt two dogs was one too many. My daughter took the opportunity to offer Shelly back to me, with Roscoe gone to his former Mom, and Sarah scheduled for euthanasis.

Shelly has been a wonderful girl. She made the transition effortlessly, as my daughter always brought her dogs to visit with my granddaughter. I got her the Saturday before Christmas, so I had time to get to reacquaint myself with her before I let Sarah cross the Bridge.

Shelly has been a wonderful addition. She is young and not crippled and loves to run and play. She plays with Rocket, even though he is blind and it is not easy for him to play in the usual dog way. When Rocket relapses and stands at the bottom of the stairs barking for an escort, I will say, "Shelly, go get Rocket!" and off she goes to round him up and bring him upstairs. I don't know if she really does "herd" him, but just the fact that a friendly dog is there with him reassures him that the Rottie X is not around the corner waiting to snap at him.

Rocket has truly blossomed since he is the alpha male. He searches for his favorite toys and brings them to me. Before, when I enticed him to play tug of war, Roscoe always came to take the toy and play with me. So, Rocket got used to just giving it up when Roscoe approached, even though Roscoe sometimes took toys to Rocket and asked him to play.

And, Shelly is my new glue dog.

I don't know how all of you feel about replacing a dog (like Sarah) right away, even before she dies, but I strongly recommend it for a broken heart. It's true, the new dog is not the old one. I find myself wanting Shelly to do the same things as Sarah did, and she doesn't, but it's okay. I will learn to love the way Shelly does things, and grow to expect those behaviors of her.

So, although my grief over Sarah is still being worn on my sleeve (an old tradition of wearing black on one's sleeve for 30 days after a death), we are quickly adapting, Shelly, Rocket and I. There is no stress.

I believe I learned a lesson about the foster dogs, and I will never put my blind dog through that experience again.

BTW, my daughter and I knew how important it was not to let the Rottie X meet Vienna (her Am Staff X). He was clearly too aggressive. We kept the Rottie kenneled when my daughter and Vienna and my granddaughter came to visit, and then made sure Vienna was inside the house when we let the Rottie X outside to potty.

Of course, one day, my 6 year old granddaughter opened the door while her Mother was out with the Rottie and Vienna was inside, and out goes Vienna. The fight that followed sounded like murder. My daughter and I were able to get Vienna off the old Rottie, and I quickly put him inside my Jeep, where I could check him for wounds. As it turned out, neither dog was hurt, it was all sound and fury.

Just a reminder that children, even when they are instructed not to do something, may not understand the importance of what it is they are not to do!!! We were lucky that day.

Well, time to go back to sleep. I think I started writing this about 3 a.m. and now it is after 4 a.m. The dogs will want breakfast at 5 a.m., then I can return to bed and catch up on my sleep. I do not sleep well anymore, it seems.

Love to all of you dear dog friends, Diana Lynn of Sunrise River Boxers in Stacy, MN (where we are scheduled to have several days of below O degree weather, and that's Farenheit!!)

Thanks for the update on Rocket, it's hard to know how dogs will interact with each other, I wish you, Shelley, and Rocket a peaceful and happy time together.

Thanks for taking the time to update us , I hope you all have a lovely peaceful time together , xxdk