[InkedMarie]

Gemma has been here 3 weeks tomorrow (she’s a 9.5yr old sheltie) and this past week, she has finally come around. I’m pretty sure the foster person told us what we wanted to hear. I have a feeling, from how she acts, that she was either an outside dog or spent a great deal of time in a crate, or both. If anyone remembers, she had her remaining teeth removed a few days before we got her. I am pretty safe to say she wasn’t well cared for in her last home and I don’t think in her foster home either (she was there for two months or so). They claimed she loved kids, loved other dogs, was housebroken, etc. She IS great with kids, she lights up when one of my grandaughters walks in. Other dogs? Wants nothing to do with them. When we went to meet her & Mitch, the other available sheltie, they didn’t interract with each other and we were told they lived together. Housebroken? Nope. I realize dogs have accidents in new homes but just by some things she’s done, I don’t think she was ever truly housebroken. We don’t care, we have all hardwood but she’s doing much better, no accidents this week.
I don’t think she was ever allowed on laps. We pick her up because she doesn’t seem able to jump up on the chairs….her hips are a bit arthritic and her front legs look kind of “bull doggy”, if you know what I mean. We’ll bring that up at the holistic vet appointment she has in a week. So, we put her on our laps and for the first week or more, she sat up, uneasy. Slowly, she started laying down, then finally sleeping on us. I think she finally realized she is home and safe with us.
Eating is fine. We had an issue last week, can’t remember if I mentioned it here but she couldn’t poop. I don’t know if it was the food (Grandma Lucys at that time), the raw (Darwins) or what. She ended up at the vets and needed an enema. The day after this happened, I saw her put stones in her mouth (we have stones, 1/2″, in our kennel). We now have astroturf stuff over the stones, no more stones for her! I was told that Bravo has smaller bone pieces than Darwins so I will be starting her on that next week and we changed from the chunky Grandma Lucys to The Honest Kitchen.
A little interesting thing: I was scrolling thru FB last week, saw someone I know with a sheltie. Had to ask about the dog. Long story short, the dog is Mitch, the other available dog we met, with a new name. The foster home is over an hour away yet the adopter of Jamie aka Mitch lives five minutes away! They are supposed to come and visit tomorrow but since we’re having a blizzard, I don’t know if that’ll happen.
Anyway, thats my update.

[Melissaandcrew]

Sounds like Gemma is acclimating to the new home nicely!It doesn’t sound like the foster home really was clear on communications. Its unfortunate, but some people say “good with other dogs” simply because she doesn’t fight with them. To me, “good with other dogs or likes” other dogs means they interact with them and look forward to the interaction.

I don’t think foster homes try to lie(I hope they don’t) but sometimes adopters have to scratch below the surface and question things. For example, my dogs are housebroken. What that sentence doesn’t clarify is that I am never gone longer than 4 hrs from here and hubby and I both work from home-so the dogs have as much access as they need to go out. Would they be housebroken in another home with a different schedule? Not sure : ) Then there is just the reality that some dogs do not do well in certain foster homes, and the worse reality that not all foster homes are created equal. Either way, I am thrilled to hear that you have her and did not give up easily. And even better news is that Mitch is just around the corner!!

[pugmomsandy]

Glad Gemma’s found a good home!! My first adopted pug use to bring rocks to the back porch! Never ate them, but just wanted to start piles of rocks!!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Well it sounds like Gemma lucked out and found a wonderful family to live out her golden years with. 🙂

[InkedMarie]

Thanks ladies! Melissa, the foster home was pretty disgusting. Too many dogs (she’s a “breeder” as well), has a bunch of cats and the place smelled horrible. I laid down on the carpet to get closer to Mitch and I got wet from cold urine.

You may be right about the good with other dogs thing. Apparently, Gemma & Mitch lived together but you wouldn’t know it from seeing them together.

It doesn’t matter, she’s home now!

[Melissaandcrew]

Oh yuck! I think the description of ” too many dogs” is subjective-for some people 1 may be “too many” and for others “8” etc. However, I just don’t get how people can not identify odor in their homes and do something to rectify it. I would be horrified to walk through my front door and smell an odor-and then would spend the next however many hours it took to locate the source!! When a home smells like urine, the owner is either a lazy slob or they are in over their heads. Homes do not smell simply based upon how many pets are in it-they smell because the owner fails to clean up or remove the offending source of the issue. Either way, if the person is a foster for an actual rescue, someone needs to mention it to the rescue. Often times the heads of the program get swamped and do not have the time to visit(on a regular basis) each and every foster home-if the dogs look good/clean at clinics, they assume all is well.

Anyway, Gemma I’m sure, is now set up to live the life of a queen with parents who care and its all green pastures for her from here on out.

[InkedMarie]

Melissa: three 4mos old doxies, a litter of 4 week old doxies, two senior doxies (who had nothing to do with the litters so somewhere was at least two mama doxies and one dad), a german shepherd dog and a corgi. Add six cats, the two shelties I met and she talked about other dogs that we never saw. While some can have 8, when you walk into a house and smell it as soon as you walk in, IMO, too many. When we went the first time, I couldn’t wait to take a shower & change clothes. This is an elderly couple who breeds doxies. IMO, it’s a money maker for them and it’s what they do to make ends meet.

You’re right, i should mention it to the rescue but the head of the rescue went to her house five days before we did, to meet the shelties and take their pictures. She never said anything to me so who knows. Didn’t impress me much

[Melissaandcrew]

Oh, I agree-whenever there is an odor, there is a problem, no matter how many pets are in the home. Sounds to me like they are overwhelmed, perhaps not wanting to admit that what they could do and keep up with at 40 is not the same in their 60’s or 70’s. The fact that the rescue Pres was out there 5 days prior tells me a lot, and I have to say, not too impressive.

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