Hannah Update

Hannah update

Hannah has been in her new home for a week now and they sent this update. The first sentence is exactly how she was when she first arrived at my house.

Hannah pretty much acts like she's lived here all along!  We have one sofa that she naps on, and have purchased a large crate for the bedroom.  We have allowed her to lie on the bed if one of us is there sleeping in.  She loves that.  Like most dogs I've had, she likes to have her belly scratched, and will roll over and wait for that.  We've taken her for several walks around the couple of cul-de-sacs here.  She is very interested in all the new sights, smells, and sounds.  Especially other dogs.  She does like to communicate loudly when she hears or sees another dog.  She certainly has a deep bark.

She likes our yard.  We've taken her out every day and get her excited and running in circles.  She is a speedy girl and loves to play!

We've also introduced her to several of our neighbors.  She greets all with a tail wag, and a happy smile.  She really does love seeing people.  We had her on her leash on Saturday during Trick-or-Treat in our neighborhood.  She thought all of the kids and adults coming and going was pretty nice as she was fascinated by the different costumes.  Our Vet stopped in with her two boys, and they and Hannah did play.  She was very calm with them (ages 7 & 5), and showed no signs of agression of any kind.  She also seems very interested in TV if there is any kind of action on, especially if it involves animals or dogs.  We had the Animal Planet on the Sunday after we met you, and she saw some puppies.  She cocked her head from side to side, and then began to bark at them.  Very funny!

We did take her to our vet last week just to have bloodwork done to establish a baseline, and to check on a possible urinary tract infection.  We thought she may have a UTI because she was frequently licking herself.  But the test showed no UTI, so her licking must just be a habit.  She does have elevated liver numbers about 3X normal, so we've started giving her a milk thistle tablet, which the vets all say can stabilize the numbers.  Hopefully it will help lower it.

She has settled in pretty well, and is getting used to our habits and our house.  I think she'll enjoy being here.  I know we are certainly elated to have her.  The year without our dogs was a pretty lonely one, so her presence has really filled that space.

Pearly's First Day

Pearly's First Day

Her full name is Pearlyhawk. Does anybody know where that comes from? If it's a character from something I'm not aware. Her coloring is so close to Woodson, I'm going to have trouble telling them apart when looking from behind. She's very sweet, gentle and friendly. Already discovered a few things.

• She gets carsick
• She's bone aggressive
• She will most definitely chase bikes

She started her life in Minnesota a full year ago, moved to Iowa, and then moved back to Minnesota last spring, to a horse ranch. The ranch already had two dogs, and Pearly, of course, figured it was her job to herd the horses, since the Golden Retrievers were not.

Terry drove to Mankato, picked her up and then drove her to my house. We were concerned about Terry wanting to keep her, as she has been a transport failure before, but Terry's house is full, and she drove straight to my house, not stopping at home. Terry discovered Pearly had returned her breakfast in several places in the back of Terry's car.

I walked her around the park a bit, then brought her in to meet the boys. Brett and Woodson are so welcoming to these fosters. I haven't had one yet, that wasn't welcomed with a 'who are you? C'mon in!" I kept her on the leash for the first few hours. She is housebroken, but there are so many smells and places to explore in a new house. And she hadn't taken care of any business outside. She did do that on the next walk, so I then let her off the leash and so far, so good.

I have a chew bone that the boys share. Pearly is NOT interested in sharing. So that has been put up for the foreseeable future.

During halftime of the Packer/Viking game, I took her out again, and was walking her down the sidewalk when the local Morman boys came down the sidewalk on their bikes. Pearly let loose barking furiously. They apologized. I apologized. She settled back down. I told KJ later to make sure you have a good grip on the leash when you walk her. She's better on the leash than some new fosters are, but she pulls, and is really used to being loose, I'm sure.

She's going to be crated while we're gone, for now. We'll see how things go. She hasn't had any vetting, ever, so will be starting from scratch on that. They sent a huge bag of the dog food she's been eating, so that's really nice. I'm hoping she can make it into someone's family by Christmas!

Hannah Adopted and Foster #21

Hannah adopted and #21 coming in this weekend

I'd been talking and emailing potential adopters for Hannah the past several weeks. They'd been out of town, and then driving back from the east, so we planned an Oct. 19 meeting in Eau Claire. Through our conversations we had concluded it would be a good fit. They previously owned a sheltie, and while Hannah is a collie, she has some personality traits found in shelties, such as circling and being a bit on the hyper side. While talking to an MWCR volunteer at a coffee meeting earlier in the month, she felt that was also common in female collies. My first collie was female, which was a really long time ago, and all my dogs since have been males, so I'm really not very familiar with female traits anymore.

Back to Hannah. I don't like to pressure any adopter into feeling they have to adopt my foster dog. Because of the traveling, I told them they had a choice, after meeting Hannah. I'd be prepared to let them leave with Hannah, or give them the usual 24-hours thinking time. Or I was perfectly fine if they decided, after meeting her, it wasn't a good fit. We want the adoption to be a successful one. 

Hannah gets out of the car and does her usual scoping the area to see if she needs to regulate anything. J. calls her name and she leans up against him for pets, then before I even noticed, she was begging S. for the treat she was getting out of her baggie. S. makes doggie biscotti. She gave me some to take home that I had to label dog treats in the fridge, because they smelled so good. I'm pretty sure they came to the meeting planning on adopting Hannah and she definitely solidified that with her begging! When it was time to leave, Hannah jumped right into their truck, sat down and was ready to go! Heartwarming.

Over the weekend, we were working on bringing in an 11-month old from Mankato, and it looks like she will be coming into the rescue. I have a very small picture. Her name is Pearly. She's on a farm and herding the horses. Belongs to the son, who has moved back home. That farm already has two goldens  that don't herd. She will need to be spayed and have some updating for shots. Will probably get her Saturday or Sunday.

Hannah update

Hannah Update

Just a quick update on how Hannah is doing. I'm trying to connect with a possible adopter, but schedules have not lined up, but they will.

Hannah continues to do well. I'm leaving her loose in the house when we're gone and so far so good. We keep the garbage locked, and as I type this, I'm realizing I forgot to lock the pantry cabinet, so hopefully nobody gets in there, as I also left Woodson loose today. He chews shoes, so we made sure no shoes were left out. They can't grow if we don't give them chances, eh? My old collie, Thor, was so good in the house. I'd like to get Woodson to that point. I think it was Jazz who would nose open the pantry door, as there is no actual latch. We put a child lock on it and that keeps it closed, but I didn't lock it this morning!

Hannah also continues to do well at the dog park.  Still haven't met a dog she doesn't get along with. My other dog, Brett, can play really rough, and they had a bit of a squabble, when Brett got too rough and Hannah let him have it.

I've been brushing her when I can and her coat is getting really soft. She doesn't like the backend brushed, so I try to swipe it a few times when I can.

Hannah's Bio

Judy McCalla does a wonderful job of writing up the bios for the collies. I send her a summary of what I know about the dog, how they've been at my house and quirks and personality of the dog and she goes to work. Here's what she's written about Hannah. It's perfect! Sorry about the formatting, weird line breaks in the copy/pasting process.

---------------------------------------------------

Do you like NASCAR?  Do you also like Collies?  If so, we have the perfect Collie for you.  Hannah

is  a shorter Collie (compact and low to the ground, just like a race car) who loves to do high-speed laps

around the the picnic table at her foster home.  She also enjoys showing off her speedy moves at the

dog park where she is clearly queen of the track.  Her foster mom calls her NASCAR doggie.

Hannah came to MWCR as an owner surrender.  Her family loved her very much and took great care

of her, but when they were faced with some health issues, they were forced to move into a smaller

dwelling.  In their new home, they felt that Hannah didn't have the space that she needed and wasn't

getting as much exercise as she should, so they made the heartbreaking decision to give her to MWCR. 

Hannah is a very sweet and well behaved girl who is fully house trained and crate trained.  In fact,

she loves her crate, and when she knows her foster family is going out, she will open the crate door,

go in and wait for the treat that she knows is coming.  Hannah rides well in the car and is pretty good

on her leash unless she sees a squirrel – then all bets are off.  Perhaps she thinks that the squirrels are

challenging her supremacy as the fastest creature on the block.  Hannah will bark to alert her family of

any strange sounds or when people pass by the house, so she makes a great watchdog. 

Hannah gets along nicely with everyone she meets.  She is currently living in harmony with a cat and

gets along well with the resident dogs.  She loves the dog  park and when she approaches she barks

furiously as if to alert the other dogs that the queen of the track has arrived.  Once there, however, she

is not at all bossy or aggressive and plays happily with the other dogs. 

Hannah will fit beautifully into almost any family.  She is energetic, but not hyperactive, and enjoys

walks with her family and trips to the dog park.  She loves just about everyone she meets with the

single exception of squirrels, so it might be better if her forever home did not include small rodents

like rats or guinea pigs.  She is a happy, healthy, loving girl who is hoping that her forever home will

include either a race track or a picnic table where she can show off her moves!

Pictures

A few pictures

We spent almost two hours at the dog park this afternoon. Hannah loves it there as much as my dogs. She hangs out with us, wanders off on her own and even chases other dogs and plays. She does a few NASCAR puppy runs, too.

Oh, and she's quite the beggar!

Dog Park Success!

Dog Park Success

I usually wait until the foster dog has bonded with my dogs for a week before I take them to the dog park. I feel like it gives the new dog a bit more security when they enter the park. Not to mention bonded with me, so they don't just wander off without any sort of guidance. But with Hannah, my instincts told me she would be okay right away.

We went early yesterday to beat the heat. There were several people there and as we walked toward the gate Hannah started barking with enough alarm to make me wonder if this was a good idea. I continued into the entryway, unleashing the dogs and opening the gate. Off they went! Hannah was fine. She was wagging her tail and doing all the proper greetings. She also LOVED the place. She took off running all on her own and looked so happy. I love watching the dogs run. It is a vision of pure joy. Hannah even went with Woodson on his perimeter check (something he has to do each visit).

Today is much cooler so we plan to go again this afternoon. I'm hoping KJ can get some decent pictures.

Hannah is doing great. She's a very well-adjusted dog. Fitting in perfectly. She's more than a little obsessed with squirrels. I have to hang on tight when we're going down the driveway and in the park. The little rodents are everywhere right now. The babies are grown and they are gathering as many acorns as they can.

It's nice to have a foster who is used to being on a leash and knowing the main reason we are outside. especially when it's raining!

I wish I had video of the incident last night. Hannah is short and I'm guessing can't see the top of my bed. She freely jumps up onto the bed, by the way. Lily (cat) was sleeping on the corner of the bed when Hannah jumped up very close to her. Lily went straight up (as only cats can do), flipped over and landed on the floor. It was so funny!