The Fosters Not Forgotten

It seems like so much has gone on since we last had a post – and really it has because we were gone for TWO MONTHS. We are sorry about that. Life just seemed to get in the way. We are back though, and we have a mountain of updates for you. Let’s just jump on in.

Jordon

In the past two months, we have had not one, but two foster dogs adopted! Jordon was first. She came up on the February 22nd haul. She was a gorgeous white and red, three and a half year old girl. She actually spent her first week with another foster home before we came and picked her up. She was cat safe, which is unusual for us. We are one of the relatively few cat-free homes that volunteer to foster so we almost always get the “no cat” dogs. It just so happened that on this haul, we had more pups that agreed with kitties than normal. Jordon also had significant redness and itching on her leg. The kennel workers suspected that she had a flea allergy that was exacerbated by the sand. Therefore, they were trying to get her to an adoption group as soon as possible. The only problem was, Jordon was not fully vetted. She had received all her vaccines, as all dogs who travel to us must have vaccinations up to date. However, there was not enough time for her to receive her spay. Our group made the call to send her up here anyway and we would take her to one of our local veterinarian for her spay and dental cleaning. We typically prefer that the dogs get fully vetted at the Florida vet, as they are much cheaper. However, sometimes that is just not possible, so we work with a few veterinarians in the Indianapolis area who give our group a discounted rate.

We set a date of March 24 for her spay and started promoting her for adoption. She would be able to go home after she recovered from her surgery – roughly around the first week of April. What we didn’t realize is that another foster dog would change all of these plans. Omega, a tiny little fifty pound, unvetted female had also come up on the haul. And she shocked everyone when she went into heat! Thank goodness her foster mom was prepared and willing to deal with that situation. This meant, though, that Omega could not receive her scheduled spay on March 4. So, we quickly decided that we would swap Omega’s appointment for Jordon and Omega would receive her spay at a much later date.

Luckily for us, Jordon’s spay was uneventful and she came home to us for recovery. We also were able to dose her with lots of antihistamines in order to give her relief for her dermatitis. The poor thing had been itching all through the night and her skin was so red and angry. Thankfully the medication kicked in and her legs started to heal. We typically keep the females for a minimum of ten days post-surgery to ensure they heal properly. On the tenth day of her recovery, unbeknownst to us, a family had been looking at her and wanted to meet her. Unfortunately for us, Erin had to make an unexpected trip out of town, so Ryan was holding down the fort by himself. So, Ryan made arrangements to take Jordon to PetPeople, just a few miles north of our house, to meet an approved family.

Ryan and Jordon met everyone on a Saturday afternoon. The family was actually interested in two different dogs – Jordon and another available dog named Squirt. Both Jordon and Squirt put their best face (err…snout?) forward and showed the adopters how wonderful they both are. The kids doted on both dogs for what seemed like hours, when it was finally time for the parents to make a decision. Jordon or Squirt? The parents, though, just couldn’t make the decision. They liked both dogs. So they chose both dogs! Everyone was ecstatic that two more greyhounds found their forever home – together.

Avatar

It wasn’t long after Jordon had left, just a few short weeks, and we received an email that there was a possible dog that was returning. Avatar, a young black female that had just come up on the most recent haul, had begun hunting the house cat. All of our dogs have been cat tested while in the kennel in Florida. We’ve found that they actually do a pretty good job of testing due to the fact that they have multiple cats that they use. Some dogs react to different cats – which is exactly what happened with Avatar. She was fine with the cats in Florida, but couldn’t stop chasing the cat she was currently living with. Many times the family can work with the dog to stop the behavior. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times. Once the dog starts hunting for the cat, there is very little chance that the cat will ever be safe. So for the safety of the cat, and the sanity of the humans, Avatar was returned.

Her family was utterly devastated when they had to return her. They knew it was the right thing but it does not make it any easier. We try to make the process quick and easy. We also had the added layer of social distancing guidelines that we had to worry about. Avatar’s dad drove up, handed Ryan the dog and Erin all of the dog’s belongings and took off. We texted the family that night and assured them that Avatar was in good hands, we would find a great home for her, and they did make the right decision. We think they appreciated it.

Our group immediately started promoting Avatar as available again. Many times when a dog returns, we have to do an assessment of the dog’s behavior or have the dog receive a medical check-up. However, with a simple explanation as to why Avatar was returning, we knew we didn’t need either. After a short period of time, we started getting communications from a family who had adopted another of our foster dogs, Zinnia. Zinnie, as we liked to call her, was one of our absolute most favorite dogs. We actually considered adopting her. She was the last dog we had before we got Six Pack (the first time). Zinnia was also a return, but her situation was a bit more complicated. She had been attacked while on leash with her first adopter. Due to this, she had become leash reactive. Out of fear, Zinnia would try to proactively attack any dog she saw while she was on leash. It didn’t matter if the dog was two feet or fifty-two feet away. We had to muzzle her whenever we took her out on leash and worked with her quite a bit. However, leash reactivity is a very hard thing to overcome, and we knew that being in a city environment wasn’t the best for Zinnie. So we ultimately decided that we couldn’t adopt her. Lucky for everyone, a family that lived out in the country found Zinnia and wanted her. We still remember dropping her off and thinking it was the best fit anyone could ask for. We drove away that day with tears in our eyes, sad that Zinnia had left us but completely ecstatic that we had found that miracle that was her perfect home.

Once Zinnia’s parents started asking about Avatar, we knew they would love her. We also knew that they would work with Avatar and their other pets. See, even though Zinnia couldn’t be around other dogs on leash, she was perfectly happy with them in a home environment. She loves her canine and feline friends at home. After some communication back and forth, Zinnia’s parents decided that they wanted Avatar. They submitted their adoption fee and she was all theirs.

On a Friday, we took the afternoon off and drove Avatar about an hour north to her home. We typically meet adopters half way when we do drop offs, but we really wanted to see Zinnia. Therefore, we decided to make the trek all of the way. We drove up, and everyone met us in the driveway. Avatar and Zinnia seemed excited to see each other – as greyhounds often do. They all have a way of identifying other greyhounds. If you have never seen it before, it really is astounding. We spent time catching up, talking about the dogs, and just overall chatting, all while trying to maintain six feet of distance. When it was time, we said our goodbyes and drove the hour back home. This time though, there was no crying. Avatar had found her home and we were nothing but happy for her.