R.I.P. Pips

About three days ago Moses got to her before I'd had a chance to train him. He played with her like she was a toy and the worst happened to her. Moses isn't to blame and I'm not giving up on him because of this. It was my fault as I'd forgotten to place her cage into the bathroom before stepping away. I returned from the store and found her little body on the floor in a soggy heap. I'm feeling fifty kinds of shitty about what took place and learned a very hard lesson. One which I wish hadn't ever learned. She was sweet, a little shy, but very affectionate once she knew you. I always looked forward to having her on my shoulder when I took Bridgette out for her potty walks. I miss her badly and am so so sorry she had to pass that way.

R.I.P. Pips

recoiled

I think I've recovered rather nicely since my last post. You ready? Here we go.

Here's where I'm at with the German Shepherd. His name was Uber by the way. After a mostly ok intro with Bridgette and two plus weeks of parallel walks, he was completely OK with her. He never fully relaxed in that time. Something I never knew before was that GSD's don't do well in shelters. This is because they're very devoted to their families and are devastated when they wind up in one. This was hard being a witness to given my love for the breed and was not aware of. Last weekend I brought him home on a sleepover, and he relaxed completely. Ok, it was an outing into a sleepover into a morning outing. He did great and despite being a little scared of a few things when he first arrived, he relaxed a lot on the second day. His second sleepover went even better and he was far more relaxed than the first time, but he did not like going back to the sanctuary the second time. Don't fret as that was his last sleepover. Our third excursion away from the sanctuary is the final one. He only goes back there now during the days when I'm working, but comes home with me. We're on a 30 day adopt to foster just in case something goes wrong with him and B which I'm not worried about. He looks to her for confidence and she's been a great role model for him. At least when she's not freaking out and peeing on our bed in fear. So, here are a few recent pics ...

Getting to know you

The first ride home

Our first night together

I already love this place

Jr beagle in training

Warm and comfy on our 2nd sleepover

So after much deliberation I finally locked in his name. The first named I picked was Ash after my favorite unreluctant hero from the Evil Dead movies. As I got to know him better this name did not suit him. In a fit of frustration I almost named him Goober since it rhymed with Uber. I finally named him Moses. I was struggling with a proper name for the guy but in a convo with sissy ... well she reminded me of something I began over a decade ago. In our convo she asked me what our grandfather's name was. In that instant everything came into focus. You see, I named Bridgette after my grandmother Brigida (I'll explain why another time). My gramp's name was Moises which translates into Moses. This was too perfect to resist so I went for it. I did test him and he responded to the name with him. A bit of clicker training will easily reinforce it. That all being said, I've increased my family by one, A big one. 

Me and the coworker/friend are back on good terms with each other. To be perfectly honest, my assumptions were my own fault. After I was ok enough to talk to her, I came to learn she was the reason why her parents backed out of the GSD adoption. I apologized as well as hugging her a lot. We're good!

There's a lot more but I'm beat and need to get some sleep. I'll follow up tomorrow night with everything else that's transpired. 

In the meantime ... Happy Thanksgiving!

bounced

Too hard this time I think. I'm in an odd place at the moment with the reason why being that I'm feeling both loved and battered by the universe. This past week has been filled with some highs and lows. It started with a trip to Page, AZ where on the way a semi kicked up a rock which struck and left a nice crack in my windshield. Luckily I have a low deductible, but I'm still out $100 to replace it. Low.

After more than a year and a half a German Shepherd dog arrived at the sanctuary which (so far) seems to be just what I've been looking in age/health/temperament to adopt. High. The following morning I spoke with a coworker/friend about visiting with the GSD who also happens to know that I've been looking since I started working there. New arrivals have a 24hr cooling down period after arriving to give them a chance to acclimate. The initial separation from their families can be traumatic. I was telling the c/f about how I was looking forward to meeting the GSD later that day and arranging an intro with B if he turned out as good in temperament as I was hoping for. At the time the c/f only indicated that they had already met and nothing else. I learned at lunch that day that the c/f had already informed their family who emailed the department and secured themselves a first in line position to adopt him. LOW! I futilely put in an adoption application for him. Meh. I arrived for my scheduled visit with him, and he was visibly upset and confused. Despite that he was poised, alert, and very calm. I brought some treats which he took very gently from me. Once he felt comfortable with me he began communicating with me. He had walked to the door and looked at me then the door and back. He wanted out. I asked him and he reacted in a positive way to indicate yes. He wanted to go thru the door that lead back into the building rather than out the back door because this was the way he was brought into this place. Our meeting went better than I expected. High. He was already spoken for pending a cat test. He passed it. Low. I gave up and did not return to visit him again. No sense in learning more about what I'll be missing.

A new friend/coworker had finally arrived/moved into town and we were meeting for lunch on my last workweek day. High. Unfortunately that same morning one of our senior kids had passed very quickly and suddenly. LOW!. I canceled on our lunch plans being that I wasn't feeling like I'd be good company. Low. By the time lunch arrived I was feeling a bit better having regained my composure. My friend came to see me at lunch anyway. High! They also treated me to dinner and a drink later that evening. High.

When I got home from work that day I noticed that I had received a few emails from my Mgr and the lead adoption coordinator from that afternoon. Turns out the GSD had failed his dog test and the first adopter had backed out because of. Cautious High! At this point I have lots of questions. Some which were answered via email, but I still have many more to ask. I wasn't aware the GSD had to also pass a dog test. I'm wondering if my c/f had something to do with the family members backing out because of the failed dog test or at the c/f's request? I haven't spoken to the c/f because, to put it frankly, I was furiously hurt and upset beyond reason. I felt betrayed. Be it true or false I haven't cleared this up with them yet because I really needed to decompress and temporarily forget everything on my weekend off. What I need and what I'm doing here isn't lost on me either. I proudly own my crazy.