OVERwhelmed

Suzie and Tina hiding until all the dachshunds are gone :)

It's been a little over a week since I've been over my personal limit of dogs and I'm a little at my wit's end.   I know exactly the number of dogs I can handle and once we go past that, I can't keep up with anything.     It just so happens that Charlie was returned and that forced my hand.   It's an unwritten rule in fostering that, if at all possible, a returned dog goes back to the original foster.   Of course, if I had told the head of our grou I absolutely can not do it she would have found another place for him.    But knowing a dog is being returned and their little heart is already broken, it makes me feel better to know they'll be in a familiar place with people that love them.     And Charlie is doing great, so I believe I made the right decision.

Tonight I came home to the trashcan dumped over - everything in the trash (and it was a FULL bag) drug around the house, torn up, peed on and just a HUGE HUGE mess.   This was especially frustrating because I thought I had figured out how to block the trash can off from the dogs.   Apparently I was completely wrong.   They also got into my pantry and pulled out a couple of potato chip bags ate those up and tore the aluminum foil box up, causing the foil to roll across the floor.      It took me about 15-20 minutes to clean up this mess after walking through the door.   That sucks - ready to finally just chill a little bit at the end of a work day and to be faced with that crap.   ugh ugh ugh ugh   If I hadn't felt overwhelmed earlier today, I definitely would be by now.

I'll be glad when it gets a little warmer because not all of the dogs will want to sleep in my bed.   The nights that JTK is at his Dad's house are just miserable sleeping wise.    There are a couple of dogs in the house (and I'm not naming names!) who have zero human bed manners.   I can move them all I want but they dash back to whatever spot they particularly want and it almost always means taking up the place where I want to sleep.nnnDinnertime and breakfast time are quite a battle too.   Certain dogs have to be kept  separate, each dog has to be given the perfect amount for their particular nutritional needs and one certain little difficult dog can not be allowed near any of the other dogs until their kibble is all gone.     When mealtime is over I'm always relieved that every dog has a full tummy and no fights were started.   ::sigh::

TRe waiting for a spot to steal during the night

Someone needs to be adopted and quickly!   I have to be careful or else I'll be paying people to take one of these dogs off my hands!  haha   Just kidding ... a true statement though would be that I need to make sure I'm careful on who adopts one of my fosters and I don't talk myself into thinking I've found a perfect home just to lose some stress.    I recently received an email from someone  interested in Charlie but they were really concerned about housebreaking issues.    After he was just returned for housebreaking issues, I have to make sure he doesn't come back for that reason.   So I'm probably going to make things sound even worse than they are.

JTK is at a higher bit of a stress level too because he has to help me with all of the chores associated with the dogs - all the while making sure not too many dogs are outside at one time and that the ones that are still inside aren't TOO obvious.   It is totally exhausting right now and Joe, in true 13 year old fashion, tells me daily that we have too many dogs.   I'm one of those people that I can know something and be handling it somewhat ok, but to have someone else vocalize it sends me into frenzy mode.  :-)

Heidi may possibly come back due to biting, but her original foster has already said they'd take her back.  If I had to face the thought of taking in another dog right now I would probably have a complete breakdown.

Send some dachshund lovers my way to get Charlie or Danny adopted!!!  :-)

Beautiful Charlie

Doxie Boy Twins

With Charlie back in the house, it's almost impossible to tell he and Danny apart.   They look so much alike it's spooky.     It didn't help matters that even before Charlie came back JTK and I would often mistakenly call Danny ... Charlie.  :)   They're both about the same age but they have very different personalities.   Danny is a little more fun loving and carefree where Charlie is more serious and intense.  The one thing they have in common is that they're incredibly beautiful dachshunds. 

We went to the adoption event on Sunday and they are a handful together.   They both get stressed out and then they feed off on each other's stressful energy.   Luckily I had JTK with me or I would have never made it through the few hours we were there.   Isn't that picture of dramatic Danny hilarious?

Charlie looking VERY handsome

Charlie is doing much better - he started perking up as soon as he saw Joey last Tuesday.   Last Monday Joe was at his Dad's house so when Joe came home on Tuesday it was a sweet little reunion.   I've come tot he conclusion that Charlie needs to be in a home with other dogs.  He has done incredibly well with housebreaking since he's been with the other dogs.    Even though he's doing better, he's not fully confident and I think that's causing some behavior issues.    He needs a quiet home, with other dogs and the people definitely need to be savvy about dachshund behavior and attitude.   Dachshunds are truly a unique breed - they're sweet and affectionate but they're also stubborn, overly protective, and incredibly prey driven.    Charlie is being kept with Hopper and Cooper in the area of the house where he can't get near my cat, Roscoe.    Today I came home, after being gone almost 11 hours.   How can a dog hold it that long and yet crap right in front of someone?   Because he was apparently showing his displeasure about something.

Say a little prayer for Suzie tonight.    The past few weeks, her COPD has gotten more noticeable again.   Tonight she doesn't seem quite herself.    She's been lying quietly on a couch pillow all evening - which is a little out of character.   She has eaten snacks and barked a little bit, but she always lies back down. 

Silly Joe with Suzie and Tina's ear :)

Return To Foster (Instead of Sender)

Sad Charlie  :'-(

I had a foster returned yesterday, sweet Charlie, the awesome standard dachshund who was adopted a few months ago.      On  Monday morning I got an adamant text that Charlie was not allowed to stay in his home one more night.   They were having housebreaking issues and for some reason this came to a head on a Monday morning while I was at work.    Even though we just had a weekend where I was totally available, he suddenly had to leave Monday.   I was so aggravated - nobody wants a foster returned but it's really frustrating when people forget this is a volunteer situation and we sometimes need a little consideration.    At one point I asked "Why didn't you tell me Sunday" through text and I got a barrage of how this couldn't possibly be considered inconvenient if she was willing to come to my house.   Well, I have a little rule about telling people my address when they get all psycho on me.  :-D

One unfortunate thing I've learned when a person decides to return a dog they often have to demonize that dog in their mind to justify why they're giving up on them.   This dog has to be the WORST dog in the world so they're completely rational to return them.   Of course, when a dog is even close to this status in a person's mind I don't want them anywhere near that person.   And while I had every intention of making sure Danny was under a loving roof by nightfall, I wasn't going to help her feel ok for what was being done.     Is it terrible of me to be totally amused to know the straw that broke the camels back is that Charlie looked her right in the eye and dropped a big steaming poop on her carpet?

After all the drama was said and done I picked Charlie up last evening.    Of course, the person was 30 minutes late ... of course they were!    I'm sad to say he's a different dog.   He's not nearly as loving and carefree as he was when he was adopted.   My friends have reassured me that he'll come around and I sure hope they're right.     And I hope it's sooner rather than later.  This may not make sense, but not only does he duck when we go to pet him but he also seems frightened to show emotion.   He seems shutdown - not just depressed and his little voice is hoarse as well.    I was getting scared he had been debarked, but a good friend of mine pointed out he probably was kept someplace that he felt the need to bark.   Not good, but better than being debarked.  :-(

Returns happen quite frequently in rescue - sometimes they come back the next day, sometimes a few months and sometimes a few years.    Our group received a dog back that was adopted out as a puppy a couple of years ago and has come back as a frightened and unsocialized dog.   How heartbreaking ... Another dog came back after about a week in her new home right after recovering from leg surgery.    We really are glad they come back to us - in fact that's part of our contract.    If someone adopts one of our dogs and turns them into a shelter for euthanasia or because they don't want them anymore we can sue them for breach of contract.   We want the dogs back - we want to know they're safe and they're loved - but at the same time we don't want a failed adoption.

Danny and Charlie - brothers from another mother

I feel horrible about Charlie.  I feel like I let him down - like I should have known this would happen.   I did all the background work I'm supposed to do, they lived in a nice area, the husband was an Iraq war veteran, they had two lovely kids,  the husband was raised with dachshunds, and the wife didn't work but went to school.    Sounds perfect ... obviously not.        I've let Charlie down and I've let down the people he used to live with that trusted me to find a good home for him.      The funny thing is Charlie will probably forgive me far sooner than I'll forgive myself.