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our fosters - summer fostered 10.07.05 - 02.04.06

10.03.05 - I saw the following plea on the San Diego Rescue Connection yahoo group:

Something about the picture, the plea, and the fact that I know Jenny to be a wonderful canine savior, encouraged me to write and ask if they have a foster could they pull her and keep her from being killed. I mentioned that I was very worried about the risk of Parvo but that, if her titre didn't test high enough I could potty her out front and keep her inside until they could find a foster for her.

And so it began...

10.04.05 - Jenny said that they had one group who was willing to pay the medical expenses (Penny Adams of Foundation for the Care of Indigent Animals) and one group that would bail her out (Kate John of Pit Bull Rescue San Diego) and all they needed was the foster. She got right on getting her titre tested.

10.07.05 - Summer's titre came back high enough that I can be her permanent foster mommy until she gets her forever home. She was brought to me tonight to cuddle and play with. What an absolute sweetheart! Immediately walked over and climbing in my lap as soon as she saw me. Borrego seemed to adjust to her pretty well, other than not understanding that she couldn't walk super easily. Her nose is a heart! It's soooooo adorable. Yup. I'm in love already...

10.08.05 - Nothing better than waking up on your birthday and having a puppy to cuddle with. My family came over midday. Mom had been sending me all sorts of the myths of pit bulls and I think she was hesitant to meet her. By the end of the visit she was won over. That night was the Humane Society Pawsitively Posh Fur Ball, which we put Summer in a baby stroller and brought her along on. She was an absolute hit! Tons of pictures taken, lots of cuddling, lots of people coming by to meet her, lots of doggie sniffs. Fabulous socialization for her. She was wiped out by the end.

10.09.05 - She really is the most resourceful puppy. I've noticed that she can do most things with 90% of her weight on her front legs. I'll bet if she had no back legs she could probably walk just fine. We gave her the little bed that my boss donated to my fostering efforts and she has spent very little time out of it and can put her front legs in, lean forward and flop her back legs right on in.

10.10.05 - Of course she comes to work with me. This was her first day and she was a trooper. Her tail, which mom calls a propeller, is a blur whenever she knows someone is coming to see her.

10.11.05 - Today we got the official results from Summer's x-rays:
Certainly doesn't sound good. Based on the muscle loss, I've started doing some gentle muscle movements for her. Additionally, it's nearly impossible to get her and Borrego to stop playing. She's pretty good about taking breaks or playing from a laying down position. It seems like this is helping her muscle tone back there so I'm not necessarily discouraging it unless it gets too rough. The main pain that Summer seems to have is sitting down or getting up.

10.12.05 - She is definitely a little thief. Her favorite game is to steal whatever toy that Borrego has and pile it up in her bed. Sometimes there are so many toys in her bed there is barely room for her. Borrego feeds into this though but constantly bringing a new toy by her and waving it in her face. Unfortunately, Borrego has also decided over the course of our puppy fosters that puppies love laundry. Only when we have a foster does she steal laundry and use that to entice puppies. I had to buy a whole new bunch of socks after Hava left. I've now lost one sock to Summer. While I was taking my running shoes off, in fact, she stole the one I had already taken off and ran it over to her bed.

The way she runs is ingenious. Walking seems to be ok but as she starts to run, her hips and left leg really start to wobble. She's gotten this style of running down where she puts both her back legs tight together and uses it sort of like a pogo stick. The sound on our pergo floors is unmistakeable - tap tap thud, tap tap thud. It seems to work for her and she plays just as joyfully as an unhandicapped puppy.

10.13.05 - Today at work she decided she wanted to try to go downstairs against my better judgement. The pattern up until now has been that we walk to the stairs and then she stops and looks at me and I pick her up. This time she just started on down herself. Pretty much she just hopped her front paws down using her back two paws only for balance. It was pretty impressive to see. This little gal is a fighter. The schedule is set for her to go in for surgery next Thursday. Rimadyl had been recommended to help with her pain, but I turned that down based on the close call we had with Hope.

10.14.05 - Oops, we forgot to tell Summer that you sleep in on the weekend... I am not a morning person so entertaining her at 7:00 on a Saturday morning wasn't going to happen, so I introduced her to the joy of the bacon bone. She loved it but, while Borrego steadily chomped her way to obliteration of the bone, Summer tossed it around, growled at it, chewed on it a little, hid it under some toys, pranced past Borrego with it and eventually got it taken away by Borrego when she was done with hers. I think I may need to get smaller ones for Summer so that they can finish them at the same time.

10.17.05 - Summer has adjusted pretty well to life in our home. Her biggest joy in life right now appears to be collecting all the toys in the house and putting them in her bed. She is truly the queen of the pile as she nestles her way in between them all. However, she is all too eager to leave her bed if a lap presents itself. If you want true puppy lovin' come over to our house and sit cross-legged on the floor. You are guaranteed a puppy in your lap.

10.31.05 - Summer spends a great deal of time laying on the carpet and wrestling with Borrego, which is a game they both have taken up on their own that keeps stress off Summer's back end. While she loves Borrego, people are her passion and she cries if she is left alone. When someone approaches her, the wag starts at the tip of her tail and then moves up until her whole body is wagging in anticipation. The approacher had just better put a body part out to be kissed or Summer is beside herself trying to kiss the air.

Summer was supposed to go in for surgery this Wednesday, however the rescuer that was going to help pay for it all changed their mind and will only pay for a quarter of the cost of the surgery. The surgery is on hold until we can either find a surgeon who will do it for that amount or another resource for the moneys we need for the procedure. The procedure is called an FHA. Her left femoral head, which is deteriorated beyond repair, will be removed and cleaned out and her young puppy body will be left to work the magic of healing with one leg shorter than the other. She may always walk with a limp, but will be pain free.

11.05.05 - After waiting for almost a month because of monetary delays, Summer went in for her FHO surgery on Friday morning at VCA Main. I picked her up Saturday morning. Not only did the surgery go well but she was already hopping around when I got there. The nurses were full of stories about how sweet she was. I talked at great length with the surgeon and here are some of the ongoing concerns - He said that there was a lot more bone damage inside than the x-rays even indicated, including potentially the socket that they nested the FHO up into. He said that the pelvic area was very very crushed. He said that it's hard to tell if any of the hip growth plates were damaged and we'd just have to check in over the next few months to see if she appears to be growing normally. He said that her right hip would need to be monitored for dysplasia after this one heals. More immediate care is that I need to keep her relatively inactive for the next couple of weeks. She's got some codeine for pain and amoxicillin for infection. He said that it's normal for her to start putting some weight on it after a week and I shouldn't necessarily discourage that.

The site is very swollen and looks sore. She walks on three legs without even attempting to put that leg down. However, she's pretty used to walking on three legs so she gets around pretty well and it's tough keeping her calm. She was all kisses and snuggles and more kisses all the way home and with Borrego and Tobee too when we got home. Borrego was ecstatic to see her but isn't totally aware of how injured she is so we'll have to watch them super closely as both were trying to play. Summer squirmed so much in the first couple of hours that she started bleeding from the incision. I laid down with her on the couch and both of us ended up taking a 2.5 hour nap. How decadent!

She will need to go back for the staples out in 10 days and then we will discuss with Dr. Tugeond when to do her spay and what follow up for monitoring purposes will be necessary.

11.14.05 - Summer is healing very well from her FHO surgery and has started putting some weight on that back leg. She runs and wrestles and plays just as if there were no pain involved. And the joyous look on her face as she runs towards you to drown your face in kisses is priceless. Her ears tuck back and it seems like her whole body is pushing forward in your direction. At that point you are absolutely the center of her universe.

11.17.05 - Summer and I went down on Tuesday to get her staples out and a recheck. All the nurses remembered her and she got well cookied up. Summer was a trooper getting the staples out and only wriggled once. Dr. Tugeond said that it's good she's putting a little weight on it and he'd like her to do more. He said I should do anything I can to help her build the muscle back up back there so that it holds everything in place solidly. At this point he said he'd like to see her back in 2 months to see how she's doing and that at about that same time we can schedule her spay.

11.21.05 - Summer is now enrolled in The Uncommon Canine puppy kindergarten in Poway. She was a little nervous at first meeting all the new puppies but warmed up by the end of the class. She's now on her way to learning sit, down and leave it. Her adoption will include a free 6 weeks of class at The Uncommon Canine because her socialization and continued education will be so important if she's to be a true ambassador for the breed.

Tomorrow Summer gets to begin her career as a TV supermodel! She will be on both the early morning channel 7/39 NBC broadcast advertising the JEEP Yappy Hour, as well as the normal morning adoptable pet segments on FOX news. I'll be taping...

12.23.05 - OK - I know I've been remiss in updates for the past month. It's been a busy one for Summer. Summer was spayed a couple of weeks ago and is good to go. She is walking almost normally and with no pain. She's about 35 pounds of kissy love. At this weight at just 5 months old, I predict that she'll probably be 65 lbs or so full grown. She went on TV as the FOX dog of the day on the 22nd and did wonderfully. I'm really hoping to get a great app in the next week.

Here are some of the things pro and con and what we want for her.

Summer is all about her humans and bonds extremely tightly. The down side to this in our home is that she becomes jealous when Borrego tries to horn in on the attention she's receiving and has started growling at her to keep her away. Borrego is none too happy about this and we've had to break up a couple of scraps. We think that Summer might do best as an only dog in the home although she'd probably enjoy some one on one canine playdates. She does play well with Borrego and other dogs that she likes but she is also very particular about what canine pals she chooses.

Summer enjoys going everywhere with me. However, at work she's gotten so used to me that she is prone to whining if I leave the desk for a meeting. This is definitely something that can be trained out of her.

Summer gets cold very easily. She is completely not an outside dog. She is definitely an inside princess who loves snuggling up to the pillows for nap time. And even better than snuggling up to the pillows, she loves snuggling on the couch with her humans - and pretty much any open human will do.

Summer is crate trained - meaning that she can be put into the crate any time we need and she will settle right down and be comfortable. In fact, when we say it's bed time, she runs to the crate to go to bed. It doesn't hurt that all our animals get a cookie at bed time.

Summer is completely housebroken and knocks on the back door and waits to go out. We even learned after her spay that she will also do her best to get outside to throw up as well.

Summer walks well on a leash and would do very well in more training classes. Her adoption comes with 6 weeks of training through The Uncommon Canine.

Summer does love romping and rolling on the ground. This means with her very light white fur, she gets dirty easily. We have been giving her a bath weekly and this seems to be the right amount of time for her. A good quality shampoo that doesn't dry her skin is recommended.

The best thing in the whole wide world is coming home and seeing that beautiful face pressed forward, ears back, racing in your direction with the whole back part of her wriggling in happy anticipation of your love. If I didn't already have another dog in the house, I'd be so tempted to keep her myself.