Dakota, Dog n.2 - UPDATE

Dakota has found his forever home !!!
It didn't even take him 2 days in the shelter until he convinced a person to take him home, but with his pretty face, I am not surprised...

So glad that all my dogs have been adopted in less than 3 days of me bringing them back to the shelter. Guess Sam and I are doing something right.

Polly, Dog n.3 - Full story

Our first female dog - gonna be interesting...

Along came Polly !
Polly is a

• 1 and a half year old
• currently freakishly skinny and light (she only weighs 25 kilos even though her size is more like Dakota's)
• Chesapeake Bay Retriever Mix

We picked her (yay, our first bitch - oh how I love saying that) up at the humane society on January 11th, the same day we brought Dakota back to be put up for adoption and will have her for about 2 months (longest time so far).

Polly was brought to the humane society from an animal shelter in Quinte (near Kingston) with a case of severe hip dysplasia. Hip Dysplasia in dogs basically results in very painful arthritis and she was in so much pain that she wouldn't even stand (or walk) on her left hind leg. In Toronto they operated on her and she now needs a lot of attention and will need to go to rehab.

Two cuties :D

How did we get her:

When we went for Dakotas first (and only) checkup at the humane society a week after getting him, the vet told us about another, needier dog that would need attention by foster parents as good as us (apparently every dog we bring back looks 1000 times better than he did before, so I guess we are doing something right). He told us about the fact that she had surgery and just wont use her leg (even though she should be able to) so she'll need foster parents to try to push her off balance while walking her, try to walk her up and downhill, etc... On top of that she'll need to go to a rehab facility 2-3 times a week. After Sam and I talked about it, we decided we'd take her in and help her - after all that's why we became foster parents. To fix the broken dogs. I arranged a dog switch, brought Dakota back and didn't even have enough time to start crying as they brought me Polly.

In her bed :)

The daily life:

Polly probably has the most energy of all (she is a Retriever after all), but she is pretty good at entertaining herself. She attacks her toys and plays with them all by herself, without demanding much attention.
At the beginning she especially needed a lot of attention as: Walks outside: 6; Peed outside: 0; Peed inside: 2.... But we did get her "issue" under control within two days. Sam didn't let me give up on her (knew I said yes to this guy for a reason...) Walking her (even though she only walks on 3 legs) is such a challenge !! She weighs 25 kilos, only currently uses 3 legs and still manages to pull so hard that I sometimes have to lean back to get a proper hold of her. She loves to "attack" and bark at random strangers and boy, don't even get me started on how she reacts with other dogs...

Her first rehab appointment was on January 20th where she was assessed and was introduced to the water-treadmill-thing they have. The water-rehab didn't work as planned so they gave us instructions on what to do with her at home, to get her to start using her leg. It worked really well and she gained about a cm of muscle mass in one week.

She tried to pull down my shirt...

The dog:

As mentioned Polly is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever Mix, and she really does look like that perfect hunting dog she's supposed to be (she also has that bark). They are supposed to love water (which I think today - rainy day - I really realized), she loves loves loves snow, and Chesapeake Bay Retrievers are one of the best hunting dog breeds. Chesapeake bays have a bright brown colored fur and so does Polly, just her paws and tip of her tail looks like she stepped into a can of paint. It's why we chose her last name. And then Polly's face reminds us a bit of Timon (from The lion king), these two reasons are why we decided to name her Polly Paint-Timon. 

New (temporary) family member

The end:
We brought Polly back on Friday February 24th, 2012 so we had her for about 6.5 weeks. She was a very energetic dog, but it's good that she's back because now she can try to find a home. She had gained about 3 kilos since we had gotten her and she just filled out a bit in general, which made her look so much more healthy than she did before.
Anyone interested in adopting this gorgeous hound, you can find her on the adoption page of the humane society (link opens in a new window).

And now for some closure:

Polly, I know you were sad when Sam and I walked away, and it was painful to close the door while you stood there, staring at us with your ears perked up and that whiny look that you get, but I know (and I think you do too) that it's for the best. You'll now be put up for adoption and someone will come and take you because girl, you're gorgeous and I know it wont take long to find you a loving home with people that love to go for runs and long walks with you. You'll have a great life my baby-bear I just know it.
Bye Polly Paint-Timon ! You'll always be my "baby-bear" even though you annoyed the hell out of me at times I'll always remember you. 

"MY TOY" !!!

Gorgeous Chesapeake Bay Retriever
Shepherd Mix

CRAZY EYES !!

Dakota, Dog n.2 - Full Story

Dakota on his bed

Let me introduce you to Dakota !
Dakota is a

• cute, but big 
• 4 year old
• 40kg (around 88 pounds) heavy
• Alaskan Malamute/Lab mix 

We picked him up on January 2nd and will have him for 2-3 weeks.

Evil Husky puppy face

Dakota was brought to the Humane Society from Quebec and then adopted here in Toronto. He only stayed with his adoptive family for 3 days because they brought him back complaining about a lameness with one of his legs. He also had Giardia for a while which is cleared up now. We got him with a few medications (medication to increase appetite, decrease inflammation,...) and our main mission is to look for any problems in his legs while walking/playing with him. They did X-rays and everything at the humane society and they didn't find anything that would indicate any issues in his legs, and to be honest we haven't seen anything yet either, but I am not going to jump to conclusions about the adoptive parents...

Dakota and me

How did we get him:
I received an email from the humane society on January 1st (my birthday) about this dog (slightly bigger than Harry) that would just have to be watched for a bit. We said that we'd first check him out as we were informed that he had Giardia and could still transmit it. We went to the humane society on the 2nd and once we saw him and how playful he was, there was no question in our mind. Sam's exact words were "Sure we'll watch your perfectly healthy dog for a few weeks".

The daily life:
Dakota is a very very quiet and calm dog. He doesn't sleep as much as Harry, but he sits/lies around and just watches very intently, what we are doing. He's not as cuddly as Harry was, but he loves to get his chest stroked. We have never heard him bark, but occasionally (eg. when one of us is in the shower) he will whine a little bit - after all the shower is dangerous and with a closed door he wont be able to protect us, right ?
Sometimes when he hears suspicious noises outside the apartment he will start growling very deeply and then he'll give an occasional very scary, deep bark. The first time I heard it I sent a prayer to god because he did scare me quite a bit !
Walking him is really easy as he doesn't really pull - only when he sees a squirrel he will try to get closer to it, which is a challenge as he is so strong !

Alaskan Malamute/Lab

The dog:
As Dakota is a Alaskan Malamute mix we did some research. They live in (surprise) Alaska and were used as sleigh dogs. They are often mistaken for Huskies cause they look like one but their personalities are very, very different form Huskies. They can live in areas as cold as -70 degrees (OMFG !!) and George Lucas (FYI for all you non-geeky people: he invented Star Wars and Indiana Jones) had an Alaskan Malamute.

The Wookiee in Star Wars was created due to the inspiration that came from the Alaskan Malamute that George Lucas owned, and so did the name Indiana Jones (Lucas's dog's name was Indiana). This is why we decided to continue the (started) tradition and give him the full name: Dakota Jones.

Dakota appears to be a very, very smart dog. Actually so smart it sometimes scares me... He can sit and lie down (even just lightly patting his back makes him sit). He knows how to give paw (which I hate when dogs know), and if you tell him to sit and stay, he'll sit and stay until you tell him to go. He knew the building we lived in after just walking into it once (something Harry didn't seem to understand even after 4 weeks of living here) and Dakota knows to let us walk into the building/room before him.
He is very friendly to strangers, but a little bit more cautious than Harry was. And he is becoming quite protective over Sam and myself.

I don't care if he likes it or not... Sophia needs cuddle time.

The end:
After 10 days with us, I brought Dakota back. The reason he was brought back a few days earlier than expected was because he seemed fine at the doctors appointment and because they had a needier dog that needed a foster-home which I will tell you about in the next post.

And now for some closure:
Dear Dakota:
I'm very sorry that I had to leave you all alone in the room with the vet to finish your check-up but I am sure you understand that Polly needed me too. I already received an email that there may be someone interested in adopting you, so I am glad to hear that people already want you - doesn't come as much of a surprise though !! You're a gorgeous dog, taking you for walks and jogs was awesome as I have never felt safer. You were a great, very smart and quiet dog and I wish that I could've had a chance to keep you. Thanks to you I will definitely consider an Alaskan Malamute as my doggy and I shall call him Indiana (the one that started the craze ;)). I loved you, even though I feel like I didn't know you well enough to already let you go.
Best of luck to you Dakota Jones, I know you will find a good person now. Take care of your gorgeous nose, it's my favorite feature on you.