Fostering Chester

Pulled: Friday December 30 2011 from Richmond County Animal Shelter

Adoption commitment: Wednesday January 28 2012

Gregor has been adopted at last! I’m shocked that I had this little guy for nearly a month before I was able to find a home for him. Scott says that I’m getting tapped out at last. Nearly all of my facebook friends and blog readers who are able to adopt a dog from me have done so at this point.

Or, more likely: Gregor was meant for his adoptive mother Jen Fowler, and only Jen, so he just had to stay with us until she figured that out. And what a stay! Gregor quickly became Scott’s favorite of all the foster dogs we’ve had so far (except for, maybe, Quinby). And not because Gregor was easy, but because . . . well . . . how can you ever stay angry at such a teeny tiny baby face?

Incident: pee/poop in the house.
Scott, affectionately: “Oh Gregor!”

Incident: chewed up paper all over the floor.
Scott, affectionately: “Oh Gregor!”

Incident: too much barking for too long.
Scott, affectionately: “Oh Gregor!”

After 60 foster dogs, I found this behavior from the normally-reluctant-and-always-complaining spouse mind-boggling. He’d chide Gregor patiently. And, then, he’d pick him up and place him out of trouble, on his lap! Scott has played many a round of America’s Army accompanied by a sleeping Gregor. Mind-boggling.

I think it’s because that Scott, a funny guy himself, appreciated Gregor’s humor. Or maybe he appreciated his spunk (it’s a well known fact that the smallest creatures often have the most spunk, me included). Or maybe he finds Gregor’s spunk humorous. See, below, Gregor’s attack dog response to Scott’s teasing:

Whatever the case, Scott likes Gregor. Favorite moments?

1) Gregor vs. David: One sunny and warm January afternoon (global warming, anyone?), Scott and I decided to leave Gregor and Morven in the backyard to play. We were careful to close the gate, but it’s easy to forget that Gregor is SUCH a little dog, because of his big case of the Napoleon complex. Physically, though, Gregor was easily able to squeeze under the gate — like a rat or a squirrel. Apparently, he did this throughout the day, for the sole purpose of barking at our next door neighbor, David, who was working in his front yard. Gregor would bark loudly at David, bounce around in circles for awhile, and squeeze back under the gate. I imagine an interaction with Gregor starring as a cuter and less annoying Scrappy Doo:

Our apologies, David.

2)We currently have a return foster — Chester Edwards (more on that later) —  but Gregor didn’t understand that Edwards had been here before. In Gregor’s mind, he was here first and was therefore in charge, despite the fact that it would take about a hundred Gregors to make one Edwards.

If we gave Chester Edwards a Gregor-sized bone, we’d soon see Gregor dragging it behind him. If we left Gregor in the yard to “play” with Edwards, we’d watch him prance through the door later with white tufts of fur in his mouth. Oh, how I wish I had thought to take photos of Gregor, looking simultaneously proud and ridiculous, with his white beard.

3) Favorite moment #3? Getting the following message from Jen:

“I am so happy with our new family member Trigger (Aka Gregor). He has put plenty of smiles on my face. His cuteness is what will always keep him out of trouble. He went potty outside for the first time last night. We were so proud; it took Kevin taking him for him to do it. Lol. He loves his toys, doesn’t like it when Daddy leaves for work without a proper goodbye. He saved my life from the vacuum cleaner and my shadow. He likes his car rides as well. Thank you guys for the gift you gave us. He is a blessing. We will post pics after the kids see him; we have not told them yet! That should be epic!”

Keep protecting Mom from vacuums and shadows, Chester Gregor Trigger! And, Jen, enjoy your new red-headed bodyguard. Love to you all!

Adopted by: Jen Fowler and Kevin Richmond

Renamed: Trigger

Pulled: Friday December 30 2011 from Richmond County Animal Shelter

Adoption commitment: Saturday December 31 2011 by the Headley Greenlaw family

I’m happy to report that Ella, who was diagnosed with the dreaded Parvo, seems to have made a full recovery. See the “before” photo of sick Ella:

And the “after” photo of Ella, playing with her much bigger canine sibling, Red:

Thanks to all who donated to her treatment. We raised $485, 81% of the $594 total! I know how much the Greenlaw family appreciates the help and no one is more deserving. Both of their dogs are rescues, although they affectionately call the big red dog, above, their $2000 dog.

Jeff, a military man, noticed Red on base and assumed that one of the people with whom he works was bringing his/her dog to work. “No dogs on base,” he reminded them. “He’s a stray,” they said. “Then why is he hanging around?” Jeff asked, “and why is he so well-fed?” Apparently, several men on base were taking turns driving Red through the drive-through each morning for his daily meal.

(And, yes, R. does bear a striking resemblance to Clifford):

So, Jeff did the only thing a softie can. He brought Red home, paid heftily to treat his heartworms and other ailments, and made him part of the family.

When their rescue #2, Fisk foster Ella, got sick, my first thought was “no good deed goes unpunished.” But, then I remembered how wonderfully supportive most people are, and my blog readers especially, and I knew that the Greenlaws and Ella would be okay.

So, again: thank you, thank you, thank you! From the Fisks, the Greenlaws, and, especially, from Ella and Red:

Pulled: Friday December 30 2011 from Richmond County Animal Shelter

Adoption commitment: Saturday December 31 2011 by the Headley Greenlaw family

I may have found my match, at least where my love of dogs is concerned: friend and neighbor, Emily Headley. When Emily heard that I came back from Richmond County Animal Shelter last Friday with two puppies in tow, she was outside my door on Saturday morning. She bonded at once with Chester Hazelle Hawthorne.

“What’s her name?” Emily asked. I explained that I named her Hazelle after a particularly strong though minor character in The Hunger Games series. Then, since I have a thing for shortening names (even Jack often becomes Ja), the name morphed to “Elle” and finally to “Ella,” just because she looks like an Ella to me. Emily agreed and took her off to meet June, Emily’s normally-not-so-crazy-about-dogs mother. Imagine my surprise when Emily said that June agreed to let Emily adopt her. Then, imagine my horror when, four days later, Ella vomited blood.

See, below, one of the sickest puppies ever:

The vet diagnosed Ella with the dreaded Parvo. I’ve never had a dog, family or foster, with Parvo before, but I’ve heard people speak of it — in a whisper, which always means it’s really bad. One of the newest, youngest arrivals at the shelter, Ella had not received her first set of shots. Richmond staff had been careful to keep her away from any sick dogs, but this is why it’s so important to get puppies out of shelter environments. With little to no immunity, their presence in a shelter is akin to  a newborn’s in the sick ward of a hospital.

The vet told June that treatment would be $500-800 and that Ella had about a 50% chance of surviving it. June’s response? “Well,” she said valiantly, “that’s what credit cards are for.” And, she told me that she would make sure that Ella survived if love and attention could do it. She vowed to spend hours with her in the quarantine room every day, if the vet would allow it. In short, she responded the way anyone who had fallen in love would. And how could you not fall in love with such a cute puppy, sporting — of all things — a heart-shaped nose?

At first, Ella showed little improvement, despite the anti-nausea meds and iv fluids. See  Ella, below, still being pathetic on Day 2:

See Ella, below, still being pathetic on Day 3:

Day 3, however, marked the first no-vomiting day, and June and I think it may be because Ella wanted so badly to impress a very special after school visitor:

One of June’s friends predicted, “If that doesn’t make her better, nothing will!” And, lo and behold, Day 4:

Yes! That’s Ella, lifting her head! — such a little head, I know, but for days she’s been too weak to lift it. She, of course, prefers to rest it on June, but we know, at least, that she can do it.

And here she is, one-upping herself by sitting up.

June decided this was Ella’s way of saying, “Take me home,” and she told the vet so. The vet said that Ella isn’t out of the woods yet, but that the four days June has spent in puppy quarantine with Ella is proof enough for him that she’s capable of continuing an at-home version of the treatment. We suspect that the vet is tired of having to push June out the door every day at 5:30 and arriving to find her on the doorstep the next morning.

But, hurrah, Ella is home! See Ella, below, with her welcome party: human sister Emily and canine brother Red:

Here’s to Ella’s continued improvement! And, if you haven’t already, please consider donating to the Ella fund. I asked the fabulous Middle Mutts (the 501(c) 3 organization that I so often work with) to set up a chip-in for Ella’s medical treatment. When I told Middle Mutts friend, Judith, that Ella has Parvo, she set the goal at $600. When June left with Ella today, she put $594.00 on her credit card. To say that Judith has been doing this awhile and that she knows her stuff is an understatement.

Let’s help June out with as much as we can, especially since she’ll still have the refill medication and follow up visits to pay for (and since Emily, sweet girl that she is, has already put in all that she’s been saving of her allowance):

http://middlemutts.chipin.com/ella

Thanks in advance. And thanks to the Hedley Greenlaw family for proving that they’re made of the same stuff Hazelle Hawthorne/Ella is: a whole lot of heart and a whole lot of spirit — which equals an especially winning combination.

Pulled: Friday December 30 2011 from Richmond County Animal Shelter

Adoption commitment for Gregor: Wednesday January 28 2012 by Jen Fowler and Kevin Richmond

Adoption commitment for Hazelle: Saturday December 31 2011 by the Headley Greenlaw family

Meet Chesters Gregor and Hazelle, fosters #59 and 60:

Chesters Edwards and Forest went to their new homes today! Hurrah! Conveniently, Edwards’s/Frankie’s new home is only twenty minutes from the Richmond County Animal Shelter, so I thought it only polite to pay Allison a visit. As soon as Allison saw me, she said that she had the perfect foster: a 3 month old Chihuahua/Feist  male pup. “Perfect!” I said. And, indeed, he is. See teeny tiny Gregor, below:

And, no, there aren’t any “G” towns/cities/counties in SC named Gregor. Naming fosters after towns/cities/counties is so 2011. With a new year comes a new system of naming fosters: I will go down an alphabet of literary characters. I told friend Rebecca Pomeroy to choose the name for my “G” foster, since I used her donation to pay his pull fee. She sent a list of truly fun and funky “G” names, but I fell in love with the name “Gregor” — probably because it made me thing of Suzanne Collins’s The Underland Chronicles, featuring none other than Gregor the Overlander as the young hero. Yay for literary associations! — although Grace Hagood: I promise to name a foster “Easley” at some point, just for you.

And, yes, Gregor is wearing a Christmas collar with a bell. You can just see the corner of it in the photo. Why did he come with bells on, literally? For the same reason that Daphne BordeauX had a bow on her head. Richmond County Animal Shelter employee Ashley always adorns her favorite shelter dogs.

Of course, I couldn’t pull only one puppy. A puppy needs a puppy friend — or he’ll cry at night and keep us awake. Enter Chester3 Hazelle. In the perfect literary world, Gregor would be paired with Luxa. But, I needed an “H” name, so I settled on a Suzanne Collins’s character from a different book: The Hunger Games. Hazelle Hawthorne is Gale’s mother in the series, and is a minor though resilient and therefore admirable character. And her namesake is resilient too:

You kind of have to be when you’re alone at 3 months in a shelter. Gregor and Hazelle aren’t from the same litter, though they look alike in some ways (small ears, short snout). Hazelle is listed as a Cocker Spaniel mix; still, at three months, she isn’t much bigger than Gregor. So, perhaps she’s a Spaniel mixed with a smaller dog, like a Chihuahua?

What I’ve noticed about the newest additions so far:

Gregor’s best feature: an underbite and a tail that curls above his back

Hazelle’s best feature: one eye with eyeliner, and one without

Gregor’s best personality trait: he’s feisty. Very. He barked at and chased my mother’s much older and larger dogs. And he won.

Hazelle’s best personality trait: she’s sweet. Very. Gregor would rather play, and Hazelle would rather cuddle; so each annoys the other. However, when Hazelle reaches her breaking point, she never fails to “pin” Gregor, Lion King style:

Good girl, Hazelle.

Contact me if you’d be interested in adopting Gregor or Hazelle!

And now for a memorable mishap:

This is an old memorable mishap, actually, but it’s appropriate since it involves both rescue dogs and Gregor the Overlander. Earlier in the year, I was coming back from the Dillon County Animal Shelter with some fosters (Paxville and York maybe?), and I was listening to an audiobook, as I often do on long trips. I was so engrossed in the story that I didn’t realize I was still driving in the left-hand lane on the interstate, and slowly at that. Someone who was wanting to pass honked angrily and then gesticulated wildly once I changed lanes and he was beside me.

My response? Like a dork, I pointed at the cd player and mouthed:

“I’M SORRY! I’M LISTENING TO GREGOR! HE JUST BRUSHED LAPBLOOD’S FUR! IT’S VERY MOVING!”

All that to say: Gregor, I think, is a very fitting name for my first literary-themed foster. Well chosen, Rebecca!