Ssshhhhhhh......Suri's in the house.

It's time for me to start telling you about our newest foster girl Suri. Now just to complicate things a little her New Rattitude name is Tina Fey, but Suri is a return dog to NR and she lived as Suri for almost a year and she knows her name very well so I will be referring to her as Suri in my blog.

The short story of how Suri ended up back in foster care is that Suri and her adoptive home turned out to not be a good fit for her. She has a sensory sensitivity and so noise and I believe certain touch or a combination of the two can be stressful and very uncomfortable for her.

You can read all about Suri coming back to NR here New foster girl Suri aka Tina Fey 

And here you can read about why the decision was made to transfer Suri to our foster home A change for Tina

As a person with chemical sensitivities and high pitched sound sensitivities I can totally relate to how Suri is feeling as a dog who doesn't tolerate the stacking of sounds (more on this in a later post). Now you might be rolling your eyes and thinking, "oh those people (and now their dogs!) in Seattle with all their sensitivities".  I understand there are people who can go through their life with nothing external that bothers them. That is great! Most people and probably most dogs can do that. BUT if you are a person with one or more sensitivities you will understand that these types of things do exist and are very valid problems and can be life altering.

So for the last week we have been lying low, trying to keep the noises that we create to a minimum while we figure out which noises Suri can and can't tolerate. We want to keep Suri as comfortable as we can and let her acclimate to what will be her new home with us for at least the next 2 months while we learn about what bothers her and problem solve what we can do to help her. As with Moon  and Sierra who both ended up really blossoming and being adopted into wonderful forever homes, we have a golden opportunity! Figuring out what we can do to help Suri and pinpointing what the best fit forever home looks like for her. Every dog has the perfect home out there...and I have no doubt Suri's will be there when she is ready to go "home".

And so our journey with Suri begins........

These pictures were taken of Suri in the first couple of days she was with us. You can see she is stressed, and not settled in. But that's ok! She has gone through a lot of changes and she will soon realize that it was all for her benifit and well being. And as the days go by we will no doubt have pictures of a calm and relaxed Suri, that is what we are striving for!
 

This was the first time she was trying to get comfortable on a dog bed near us. She couldn't quite bring herself to lie down so she stayed at half mast for quite a while. Day 2

Sitting with paw up, still tense and unsure. (pictures taken with a zoom lens) Day 2

You can see here she was wanting to just close her eyes but something was bothering her still....Day 2

Oops eyes are closing....  Day 2

Eyes closed but still tense and ears alert...  Day 2

That's a good start to looking relaxed but to me she still looks tense.  Day 2

Two days later she found this bed....she was having a better day on this day and she looks less tense and softer too but still alert. Day 4

And this is the first time I think she looks relaxed. Day 4

In Between Foster Dogs Part 3 Skip And I Take Our First T-Touch Class

Skip and I were invited by a fellow foster mom to a T-Touch workshop by Lori Stevens for senior dogs. Skip is not quite ready to think of himself as senior but that didn't matter at all. There was wonderful information and techniques for dogs of any age. This was a big thing for him. The class was all day long and he had lots of new people and dogs he had to maneuver. I am happy to say Skip did really well and best of all he asked to get up in a lap of someone he has met quite a few times and finally felt comfortable to get closer to. Skip is the kind of boy who needs lots of space and to choose to engage when he is ready, as you can see here he WAS ready and took full advantage of a safe, gentle lap.

Hi Julee, I think I'm ready to get to know you better..

Skip checking in with me to let me know he is getting brave.....while NR alum Boushey "Boo" says hi to Julee who was his foster mom a year ago.

Ahhhhh that's the ticket, Skip made it into Julee's lap and snuggled in for quite some time. Later that day I got an email from Julee who is now completely smitten with Skip. He does have that magic power.

Once we learned about some T-Touch we then took time to practice on our dogs. T-Touch is a very slow and gentle touch and as you can see Skip got very relaxed after about 5 minutes of me working on him. He kind of fell into my lap.

And then he went to sleep.

Here is Boo again, he and Skip showed the rest of the class how terriers rule. They had fun barking at a few intruders and just being their funny goofy selves. What would any class be without a couple of terriers in it?

Here is Boo getting worked on by his mom

After effects of T-Touch......

We had a very nice day together and now I have even more tools to work with all our dogs and foster dogs too! We learned that less is more when touching dogs, and with my new foster dog who you will meet very soon, this is going to be very helpful because she is super sensitive to noise and touch. I really learned a lot and am grateful to Julee that she invited me to come along! Please feel free to check out Julee's cool foster dog blog here http://cattierattie.blogspot.com/,

In Between Foster Dogs Part 2 A Hike On The Wallace Falls Trail

Pre fostering Dave and I would hike a different hike every Friday, rain or shine. We rarely missed and that was only if it was dangerous from high winds or too much snow. But then when we began to foster we either had too many dogs to hike a lot of places, or we had reactive dogs, or shy dogs so we found the quiet spots to hike that were close and started doing those on a more regular basis. Could we do more hikes when we have foster dogs and leave a few behind? Well yes we could, but that just doesn't feel fair or right to us as all the dogs need exercise and they really don't seem to care if we go the same places all the time as there are always new smells to smell and new things happening that they can explore. But in between foster dogs we decided to head out to Wallace Falls trailhead. This was mid week and the ONLY time we would even go close to this hike is mid week as we are the type of people who like to get away from crowds when we hike and it worked out great last Thursday to do something different and we and the dogs LOVED it!

This is what I like to find at a trailhead, only a few cars and lots of empty parking spots, Yahoo it is going to be a good day!

First stop potty breaks before hitting the trail, this way we can clean up and toss away before heading out. Jenny Boo had a different plan to use the grass for.

Ratties stick together, as you will notice this is always the way it goes, three ratties walking together, and Liza the Min Pin off scouting ahead...

This sign designates where the nice older part of the forest begins...

What a sight! Just us and the dogs....ahhhhh

Jenny says, "come on mom stop taking pictures and let's get going!"

Looking out at Wallace River

We decided to take the RailRoad grade, the woody trail is gorgeous but we know that the RRG get way less traffic.

Jenny again saying "mom take the picture so we can go!"

Skip looking so handsome

Liza checking things out ahead...yup still no one but us!

How peaceful is this?

Love these flowers called Indian Ghost Plant, Indian Pipes, or Corpse Plant thanks to my team mate for identifying them for me. If you click on the link you will see pictures of the flowers, they are very unique a subtly beautiful.

This is as far as we came today, we normally do a loop back along the woody trail, but it was so nice and quiet we just decided to walk back the way we came.

Sun starting to come through the trees...

Back to civilization...

Powerlines let us know we are almost back to the car. What a wonderful hike we had....and when we got back the parking lot was full and there were large groups of people starting their journeys. We hit is just right and got to feel like it was just us and the dogs for a just a couple of hours.....heavenly.

In Between Foster Dogs Part 1 A Shout Out To Our Personal doGs

Both Nash and Sierra were adopted and went home in the same few days! We just never know how the timing will be with adoptions so in this case we ended up with a week with no foster dog and because our personal dogs, Birdie, Jenny-Boo, Skip, and Liza are such terrific sports about sharing their mom, dad, and personal space with all the foster dogs we wanted to really make it a week of doing special things with our dogs to thank them for everything they do to help us help the foster dogs. Each of our dogs brings something to the table in teaching us how to be better dog parents and in teaching the foster dogs how to navigate a multi-dog home.

AND don't forget Theo the cat! He is instrumental in our fostering en-devour as I will explain below.

Theo is the cat litmus test for our foster dogs. If the foster dogs can't get along with Theo then they get the "no cats" button on their petfinder post. Theo is a very dog savvy cat he deserves a big thank you for his dedicated work.

Ahhhhh Jenny... my little senior girl. Jenny teaches foster dogs the art of avoiding. She will avoid avoid avoid when they try to engage her and if they don't get it after all that she lets them know with a quick correction. She also teaches foster dogs that they can be resilient and heal from any tragedy they have endured as she has endured probably the worst of any of our personal dogs and we are happy to say she is doing great now! Jenny also LOVES to go for walks and hikes and she teaches foster dogs how to stay on your people's heels at all times and just go with the flow. Thank you Jenny, you are a wonderful teacher to us all.

Thank You Birdie for teaching us that deaf dogs rule! Also for teaching those male foster dogs what true love really is (Birdie hasn't met a male foster dog she isn't smitten with), and for keeping all the dogs in line by teaching them what a strong female is all about!

Skip is very good with foster dogs. He doesn't cause them any trouble at all. He even shows them how to fetch a ball, but he doesn't like it when they horn in. He lets them run after him or with him but would rather be the star of the "fetch the ball show". He also will play with foster dogs now and then and he teaches the younger more exuberant ones that more distinguished dogs like himself like to wake up slowly in the morning and don't like young whippersnappers in his space until after breakfast, this is something all puppies need to learn. Thank you Skip for being who you are and teaching us how to advocate for our dogs!

Thank You Liza for teaching all the foster dogs that Min Pins and Rat Terriers are not the same. Liza shows them all that trusting humans and getting pets is a very good thing. Liza also makes sure to supervise all play between dogs in the house and calls them out if things get too fun. Liza you are a funny girl and we love you!

Update to our foster free week! Liza and Birdie got to do an official NoseWork class. They were super stars and will continue sniffing in class for three more weeks!

All the dogs got to go for a Hike, blog post to come....

Skip got to have momma all to himself for a whole day at a T-Touch workshop for senior dogs. Stay tuned for his adventure.

Remember Isetta?

We got lucky this weekend! I decided to check in on Isetta to see how she was doing and I got some pictures and news back within 10 minutes of my inquiry! You might remember her adopter/mom flew all the way out to WA state from Maryland to get her new little bundle of joy. Isetta is now Setta and she is the love of her mom and big sister's life! They adore this girl, who could not, and say they can't imagine life without her. She got to go to the ocean for a vacation this summer and likes to dig in the sand with sis, and also people watch with mom. She has learned some tricks too and one is called "where's your belly?". I would love to see that! Here are a few pictures of Setta enjoying her forever life!

Setta relaxing with mom enjoying all the world around them

Awwwww what could be sweeter than Setta and her big sister?

Mom also tells me that Setta likes to take sis's pens and pencils when she is doing her homework and also she will get in between her sister and Ipad when she is trying to concentrate. So happy for them all!

Remember Sunbeam?

You might recall Sunbeam our little Rat/JRT mix puppy girl who had experienced a bump in the road with an adoption that didn't work out, she was returned to New Rattitude, (we of course took her back into our care as foster parents), and then she was adopted again within about a week and a half! She had suffered submissive and excitment urination and needed a quieter home with people who were willing to work on this with her.

Well she got just that! I decided to check in on the little munchkin today, her name is Izzy now, and I asked how she was doing. Her mom and dad are over the moon with her. They adore her, call her "their baby", and best of all they report that her "little problem" as they refer to it, is just about non existent. Wow! This is a true testament to the dedication they have exhibited to continue to keep calm around Izzy and also manage the problem in a loving, patient, and compassionate way.

This warms my heart so much and I am so happy for her and for them. What a wonderful happy tail for Izzy.

And don't tell anyone but they are considering adding to the family again sometime next year and I can think of nothing I would like to do more than help them find a perfect fit for them and Izzy. But until then they are enjoying their "baby" and living up to their promise of being her forever home.

Sunbeam now Izzy before she went to her now forever home. What a cute girl she is!

Sweet Sierra Has Found Her Forever Home!

Sierra has been with us for almost three months and she certainly has made big strides in her physical and emotional healing. She has been nothing short of amazing and is a testament to how resilient she is from where she came from and where she is going. I will admit I wasn't able to post about her as much as I would have liked because of her extreme camera shyness. I wanted to respect her aversion to having a camera in her face because my main goal with all my foster dogs is that they feel comfortable in my presence. Being someone who doesn't like her picture taken either I could relate to Sierra's feelings and so it went. I went about it trying to capture her spirit and darling personality throughout the weeks she was here and I always hoped I was relaying who she is on my blog, more than what she looked like, so that someone reading about her might be enchanted by her unique personality enough to want to give her a forever home.

I am happy to say that it worked out exactly like that! A wonderful and very special young couple did see her on this blog and they, "were smitten with her", their words. Sierra's new parents feel they can relate their own personalities to hers and so because of this compassion and empathy they have for Sierra we are just over the moon that they came into her life to be her forever family. This is everything we had dreamed for Sierra.

So without further ado I will help Miss Sierra announce......

To read about Sierra's journey from being rescued from Central CA, through rehab for her luxating patella surgery, to present day please click here.

Here are my favorite pictures of Sierra....Happy Tails sweet girl....

The credit for this pictures goes to Gretchen at Triple Dog Pet Services!

The credit for this pictures goes to Gretchen at Triple Dog Pet Services!