Sunbeam Back in Foster Care....What Happened?

Sunbeam is my first foster dog to be returned. One of the things I love about New Rattitude is that we have a really good adoption process that is 4 pronged and in the end what the #1 goal in finding a forever home for any of the rescue dogs who are in our care is to make sure the family and home setting is a good fit for the dog along with of course, commitment, love, stability and all the other qualities a forever home needs to possess. Otherwise what is the point in rescue if the only goal is to save a dog from certain doom only to shuffle the dog back out into another situation where he or she is not cared for properly or even abused or neglected again. But even a bad fit for numerous reasons can be hard on the dog as well.

I am also Adoption Coordinator and process applications for most of our PNW foster dogs. Part of what I do is adoption counseling with each applicant where I do an hour or so phone chat with an app and we discuss everything that adopting a dog means for them and their unique situation. We talk about the individual dog they have applied for and go over any issues that dog might have and try to figure out if there will be a good fit between the applicant and the dog. I also do feeding and training education. I also call references and do vet checks. This is my part of the 4 pronged adoption process.

The entire adoption process was followed for Sunbeam and she was adopted by a loving family. But even all the best intentions in the world can not guarantee that everything will work out every time! Life is not perfect and no matter how hard we try sometimes something breaks down. When adopting a dog from New Rattitude the adopter is required to sign an adoption contract and part of that contract says that if the adopter needs to give the dog up or needs to return the dog that they return the dog back to NR. So when things were not going well for Sunbeam her adopter let me know that they were broken hearted but they felt that Sunbeam would be better suited in a different home. I can tell you I would much rather have my foster dog back with me if things aren't going well and this way I can assess the dog and make sure that the next family will be a better match. This is where we are with Sunbeam now.

Sunbeam experiences submissive and excitement urination, SU/EU,  which manifests as literally uncontrollable peeing, or "piddling", when she gets really excited or feels the need to show people or other dogs that she is submissive and means them no harm. SU/EU is not a house-training issue, it is a physical response that puppies who are submissive by nature, or even mature dogs who have had extreme trauma which has damaged their self confidence or made them extremely fearful can experience. In Sunbeam's case she is a submissive puppy by nature. This doesn't mean she doesn't run up like a crazy puppy to get in my dog's faces and try to play with them because she does! But when one of them corrects her, she immediately will crouch down, roll on her back, and sometimes depending on the correction coming from the dog she will piddle. In dog speak this is totally normal and is meant to convey, "I am being submissive to you, I mean you no harm".  The other time Sunbeam piddles is when she is super excited and here is what happened in her prior adoptive home. She was in a home where the atmosphere seemed to be too high excitment for her to be successful in working on the SU/EU. We think the combo of a younger child and all that goes along with kids wanting to play and move quickly exacerbated the SU/EU. Then because she was piddling on the floors, furniture, beds when getting excited this created frustration in the household and this was a recipe for disaster. Once there was an air of frustration and then lots of excitement, her SU/EU was getting worse, and although she was loved her adoptive mom felt it was in Sunbeam's best interest to come back to our home, and for us to find her a better suited home where she has the activity level a Rat/Jack 5 month old puppy needs but also the calmness in the home that she needs to be successful, and the patience it will take for her to grow out of this. She will grow out of this but it could take some time so she needs to be in a place where she is given that time.

Our home is pretty calm with just two adults and a dog pack and Sunbeam is doing well. We are learning what works and what doesn't work and there is a learning curve but Sunbeam is worth it! She is such a dear puppy girl and we are committed to making sure her next adopter truly is her forever home.

Here is a really great explanation of Exited Urination, http://suite101.com/article/excitement-urination-in-dogs-a71041,  and it also speaks to Submissive Urination and what the humans can do to help a dog with this. And as always is comes down to training our selves to do things differently to help the dog be successful. This is why I love dogs, they help me to become a better me by forcing me to change the way I relate to them so I can help them blossom, and in turn I am can blossom too.

I am committed to Sunbeam to make sure her next home will be the perfect fit. All I have to do is look at this face and my mission is clear.

Things That Make You Go Awwwwwwww.......

Moon has decided Dave is a safe lap

Sunbeam has always loved Dave's lap.

The Many Sides of Sunbeam

These pictures say it all. Sunbeam is a beautiful girl!

This Just in....Chevette Update!

I got the best update from Chevette's (now Milla) adopters and also some video. As you might recall Milla and Jake, who used to be Sammy, are fur siblings. This link is a video of both Milla and Jake playing in the sun. They are so cute together!

Milla and Jake's mom writes:

Things have been going great with Milla.  I dare say she is perfect.  A real dream come true.  Gary is head over heels with her.  He calls her baby and princess all the time.  I'm surprised Milla even knows her name since he rarely calls her by her name. LOL  Everyone who meets her loves her.  I recently took her to the groomers to get her nails trimmed and I spied the groomer giving her kisses when they were all done.  Aawwww!
 In this clip Milla has made herself comfortable on the dining room table in the clean laundry. :)

Sun and Moon, Two Shining Rays, Light Up My Morning

With a puppy in the house I get up earlier than I normally do. Sunbeam and Moon both sleep all night in their crate but they both are ready to get up and go potty around 6:30am so I get up and get them out right away. This is really awesome because normally I get up around 7 and so I get to have some time just with these two little rays of light before the rest of the pack is up. This is Moon's 4th day with us and she was sooooo excited to greet me this morning. What a difference just a few days make. She was wiggling and jumping up for me to pet her. We almost got out in the nick of time, but Moon stopped along the way to go potty in the house. No worries! I right away called her to go out and this morning she ran out the door with me rather than waiting for me to prop it open and then step away. This is awesome and she amazes me with her progress. Once they came back in they were both full of energy and ready to greet the day. I managed to grab my camera and take a few shots, some blurry as there was playing involved. Youngsters are so full of life and energetic and bring new life to humans of my middle age :)

Sunbeam full of puppy energy right out of the shoot this AM.

Moon and Sunbeam vying for my attention by jumping up on me. Moon has been so timid that this was very welcome coming from her.

More early morning  wrestling......kids!

They took it to my chair.

Moon contemplating telling Sunbeam, the puppy, to knock it off

What cuties!

What do you think Moon is thinking in this picture? LOL  So funny to see the size difference. The two dogs are about the same height but Sunbeam at 5 months is 11.5 lbs and Moon at 1 year is just under 9 lbs.

Moon's First 24 Hours in Foster Care

The last 5 months have been tough on Moon. Not only did she end up in a Central Ca high kill shelter 5 months ago, but she was also pregnant. She had two puppies, who also are in foster care with New Rattitude PNW, but she and her puppies faced euthanization. They were all 3 rescued from that ill fate and taken into a foster home where Moon could raise her puppies. Somewhere along the way she got a broken leg so she had to spend 7 weeks with a splint on. She finally got the splint off and we volunteered to foster her for New Rattitude. As luck would have it 2 other foster parents, one in Yakima, WA and our foster parent in Amity, OR volunteered to each take one of Moon's beautiful white puppies to foster. Moon and her puppies had a two day transport to get to their new foster homes and although the puppies, now 5 months old, did just fine, the transport and transition was much harder on Moon.

We took Moon for her first walk with the pack today. We knew we would be going slow and also we wouldn't be going as far as we normally do. We let Moon set the pace and although Sunbeam could have gone 100 times farther, Moon was the navigator and we all respected her comfort zone.

Moon has most likely not had a harness and leash on before or at least she had not had a good experience with it. The most important thing was for me not to pull her or let the leash tug or put pressure on her at all. Moon is super sensitive emotionally and physically and we wanted her to have a good experience so she can go for many more walks on the trails and enjoy being with our pack.

In no time flat she was walking and her tail even came out from between her legs. She forgot being frightened and she started sniffing and even prancing. She liked walking beside me or behind me. Once in a while she would freeze. I would walk toward her and let her lead me and once I let her know she was the pilot, she would unfreeze and go back to enjoying herself. It warmed our hearts and I can honestly say she has been a different dog since our walk today. The pictures will show you what I mean.

Here is where Moon felt most comfortable the first day she was with us. She liked having her crate inside the bigger crate so she could either sit out and watch us in the house or she could go inside her smaller crate when she felt she really needed a break.

Here is Moon on her first hike. She had a lot to get used to, the car ride over and then the harness and leash.

As you can see she was a bit unsure but she did really well for the first time. We just went very slow and she got to let us know if she wanted to go forward or not. We only went about 3/4 of a mile and it took about 45 minutes but it didn't matter! We just wanted her to get out and smell the air and be curious if she wanted.

 In these videos Moon goes between feeling confident and curious to feeling nervous and apprehensive, you can tell by her tail position. This might have been her first time on a walk we aren't sure so we think she did really super!

 These next pictures are so telling. On the car ride over to our walk with Moon and the pack she was trembling and panting and very nervous. Although we normally crate our dogs when in the car we allowed her to be in my lap on the way over because we knew we would not be able to get her out of the crate when we got there. She would have been too scared and we were not going to be able to reach in and get her, and also I don't believe in pulling a dog out of a crate if they are afraid, this sets up a trust issue with the dog and person, so she rode in my lap on our way over.

After our walk we drove to a boat launch to look at the river and Dave asked me to put Moon in his lap. She had not been too sure about him so far but after the walk she had stopped her trembling in the car and seemed to be more ina curious mode. I can see the change in her whole demeanor.

I just love how curious she was.

Looking much more confident.

Now there is a smart smart girl, you can see it in her eyes. All this from a simple walk?

 Once we got home Moon was remarkedly more comfortable in the house, she was still cautious and we have a ways to go but in 24 hours we both were amazed by this sweet girl's progress. She had gone from walking around the house in the morning with her tail tucked and under she could barely even go potty when she needed to this tail position just hours after going for a walk.

And then the most amazing thing happened, Moon and Sunbeam started to play! I was so surprised and elated! (pardon the loud back ground noise in the second clip, my husband was watching a youtube thing with a loud engine racing)

After Moon and Sunbeam played together for quite a while, Moon got into a chair instead of her crate in a crate. I would say our first 24 hours with Moon has taught us how brave and resilient this special girl is. We are so happy to have her in our home and to have the privilege of helping her on her way to her forever home.

I am so tired after my first day in my foster home......

A little ray of Sunbeam is back with us for now.

Just an update on our foster dog little Sunbeam (click on the link to see more Sunbeam)
While we do our very best to match up an adopter with a dog, sometimes the adoption just doesn't work out. That's the case with Sunbeam and she's now back with us.  Sunbeam will be working on confidence building while she's with us and we are looking forward to helping this little girl shine! 

As you can see Sunbeam is still the cutest dog!

Sweet baby, luckily she has the "off button" after lots of playing that is.....sweet girl.

As you can see, Sunbeam has done a bit of growing over the last 5 weeks.