Meet My Foster! = )

[luvofallhorses]

I love the new pictures of her especially the first one. She has such a sweet face.

[buttercup132]

Aww Erica your amazing
I would have followed him though lol and beat his a**
I wish I could take her off you, she looks sooo sweet

Do you want me to see if my rescue will do a courtesy post on petfinder of her?

[bckrazy]

I'm sorry I haven't updated for a few days...

First of all, Jemima is completely healthy besides being underweight. She gained 6 lbs already! I'm relieved that her mistreatment hasn't resulted in any serious illnesses.

I also have some very, very bad news. After I knew she was healthy, I started slowly introducing her to Fozzie. He is a bombproof dog, completely unthreatening, laid back, and another dog has not so much as growled at him he is so dog-social. I thought everything was going to go well. I was walking them together, and they did well, sniffed each other a bit and pretty much ignored one another. I went inside the house with them for a minute... literally one minute... Fozzie was sitting about 10 feet away from her and not even looking. And Jemima went after him. No warnings, or changes in her body language, she just went after him. Fozzie was running away and she was still going after him, and was pulling and snapping at him even when I managed to grab her collar. Fozzie was shaking afterwards, but thankfully unharmed.

I am so disheartened and sad right now. I don't know what I'm going to do. With that reaction, there's NO WAY she could get along with Gonzo, and I just can't put either of my dog's in harms way so they have to be isolated from each other 24/7. I'm scared. They've already accidentally met 3 times... thanks to certain people I live with... and before now, it seems like she was just so weak and unsure that she didn't react. I don't blame her at all for possibly being DA, whether from fear or guarding or whatever. She has scars, she's obviously been hurt by other dogs. But this really changes everything and I'm worried about how I'm going to handle keeping 3 dogs happy who cannot be together at all for the next few weeks, possibly even months.

[BC_MoM]

Our rescue tries to not deal with dog aggressive dogs simply for the fact that most of our foster homes and homes that adopt from us already have other dogs.

IMO, keeping her confined isn't something you should feel guilty about. While it's not her fault she's aggressive (probably the scum that dumped her's fault), being cooped up for several hours is better than being killed, a stray, or winding up in the pound, right?

[Husky_mom]

my two Huskies are separated by that same reason... Ninja can´t stand China.... they share a gate and can sniff/see each other but not touch...

China wants to play and Ninja immediately growls and snaps... so for their better they are separated... no big deal... I´d love if they could be together but it just wasn´t meant for them... both were raised together since puppies... but a third dog started this between them... so it wasn´t abuse or socialization just maybe following up or dominancy... China is very very mellow and Ninja is more dominant but was ok until this other dog tried to be the alpha on China... when removed Ninja took over that task and it was not pretty...

I hope her being young might still be able to "remove" the ugly part so they can be together...perhaps more time for her to realize not all people and not all dogs are bad... she might not know that dogs play...

[RobiLee]

She's a cutie. I'm sorry to hear about the dog aggressive problem and I'm wishing you all the best.

[Giselle]

Erika, I understand the worry and fear well. I won't go into details, but let's just say Ivy and I understand very very well and we have our own horror stories to tell.

And I will say this: You still have a chance to keep everything stable and everybody sane. I made a commitment to Ivy, and I will not give her up as I cannot rehome her in good conscience. She has serious issues and it would be downright irresponsible for me to release her into new hands. So, in a sense, I am obligated to keep her. But you are not by any means obligated to keep Jemima, even as a foster. I know it sounds cruel, but I know what it's like to own an unstable dog in a multi-dog home and I know what it entails and I don't want you to walk into that.

If Jemima is truly dog aggressive (and I would make multiple, full assessments and enact NILIF and similar discipline regiments before deciding for sure), I would consider two things:
1) Exactly how unstable is she and to what extent and in what situations?
2) Knowing #1, can you, in good conscience, rehome her? And what type of home would she need and what quality of life would she receive with those stipulations?

But before you decide: Try to consider and understand her triggers. She sounds very attached to you. If you were with them when she attacked, it's very likely that she was fighting over you. It doesn't mean she's "dominant" or all that other fudge. It just means that she doesn't have self control, she doesn't have proper socialization skills, and she desperately needs guidance. It's workable, but Jemima may always carry an inherent risk if this is deeply biological. And it very well could be. I know this all too well, and I give you my deepest sympathies.

Sleep on it. And if you need tips on how to control these types of dogs, don't hesitate to PM me. I'm all too familiar with these situations...