The things we do for love

"Tia" in 2007

Some of you dear readers recall that we adopted a rescued doberman a few years ago, summer of 2007.  I found her  through a favorite bird blog; where else would you expect to find information about adopting dobermans? 🙂  The blogger posted a sweet picture of the doberman his family had taken in, and linked to a favorite rescue group, Special Needs Dobermans.  Powerless to resist, I clicked through.  I ended up writing to the group to ask if they had any senior dogs they were trying to place – someone who could be a nice companion for Baxter.

Baxter in 2006

Longtime readers might remember Baxter.  He was a “NYC street dog” who attached himself to me and my other dog, Bear, one evening in 1994 as Bear and I walked to Fort Tryon Park.  He was malnourished, banged up from a fight, and dragging a dislocated leg (yes, his own).  He was about 1 year old, and was gracious enough to hang around with us for another 15 years.  Baxter seemed quite lonely after Bear died in 2005, and eventually we thought it might cheer him up to have another companion.  But since he was getting on in years, we wondered if he would prefer someone close to his age and temperament.  Hence my inquiry about senior rescue dogs.

Special Needs Dobermans put me in touch with another rescue group, Doberman Pinscher SOS here in California.  We didn’t start this process thinking, “we’re going to adopt a doberman.”  Never really crossed our minds.  But the photos I saw, and the profiles I was reading, and the information both rescue groups provided about how hard it is to find homes for adult dobermans, were sucking me in.   I wandered around the Dobie SOS web site, still intending to look for an older dog.  But suddenly I saw “Tia’s” picture and was captivated.  I called the Better Half over to look, and we decided we had

(This is not Tia's adoption profile photo - I took this a year or so later - but it's "the face.")

to meet her.  Eventually, we learned Tia’s story: an LA county shelter called Doberman SOS to alert them that a doberman had been turned in.  That dog was not Tia, but the rescuer took a quick walk through the shelter while she was there, spotted Tia, and decided to take her, too.  Just like that, Tia’s luck changed: she went from almost-certainly-doomed, into the safety of an amazing rescue group that will take care of its charges all their lives if they never find a permanent home.  Would that millions of other dogs a year get this lucky.  We drove 3 hours to meet Tia, fell in love with her, made sure Baxter approved, and adopted her.

Cooper made himself right at home.

She instantly bonded with Baxter.  But when Baxter died in 2009, Tia had to get used to being an only dog.  We fostered a rescued hound for several months last year, but he couldn’t stop chasing the cats.  With the help of Beagles and Buddies, Cooper found a more appropriate home.  And Tia was alone again.

Then last summer, the Better Half read a story about Muttville, a Bay Area-based group that specializes in rescuing and placing senior dogs.  Once again, I scoured the web site reading sad stories and looking for cat-friendly dogs.  I spotted this wonderful guy – a (then) 10-year old miniature poodle, “Sheppy,” who needed a new home.  We met for a play date, Tia seemed to like

"Sheppy"

him, and we adopted him.

Does this look like a "stressbot" to you?

All’s well that ends well… except for one weird complication.  Tia is a worrier by nature – a “stressbot,” as her vet says.  She needs lots of exercise to burn off the energy that she would otherwise devote to worrying.  Before Sheppy moved in, Tia and I had developed a pretty good running routine in McLaren Park.  Sheppy is in great shape, but he has to do a lot of work to keep up with a human and a doberman, so he couldn’t run with us.  But if he’s not coming, Tia won’t go!  I leash her up, take her outside, and as soon as she figures out  that I’m actually thinking of leaving without Sheppy, she sets her parking brake and refuses to budge.  If I get too insistent about it, she will actually collapse to the ground – dead weight.

Lots of it.  As a result of her firm “I won’t go anywhere without Sheppy” stance, Tia has put on at least 5 pounds in the last year.  That’s a lot of poundage for a dog, the equivalent of a nearly 30-pound weight gain for you or me.  I was desperate to figure out a way to get her running again.  “What about a jogging stroller?” I asked the Better Half, who looked at me like maybe I wasn’t quite grasping the connection between running and weight loss:  how would a jogging stroller help Tia lose weight?  “To put Sheppy in!  We could strap him in, and Tia can run alongside!”  We both know it won’t be THAT easy; Tia – who is near-phobic about novel objects – will need to be introduced and then gradually habituated to the stroller before team-running is possible.  But it seemed worth a try.  Now… to find a stroller.

Enter Freecycle.  Last night, a Freecycler posted an offer for an 8-year old, well-loved jogging stroller!  I wrote and told her my plan, and she gave it to me.

(Sheppy has some concerns about this plan.)

Now I just have to fix the brake (although, at 20 pounds, Sheppy won’t exactly turn this buggy into a runaway train) and make certain that Sheppy can be securely strapped in.  Then we begin habituating Tia to her big blue running companion.  THEN we’ll make our maiden voyage.  I’ll keep you posted.

Each of the rescue groups I mentioned here is doing amazing work in very trying economic times, and can really use your support:

Beagles and Buddies

Doberman Pinscher SOS

Muttville

Special Needs Dobermans

P.S. (Update) Just found this photo and had to add it – Bear and Baxter, circa 1994, not long after Baxter found us.

The things we do for loveSome of you dear readers recall that we 

adopted a rescued doberman a few years ago,

summer of 2007.  We did not go looking for a

doberman specifically; I stumbled onto her.

I was reading a favorite bird blog, and the

writer posted a picture of the doberman they

had just adopted http://birdfreak.com/a-

break-from-birding/.  They linked to a

particular rescue group, Special Needs

Dobermans http://birdfreak.com/a-break-

from-birding/, and I clicked through to

their site.  I’m kind of a “special needs”

softie.  I ended up writing to the

coordinator of that group to ask if she had

any senior dogs she was trying to place.

Longtime readers might remember Baxter.

Baxter was a “NYC street dog” who attached

himself to me and my other dog, Bear one

evening in 1994.  He was about 1 year old,

and was gracious enough to hang around with

us for another 15 years.  Baxter seemed

quite lonely after Bear died in 2005, and

eventually we thought it might cheer him up

to have another companion.  But since he was

getting on in years, we wondered if he would

prefer someone close to his age and

temperament.  Hence my inquiry about senior

rescue dogs.

Special Needs Dobermans put me in touch with

another rescue group, Doberman SOS here in

California.  I wandered around that web

site, still intending to look for an older

dog.  But suddenly I saw “Tia’s” picture and

was captivated enough that I had to meet

her.  Eventually, we learned her story: an

LA county shelter called Doberman SOS to

alert them to a doberman that had been

turned in.  That doberman was not Tia, but

the rescuer took a walk through the shelter

while she was there, and spotted Tia.  She

decided to take her, too.  Just like that,

Tia’s luck changed: she went from almost-

certainly-doomed, to an amazing rescue group

that will take care of its charges all their

lives if they never find a permanent home.

Would that some XXX,000 other dogs a year

get this lucky.  We drove 3 hours to meet

Tia, fell in love, and adopted her.

She instantly bonded with Baxter.

But when Baxter died in 2009, Tia had to get

used to being an only dog.  We fostered a

rescued hound for several months last year,

but he couldn’t stop chasing the cats.  With

the help of Beagles and Buddies, Cooper

found a more appropriate home.  But Tia was

alone again.

Then last summer, my better half read a

story about Muttville, an SF-based group

that specializes in rescuing and placing

senior dogs.  Once again, I poked around the

web site.  I spotted this wonderful guy – a

then-10-year old miniature poodle, “Sheppy,”

who needed a new home.  We met for a play

date, Tia seemed to like him, and we adopted

him.

All’s well that ends well, except for one

weird complication.  Tia is a worrier by

nature – a “stress-bot,” as her vet says.

She needs lots of exercise to burn off the

energy that she would otherwise devote to

worrying.  Before Sheppy moved in, Tia and I

had developed a pretty good running routine

in McLaren Park (trail shot).  Sheppy is in

great shape, but he has to do a lot of work

to keep up with a human and a doberman, so

he couldn’t run with us.  But if he’s not

coming, Tia won’t go!  I leash her up, take

her outside, and as soon as she figures out

that I’m actually thinking of leaving

without Sheppy, she sets her parking brake

and refuses to budge.  If I get too

insistent about it, she will actually

collapse to the ground – dead weight.

Lots of it.  As a result of her firm “I

won’t go anywhere without Sheppy” stance,

Tia has put on about 7 pounds in the last

year.  That’s a lot of poundage for a dog –

the quivalent of a nearly 30-pound weight

gain for you or me

http://www.hillspet.co.uk/weight-

loss/Dog/Weight-check.aspx.  I was desperate

to figure out a way to get her running

again.  “What about a jogging stroller?” I

asked the Better Half, who looked at me like

maybe I wasn’t quite grasping the point of

running.  How would sitting in a jogging

stroller help Tia lose weight?  “To put

Sheppy in!  We could strap him in, and Tia

can run alongside!”  We both know it

wouldn’t be THAT easy; Tia – who is near-

phobic about novel objects – would need to

be introduced and then gradually habituated

to the stroller before running would be

possible.  But it seemed worth a try.

Now… to find a stroller.

Enter Freecycle.  Last night, a Freecycler

posted an offer for an 8-year old, well-

loved jogging stroller!  I wrote and told

her my plan, and she gave it to me.

Now I just have to fix the brake (although,

at 20 pounds, Sheppy won’t exactly turn this

buggy into a runaway train) and make certain

that Sheppy can be securely strapped in.

Then we begin habituating Tia to her big

blue running companion.  THEN we’ll make our

maiden voyage.  I’ll keep you posted.