By Christmas 2010 we were pretty sure that we were coming to South Africa so a second dog wasn't going to be in the cards. When we found out how much it cost to move one dog half way around the world we knew there was no way we would be getting another dog. So, I told the kids that I would consider fostering a dog in South Africa.
Bruin arrived in South Africa with no adverse affects. He loves the larger property. The water retriever instincts of the poodle and golden retriever mean that the pool is his favourite place to be.
Here in PE there are no leash free parks for dogs to play at. Most families have more than one dog for socialisation so there really isn't a need. There are dogs next door, but Bruin can't really play through a fence. He was lonely.
We didn't realise how lonely until we had a friend (with a border collie) stay at our place to take care of him while we travelled home for Christmas. When we got back poor Bruin was in mourning for weeks. He was constantly looking for his buddy, Phinn.
It was time for me to start looking at the possibility of fostering a dog. One of the things that never occurred to me before we moved was the stray pet population. It is huge. On a daily basis we see strays, or dogs with the pan handlers on the street corners. Sometimes the pan handlers have little pups with them and use them as a tool to gain sympathy from drivers hoping for more money. These strays or "pets" aren't spayed or neutered and the problem just keeps getting worse. I knew there were lots of strays for adoption, but searching on the Internet and asking around gave me no leads on fostering.
We were taking a trip to Cape Town and when I took Bruin in to the kennel I mentioned to the staff what a difficult time I was having finding information about fostering. She told me that the kennel actually had several dogs that they kept for the local Animal Anti Cruelty League. She said she would find out about fostering and said she had the perfect dog for us.
After dropping Bruin in his run, she introduced us to Boebie. She was a 2 1/2 year old Boerboel cross and she was beautiful. The kids immediately took a liking to her, she was friendly and energetic, a little bit shy, but she'd been at the kennel for about a year. The staff told us that she had a history of intolerance for other female dogs, but she shared a kennel with a male dog and seemed fine with males.
This is Boebie.
Since Bruin is such a well socialised dog and has never shown any aggressive or dominant tendencies, we thought that he would be the perfect companion for Boebie. I suggested that the two be introduced while they were both at the kennel.
The kids were so excited all weekend in Cape Town. I read up on fostering, shelter dogs and what to expect while we were driving. I also read up on the Boerboel, an African breed. We came up with the name Chloe for when she came to our home.
I found out that all that was required was a home visit to ensure that our property was safe and suitable to foster. A couple of weeks later we had our home assessed by M, an animal behaviourist, who was in charge of placement. M and I had both been told that the introduction between the dogs had gone well at the kennel and M was immediately approving of not only our home, but my experience in training Bruin. She was impressed with how "balanced" a dog Bruin was. So, a few days later I went to pick up Chloe.
We had both the dogs on leash at the second introduction in the driveway of the house and Bruin was his normal nosey friendly self, but Chloe took immediate offence and dislike to him. Things didn't improve in the first few hours, so I called M and she came by as quickly as she could to assess the situation. We walked the dogs side by side and they were fine and then Chloe would, seemingly out of the blue lunge at Bruin, teeth bared, and growling. She got close enough once that first day to take a chunk of hair out of Bruin's side, missing the skin thank goodness. Bruin didn't know what to think. Given his lack of dominance he backed right off and never even attempted to fight back.
Chloe was a loving and beautiful dog with the children and with dh and I. She was terrific on leash. She took to the crate easily. In every way she was a great dog, except with with Bruin.
With dh and I both at home in the evenings one could manage the children and one the dogs. We really wanted to provide a home for Chloe and kept trying. During the day the kids were at school I could manage Bruin verbally and Chloe was constantly on leash. On day 5, dh was out on a business dinner and I had to manage on my own with the children and the dogs. That was when I knew it wasn't going to work.
Bruin was becoming fearful with each unpredictable lunge from Chloe and he was becoming tentative to approach me even when I didn't have Chloe. I was scheduled to go to Cub Scout camp the coming weekend and dh and I knew that he could never manage 2 kids and both dogs at the same time. We agreed it was time to call an end to the experiment and with a heavy heart I reluctantly returned Chloe back to the kennel. The kids came with me and they were sad, but they also knew that no one was happy in the situation. They saw how much being with Chloe kept me from spending time with them and they were more relieved than sad in the end.
M and I kept in contact and though our experience with Chloe didn't turn out like we had hoped, dh and I hadn't given up on the idea. It was going to be done differently though. I told M that due to other commitments it would be a couple of weeks before we could even consider trying with another dog. She told us of a wag walk that was being held a few weeks later. It was a fundraiser for the AACL and would provide an opportunity for us to bring Bruin and introduce him to many of the AACL dogs. M had decided that Abby, who was on a foster farm was the perfect match for us.
Abby was a pavement special. 11 months old. Her mother had been picked up and Abby was born in a cage in the middle of the night at the shelter. Abby was kept at the shelter until she was weaned and then she and her brothers were sent to a large farm that they use as a foster facility. The farm has upwards of 150 dogs on site. Abby's health was in question and they were concerned about her eyes as they were very red and teary.
The day of the wag walk we put the whole family, including Bruin into the car, and took an extra leash just in case we needed it to bring Abby, or another suitable dog home.
We introduced Abby and Bruin and it didn't go badly, but I wasn't really convinced. Abby was shy and uncertain, she had never been on a leash before (or worn a collar for that matter) and she fought it many times. After a brief 2 km walk she was exhausted, lay down and wouldn't budge. She was thin and her eyes looked terrible. I was very concerned that she would not be a good match for an active dog like Bruin and expressed my concern to M and the other staff from AACL. They all felt that the stress of the situation was causing Abby's behaviour and that if we were willing to take her and make sure that her eyes were attended to, that even a short term placement would be beneficial to her health.
We stayed for a long while at the wag walk. The kids were totally taken with most of the animals. We saw Chloe/Boebie there too. She was just as unpredictable and aggressive on that morning as she had been at our home. It confirmed that we had made the right decision. After a good long rest Abby got up. She took a few treats from my hand and climbed into M's lap for a snuggle and that's what made up my mind. She looked just as happy and content in M's lap as Bruin does in mine.
It was decided, we were taking her home. We walked out with Abby on her new collar and leash and the minute we got to the road and a car drove by she bolted back to the rest of the shelter dogs. I ran after her and carried her back to the car, she was shaking. She lay down immediately on the floor and Bruin stood, I like to think protectively, over her.
When we got Abby home we left them both on leash, but there was no need. Bruin tried to play, but Abby wasn't interested so he left her alone and she hid in the bushes. She was shy around the children, they moved kind of erratically for her and she wasn't too sure. In fact she wasn't sure about anything, I had never seen an 11 month old puppy acting less like a puppy.
It's been two weeks now since we brought Abby home. She's still Abby, we didn't change her name because she really is an Abby. She is approaching the children and enjoying calm pats. If they move too quickly she still shies away, but it's getting better every day. She is playing with some of the dog toys and short walks don't exhaust her anymore. She's been know to grab the occasional sock or shoe. Her eyes have improved dramatically, but too much sun makes them red again. Most importantly we're starting to see more of her personality and less of her anxiety.
Oh and the thing that I was most worried about, well here's how that turned out.
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