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Post by Cheryl on Jul 12, 2006 4:14:40 GMT 1
I'm in the middle of moving into a new house and fishing. One of the statewide rescues that helps us ensure dogs are not PTS but rehomed emailed me last Sunday wanting my weimaraners.
Because many dogs or pups (sporting breed, not weims) go thru my home, the Fairbanks coordinator thought to lessen my load.
I'm not willing to give mine up. I asked if they'd like to try working with other state and weim rescues that were overloaded with weims needing homes since Alaska has so few weims. No response, yet.
I asked another board group if any of the rescue coordinators might like to try working with an Alaskan rescue coordinator to rehome weims, no response there yet, either.
Our summers are short and sweet, so I'm off to finish moving and to continue fishing while everyone thinks on it.
My "load" is all self inflicted, I have the responsibility and ability to say yes or no to any and all rescue as a volunteer.
To give up my own dogs, would be to tear my heart out, literally.
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Post by groovydreamyfab on Jul 12, 2006 20:38:53 GMT 1
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't understand why a rescue would ask you for your weims. I think that's weird. Does the rescue think that they can find better homes for them? How many do you have? What's the situation? Was wondering since you said they want to lessen your load. Why exactly do they want them? All the rescues I know of are desperately trying to find more foster homes, not more dogs. I don't get it. When you say that many dogs go thru your home, does that mean that you foster until a permanent home is found?
Cassandra
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Post by Cheryl on Jul 13, 2006 2:24:58 GMT 1
I have my own two weims. I brought home another weim from an out of town shelter home the end of April to see how he would need help and discovered he has hypothyroid and is also allergic to corn and wheat (so far).
I recently fostered two local weims and sent the first one to Homeward Bound in Fairbanks since this is what the local shelter asked me to do after fostering but as a foster, I get first choice in placement.
I kept one, he is not doing well on kibble. He does much better on a raw or home cooked diet so I am still figuring him out.
There are very few weims in Alaska and since the one was advertised as needing a home, with the response, the Fairbanks coordinator was caught up in the excitement and she doesn't really know my situation.
Her wording in the email was of her opinion that I have too many and should share. I don't know what her situation is other than she verbally told me she "has 30 dogs needing to be rehomed." She does have fosters some of the dogs go to, I don't know how many.
I have dogs come thru my home and on to her via the shelter and ACO if the shelter is full or the animal needs extra care or its been at the shelter too long and its time to be put down. Then I step in and foster until the ACO arranges for it to go on to Homeward Bound. The ACO also has to coordinate when there is room on a flight out of town.
Maybe she thinks two are two too many, and to have four, now is not acceptable now since she just had an big response to families wanting weims.
I've told the coordinator in Fairbanks that I'm getting out of rescue to continue the veterinarian assistant class that begins again in the fall. This does not mean (to me) that I should give up my dogs.
She thinks I cannot devote enough time to each dog when in fact my job and lifestyle encourages my dogs to be with me nearly round the clock.
I'm not changing my lifestyle nor giving up my job, I just need more expertise to help animals like Ducky the weim with hypothyroid and allergies. And Bullet who won't eat or put on weight unless he's fed raw and/or home cooked meals.
I had only two hours of sleep between moving into a house we're buying and working when she sent me the email wanting my weims and her reasoning. I thought it was written nicely, in fact like a cheer to bolster me up to the call of rescue, but it also made me wonder why on earth she thought I would give up my own dogs?
And, if the homes are so wonderful as she states she found in her home visits, why aren't people open to rehoming one or two of her "30" dogs?
I was planning on getting out of the rescue and fostering anyway since I'm going to take the classes this fall. The current ACO is stepping out of the position but she knows how well I care for animals. She has set up her own boarding and grooming facility so I won't have to do that anymore, either.
I prefer to try the education part of rescue from now on, not to jump in and do the saving for everyone else but to try to get it to where people are more aware and responsible so that if they do badly that they will also correct their mistakes with their animals. A long shot, but what a little weekly message in the paper might do, in the long run, we'll find out.
The owner of the local newpaper has been waiting for me drop the physical rescue and begin the new process since last spring since she has her own adopted rescues as the newspaper office mascots.
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Post by Cheryl on Jul 13, 2006 2:39:45 GMT 1
We'll see if the Fairbanks coordinator really wants weims and will begin working with other state weim rescues. I provided the information and contacts for her but she has ignored that so far. I try to treat all dogs equally. But mine come before anything else, and every time I have another dog or pup come into my life, I analyze how it will work with my dogs first.
My young adult children have golden retrievers and I have had a 16 year old golden for the past two years when her owners gave her up. We are an extended family and our dogs all get along with each other, and we do things together or separately with our own dogs.
We still visit our rehomed dogs that live in our town, and bring our dogs along or take hikes (short or long) with the family of the rehomed dog(s). Its all in a happy day, a way of life.
One golden retriever continually runs away from his home to our home to visit however long he is allowed to stay. He will have a hard time finding our new house which is a mile or two out of town, so we may need to just go and ask if he can "visit and play" instead of him running off.
She doesn't understand this, but I know most of the dogs in our town, and most of their names.
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Post by groovydreamyfab on Jul 14, 2006 1:02:20 GMT 1
If someone actually asked me to give up my weims, after I got finished laughing, I would give them a resounding No! I've had as many as 5, and not as fosters, but owned them all, adopted 3 of them. If anyone needs to "share" it's the lady with 30 of 'em. Someone once tried to tell me that 3 was too many. Please! I think everyone knows their own limits. Go with your instincts.
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