stormdog | Entries tagged with fostering

Piper is *finally* going to bet spayed tomorrow. I'm so glad she's no longer either too underweight and sick for the procedure, having a heat cycle, or going through a false pregnancy anymore! Tomorrow, the vet said, one way or another, we're finally going forward with surgery.

This means, of course, that the obstacles that have kept her from being adoptable are no longer an issue. I'm facing the fact that the time when she will leave us draws ever closer.

This parting, unlike many of the others I've had with animals through my life, doesn't mean that she is at the end of her life. She'll be with another person or people who chose to be her guardians despite the difficulties that come with a diabetic, low-vision dog. People who care about her, take care of her, and love her.

I keep thinking not about the big things, but about the little things we know about her. All her habits and needs we know so well and have become so good at understanding. How to tell when she's hungry, or wants to play. How she's been sleeping on top of a pile of Danae's clothes sometimes this week because Danae's away. How happy she is to see either of us walk in the door.

I'll miss her a lot, but I'll be just as happy to know that she's with her forever-people. I'd like to foster more dogs; have many animals in my life to take care, to help get well, and help find their people. I'll be more happy than sad I think. The hard part is imagining how Piper will feel. Thinking of her feeling scared and confused and abandoned is the part that's really hard for me.

I'm reassured by the fact that I know I know how deeply the shelter staff care deeply about the animals in their charge. If they don't think it's a good match, they won't let the adoption go forward. If and when Piper finds a new home, the chance of it being a great one for her is as high as can be hoped. Maybe if it's nearby, I could even visit a few times and ease the transition.

I'll be dropping her off at 8:00 AM central. I wish our silly dog an easy surgery and a speedy recovery.

I was so glad to see Piper looking so happy, head out the car window and hair blown back by the wind, as I drove back from the vet. She's had a long day.

She was having diarrhea last night. I took her out around midnight in the hope she'd be ok overnight, but by the time I woke up her crate was a doggie disaster area. Then she tracked poop onto the carpet before I could grab her and bring her outside. She wouldn't eat breakfast, so the vet said not to give her insulin and that I should come pick up some wet food for her. Danae helped me get her into the bathtub where I lathered her up with dog shampoo and wiped her down. She was terrified, but put up with it like a champion. At least her hair is all smooth and shiny now. We had to cut a little bit of matted stuff off of her, but it was minor.

Then I locked her in the bathroom while I went to my therapy session, since her crate is uninhabitable. It was a long day for me too, or at least a stressful one. My therapists supervisor and a couple other students, with my permission of course, were observing the session, so I was stressed and self-conscious. Regardless, it went well, and I had a brief conversation with her supervisor too, who seemed really nice. More stuff to think about regarding emotions.

Piper's been back in a diaper all day, but seems well and is happy to be out of the bathroom (where she did not make a mess). She just ate a bunch of her wet food, so I'm going to keep a close eye on her while I try to clean out her crate and scrub the carpet again. She's lucky she's so adorable. As the shelter staff said in email when I asked them about potentially box-training her and how that would affect her adoptability, she is a special-needs dog and will require special people. Learning to eliminate on a pee-pad or in a box would be the least of our issues in that department.

My special puppy dog....