Hot off the presses:
Commenter paradox sends along the following pet adoption story:
Attached is a picture of me in my kitchen and the very popular Tunch apron, all who see it approve.
The dog is a rescue Pomeranian my sister found some place on the internet, she’s a serious poodle person and drove to Southern California (490 miles) to get this dog. There were and are three cats in the house already (one a rescue) and I was not looking forward to the uproar that of course ensued when Jasmine arrived. Took 60 fucking days for things to settle down.
She doesn’t like men and is devoted to the women in the house, won’t even go on a walk with me when I offer the leash. I love her and spoil her, of course–just as I knew I would–and she has slowly come around, Jasmine loves her morning scratch and looks to me for food. She is a ferocious guard dog and does not socialize well with other dogs, she’s still pretty scared and nervous, prolly always will be.
She has been a good addition to all of our lives, I can’t say it’s the best decision I ever made, right, I’ve made so few good ones somehow I don’t want to set one even further apart, and I went along with the idea anyway.
Bonus picture of paradox rocking the Tunch bling:
Don’t be shy- you too can rock the Balloon Juice quality apparel by clicking over to the store, and every penny of profit goes to Charlie’s Angels animal rescue!
Also, I really need to start posting more of the pet rescue stories. I have a bunch in the queue!
Larkspur
Yay, paradox! Things could still actually improve considerably with Jasmine. One of my favorite dog friends was a rescue, found wandering around Oakland at eight months old, looking really worse for wear. It took weeks for her to accept Mr. Dog Person – he actually got down on his hands and knees and waited for her to approach him. Now they’re good friends.
My dog friend is not a Pomeranian, though, but she remains very guard-doggy about the house and the securely fenced yard. When she’s out on a walk, or even off-leash on the trail, she is perfectly fine with other dogs. Sometimes you can help desensitize a fear-aggressive dog by having someone with a very mellow, placid dog walk in view of your dog, and get closer as she tolerates it. By the way, will Jasmine walk around the house on-leash with you? Maybe if one of the non-men persons handed the attached leash to you? Just for a few steps.
Darn, I love pet rescue stories. Also, I love that apron. But it might obligate me to actually cook something.
Violet
Jasmine is gorgeous! She looks like quite a handful. She’s practically leaping out of your arms. I bet things went crazy for awhile after she arrived.
Love the Tunch apron. That’s the one I bought for a friend of mine as a gift. Very good look!
demo woman
I love these stories.
My rescue is now eleven or so. She found me 8 1/2 years ago and was a real street bum. She still suffers separation anxiety when I leave and always will but the skittishness around strangers and other animals is gone. It just takes awhile.
SIA
Aw, Jasmine is a pretty girl! Good for you paradox! Introducing a new critter can be stressful. I kept a friend’s shepherd/devil dog mix last weekend and the whole pack went insane.
Got my new BJ mugs Friday. Nice quality, good work to JC, Laura W, and the others who designed them.
Capn America
Way to go paradox, people like you make my day!
Litlebritdifrnt
Cueball is a rescue (of sorts) cause he would have been euthanized had we not adopted him (pure white boxers are not welcome to most breeders), is seriously over zealous when it comes to the protection thingy. He will simply not tolerate any person or strange animal in his space. If there is a knock at the door he goes nuts, and will not calm down until I give him a good stern warning. If anyone ever tried to get into the house I would pity them. Cueball would tear them a new one and then some.
FoxinSocks
While we’re talking pet rescue, might I be able to give a link to the Montgomery County, MD, SPCA? mcspca.org/
I volunteer for them, fostering cats, and they’re a fantastic group. But with the economy the way it is, adoptions and donations are way down and give-ups are on the rise. If you happen to live in the area and could foster, that’s what we need the most. All you need is a spare room, some love and cat food. If you can’t take the cat to adoption events and the vet, we even have people willing to do that.
It’s rewarding work. I have two black cats from a hoarding situation who I could barely touch when I first got them. Now they give me little ‘mrrts’ whenever I walk into their room and the girl of the pair rubs up against me like I’m her best friend (well, I feed them, so I guess I AM their best friend). If you could, please visit our web site and if you don’t live in the area, check out your local cat rescue and see if there’s anything you can do to help them. They’re probably as strapped as we are.
Elisabeth
Jasmine is beautiful. Give her some time ~ you might still be surprised.
It took my adult rescue cat, Sam, over a year to finally settle in. There were early mornings when I really just wanted to open the front door and let him “escape.” He’d tear through the house, breaking whatever was in the way, including the same picture frame at least four times, and making a general nuisance of himself. I’m still not sure if he just wanted attention or if he was in dire need of food, since he hadn’t eaten in, oh, five hours. I’m thinking it might have been the latter because he seems to understand that food is something that he’ll get on a regular basis and that he doesn’t need to destroy the house to get it. Either way, in general, he has seemed to have just calmed down in the new year.
Good on you for taking her in and good luck!
SiubhanDuinne
@SIA: You and I got our BJ nugs and stuff on the same day, I think! (Mine might have been a day earlier.)
SiubhanDuinne
@SIA: You and I got our BJ mugs and stuff on the same day, I think! (Mine might have been a day earlier.)
ETA: Mugs, not nugs
SIA
@SiubhanDuinne: Oh I ordered some nugs too! :) BTW in case you didn’t read all of the decoratin’ thread, I thought your idea for the green walls was really good.
HE Pennypacker, Wealthy Industrialist
Dang, I need to send in a pet rescue story. Both dogs and all three cats in our household (including “Mozilla” cat, as pictured on this website once) are rescues.
Anne Laurie
Plaudits to Mr. Paradox, and congratulations to Jasmine on finding a forever home! Pomeranians are not the stereotypical “toy dog” — they are bred down from sled dogs, and they retain a certain terrier-like “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog” attitude. And 60 days, a mere two months, is hardly any time at all for a rescue to “settle down”… although I’m sure it seemed like forever to the rest of Jasmine’s new family!
Experienced rescue people have told me there’s a six-month adaptation period for most dogs & cats in a new home, even the ones who aren’t technically “rescues”. Having that horizon in mind has helped me get past what have sometimes seemed like incurable problems with a new addition — although sometimes it works the wrong way round, where a “perfect” cat suddenly starts using the carpet as a litter box, or a relatively well-mannered dog decides to challenge the other pets/people in the house in an attempt to approve their social standing…
One tactic that’s made an amazing difference with our latest supposed-to-be-temporary rescue dog is hand-feeding her. All we knew for sure about five-year-old Gloria’s background was that she had been turned into the SPCA by the police for “neglect”, that she was underweight and had to be shaved to the skin because her coat was so badly matted. We took her in when Gloria started fighting in earnest with the registered foster family’s much older & smaller female dog. It quickly became clear that Gloria, like Scarlett O’Hara, had decided that she would never go hungry again… and, like Scarlett, her attitude had made her unfit for polite company. She’s a heartbreakingly smart, fast, good-looking dog, usually friendly with people and tolerant of other dogs — but if there is anything that might be food within reach she will take it and she will not allow dog or person to keep her from taking it! We’d been shutting her in her crate during mealtimes, so our other two dogs could eat in peace, but my Dog Guru (who’s been involved in herding-dog rescue for almost 30 years) suggested that I start hand-feeding Gloria, kibble by kibble. I did wonder if I’d retain all my fingers the first time I tried this, and Gloria seemed almost as dubious, but within just a few weeks it had made an enormous difference in her attitude and everyone’s stress level. She’s actually very careful, racing for her crate when the dog dishes come out, and staring me in the eye as she gently takes each kibble from my fingers. Best I can mirror her thought processes, it’s important to her that we are not just leaving food around where she can scavenge it, we’re actively giving it to her, ensuring that she’s got what she needs, so she doesn’t have to work as hard the other 23-1/2 hours a day to remind us that she’s part of the household, someone to whom attention must be paid…
asiangrrlMN
@Larkspur: There is a Tunch thong, you know, and you wouldn’t be obligated to cook anything–in the kitchen.
You did a good thing, paradox. Jasmine is beautiful.
SGEW
Well, this makes my day. Huzzah!
– S.G.E.W. +[redacted]
Ruckus
@Anne Laurie:
I’ve heard that 6 month adjustment period thing as well and I’d have to say I think it sure sounds about right.
paradox, congrats with Jasmine. If you have anything close to the time I’m having with Bud then everything will be fine. We’re right at 6 months and he follows me from room to room, falling asleep right away. We’ve been through cleaning ears every day because they hadn’t been done for a very long time. Now down to once a week. Two weeks ago he got a summer cut and lost about a pound of hair and gained about 2-3 years of his youth back. But on hot days I can tell his age as he doesn’t like to walk nearly as much, getting tired pretty quickly.
One of the best decisions I’ve every made, letting him force me to take him home.
Liz
Best of luck with your Jasmine, paradox. As everyone has said, rescues can be a real crapshoot. I think it’s safe to say that with lots of love and attention she’ll be an awesome addition. She’s a doll.