Rescue Journal

brain boggling again.

Carol  ·  Jul. 20, 2011

ewok is not a magic eraser dog....she has mud and shavings stuck to her fur which means sadly each day after she is finished mucking around the pond and the barn...someone is going to have to brush her. because she needs drying time (she quite likes to swim) that someone is probably me. i don't want to brush a big, black, fuzzy, dirty dog when i get home from work. why can't she be like the magic eraser dogs where the crap just falls off of them? (usually on my bed!)...life is so unfair.
smokey might be a magic eraser dog...he is usually pretty clean or maybe he is careful when he is out to not get so freaking messy.

they are both settling in...they now are sharing a bigger bed in the big dog room and moving around on their own a bit more. they are both actually coming up to me with the others to say hello and get a cuddle when i come home....they really and truly are very sweet and gentle dogs. but because they moved over to the big dog room, i haven't brought jess back to the house at night. there is no way i am letting him bug them so he has to stay over in the office for now.

some new dogs feel comfortable here within a day or two...a few have taken as long as a month or 6 weeks (bibi)..i am thinking these guys are probably going to be the slower ones...and i am wondering if, they might end up being more comfortable themselves in the office if i switch them and jesse around. we will see. i don't want to move them unless i have to....if they can be happy in the house with a bit of time and patience, that is where i prefer them to be. but i am keeping in mind their history...they were puppies when they went to live with a family in their 80's and they are 13 years old now. their whole lives have probably been quiet, subdued and predictable and the office in the end might suit them both really well. i suppose we can handle jess in the house again, it just means the little ones can't go into the big dog room anymore...not that they will care that much since they are more concerned with having unlimited access to my bed.

every time new animals come in...we have to re-figure, re-configure, and sort everyone's needs out again. it is exhausting and stressful and worrisome trying to meet the individual needs of so many...which is EXACTLY why i wanted a break from new intakes...i just want everyone to settle and get comfortable in their right for them perfect place. we are still trying to sort out the medical room to find the perfect match in there. we moved maestro and sage out to stop oliver from picking on them..then we had to move oliver out cuz he just moved down the line and started picking on granny. sage and maestro really like their new area and oliver is going quite well in the house..but charlie is now depressed and unhappy because she is missing oliver who was her special bud. and there is no way charlie can come over and move to be close to her friend oliver, she would have a meltdown in the house.
princess leia is sad and depressed since her loss of patches. tammy tried to bond her with bob but bob is such a dickhead bunny, it didn't work out.

we can give these guys fresh and plenty of food and water, we can give them a good and clean home, we can give them kindness and caring and proper medical care but our job is still not done. we have to give them contentment and help them find joy in their days and that takes a lot of effort and faith...in and from them and ourselves.
we have taken in so many new ones over the past few months....meanie sweetie, yoda, jedi, daisy, cherry, oliver, mac, harry, black bart, cocoa, stanley, long john silver, fergus, granny, sage, maestro, cash, tina, pops, dixie, smokey and ewok.. for us it is a lot. we are not a traditonal shelter where each animal comes in to an individual pen. all of our news ones and all of our old ones with each new admission need to learn to live with everyone all over again...each new admission changes the dynamics around here...changes the needs of the others. some slide in with hardly a ripple but others like meanie sweetie or oliver, can and do trigger a tidal wave of change.

we all need time to let everyone settle...we were so close to being there before smokey and ewok came....just a few more minor adjustments, just a bit more tweaking of which personalities did best in which area and i could glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel. hah! even 2 very sweet and gentle dogs apparently can make that glimpse of light in the distance go away.
we are back to waiting and watching and thinking and planning and figuring out the needs and wants of two more today and how that all will affect the needs and wants of everyone else.

i am telling you, it simply boggles my brain on some days and it is why rescue pretty much sucks. anyone can take in a ton of animals and stuff them somewhere..the trick is to make them reasonably happy while living in an animal shelter and that is not ever easy...it gives me a freaking headache.

cherry needs god damn pizza, charlie needs oliver but also peace and quiet, jelly needs a spot without animals near her food bowl, meanie sweetie can be with big but not small dogs, noelle needs everyone around her to be calm, granny needs fancy feast every day, phoebe needs a zen-den, fergus needs a thousand balls and jesse far away, mini-me needs access to the top of my dresser so she can feel big and tall while she screams down at the dogs on the floor, marvin needs someone to sit with him while he eats, mystic needs to eat my shoes, my slippers my books, griffin needs his playpen with its freaking access hole, princess leia needs a new (and nice) friend, al just needs everyone to shut up so he can get up on my bed without a riot going off...everyone needs something different...

and figuring it out and keeping it all straight.... hurts my poor head.

Comments

Sheryl

I think dogs are like kids......the dirtier they are, the more fun they are having.

Carol Ann

a really good inside look into your world. It is not easy but it was funny reading it. I thought I had problems lol