I know little about Selma’s history. I was told that she needed socialization with other dogs and behavioral mods: particularly separation anxiety.

She was in another foster home for a while, but that separation anxiety caused her to eat someones house. Literally. Lots of damage, and it was a rented home. NOT good!

I’ve been working with her on being calm when I go out of her sight, then out of the house for a couple of minutes, now it’s time for a longer test.

Selma has done well when I leave the property with Selma in her outdoor kennel, even for several hours, but this is the first test with her inside the house with no people for around 15 minutes…

I think she did quite well. In fact she was more calm than Blondie and Callie, who got rowdy because Rebel was out running around in the yard while I repaired a hose. She was not completely alone: there were other dogs. I do not know if the House Destuctor episode included other dogs or if she was all by herself for that.

Selma is also calming down in her interaction with me. Usually, when I approach her she goes into a frenzy of happy activity, but recently she has been less … frantic, so I could pet her without endangering my fingers.

Once Rebel moves on I will be able to work with her more. Letting the two of them loose in the house is a mistake. And with all the rain and mud, working outdoors is not viable. But I do think she’s making progress. I want to get her more free-range in-home time.

This has been a busy week, and one where not everything has gone forward.

Selma

Selma has held steady.  No real progress, but no backsliding.

She has been sleeping in a crate in the bedroom with the rest of us.  She does okay with this except that the positioning of her crate leaves a narrow slot through which all passers-by must transit to enter or leave the room.  It’s awkward for human sized travelers, snug for Blondie Bear but doable in both cases.  The others slip through easily enough.  The only issue is when a pupper tries to leave the room at night to go get a drink or ask to go outside, and startles a sleeping Selma, she wakes with a start, jumps up and snarls at the interloper.  I’m sure it’s conditioning from her former life and she means no real harm because once she’s awake she backs off.  But it terrifies Josephine to the point she will suffer in silence all night long until I remove Selma from her crate in the morning or, if desperate, she will stand at the foot of the bed and nose-whistle until I get up and escort her safely past The Scary One.  Callie takes it personally and dishes the insult back.  I don’t like that, it’s a bad precedent to start.

Selma continues to be a sweet girl wearing a cloak of frantic.  When in her kennel or crate she is calm and sedate, but as soon as I approach she boils over with activity.  I think she’s happy for my attention and is trying to be playful, but my encounters with her tend to leave me covered in muddy footprints and my fingers feeling sprained.  When I must control her passage through the house by taking hold of her collar, she spins about, wrenching my fingers painfully.

It is difficult to work with her in the house because Callie and Buddy, sensing her wildness, want to charge in and save me from her.  Rebel, if loose, will charge in and want to play with her, and she reciprocates and matters get out of hand quickly.  They are playful, but energetic to a degree that is unsafe indoors, and this will set ALL of the house dogs off with Blondie, Buddy and Callie charging in to contain the danger and Josephine cowering in a corner somewhere.

Selma needs more one-on-one time, but with 7 dogs, 4 of them with issues, it’s hard to make that time, especially with Marie still recovering at home and needing to rest.

Go to Selma’s summary page

Rebel

Rebel has been doing famously and I was confident that he’s fully certified and ready for adoption.  Then Buddy Beagle has some surgery on his neck.  To keep him from scratching at it, and to keep Josephine from licking it for him, I wrapped it in an ace bandage.  This fascinates Rebel and he sniffs at it inquisitively.  This irritates Buddy who is something of a grumpy old Beagle and he tells Rebel (who is 4 times Buddy’s size) “Get away from me boy, you’re bothering me.”  Rebel responds in like kind.  Normally it’s an exchange of harsh words then over and done with, but this antagonism turned physical last night.  I broke them up three times and each time they went right back at each other.  I had to crate them both.  At one point Callie came in to protect her little Beagle buddy.  That didn’t help, and I only have so many hands with which to snag collars and separate combatants.

No dog was actually injured, nor was I.  But the antagonism between these two has ramped up significantly and I do not feel comfortable letting them both wander the house.  There was no way we were all going to be sleeping in the bedroom together, so I’m back to sleeping on the sofa with Rebel and Selma crated in the living room.  Last night Callie and Josie stayed as well, to serve as my body guards.  We all had a peaceful night.

Go to Rebel’s summary page

Lennon

Lennon’s mange continues to improve as his antibiotics and medicated baths work their magic.  He is now so compliant on his crating at night that he runs into the crate even before being told to.  He loves sleeping in his “room”!

He also enjoys running in the yard during his play times.  He’ll go galloping around and leaping onto structures.  With all the rain the yard is soft and he slides when he goes into his turns, causing him to make maneuvers that have earned him the nick name “Crazy Legs” as he works those long gangly legs of his to stay upright.

As long as I give him frequent play times he will come to me when called and when he’s done playing will voluntarily trot into his kennel to await his cookie.  If he feels he’ being shorted on yard time he will ignore my summons until he’s quite ready to go back.

He enjoys the wood shavings I put down in his kennel and they are working well to keep him clean.  If he gets bored, he has taken up trenching as a past time.  I’m not happy about that, but can’t do much about it.

Lennon has engaged in play with Blondie Bear, Callie, and even Josephine — although he scares Josie when he come bounding up to her, legs flailing about.  She hides behind Blondie, and Blondie shields her until I can spirit Josie back inside the house.  I don’t think I’ll try Lennon and Buddy together until Buddy has healed up and is feeling less codgerly.  I think Lennon and Selma will play together well and will try that when it’s not so muddy.

I need to check with Steele Away Home to see how we are doing on raising the funds for his surgery, and whether they want me to contact the surgeon to schedule his appointments.

Go to Lennon’s Summary Page

Rebel

Eleventh Hour has found a housing solution for Rebel. He is scheduled to leave us on March 1st, 2019.

Go to Rebel’s page.

Selma

Selma continues to be a handful.  I need to spend more time socializing her with other dogs.  The time spent in this endeavor is positive, but she just isn’t calming down the way I’d hoped she would.  She can be totally passive and calm in her crate, then just explode in activity when something catches her attention.

I have been working on this this week (not raining every day helps).

Go to Selma’s page.

Lennon

Lennon has not been getting as much time in the yard as he’d like.  As a result he tends to ignore me when I call him.  He used to be so good, eager even, to come when called.

We have raised about half of what we need for Lennon’s reconstruction surgery.

Again, I have been working on getting him out of his kennel more often and allowing him sufficient time to play.  He’s starting to come when called again.

Go to Lennon’s page.

Excuses

Other activities have been eating into my time in the yard with the dogs.  And the fact that the yard has been muddy soup from all the rain we’ve had doesn’t help in assigning more time with them.  This week has been better.

Lucy

I was in Cedarwood yesterday and Pam (Office Manager) asked when I would be able to take Lucy. I told her that Rebel would be leaving March 1st, and I could take her then.  Pam sighed and said, “I guess we’ll just watch her do back flips off the walls until then.”  She’s gotten more tense since I filmed her.  Many dogs will do that when confined to a kennel the size of a shower stall most of the time.

Lucy was picked up by their Veterinary Assistant, who found her wandering along side the highway.  As I recall, she had no collar but did have a chip.  They tracked down the owner and called her.  She said “I don’t want the dog anymore.” It seems she’d moved away and abandoned Lucy here.

I have started a page for Lucy

This has been a busy week for all the dogs — and me.

Rebel

Rebel’s big event this week involved a plush toy.  Actually two plush toys.  On a particularly rainy, cold day I decided to break out a special toy to amuse him so he wouldn’t be bouncing around the house trying to get the rest of the house dogs to play rowdy with him.  I got him a small Orca whale, which he called his “fishy”.  But he also saw where I stash the special toys and decided he liked another one better.  To his credit, he brought the Orca doll back to me as a trade.  I didn’t understand what he was doing at first, then I saw …

The problem with this was that Rebel became so possessive of this doll that he lit into both Callie (who had taken his doll while he left the room for a moment) and Buddy Beagle (who just walked past).  Both spats sounded horrible, but broke up immediately upon my getting involved, and no damage was done to any contestant.  However, relations are strained now.  So I put the dolls up and secured the door.  There has been no such possessiveness concerning the regular toys that all the dogs share.

Go to Rebel’s Summary Page

Selma

Selma has been getting some free-range running time in the house.  So far she has not been nasty to anyone during these times, she’s just been exploring.  When she is in her crate with a toy, she will snark at other dogs (except Rebel) if they get too close.  I’ve been feeding other dogs within 4 or 5 feet of Selma’s crate at meal times to get her accustomed to the idea of eating together.  That has gone pretty well.

Continue Reading…

First off, I got word today that Hudson has been adopted. The message posted was:
“Hudson Steele, a perfect southern gentleman who stole my heart – I mean look at the brindle beauty. His new parents arrived at Roxbury yesterday, just to look. They recently lost their beloved pet and weren’t sure they were ready. After talking to them for a little while and trying to help them realize that they weren’t replacing, they were helping another soul, they made Hudson, now Enzo their new family member. I was lucky that I was able to visit him today in his new home to drop off something we forgot to send home with him. I am thrilled to tell Jenifer Parry Steele and Doug Bittinger that the front of his new house overlooks a lake and he slept on their bed last night. He hit the lottery!!!!”

More on Hudson

Rebel

Rebel continues to polish his house dog skills and learn self-control when playing with other dogs.  He is also quite taken with Selma.  He spends much of his time sitting or laying beside her crate in an effort to comfort her.  I do believe it’s working too.

Rebel is spending more and more time as a free-range house dog.  Giving him yogurt with his breakfast helps keep his innards working properly and he continues to gain weight.  He is ready for adoption.

Back to Rebel’s Summary Page

Selma

Selma is coming along. Her main issue is separation anxiety that turns violently destructive if she’s left alone. I’ve been working on that. Normally I keep her crate in whatever room I’ll be in — or Marie will be in, as long as one of us is in sight she’s okay.  Gradually we start leaving the room for short periods, then slightly longer periods.

Last night I put her crate in her spot in the bedroom before she came inside for the night. Then I spent the evening waving and speaking to her as I went from den to kitchen to living room, but not actually staying in the bedroom with her. She knew I was in the house, but could not see me most of the time.  She did well, even during extended absences. A great first step.

Selma is doing really well at night.  I take her out around 8:30 pm and she will sleep through the night, not needing to go out again until around 5:30 — when most of the dogs are beginning to stir as well.

And I no longer have to have her on a leash to go out, she reliably comes when called, and is not wont to stay out in the cold long anyway.

Go to Selma’s Summary Page

Lennon

After 3 hours at Cedarwood with Lennon Thursday evening, the verdict was in: Demodex Mange and the head of his right femur is necrotic: probably the result of a previous injury. Since his knees are perfect, probably not hit by a car. Someone kicked him or hit him with something hard enough to dislocate his hip. when it popped back in part of the “ball” of his hip joint scraped away.  That has been decaying since.  It does cause him some pain. Short term, it can be treated with glucosamine condroitan and turmeric. Long term the femur head needs repair or the leg taken off.

We at Steele Away Home are working on a fund raiser and Dr. Sandra will send x-rays and talk to Dr. David T. Crouch at Western Carolina Veterinary Surgery (http://www.wcvs.org), who specializes in orthopedic surgeries, about giving us a reduced rate for Lennon so we can save his leg.

Failing that, Lennon would adjust to being a three legged dog, but we’d rather save it if we can.  The web addresses for the fund raisers are:

• — NO LONGER RELEVANT —

Go to Lennon’s Summary Page