This is a foster dog diary post. Updates will be added to the end of this post to keep all information on Valentina in one place and in chronological order.
This post was last updated March 23, 2017
Valentina Fast Facts
Intake date: February 14, 2017
Breed: English Blue Tick Hound (likely full-blooded)
Sex: Female – unspayed, has welped at least a couple of times.
Age: ?? Young ??
Intake weight: 47 pounds.
Health: Fair. 20 pounds underweight and severely dehydrated at intake, but no other issues apparent. Valentina was innoculated and wormed at intake.
Temperament: Gentle, submissive, friendly.
Valentina’s History
Valentina was found, immobile, alongside a local road. The woman who found her scooped her up, put her in the car, took her home, and cared for her for a day or two. Valentina had no collar. That’s when Steele Away Home – Canine Foster and Rescue was called in to help her.
This is a foster dog diary post for Cora (aka Dora) Steele. We add new info to the end of this single article instead of posting many new ones. This way all information on this dog is right here and in chronological order.
NOTE: This post is about one of our foster dogs. This is an experiment. I’ll open up with introduction info, then as new information and adventures become available I will ADD THAT TO THE END OF THIS POST rather than putting up new posts for each adventure. The goal is to keep all of the pertinent info on this dog in one place and in chronological order. That is advantageous to rescues or potential adoptive families who come to learn about this dog. Each time I add new info I’ll change the date below so you know if it’s worth scrolling down to look for new info. Thanks!
Date last updated: Jan 4, 2017
Jasmine is a Chocolate (Lab) Husky with blue-grey eyes and gorgeous, exotic coloring. She is full of personality and affectionate, but at the same time so skittish of people we have to be very careful around her. Loud noises spook her. Sudden movements spook her. Reaching out to her spooks her.
She is friendly and open with all the other dogs and likes to play. It’s just people she’s scared of.
Jasmine’s Background
All we know of her is that she was owned by a young woman (local) who either joined the military or was in the military and was assigned to an 8 year tour of duty in Japan, and Jasmine could not go with her.
This morning, while we were all escorting Marie to the side gate and her departure for work, I encountered a good-sized toad: about the size of a tennis ball. I encouraged it to leave, it refused. Toads can be kind of pig-headed. To keep the dogs away from it I created a shelter by leaning a board against the fence it sat next to. I didn’t want the dogs to take an unhealthy interest in it, and maybe the roof would encourage it to go through the chain-link and up into the grass.
We saw Marie off. I headed into the garden to see what needed to be picked this morning. The dogs were wandering around the play yard.
As I was finishing up and heading into the house, Kathy trotted by smacking her mouth, which was dripping white froth. I had forgotten about Mr. Toad. Toads have a defensive mechanism of secreting a foul tasting liquid that can in some species of toads be highly toxic to dogs. I know the giant Bufo toad (Colorado River Toad) is extremely poisonous, often killing dogs in 15 minutes after mouthing one. Those are not native here in Tennessee, but Kathy is a pretty little gal, I’d best be sure she’s not in danger. I found Mr. Toad near where I’d left him, upside down with legs tucked in tight against his sides. He looked dead, but that could be a ruse.
I took Kathy inside (Blondie and Cochise came in as well) and wiped her mouth off, then used a wet paper towel to repeatedly rinse off her gums and tongue. She did not like this much. Then I looked up what the symptoms were and identified the toad in question.
As I suspected, Mr. Toad is an Eastern American Toad. Mildly toxic.
PetMD.com had this to say about toad toxicity symptoms:
Symptoms usually appear within a few seconds of the toad encounter and may include the following:
Crying or other vocalization
Pawing at the mouth and/or eyes
Profuse drooling of saliva from the mouth
Change in the color of membranes of the mouth – may be inflamed or pale
Difficulty in breathing
Unsteady movements
Seizures
High temperature
Collapse
Other than the white froth around her mouth and the “Yech, yech, that tastes terrible” mouthing, she shows no symptoms. I’m watching her closely (with Nurse Blondie’s help) for a while but in the past 20 minutes she seems to be doing fine.
I took a plastic bag out to pick up the toad carcass. Mr. Toad was sitting upright, right where I left him, looking quite smug, “I guess I showed that dog!” I used the plastic bag like a glove to pick up Mr. Toad and give him a good heave up into the tall grass and brush well above our fence line. Better hunting up there anyway, I suspect.
Normally I make the small toads who inhabit the garden welcome. They eat bugs. I respect that. But when they get a bad attitude with me I’ll evict them. Especially if they threaten my dogs: that don’t fly here … but attitudinal toads do!
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Normally in the mornings, Buster-Bob likes to go outside for a long sniff-n-pee session. Early mornings ARE especially pleasant because they are cool, and calm, and there are no bugs buzzing around. Most of us like going out in the early mornings. Blondie does not because the grass is wet. She’s fussy about her feet. Buster likes mornings the most and stays out much longer than the rest of us.
But it was raining this morning. Shorty and Buster did go out because they needed to “go”. Blondie and I can hold it a while longer.
Lupa is a loopy little gal, but quite sweet and compliant. She loves to run and play, but she learned to be a good house dog quickly and went on to be adopted after she was healed.
Originally published November 21, 2014 When used properly, crate training provides you and your dog with multiple benefits. For you it provides a simple, effective means of restricting your dog when you cannot provide close supervision. If your dog is an explorer, he may get into things that will harm him. If she’s a chewer, […]
Originally published Nov. 29, 2014 A report from Cochise on Blondie Bear: The day after Thanksgiving, there was great excitement in the neighborhood: a UPS truck was parked out front AND a stray dog was running up and down the road all at the same time! Smokey and Lupa were barking and carrying on, other […]
Cochise and Blondie were adopted years ago and are full time members of our family who live in our home. They are very good dogs. So good that we give them toys and chewies to occupy them when they are inside (and not sleeping). Blondie has a whole basket of them on the fireplace hearth. […]
It was November 1st. Yesterday’s rain had turned to snow: we had a couple of inches on the ground when I got up just before 5:00. Normally Cochise gets up when I do and comes out to keep me company in the living room where I will study for an hour or so. Not today. […]
It is chilly and rainy today: a great day to stay in, snuggle up, and light a little fire in the fireplace … just to take the chill off. We are still in infirmary mode: NiceLady is doing a little better but still feeling pretty poorly, so Blondie and I are taking care of her. […]
Smokey is a sweet playful fellow with markings like an Orca whale. Unfortunately all but this photo and all the details on his stay with us crashed and burned as we flew them through cyberspace to relocate them. These articles mention Smokey and survived the move: Search Results for: Smokey Dog Bath Day: When and […]
Piney Mountain Foster Care is a small, all volunteer, non-profit kennel facility located on 4 acres of mountainside property in Edwina Tennessee. We got our start in 2012 by caring for dogs going through heartworm treatment. We still do this and other medical care. We also work with dogs with behavioral issues. But we are […]
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One of our current foster dogs has gone out to seek her fortunes in the world.
Babes, a 48 pound cattle dog has been staying with us for treatment of heart worms, but she is fully recovered and healthy once again. Babes is bright, energetic and playful. But she also likes to curl up and be petted. She craves attention! When we would approach her pen she’d leap so high into the air that thought she must have wings! She had some jealousy issues when she first arrived, but we worked on that and she and her foster brother Smokey became the best of friends, so eager to play together that they were working on a tunnel under the wall that separated them.
This little gal loved playing Tug-O-Rope. But it was never about getting the rope away from us, for as soon as she’d “win” she’d prance around a little, but then run right back to say, “Again, again, lets play again.”
Babes was sent on a Rolling Rescue run from the Dr. Carol Hood Memorial Animal Shelter, who had fostered her out to us, to 11th Hour Animal Rescue in Rockaway New Jersey so she could participate in their largest adoption even of the year. Babes is so filled with personality, I’m sure she will be adopted quickly. She’d be a terrible apartment dog, but for anyone with a yard where she could run (and leap) and play, she’d be a perfect pet. She showed no tendency toward destructive (chewing) behavior. In fact she is one of the best we’ve hosted in that regard. She did like to bite on her ropey toy, but not in a way that tore it up, just mouthing it. Ropey toy’s don’t last long with most of these dogs, but Babes’ toy is still in great shape.
Below is a little video farewell to our Babesy girl.
Blondie Bear was the second foster dog we adopted. Cochise was our first. He was our first foster dog and our first “foster failure” (meaning we could not give him up). Blondie was our fifth foster dog and second foster failure. But this time, it wasn’t entirely our fault: Cochise talked us into it. Cochise just loved Blondie and wanted very much for us to keep her.
Cochise is a mentor in our foster dog program; he helps us teach the fosters civilized behavior. He was involved with all three dogs between them, and he was quite fond of Curry, but his attachment to Blondie was evident to all. Maybe he knew what a rough road she had traveled.
Blondie had been taken in by Newport Animal Control. She had been found chained in the back of someone’s yard. She was so severely neglected that they thought at first she was mentally damaged: she seemed autistic. She took little notice of anyone or anything. At the shelter they began working with her. Proper diet and clean water helped her physically, but she still tended to sit just staring at a wall. Then she tested positive for heart worms and they asked if we’d take her on for treatment.
It took very little time after arriving here — and being under Cochise’s guidance — for her to blossom into a personality filled and very well behaved dog. She was very quiet. She’d watch intently when Cochise found something to bark at but she did not bark. It was close to a year before she started speaking up in this way. But she did have her own way of expressing herself. When she was particularly happy — when we would return after being away, sometimes at meal times (especially yummy smelling meals) and when Cochise returned from the animal hospital after being snake bit, she expresses happiness this way:
I let the dogs out that morning. They each barked once or twice and Boots (who lived down the road) came streaking joyfully across the yard from the old dirt mountain road, dodging his way through the garden boxes. The three of them started wrestling around like they always did. The three of them were buddies and constant play mates, but Boots and Zadie were best friends. I went back inside to fix breakfast. It was Wednesday; my day to fix scrambled eggs and bacon.
Dolly came in after a bit, but not Zadie: she had gone off adventuring with Boots.
When it was time to sit down for breakfast, Marie went out and called Zadie several times, it was not like her to miss breakfast (or any other meal).
I took Marie to work so I could keep the truck for errands. Marie always handed out cookies when she left for work. Dolly always said, “Give mine to my ‘boy’ here and he’ll go put them on my bed in the office.” Zadie scarfed hers down and tried to snatch Dolly’s as well. If Boots was visiting he’d get some too. Today: no Boots, no Zadie. Dolly was miffed that I was leaving: that’s not the way it’s supposed to work. She was such a creature of habit!
Babe is a doll-face of a dog. A cattle dog, she is highly energetic, but rarely hurtful. She can jump higher than any dog I’ve come across, Babe the Amazing Flying Dog!
One of our current foster dogs has gone out to seek her fortunes in the world. Babes, a 48 pound cattle dog has been staying with us for treatment of heart worms, but she is fully recovered and healthy once again. Babes is bright, energetic and playful. But she also likes to curl up and […]
This is a foster dog diary post. Updates will be added to the end of this post rather than as a myriad of separate posts so all information on Spencer is right here and in chronological order. This should help potential adopters and rescues easily learn about this dog. Last updated: February 20, 2017 Spencer […]
After seeing Marie off to work I left Blondie Bear and Cochise on guard at the house while I went to spend some time with Babes and Smokey, our foster dogs. After that I went to do the daily gardening chores. There wasn’t much of that to do and it didn’t take long. When I […]
Smokey is a sweet playful fellow with markings like an Orca whale. Unfortunately all but this photo and all the details on his stay with us crashed and burned as we flew them through cyberspace to relocate them. These articles mention Smokey and survived the move: Search Results for: Smokey Dog Bath Day: When and […]
Piney Mountain Foster Care is a small, all volunteer, non-profit kennel facility located on 4 acres of mountainside property in Edwina Tennessee. We got our start in 2012 by caring for dogs going through heartworm treatment. We still do this and other medical care. We also work with dogs with behavioral issues. But we are […]
