The beginning

Most of you know that Dave and I are huge dog lovers and that we currently have two dogs. Patrick, our neurotic Golden Retriever/German Shepherd(?) mixed breed. He's approx. 7 1/2 years old and when not being neurotic...is a wonderfully sweet and caring little guy. His first sister, a great pyrenees named Cloe, had passed away back in January 2005. Broke our hearts when we lost Cloe...she was the perfect dog in so many ways. Dave and I finally decided to adopt another Pyr in Sept 2006. We thought Patrick could use a playmate...and I think we both kinda missed having a big whitey around the house. So...we contacted the Florida Great Pyrenees Club and had an adoption home study (basically they wanted to know if we understood what big furballs Pyrs are...and if we had a yard and fence as they need lots of "roaming" room!)

Long story short...we wound up adopting Kira Sept 8, 2006...and after Patrick got over having to share his house and owners again...things have been quite peaceful around the Reeger-Gaffney household.

Well...I guess that wasn't good enough for me...a few weeks back I got an email from the rescue club about an overwhelming amount of dogs they currently have in house. They get calls from all over the South (KY, TN, GA, and of course all of Florida) to take in abused, abandoned, unwanted Great Pyrenees. My heart always breaks when I read all the stories of the horrible things that people do to thier "pets". How you can keep your pet chained to a tree in the blazing sun with no food, water or care is beyond me. That's of course a nice story. They've rescued dogs that have been so horribly emaciated they didn't think the dog would make it. They've rescued dogs that they found buried up to their neck in mud...for what must have been DAYS...fleas had done so much damage the poor dog was missing hair and sunburned and again...they didn't think he would survive. But this rescue club has this incredible group of volunteers that provide shelter and rehabilitation for these beautiful pups. Some of them have been doing this for 10 years!! They've rescued over 1000 pyrs finding them permanent homes (or in the case of working dogs, farms to work on)!

So...I get this email saying they need help fostering. Dave and I talk and agree that when I go to the bi-annual picnic I will talk with Terry...one of the rescue coordinators (and the one we adopted Kira from). She tells me about Hope. Hope's been in rescue less than a week...she was seen living in an orange grove near Orlando for approx. 3 weeks and was rescued by a fellow pyr lover who called the Terry to see if they could foster. Hope is severely underweight (came in at 53 pounds...should be above 75) and appears to have scarring from a chain or collar that was too tight around her neck. She's only about 18 months or so...and was sooooo sweet at the picnic. When I saw her I called Dave and told him about her. She reminds me of Cloe with her dainty feet and tiny face. I met up with Terry last night at our meeting spot in Wesley Chapel and got all the fixin's of a good foster home (crate, bowls, food, medicine). Hope was scared to death...didn't want to get out of their truck...didn't want to get in mine. Once she was in she curled up on the front seat and kept her head down.

I'm used to my dogs half hanging their bodies out the windows of the truck...barking at passing cars...ears flapping in the wind. She wanted none of that...in fact I ended up keeping the windows up while we were driving b/c the wind noise seemed to scare her. However, when we were stopped I would put the window down and she lift her head up to smell the outdoors (good sign!)

When we got home I had to coax her out of the car...and of course she could hear Patrick talking to her from inside the house. I don't think he was welcoming her with open paws! Anyhoo...we open the door and I lead her in...Patrick and Kira are all over her smelling and sniffing and Kira actually growled at her. I immediately put Kira in a down position and brought Hope through the house. She seemed pretty frightened of everything...didn't want to walk through doors or down hallways. I gently coaxed her through the entire house and then took them outside. She immediately ran around in the back yard...all the while Patrick and Kira hot on her heels to see who she was and why she was in their yard. I never saw her go potty on that first trip out...didn't think much of it...new surroundings and all.

The dogs and I retire inside...Hope finds a spot she likes in the office...enough of a den to feel safe yet she can still see what's happening in the living room where Patrick and Kira are begging for some of my dinner (we have a no people food for the dogs rule around here...but you'd think they didn't know it!)

Again...I digress...Hope eventually comes out and lays on the floor by the couch...she already has the "hand bump" down to a science...as soon as you stop petting her she pushes her head under you hands and bumps it back into petting position. She stays standing for a good 20 minutes before sitting...then sitting for another 20 till she lays down...and then finally puts her head down...

She didn't like the t.v. much, kept looking at it to make sure those people weren't actually going to come walking into our living room. I tried to give her a treat...but she wanted nothing to do with it...getting her to gain weight is gonna be tough.

When Dave finally got home after 1 am...he was pretty surprised at how scrawny she is...like me, he can't understand why someone would neglect a dog so horribly. We coax her up and outside...but this time she doesn't want to sniff around or explore...she barely leaves the sliding door...looking at us pitifully to let her back in. I go outside with her and coax her around the yard...but again...no potty. Hmmmm?? I wonder if she went at Terry and Dave's before being transported?

We decide to go to bed...she follows me into our bedroom and immediately finds Kira dog bed on my side of the bed. Kira hardly ever spends the night in our room...she prefers the cool tile floor...but I think Kira's not gonna be happy about being displaced!

When we wake up Sunday morning Hope has to be coaxed up and out again...it's early, only 7:45am...Kira and Patrick happily run around but Hope is not interested in the yard. I eventually lead her around the yard several times on leash. She sniffs here and there but is mostly not interested in exploring. As soon as I unleash her she runs back for the door. I let her in and keep P & K outside so I can try and feed her. I get her food ready and put it down..she starts to eat and Patrick breaks in trough the slider (he can nudge it open with his snout when he's being persistent!) I make the mistake of yelling at Patrick to stop and Hope skitters off thinking she's in trouble...even once I get P & K sequestered into the bedroom and coax Hope back to her food she's too nervous to eat. So, I decide to take Cesar Milan's advice and use a walk to move her forward. We get leashed up and I take her on the middle loop that we often take P & K on...she does okay...sniffing often and checking things out...but she's still not going potty..at all...not even a little tinkle. I'm definitely feeling concerned now. Hope's not real happy when cars pass by...she practically trips me trying to get between my legs. She seems leash trained (as in she walks next to you and doesn't pull, etc.) but I think it's more out of fear then discipline. She's terrified of everything that moves.

When we got to our street...Buzz was outside. He left his yard to come say hi (he's kinda a big dog) and his owners yelled for him to come back. I don't know if Hope was afraid of the yelling or the advancing dog (he's actually very sweet and has never been aggressive...he just likes to say hello to his friends that walk by!) Anyhow...she was scared to death and I had to just keep her walking...poor thing.

We get home, P & K are still in the bedroom so I put her food back down...she's still not interested. She's actually sitting in the crate that's set up in the sun room. She went in there on her own and I guess we'll leave her there for awhile. I'm very worried about the potty thing...if she doesn't go by tonight I may call Terry for some advice. I want to make sure she's okay. Hope's been through a lot these last few weeks and days. I think she just needs some time to adjust...but I really want her to eat and go potty...those are essential!!!

Anyhow...sorry for the long first post. I decided I wanted to keep a journal to watch her progress. I've never done dog rescue before...and I fear I may be too soft-hearted for this kind of thing. I just want to hug her and love her and protect her...but I know she needs to move past this fear. So we can find her a forever home...that's our goal after all.

Hopefully with lots of love, attention, discipline, exercise...and a lot of food...she can be a big fat whitey soon!!

Here's the link to the rescue club page and pics of her first bath. The website is under construction but the dogs available for adoption are all there...they keep that section up to date!!

http://www.floridapyrs.org/RescueDogPages/Hope.htm

Okay...gonna go check on all the 4 legged creatures!!