So I guess this time we are going to attempt to go through a rescue. Hubby didn't really want another husky as he wanted a "loving" dog next like a golden retriever but a young husky showed up in a German shepherd rescue locally that seems to fit the bill. We've always just gotten from a shelter where we just go pick the dog up and take it home. This will be our first time being judged by a stranger on whether we are worthy of a dog. In going to try to not get my hopes up despite them not saying they have any hard no things like must have a 6ft fence and absolutely no cats.

Initial road block could be vet since my current dogs aren't up to date on shots. Kenzi being diabetic she doesn't tolerate meds and kye has questionable reactions to the shots so I just don't put them through it anymore.

If we can get past that then it would come down to how sticklery they are with the home visit. Will they hate the 4ft fence even though I've never had an issue with a 4ft fence. Will they look past the fact we have cats even though he will never know the cats exist? I hate being at someone's mercy yet after the last dog I want to know more about the dog we are dealing with than what we are getting with the shelters around here. Feeling a bit like it is a waste of time for us to put in an application if we have to deal with a home visit and all the reference stuff.

Good luck. Keeping my fingers crossed they are flexible. Hopefully, they will understand your reasoning re vaccines. Just a thought - my vet no longer vaccinates dogs over 7 for core vaccines, rabies, though, is mandated and lepto isn't very durable but is definitely needed for outdoor dog that drinks in puddles etc. Ami gets it because he is forever drinking groundwater and we have lots of wildlife but he does have noticable reaction - fatigue, listless. He recently had another rabies (raccoon, sigh. That boy has never made a full 3 years on a rabies shot.) He was more slug a bug with that shot for a couple days which was new. But he's been vaccinated up the ying yang for rabies sure to his penchant for hunting and the resulting post exposure prophylaxis

I am hoping they will at least give me the opportunity to explain some things instead of just automatically kicking us out. I tried to in the application regarding the 4ft fence and the cats but didn't say anything about not being UTD on shots since they didn't explicitly ask if any current animals were. My vet sends out the yearly notice but has never pressured me to do more than not use ivermec as my heartworm treatment, and even with that since it's obvious they don't have the gene mutation to struggle with it he doesn't bother me about that. With all the horror stories I've heard about people who are perfectly capable of being a great home for a dog not passing a rescues sniff test it makes us nervous to even attempt the process. They say 7-10 days to check references then we will do a home visit if references check out. Being christmas season the house is out of control and the tree is right where we would put the crate. Ideally if we do manage to get past the sniff test we would get the dog somewhere around New Years because we have a long weekend or even the weekend after so that we might have the bathroom remodel done. Timing is not ideal with holidays and remodel but don't want to wait and then miss out on him by doing so.

I did call to notify my vet that the rescue would be calling and that didn't give me much hope. She's dealt with this rescue before and said they are super difficult. Apparently they put the director of our highway patrol who was a former K9 officer through the ringer to adopt to the point he almost told them to shove it. His exact words to my vet was it would have been easier to adopt a human child. And this was my fear. So many rescues are unreasonable.

We have one of those down here but they're also totally unpredictable.

Shortly after I moved into the trailer (and I had one dog) the shelter and I were talking about a 'desert dog' (that's actually what they call them! medium small, mixed breed, who's managed to survive being loose on the desert.) I told them I didn't have a fence but was well off the beaten path. They came out, did a quick check and brought the pup (5-6 years old) out the next day. The one thing I didn't plan on was an asshat who drove the road who literally came off road to run him down. I'd had Kiva for less then a month and to say I was pissed is an understatement. I called them and told them the circumstances. None of us knew he'd head toward a moving vehicle (never got the chance to find out if he'd chase them, then I'd have known better.)

What surprised me was that a couple of years ago they called me and asked if I was ready for another dog. They had one, a lot like Kiva, they couldn't place and wondered if I would help them out. Given that by then I had three dogs adding another was out of the question.

(( Why can't I comment about anything without making a book of it?? ))

Best of luck with them.

I was honest in my application. I didn't paint some glossed over picture of some cliched storybook home where the dog would be our only dog and never be alone in our perfectly dog proofed fort knox of a house. I'm hoping the obvious honesty will at least get me the chance to explain why we are the way we are and show them why it works for us. At least if I get that and they still think the dog isn't the right fit then I will feel a little better that he might not actually be a good fit with us, but a blanket statement denial would leave a sour taste. The mixed middle aged dogs are pretty easy to come up with here as well. Animal control has a lot of those and with my husband having used to work for the city they will notify him of some dogs they get, but as with the last dog that's when we get hung on something we know nothing about really and have trust issues with. City pound has pyraneese mix puppies right now. They are so cute but I'm just not a puppy person and currently they are small enough to trigger kenzi's prey drive and she would try to eat them. If they have one that they get stuck with until it's larger though I would consider it.

The Baltimore spca wouldnt adopt a dog to my uncle whe os a vet purely over his hoa only allowing invisible fencing. Here it is pretty easy at least durango, but shadow was not having a bull terrier puppy.

The rescue reached out to see about setting up a home visit last tuesday. I got back with them about what our schedule was for the holidays but then didn't hear anymore out of them to lock down a time. I would rather do the home visit with the person who is fostering the dog I'm interested in instead of some randomly assigned volunteer.

I hate home visits. Durango wasn't extremely happy with the cattle panel and step in post fence. Thry also commented about how our antler coffee table might be an issue. But they still cleared us. Slv animal welfare wouldn't even show us dogs because at the time apider wasnt spayed. I dont see how that matters when adopting a neutered male puppy. And dumb friends only does home visits for pit bull types.

I know spider likes puppies but she hasnt really ever been introduced to other adult dogs that she didnt know as puppies. Durango was convinced she wanted to go play with the 2 senior sibes and 2 senior GSDs that were out in the fenced in area. Shes only ever had an issue with squirt and rodents. I know what her teeth can do. Im not sure how to even do introductions or what to watch for if its an adult/full sized puppy. Squirt is really predictable, she plays to size the dog up for about a minute then goes for the belly or back legs. So i worry spider will do the same thing.

Kenzi has always been leash reactive and if she is on leash she will just attack and not give it any chance to get along but if off leash she is mostly fine as long as not a female. We do all our introductions through a crate. We put the new dog in crate and let kenzi in to inspect. If she is accepting she will stomp her front feet in a half bow and prance around. Also looking for a willingness to smell through the bars. Mostly I am looking for the same in return from the crated dog. If no fence fighting then we let the crated dog out in a small area with her. We've always done introductions in the house so if a fight were to break out they aren't able to get very far away from us. For the most part I've only had an issue with one female puppy we tried to get years ago. She was tiny which got kenzi's prey drive kicked up and the puppy decided to growl at kenzi through the crate and that was a hell no for kenzi who basically was ready to eat that little punk.

Well the gal fostering the dog we applied for came out to do the home visit today and brought him along. Everything went well. He's an absolute doll. A little shy at first but comes out of his shell quickly. He likes to play chase but is a really nice calm energy. I think he will be a nice complementary personality to my other two. Kenzi liked him and kye is indifferent like normal. The foster mom really liked us and we will hopefully be getting him next Saturday.

CONGRATULATIONS

Keeping my fingers crossed for you Jenn!

Just remember that patience is a virtue - or so they tell me. Saturday'll get here soon enough.

Best of luck with her decision ...

We are scheduled to pick the new dog up tomorrow around 1pm.

A picture from the rescue of "Jasper".

Handsome fella! My imagination or is he a big boy?!!?

Congratulations

He is bigger than kenzi but not as large as Kye. I would imagine 60-65 ish pounds.

Very handsome pup there! He definitely looks bigger than the average Sibe. Looks to be about the same size as my Avalanche.

Just a tease here, you ran out of "K" names so you're going to start in on the "J"'s?? ( I presume you're going to rename him into the pattern but had to ask. )

(( I hate a spelling checker that lets words go by out of context. Then when I go to see what the misspelled word means, I find it isn't listed. ))

She could call him Kasper!

amymeme wrote:

She could call him Kasper!

Thanks @Amymeme, now I'm setting here with "Kasper the friendly ghost, the friendliest ghost around ... " running through the brainpan. (( And yes, I know it's really 'Casper' ))

aljones wrote:

amymeme wrote:

She could call him Kasper!

Thanks @Amymeme, now I'm setting here with "Kasper the friendly ghost, the friendliest ghost around ... " running through the brainpan.  (( And yes, I know it's really 'Casper' ))  

Those ear worms will get you every time

So @TwisterII if everything worked right you've had him for about 24 hours ... not even really long enough to get to know him but what's the first impression. Are the pups all gonna kill each other or ...??

Yep, Al - waiting for report and pictures. Especially pictures

I'm figuring they took him out on a hike to see how he and the others got along, something resembling neutral territory ... and got drug all over the mountain.

I *really* don't expect to hear / see much until tomorrow at the earliest.

Yes, we did go with Kasper. lol. He is spooked by men so it kinda fits him. I'm hoping he will get over that some as it grates on my husband to have a dog that won't have anything to really do with him. And it would take pressure off me. The first day and night he wouldn't get off the porch for my husband so I had to go out with him. He needs a pee buddy because he isn't yet comfortable going into the yard much at night alone. He pesters the other dogs so much they would rather he didn't go out with them.

Him constantly pestering kye



The 3 seconds he chose to stop pestering the other dogs and nap.



He doesn't stop moving enough to hardly get any decent pictures of him.

Kai doesn't  look so unhappy with the pestering! And he looks an angel sleeping🥰

Maybe hubby should carry treats in his pocket?