Rose 09-279

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Introducing Rosie Kyla Tallulah O’Malley! Why the big name? Let me explain:

Rose (the name she was given by the wonderful people who rescued her) Kyla (a name meaning “strong yet understanding, thoughtful, and kind hearted”) Tallulah O’Malley (because a great foster once told me that if you give your dog a good, strong name, they will live up to it!)

As you will learn as you read about Rosie, the “strong yet understanding, thoughtful, and kind hearted” describes her in a nutshell. She is a 25 lb. little peanut, estimated to be around 4 years old. In the short 1 ½ weeks we have had her she has made remarkable progress.

Rosie came from a difficult situation where she did not have much contact with people, so we weren’t sure what issues might surface. When she first came we saw a little food and attention guarding. When dog lives in a situation where if she doesn’t protect her food she won’t eat, it takes time to learn that meals aren’t something they need to guard anymore. She has made progress on this already, and I’m betting after a few months it will disappear altogether. I haven’t seen attention guarding (not wanting any other dogs to come near when she is getting attention) since the first few days, so I think that one is disappearing already.

Right now Rosie is listed as unavailable because she has a knee issue called “bilateral luxating patellas.” She is going to see a specialist this week to determine if surgery is needed. We also want to keep her in foster care just a bit longer so we can continue to watch for any issues she may have that haven’t come to light yet, and to help her become more confident before moving her into a new living situation again.

A quick summary of her personality: Rose is a sweet little snuggle bunny who is just full of love. As she gets braver she may have a few bad habits to get rid of (namely jumping up). She loves people, and luuuuuuuuuuuvs kids. She does well with cats, but is a bit afraid of them as one of the bullies in my house ambushed her a few days after her arrival. We are not sure what she is a mix of: every few days we come up with a different theory – Sheltie? Pomeranian? Let’s just say she has a very “rich” heritage. I am amazed at her ability to love and have faith in everyone she meets. She might be afraid to meet someone, but her desire to be their friend is stronger then her fear - and soon she's trying to put her paws up and kiss the new person's chin.

I’ll continue to update you on what new things Rosie is learning now that she’s being pampered and loved up at her foster home.

At a Glance #09-279

Mixed Breed Born: June 2005
Female Weight not specified

Status: Adopted

Profile

Introducing Rosie Kyla Tallulah O’Malley! Why the big name? Let me explain:

Rose (the name she was given by the wonderful people who rescued her) Kyla (a name meaning “strong yet understanding, thoughtful, and kind hearted”) Tallulah O’Malley (because a great foster once told me that if you give your dog a good, strong name, they will live up to it!)

As you will learn as you read about Rosie, the “strong yet understanding, thoughtful, and kind hearted” describes her in a nutshell. She is a 25 lb. little peanut, estimated to be around 4 years old. In the short 1 ½ weeks we have had her she has made remarkable progress.

Rosie came from a difficult situation where she did not have much contact with people, so we weren’t sure what issues might surface. When she first came we saw a little food and attention guarding. When dog lives in a situation where if she doesn’t protect her food she won’t eat, it takes time to learn that meals aren’t something they need to guard anymore. She has made progress on this already, and I’m betting after a few months it will disappear altogether. I haven’t seen attention guarding (not wanting any other dogs to come near when she is getting attention) since the first few days, so I think that one is disappearing already.

Right now Rosie is listed as unavailable because she has a knee issue called “bilateral luxating patellas.” She is going to see a specialist this week to determine if surgery is needed. We also want to keep her in foster care just a bit longer so we can continue to watch for any issues she may have that haven’t come to light yet, and to help her become more confident before moving her into a new living situation again.

A quick summary of her personality: Rose is a sweet little snuggle bunny who is just full of love. As she gets braver she may have a few bad habits to get rid of (namely jumping up). She loves people, and luuuuuuuuuuuvs kids. She does well with cats, but is a bit afraid of them as one of the bullies in my house ambushed her a few days after her arrival. We are not sure what she is a mix of: every few days we come up with a different theory – Sheltie? Pomeranian? Let’s just say she has a very “rich” heritage. I am amazed at her ability to love and have faith in everyone she meets. She might be afraid to meet someone, but her desire to be their friend is stronger then her fear - and soon she's trying to put her paws up and kiss the new person's chin.

I’ll continue to update you on what new things Rosie is learning now that she’s being pampered and loved up at her foster home.

Updates

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Hi, it’s Rose!  One of my human buddies Macy (she’s 8!) is helping me write my own update for you to read!  Today I would like to tell you about the story of I’M BEING ADOPTED BY MY FOSTER FAMILY! Ok here’s how it starts, my foster mom and dad thought I was the cutest thing they had ever seen, and it gets better…. I get to do agility with my handler Macy!  Isn’t that great?  And, after my knee is healed up, me and my new sister Mindy get to play!   I never knew it, but I guess after I had been here a few weeks, my foster mom noticed what a good job Macy was doing taking care of me.  She and foster dad watched to see if Macy got tired of taking care of me and forgetting to take me out, but she never did.  They also noticed that I’m such a little dog that an 8 year old would be allowed to handle me in an obedience class as long as foster mom is there watching.  What made them think of her taking me to a dog class, you ask?  Hmmmm.  Well, I suppose the fact that the 8 year old made the front yard into a dog agility course and spent hours out there trying to convince me to weave through poles and walk over a teeter totter and through a tunnel may have tipped them off. 

Apparently they love me so much that even when I had a little destructive episode they didn’t change their mind!  Yeah, well, they left me in my crate when they went to a wedding, and there had been oodles of people in my house all week so I was already a little discomboobled.  So, to entertain myself I decided to try and pull the pillow (left conveniently outside my crate) into the crate to lay on.  Didn’t work so well.  I got the pillowcase in just fine (just had to pull it in one tiny ripped off strip at a time), but the pillow got stuck - I got three little pieces of it and then it started burping out feathers so I changed my mind and decided to try and pull the sleeping bag into the crate instead (also left conveniently right outside my crate).  I got a few nice size pieces of the sleeping bag before I gave up on that idea, then I pulled in both of my foster sister’s blankies, peed on everything, and went to sleep.  Apparently the blankies were a bad idea, because both my foster sisters cried really hard and were realllllllly mad at me that night.  Even my Macy wouldn’t look at me.  I finally had to hop up on her bed and lick her face a bunch – it worked like a charm – she started laughing and hugged me.  But she did mention she was still mad.

So anyway, my foster mom and dad asked my 4 kids if they would like to keep me, and they all started whooping and hollering and pumping the air with their fists.  I took that as a yes.  The cats were a bit upset about it, but foster mom told them they don’t get a vote so too bad for them! 

Well, that’s about it.  Thanks RAGOM for turning my life from boring with no people to love me, to totally exciting and full of love and attention!  You guys rock!


My new family!!


My future agility trainer – love at first sight!


Me and my buddy Red


My future playtime buddy Mindy


The three musketeers

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Hello everyone, I’m sorry I’ve been so terrible at getting Rose’s updates online – between her surgery and my other dog’s leg injury I feel like I’m running a Physical Therapy clinic here and it’s all I can do to keep everyone from chewing on their sore legs!  Rose is healing really well, we took her cast-like bandage off on day 5, and since then she’s been wearing a BiteNot collar (think what a human wears when they get whiplash) as she wants to chew on her stitches.  Hopefully that will stop once the stitches come out in 2 days, she’ll be glad not to have to wear it anymore! 

In the last few days Rose has started snuggling with my dogs – she’s cuter than a button!  My dogs don’t quite know what to think, no dog has ever snuggled with them before so they sit there looking at me like “what’s she doing to me?”  Rose is also starting to feel better and wants to play with my dog Mindy, which is quite a challenge to stop because once Mindy senses Rose is in the mood to play she’s all for it – so I sit there trying to calm Rose down and Mindy bounces around us, butt in the air, occasional head butting Rose and jumping back like a boxer, trying to entice her to play.  Good grief!

Tonight after such an incident, my 8 year old and I decided Rose is going stir crazy, and we brainstormed how we could help her get rid of her wiggles.  The resulting idea included a wagon, an 8 year old with a 25 pound dog on her lap, and a mom pulling 85 pounds of grinning fur & freckles on a mile walk.  Rose was just beaming, she was so happy!  She stayed put in the wagon and smiled from ear to ear.


woo-hoo, now THIS is what I call a fun walk!!”

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Rose had her knee & spay surgery Monday and came through with flying colors.  Special thanks to wonderful surgeon Dr. Rasmussen for donating her services, Rose is one lucky dog! 

Our biggest challenge post-surgery has been to find a way to get Rose to take her pills (antibiotics and pain meds).  I tried taco meat, baked beans, smelly bacon dog treats, bread, canned dog food – no dice.  She would either turn her head, or taste it and spit it out.  Then I tried just putting them on the back of her tongue and holding her mouth shut (which has never failed me), and poor Rose was terrified and freaked out – I was too worried to try it more than twice because I was afraid she would injure herself, plus of the two times I tried, one time she spit the pill out, and the other time she barfed the pill up one minute later.  So, I called a foster guru friend of mine, and she suggested the magic bullet:  peanut butter.  So far we’re 6 for 6 (3 pills per meal).  Phew. 

Other then the pill issue, Rose has done well.  She’s still not eating well (needing lots of coaxing to eat just a little), and is a little more fearful of everyone again; I think she’s just a little overwhelmed by everything.  She is putting weight on her leg and is able to potty in the yard OK, and moves around the house just fine. 

I’m including a few pictures of Rose and how much she enjoys the kids here, one is pre-surgery and the other is of Rose’s 8 year old buddy sleeping on the floor with her so she didn’t have to sleep by herself after her surgery.