Introducing "Boots"...

We named him "Boots" because of the pair of white boots on his front paws, but we could have just as easily called him the 'Come Back Kid'... Boots was not showing well at a high kill shelter and was considered 'unadoptable'... He preferred to hide UNDERNEATH his bed and not come to the front of the kennel run to be seen by the general public... Eventually, not adopted and his time had run out, he ended up on the kill list... 

One of our foster dads took on Boots as his own personal foster and 'project'... We suspect that Boots was the victim of a big dog attack, for his personality issues were all fear based... And centering around other dogs... 

Once the fur dad gained his trust, they moved slowly in the rehabilitation process...  Being picked up, Boots immediately went into 'statue' mode, stiffened up and gave you the impression if he wasn't looking at you, you couldn't see him either... Any dog that came too close would also put Boots into alabaster stiff... 

The foster dad continued every day, working with Boots... A big step was Boots being in an Xpen in his family room with other dogs around, but Boots not screaming for dear life... It took a few days for Boots to realize the Xpen was 'HIS' safety zone, and although he could smell, see and hear the other dogs, they could not get into the Xpen to hurt him (not that they would)... From there, the foster dad moved to holding Boots on his lap for long stretches of time... Originally, we had our doubts if Boots could be rehabilitated and overcome his fears, but the foster dad is pretty determined once he sets his mind on something!

Once the foster dad and Boots could sit together quietly and calmly, little by little he was introduced to other foster dogs using the umbilical method... From there, the 'umbilical cord' was unhooked and Boots was allowed to sit or stand on the floor but without his 'safety cord' to the foster dad... Following this step, the foster dad began to leave the room for very brief times and always returning, showing Boots that it was OK to be in a room with other dogs and not one would attack him... 

We thought Boots had his break through when he started walking freely around with the other dogs - but we were wrong... 

Years (?) of fear turned into aggression towards other dogs... The foster dad kept up his end of it, not allowing Boots to be aggressive towards the other dogs, but still keeping Boots' trust in him... It was a tedious task of retraining and took weeks, but Boots and the foster dad succeeded (and extremely well!)... 

Boots is now able to freely move around the foster dad's home and backyard with other fosters... He now eats with other dogs and just recently, starting sleeping with another foster in the crate at night... 

Boots still likes to sleep under the covers and probably always will, for it is a common Chihuahua trait... But Boots has some other breed in him (Boston Terrier?, Bulldog?) if you look at his conformation and shape... He's small (about 6 pounds) but he is ALL solid and chesty... 

Boots wears his 'tux' well, don't you think? ... He's always ready to go to a gala ball with those white 'gloves', tux and tails... He has a white 'bow tie' and shirt, but the rest of him is solid black with just the very tips of his back toes in white... 

Yes, Boots found a new furever home too!

Boots (now named Pookie) also hit the big time on Saturday... She has a lovely home with a Border Collie named Daphne, a very nice young lady who reminded me very much of my own Desiree and an awesome furever mom as well... Who could ask for anything more?... Especially after the horrible past she's gone through?

Her new furever mom is also a Cesar fan, so Pookie is in excellent and loving hands now!

Congratulations to one and all!

Update on Boots...

Boots has been keeping her tail up whenever she's out and about, but you would never know this dog is here... She never barks and never intrusive, but were she a human, you might say she's suffering from either PTSD or depression... I discussed this with my vet and she says both conditions are possible with dogs...

I mean - she's there physically with all the other dogs and fosters... She eats well, is potty trained and goes out the doggie door when she needs to, but she doesn't rush the door or alert on strange noises... At night, I make sure she's laying aside of my thigh on the couch and she gets extra cuddles and pats, but she's not demanding them... I give them, she accepts them...

This is just not normal Chihuahua behavior...

Today after tending to the yard, I sat down on the chaise lounge to take a break... Without calling her, she came over and jumped up, then sat between my legs and also surveyed my work... (smile)... Without warning, she reached up and intentionally gave me a kiss... This is a first for her...

I've spent the last two days reading about PTSD in dogs - this is one blog's content --- here is another. While I guess I've seen dogs with PTSD before, it has always been an outwardly showing of the sympthoms versus an inwardly sign... Does that make sense? Boots is definitely not aggressive but she's not connected like most canines are either... It's like my husband says - the lights are on, but no one's home...

The best we can do for now is to just give her time to get over this... sigh...

Update on Boots

I know people say dogs don't get PTSD, but I don't believe that - I feel that traumatic events DO affect them and Boots is almost in a 'shut down' mode right now... Here and there I see glimmers of her potential personality when her life is not being turned upside down, but she's going to need time to get beyond what she has encountered in her life recently...

Yesterday a rescue friend and I went to a couple of the shelters and we found a Chi with her head in the corner at the back end of a kennel run, rear facing outwards and in the final stages of shutdown mode... She was an owner surrender when the owners lost their home... As I sat in the acquaintance room, my thoughts kept heading back to Boots - 'for there but the Grace of God go I' thoughts kept going through my head... Had Boots gone to a shelter and spent the same amount of time, Boots could very well have turned into that same 'emotionally non-descript' version... Had I an available foster spot, I would have pulled that Chihuahua and given her the time and TLC to come back out of that protective shell she'd built as a survival technique... She's labeled as a 'BH' which means when the shelter runs out of space, she'll be killed to make room for more highly adoptive dogs... sigh...

Unfortunately, they are killing Chihuahuas by the hour in the various shelters and we can only save so many... In Boots' case, she was one of the few lucky ones and we at TLC will give her all the time she needs to readjust and get past the traumatic past she's had...

Annie and Boots...

I just love this picture of Annie and Boots...



So much so I also put it up on the Cafepress store with the caption of 'Well behaved Chihuahuas rarely make history' - not that either one is a badly behaved Chihuahua, but I loved the quote and the picture, plus they are almost like 'salt and pepper' when sitting together - both with the same sided flop ear...

Despite the look of the photo, Annie's not a large dog (less than 6 pounds), but I intentionally took a close-up when I saw them sitting together in the Chihuahua penthouse...

Boots has a BAD case of SA going on right now... Guess it is to be expected with what she's gone through recently... It will be some time before she's ready to be adopted...

Annie on the other hand, is ready to go... She's beyond the shelter experience and is SO involved in whatever is going on around here... A few months ago, one of my fosters decided they liked chewing on the bottom of a wicker hamper my husband has had for EONS , but because it was 'his' I felt bad, but just hadn't gotten around to reweaving it... This week I put it on the kitchen table and tackled it, but it took several hours to strip down the damaged parts, save what I could of the wicker and fill in the empty spots...

Everyone had a free-for-all chasing the polyester cording that seemed to go for miles and miles (at least my arms felt like that!)... Some taking an end and heading out onto the patio as far as the length would go! (Nacho, Chloe, etc.)... But Annie? She sat right there on the arm of the recliner couch and watched me diligently the entire time... Almost as is she wanted to learn how to weave herself! (smile)...

Either that, or she was inspecting my work!

Once I finished, she seemed satisfied, jumped down and went on outside to play with the other dogs... Guess I'd done good!

Announcing Boots' arrival...

Boots is apparently one of the recent victims of the economy - she was found today by a cleaning crew who had been assigned to clean out a foreclosed home. It is unknown how long she has been in the empty house - the family moved out 2 to 3 weeks ago. Not knowing what to do, one of the cleaning crew took Boots to his vet (who also happens to be TLC's vet) and they called us right away.

Our vet believes Boots is between 2 and 3 years old, she's already been spayed and we got her caught up on her shots today (including rabies), had her micro-chipped and licensed for the County of Ventura. She could stand to gain a bit of weight, but this is a temporary situation.

We bathed her immediately (she took to having it done fairly well), fed her and she curled up in our lap for a long, LONG afternoon deep sleep! She's probably an "UC" Chi (under the covers), for she nuzzled herself under a bit before drifting off to sleep.

Boots gets along with other small dogs, is SUPER sweet and friendly with all the strangers she's ran across today. Boots is also not a barker, and apparently already knows what a doggie door is for, as she's has used it several times today.

On a personal note, this is the kind of stuff that drives me crazy... Many of the local rescues have taken in dogs from families that are losing or have lost their homes... Leaving a dog to die inside a foreclosed home is so darned inhumane!... (climbing down off my soapbox here)...