Call from Kris (GSP Rescue)

Kris called me today. In the next week she's going to have a lot of dogs coming into the Rescue and so she asked me if we could foster Huxley and Blitz until they are adopted. She has a man who is interested in getting two dogs and she's going to see if he would be interested in the girls.

Of course, as I was talking to Kris I started flip flopping on what I want to do. Do I keep them? Do I surrender them? Any chance I could get things to change? Kris gave me lots of suggestions and said she might try to come up to help me out. If I get things straightened out with the dogs, what about the cats? I need them to stop going to the bathroom in the tub. I'm tired of cleaning up after them. And the chasing and barking is getting to me too. Do I want to dedicate myself to these dogs and exercise them and train them? Of course, today they are behaving well again. They are still going after the cats but not like they have been.

Kris said I could consider surrendering the girls and getting just one, older dog (Molly - she has a heart murmur and doesn't require as much exercise, and she doesn't pull on the leash like these two do).

Kris had lots of training suggestions: choke collar used properly, halti collars, training collars (try to borrow one) and let them out in a field, dog park, etc. to run as much as they need to. I'd like to try running them in the field next to the community. She said I should let just one run and keep the other one tied in the car, that way the other one will be prone to coming back. I wouldn't want them to take off though. The 'Olie Syndrome', you know.

So do I try to improve things with them and see where it takes me or do I not put in any effort knowing that I may surrender them? I'm feeling just like I did with Skooter and Moped - I'm at the breaking point and I just need it to stop. But if I'm going to foster them, then it's going to continue for a while. Am I willing to put in the time and energy they will need from me?

Kris asked me to email her pictures of Huxley and Blitz and a short blurb on them for the GSP website. I'll do that when I'm finished blogging.

I told Kris that the only time Blitz gets her way is when we go to bed and she gets closest to me. Kris said that they are house dogs and would probably have some difficulty adjusting to being outside dogs. I've already thought about that. Could I really send them to the Rescue? It's a wonderful place, but it's not home. I don't know how these old girls would do.

The guy who is interested in adopting two dogs won't be here until the end of the month, so I have weeks with them any way.

I thought about a rotating schedule for them: Day 1 - go for a car ride; Day 2 - go for a walk; Day three - dog park; Day four - no outing; Day 5 - running in the field. I would just rotate this every five days. Can I make a commitment to this? Can I make a commitment to them? If I can get them to settle down and stop chasing and barking at the cats, then it could possibly work.

They are both sleeping right now. Blitz is on her bed and Huxley is on the floor in front of me.

I could try moving the cats box again. I could put it in our bedroom and keep the bathroom door closed. I would have to put their food out to and figure out a way to keep the dogs out of it but still have it easy for me to access it to add food and water. It would be a big burden off of me if I could get the cats to stop going to the bathroom in the tub.

Why am I so wishy-washy when it comes to the dogs? I still think that if I had put more effort into working with Skooter and Moped I could have made it work out. I don't want to have the same regrets with Huxley and Blitz. They aren't bad dogs, I'm just not a very good owner. I need to be more committed to them. I need to spend more time with them. I need to have a better routine so I'm not just guessing what I should do next with them. I give up too soon. I haven't even tried with them really. I need to implement a plan and stick to it for a few weeks and see how it goes. If things don't change, then I could still surrender them (fostering them until they are adopted). But maybe things could change.

I need to start getting up earlier and making the activity with the dogs a primary consideration. I would be flexible so if it's raining one day and I'm supposed to walk them or take them to the dog park, I could take them for a ride instead. Luckily, we don't usually get much weather in the mornings. It usually blows in in the afternoon (like it's doing right this minute LOL). I also need to see if I can borrow a training collar. I think that would stop Blitz from a lot of bad behaviors if I would train her properly.

Tick tock, back and forth, up and down. I just can't seem to decide what to do. Kris will gladly try to get the girls adopted, if that's what I want. But is it really what I want? To be continued...