It’s been 5 days since Solo came to stay with us, a scared, unsure dog, knowing only kindness from his saviors at Eddy’s Dogs.  Life before that was not so kind for this young dog, who carries a lot of distrust from his past.

Solo is not aggressive, he is scared, he doesn’t growl or bark, he shakes and freezes.  I knew of Solo’s rescue and what he had endured and his long recovery to get him to a place where he was ready to get into foster care and find his forever home.

I prepared for his arrival by setting up a dog pen for him, I put a sheet over it, to make it feel safer and set up a bed with some toys.  A safe place for Solo to retreat and be left alone, if he choose to.

When Solo arrived I met him outside with Dahlia and Flipflop to make the introductions.  Solo was uninterested in them, and me!  He only had eyes for Sherri (who helped nurse him back to healthy), it was hard for Sherri to leave him as well, remembering the time and care she took, cleaning his wounds and bonding with him.  I have fostered for Sherri and Eddy in the past, however; so she knew I knew exactly what Solo needed.

Solo needed to be ignored, by ignoring him, I posed no threat.  Of course it’s always hard to ignore the dog, I want to hug him/her and tell it everything will be ok now and they will never be hurt again.  However, dogs don’t speak that language, so I had to ignore Solo to show him I have no interest in him, which in his mind registers that I have no interest in harming him.

Solo ended up not going to his pen, he wanted to be in my kitchen, so I set up a bed and some toys in the kitchen for him, and left his pen in the living room, in case he wanted it.  As I set up his bed and brought in some toys, I was careful not to look at him and I acted as if he was not even there.

I tried to leash him up to take him for a quick walk but he was too afraid to come with me, so I let him be and took out Dahlia and Flipflop and we went to bed, leaving Solo feeling safe in the kitchen.

When I awoke the next morning, Solo was still too scared to allow me to leash him, so I walked Dahlia and Flipflop and let Solo explore the apartment.  On the walk with my dogs, I realized this probably wasn’t a good idea, and sure enough I came home to some doggie “accidents” to clean up.

I am fortunate to be able to work from home and I arranged to do so the first couple days after Solo’s arrival.  On Solo’s first day here, I continued to ignore him and he started to explore.  He would walk up to me and sniff my hand, I would pretend I didn’t notice.

The sniffs eventually turned to licks and then not before too long, Solo was pawing at me to pet him.  I put my hand on him gently, he froze and trembled, I removed my hand and talked to him in a soft voice.  He pawed me again, this time he didn’t tremble, but I could tell he was still unsure from his body language, but he was really trying to trust me and have love.

That was the beginning of Solo’s amazing few days with us so far.  Solo is now sleeping on dog beds in the living room during the day but will go into his pen on occasion.  He only wants to be in the kitchen to eat, he won’t eat around me or the other dogs, I’m assuming because in the past on the streets he had to protect his food.

In five days Solo has shown great progress in learning to trust and be a dog.  A few days ago he growled at me when I tried to dry him off with a towel (after a walk in the rain), and today, after Flipflop peed on Solo’s head during a walk, Solo let me clean him and didn’t growl or show any signs of fear with me.  He’s playing with toys and instead of being fearful of the leash, he gets excited to go for walks.

Solo still has a journey to go as far as letting go of his fears from his past, but he wants to be loved so badly, and is trying so hard to trust me and other humans.  I’m so proud of this little sweetheart!

A huge breakthrough, Solo snuggling.

Solo is 2 to 3 years old, he’s a shy dog, who is very unsure of his surroundings, he is also my recent foster.

When I was asked to foster Solo, I didn’t know anything about him, and Sherri-Lee (founder of Royal Canadian Pooch rescue) told me to look on Eddy’s Dogs Facebook page.

I looked him up and what I saw made my heart just break for this sweet dog.

Solo was living in a dump, surviving on his own, he built himself a small den and would scurry around the local neighbourhood looking for food.  He was skin and bones and deemed a nuisance  by someone and this person decided to take measures to remove Solo from their neighbourhood.

When Eddy’s Dogs received a call from a lady stating that she spotted a dog in “really bad shape,” the rescue asked if she could stay near him to track him and they would come and get the dog.  She kindly agreed.

When Eddy got to the area where Solo was, he had seen his den, set on fire and acid had been poured on Solo, burning his fur off and leaving several wounds.

For months Solo’s wounds were cleaned and treated as he was fed regularly.  Before long Solo was starting to recover and his fur was growing back.  A year after that fateful day where Solo was rescued, it was decided he was ready to enter foster care and find his family.

Solo arrived this week and has declared the kitchen his “safe place”.  In the short time he has been here, he is impressing me with his efforts to come out of his shell.  I can tell he really wants to trust me, but is unsure.  He quietly walks up to me and kiss my hand but gets uncomfortable if I approach him.

He follows Dahlia and Flipflop around and wants to be near me when they are, but will freeze if I pet him.  So I just let him enjoy being near his foster siblings and know in time, Solo will welcome the touch of my hand.

I am excited to watch Solo come out of his shell and be part of his journey to his forever home.

Left: Solo during his recovery stage, starting to heal Right: Solo on his way to Canada, healthy and happy.

From the moment I met her, I knew Vanya was a survivor.  A street pup from Antique, with instincts for survival and definitely her brothers’ protector.

Upon arriving at Toronto Pearson Airport, Vanya and her brother, Willie, were delivered to me for foster care.  My twin gremlins,  I called them affectionately in the weeks they stayed with me, while we waited for room at the humane society for them to open up.  They were a bundle of joy (and exhaustion!).

And then the day came, the humane society had room for them, I was devastated.  It’s always emotional sending a foster off on their next journey but leaving them behind without a family, is a whole new level of emotion torture!!

Vanya and Willie are so cute, it didn’t take long for them both to find forever families, Willie has a wonderful young mom who adores him, and he knows it!!  He’s got her pretty well trained in the few months they’ve been together and he has learned if he shows interest in anything at the pet store, there’s a pretty good chance it’s going home with him.

Vanya has been adopted by a lovely family who have embraced her confident personality and she is thriving.

I was very fortunately over the holidays to have Vanya’s family make the hour long treck on the 401 to bring her to see me for the first time since I left her at the humane society.

I met Vanya’s family outside, knowing Flipflop would not take kindly to Vanya just strolling back into his home.  What I didn’t expect was the excitement from Flipflop and Dahlia upon meeting Vanya’s mom!!!  They took an instant love to Marianne, and greeted her as an old friend, and then they saw Vanya with her human brother and dad.  I took them over to her and as I suspected, Vanya remembered them right away. She jumped up and started kissing Dahlia’s face, as she did constantly while in my care.  She gave Flipflop a quick hello and then came over to me.

She hadn’t changed a bit!  She is bigger, of course, and has filled out into a beautiful athletic Potcake and best of all Vanya still has her confidence. When we made our way up to my place, she got so excited as memories of her time with us came back through her senses.

Her family delighted at how happy she was and how she remembered my place, she remembered the elevators and even which apartment was mine, when we got to my floor.  Once inside, Vanya delighted us with her usual antics of trying to unzip the couch cushions take out the foam, and emptying the doggie toy box and playing delightfully. That is when she wasn’t saying hi to Sixx (my cat who is very social with all the dogs) or taking a time out of play to run over to me to say hello again.

Despite her obvious thrill to be back at her foster home for a visit, Vanya still protested to being picked up for a snuggle.  Just as when I fostered her, she was too busy to want to be cuddled and would only let you hold her for a few seconds. It made me laugh.

It was so wonderful to visit with her and meet her amazing forever family.  And as happy as Vanya was to visit and see me, she was quite happy and content to leave with her family.  When they had to leave, Vanya ran to the door with her family, her dad said that she is probably just excited to be going outside, and not excited that she was leaving me.

I smiled at his kindness and told him it was the best possible scenario, Vanya remembered me and was happy to see us and spend time here, but when it was time to leave, she knew who her forever family is and wanted to go to her home.

Well, it’s the holiday season, in fact Christmas Eve is tomorrow, and the end of 2018 is nearing. This morning I did a short slide show for my Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/RESCUEDthebookbyJoanZammit/?ref=bookmarks, that one of my best friends (Jennifer) and I run.  Of course it’s all about rescuing, dogs and cats in need of homes and feel good posts.  The slide show are pictures of some of my dogs and cats and Jennifer’s dogs, not all of the pets are still with us and pulling up the old photos got me recalling the past.

I was thinking of just last weekend where I was enjoying a night out doing Karaoke with some friends, old and new and an Anne Murray song was sang.  I’m not sure why that song ran into my head this morning, but it lead me to think of the time Jennifer and I went to a cottage for week with our then dogs, Chloe and Dupont.

While we were getting ourselves organized we had put the radio on, Anne Murray’s You Needed Me came on.  As we unpacked food and listened the lyrics, we both broke down in tears.  Not because of the strong bond and friendship we share or because of any other person, but because her dog, Chloe, and my dog, Dupont.  They were our rocks and our everything.

As we laughed and cried we talked about how much we needed them and how we would not survive without them.  They were only 2 and 3 years old at the time, but still the thought of the inevitable happening one day pained us so.

Well, Dupont passed away almost 4 years ago, Chloe followed 1-1/2 years ago, both events marked days of our lives that neither Jennifer or myself thought we’d survive, but we did, somehow, although those days still feel like yesterday in our hearts.

Life is unpredictable, you can be happy one minute and have a song bring you to tears the next. But while life does have its up and downs it is nice to know that no matter how horrible and painful it can be, in  time even the painful memories can bring a smile through our tears.

Happy Holidays in memory of Chloe, Dupont, Jasmine, Buddy and Sabre.

I write a lot about the relationship Flipflop has with my fosters, how he takes care of them and teaches them, but I seldom talk about his relationship with, Dahlia.  Dahlia arrived in our home in  April 2017.  She was to be foster number 4 but I ended up adopting her and she became part of my forever family.

Dahlia is 9 or 10 years old (9 if you go by the birth date I gave her, but I don’t know for certain when she was born), and Flipflop is 4.  Despite her being the senior dog, she was very broken when she moved in with me, and she too got schooled by Flipflop (and continues to learn from him).

She looks up to her baby brother and he looks out for her. I am so used to seeing them together every day, I often forget how sweet their bond is, but was reminded this morning.

Last night I was at a Christmas party, hosted by my good friend and neighbour.  When the crowd thinned out late in the evening, I went and got the dogs (my neighbours dog, Miss Ellie, was at my place during the party as well).

Dahlia eventually laid and slept, she had a very long walk that day with Flipflop and Miss Ellie.  She had also met Santa for the first time that afternoon so it was an eventful day for her.  When I got up to leave the party, Flipflop followed me to the door and I put his leash on.  I called Dahlia and grabbed her leash, she wasn’t moving.  She was exhausted!  It’s not the first time Dahlia visited my neighbour and invited herself to sleep over, by refusing to get up.  I thanked my neighbour for the fun evening and allowing Dahlia to spend the night.

This morning, Flipflop and I got up and went out for our usual long walk. When we got home, I was certain he was going to eat breakfast and fall asleep.  But I was wrong. Flipflop was expecting to see Dahlia when he got home.

He ran into our apartment and bolted to the bedroom, upon seeing Dahlia was not there, he ran to the living room and was looking for her.  He immediately became concerned and wanted on the balcony to check for her there.  I told him she would be home later and made his breakfast.

Normally Flipflop ravenously eats his meals, but today he took a couple of pieces of his kibble and dropped them on the floor.  He had no interest in food, and just kept walking around looking for Dahlia.  He sat beside me and whined with concern.

I texted my neighbour asking when I could come and get Dahlia to soothe Flipflop’s concern.  I waited for my neighbour to respond and remembered I had a marrow bone in my cupboard which I gave Flipflop to busy him.  He gnawed on the bone but after a few minutes left it, something he never does, he usually chews on the bones until there is no trace of marrow left.  But today he had too much on his mind, his sister was no where to be found.

Dahlia did make it home and when she did, Flipflop was so relieved and happy to see her.  He sniffed her from nose to tail to make sure she was OK, Dahlia was also happy to be home.  The two of them danced around and then they both ate their breakfasts (every last bit) before Flipflop went back to his bone and finished it! He then joined Dahlia in a content sleep.

At this moment I am watching the two of them peacefully sleeping, happy  to be home together.

Lynne Nikolopoulos passed away on  December 3rd, 2018 after a long fearless battle with cancer.  I do not know Lynne, we have some mutual friends and she and I are Facebook “friends”.  I have never met Lynne, nor even spoken to her in my life, and yet hearing of her death brought tears to my eyes.

Lynne is a rescuer, she dedicated her life to Potcakes and from what I hear from those who do know her, she was an angel on earth to all living things.

Being a foster mom, I feel a connection to those who rescue, I know the heartache, the sadness, pure joy and love that come with it.  Lynne is no different, even while battling cancer, she fought for animals in need and continued to do her part.

Although this blog is short, I wanted to take a moment to honour Lynne and all the heroes we have loved and lost. Lynne was a stranger to me but I feel like I knew her, through our commitment, bond and love for animals in need.

Lynne was an angel on earth and her spirit will live on through all those she saved, all those who knew her and loved her and through strangers like me, who know her, even without ever meeting her.

Rescue Rainbow Bridge Poem (Author Unknown)

Unlike most days at Rainbow Bridge, this day dawned cold and gray, damp as a swamp and as dismal as could be imagined. All of the recent arrivals had no idea what to think, as they had never experienced a day like this before. But the animals who had been waiting for their beloved people knew exactly what was going on and started to gather at the pathway leading to The Bridge to watch.

It wasn’t long before an elderly animal came into view, head hung low and tail dragging. The other animals, the ones who had been there for a while, knew what his story was right away, for they had seen this happen far too often.

He approached slowly, obviously in great emotional pain, but with no sign of injury or illness. Unlike all of the other animals waiting at The Bridge, this animal had not been restored to youth and made healthy and vigorous again. As he walked toward The Bridge, he watched all of the other animals watching him. He knew he was out of place here and the sooner he could cross over, the happier he would be.

But, alas, as he approached The Bridge, his way was barred by the appearance of an Angel who apologized, but told him that he would not be able to pass. Only those animals who were with their people could pass over Rainbow Bridge.

With no place else to turn to, the elderly animal turned towards the fields before The Bridge and saw a group of other animals like himself, also elderly and infirm. They weren’t playing, but rather simply lying on the green grass, forlornly staring out at the pathway leading to The Bridge. And so, he took his place among them, watching the pathway and waiting.

One of the newest arrivals at The Bridge didn’t understand what he had just witnessed and asked one of the animals that had been there for a while to explain it to him.
You see, that poor animal was a rescue. He was turned in to rescue just as you see him now, an older animal with his fur graying and his eyes clouding. He never made it out of rescue and passed on with only the love of his rescuer to comfort him as he left his earthly existence. Because he had no family to give his love to, he has no one to escort him across The Bridge.

The first animal thought about this for a minute and then asked, “So what will happen now?” As he was about to receive his answer, the clouds suddenly parted and the gloom lifted. Approaching The Bridge could be seen a single person and among the older animals, a whole group was suddenly bathed in a golden light and they were all young and healthy again, just as they were in the prime of life.

“Watch, and see” said the second animal. A second group of animals from those waiting came to the pathway and bowed low as the person neared. At each bowed head, the person offered a pat on the head or a scratch behind the ears. The newly restored animals fell into line and followed him towards The Bridge. They all crossed The Bridge together.

“What happened?”

“That was a rescuer.” The animals you saw bowing in respect were those who found new homes because of his work. They will cross when their new families arrive. Those you saw restored were those who never found homes. When a rescuer arrives, they are allowed to perform one, final act of rescue. They are allowed to escort those poor animals that they couldn’t place on earth, across The Rainbow Bridge.

“I think I like rescuers,” said the first animal.

“So does GOD,” was the reply.

My Potcake, Flipflop, is a mix of a lot of different breeds, however; the one breed that is dominate in him is the Jack Russell.  Jack Russell’s are very smart, intelligent dogs, as is Flipflop.  They are also very high energy, as if Flipflop!  Flipflop, Dahlia and I go for a lot of long walks and when we’re lucky we find a safe place for Flipflop to run, play fetch, wrestle, or play tug.  Even when he’s tired, he loves to play and today was no different.

After our morning walk (including some fetch and wrestling), Flipflop contently went to bed as soon as he finished his breakfast.  I ran out and did some errands and when I got home an hour later, Flipflop was ready to go again.

I put him and Dahlia on their leashes and off we went.  We got to the large fenced off baseball field, used in the summer by many dog owners as a safe place for our dogs to run and play off leash, it is now locked up for the winter.  I knew Flipflop could fit through the opening in the gate, so let him go off on his own. He had so much fun running and sniffing on his own, while Dahlia and I waited for him outside of the field.

When  Flipflop had his full of running he ran back to the gate where Dahlia and I were waiting.  It then occurred to me that in his excitement to run free he ran through the opening with no hesitation.  But now that he was no longer excited, he didn’t have the momentum to run through the gate and with every attempt would back away, fearful.

It broke my heart because I knew he was so worried and upset that he was trapped away from Dahlia and I.  I crouched down, encouraging him to come to me.  I had his leash in hand and tried to gently pull him through, but as soon as he got his head out he’d back away again.

After a few minutes, I remembered I had some crumbs left of duck jerky in my pocket.  Flipflop (and Dahlia) love duck jerky, and I sometimes carry it with me on walks to work on some training reinforcement with them.  As soon as I remember I had the bag in my pocket (even with only crumbs left in the bag), I pulled it out.

As soon as Flipflop saw the treat bag out of my pocket, he poked his head through the gate.  I put some crumbs on my hand, and called him to me, he backed away again. So I put some excitement into my voice, while I encouraged him.  I could tell he was still really unsure, but the smell of duck jerky was too much to resist.  And with a slight pause, Flipflop barreled through the gate and gobbled down the crumbs of jerky.

He then jumped up for a hug (he loves to be hugged) and we continued our walk home.  Mental note to me, not to let Flipflop go through the gate alone again, unless I have some trusty jerky in my pocket!

It’s the holiday season and all my favourite holiday classics are making their appearances on television.  As I watch Rudolph, I am recalling as a child how it upset me how mean Santa was to Rudolph when Santa saw Rudolph’s shining nose.  Poor Rudolph had so many turn against him, just for being different.  It seems so unfair, but then again, humans wrote the story and humans, many of us anyway, are flawed and many of us cast judgement on differences we don’t understand.  But Santa wasn’t the only one who turned  on Rudolph so did his reindeer friends!

Seeing this reminded me of my previous dog, Dupont, and how he and a group of dogs first made me realize what a wonderful world it could be if humans treated each other like dogs………..

Dupont, my precious collie/shepherd mix, passed away almost 4 years ago.  I have so many wonderful memories of our time together and one of those memories is a hike we were on with a hiking group we belonged to.

We were hiking in a beautiful conservation area, with lots of water falls, wooded areas and bridges.  Dupont had never been there before and was having a wonderful time.  That was until we got to a metal bridge that, for some reason, made Dupont nervous.  I tried coasting him over the bridge, he wouldn’t budge.  I went across it myself and called him over to me, he still froze in fear.  I tried and I tried, as all the other dogs and owners crossed and waited.

Dupont was not coming over that bridge, no way, no how!  One of the fellow hikers crossed over to Dupont and picked him up (all 100 lbs of him!) and carried him across.  Once Dupont was safely carried over to the other side, the hiker put him down.

The human in me thought for sure the dogs would now shun Dupont, not want to play with him because he was fearful of a bridge that they all crossed.  But of course that is not what happened.  What did happen is Dupont resumed playing with the other dogs as if nothing had happened and had a wonderful rest of the day.

I remember thinking, for the first time in my life, at that very moment, how much kinder the world would be if humans treated one another like dogs.

Benjamin Button, that is my nickname for Dahlia, my Catahoula mix who I adopted last year, at 8 years old.  Dahlia’s story is recounted in my book and some of my blogs.  She constantly amazes me with her continuous improvement in both trusting humans and learning how to be a real dog.

When I adopted Dahlia I expected her to live no more than a year, she could barely walk and was afraid of everything and every one.  She hated going for walks and would often refuse to leave my buildings property and when she did leave the property, she would lay down and refuse to get back up.  She was so nervous and unsure a mere glance in her direction would have her coward and urinate on the spot.

So why do I call this girl my Benjamin Button of dogs?   Because as every day passes, Dahlia literally gets younger. These not so long ago memories seem like a lifetime ago. Dahlia is now 9-1/2 and I swear she’s going to live at least another 5 years.

Not only does Dahlia enjoy long walks, she loves to run and play with other dogs. The dog who used to watch Flipflop play fetch endlessly now plays fetch herself, and loves to have a toy or ball to carry around.  Each day Dahlia does more and more that makes her behaviour pass as a young dog, rather than a senior with 8 years of an abusive pass.

Last week on a walk with my neighbour, she was watching Dahlia prance around, something that always makes us happy.  She said to me, “I wonder what was going through her head two years ago when she was laying in a ditch thinking her life was over.”

“I can’t,” I responded, “I can’t even think  of this girl being left to die with so much life left in her.”  And Dahlia has SO much life left in her, she is literally the Benjamin Button of dogs, as every day I see this senior get younger before my very eyes.

It’s always an adjustment when a foster leaves, and it takes a few days for my emotions and life to return  to “normal”.  I am grateful for the families that stay in touch and keep me posted on how the dogs are adapting to their new homes.  I love hearing about them and seeing photos.  And I love when a family takes the time and effort to reunite me and their dog!

On Sunday I was lucky enough to have a visit with Ben, now called Douglas.  I was delighted when Douglas’s mom got out of the car and told me that as soon as they turned onto my street Douglas had memory of the area and got really excited.

When Douglas got out of the car, he immediately remembered me and jumped on me to show his excitement.  He then excitedly say hi to Dahlia and Flipflop.  Much to my surprise, Dahlia was happy to see him and gave him a kiss. Flipflop was happy to see him, but not overly excited. As Douglas tried to engage Flipflop in play, Flipflop opted to stand behind me, communicating to Douglas, he did not wish to play at the moment.

We took the three dogs for a long walk and then for a run in a field, when we were done the three dogs were exhausted.

It was great but the best part, aside from seeing Douglas again, was seeing his changes.  Once called my “boggle head” dog, as he had such a large head on what appeared to be a tiny body, Douglas now has confidence.  So much confidence he stands tall, and no longer looks too short for his body.  His ribs are no longer evident, but he still still slim, just very muscular from the exercise and great food his mom gives him.

Douglas no longer hides at loud noises or lunges at bikes, he sits and waits for other dogs to pass him, and doesn’t shy away from people.  His mom has done such amazing things with him, and his life.

Douglas and his mom are still working on his training, and he loves it.  He wakes up every morning excited for his mom to put him to “work” and thrives when he can show off to someone how good he is.

I knew he was doing well, as his mom and I stay in touch, but to see the physical transformation of this young dog, made me happier than words can say!

Douglas in foster – still under weight and lacking confidence

Douglas now – filled out and at a healthy weight