We have a visitor!

Sophie, a Papillon, has been staying with us this week.  I wasn't sure how all four dogs would get along with each other, but they have been doing just fine.  Risha seems to be taking it all in stride, and while she hasn't wanted to play with Sophie, she has no objection to sharing her space.  I have been taking turns with the girls on my lap, and as long as each one gets enough one on one time, things go smoothly.

What Risha doesn't like, is being photographed!  It is so difficult for me to get pictures of this beautiful girl because every time I bring out the camera she tucks her ears back and looks away.  So this afternoon I tried to be a little sneaky and this is what we ended up with.

Our guest, Sophie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sophie with Elsie in front.  Elsie spent most of the afternoon alerting me to the blackberry brush clearing activity going on behind our lot.

 

 

 

Risha wonders if this camera stuff will be delaying her dinner.

Nina, on the right, has longer legs in real life.

 

 

 

Elsie may be wondering the same thing.

 

 

 

Are we just about finished with this nonsense?

 

 

Maybe if I humor her just a little she will stop pointing this thing at me.

Really?  Another one?

That's it, we're done here.

Happy National Dog Day!

 

Risha is celebrating with an elk antler

Nina joins the party

Elsie is always ready for a party

Risha is ready to bring some joy to your home!  If you are interested in adopting this beautiful, affectionate, house trained, crate trained girl, go to  New Rattitude's website at http://www.newrattitude.org/adopt.htm where there is detailed information and a link to our adoption application.

Risha on January 9, 2012

Weight Challenge

When she arrived the first time in January Risha weighed just a few ounces more than ten pounds  which the vet and I both thought was a good weight for her.  Dogs carrying too much weight risk damaging their hips and knees, not to mention their organs.  Risha returned to foster care in late June weighing a bit over 13 pounds, and the challenge has been to get her back to her ideal weight.

It's a cliche that a dog's primary job is finding food.  Let me brag that  Risha is very, very good at her job.  When she is not inhaling the carefully measured portion in her dog dish two times a day Risha prowls the back yard seeking food.  She eats strawberries from the bush, apples and raspberries from low branches, tomatoes she can reach, salal berries, blueberries, and anything the squirrels have buried. Shortly after her arrival I uprooted and discarded any garden plants I knew to be poisonous because even though the house dogs have never sampled them, I don't trust Risha not to do a taste test. I am thankful she does not have a sensitive stomach and has never shown the slightest reaction to any of her self-selected feasts.

If I am preparing food in the kitchen, Risha stands nearby, knowing how likely I am to clumsily drop a bit now and then.  Cucumber.  Green bean.  Red pepper.  Summer squash.  Cauliflower.  Broccoli.  Cabbage.  She is the only dog I have ever known who will eat lettuce.  Plain, undressed, lettuce.  

As of this afternoon, Risha weighs 11 1/2 pounds and she is getting her waistline back!  We are halfway to our goal, despite all that sneaky snacking.  Hhhmmm, could this be a new weight loss plan?  Lots of fresh fruits and veggies, lean protein, no grains.  Nope, not new at all, and it does work.

Waistline in progress

 

Personality?

Had you asked me 50 years ago to describe Risha's personality I would have wondered what you were talking about. Dogs have personality?  On the small farm of my childhood the dog lived either on the back porch or in the barn and was never, ever invited into the farmhouse.  We kids did of course spend a lot of time with the dog while fishing or catching crawdads in the creek, and the dog always went with us on our exploratory treks in the forest.  But it was a casual sort of relationship between dog and child, and I didn't notice that dogs do indeed possess individual characteristics that I would now call personality.  It wasn't until as a middle-aged adult I invited a dog to share my living space that I observed up close the qualities that differentiate one dog from another.  Now I am astounded that I used to lump them all together.  

 Risha  arrived in January after a long ground transport from Southern California.  She arrived in the dark, in the dead of winter.  She was with me for a scant two weeks before her adoption, and during that time not all of her personality was displayed.  I could tell immediately that she was a snuggler and a cuddler who loved human touch and would have been thrilled to spend most of her time on my lap.  I thought she was a needy little girl who might prefer to have her person in sight most of the time.

Now that she has been here this second stint for a couple of months, I see other qualities that I missed in January.  While she loves to lounge on or near her human, she is also an avid hunter.  Risha is the first one out the back door to subdue whatever small mammal or bird is threatening our domain.  She is also the most persistent hunter in my pack, stalking her prey for suprisingly long lengths of time.  She has not yet captured a rodent but I definitely see that possibility in her future.  Risha is the first to alert me to neighborhood sounds and walkers-by. Risha loves car rides and prefers the back seat window open a bit so she can monitor the scents on the breeze.  She is the only dog in my pack who will run into the water of the Puget Sound after a bird.

So, not the 24-hour couch potato I took her for in January.

Here she is, hunting in the garden with her faithful short-legged sidekick, Elsie:

This is Risha, who is available for adoption.

 

I began fostering rat terriers for a national non profit rescue group, New  Rattitude, in late 2010.  Since then eight ratties have shared my home and moved on to their permanent adopting homes, each taking a piece of my heart when they left.  Knowing that I have been an essential link between their trauma-filled life in a shelter and a loving home makes the goodbyes easier, although never easy.

Risha, on the left, gets along very well with the house dogs.

Risha came to my home as a foster the first time in January this year.  She had been rescued from a shelter in Van Nuys, California and arrived in Washington State suffering from dental disease and kennel cough.  After undergoing dental cleaning and spay surgery she was quickly adopted by a kind and caring retired lady who looked forward to giving Risha the pampered life she had provided for her previous pets.  This adoption had no fairy tale ending, tho, because the lady herself subsequently underwent some very serious medical procedures which eventually caused  her to return Risha to New Rattitude.

So, once again, little Risha's world has been turned upside down and she is wondering, what will happen to me next?

What I hope will happen next, Risha, is that you will find the home you (and every other dog) deserve.  I am starting this blog, the first ever for me, to help you get there.

 

Click here to see Risha's info on Petfinder.

You may submit an online application by clicking here.

And you can read all about New Rattitude by clicking here. 

More tomorrow.