Savingdogs-Saving the chickens

That sounds like our winter last year. Hope everything thaws out for you soon.
 
snow? i'll be in shorts today!

just kiddin

hang in there baby!

wait - frosting??? hum...
 
Finally I have something funny to report.....I have a hen that wants a species-change operation. She refuses to BE a chicken and insists on living with the goats.

I've clipped her wings and put her back in the chicken yard a thousand times. Okay, well maybe not a thousand but it feels like it. This particular chicken has been a favorite for a long time because she is by far my most friendly one and likes to be petted whereas my others are just vultures hoping they can eat something I have. But the Little Red Hen has been different. For one, she is a RIR who goes broody, and for two, she doesn't believe she is a chicken. She still manages to fly over the fence.

She sleeps with the goats. She eats Purina goat chow, hay and alfalfa pellets (I've refused to put chicken food over there!) and follows them around. She also cleans up the bugs over there, but this is deep winter for us, the bugs are mostly hiding.

In the last two days, she has developed the habit of following Molly and standing underneath her udders. Molly pays her no mind. And the buckling, Molly's kid, thinks it is time to "butt" the chicken away, and she just ducks or stands her ground. It is hysterical to watch. I gotta catch some video. She will also fly up on the goats back and sit up there if the buckling gets too ferocious.

She lays her dang egg in the hay feeder and by a miracle none have been crushed yet by the goats. I do wonder about the healthiness of having a chicken sitting in their hay.....but it is pretty amusing to watch.

We are having torrential downpour, but Hubby still could not make it out of the driveway this morning, still too much snow. I snickered about it on Facebook this morning.....how he thinks he is such a superior driver and then couldn't make it out of the driveway, my car is parked at the strangest angle. I got so many "likes" within the first hour it totally made my day. :lau
 
Hee, hee...little red hen!

I wouldn't worry too much about her laying eggs in the hay feeder - when I let the chickens out they do the same thing! I had three barred rocks that I got as adults and they took FOREVER to realize they did not belong in the goat barn. They'd pull hay out of the feeder to lay and then roost either on the backs of the goats or on top of the hay feeder. As long as it's not excessive I don't think there's much cause for concern.
 
:lol: Your hen and goat show sounds hilarious.

Stinks that you guys got dumped on so bad with the snow. Mother nature is on the warpath it seems.
 
Well we have another foster getting adopted. We have the three ridgebacks right now, the sisters we want to stay together and the pup that was supposed to have megaesophagus but doesn't. We have found a great home for the pup. The family is a return adopter (we love those Rhettsgreygal) and they have a ridgeback already, had a second one that died last year so they are now ready to welcome a new boy to the family. When the coordinator let them know I had selected them for Jake, they started to cry, they were so happy. AB was sure we made the right choice when that happened. Jake really is a nice dog. I e-mailed her she is getting a "prize" and it is true. He is a beauty inside and out. His picture is in this journal several pages back, the one with the pretty face. They will come get him Monday.

This is the guy that plays with Donald, so Donald won't be happy he is leaving. I tried to throw Donald into the deal but it didn't work, they live on a big lot but it is in the city, no goats allowed. Rats!

We are always happy to see a good adoption like this, making a good match for this dog, a great match really, is what it is all about for us.

We thought we had one for Ellie and Hanna, but the person is thinking about it. We realize it is a big committment to adopt two large dogs at once. Ellie is such a prize however, whoever gets her will be extremely lucky. Hanna her sis is one of the most beautiful ridgebacks we have ever seen, so they are a formidable pair. Hanna has a very forceful personality so it would need to be just the right situation. But hubby and I agreed tonight we BOTH like Ellie more than all of our current dogs and probably better than any foster ever (except our dogs Sheena and Anika).

We feel it a great priviledge to get to know these amazing animals, or one of the greatest like Ellie. Hubby is really attached to this one and is already having a hard time with it, but I know we did this dog a great service. She had to have a lot of wraps placed and had a very unusual surgery accomplished. Without the team of our dedicated coordinator, a wonderful vet who donated her time and my being able to do the after care, Hubby being her chauffer and snuggle buddy, Ellie's life was saved. To me we were very important people in her life, even if we are not going to always be her people. Hubby is already getting teary-eyed just looking at her and we don't even have a good app for her right now.

After 13 years of this, I'm very used to giving these dogs away. I'm actually somewhat addicted to it....the knowing I "fixed" their life. There seems so much of my life and of the world is out of my control and this gives me one-itty-bitty-corner of the world I can correct, one animal I can take from a bad situation and give to a person more like all of you, someone who cares. If I kept any more "Ellies" I would no longer be able to do it. And in Ellies case, there is her sister Hanna we want to stay with her, and I would rather not have her. She is very much like my own ridgeback Dee Dee, who never developed the typical reserved personality a RR is supposed to have, she has always been bouncy and mouthy and bull headed and has been one of the hardest dogs to train I've encountered except Bandit. And the dog is a classic gorgeous example of a perfect liver nose RR.

I've kind of ended up keeping dogs that were "flawed" but we loved them anyway and knew no one else would. But when these perfect dogs slip through our fingers we do feel a moment or two of regret.

And then look forward to the next dog.

Chisulo, the hit-by-car dog with the broken leg, jaw and neck, is ready to be released from the hospital. He is walking on his own and they will take out the jaw wiring and then let us have him. He has been living at the vet office a month so it will be good to finally meet this boy we have been praying for and anticipating for so long. It is good Ellie no longer needs wraps or medications so I will only be doctoring one and can use my big crate for his recuperation.

But I felt very good about Jake's match and it was very uplifting for me today.
 
Your welcome, but the dogs do the thanking for themselves. I wish I could post more pictures of this cutie pie. When his adoption is more official I can post a link to his story on FB.
 
hey! you're giving my dog jake away!??!!

hee hee just kidding! so glad he found a good home - what a beautiful dog

:-)
 
SD, I just love reading your stories :)

How did you get into rescuing dogs? Are you a dog trainer?

The reason that I ask is 1) I have been sick and watching a LOT of tv and YouTube dog training videos ( taken up training my 11 yr old sheltie out of sheer boredom) which I find so fascinating!

2) I have an 8 yr old DD who is afraid of dogs ( jumped on by a 6 mo old lab when she was 3) BUT she loves watching the Dog Whisperer and It's Me Or The Dog.

I find this very strange, but she loves these shows and has been addicted to them for some time now.

I just wonder what the future holds for her, she is learning so much about dog behavior and yet.....she is afraid of dogs.

We have a friend who has a slightly out of control English Bulldog. We don't go over there very often but I am hoping that all of this dog tv
will help her cope with the overly enthusiastic untrained dog when we do visit.
Anyway, I just wonder if there is something in her future relating to dogs.
 
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