Rat Terrier Rescues

Today I want to showcase one of the rat terrier rescue sites I visit regularly.  Here you will find information about ratties, but more importantly, you can view pics of available ratties that are waiting for a "forever home".  Who knows, maybe the dog you need is there just waiting for you.

Seriously, ratties make the best companions and are the most loving pets.  They are energetic, but not annoyingly so; they are loving, but not in a clinging, needy way.  They love to please and are very intelligent, so they learn well.  The only drawback to the breed I have found is that they are very independent and can be stubborn.  This is really not a problem if you learn to handle your rattie correctly.

So, today I want to talk about Ratterrierresq.

Here is an excerpt of one of the available dogs for you to see and think about adopting.

Monty

Sex: Male  •   Located in: Connecticut   •   Age: Adult

*Monty is being fostered in South Windsor.*
My name is Monty, and I am about 2 to 3 years old and weigh 14 pounds. I love to run and play, but my most favorite spot is next to my human. I love stuffies (stuffed toys) but I’m a little hard on them. I am learning about walks on the leash,and am a doggie-door champ, but at first that was a little scary: now I teach everyone else how to use the doggie door when they first get here. My foster mom says I am very handsome (of course), very smart and the best snuggle bunny you have ever met. I love, love, love to sit in my person’s lap, and snuggle with them under the covers at night. I am house trained, don’t really like the crate very much and would prefer to just be loose in the house. When I see a new house, I might forget and try to “mark,” but a stern word is all it takes to remind me. I can jump really high, and the perfect home for me would have a fenced backyard, or someone to walk me a lot. If you are looking for a handsome guy to be the love of your life, look no further! Please see more pictures of Monty!

liamorgan “Feedback lies at the core of effective learning.” Gladwell. #necc09

This dog is okay with:

cats

dogs

kids

Came to rescue on: Apr 15, 2009  •  Permalink to Monty's profile  •  

Good Dog, Smart Dog

 After reading this article, I have a new found appreciation for my little man.  I have always known that he was special, but I really never thought he could be as special as the dog in the article.  However, it seems I have very low expectations of my little man.

I only included an excerpt from this article.  There is more than what I have below.  Please go to the original site to read it in full.  Then, won't you come back and tell me if you agree or disagree with the article?
______________________________________________________________________________

By SARAH KERSHAW

Published: October 31, 2009

Life as a Labradoodle may sound free and easy, but if you’re Jet, who lives in New Jersey, there is a lot of work to be done.

Ross Macdonald

He is both a seizure alert dog and a psychiatric service dog whose owner has epilepsy, severe anxiety, depression, various phobias and hypoglycemia. Jet has been trained to anticipate seizures, panic attacks and plunging blood sugar and will alert his owner to these things by staring intently at her until she does something about the problem. He will drop a toy in her lap to snap her out of a dissociative state. If she has a seizure, he will position himself so that his body is under her head to cushion a fall.
Jet seems like a genius, but is he really so smart? In fact, is any of it in his brain, or is it mostly in his sniff?
The matter of what exactly goes on in the mind of a dog is a tricky one, and until recently much of the research on canine intelligence has been met with large doses of skepticism. But over the last several years a growing body of evidence, culled from small scientific studies of dogs’ abilities to do things like detect cancer or seizures, solve complex problems (complex for a dog, anyway), and learn language suggests that they may know more than we thought they did.
Their apparent ability to tune in to the needs of psychiatric patients, turning on lights for trauma victims afraid of the dark, reminding their owners to take medication and interrupting behaviors like suicide attempts and self-mutilation, for example, has lately attracted the attention of researchers.
In September, the Army announced that it would spend $300,000 to study the impact of pairing psychiatric service dogs like Jet with soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder. Both the House and Senate have recently passed bills that would finance the training and placement of these dogs with veterans.
Hungarian researchers reported in a study last year that a guide dog for a blind and epileptic person became anxious before its master suffered a seizure and was taught to bark and lick the owner’s face and upper arm when it detected an onset, three to five minutes before the seizure. It is still somewhat mysterious how exactly dogs detect seizures, whether it’s by picking up on behavioral changes or smelling something awry, but several small studies have shown that a powerful sense of smell can detect lung and other types of cancer, as the dogs sniff out odors emitted by the disease.
Beyond these perceptual abilities, in which trainers can use the dogs’ natural instincts, some research has examined dogs’ actual cognitive ability, and found not just good doggie, but smart doggie.
“I believe that so much research has come out lately suggesting that we may have underestimated certain aspects of the mental ability of dogs that even the most hardened cynic has to think twice before rejecting the possibilities,” said Stanley Coren, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia and an author of several books on dogs.

Read the rest of this article here>>

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My new interest--making Squidoo Lenses about Ratties!

Image via Wikipedia

Now that I have this blogging thing under my belt (I have 4 blogs and write to them frequently), I have decided to explore other options online.  One of the quickest and easiest ways to get a web page of your own online is with Squidoo.com, so I started there.  Besides, its free!

I have a wonderful lense (that's what they call a web page) there called, Rat Terriers.  Please visit and tell me what you think.  I have some really good pictures there of my little man with his tongue hanging out.  I also posted several videos of rat terriers doing weird things and there are some articles about the unique challenges to owning a rat terrier.  Anyway, I hope you visit and find the information useful.  I really had a blast learning how to make squidoo lenses.

One warning---making squidoo lenses becomes addictive, kinda like blogs get under your skin.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  Try your hand at making a lense.  You can make one about just about anything in the world and you can add really cool stuff with ease.  This one is a no-brainer!

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Back to Basics

Image via Wikipedia

Since I have been having such a time with the new foster dog, I felt I should go back to basics and get out my dog training information.  I originally got information from here.  Although this information was specific to my rattie, I think it will work on Austen, even though he is a little more laid back than Satchmo.

Anyway, I will start his program tomorrow and we will see how he does!

I also think I will get out my information on making foods for these little ones, as my Satchmo is getting older and his stomach is much more sensitive.  Austen, on the other hand, simply is a picky eater.  If you would like a copy of the ebook on canine cuisine, you can get one too.

One of the things I struggle with most in having a rat terrier is that he moves with the speed of sound and is an escape artist.  He and Austen are ganging up on me, as I am out chasing them more than I want to be.
I found a great product and am going to buy one for each of them after the holidays.  It's called Animal GPS Tracking Solutions and with this on each one of them, I won't worry so much because I will be able to find them easily.  After I get one, I'll let you know how it works!

Some cute pictures of Ratties!

Isn't this the cutest puppy?

Quite a "mood" shot, don't you agree?

Today the little man and the foster dog have gotten along fairly well.  Satchmo has growled several times and snapped when Austen tries to get a toy, but other than that it has been fine.

The house is still intact since now whenever I leave I have to put Austen in a crate.  My God!  That dog can howl.  He never makes any sound whatsoever until you put him in the crate.

My neighbor is still trying to get a job, but for now she is in a safe place.  I worry about her all the time and want to see her resettled and rejoined with Austen.  Until then, he will definitely be staying here with me!

The Saga continues...

Well, the integration project for this foster dog is not going as smoothly as I would like.  I am so tired from lack of sleep.  Let me explain.  This dog tears up my house and chews up my shoes if left unattended.  So, as a way to "train" him I use Satchmo's crate at night.  This dog howls at the top of his lungs from the minute you put him in the crate until you let him out.  When you do let him out, Satchmo barks non-stop in excitement.  I am afraid that the neighbors will begin to complain about the commotion.

He is a very sweet dog.  He just wants you to hold him and love on him, but if he doesn't get what he wants he becomes a terrible monster and wreaks havoc around himself.  He is the first dog I have ever put in a crate and had a problem with.  I have even resorted to Benadryl before bed, to no avail. 

I am beginning to feel like a young mother with a toddler again.  Does anyone out there have any suggestions?  I would be very pleased to hear them, as long as they are positive and won't hurt this little foster dog.

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Foreclosure Dogs Need Your Help

Image via Wikipedia

After the last post I made about my neighbor and the new foster-dog, I began researching the subject of pets and what is happening to them in this economic downturn.  Sorry to say, I did not find any news that was uplifting. 

Why is it that the first to go is the family pet?  Does no one understand the term "commitment" anymore?  I always knew that getting a pet was a full-time, 10-15 year commitment, similar in kind to having babies.  Pets are totally dependent on their owners for life itself.  How can you just wake up one day, after years of caring for your pet dog and decide to abandon it because it was more cost effective to do so?  If that argument holds water, the next wave of problems will be all the abandoned children being left at churches, hospitals, and such because they cost too much to keep.

Please read the blog post below that talks about some of these situations in California, which is an area that has been very hard hit by foreclosures.  After reading this blog, I felt sick but I was really angry, too.  Read the post and then let me know what you think about this situation, okay?

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Foreclosure Dogs Need Your Help
October 17, 2009

The saying, adopt a dog, save a life has never embodied a more urgent a plea. Across the fruited plain, in cities, towns and hamlets, upscale, downscale and no scale communities, dogs are being abandoned and too often forgotten.

Confused and frightened, dogs and puppies are simply left alone without food or water in foreclosed homes. Others are dropped off on lonely roads, in parks and woodlands. The lucky ones have been given to new homes and families, to dog rescues or no kill dog shelters for later adoption.

Revealing just how the severe the crisis is, Sharon L. Peters of USA Today writes, ” They’re arriving by the thousands every month, homeless, hapless victims of foreclosure…are landing in…(dog) shelters in large numbers in some parts of the country.And this is not an isolated occurrence

“We’re seeing more and more cases of people leaving their homes and dropping the dog off at the shelter and…. in the local park,” says Michael Mountain, president of Best Friends Animal Society. “Sometimes they even just tie the dog up outside and drive off.”

Eileen Drennen of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution brought it all home in with an actual case history “One abandoned dog Lt. Mary Lou Respess can’t get out of her mind is a Chihuahua. He’d been tied up so long, said the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter manager, his collar had gotten embedded in his skin and had to be surgically removed. He’s one of hundreds whose owners have left them behind.Small enough to fit in a shoe box, this Chihuahua’s guardians saw fit to abuse and desert their tiny dog.

While we are sympathetic to the plight of folks who are suffering as a result of the economic and mortgage meltdown we have zero tolerance for cruelty and neglect as demonstrated here.And this abject cruelty and neglect extends across dog breeds and sizes as well.

In Stockton, California, Evelyn Nieves of the Associated Press wrote, “The house was ravaged by owners who trashed their home before a bank foreclosed on it. Hidden in the wreckage was an abandoned member of the family: a starving pit bull.The dog found by workers was too far gone to save …

”So what can be done? 

Here’s a few suggestions:
- The ASPCA suggests that you try to find someone to foster or adopt your dog. Check with your family, neighbors, friends, and coworkers.
- Make the effort to find a no-kill shelter. It’s extra work but it is your responsibility. There is no excuse for taking the easy way out when your dog’s life is at stake.
- Contact local dog rescue organizations to see if they can help you find a home.
- Advertise your adoptable dog in a dog-specific classified ad listing. Screen potential adopters carefully. Rescue groups can help you with a set of questions such as: where the dog will live and what would be a reason for them to get rid of a dog . Do not advertise “free dog” in your ad as there are unscrupulous people who will take free dogs with little regard for their well being and some have even sold family pets to animal testing labs.
- Contact your veterinarian. He/she may also be able to find a new home or temporary guardian for your dog. Never drop your dog off in a crate or box on the veterinarian’s doorstep as this can be unsafe. He might escape or suffer from a lack of water or temperature fluctuation before help arrives.
- Contact your local animal shelter or animal control facility to see whether it will accept your dog and assist in finding it a new home .
- Support legislation in your area:  California, one the of states hit hardest by the sub-mortgage meltdown is considering Assembly Bill 2949, which would allow bank representatives to immediately seek potentially life-saving help for animals abandoned at foreclosed properties. The bill is supported by the ASPCA and the California Animal Association. 

It is never OK to leave the family pet to fend for himself. There are options and we should all be compassionately vigilant to help educate those facing economic hardship that will tear them from their home and split up their family. Many people will welcome the help at a time when they simply don’t know where to turn or what to do.

Others, sadly, will not be responsive to help and will continue to take the easy way out by abandoning their dogs. That’s where all of us have a responsibility to work within our own communities, with dog rescues, veterinarians and dog shelters to help re-home man’s best friend, when his family, in an act of inexcusable cruelty, forecloses on his love and loyalty and he is left behind.

Foreclosure Dogs Need Your Help « Chihuahua Pups