Merry Christmas

Baby It's Cold Outside

Minnesotans were hit with the biggest snowstorm in two years on Sunday. It looks pretty and we desperately need the moisture but poor Katie was freezing her buns off pottying. I made it a priority to keep her area on the patio clear so she didn't have to do her business in the snow. Oh the things we do for our (foster) pups :)

Katie's winter potty area off of the sliding glass doors

I shoveled a large circle around the shed for Lucy, my Weimaraner

Katie lured out by treats

Katie is too cute!

You can see in the second and third pictures the potty pads I have down for Katie. She has a choice between using those or going outside. Katie is great with her potty habits and has an iron bladder for such a tiny dog. Everyday Katie learns to trust and has blossomed so much in a relatively short time. We have no idea what she endured in the past, only that is was not a good life. But her ability to learn how to be loved and live life beautifully, one day at a time, is proof of her indomitable spirit. It is a privilege to foster and spoil Katie.

6 Months

We have been fostering Katie for 6 months and she has settled in very well.  She enjoys being spoiled and has become a little Diva.

For those who have been following the blog or facebook, you know that Katie had a rough September and October with protein loss and fluid build up. Thankfully, she has stabilized on prednisone and is doing really well. We're still tapering her prednisone dose and hope she'll either be on a very low dose or off of it completely. Tapering takes a long time so we won't know for awhile.

Katie has perfect potty habits. She sleeps the whole night through without needing to go out and holds it for 3-4 hours during the day. When I leave she uses her potty pad consistently.
Katie is wonderful with all aspects of grooming; she doesn't like it but will patiently stay still for whatever needs to be done. Katie still doesn't like to be picked up, but is fine with it. She's not a cuddler but is fine with being held. Katie always wants to be near and sometimes likes to hang out between my husband and me. Katie loves to stand up on us and get petted and does this all day long (she especially loves her eyes, head and back rubbed), sometimes she'll even give kisses!

Katie gets along wonderfully with our Weimaraner Lucy and they like to share dog beds, especially when I leave the house. Katie is a calm dog and her biggest passion is eating and napping. When it's time for feeding she gets vocal and excited, food is the only thing that makes her bark. I finally taught Katie to do down our flight of stairs but she usually needs treats to tempt her. She has been going up the stairs on her own for months. Our project for the next month is to try simple obedience training.

Katie is a beautiful IG and so easy to care for. Her adorable paintbrush tail goes all day long and is happy to be living the good life. With every passing week she continues to blossom. She would make a wonderful addition to any family. Are you that forever family?


Here is Katie in her 'Babushka' look. She is just too cute!

Walks

This was taken a couple weeks ago to show how wonderful Katie is on leash. Katie is loose leash the whole time and only stopping once in awhile to sniff things or use the bathroom(she rarely does this on walks). If she sees something (people/kids/cars) she stops to check it out but then moves on when I ask her to or give her a treat.  I'm using a harness for her because she was afraid of the martingale collar when I first started fostering her. I'll try using the martingale collar again in the spring when it gets warm enough to resume walks. Hope you all had a lovely November. I'll be posting a detailed 6 month update on Katie next week!
 

Happy Halloween

Cheerleader Katie wants to wish you all a very Happy Halloween! She is sooo cute  <3

Things Are Looking Up

Thanks to all the wonderful thoughts and prayers, tough little Katie is doing great   :)
I feel her mysterious illness of clear fluid build up and low protein level was probably due to an immune response, perhaps a delayed vaccine response. After tons of tests there still is no answer, but we do know she is in great condition(the blood tests and ultrasound shows she is very healthy). She received two protein infusions that helped her body absorb the clear fluid and process protein properly again.
She is really an amazing dog and always kept a great attitude even though she was feeling super punky. Katie is starting to regain the two pounds she lost and has energy again. She is happy and so excited to eat and get lots of loving. We're happy to be back to spoiling her and blogging about this beautiful girl enjoying life. Thanks again to all those thinking of Katie; especially to Kristin and Michelle of IGCA for their amazing dedication and support. Katie sends love to all her fans <3

   Katie in her new fall sweater

Good Thoughts Needed

I'm sorry for the lack of posts on the blog but we've been focusing on taking care of Katie while we figure out what is wrong with her. She has such an amazing spirit; no complaining and still wags her tail and loving even though she doesn't feel well. This sweet girl is a gem. Good thoughts and prayers for Katie is greatly appreciated. Here is a picture of her from earlier this summer.

Sharing A Bed

Katie gets along really well with her Weimaraner foster sister, Lucy, and often like to share beds. I don't know why but Katie prefers the big dog beds over the little ones.

The two girls:

Here, Katie is wondering why I disturbed her afternoon nap (not to be confused with the late morning after breakfast nap or the early evening nap):

Katie is a wonderful dog and a joy to have around. She makes me smile everyday as she learns to enjoy the good life. We are currently working on socializing, which is going great. We love spoiling beautiful Katie.

2 Months

We have been fostering Katie for 2 months. She continues to open up and is comfortable here. Her body language is slowly changing; you can see her tail not tuck under as much when I approach to pick her up or groom her. She has grown very fond of me and will follow me everywhere. Here is a short checklist and grade for Katie's two month report card:

Kennel: B+, Katie eats all her meals in there and likes to hang out in there throughout the day. She spends short periods closed in and does fine.

Walking: A, Katie does very well walking with a harness. It is usually loose leash and she only stops when there is some new sound/sight and she stops for a few minutes to take it all in then moves on easily when called with treats.

Grooming: A, Katie lays pretty still while I dremmel her nails and pulls away just a little. Teeth brushing is okay, but she does move her head away a lot. Ears and bathing is fine as well.

Handling: B-, Katie is still a little afraid of being picked up and crouches, but she lets me do it. She loves to come up to be for petting and sometimes licks my hands, she does this a lot throughout the day.

Housebreaking: B, Katie uses the disposable pee pads really well for pees but not poops when left alone free when I go to work. She has only about 1 accident a week. She is good about going outside to do her business.

 Health: A+, Katie has a VERY healthy appetite and seems healthy.

Attitude: B+, Katie is a shy but happy girl. After two months, she is comfortable with me. She gets along great with our Weimaraner, Lucy. Katie never causes any trouble and is usually a quiet girl (except when it comes to food! She lets you know how much she loves it and likes to beg).

Katie is a sweet, easy dog and we enjoy fostering her greatly. She is so adorable and continues to open up more each day. Our future goals is socializing and basic obedience training.

Kong - Quest

Kongs are awesome toys; safe to leave with your dog, easy on teeth, keeps them busy and takes awhile to clean out completely. Katie did not like the stuffed kong in the beginning. She would lick it a couple times and be done. I had to hold it and encourage her. Here is a video from a few weeks ago:

Before:




After a couple weeks with the kong, Katie is a champ at cleaning it out. She is so smart; holding it, rolling it around and batting it with her tiny paws: total Kong-Quest.

Now:




Now that she has become a pro, I make it super difficult and it takes a good 30-40 mins for her to get all the goodies out.
Is she not the cutest thing in the videos? *swoon*

Toy

After being with us for a month, Katie finally had her first play session!
I didn't want to distract or cause her to stop, so I didn't take any pictures and pretended not to watch. She dragged this huge monkey stick toy from the living room to the dog bed in the bedroom and was tearing into it. After a few minutes she was finished and I took pictures of the evidence. You can see the orange toy on the bottom of the picture:



Fuzz face:



She continues to have short play sessions once in awhile and it makes my heart sing to know she is feeling safer and happier here. Many times we take a step forward and several steps back with Katie, but I know with time she will open up and trust completely.

Grooming

Katie has been with us for 3 1/2 weeks. She is much more comfortable and is slowly learning to trust us. I started grinding her nails and brushing her teeth early last week. We have done nails three times and surprisingly she does very well. I put her on my lap, on top of a pillow, and put my arms around her. At first I would hold her head down and she would struggle; I've learned that she is much more comfortable with her head up so she can see what I'm doing. She'll allow me to do them for a few minutes (which is plenty for up keeping nails). I can tell she is very nervous because her paws start to sweat a lot, but she stays put and makes it a one person job. She does not like teeth brushing, but will tolerate it okay.
The only negative from grooming is that she no longer lets me pick her up easily. She usually will run around for a while, and tricks that used to work (sitting still on the floor, crawling to her) no longer gets her to come/stop.

Since she has become more comfortable, she likes to sleep on the floor on the dog beds instead of hanging out right next to us. She will always come around and check on me if I leave the room too long, or she'll just stop and grin, wag her tail, and let us pet her.

Katie is a love bug and continues to try very hard to trust. She is already a different dog than the girl that came to us in early June.

Here is Katie all curled up <3

Video of Katie

Here is a video I put together of Katie in the yard. She loves to scratch her back and wiggle all over; it always puts a huge smile on my face seeing it. We adore Katie and know she'll make somebody a wonderful companion. Until then, we're happy to spoil and show her the good life :)

Day 5

Katie is opening up and becoming more comfortable each day.
She has an iron bladder for such a tiny girl; sleeping the whole night through without needing to go out and has only had 1 accident in the house (completely my fault!).
She now gets on and off our bed on her own. She'll go look for me if I leave the room. She'll put her front paws on my legs when we're outside to get my attention. Katie loves food and is a huge beggar! She eats all her meals with gusto.
Katie does not like being left alone and will cry/whine/howl. Hopefully, she learns that I will return shortly. Katie is still shy about me picking her up, but allows me to.

Did you know that IG's are cute from nose to tail? Everything about Katie is so adorable: her big soulful eyes, nose, speckled tummy, paint brush tail; all of it and more is irresistibly cute! Katie is confident in the backyard and likes her independence; often laying away from me and checking things out on her own and then comes around to say hi. When inside, she prefers to be right next to us.

Katie is a honey and is settling in very well.

Here are some cute pics of Katie in the backyard, I love the last one!

Welcome Katie!

Welcome Katie! We started fostering her on 6/2. Katie is a beautiful 6 year old, fawn IG with white markings. She is my first IG foster! I have been fostering greyhounds for over 3 years and continue to expand my love for sight hounds :)

Katie is so sweet and shy. She wants to show love, but is afraid to approach you. Once you get her into your lap or next to you, she eats up all the love. Katie was recently spayed and had a dental with 9 extractions. She is healing from all that before we start getting her used to grooming.

Katie is a honey bunny and adores my husband. Here she is the first night snuggling with him.

We'll be taking things at Katie's pace and I'll post about once a week.