Since I posted a few weeks ago that I had adopted "Ziva" from Saving Death Row Dogs I have had many people inquiring about how she is doing. This week I decided to write about our journey together so far. Not just to update everyone on her progress, but to discuss some of the issues we have had to work through, how we worked through them, and what results I saw. Since many people are choosing to adopt (and even more in the future I hope!) I thought this might be great information to share. However, this first entry will only describe the road that led me to adopting Ziva. There will be more posts in the future describing new roads as we travel down them together.
The first time I saw "Ziva" (originally named "Queen") was when her picture was posted on Saving Death Row Dog's facebook page when they first acquired her. I remember thinking how beautiful she was and wondering how someone could possibly stop wanting her sweet face. Ziva was found as a stray roaming the streets of Topeka. Even after exhausting all efforts to find her owner, no one came forward to claim her. SDRD placed her in a foster home for a couple of weeks where she revealed a pretty severe case of separation anxiety/escapism, jumping fences and skinning the side of her face trying to get out of a kennel.
The first time I saw Ziva in person was at SDRD's annual carnival and adoption event Memorial Day Weekend. It is one of the biggest events they have all year and many of their dogs attend, hoping to find their forever homes. I had a booth there, talking to people about training and behavior problems. I looked across the grass football field that the event was held on and there was Ziva, standing in one of the kiddie pools they had brought to keep the dogs cool. I watched her walk around the event and was impressed by how laid back she seemed to be, taking all the other dogs/people/kids in stride.
I had a group class that day so I had to leave the carnival early to teach some puppies. When I got back shortly after the carnival had ended, there were only a handful of SDRD volunteers left and no dogs, except Ziva.As I walked up the volunteer who had been walking her around the carnival handed her off to another volunteer so she could help with something else. As she walked away, Ziva was visibly upset that the person she had been with all day had handed her over to someone new. "Typical German Shepherd", I thought. For those of you who are not familiar with the breed, German Shepherds are VERY attached to their person and want to be WHEREVER that person is at ALL TIMES. Now GSD's can love their entire family, but will always have one person they choose to be with over everyone else. I could tell Ziva was searching for a person to call her own, desperately searching.
I wondered why she was still there and asked one of the members. They were trying to figure out what to do with her because her foster home had informed them that she wasn't fitting in well at their house. Their plan was to board her until they were able to get another foster home lined up for her. Unfortunately, it was Memorial Day Weekend and the vet they use to board dogs was already at capacity. As some of you know, I do limited boarding in addition to the training I provide so I agreed to keep her until Monday when the vet was no longer full, or they found a foster for her. I loaded her into my vehicle and started home. All the way home, I swear she was trying to decide whether I was going to be her person or I would pass her off to someone else yet again. All the way home, I was trying to decide the same thing...
When we arrived home, the first test she had to pass was with my son. Clayton was 15 months old at the time and while he is a very well behaved child, no 15 month old is reliable or predictable so it is always a test to see how a dog is going to react to him. She LOVED him! There were a few things he did that puzzled her but for the most part they got along grandly.
Her next assessment was how she would get along with the other dogs and my cat. Before I brought her home, SDRD told me that she had growled at a couple of dogs that got into her face at the carnival and considering she hadn't fit in at her foster home, I knew this might be an issue. However, I also knew that many times, once a dog knows it is in a safe environment and has an owner they know will keep them safe, a lot of that type of behavior will calm down. She did growl and even snap at one of the dogs at my house the first day I brought her home but she got along very well with my Corgi "Tru". As far as the cat is concerned, she pretty much ignored it for the first few days, thought it might be fun to chase around for a few days after that but my cat and I convinced her that was a bad idea, now she and the cat coexist not bothering one another at all.
Finally, I had to see what my husband thought of her. My grandparents raised German Shepherds for many years so I had been around the breed a lot. I owned a male named "Bronson" all through college and for the first couple of years that Waylon and I were together. "Bronson" was one of the greatest dogs I have ever owned. It broke my heart when he passed away but no matter how long I owned him, his "person" was my grandpa and Bronson passed away on my Grandpa's birthday just months after my Grandfather died. I have always thought he must have needed a good dog to walk with him in heaven, Happy Birthday, Papa.
Since Bronson died, we have talked about getting another GSD quite a few times, and were even offered one from a dear friend, but the situation never was quite right. So was this the right time? As I spent the weekend with Ziva, I got to know her personality, and saw how desperate she was to find someone who wouldn't pass her off once again. As we began working on her separation issues and crate anxiety, I found myself telling her that I would ALWAYS come back for her and that she didn't have to worry anymore. When Monday rolled around I knew she wasn't going anywhere. I called SDRD and asked if I could adopt her and our journey began. Thank you SDRD for all that you do, who knows what her future had been if it weren't for the work you do!
Stay tuned in the following weeks to read more about dealing with her separation anxiety, escapism, growling at other dogs, fear of fireworks, and all the other adventures we don't even know about yet!
The first time I saw "Ziva" (originally named "Queen") was when her picture was posted on Saving Death Row Dog's facebook page when they first acquired her. I remember thinking how beautiful she was and wondering how someone could possibly stop wanting her sweet face. Ziva was found as a stray roaming the streets of Topeka. Even after exhausting all efforts to find her owner, no one came forward to claim her. SDRD placed her in a foster home for a couple of weeks where she revealed a pretty severe case of separation anxiety/escapism, jumping fences and skinning the side of her face trying to get out of a kennel.
The first time I saw Ziva in person was at SDRD's annual carnival and adoption event Memorial Day Weekend. It is one of the biggest events they have all year and many of their dogs attend, hoping to find their forever homes. I had a booth there, talking to people about training and behavior problems. I looked across the grass football field that the event was held on and there was Ziva, standing in one of the kiddie pools they had brought to keep the dogs cool. I watched her walk around the event and was impressed by how laid back she seemed to be, taking all the other dogs/people/kids in stride.
I had a group class that day so I had to leave the carnival early to teach some puppies. When I got back shortly after the carnival had ended, there were only a handful of SDRD volunteers left and no dogs, except Ziva.As I walked up the volunteer who had been walking her around the carnival handed her off to another volunteer so she could help with something else. As she walked away, Ziva was visibly upset that the person she had been with all day had handed her over to someone new. "Typical German Shepherd", I thought. For those of you who are not familiar with the breed, German Shepherds are VERY attached to their person and want to be WHEREVER that person is at ALL TIMES. Now GSD's can love their entire family, but will always have one person they choose to be with over everyone else. I could tell Ziva was searching for a person to call her own, desperately searching.
I wondered why she was still there and asked one of the members. They were trying to figure out what to do with her because her foster home had informed them that she wasn't fitting in well at their house. Their plan was to board her until they were able to get another foster home lined up for her. Unfortunately, it was Memorial Day Weekend and the vet they use to board dogs was already at capacity. As some of you know, I do limited boarding in addition to the training I provide so I agreed to keep her until Monday when the vet was no longer full, or they found a foster for her. I loaded her into my vehicle and started home. All the way home, I swear she was trying to decide whether I was going to be her person or I would pass her off to someone else yet again. All the way home, I was trying to decide the same thing...
When we arrived home, the first test she had to pass was with my son. Clayton was 15 months old at the time and while he is a very well behaved child, no 15 month old is reliable or predictable so it is always a test to see how a dog is going to react to him. She LOVED him! There were a few things he did that puzzled her but for the most part they got along grandly.
Her next assessment was how she would get along with the other dogs and my cat. Before I brought her home, SDRD told me that she had growled at a couple of dogs that got into her face at the carnival and considering she hadn't fit in at her foster home, I knew this might be an issue. However, I also knew that many times, once a dog knows it is in a safe environment and has an owner they know will keep them safe, a lot of that type of behavior will calm down. She did growl and even snap at one of the dogs at my house the first day I brought her home but she got along very well with my Corgi "Tru". As far as the cat is concerned, she pretty much ignored it for the first few days, thought it might be fun to chase around for a few days after that but my cat and I convinced her that was a bad idea, now she and the cat coexist not bothering one another at all.
Finally, I had to see what my husband thought of her. My grandparents raised German Shepherds for many years so I had been around the breed a lot. I owned a male named "Bronson" all through college and for the first couple of years that Waylon and I were together. "Bronson" was one of the greatest dogs I have ever owned. It broke my heart when he passed away but no matter how long I owned him, his "person" was my grandpa and Bronson passed away on my Grandpa's birthday just months after my Grandfather died. I have always thought he must have needed a good dog to walk with him in heaven, Happy Birthday, Papa.
Since Bronson died, we have talked about getting another GSD quite a few times, and were even offered one from a dear friend, but the situation never was quite right. So was this the right time? As I spent the weekend with Ziva, I got to know her personality, and saw how desperate she was to find someone who wouldn't pass her off once again. As we began working on her separation issues and crate anxiety, I found myself telling her that I would ALWAYS come back for her and that she didn't have to worry anymore. When Monday rolled around I knew she wasn't going anywhere. I called SDRD and asked if I could adopt her and our journey began. Thank you SDRD for all that you do, who knows what her future had been if it weren't for the work you do!
Stay tuned in the following weeks to read more about dealing with her separation anxiety, escapism, growling at other dogs, fear of fireworks, and all the other adventures we don't even know about yet!
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