Vixen in Vina

This cute little young pup was strolling along the beach checking the views. I took these two pictures standing in the same spot. She's got a great view, but I wish she also had someone to take care of her!

Looking Cute in Chiloe

I want to make sure that not all of the dogs I post on here are in dire situations. These two guys I ran into while sight seeing in Chiloe. The first pup was with his owner in an artesional market and looked quite comfy.

This other guy was too cute to resist photographing sleeping outside a typical Chiloe stilt house.

Caged in Chiloe

I'm assuming this guy had a home because he was locked in this backyard, but he had no food/water/shelter and looked uber sad. I really wanted to spring him and bring him with me, but sadly that isn't an option.

Friendly pup in Chiloe

This guy was itching with excitement as we walked up to him on our way to the water in Chiloe. He couldn't resist jumping up when I stopped to take a photo of him. He was super friendly and followed us down to the shore line and wandered and waited while we took pictures. He had this odd wide color on, that I wasn't sure if it was a collar or a piece of trash he had gotten stuck around his neck. Thanks for the tour buddy!

Welcome to Patagonia.....tummy rub please!

Exhausted I exit my plane, pick up baggage and head outside to climb into my rental car, and look what I found. I didn't have time to fulfill his request for a tummy rub, but couldn't resist snapping this pic. He was still at the airport when I returned 3 days later to greet me by the door. This pup was young, not even a year old. He needs someone to scoop him up and give him the belly rubs he so much deserves. I would buddy, I would, but Jersey is really far away.

Lunch Buddy

This adorable lady made her way into the outdoor seating area of the cafe where we were having lunch. I know I probably shouldn't but, she was super cute, so I gave her a piece of bread. Evidence is even in the pic. She came and layed down next to us while we ate and just kept smiling up at us. After I finished eating, I starting petting her (one of the few street dogs i've touched) and she rolled over onto her belly. Mind you we're at a restaurant....ooops. This girl should not have been on the street. Afterwards, we went right out of the cafe and she went left. Good luck, girlie, it was a pleasure meeting you.

Hankering for a slice

This smart mama I saw in the Plaza Moneda was quite resourceful and found herself a FULL slice of pizza! I watched her scarf it down quickly.

On another note, I had dinner with some Chilean friends last night and asked about the street dogs. He noted that there were a few factors at play:

1. The earthquake left a lot of people without a home or forced to move to smaller apartments which meant, their beloved pups quickly became street dogs in a large number of unfortunate cases.

2. Although I've read Chileans may be opposed to spay/neuter because of the Catholic culture, my chilean friend said its more likely that people just can't afford the surgery. The surgery needs to be done by a vet so most people opt not to spend the extra money.

3. The government has not put forth an effort to encourage spay/neuter through low cost surgeries/mobile clinics, etc.

Kings of the Castle

This guy I found near Baquedano chilling like Prince Edward himself. Seemed to be checkin' out the scenery enjoying the sights.
This is one of three dogs I found chilling at the Moneda Palace. There are people all about taking photos and guards pacing the grounds, its almost as if these pups were invisible.

This guy was sunning himself on the glass tiles directly in front of the palace. I'm sure there were people roaming around below looking up at him as well.

This guy caught me by surprise because he's not the typical german shepherd Chilean street dog. He was sitting there in front of a woman outside the palace selling chocolate and appeared completely content with his surroundings.

Pan Please?

I found this guy and his sad look waiting outside the panaderia (bakery) front door. He didn't move the entire time we were inside enjoying empanadas and looked as if his owner had stumbled in and forgotten to stumble out with anything for this poor guy.

Surprise they have an Owner!

We went to go check out a lunch place near our office suggested by a coworker. As we checked out the shops, we noticed these two pups. As I was taking there picture a man came out of a mechanic looking shop saying they were his dogs. Holy maccaroni, I would never have guessed these guys have an owner. I don't think they've ever gotten a bath. Shame too, cause they appeared super sweet.
This is Poloma. Seemed super cute and sweet but just like his sister appeared to never have gotten a bath and had random things stuck to his fur.

This is Chiquita. I felt so bad about all the matted items in her fur. The shop owner was encouraging us to pet her, but my OCD wouldn't let me.

Wed 10/20

This big guy greeted me at work Wed. He marched up to our taxi, took a sniff then went on with his day.

I took this picture from a car window on my way to lunch last Wed. This guy looked both ways then proceeded to cross the street. I was impressed, but still don't want him on the streets!

Lying About

Often times the dogs are sunning themselves, but it scares me because I'm not sure if they're still alive until I pause and wait for their stomach to slowly rise and fall. Its all just too sad. These two cuties were outside the Unimarc (grocery store), at rush hour with massive crowds passing by on their way to the metro, but they didn't flinch. Both dogs of german shepherd decent - which is a large majority of the street dogs.

My first heartbreak

Walking around Santiago, you can't help but notice the street dogs. They are often the dogs that would be pulled first in US City shelters so it is odd to me to see so many lying about unaltered.

This first pup I photographed was laying outside the Tobalaba train station and appeared to be waiting for the bus, just like the rest of the crowd commuting home at the end of their day.

Happy Tails!

Sweety was adopted last Friday to an amazing couple who fell in love with her. It was a bittersweet visit as we were sad to see her go, but super happy she has found her forever home. She's now the center of attention and they're only pup. I'm sure she'll LOVE that!

She's settled in nicely we heard and true to Sweety style, already finding small spaces to squeeze herself.

Update

I guess I haven't posted in a while. Sweety is doing well. She had her first visit to the dog park last weekend and I've never seen her smile so much! She had the greatest time running around with any and every other dog for over an hour. I wish I had my camera!

Sweety has also lost some weight. When we first got her, the pound said she was 75 lbs. She's now 68! A consistent diet and exercise does the trick.

Also, accidents are over. Yay Sweety! We don't take her out any differently then Port now and she can easily go 10 hours when we're not home during the day.

Nobody puts baby in the corner

She puts herself in the corner! She loves small spaces. She loves to squirm her way into Dave's closet and sleep, she loves trying to fit between her crate and the couch, she sleeps in the corner by the back door and the entrance to the garage. I guess she just feels safe in small spaces. Aww sweet thing needs a forever home with someone she can cuddle with and that will shower her with attention. She has certainly lived up to her name.

Sweey's 'Please' Growl

Sweety laying on Dave begging for attention.

For the most part this is a VERY quiet dog. So when she speaks you can't help but turn your head and listen. She will bark when people come to the door, or when Port barks, and when she's excited to go outside, other than that she's soooo quiet.

Then - every once and a while - she has this growl. This - 'your not paying attention to me, I want something' growl. Its not a mean growl and EVERY time she does it, she has this 'my heart is breaking' googly eyed look on her face. She used to do it when we ate (see post on eating habits) and every once and a while she'll do it when we're sitting on the couch or the bed. I try to ignore her for a minute or two after, because I don't want to reward her for doing it, but she's sooo cute. It usually ends in cuddle time....ooops.

Eating Habits

I'm not sure if I've covered this on the blog, but Sweety is the only dog I've ever fostered that is a 'grazer.' Every other dog, when they come home from the pound are ravenous about food. Each time you put down a bowl, they can't get enough and you can genuinely tell they don't know if they'll ever get another meal. So sad.

Sweety must have been 1. Fed 2. Fed Junk

She knows where her food bowl is and will only eat when she's hungry. Sometimes its the entire bowl, sometimes she eats just a few nibbles. I was concerned when we first brought her home and she couldn't have cared less about her kibble. However, when Dave & I made dinner she was all over us. She would stare at our food and try and sit at our feet and sometimes even bark or growl at us because we weren't giving her any. She was pretty overweight when she came to us. I think she's still a little overweight, but she's much better.

Sweety is also better about humans eating. We are still working on it, but she (for the most part) knows that she needs to stay on her bed while we eat. We did it in two parts. 1- We've never fed her human food while we're eating. Any human food goes in her food bowl (piece of turkey with a pill in it or something, maybe a small piece of leftover steak). Consistency is key! 2 - We've started making her lay on her bed the minute we make our plates and ask her to stay. If she gets up we make her go back before we proceed eating. A few more weeks of consistency on step #2 and I think she'll have it down pat.

Five days since Sweety's last accident! Yay Sweety!

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Progress, Progress, Progress...

I would say now that Sweety is house trained, not 100% house broken, but she is trained. She knows that she should hold her blatter and go outside. As long as we follow some simple rules with her, we seem to aviod accidents:

1. She will not pee in her crate, so anytime we leave the house for more than an hour, we put her in the crate.
2. She will not pee overnight as long as we close our bedroom door. Not sure why - maybe it has become a large crate for her, but if the door is open, she will wander down in the middle of the night and pee at the back door. So the door is closed and problem solved!
3. We used to take her out every 2 hours, and now we're up to every 4 hours which is pretty typical of your house trained dog.

Bravo Sweety!

We're 3 days since the last accident. I think she started having accidents after her spay surgery because she got a very sick tummy. She didn't eat normally for 5 days but is back to normal and the accidents have stopped.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our one month anniversary with Sweety. Yesterday she went into People for Animals clinic in Hillside, NJ for her spay surgery. She came home with her big cone on, bumping into everything. It was almost like watching a pin ball arcade game, I think she ran into everything we own! She was groggy and uncomfortable (with her cone head) but managed to eat something late into the evening. In a few days she'll be back to normal!

No more pups for Sweety

Sweety goes in for her spay surgery today at People for Animals. They are a low cost spay/neuter clinic in Hillside, NJ. It only costs $95 for a female up to 80lbs (even less for smaller dogs). I went this morning to drop her off and there had to have been close to 35 dogs ready to be dropped off. I saw at least 5 cute pitties with their responsible owners!

We decided to leave her name Sweety since it fits her so well and even though Daisy is cute - she...is...Sweety.

Its been almost a month since we've been fostering Sweety and she is learning quick. It's been 3 days since her last accident. She fully knows potty outside is good and potty inside is bad - which is half the battle. As long as we take her out every 3-4 hours and shut our bedroom door at night (if not she'll wander down at night to go pee by the back door which is what happened Fri) she seems to make it just fine. She can also go 8 hours in her crate with no accidents. I'd give her another couple of weeks and she'll be fully potty trained.

A pic of sweety eating a scrumptious blueberry mini-cupcake this past weekend.

A dollop of Daisy?

My husband isn't the biggest fan of Sweety as a name. I think it fits her personality very well. My mother thought of Daisy because she is sweet like the flower - and a very lazy Daisy! So there might be a name change pretty soon.

On another note, we worked on sit, down and stay yesterday. We're also having less and less accidents. She's blossoming into such an amazing girl.

Man Handling

I have to post on how great Sweetie is to man handle. I've cut her nails twice now and both times she's just layed there and been a great girl. You can flip her around, mess with her ears, and just overall man handle her and she's happy to have the lovin! I think she would do great in a house with kids that she can follow around all day.

Also, anytime you sit on the floor, she has to be at least touching you - but she'd prefer to be laying on top of you. Its so cute, she just has to have her big head and googly eyes on your or very close. This girl was starved for attention. She's very easily making her way deep into my heart.

No pain, No gain

So we think Sweetie spent the majority of her life cramped up in a cage. We came to this conclusion because: 1. She's Overweight, but 2. She has NO strength in her back legs. Her daily walks were hard for her in the first couple of days. I can tell she's getting stronger, but she still struggles on the steps from time to time.

I think she's learned sit, she knows she needs to sit at the door before i'll put her leash on to go outside. We're also teaching her to get back and not try to push her way out the back door. Progress is definitely being made!

I've left her alone now a few times and i'm happy to report - she is not destructive. She knows what a toy is and what is off limits. Yay Sweetie!

Sweetie's Wild Weekend

Well we've discovered Sweetie is definitely sweet. All she wants to do is cuddle up and push against you. We're pretty certain she's spent most of her 4 years in a cage. She's overweight but has NO muscle in her back legs. She has trouble walking for longer than a block right now and is still a bit challenged by going up and down stairs (esp the hardwood ones).

Sweetie gets along great with our dog and any other's she has encountered. We had 9 people over and 4 dogs for 4th of July and she did great. She had a blast playing with my neighbors 12 year old nephew as well. We're going to start training the basics - sit, down, go to your bed this week and i'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Potty training is going OK. She can definitely hold it a decent amount of time and won't go to the bathroom in her crate. However, sometimes when out and about she goes on the floor. We need to work on her signals to go outside.

Our first night with Sweety

We drove into Manhattan ACC and picked up Sweety around 9:30PM. Walking through the small section of cages is heart breaking. I wanted to take them ALL home. Sweety was timid but seemed excited to leave. Sadly her tail was squashed far between her legs and didn't leave until well after we got home. However, she seemed excited with her squeaky toy and had a large smile on her face.

The first thing we did when arriving home was walk our current dog Port with her then...straight to the bath! As all shelter dogs - she smelled like a sewer. She gladly walked into the shower and was very well behaved.

Then we tackled her nails. Holy Maccaroni! I haven't seen nails this long - ever. I trimmed a good amount off but I barely scratched the surface. In another couple of days we'll do this again. She was an angel having her nails done, didn't even squirm.

I'm not sure if she's potty trained or not. She went all night in her crate fine and went outside in the morning. Woo Hoo. Then mid-afternoon she goes on the rug. Set back. She could just be adjusting.

She is playful and sweet. Always wants to be near you. She gets along great with Port. I'm not sure she knows any commands - but we'll work on those. On the leash, she doesn't really pull to bad, but she zig zags. I'm not sure she's capable of walking in a straight line right now!

SWEETY is coming today!

For anyone who saw her post on craigslist and was wondering what happened to Sweety, she was pulled by Woof Rescue and we're taking her tonight as our latest foster dog. I hope to keep this blog updated so if you're interested in her progress or potentially adopting - check it out!