Slow Days in Rescue

Adoption applications have slowed down. Here in NJ we had Hurricane Sandy hit in late October and things just fell apart. Our rescue, Castle of Dreams, is close to the shore so some of our foster homes lost everything. Other fosters took in dogs misplaced by the storm. For everyone in the area life changed to some degree. Either your friends and family members were affected or were helping those who were. Adoptions for the dogs in rescue stopped.

Then came the holidays and that's always a slow time anyway.

I've had Leena since early October, well before the storm that wrecked our shore. I knew when the hurricane hit that Leena would be with me a while, but now I worry that she's getting too attached to me.

Leena is approximately 7 or 8, a Yorkie or a Yorkie-mix and all of 8 pounds. She's very playful and sweet to people. She's not so thrilled with the other pets in the house. For an only dog she'll be great, but she does have issues.

Since Leena was not getting along with my Shih Tzu I decided to take the dogs for walks everyday to work off some of that aggressive energy. (Note: Leena was only aggressive to my Shih Tzu when she was near me. Otherwise she would just ignore her) After about three days of these long walks, Leena wakes up one morning and won't walk on her back legs.

A trip to the vet reveals she has what amounts to a herniated disk in her back. Of course by the time we get to the vet Leena is running and jumping and looks just fine. (don't they make a liar out of you every time?) The vet suggests blood work for tick disease and x-rays and we do both. Before adopting out any dog we like a full picture of any health issues. Blood work show a tick disease so she's given a cortisone like shot and pills for the back and antibiotics for the tick disease.

That's the extent of her problems. She's a sweet and wonderful dog with jealousy issues around other pets. She needs a calm house without other pets. Probably either older teens or a nice retired couple. She loves to play fetch and will bring her toys to anyone in the house.

So if you're in Rescue; have you noticed a slow down in applications?? What are you doing about it?