1. My Pet Experience

I was a foster mom for pets for 20+ years for a variety of pets. I started just 2 weeks after moving into my house, that was almost 23 years ago. I had birds but no other pets at that time, but knew I wanted a dog or 2. The photo above is with my first two dogs Sam & Ace.

I have had birds now for 40 yrs and have owned, fostered or cared for many birds (Finches, Canaries, Parakeets, Lovebirds, Quakers, Conures, Caique, Ringneck, Amazons, Cookatoo, Macaw). I was a founding member of a local caged bird club(WSCBC). I was on the board of the caged bird club for 11 years, 8 as secretary, 1 as Vice president and 2 as President.

I fostered & adopted my 5th foster dog (Sam) & my 50th(Ace). I have fostered dog breeds from Chihuahua mixes to Newfoundland mixes, some purebreds, & lots of mixes, males & females. I fostered at least 110 dogs, my 90 & 91st were my first caged pet fosters a ferret & a rabbit from a local holding shelter. I researched everything about them, in books, online & I linked myself with experts in the care of these animals. I had ferret, rabbit and guinea pig mentors & I became friends with them & they were a big help. I have also fostered a hamster, Hedgehogs, 2 Chinchillas, many guinea pigs,rabbits, & ferrets, all together close to 200 pets in 20 years. Other than a few dogs I made some ferrets, & birds forever parts of my family.

My dogs have all been rescue dogs, my first dog (Sam) started having seizures about a year after I adopted him & that got me into researching how to help him (more about the successes & failures of caring for a dog with seizures in a future post).

I have been thru many pet training classes, plus agility classes, counter conditioning, fun trick classes, & Nose work I did dock diving competitions with Sam (He got his novice title & 1 leg into his Jr title before a bad seizure lead me to decide to stop competing). I also took a 10 week class on dog behavior & body language.

I seem to have a heart for the fearful dogs & have helped many to be able to work thru some issues with desensitizing & counter conditioning. I also have had many dogs with separation anxiety, fosters & my own including my 1st dog Sam, my 3rd dog Sydney & my current two dogs. I believe their lives can be good & yes it takes work but it has been worth it. My dogs are laying on the futon napping while I type. They enjoy being near me, but are becoming more secure being away from me than when they were at first. Echo is dog reactive with strange dogs, we are working on helping him, but know it is a marathon not a sprint.

Thank you for reading my first post, please come back & read my future posts, more coming soon.