When fostering a dog doesn't work out

Last week I blogged about the positives of fostering a dog and of some of the things our dog, Bob have learnt from having another dog around. And I'll be honest with you, over the weekend we had some serious problems, but it was no ones fault other than mine for taking my eye off the ball and thinking I'd cracked it.

Having collected Rory from her failed adoption trial, I returned to firmness and kindness with her from the minute I brought her home. She was reintroduced to Bob, my husband and the home on lead and under full supervision she was let off lead and went straight to one of the dog sofa's we'd previously allowed her to sleep on.

I sat in the conservatory with the dogs, drinking tea, before putting Rory in her crate so Peter and I could head off to the beach for a couple of hours. On our return Rory was and Bob were very happy to see us, letting Bob outside first, while I fiddled around trying to open Rory's crate.

I fed both Dogs. I learnt on day one that Rory is super protective over her food, so Bob is fed as usual indoors and I fed Rory outside and sat with her. The afternoon was spent with the dogs, running around the garden, curling up to sleep and generally just both following me around. Rory was returned to the crate for bedtime, both dogs given a dental stick, radio left on low and left for the night.

Saturday morning, I let Rory out the crate and she went out to pee and poop, she then returned to the dog sofa where she lay for half an hour after her breakfast. Rory went back in her crate while we went out for breakfast and on our return she followed the same routine, but then I foolishly went to the bathroom and made a cup of tea. On my return Rory had shredded every book and magazine she could get in my absence. I didn't scold Rory I merely put her back in the crate while I tidied up.

We then sat in the garden with both dogs for the afternoon, then things got out of control, they were playing with a rope, Rory wanted it, so Peter threw a ball for Bob to distract him, Rory wanted the ball, so Bob grabbed the rope, there was nothing we could do, they fought and it was aggressive. I've never seen Bob like that before and both Peter and I were both quite frightened. I threw a bucket of water over them, I turned the hose pipe on them, I screamed at Peter not to intervene worried he would get hurt, but we knew we had to do something and opening the garage door, walking towards the dogs, eventually Peter managed to grab both dogs by the scruff of the neck and quite literally drag them apart, throwing one dog into the garage while I shut the door.

We took a few minutes to calm down and think what to do. Both dogs were injured there was blood everywhere. Peter had bruised his hand. The crate was fetched outside and Rory was put in it, Bob retreated, limping badly to his bed. I cleaned Bob's wounds and shut him in the conservatory while I made quick calls to get Rory rehoused and then went to see Rory, her bites were surface wounds, the poor girl was shaking quite badly, I was anxious about how she would respond but she came out the crate and sat on my lap, shaking and quivering, while I cleaned her up. I fed her some treats and kept apologising to her, that sadly she was no longer able to stay with us.

With Rory sitting on my lap, Peter drove us to the kennels, I was so sad to say goodbye, knowing this is probably the last time I would see her and she had to be dragged away from me, she just didn't want to go back in kennels.

I returned home and realised Bob needed the vets, he had two large puncture wounds, one to his leg and the other behind his ear, he was struggling to walk. The vets washed out his wounds and gave him antibiotic and pain killer injections and said I had to bring him back the following day for X-rays to check for a fracture, he was too traumatised to be x-rayed and the vet didn't want to have to sedate him.

So Rory is back at the vets, they called Sunday morning to say she had a good night, was eating and sleeping well and had antibiotics and pain killers, there's no lasting damage and she'll be fine.

Bob will recover and there is no long lasting damage done other than to my wallet. We will however be keeping a close eye on Bob over the coming weeks and will slowly reintroduce him to other dogs in a controlled environment.

The reality is I'm afraid that some things just don't work out and I need to put the needs of my family first.

I'm convinced with some training and the right person and a lot of love that Rory will make a great pet for someone. She needs to be the only pet in the house and with someone who is at home for most of the day and is prepared to crate her to continue the training.

We'll never fully know Rory's complete story, but she was found wandering without a collar and no microchip and no idea how long she'd been on the streets for, she has several scars over her face and body and she's obviously had a tough life.

If you or anyone you know can help out with Rory in anyway what so ever, either leave a comment below or contact DAWS directly as they are responsible for her care and continuing rising costs at the kennels.