Why we foster...

Or rather, why we started.

We as many know, are Cesar people, this meaning that we using the methodology of Cesar Milan when it comes to training dogs. And for those that don't like him, well sorry, but it works for us. And when it comes to training, there is a vast difference tween a full out alpha roll and making your dog go into a "sit, down" until it calms a little. And only retards actually full out kicks their dogs. It's called a tap for a reason, just enough to get attention, either on you or off whatever your dog is staring at.

With that said, Cesar's mission is to rehabilitate dogs that no one wants; abused, fearful, aggressive, unsocialized, feral, you name it he takes them and "fixes" both the dogs and their respective owners bad behaviors.

That was our inspiration. That and Colbert himself.

We had gone to Pet Helpers to fill out papers to adopt a male pit puppy. We of course also checked out all the other dogs at the shelter, knowing that they, despite the shelters staff and volunteers, probably didn't get all the human attention/affection they deserved and needed to be properly socialized. In the very last kennel was a seemingly empty yard and a dogloo. Squeezed tightly up against the inside of this dogloo were two scared puppies. One was Zambia, soon to become Colbert, and the other was his brother Sudan.

On the drive home we talked about names for the pit puppy should we get him. We tossed around geographical names from the West Coast; Zion, Canyon, Sutter. Nearly home, I suddenly yelled out "Colbert". Donovan smirked, and I knew it was good.

We didn't get the pit pup, but that woeful corgi pup named Zambia had definitely struck a cord with my softie husband. Feral, abused, having to fight for food from his brother, he was determined to recuperate him. After applying and going through the shelters fostering workshop, and some careful debate skills on convincing the head of fosters that we could do it regardless of the fact that we did not have a fenced yard, D came home with a 14 pound 5 month old puppy.

The rest is chronicled here. I guess that the simple explanation, but definitely how it happened.

Last night.

His bald spot.















Colbert likes to hide under dog beds, especially in corners. That whole ostrich with his head in the sand mentality.
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Yesterday, Colbert went to the vets to be neutered, I was expecting a drugged up, relaxed, and groggy Colbert, much like Buela was back in March. However, he was quite alert, which of course makes sense because his neutering was less traumatic than a hysterectomy. I will let D tell the story about what happened at bed time:

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So the little guy is slowly coming out of his shell. When he's downstairs with the rest of us and we're watching TV he'll constantly travel back and forth between his two favorite safe spots. He doesn't hang out under the dining table much anymore. I think it's him showing his desire the be with the group but not fully ready yet, so this is as close as he can manage.

When I'm on the floor playing with the other dogs he'll come up and join as long as I ignore him. When I say his name or reach out my hand at him, he retreats.

Last night had a strange turn. So it's common for Buela to walk all over us while in bed and often lick our faces until we wake up, so that was my first thought as I awoke to something crawling around my head. But it turned out to be Colbert, and he was burrowing under my pillow. His standard position to take whenever he lies down is to bury his nose under something or in a corner. Because of that he's rubbed off a little patch of hair on his snout. So he was under my pillow, then decided to move over to W's, then back to mine, then on top of W's, then tried to go in reverse on top of mine, until I finally picked him up and placed him beside the bed and the night stand. I took a pillow and laid it on top of him so that he'd have his face buried. And that's how I found him when I got out of bed.

Hopefully this shows that his rehabilitation will progress faster and in abrupt advances rather than imperceptibly slow.

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A question from D's Dad: so does he ever just let you pet him for a while? or does he always move away? how about eye contact?


He avoids eye contact when I kneel down to approach him as he frantically looks around for an escape route. He lets us touch him in that he tolerates it, but I don't know if he's enjoying it( he gets terribly tense and his body will be rock hard- W). Whenever we're petting him it's when he's cornered or while we're holding him, so if he had a way out, he'd take it. Which makes him visiting us while we were sleeping last night all the more unexplainable.

He was panting vigorously the whole time as though we were forcing him into a stressful situation, but nothing made him get on the bed and he even left the bed and then got back up. His behavior is well beyond my interpretive skills. (His body wasn't tense last night when I petted him, he was just hiding under pillows -W) If Cesar (Milan) didn't get already get a torrent of emails, I'd ask him about it.

So many methods I read about online of other people's feral or abused dogs that they've helped are not applicable to Colbert. Those stories I read are of either a domesticated dog who was abused or of taming a feral dog who has never been abused. Colbert is both abused and feral, so it's a doubled level of difficulty. At least he's showing improvement and he gets along well with the other dogs.

Preparation: T-minus 3 days and counting...

Max, Corona, and Buela.

Thursday marks the day we pick up Colbert, previously known as Zambia, From Pet Helpers on Folly Rd in Charleston.

But first some background on us. D and I (W) live in SC courtesy the USN. We live with our 3 dogs, Corona (chichi mix) , Buela (AuCaDo), and Max (Chow mix).

Corona was an ASPCA dog. Turned in for chewing, barking, whining, digging, and other destructive behavior, we were told to put away our shoes and protect the cabinets and carpets. I immediately told the representative at the ASPCA, she's still just a puppy, that's what they do. We are her 5th and forever home. She is now 2 years old, she may still have minor housebreaking issues and not like strangers, but she is a lovable little cuddle bug. If your lap is available; she is there.

Buela is our only 'breed' dog, and though we are now against people 'shopping' for a dog vs adopting one that surely needs a better life, we wouldn't return her for anything. Still a puppy at nearly 11 months, full of energy due to her breed, she is an active, excitable, endearing ball of fur that seems to live for jumping on us at 6 am, complete with a tongue bath ambush to the face.

Max is another ASPCA rescue. His previous owner, adpoted him from the same shelter we got Corona from. She is also USN and had to report to her ship in CA. We took him in hoping to break him of his fear of discipline. After 6 months with us he has developed into playful fluff ball, has developed a love of fetch and competition in Buela, is a resolute truck dog, and eager assistant in all landscaping projects, which means he just follows D everywhere.

As for D and I, we have been together nearly 3 years come New Years. We are followers of Cesar Milan's teachings, though we know that they will not be useful to us for some time with Colbert. We also believe in proper use of choke chains, micro-chipping, nail clipping, eye cleaning, discipline, love, and fun.

PS: don't know who Stephen Colbert is?