We’ve gone to the dogs…

So it’s been quiet here at 2KidsinWineCountry, but it’s not for a lack of things to say. We have just been struggling with the special needs of Duncan, our German Shepherd who you met in my very first post. After eight months, Duncan was still unable to be left alone – ever – and we were starting to feel like prisoners in our own home. Not to mention the nervousness and neurotic antics he would put on if he felt the least bit unsure of his surroundings. In short, it was time for some professional help.

At our lowest point, I was ready to surrender him to a rescue – something I never thought I would consider. I called the Sonoma County Humane Society, a non-euthanizing donor supported safe haven for animals. They were full, as you can imagine. Next, I called the German Shepherd Rescue of Northern California, where I learned that sometimes, even the rescues don’t want to take on a project of great proportions. Then my mom told me about The Green Dog Rescue Project right here in Windsor.

Colleen Combs started the Green Dog Rescue Project to save dogs in shelters from being unnecessarily euthanized and to help dogs thrive by socializing in a pack. Colleen’s passion for saving dogs began twenty years ago after her own dog, Kyshka, was killed while protecting Colleen and her two children from an armed intruder.

Colleen conducted a 3 hour assessment on Duncan where she discovered that his greatest obstacle was his lack of self-esteem and socialization skills. With her help and that of Kings Kastle Day Care, Duncan has begun to look at life a little differently. While out on our daily walks, he no longer barks and lunges at dogs and cats and we are working on being able to leave him a lone for short periods of time. In addition to the socialization, our vet also started Duncan on a low dose of phenobarbital to help alleviate his anxiety. So far, everything seems to be working.

Duncan and the kiddos

We have a lot to learn about how to best care for Duncan and try to create a home environment that meets his needs and ours. But I have more hope today that we can achieve such a goal than I did a few weeks ago.

Easter Weekend – Part One

For the past several weeks our family has been sick (whipped through the house like wildfire) and subsequently healing (at a snails pace). But with the coming of Spring – celebrating Easter, rebirth, and renewal, we are back to health. By some stroke of benevolent fortune, Alvin and I each had a three day weekend for Easter – a rarity as of late.

The Easter festivities began Friday morning with egg coloring. Eighteen eggs later (barely 30 minutes) the eggs were colored and the kids were desperate to hide them! We headed over to my parents house to meet up with the cousins for a little pre-Easter fun. After a few rounds of Easter egg hunts in the back yard we only had one MIA egg – I hope we find it before Abbi, my parents 130 lb Newfoundland, does.

Waiting “patiently” for the eggs to dye

Dying eggs

Our Easter eggs

Next we loaded up all four kids and headed over to the Tractor Supply store to check out the baby chicks. Last year the chicks were out in the open so you could hold them. This year someone got wise to the fact that lots of little hands holding and squeezing baby chicks is probably not the safest practice – for chicks or kids – and the put a fence around the chick bins.

Baby chicks

My own baby chick on the tractor

After lunch, the cousins came over to our house to hang for the afternoon. We enjoyed the last afternoon of sunshine before the rain moved in. Avery and D hung out at the “beach” (think driveway with beach chairs, sand toys, and plenty of imagination) while Caedon and M stayed closer to home.

Snack time

My little niece enjoying some apple slices

We closed out the evening by dining at Bistro Des Copains in Occidental. My father is co-owner of the Bistro and after nearly 7 years, it is still my favorite restaurant in Sonoma County. The Bistro was recently reviewed by Jeff Cox for the Press Democrat – read the review here. Fortunately, the Bistro has two patios – front and back, both of which are dog-friendly. We brought Duncan, our German Shepherd, with us and sat out on the front patio. The weather was pleasant, if not quite warm, and the restaurant-provided blankets coupled with soul-warming food made for a perfect evening.

Bistro Des Copains

Wood-fired ovens at the Bistro

Stay tuned for part two of our Easter weekend in a post to come.

Kids rule and dogs drool (or something like that)

Two weeks before this past Christmas, Alvin and I decided it was time to adopt a dog. We had shared seven years of our lives with a beautiful, sweet-tempered black lab/chow-chow mix named Graci, who succumbed to cancer in July 2010. Avery has very strong memories of Graci – in fact, she still prays for her every night before she goes to bed – but Caedon has virtually no memory of her other than the pictures we have of her around the house.

Graci-girl

After two plus year of not having a dog, we were ready to em”bark” on the journey again. During the month of December, our local animal shelter was offering free adoptions and one Thursday afternoon, we found ourselves with Duncan – a skinny, skittish German Shepherd with a major separation anxiety disorder. He had been found wandering the streets, most likely for weeks, if not months as you could see every rib on his body. I will say that the woman helping us at the shelter gave full disclosure regarding Duncan’s proclivity for getting into mischief. In fact, he had been adopted but then was returned two days later because he had destroyed the man’s house while he was at work (for 10 hours!). But Alvin and I figured we could handle a dog with separation issues because our schedules are fairly flexible and one of us is usually around.

Duncan

So Duncan came home with us, quiet and peaceful – almost like when your baby is a newborn and it takes a few days for the shock of birth to wear off before the baby’s personality kicks in. We bought a crate for training and locked him in each night for bed, where he stayed without complaint. Then, off to Christmas-shop we went one afternoon and decided to leave Duncan in his crate while I took the kids to Santa Rosa. An hour and a half later, we walked through the garage door to find Duncan sitting there waiting for us – he had managed to make quick work of dismantling his crate. So, our new motto became “have dog, will travel.” We have a Honda which has a large hatchback-like trunk, in which Duncan quickly made himself comfortable… but not for long.

While at Church one Sabbath, we had to leave Duncan alone in the trunk while we were inside. Alvin came out to check on him and found that he had eaten one back seat headrest, two seat belts completely in half and gnawed on a third in addition to chewing Avery’s booster seat beyond use. Thank goodness for comprehensive insurance!

So now, we don’t leave Duncan alone – ever. Duncan has even managed to evade the dog barricade my brother-in-law Earl gave us. Fortunately, we have a very understanding and accommodating family. We take Duncan with us to my parents’ house where he is learning to socialize with Abbi, my parents 150 lb. Newfoundland.

Abbi

Duncan is sweet, loving, and loyal – he follows Alvin and I around the house like he’s afraid he will misplace us if we leave his sight for more than 30 seconds (trust me, this would be hard to do as our house is only 1100 sq ft). At other times, he lays quietly watching the kids, probably wondering how he got a family that makes so much noise! In his own way he has bonded with each of us, although I think he prefers Alvin best. We are hopeful that time, patience, and understanding will help Duncan learn to trust that we are his forever-family and that we will always come back to him. He has already started to branch out from Alvin and myself: last night, he chose to sleep in the hallway in sight of both kids rooms.

Duncan minds the pack