How Time Flys When You're In Love

I just wanted to tell you about how things are going with Radar!!! On May, 17th I will have had Radar for one year! He has been such a great dog and Friend! He not only brings joy to me, but to all those that see him in Dog parks and such. He has/is a gift! Just by being Radar he makes people laugh at his antics and be in awe at his beauty when he points. I don't know if all pointers are as athletic as he is, but some of his maneuvers he does when playing with dogs are amazing. He'll be wrestling with a dog or two then he will create a little separation, then other dog will run at him and he will jump up in the air over the other dog and do a 580 degree turn and then grab the other dogs tail. It is amazing!!! I have seen it so many times and I still find it crazy. I've mentioned before how he gets dogs that don't play to play or ones that have physical issues to play in a way that makes them enjoy playing. He is just plain special! An average day starts and ends with him curled up under my right arm in bed. Then at day break he is ready to go outside in the back yard and point! We have a ton of Doves and Pigeons around here and he spends hours out there pointing during the day. Right after I eat breakfast we run to the dog park. Then he eats breakfast (he doesn't like to eat until we get back from the dog park). Then while I work out of the house he becomes a couch potato (no one believes me that sees him at the dog park that he just sleeps all day). Then he stays around me after work and watches the Cubs, Bulls and Blackhawk games with me (if we don't go on a hike or back to the dog park for round 2).

So often I think of what almost happened to Radar and I see the joy he has for life and the joy he gives to all people and animals and I start to cry thinking about how things almost turned out for him. When you see how he has grown in confidence and happiness over the year it is amazing. To see the way he jumps up and down now to go for a car ride and so many other things is great!!! God Bless you all!!! Radar and Family

Happy Endings

...and new beginnings. Witness Radar with his forever family and in his new home. Last Saturday morning was the end of Part I of Radar's story, from hunting or field trial dog to abandoned dog to shelter death row dog to rescued dog. Saturday afternoon was the beginning of Part II of Radar's story - that of beloved family dog.

Thank you Lee & Maira!

Radar Goes Home

Seeing this picture a little more than 24 hours after Radar left us to go to his forever home still brings tears to my eyes - the departure of this fantastic dog has left us feeling a little empty and Penny, our remaining fostered Pointer, feeling blue.

But the gratification of watching a dog who was held past his euthanization date at a shelter because the shelter workers took a liking to him blossom into a wonderful pet and companion and then find a forever home is the most rewarding feeling imaginable. And Radar didn't go to just any forever home; his new dad, Lee, seen above, new mom, and new "siblings" (two handsome English Cocker Spaniels) constitute the kind of family dogs of which dogs can only dream. Their excitement to have Radar is matched only by our excitement to see Radar become part of their family.

Best wishes to Radar and his new family!

Goodbye...For Now

Well, it finally happened...a family has come along for Radar. It has happened so quickly; a great application from a local couple came in last weekend. On Monday, we met them and their beautiful English Cocker Spaniels - one a rescue - in our favorite park, and I think they fell for Radar just as we did. Now, a few days later, we're spending our last night with our beloved Radar. While he doesn't know he's saying goodbye to Penny tonight, we're glad he spent a final night cuddled up with her.

We'll miss this handsome, loving, sensitive boy, but we're thrilled with his new family and thankful this wonderful, wonderful dog - who was thrown away just months ago - has a new life of vacations, nights snuggled up on the couch and in bed, days spent running in dog parks, and much love. He deserves it.

Perhaps we'll run into Radar at a dog park somewhere down the road. I don't know if he'll remember us, but we'll always remember Radar.

Failed Foster Home???

Thank Heaven we have so many dogs of our own, or else we would fail as a foster home to Radar and adopt him! But if it takes a while to find him his forever home, we're going to enjoy every day of having him here...

Good Boy

There isn't a photo for this post - the best, most recent photo we took of Radar is still on Ben's cell phone - but this week's Petfinder stats for Illinois Birddog Rescue inspired me to write anyway.

Petfinder provides weekly stats for the number of visits to each dog's Petfinder page, and Radar has consistently been in the bottom quarter of IBR dogs for visits. There could be a variety of reasons for his low numbers; his lead photo on Petfinder is a little dark and doesn't show him well, he's a two year-old male rather than a cute puppy, and honestly, his name doesn't suit him well. He's more of a Hudson or Quinn or Finley or something - a classic, dignified name rather than the next name on the alphabetical list of names at the shelter, which is how Radar came about.

But we're a society that tends to judge everyone and everything on looks - including dogs. I'll admit to having a tinge of doubt when I first saw Radar; my knee-jerk reaction to his deep chest and wide head was to wonder if he were actually a purebred Pointer or if he perhaps had some Pit Bull or something in him. And I wonder if readers of this blog or surfers of the IBR site aren't doing the same.

But I now know Radar is a purebred Pointer of the Elhew-type and is likely very well bred. The Elhews are known for their outstanding qualities in the field as well as their sweetness, mildness, and trainability. Those adjectives describe Radar perfectly.

Radar's photographs and even his name can't begin to reveal what an outstanding dog he is. He is a dear in the house - quiet, respectful, eager to please, affectionate, trainable, and docile. He runs into his crate and sits down the moment he senses it's crate time. He respects the fence outside and plays gently with the other dogs. He rarely barks and took to housetraining quickly. He walks well on a leash and rides perfectly in the car.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that the two wonderful homes that may have come about for Penny and Wilbur, our other two foster Pointers, come to fruition. It would be an ideal outcome for two great dogs.

But if Radar's perfect adoptive home - the one that sees and loves him for his outstanding qualities - takes longer to find, that's okay with us. He will be welcome in our household for as long as that takes, and he's a joy to us every day he's here.

Radar Love

Today was Radar Day in our household. First it was the walk down to get the morning paper. Then Radar hopped in the back of the Volvo wagon for his adventure; as usual, he was a perfect gentleman in the car. We first went to one of our favorite St. Louis pet stores, One Lucky Mutt in Wildwood, Missouri, for a bag of dog food and a special treat for Radar (it was so good, I wanted to try it). Then it was over to Starbucks for our treat.

Then some serious bird hunting and pointing in...the Manchester Meadows Petsmart. I fully expect the next time we go in there to find little signs on the bird cages with "RADAR" in the middle of a circle with a slash through it.

Then it was off to lunch for us (not Radar, though he would have loved to join us in some pizza at Dewey's in Kirkwood, MO), and a final stop at the Kirkwood Petco to see our friend Kati with IBR and St. Louis Senior Dog Project (and former foster mom to our beloved Black and Tan Coonhound, Stella).

Radar slept the entire ride home and has been curled up in his sphere chair ever since. He was, as usual, such a good boy and popular with little kids, adults, and other dogs.

Birds and Girls

I should carry a camera for an entire day sometime just to chronicle the life of a Pointer, especially when that Pointer is the handsome, lovable, loving Radar.

I didn't have a camera on the morning walk with Wilbur down our long, rural lane to get the morning paper. We live forty-five minutes southwest of downtown St. Louis, on the beginnings of the edges of the Ozarks. Our acreage is Pointer heaven, with pastures lined with trees on one side of the property and woods on the other, surrounded by more woods and brushy grassland. On this gray, foggy morning, the birds were active, and the boys were in their element. The beauty and restrained strength of their trembling, sharp, but elegant points is something I wish I had captured on film.

But I did grab the camera later, when Radar curled up with Penny, another of our foster pointers. They really do enjoy each other, and he is so gentle and sweet with her.

Pointer Yin and Yang

Radar: Look at me, pretty girl, new sphere chair from the Tar-zhay boutique (that's Target for you Pointers who don't speak French)...

Penny: Radar, did you cut the cheese?

Radar's Movie Debut!

Play Time

Woolly-Bully

Sometimes a dog comes along that causes you to catch yourself thinking, "This dog is cool." Radar is one of those dogs. When it's time to play, he knows how to play. He knows when it's okay to run and does it with a combination of athleticism and glee that sometimes manifests itself in glorious running punctuated by four-footed kangaroo hops. When it's time to stop and come inside, he stops and jogs toward the door. He is figuring out what it means to have toys for the first time in his life and can chase a ball in a way that might make a retriever jealous. He knows when it's time to listen and can strike a perfect sit when asked. And he knows the comforts of curling up in a ball in the evenings and sleeping the deep, restful sleep of a dog that finally feels safe and loved.

Radar loves his people and greets them with the wiggly joy of a bulldog. He plays gently and meekly with the older dogs and more energetically with the younger ones. He's beautiful to look at yet quiet and sweet. Radar is definitely a cool dog.

They're not hyper!

The first question out of many of our friends' and family members' mouths when we tell them about fostering the three birddogs is, "Aren't they hyper?" Our answer is universally, "No."

Our answer was reaffirmed last night as we watched the three Pointers sleep while our Labs and Coonhounds played, roughhoused, barked, and generally created a melee. Wilbur slept on the recliner with Ben while Penny and Radar slept on doggy beds despite the ruckus being created around them. The Pointers are much like greyhounds in that they really just want a soft place to sleep in the house, and if that place is your lap, all the better, as they like to be close to you.

The secret to the Pointers is a good daily run or piece of exercise, even if it's just running and playing in the backyard with their owners or other dogs. It seems as though the Pointers have a reserve of energy that, once burned off - and it doesn't take a great deal, just a good run in the yard or some exercise with their owners - leaves them wanting little more than to sleep and relax in the house. The Labs, however, seem to have a higher sustained level of energy. While they don't really stretch their legs outside in the same way as the Pointers, they're more "on the go" more of the time.

We're finding the Pointers to offer the best of all worlds. They inspire us to get out and exercise ourselves - whether it's a good, long walk, a jog through our fields and woods, or running and playing in the backyard with the other dogs while we work in the yard with them - and then allow us to come inside and relax while they sleep. Our vet was right - if you're looking for trainable, bright, affectionate, sweet-tempered dog who will jog by your side and then sleep on your lap, it's hard to beat a Pointer.

A Weekend Out

Wilbur and Radar spent the weekend on the go. On Saturday, we took both to a field trial in central Illinois - not to hunt, just to watch - and were able to put both boys on some birds in holding pens just to see what they would do. Both demonstrated very nice form, and it was enlightening for us to see the two boys we've known only as house pets "do their thing." It was a beautiful thing to watch, but it was also amazing to watch them turn it on and then turn it off and hop in our laps when invited. They traveled well and were very good boys. It was interesting to see the hunters react to Radar; their heads turned as he walked by, and a friend of IBR commented what an attractive and seemingly well-bred classic Elhew-type Pointer he is.

While Radar and Wilbur were country boys yesterday, we asked them to be suburb boys today and took them to the Renick Riverfront Park on the Missouri River in Washington, Missouri, near our home. Renick is one of our favorite places but is also a great test for dogs. From the parking lot to the paved riverfront walkway, the boys were exposed to everything under the sun - trains, cars, boats, children, bikes, rollerblades, strollers, and other dogs ranging from little Yorkies to a giant Airedale. We couldn't have been more pleased with the boys; they took everything in stride, lapped up attention from children, and were extremely well-behaved. They're even starting to walk fairly well on the leash.

After our jaunt, we stopped for lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant and ordered some ground beef for the boys. They loved their snack but seemed disappointed we didn't bring a couple of margaritas back to the truck for them. They were both so good - good traveling in their crates, good with strangers, and good with all the new sites and sounds.

It was interesting how many people were drawn to the boys during our jaunt today wanting to know what breed they are, from where they came, and what kind of personalities they have. As Lab owners, we're used to being out with the "everyman" breed - one people know already, so the attention the Pointers elicited was something new for us.

It reminded me of a conversation I had with our vet the other day about Pointers and the more popular sporting breeds. A Pointer enthusiast and owner, our vet said when clients and friends ask what kind of family dog they should get, he almost always recommends Pointers for active families with fenced yards ahead of the more popular Labs, Golden Retrievers, and Weimaraners. He went on to explain that Pointers have been carefully bred for centuries to be bird dogs par excellence, and throughout those generations, the dogs with temperament or health issues were culled out and not allowed to breed. While the methods used in that practice could be very cruel, they did have the result in the Pointer lines of producing nearly uniformly healthy, intelligent, capable dogs with excellent temperaments, high degrees of trainability, and a willingness to work for their owners. The relative rarity of Pointers has kept that purity of breeding intact, whereas the more popular breeds have been diluted with the result of more dogs in those breeds falling short of the breed standard and more health and temperament issues. It was an interesting and compelling thesis.

Reflecting on Mysteries

(This post is replicated in the blogs for each of our fosters – our “Hopkinsville Three” – and can be found on Penny’s blog at www.ibrpenelope.blogspot.com and Wilbur’s blog at www.ibrwilbur.blogspot.com as well)

A homeless dog rescued from a shelter often has secrets in its past, and as we begin to develop an understanding of these dogs as their adoptive or foster families, we feel a reflexive need to create a history for the dog based on the little clues we’ve been given. Sometimes the histories are accurate; unfortunately, I think they’re often kinder than the realities these dogs faced before coming into our home.

We know a little of the history of some of the dogs we’ve adopted; Sam, the loyal and loving yellow Lab, was taken to a high-kill shelter as a stray with heartworms, torn and bloody feet, and lacerations from barbed wire. When his “owners” came to pick him up and learned the shelter was requiring them to pay for his heartworm treatment and neuter, they turned on their heels and left Sam behind. Our Bluetick Coonhound, Lila, was similarly taken as a stray to a shelter, and her owner, once he learned she had been spayed while at the shelter, determined she was no longer of any use to him and only wanted his expensive tracking collar back but not Lila. Our simultaneously dignified and goofy elderly Black and Tan Coonhoud, Stella, was owned by a man notorious for hanging his dogs from trees by their collars and beating them for not hunting well. Her damaged trachea and worn front teeth attest to a terrible early life. But each proves to us every day the unmatched qualities of the love an abused or neglected dog has for those who saved it.

The three young Pointers we’ve been fostering for the last week came with their own clues, and I can’t help but imagine what their lives were like before they turned up in a rural animal shelter in January with seemingly bleak prospects for the future.

Wilbur, the adorable and sweet liver and white boy, has birdshot in the very inside bottom of one of his ears. Ironically, giving him the attention he loves most – an ear rub – revealed the healed-over birdshot. Found just after the first of the year – and just after the end of hunting season in an unlikely coincidence – on a farm playing with the farm’s dogs, sweet Wilbur likely didn’t meet his owner’s standards as a hunting dog and was thrown away. At only about a year old, Wilbur may have been given one chance – one season – to prove himself in the field. Had he been as successful as his owner hoped, his owner would have likely come for him. Once Wilbur enters your heart, it’s easy to imagine how confused the affectionate Wilbur must have been when he realized his owner wasn’t coming for him and that he was on his own.

Handsome and stocky Radar, the epitome of the classic-style Pointer, was taken to the shelter as a stray and with a fairly fresh bullet wound in his side. The deep-chested, athletic Radar appears on the outside to be a tough cookie, but within a minute or two of meeting him, it becomes apparent how deeply affectionate, sensitive, and kind he is. I can only imagine Radar, like Wilbur, fell short of someone’s expectations in the hunting field and was taken out to be dumped. When loyal and loving Radar refused to leave his owner deep in the woods or a field somewhere, his owner may have shot him to either kill him or make him run away. Though the wound is healed and new hair covers the wound, a faint scar remains as a reminder of Radar’s near-tragedy.

And then there’s Penelope, the sensitive, sweet, shy girl who may have been too timid to make it as a gundog. Her brief shelter notes indicate she was found – cold, starving, and scared - in a ditch along a busy highway with facial and dental injuries. Was she hit by a car? Was she thrown out of one by her owner? Though her physical injuries are healed, her diminishing but lingering timidity indicates someone injured her far more deeply.

Within the past month or two, these three dogs were abandoned, either shot or hit by or thrown out of a car, living as strays in the middle of winter, and taken to a loud, crowded animal shelter where an average of ten dogs are euthanized every day. In the last week, they were picked up by a stranger, driven nearly three hundred miles, vetted (and neutered in the case of the boys) and asked to live in a house for the first time in their lives – and with six large resident dogs.

And yet, barely more than a week after they arrived at our house, Wilbur, Radar, and Penny have made great strides in their adaptation to becoming beloved house pets. They go to the door when they need to go potty, they are learning how to walk on a leash, they are adapting to regimens, and they have almost figured out the rules of the house.

But more remarkably, they have proven themselves to be beacons of love and forgiveness. After everything they’ve been through in their short lives, they are still unfailingly affectionate, loving, responsive, sensitive, eager to please, and kind. These three young Pointers have proven themselves capable of greater levels of humanity and forgiveness than much of humanity itself.

One mystery remains for Wilbur, Radar, and Penny – who will complete their histories by giving them their forever homes, and who will be fortunate enough to know the love of a dog that has known the worst in people and will be thankful every day for the best in us? Will it be you?

Trials and Tribulations of the Pretty Crowd

Playing with the girls and being this handsome makes a boy tired!

The Tough-looking Teddy Bear

Well, Mom always said you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, and sometimes it takes a Pointer to remind us of that lesson...

When the shelter workers in Kentucky first brought Radar out, I took one look at the deep chest, the wide head, the bright, intelligent eyes, and thought, "Oh, boy, look at this stocky, masculine dog. He's going to be a handful and all Mr. Man." But as it turns out, Mr. Radar may be a big old softy after all.

Each day has brought a little revelation about this handsome lemon and white boy. On our first walk, I guessed he would drag me all over, so I handed him to Ben. Turns out Mr. Radar walked pretty well on a leash right away.

On our first trip into the crate at home, I thought Radar would put up a fight. Turns out he loves his crate and goes in it willingly and happily.

And Radar loves affection, belly rubs, and treat-filled Kongs.

Tough boy was my first thought about Radar. Turns out marshmallow is more like it.