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More from Sandy on 12/1/13
Uncrated at night is when she attacked the men. They wanted her to sleep in their bedrooms on a doggie bed. When approached she bit them. The dog incident was in the house when another dog I was dog sitting got too close to Maddie’s space. She was fine with him outdoors. She is fine with one of my boys but not the other.
Maddie isn’t a couch potato. She loves walks and bouncing around the yard.
A couple? Meaning a man and woman? I don’t think that will work. She will take up with the woman and not the man. Twice she has failed at that scenario. I don’t want that happen again.
Sandy
From: Jackie Cash [mailto:airedalemail@comcast.net]
Thanks so much, Sandy. What happens if she’s uncrated at night? Does she tear things up, try to get away? And the incident with the other dog was Maddie attacking?
The people looking to adopt are older and are looking for an Airedale that is “80% couch potato.” They have had several Airedales and their last just died a few weeks ago. They know they cannot handle a youngster. But she would get a lot of attention, I believe.
12/6/13: Had a good conversation with Bonnie – she is a talker and doesn’t take a breath – but she is very nice and straightforward, She and her partner, Terry, both work flexible hours and are rarely away from home 8 hours at a time. Bonnie is a fraud investigator with Nationwide Ins. and Terry is a manager for Bath & Body Works. The lab and pug were Terry’s and the Wheaten is Bonnie’s and they combined their households and all the dogs got along great. George is a bit submissive and loves every dog he meets and every person. He’s still like a puppy and has no health issues. They think they’d like a female but are open. (They applied with Wheaten Rescue and they will not put a male Wheaten in a home with another male nor a female with another female – will only do opposite sex adoptions!) They’ve also applied to NCAR and have spoken to someone named Laura about a female dog but that dog is being adopted. I told her that was fine because it just increased their chances to get an Airedale.
I liked Bonnie and the way she talked about her George, the Wheaten.She got him from her sister when he was about 1-1/2 years old because sister didn’t have time for him. He basically stayed crated during the day and was let out in the backyard to pee. She described him as a “spastic pee-er,” and said he couldn’t walk around a stop sign when she first got him. She had to teach him to walk on leash because when she got him she didn’t have a fenced yard. But now, she has a dog door (will not in new house) so he can come & go as he pleases but he gets leash walks daily. She would never let him off leash because he is so friendly, he’ll go up to anyone. Sounds like a sweet dog.
They are moving next week into a new house and will have to finish building their fence, so she would like to wait till after first of year for home visit. No problem. I’ll set up a reminder for myself to contact them again.
12/1/13 from Sandy Sutton:
Maddie is good with a routine. She doesn’t like to get wet so if it’s raining she will go out to potty but wants right back inside. The same if it’s very cold outside.
She is SO used to being crated she will seek it out. She still loves to be groomed, brushed, etc. Still on thyroid meds which seem to be working just fine. I will need to have that level re-checked soon. I have NEVER had an issue with her temperament! I’ve had my nephews, brother-in-law and other male persons here for short periods of time and she has done well. I just don’t think she can be allowed to be uncrated at night. She loves toys and being outdoors when I can accompany her. She’s getting older now so I want to make sure the next adopter knows she’s a senior. As far as other dogs, she’s okay outside but I wouldn’t trust her indoors with another dog. I did have one incident but she was called off pretty easily.
As far as being part of the family, it’s just me and my other two dogs. I do plan to get a new puppy sometime in the near future perhaps in the Spring. Maddie gets along okay here but I have to be away so much I worry about the lack of attention. Hopefully next Spring my job will move back to being local, just don’t know yet. I am perfectly willing to keep Maddie until the perfect adopter is found.
Sandy
Well, I like Geoff. He’s very straightforward. Here’s the deal: Dad 83 and mom 82 they both have different stages of Alzheimers. His Dad’s is worse than his mom’s and they have caregivers from 9 a to 6 p every day. The weekday caregiver is Lynda and has been with them for more than 6 months; the weekend caregiver is Betty and she’s been with them a long time too. He said both of them are terrific and have been around his parents’ Airedales. Geoff said the Airedale is one of the things his parents take delight in and it keeps them going and gets them out to exercise. His father walks the Airedale in the morning and in the evening. The caregiver goes with him because he might get lost. The caregivers take them shopping, prepare meals, take care of house, etc. His parents still can take care of their hygiene needs and are physically very healthy. They’ve always been fit and were active in business and social life. Live on golf course with very little traffic and lots of walking paths. They are financially secure. Geoff and his family live across the fairway from them and his 3 children, ages 8, 13, & 15, visit their grandparents, particularly the 8 year old.
I asked the big question: what happens if they have to go into a facility where they can’t take the dog and Geoff said they know that that is a possibility, but he has promised his mother she will never go in one. She would stay in her home and he would hire around-the-clock care. If his mom died, his father would go to a facility because he is more interested in meeting people and being active. Geoff said that he and his wife are dog people – in fact, they have had 2 Airedales themselves but now have a Great Dane – and if something happened, they would take care of the dog until we could take the dog. He knew that the dog would have to be returned to us, but he would work with us to get it to a good place.
I told Geoff that I have never had a situation like this and that it is unusual. He understood. But, he assured me that between him and his wife and the caregivers, the right Airedale would have a great life.
Oh, yeah. His parents have been out of town for a couple of weeks and do not know that their Airedale has died. They are in their Yosemite home for a while with his sister helping them and their Airedale died in her sleep the 2nd day they were gone. His parents won’t be home till the first week of Dec., maybe the 6th or 7th, and he plans to tell them then and wants to soften the news with telling them that he’s found our rescue group and that we will help them find an Airedale.
When they’re ready for a home visit, I will ask Valerie Perry to visit them, but I want Geoff and the primary caregiver to be present as well.
And, I welcome everyone else’s input on this.
Oh, their vet records would be in name of Paul and Norma Norton at the clinic mentioned in the app.
11/26/13: Ok. Called him and left voice mail. I don’t know much about Maddie but think that she might not work because of her history of biting men.
Had a nice conversation with Kyle today and I liked him a lot. He and his wife are expecting a child in July – they must have just found out. I told him that many people give up dogs when a baby arrives and that they should think about that very hard. He said they have a good support network with their family including his sister (or her sister) who may become their au pair when she graduates from college in May. We talked about expert advice available online or in books about how to get ready for a new baby when you have a dog,but that 2 months after the baby is born and neither you nor your wife have had a good night’s sleep in 2 months and the Airedale needs a walk and it’s raining outside, you may decide that you don’t need the Airedale. So, he said that they are going to have a serious discussion about that.
We talked about how Airedales greatly benefit from structured training and lots of exercise.His dog, Sui, was a mix, about 70 lbs, and he trained her himself. We talked about Airedale’s prey drive and their propensity to stop listening when they saw or heard something more interesting, like another dog, a cat, a squirrel, etc. I told him that they couldn’t be trusted off leash, and he acknowledged that he had read about that.
We talked about the cost of owning an Airedale, and that seemed to be a very big concern for him when I told him to expect $1000 to $1200 not counting any medical issues. He was apparently trying to figure it all up in his head, and I reminded him of all the things a big dog needs, and told him some Airedales have skin issues and require special food. Also talked about grooming the Airedale and he asked if that was something he could do himself. I told him sure if he didn’t care what the Airedale looked like, but told him there were videos and books that he could consult.
He and his wife are going to discuss all of the above and he will let me know whether or not they want to proceed to the next step, a home visit. Again, I did like him. He listened and seemed to take to heart everything we talked about and to admit when he hadn’t considered something that would be important.
If we get to the home visit stage, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I’ll move him to HV.
11-19-13 Emailed Kyle Brent:
Hello, Kyle.
Thank you for applying to adopt an Airedale Terrier. I will be your volunteer through the process and our first step is a telephone interview. I just noticed that you have asked us to contact you in the mornings. Sorry, but I missed today, and tomorrow I’m working, so perhaps we could talk Thursday morning.
I noticed a few things on your application that we will need to discuss.
Although Airedales do not shed like, say, a retriever or shepherd, they cannot be considered hypo-allergenic. Some people who are allergic to dog dander are still allergic to Airedales. It depends on the severity of the allergy. For the same reason that they do not lose their hair like some dogs, they can bring a lot of dirt into the house. Everything sticks to their coat – leaves, dirt, burrs, etc. And, because they have beards, when they drink, they often collect extra water in that beard that they will then drip all over your house. But we love them anyway.
You didn’t respond to the question as to the annual cost of owning a dog. With a large dog like an Airedale, you can expect to spend upwards of $1,000 a year if they are healthy, more if there are any accidents or illnesses.
I don’t know what kind of dog your last dog, Sui, was (and I’m sorry for your loss), but Airedales are very much prey-driven. They will chase anything that moves – squirrels, raccoons, deer, cats, smaller dogs, etc. They cannot be let off leash like a lot of dogs who will stick right by your side, such as a Cavalier King Charles or a retriever.
Also, we will need to know the name and number of the vet’s office where you took Sui. We always check vet references.
Finally, Hudson has been adopted by the family who was fostering him.
I look forward to talking to you, Kyle, and learning more about your life and family. Thank you, again, for considering a rescued Airedale.
Talk to you Thursday,
Also inquired about Quinn. I explained that Quinn needs much more attention and training than Lee could give him.
After a couple of attempts at scheduling, Laurie told Ruth she had adopted a German short-haired pointer. Ruth’s email to me on 11-19-13:
I called Laurie Crutchfield about a home visit last week. Both of us had weekend obligations, so I gave her my e-mail address and asked her to contact me this week. I didn’t hear from her over the weekend, so I called this morning and left her my phone number. She returned my call and told me that I would not need to make a home visit because they had applied with several rescue organizations, and they were going to adopt a German Short-hair Pointer instead of an Airedale! I wished her god luck with her rescue — and we hung up.
She sounded like a nice lady (but she has seriously bad judgement if she prefers a gun dog to an Airedale!)
____________j
So, I’ll move her to moved on, neutral.
11/11/13 I just typed a long paragraph about my conversation with Laurie and then didn’t hit send post, but tried to move it to “Home Visit” and lost everything! UGH. So, I like her. They are dog-experienced, terrier-experienced, and have known Airedales. Their Cairn lived to be 16 and was a headstrong, typical terrier. Their Shepherd mix, Smeagol, just died a couple of weeks ago and LD (Little Dog) is lonesome without him. She asked whether she should get a male or a female. They both work during the day and, currently, they let LD outside in the fenced yard if the weather is nice. They have relatives who live nearby who come over and check on him. If they have to leave him inside, the relatives will come over to let him out to relieve himself. I explained that ARG requires that the Airedale never be left in a fenced yard when no one is home. She says she can commit to that. All in all, a nice woman. I think they will be good.,
Just need a home visit.
