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I just spoke to Art Gardner and he is very nice. He and his wife and 17-year-old daughter live in the home with their 10-y-o Wire Fox Terrier, Trapper. They’ve had him since he was a pup. Art works basic hours, his wife is home during the morning and works afternoons, then his daughter gets home from school around 3, so the Airedale would not be home alone very much each day. Right now, they walk Trapper in the morning, in the afternoon when the daughter, Caroline, gets home from school, then in the evening when Art gets home from work. They took Trapper to obedience school and he doesn’t have any behavior issues. He gets along with the neighbor’s dog and seems fine with most dogs he meets on his walks. They’re usually more interested in him than he is in them. I told Art my biggest concern is how Trapper will react to a new, larger dog in his territory. Trapper doesn’t go to dog parks or day care, so they don’t have a lot of experience with him with other dogs. Only once has anyone come over to their house with a dog and that was a large dog and they played outside with no problem.
I think they will be fine and they’re ready to go forward with a home visit. Art did tell me that he has made contact with someone with a couple of Airedales to be re-homed on Craigslist. (I’ll bet it’s the same people Christina just contacted this past week.) I told him we don’t have any dogs available right now, but we can get his home visit out of the way and then we’ll be ready.
I forgot to ask about the vet – he didn’t list one – so I’ll email him and ask for that info and then set up the home visit. I know we have folks in the Marietta area.
I talked to Mary Jayne tonight and she has adopted a 2-y-o Airedale mix from a shelter in Summerdale, AL. She is delighted to have found another mix because their Jasper, her first Airedale mix, was such a doll. I congratulated her and told her to let us know when/if she is ready to adopt. She has a 13-1/2 y-o mixed breed so it might be sooner rather than later. She likes having 2 dogs at once.
My only concern – which we didn’t get to talk about – is that she allows her dogs to stay outside when she’s away from home. That will be a discussion point if she comes back. She did ask that we keep her application just in case.
Cissie called me today. She just got my email I sent in Oct. She doesn’t check email often. I told her we don’t have any female dales right now except for Izzy and I am going to check on Izzy and let her know, but she would prefer to wait till after the 1st of the year anyway. I told her I would call her if we have anything, rather than email.
Delightful woman (beet-y) who worked with Helga Adams’ group Friends of Homeless Animals in Charlottesville, VA and other groups here and there. They live in a rural area and she said it’s not unusual for dogs to wander up to their home. She takes them in and finds homes for them. Her husband is a dr. Their 11-y-o son has been a ‘rescuer’ since he was about 3 years old, raising money for shelters, etc. They adored their ADT-GSD dogs. They’re ready for a home visit. I’m going to ask Claire.
I’ll call her Wed. evening. I’m out of time for tonight and tomorrow night is French class. She sounds great.
Mark and Tamela are very nice folks. They loved their Mocha who died of liver cancer last year. They have since re-located to Charlotte, NC and are ready for an Airedale. I asked about their home and yard. Their house is two levels, with the 2nd level being the main level, therefore, the answer to the question about the door opening to the dog’s area. No, it opens to a deck and then downstairs would be the yard level. The yard is partly grass but mostly woodsy that they are clearing. So, leave covered dirt. They haven’t decided whether they’ll fence the entire back yard or just fence a ‘kennel’ area for their dog to take care of business. They still haven’t decided whether to get an Airedale pup or a rescue; in fact, they are considering a Wheaten terrier and asked me if I knew anything about them. I admitted I did not but suggested they go to Dogs 101 at Animal Planet and see if they’ve done a profile on the Wheaten. I also gave them Linda Bakke Jarvis’ name and directed them to ATCA web site for breeders.
But they are ready to go forward with a home visit, so I need someone located in the Charlotte area to do that. Wonder who?
I spoke to Don tonight (11-30-11) and told him we didn’t have any dogs for them – Lucy is spoken for, Izzy’s owner keeps changing her mind, and the male I told him was coming into rescue is already adopted. So, I suggested that he try ATRA:
Hi, Don & Lil.
Just to confirm our phone conversation, you are absolutely approved to adopt from us. We would not hesitate to place an Airedale, young or old, large or small, male or female, with you. Righton and Brown McCallum were very thorough in their summary of their visit and they have no reservations whatsoever that you will provide any Airedale with a wonderful home.
ATRA is one of our ‘sister’ rescue groups and because they are so big, they have a lot of dogs. Here is their web site: http://www.aire-rescue.com/ . My suggestion would be to look at the dogs they have available (and the closer to South Carolina the better) and when you find one you are interested in, let me know and I will forward your application to their contact person. Our group has worked with many people in their group over the years to place the right dogs with the right homes. I feel certain we can do the same thing for you.
Let me know when you find one you are interested in. Thank you for your patience.
Home visit report from Righton & Brown McCallum:
Our home visit to Don and Lil Reynolds was successful. They live in a lovely house with a spacious fenced back yard. They do have a pool, but Don assured me that he knows how to make sure that any dog which lives in his house knows how to swim to the steps and get out safely. Having done this with several dogs of my own, I believe him. He further stated that one of his previous Airedales loved to swim with him, but the other one didn’t like the water. He doesn’t care whether a dog likes to swim or not, but doesn’t mind a dog in the pool with him if it suits the dog. Both of the Reynolds are active and will walk a dog in the park which backs up to their yard. They are retired and can spend a lot of time with a pet. Don says that he has had a dog since he was three years old and just has felt lost without one. They do not mind dogs on their furniture, but they don’t want to sleep with one in the bed. Their previous dogs have had the run of the house and a new one would too. There are two doors opening to the back yard, one from the den and one from the kitchen. I did not observe a dog door. There would be few children around their dog, and they do not have any other pets. Lil sews and stated that the sewing room door remains closed so that if she dropped a pin the dog would not step on it and hurt its foot. She also stated that she was used to crawling on the floor to retrieve dog toys from under her couches. They related many stories about their previous Airedales, and are willing to feed it what it is used to eating.
I did not observe anything which would make me think that these folks would not make good adopters. Their only concern is that they do not have any experience adopting an older dog, and would prefer a younger one. I feel that they would appreciate as much background information on their dog as possible, simply to reassure them that they are treating it the way it needs to be treated to adjust to a new home. I think that they will be fine with an active dog because Don described his playing with their previous Airedale on the floor every night, and they walked her every day that weather permitted. Lil described how their previous Airedale climbed on the living room couch to look out of the front windows. In short, I think that they would be much like our situation with the dog taking center stage in the family. We recommend this family.
Righton and Brown McCallum
She says she will leave her Airedale in “kennel or outside in fence” when it can be trusted when she’s at work or away from the house. What’s the deal?
