Michael Gaither

Cute little dog. Fairly spunky for an old girl. We’ll find her a home. How hard could that be? Or so we thought way back in September. This week we found a home for Nina, our first senior foster dog. More likely, as in the case with these dogs, the home found her. It’s been a long road.

Nina came to us when good friends of ours moved their mom in with them (out of state). We took her dog, Nina as a foster, so we could find her a home. We’ve been volunteering with Animal Friends Rescue Project for years (eight plus). Since Nina’s an older pup, we went through Peace of Mind Dog Rescue (POMDR), another fine local organization that deals mainly with senior dogs. We fostered, and POMDR took her under their wing (figuratively) and into their system.

We quickly discovered that Nina needed a bit of work. She was used to a doggie door. We train our dogs to let us know when they have to go, and we’re pretty good at training young pups. Ever tried to train an old dog who’s sort of set in her ways? No new tricks. Way fun.

The housebreaking challenge segued into, let’s just say, an “incontinence” issue that was obviously more serious than just the old girl being stubborn. More trips to the vet than I can remember resulted in attempts to fix the problem with rounds of antibiotics, follow-up exams, and months where we resigned ourselves to the idea that “Well, Nina’s not really adoptable. I guess we have four dogs now.”

(When you have three dogs, most people just roll their eyes at you. When you take on your fourth, they start to talk about you behind your back.) 😉

Eventually, the problem was found. Big problem, in a ping pong-ball-sized tumor in her colon. Surgery, follow-exams, and months later, Nina’s now cavorting around a HUGE backyard in her new Oakland home – that just happens to have a doggie door. She’s a happy girl. And a lucky one.

Nina was a project, which means she had lots of help. BIG THANKS to VCA Hospital in Santa Cruz, for Nina’s initial care, Dr. Merrianne Burtch at Pacific Veterinary Specialists in Capitola, Nina’s new owner in Oakland, and of course Peace of Mind Dog Rescue in Pacific Grove (an AMAZING organization) for providing all the resources (and funds) to get Nina healthy and on her way.

Note: Whenever we finally place a project dog like this, my wife and I always say, “we’ll take a break from fostering for awhile”. I also know that we’re kidding ourselves. These dogs find us. I think there’s a post on a bulletin board somewhere.

Related Post: Our First Senior Foster Dog