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Today when I pulled up in the drive after school I was glad to see 24 Canada geese on the pond. That's a sure sign that fall is coming. They stuck around till about 7 pm then all took flight at once. Of course, I did my "goosie, goosie, gander!" call to see if any came over to me. But then I realized if ours was in that bunch they'd be up in the front yard by the house. I'm sure this is the start of our many goose stopovers for the season.

Yesterday evening when we were out in the yard we heard a large ruckus up in the tree tops and then suddenly a large canopy of black birds arose from among the branches and lifted up into the sky. They split into two groups in mid air and half flew back to the tree they had arisen from and the other half flew to a tree across the pond. The loud excitement of their chirps tells me again that fall is on its way. I love this time of year.

Well, just when I thought things were settling down with the dogs, I get socked again (or should I say Smiley got socked again). We put Jas and Oscar in one half of the yard, Dex and Jessie in the other half this morning. We almost put Smiley in with Dex and Jessie, but she went into the garage and laid down on her bed this morning. So we left her in there. When I got home, I decided I'd put Smiley in with Dex and Jessie for a while and let Jas and Oscar enjoy the great wide open. So I held Smiley by the collar and led her over to the fence. I opened the gate and Jessie jumped her and had her by the throat and then started shaking her. My hand was cought in the collar and I kicked and kicked and yelled and yelled and kicked some more and just when I thought I was watching my dog die, Jessie got off of her. I locked Jessie back in the fence and followed Smiley across the dam when she had taken flight to. I just sat down and shook and panted for about a minute. I could not beleive this laid back, gentle dog did this. I was in shock. A friend told me that once a dog has been beaten the entire pack will challenge her. I guess that's what Jessie was doing. There appeared to be no physical damage to my Smiley, but I'm sure emotional damage was done. I put Smiley back into the garage and went on in the house. There was a message from the Humane Society that Jessie's application for adoption had been approved. I told them what happened and said lets get her out of here tonight. So about 1 1/2 hours later she left with her new owners. I do wish her a happy life and will miss her, but it's good she left before Jasmine taught her anymore bad habits.

There's been an application put in on Oscar, the escape artist today. So hopefully, he'll go home in a day or two and we can take a break from fostering for a while. I need to get my Smiley girl's spirit and pride back up. We are still undecided as to whether Jasmine will go back into foster status or to begin a strict training regimen.

Well, I'll still try to enjoy my favorite time of the year, and get my dogs out into the woods as much as possible before the hunters take over the forests and make it unsafe.

Oh yeah, and my thumbnail (on the hand stuck in the collar during the dog fight) got bent backwards so far down that it bled. How it didn't break or tear, I'll never know, but man is it sore and probably will be for several days.

By the way, did anybody see that moon tonight? Wow! I hope you had clear skies wherever you are, because it's beautiful. I love looking at the valley during a full or waxing moon. And is anyone looking at Mars lately?

Lois, is Jasmine a dog you are fostering or are both Jasmine AND Smiley your own pets? At first I thought Jas was a foster. But if not, then I am confused. How long have the two of them been together and has there always been such animosity or did it just recently start? Did a specific incident provoke it, that you can figure out? Has Jasmine always been so aggressive and violent? <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

One of the reasons (among many) that I could never foster is that I think it would cause so much stress for the resident pets to have a *stranger* come in for any amount of time, then leave, only to be replaced by another and another ...Animals are so territorial, that, in a way, I would almost expect Smiley, if anyone, to be the aggressor, defending his territory. Do they spend any time inside the house? Do they behave the same way inside as they do outside, or do they consider the inside to be YOUR territory?

I don't know, I just found it very scary and disturbing to read your reports of the last few days. I can only imagine how it must have been for you! (not to mention, for Smiley!) Give him a big hug for me!!! I really hope to hear a happy ending to this situation! I think it is a wise plan to take a break from fostering for awhile.

Shelley

Jasmine is a dog we fostered and my husband fell in love with and adopted as our own. They all lived together in harmony until a few weeks ago. That's the puzzler. And Jessie, dear kind, gentle, calm Jessie, was a foster that showed a complete turn around in behavior. But we don't have to worry about her as she will be living the life of a princess in her new home.

We always keep the foster dogs seperate from the other dogs for a few days, then blend them in after we've seen how they all get along. We all go for walks in the woods together and around the pond together. Ours usually go off and sniff and investigate their usual places on the farm and everything seemed fine. Smiley and Dexter hadn't really acted different at all until these past couple of days. Well, Dexter is just the same old Dexter, but Smiley is the one with problems now.

I don't want to deter anyone from fostering animals. The humane society has been very good to provide me with dogs that have behaved well at the kennel and gotten along with cats and dogs. They know my farm is full of animals and what my requirements are. I just think Jasmine has grown into her own and now wants to dominate. She's gotten along with all the other foster dogs, she just has a problem with Smiley.

Lois, What a horrible thing to happen. You are so lucky that you weren't hurt worse in the middle of this. I credit that for Smiley not fighting back. Thank goodness both of you got away without serious physical injuries. I don't know about the emotional injuries though. Seems like they have to be pretty serious right now.

My dad raised Beagles for hunting when I was a kid. When I was a teen we had sled dogs. For most of my growing up years, our family has owned 20-100 dogs at any given time. Dog fights were a normal part of the mix. Most often the fight didn't last long and the dogs figured out who was boss. Sometimes the dogs had to show aggression every time they were together. Serious injuries were not the norm. Most often blood was NOT shed. I learned that fighting or showing "who's boss" was just a dog thing and it is best to stay out of it. Let them figure things out and patch the few scratches. Only once in a while did a fight become serious even though they all SOUNDED serious. Maybe this is what is happening with your dogs. The order of the pack is being established and poor Smiley is at the bottom of the pecking order.

I do hope things settle down for all of you. I am sure it has been a nerve wracking time.

Hugs Rose

Wow, Rose, 20-100 dogs?! How did you do it? I'm having a hard time with five. How did you house them all?

I do realize that Jas is asserting herself in the pecking order struggle, but I hate to see Smiley get deposed from her reign. And I suppose if Jasmine didn't have those pitbull jaws with such damaging power and the pitbull reputation, I might not interfere so much. We do have a muzzle that would probably fit her.