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Introducing Darby aka future foster failure

2K views 37 replies 29 participants last post by  Tuckersmom 
#1 ·
I would like to introduce my new foster girl to DT. “Darby” is a petite one-year-old blind Dobergirl rescued from Northern California. I guess the story is that about a year ago a lady had a Female Dobe that gave birth to a litter of 6 males and 1 female (Darby). Well the lady was the victim of domestic violence and had to go into a protective shelter. She was only able to take mama Dobe with her and, thankfully, turned the litter into a Doberman Rescue. The male pups were adopted in 36 hours, but Darby stayed back at the shelter due to issues with her blindness. Darby lived at the shelter her entire life until I took her in last week. She was obviously well cared for but had never seen the inside of a house and lived mostly in her kennel. The awesome lady that looked after her since she was a pup knew that her chances of finding a home were slim if she stayed at the kennel.

I drove up to Central California and picked Darby up on December 20th. What a sweet surprise she was. Darby is such a precious little girl and she is adjusting so well in her new home. She loves being inside of the house and has claimed my overstuffed chair as her favorite place. She sleeps soundly in her crate through the night, which is a blessing. This dog is amazing and has no clue that she is blind (actually she can see shadows but will eventually probably be completely blind). She has mastered the doggy door and the yard and she is doing well with staying away from the horse (outside time is supervised). She plays with the other dogs just as a sighted dog would. The other dogs seem to know that she has a disability and they are much gentler with her than with each other. It’s actually very cool to watch the dynamics when they all play. There were a few tense days when she first got here because Tucker, my male Doberman, was pretty hard on her and he was being overly protective of "his" stuff. Now they are all total buddies. They play hard and then crash together. We go on daily walks and she just parks herself right beside him and they lead the way. I am still very careful and she is always crated if we leave the house. We are scheduled to start obedience class on January 18th and I'm sure she'll get best in her class because she is so smart.

We had a great Christmas morning and all the animals received toys, treats and bones. Darby's favorite was definitely the bully stick! I’m not sure if she’s ever had one. Then I took her with me to my family's house so everyone could meet her. Needless to say, everyone loved her and they were all quite impressed at how well she does in spite of her disability. They also commented on how attached she was to me already, which of course I hate...lol...not.

I just love this little girl and I fear I'm destined to be a foster failure! Any thoughts, comments or tips are welcome as this is my first foster as well as my first experience with a special needs pup.

Here are a few pics of Darby and the crew. Sorry for the crappy cell phone quality.









 
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#9 ·
Darby is precious..God Bless you for giving Darby a real home.
She looks like she is very well adjusted too.
 
#17 ·
Thank you! We are also working on key words. Luckily she's a smart one so she makes my job easy. Did Pearl ever have sight, or was she born blind. It definitely helps that Darby see's shadows and I wonder how she will adapt if/when she entirely loses her sight
 
#14 ·
Dear Failure--You are definitely a winner in my book.

Darby is so darn cute!

When she is with the other dogs outside does she stay close to them? I don't know but I would suspect her hearing and her sense of smell will make up a considerable amount for her disability. These dogs have such an absolute sense of smell and hearing. If you don't believe that, try taking the lid off the jar of cookies without any of them hearing it.

Thank you so much.

KC/Linda
 
#18 ·
Thank you! At first she stuck pretty close to the other dogs but now that she has the lay of the land she is pretty independent and quite brave. She knows the exact location of every obstacle and navigates her way around really well. Only thing is that I have to remember to keep everything in it's place. If I move something slightly over from norm she will slam straight into it. My bad, but she's teaching me. You're so right about her other senses. Darby can hear and reacts to sounds way before the other dogs. It's really remarkable!
 
#19 ·
And I think both you and she know that she is finally home. .
Lol, this is exactly what the people who know me best keep saying. They give me a look that says "Foster? Who are you trying to kid!"
 
#27 ·
What a sweetheart. Thanks for taking her in. As far as fostering advice goes, all I can say is it can be tough to foster "special needs" animals. My two special needs kitties both became foster failures. Both were feral and one had only three legs. They were with me for such a long time that I decided they weren't ever leaving. It did mean that I had to stop fostering kitties, though, as our numbers went up significantly with the addition of two unintended kitty additions! We've had them now for about 7 years, though, and it was a good decision for us. It's tough, though, because you get much more attached when they are with you for a long time. If you are already thinking that she's staying, that's awesome!
 
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#28 ·
What a sweetheart. Thanks for taking her in. As far as fostering advice goes, all I can say is it can be tough to foster "special needs" animals.
Thank you, I totally agree with your post. And I thought that I was going to have my hands full with her, but she is so good. Which makes my decision to keep her that much easier. She just fits in so nicely. I do feel bad that I probably won't be able to foster other needy pups for now. I'm pretty much at the limit with four dogs.
 
#32 ·
In this instance, I like the goal to fail at fostering. She seems very alert in her pictures and I'm so glad your boy has got over himself. Can't blame him, it's nice to be the only Dobe. She looks like she is very comfy in the chair with another sibling. Thank for taking her.
 
#33 ·
Bless you for giving her a home - she looks very happy!! What a great gift for both of you!
 
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