Rescue Tail / The Power of Fostering
At 8 years old, Ivar had only known the same family since he was a 6 week old puppy. When his owner walked him into our Marathon Campus to surrender him, the big, intimidating blue Pit Bull mix was absolutely terrified. He was shrunk to the floor, trying to make himself as small as possible, visibly shaking. His owner handed me the leash, walked out the door, and from that moment on, every single day that passed Ivar was riddled with debilitating anxiety.
Ivar’s separation anxiety was unparalleled, like nothing I’ve ever seen. It was impossible to contain him in any kennel or yard, as he used his pure muscle and strength to break out and run towards the nearest human. Ivar learned how to unclip the latch to his kennel and let himself out, he would chew off metal ties to push through chain link fence and leap over fences. The most shocking was when he simply lifted his entire kennel door off its hinges. In addition to his destructive behavior, when he was in a kennel he would heavily pant, whine and drool, clearly demonstrating how stressed he was.
The problem was clear, Ivar did not want to be separated from people. However; this is a shelter, for the safety of our animals, staff, volunteers and public we can’t have dogs roaming about freely. We have over 60 animals at our Marathon Campus that require daily cleaning, care, medications and enrichment. Although we would surely love to spend all day everyday snuggling and comforting an anxious dog like Ivar, it’s simply impossible. Not being able to comfort him, and seeing him so stressed, impacted us as well as our hearts broke for him.
Despite medications, calming jackets, calming pheromones, calming collars, calming treats, and calming music, it still wasn’t enough. We needed to get Ivar out of the shelter and into a home, fast. It was a big ask of our community, to take in a stressed and anxious senior Pit Bull. Due to his anxiety at the shelter, we never got to see him calm, relaxed and interactive. So we had no idea what his personality was really like, what he liked or disliked, or how he would feel transitioning to a strange new place.
So began the search for Ivar’s home. Through the power of social media, Ivar reached the hearts of our compassionate community. Offers poured in to pay his adoption fee, share his story, and volunteer to spend time with him at the shelter. Finally, we met Jeffrey, a local musician with the perfect situation for Ivar. A quiet home with no other pets, and a flexible schedule that wouldn’t leave Ivar home alone for hours at a time.
We had met our “Unicorn.” The perfect person, in the perfect situation, un-phased by accepting a 70 pound, senior, anxious Pit Bull into his home and heart.
Ivar has been in foster now for a couple of weeks, and the transformation has been better than our wildest dreams. For the first two days Ivar simply slept. Finally secure with a person by his side, he slept, and slept and slept, resting his weary body and soul. He started to explore his new home, build a new routine, share meals and take a long overdue bath. With each milestone, Ivar showed his gratitude with daily kisses and lots of hand holding. The day we celebrated the most, was the first day Ivar got the “zoomies” which only happens when a dog is truly happy and excited.
Our hearts are full of appreciation for Jeffrey, and filled with excitement for Ivar. Although we don’t know yet what his final chapter will be, what we do know is for now he’s happy and safe. It’s thanks to fosters like Jeffrey that make a significant impact in the lives of shelter animals. You too can join us as a foster by visiting us at https://fkspca.org/
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