New Foster Dog Chinook

This is our new foster dog Chinook. He came from the Frederick County Animal Control Shelter in Maryland. The vet techs who tried to examine him when he came in said that he was aggressive, so they didn't put him on the adoption floor, and would only release him to rescue.

Some of our volunteers went to the shelter to meet Chinook. Since they didn't see any aggressive behavior in him, they introduced him to their Husky on leash inside the shelter. Their Husky liked Chinook right away and started talking up a storm and play bowing. Chinook was a little scared at first, but then he realized that the new dog was playing, and he started to play bow back and hop around. The volunteers decided that Chinook would do just fine in a foster home with other dogs, so they started the paperwork to get Chinook out of the shelter.

It turned out that Chinook was over 1 year old, and that his previous owner had never taken him to the vet. Because the vet techs had thought that he was aggressive, they had not vaccinated him when he arrived at the shelter. The vet tech was very scared, and said that she could give him the Distempter vaccine, but that if Chinook tried to bite her, she would not vaccinate him. Thank goodness one of the volunteers was experienced in holding dogs for exams, since he had helped out at a vet clinic. So he sat on the floor and held Chinook in a hug while the vet tech took his temperature. Poor Chinook wiggled and screamed and tried to get away. We didn't know at the time that he had giardia, and had had severe diarrhea for a while. His poor bottom was sore and he was not used to the vet anyway. But he never growled, snarled, snapped or tried to bite...just to get away.

Chinook spent 3 days in a temporary foster home until he could get to his long term foster home in Pennsylvania. Here are some pictures of him in his temporary foster home. What a love he is!





Chinook was very restless the first two nights, since had an upset stomach, and was drinking more water than usual because of the giardia. He was also extremely excited at getting out of the shelter, and was checking out his new surroundings. Our volunteers took turns sleeping on the floor with him at night, since he was not crate trained. You can see that Chinook felt right at home pretty soon!

The vet said that Chinook is about 10 to 12 pounds underweight. Because he's so fluffy it's hard to tell, but if you pet him you will see how easily you can feel his spine and ribs, and how sharp his hip bones feel. The good news is that the antibiotics are clearing up the giardia and his appetite is improving every day! If you would like more information on Chinook, please email his foster home.