Collie fever! What to do? What to do?

[corgimom]

Okay, so we made a huge mistake and went to go visit a collie that was in foster care in the next town (the town I work in). For those who don't know, we have been wanting a collie for a very long time. We were looking for a collie when we adopted Tucker, but couldn't find on in any nearby shelters.

So anyways, we went to go see this collie, and not only is she beautiful and intelligent, but she is sweet, sweet, sweet. She and Ein got along wonderfully. The only problem is that the foster is the overly worried type. She's fostering the dog for animal control. At animal control, you sign an adoption agreement and take the dog home. She's acting like a rescue group and wants us to sign a legal document saying she can come see the dog anytime she wants and can take it back if she ever thinks we aren't taking care of it. Fine with me, except for the fact that the first thing you see when you drive into the neighborhood is a "no dogs" sign.

Basically, everyone ignores it and they don't enforce it. If you ask for a dog, they'll tell you no. But if you get one, they won't say anything unless the dog is being allowed to run free, left outside alone, or bothering them in some way. They even knew we had Ein when we moved in and told us as long as he isn't too loud, and isn't allowed to run free or left alone outside, it was fine. And if we did adopt the collie and they decide they don't like her, we'll move out. Plain and simple. We wouldn't abandon her or anything like that.

So... this lady wants to come to our house to see the dog... how do we explain away the no dogs sign? I REALLY REALLY want this dog. She is so sweet, despite being neglected. (She found the dog with a serious case of mange, bloody open sores, etc. She thinks the dog plays too rough for her border collie, so she keeps the dog in a pen outside, and only lets it in for a few minutes at a time when she gets home from work. The hour and a half that we were there last night is the longest she has been inside at any one time. The lady kept talking about how she had too much energy and never calmed down. Well, guess what? 30 min after we got there, the excitement of getting attention wore down and she calmed down. This dog needs an inside home where it gets attention, and that's what we would give it.)

Sorry to whine. I just REALLY want this dog, but I have a feeling we can't have her because our stupid landlords (who own the land, but not our trailer, where the INSIDE dog would spend most of it's time) have a 'no dogs' sign that they don't even enforce.

Hugs?

[Nara]

Of course you can have hugs!

[Scarlette]

Why can't you just go through animal control, sign the paperwork and have them go get the dog from her and hand it over to you? If they are in charge of the dog and she's just fostering it for them, she really doesn't have much say in the matter I would assume.

[corgimom]

I'm not sure if dealing with animal control directly would work or not because I'm not sure how involved they are. Basically what happened is that she is the one that found the dog (wandering in her neighborhood) and she contacted animal control because the dog needed medical attention that she couldn't afford to pay for (She was on meds for the mange for 59 days at a cost of about $300, plus she is being treated for an eye infection). This is the only time that I have seen this animal control use a foster, so I think that the only way they are involved is as a money bank-to pay for the dog's treatment (that's the impression the foster gave us). I wish that they would have taken the dog from her and gotten it treatment themselves instead of going along with the foster idea.

I can try calling animal control and deal with them directly, but how do I explain that I want to work with them and not her, know what I mean? Animal control normally doesn't ask questions, but if I offer to tell them that we technically have a 'no dogs' policy, I can't imagine they'd give her to us either.

If the foster offers us the dog (and I'm pretty sure she will. She was very impressed with how well behaved Ein was, and with the fact that the collie seemed to really like us), I guess I'm going to tell her about the sign and that it's not enforced. Make it clear that we wouldn't abandon the dog (her biggest concern, and the reason she wants the contract), but would move and take her with us if neccessary. And see what she says. Better than just saying "no we don't want her". I doubt she'll go for it, but it's worth a chance.

Thanks for the hugs.

[millie121]

I don't understand the laws surrounding this stuff...how can a foster ask you to sign any sort of legal documents? Is that normal? I'm glad she would want the dog to go to a good home, but I tend to be an "overly worried" type, and can't see myself keeping that dog outside while nursing her back to health. I think that's kinda weird, but I guess it's beside the point.

In any case, I hope it all works out!

[wellahart]

I think it sounds a little weird that she is worried about you not taking care of the dog when she keeps it locked up in a kennel outside most of the day. It sounds like she wants a way to get the dog back if she changes her mind and wants it back. I personally wouldn't sign an agreement like that, but then again I believe that if you adopt a dog it's yours. I just think it sounds weird to have the person be able to stop by when they want to check on the dog. What would happen if you go to move? She might throw a royal fit. I would definetely look into trying to adopt it through the animal control. Good luck. I hope you are able to get her.

[Vanilla_Rat]

I am a foster mom and I am not allowed to make people sign papers/documents.If someone is interested in adopting the dog I am fostering,I give them the Beagle Paws office number and tell them to speak with Sheila,she is the one who decides on who adopts the dogs.I dunno if it is different there,but here the foster parents do not have much say in the adoption process,unless they know the adoptee's wouldn't make good owners...you know?

I think the situation is kind of weird as well.

Either way,I hope things go well for you and you can adopt the girly.Here are some hugs sent your way too!

[Appagirl]

*BIG HUGS**one more* okay, im done, that is wrong, you shouldn't have to sign anything from a foster parent(unless its an autograph if your brittany spears or something) i didnt have to when we adopted my old dog(she died) well, things might be different there, deffinatly deal with this through the animal control place, *another hug*

[corgimom]

When my fiance and I were driving home from her house we couldn't stop talking about about the fact that she was being so worried and judgemental, so I think it's strange, too. She kept asking questions about whether or not we can afford to take the care, assuming that we have no money because we live in a trailer, and yet how much can she care about the dog if she only spends 30 min a day with her?

I've decided that I'm just not going to tell her about the sign and if she sees it, she sees it. Since she was being so judgemental about the trailer (which we bought when we both worked at WalMart and had very little money versus both of us working good full time jobs now) we made a point to tell her that we still have the trailer because I will be graduating in April and we haven't yet decided if we are going to stay here or move out of Louisiana (which is true). She commented that Atlanta (where we would most like to move) would probably be better climate for the collie than here, so I think once we have proved to her that Tippy is happy with us, she will lay off and leave us alone. I don't know if she would ever actually take the dog back or come over often or if she was just testing to see our reaction.

As much as I want to move to Atlanta when I graduate, I love my job and hate to leave it. Lucas' job is stressful at times (he is the only computer/printer technician for his company in the entire city of Baton Rouge-which is now the biggest city in Louisiana), but he makes good money and is doing work that he likes (for the most part). He would prefer to have help and not be so busy, but he would rather have what he has now than not be a computer technician at all. Since we both have good jobs, it's hard to walk away into the great unknown. Especially since I will have less than a year of experience in my field when I graduate. We have been talking about it alot today, and are considering purchasing a small piece of land and putting a new(er) mobile home on it. I was searching for land today, and one real estate agent has several plots of land in the town I work in for $15000 and $15500. I also found a listing for a mobile home that is already on almost an acre with a fenced in backyard for $59900 (land included). It would probably cost less to buy the land and buy a trailer, but when you add shipping costs, the costs to add water/etc hookups, I doubt it would be that much cheaper. Plus, it's nice that this one is already set up on private land with no work on our part. Better yet, it's only 2.6 miles from my work. Lucas works out of his car (drives all over the area from one site to another), and it's only about 2 miles from the interstate (small town-doesn't take long to do from interstate to country). I emailed the real estate agent for more info. If I had known we could find a mobile home on private land for that low a price, we'd have moved a LONG time ago.

I feel better about our chances at adopting this dog. But I am still a little aggrevated at the fact that this lady is being so worried. I may have to call the shelter and ask if she can require a signed, legal contract.

[corgimom]

adding because I forgot earlier:

This is the link to the petfinder page that Tippy is listed on. Isn't she pretty?
http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/...?petid=6993450

[Scarlette]

Quote: Originally Posted by wellahart I think it sounds a little weird that she is worried about you not taking care of the dog when she keeps it locked up in a kennel outside most of the day. It sounds like she wants a way to get the dog back if she changes her mind and wants it back.

I was thinking the same thing. Jeff's parents went through a Siamese rescue when they got their cat. The "foster mom" decided a week later that she wanted the cat back and called and harassed them 10 times within 2 days. Jeff's parents got fed up and called the head person of the rescue group. That lady was reprimanded and told she could no longer foster animals for them because she had done this 2 other times.

[pitbullforever]

our shelter hardly ever uses fosters for that reason. my i suggest a few things that REALLY impress us vet records up frount without them asking, knowing your vets phone number by heart, and bringing in pics of your pets!!! good luck and keep us updated she's a very pretty dog i've always loved collies but couldn't deal with the work that go into them.

[Vanilla_Rat]

She is beautiful!
I hope things work out and you can adopt the pretty girly!

[corgimom]

I feel bad for Jeff's parents. What a horrible thing to have happen after you've already fallen in love with your new family member. I'm glad they reported it to the head of the rescue.

I had Ein's vet records with me in case the foster asked, but she didn't, so I didn't show them (he vacations with us, so I always keep them near by. Tucker doesn't go with us so I didn't have his). We did tell her which vet we use and how much we like them. If she calls us back to talk more about it, I'll offer her the phone number in case she wants to call them for a reference. I have the # programed into my cell.

[Formula86]

I'm so sorry that this lady is being such a hard person to work with! Ugh!

I thought it was funny that she listed Tippy as an inside dog on Petfinder but keeps her outside.

I really really hope you get her!! Please let us know how it goes.

I would try contacting the organization. ???