My newest featured pet is Picasa, a very sweet and gentle middle aged spayed bitch, taken in after her owner died. You can see her details on http://www.cal.net/~pamgreen/picasa.html
My featured pet is Hazel, a senior Bouvier bitch abandoned by a Sacramento area backyard puppy mill. She came to me with mammary cancer and advanced heartworm disease. If you know anyone who is thinking of buying a puppy from a pet store or a backyard breeder, please try to get them to read Hazel's story so they understand the suffering of the parent dogs and the lack of care for parents and puppies. You can see Hazel's story at http://www.cal.net/~pamgreen/hazel.html
I sometimes have dogs who I have not yet listed, either because I am still evaluating them or doing training or rehabilitation with them, or because there is a special adopter who has "first dibs" before I offer the dog to anyone else. I encourage you to contact me to be put on my e-mail list of waiting homes, as this list usually gets advanced notice and oppertunity to adopt before I add the dog to my petfinder listings.
I also sometimes can refer you to dogs being fostered by other rescuers or dogs who look like Bouviers or part-Bouvs that are at shelters..
Click here for a list of pets at this shelterHazel passed away (euthanized) on 9/04/07 due to late stage effects of her cancer. I will miss her sweetness and her optimism.
Update : through the efforts of the owner of one of Hazel's grand-daughters, the three Bouviers remaining at this backyard breeder have been surrendered by him, thus putting him out of the Bouv business, and the three are now all recovered from heartworm treatment and adopted into responsible and loving homes.
Crazy Pam's Bouvsite is a collection of information about Bouviers, dogs generally, dog Rescue (with information for Rescuers and Adopters) , training and problem solving, and dog humor and dog art. There is also some miscellaneous non-dog humor and art.
I have been rescuing Bouvier purebreds, Bouvier crosses, and "Bouvier Pretenders" aka "Bouvier Faux" (dogs who look like Bouviers but aren't) since 1987. I also occasionally rescue a dog who turns out to be a Giant Schnauzer or some other breed that gets confused with Bouvier. And once in a while I succumb to temptation to take a dog not remotely a Bouv because there is something special about that dog and/or because a shelter director begged me to take the dog.
To date, early 2008, I have fostered over a hundred dogs in my own home, and I have helped in the rescue and placement of many others. I also do some behavior problem consulting, though I insist that all aggression problems go to an Applied Animal Behaviorist or to a Veterinary Behaviorist with great experience in such problems. I usually refer serious behavior problems to the U.C. Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, which has a great Behavior Service.
I try to do the best possible job of match-making between dog and adopter. Behavior and personality of dog and human are the most important aspects of any adoption matchmaking.
Before placing a dog, I conduct .an extensive telephone interview to learn what the adopter is looking for and what the adopter has to offer a dog. I describe dogs in great detail, including vivid description of any behaviors that could be considered disagreeable. At this point the adopter usually comes to visit me and meet the dog or dogs in which they are interested ; alternatively I may take the dog to the adopter's home. I often conduct a home visit to look for potential problems that can be fixed before the dog moves in and to advise on ways to make the adjustment period go more smoothly.
I require that all dogs adopted from me will live in the house as housedogs , ie that they will have full time access to at least one room of the house (NOT garage) whether or not the owner is home. I do not place dogs to become lonely neglected backyard dogs. Before placement all my foster dogs have lived in my house and learned acceptable housedog behavior, including housebreaking and use of the dog door.
The purebred Bouviers are usually under the Rescue program of the Bouvier Club of Northern California, so the contract and adoption fee (currently $500) are those set by the club. The Bouvier crosses and "pretenders" are under my own private program , "du Clos de la Fouriere" , so the contract and adoption fee are mine. However my contract is essentially the same as the club's though my fee (normally $350) is less than theirs, and may include a provision for a partial rebate if certain training goals are met within a specified period.
Normally the first month in the new home is a "try out" period. If the adopter is not estatically happy with the dog, I want it to come back to me. If the dog is returned within the first month in mental and physical condition comparable to that in which it left me, I normally return the adoption fee. I will take a dog back at ANY time, no matter how long since the adoption , but I do not normally return the fee after one month. I get very very few returns because I am extremely careful in placing dogs. Many people have said that "it is easier to adopt a child" (than to get a dog from me) , and I am always delighted to hear that.
UPDATE : as of mid-October 2007 , I am no longer part of the Bouvier Club of Northern California's program. So from now on any purebred Bouviers I take in will be my private rescues and their adoption fee will be the same as for any other dog I foster. My normal adoption fee is currently $350, though I certainly will not refuse any extra donations as this fee barely covers basic costs and falls far short of costs on some of the dogs. Occasionally I will set a lower fee or will offer training achievement rebates on particular dogs. But if you find yourself worrying about an adoption fee, you should realize that you probably cannot afford to have a dog at all. It costs at least $1000 per year to properly care for a healthy dog in prime of life. The vet bills on an ill or injured one can be shockingly high.
I live some miles outside of Davis, California, home of the UC Davis Vet School, about a dozen miles east of Sacramento. I am not putting directions to my home on this site, for obvious reasons of security and privacy for myself and my dogs.
Crazy Pam's Bouvsite is a collection of information about Bouviers, dogs generally, dog Rescue (with information for Rescuers and Adopters) , training and problem solving, and dog humor and dog art. There is also some miscellaneous non-dog humor and art.
Click here for a list of pets at this shelter