Category Archives: Rescue Happenings

It Takes a Village

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, ,

One of my first impressions of Nash, besides the fear, was the smell. Nash had such a doggie odor that after working with him I would smell the same way. I had to hang my coat out in the hall at work rather than near my desk. I noticed nobody wanted to pet him much because it involved washing your hands every time you touched him. So, on his second evening with us I decided to give him a bath. You can imagine how that went. Nash literally thought I was trying to kill him. I felt so bad for him fighting for his life that I almost gave up, but I didn’t want him to think he could get his way by throwing a fit in the future. So, I sang him stupid songs and washed away. His struggles became less after a while. Luckily, he didn’t have too much fur at this point, so it went pretty fast. He really enjoyed the towel drying at the end.  Needless to say, the bathroom and I were both covered in water and I was exhausted and sore.

I took Nash for a walk the first day after work and it went about how you would expect. He couldn’t walk in a straight line and kept tangling me in the leash. Every so often he grabbed the end of the choke chain in his mouth and tried to get free. And he was furiously trying to eat all the snow he could like he thought he would never have water again. All in all, it could have gone a lot worse. We made it a little over a mile. It did nothing to calm him down though.

During the first days when I would take Nash out of his crate and try to pet him he would constantly jump, lunge, and try to kiss. I mean he didn’t ever stop trying. After the bath incident he actually laid still for several minutes as long as I kept petting him. It was a fight to get the choker and leash on and off of him every time I needed to take him out. And getting him back in the crate involved forcibly putting him in, which sometimes involved wounds (scratches) to the person involved. I knew he would take more work than any other dog I had fostered but that he would also be the most rewarding.

After a couple of weeks with us Nash was still neurotic and needy. I thought he loved everyone but that was not the case. He wanted to chase off the furnace repair man, didn’t like a friend of ours who came over (a large man) and attacked my brother’s dog when he came to spend the weekend. On the other hand, he liked my daughter when she came home from college for the weekend and liked my sister-in-law the two times he met her. And on the day my brother’s dog, Dakota, came I got him out on leash when I came home, and he was fine with Dakota. They never had another problem. Nash has met a number of visitors to our house since then and after he warms up to them he is fine

As time goes by I am sure he was abused. We still can’t pick him up without him going into self preservation mode. Sometimes I just pick him up anyway and let him put his mouth on me since there are things I have to do. Like put him in a crate to ride in the car or give shots. Oh, and anytime your foot comes into contact with him which can be often since he follows so close he runs into your feet, he squeals like you are trying to hurt him. He also has the strong food drive that you sometimes see in dogs that went without for a long time. He will try to take food from any of our seven dogs. And if we are eating you better believe we keep an eye on our food.

Nash, or Nashville as we like to call him, has been with us for a couple of months now. He has come a long way since the early days although he still has a way to go. His frantic kissing and attention seeking are down to about the first 15 minutes after I come home. Of course, he is willing to sit on my lap for the entire evening if I will let him. And you need to be careful or he will jump on your lap anytime. On two occasions this resulted in me wearing an entire cup of coffee. These days Nash runs in his crate eagerly and turns around with his head sticking out waiting for the biscuit he knows is coming. And a couple weekends ago I took him on a three mile walk at a nearby state park where we passed other walkers with dogs and some bicyclists. He circled the leash around me a few times but was otherwise well behaved. By evening when we are relaxing if I tell Nash to get down, he will go lay quietly on a cushion in the corner. Of course, anytime I make eye contact with him he comes running to see what I want, and I have to tell him to go lay down again. But he has come so far.

Nash is ready for a home with the “right person” who will have the patience and understanding to continue working with him. If someone with the right skills doesn’t come along in the near future, we will keep working with him until he is ready for a home. I say “we” because it is a family affair. Everyone in our family has a hand in Nash’s transition and so it will need to be with his new family.

I wrote this tale about Nashville’s escapades in 2009 when he came into Rescue. He was adopted by a wonderful family with two children later that summer and they adored him. I remember sobbing uncontrollably as I drove away from leaving him with his new family. Even though it was a great match, I had invested so much of myself in him that I loved him dearly. The family did comment that he hoarded cans of food in his crate. He must have somehow thought that he would need this food to survive if times ever got tough again. I don’t know how he planned to open them. Nashville was one of those dogs that as a coping mechanism, I always considered to be mine and that another family was just taking care of him for me. Thanks Sara, for his initial transport to us. It takes a village…

The Handsomeness!

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

This dog came up on my Facebook memories from last year when he was up for adoption. I wonder where this dog is and what he’s doing? I miss him.

Now lest you think that I missed out because of a mad rush of adopters applying, not so. I have never met this dog and never attempted to. He’s just one of the many dogs that shows up every day on my Facebook feed and I fall in love with. Does anyone else do this?

I know my daughter does. She comes by it honestly. She gets it from her momma. About once every couple of weeks she texts me something along the lines of “I just want all the dogs”. I know how she feels.

So, to the gorgeous guy pictured above, I hope you are happy, healthy, and well-loved.

Smiles All Around!

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

It’s a happy day. A friend contacted me about finding a home for this dog that an acquaintance of hers cannot keep. I do shetland sheepdog rescue. This is a red merle border collie. She is a 2 1/2 year old, spayed little girl.

Since the couple got her, the wife’s health has taken an unfortunate turn and the husband is working long hours now. This pup is loved but needs and deserves more than the family is able to give her with current circumstances.

I had a number of suggestions. Find a neighbor to walk the dog. Or contact a training club or 4- H group about adoption. Post a flyer at the vet office. Anyone who is there takes care of their dogs. Our rescue could do a courtesy post.

But look at that face! What would happen to her? I worry about these things. I spend time sitting around pondering options. You might say I become obsessed. It is in the forefront of my mind for hours. When I am presented with situations like this, my brain takes responsibility. I have to exhaust all avenues open to me to fix the situation. Dogs well-being, if not their lives, depend on it. I do not take this lightly.

I was copied on a post of someone who was looking for a sheltie. Or possibly a small collie. We don’t have many shelties in rescue right now. I thought, hey, they’re willing to consider a sheltie or collie, they don’t really have their heart set on a specific breed. A border collie is a herding breed. Maybe they would be interested in this dog. After hearing more about this person, I am confident they would provide a very good home.

So, long story short. They are going to meet this little border collie girl on Saturday and probably will adopt her. Sometimes things just fall into place. This appears to be one of those times. Smiles all around!

Separation Anxiety and Retraining, Part II

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

In addition to general obedience training to help with control issues and being in charge, I have also done what I call situational training to help reduce the separation anxiety.

Things like leaving Zeke, and the dogs on each side of him, in their crates while I am home. This is never much of a problem. Zeke is fine in his crate when I am home. Then I picked up my keys and put them down. Then walked to the door and back. And opened and closed the door. Then went out on the porch and back inside. Several times. On to opening and closing the car door and back inside. Driving up the street to drop off the recycling and back home. (No, they don’t have curbside recycling out here.) Then I drove into town to buy dog food and back, etc.

The ideal is to do this slowly over days or weeks, until the dog does not react. I had to speed this cycle up over a long weekend because, hey, I have this thing called a job. My boss was quite understanding. There were a few days I had to take extra time off to deal with Zeke and my leave slips were granted, no problem. Once I threatened to bring Zeke with me for a meeting I couldn’t miss. When I showed up without him, several people were disappointed because they wanted to watch him in their offices. And all coworkers I mentioned my trials with Zeke to were sympathetic and supportive. One even thanked me for doing rescue work and adopting and dealing with Zekie. It goes without saying, my coworkers are awesome! And their kind words were a balm when I really needed it.

Since I had to do a shortened version of training Zeke to my leaving and coming back, my results were less than stellar too. Although there was some improvement. The rate and intensity with which he chewed and destroyed crates was lessened. The mania he exhibited was more subdued. Whenever I returned from anywhere, I did not let Zeke or any of the dogs out of their crates until he was calmed down. As calm as a Zekie gets.

Some other things I did that I think were of minor help follow. I give him Cannabidiol oil shortly before leaving, along with a couple of herbal homeopathic chews. I make sure there is a nylabone or peanut butter stuffed Kong in his crate. I do not rush to greet Zeke or free him from the crate immediately upon arriving home. I want my comings and goings to be no big deal.

What really returned our lives to being somewhat normal though, is finding an impervious crate. We ended up with an Impact brand crate. While an investment, it has been a lifesaver. Literally. All of the retraining was not wasted though. All of these steps helped to make Zeke a calmer, happier dog with less reaction when we do go away. He still reacts, but not to the same degree.

I hope that someone is able to find some useful information and things to apply to their own dog from these articles. And if it prevents someone else from doing things that result in separation anxiety, even better!

Separation Anxiety and Retraining, Part I

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, ,

Zeke has separation anxiety. One of the things I have undertaken as part of his treatment to manage this is retraining.

When people contact me, via our dog rescue (Northeast Ohio Shetland Sheepdog Rescue) to ask for advice on a multitude of things, I almost always advise obedience training. This helps with so many issues. People tell me that their dog’s lack of obedience is not the thing they are unhappy with. Training your dog for sits, downs, and stays is not exactly the point.

The point is that you are working with your dog and teaching him that you are a team, and you are the leader of that team. He learns that he should listen to you. You call the shots. This carries over to so much more than just the sits and stays. Dogs are creatures of habit. Listening to you and watching for cues become a way of life. This in itself should result in a calmer dog. It is stressful being the leader. Take that stress away from your dog. It was time for me to practice what I preach and start training.

Taking an obedience class together is a good option but not strictly necessary. For Zeke, I chose to train him myself. We have multiple dogs and regularly encounter multiple dogs so I didn’t need the group setting that this socialization can provide.

Because Zeke’s training was mostly to deal with separation anxiety, I began making him earn everything, including attention and affection. Zeke was so attached to me that he could not bear to be away from me. Part of this started because I needed to know where he was at all times to know if he was getting into trouble. Often, yes, he was. Then it became cute, Zeke had to be near me all the time. It was gratifying that he followed me around the house and jumped up to stare in my eyes and lick my face. And it was comforting when he laid on me for a nap.

Shame on me! These things were comforting to him too. So much so that Zeke became stressed when I wasn’t nearby. My husband said to me on more than one occasion, he’s sitting on you so he knows where you’re at and you can’t get away. It wasn’t too long of a trip from there to full blown separation anxiety. Rather than cracking down on his neediness, I gave him attention. I released the monster.

Now I think Zeke did have issues with this before I got him because he was already missing two fangs, probably from crate chewing. But he could be contained, and he crated well when he came to our house from the shelter. If I had known what I was dealing with things might have gone differently. Then again, maybe not. I have never dealt with anything like this before and we have fostered over 50 dogs in the past 15 years.

So the training began. I took a cue from Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer. He always talks about calm assertive energy from the human and sometimes from another calm dog. So I had Shelby, my certified therapy dog, with us during all of our training sessions. Shelby exudes confidence. Our sessions took the form of walks with stops along the way for obedience work.

We worked on walking on a loose leash. Zeke was on a choker collar. I like to train new dogs with a choker because the sound of the chain becomes a cue for the dog. Occasionally we would stop and I would ask the dogs to sit or perform some other command. After they successfully did each task they would get a treat. (I just used small pieces of kibble so as not to add a lot of calories and I could treat often.) At first I gave a treat after every obeyed command. Training science says that once a task is learned, random treating, rather than every time produces better results. I don’t understand this but who am I to argue with science. I can see how not treating every time would be helpful for when you don’t have treats. So I started asking for multiple behaviors before giving the treat. And a few times I didn’t give any. I do always give praise in some form for each task done.

Shelby thought this was all great fun. Zeke was confused. In fact, the first night we attempted this, Zeke’s behavior was terrible! But I persisted. The next night was better. Both dogs began to look forward to our special time together. Zeke became easier to walk. He started paying more attention in case I gave a command with an opportunity to earn a treat. I know dogs can learn from each other. I have seen it many times. My decision to include Shelby was I think, a good one. I could tell when I asked Zeke to do something that made him nervous, such as a stay where I walked about 15 feet away while the dogs were in a sit-stay. Once I got farther away than Zeke was comfortable with, he whipped he head around to see what Shelby was doing, without breaking his stay. He saw Shelby still sitting there, smiling happily. I could just see Zeke’s mind processing this information. “Oh, Shelby’s not upset and she’s still sitting. It must be ok, I think that’s what I’m supposed to do too.”

Over time we’ve worked on various commands: watch me, sit, down, stay, give paw, wait. We worked on these for varying and increasing lengths of time. And Zeke definitely got better at the commands. In fact, he is quite good at them. I think I saw Zeke’s behavior improve in regards to the separation anxiety too. Since it was so severe, I did pursue getting him the mega crate from my previous post but I have hope that, in time, he will be a mostly normal dog.

We retrained on many other things too but those will have to be shared in the next post. So until next time…

The Artist

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, ,

This is my little artist, Zekie. He uses many mediums and is especially into repurposing.

This is his fiber art piece. It’s the jacket he moved his crate across the room and took off a chair. Then he pulled it through slats in his crate and shredded it. Anything for his art.

This is one of Zeke’s repurposed metal sculptures . As you can see he is creative and quite the determined worker.

Personally, I am hoping he will take a hiatus from future projects. I have my doubts but time will tell.

A Week in the Life…

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, ,

It was a busy week for the dogs and me. One benefit of having so many dogs is there is one for every occasion. On Monday Nikki, Shelby, Cassius and I went to visit our resident friends at a local nursing home. This is the pups posing in front of the facility’s festively decorated fireplace

Cassius wants to stay close to me so this is the best picture I have of him from that evening. We always have a good time when we go there.

Two day’s later I took the same group of dogs to a meet and greet with some Kent State students.

This was to provide a de-stressing session for the students and to promote our Sheltie Rescue group. I know Cassius is a greyhound, not a sheltie but he likes to support his sheltie friends. And ride in the car. Sometimes I take Baxter but this week I took Cassius along and we enjoyed meeting other doggy friends there too.

This morning my husband and I took four dogs for a walk on the Hike and Bike trail. Nikki stayed home and rested her 12 year old bones but Shelby, Cassius, Zekie, and Baxter all went.

I think we wore them out because this is what we saw not too long after we got home. Baxter did find the energy to go out and catch the frisbee until it started to rain.

A life with dogs is a good life.

True Love

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, Thoughts On Life, ,

Some of you might wonder why I would want to keep a dog like Zekie when we foster so many “nice” dogs. Not dogs like Zeke who do things like stress chew their bowls until, as one person put it, the bowl looks like it was mangled in an airplane crash. Well this photo right here sums it up. True love. (Or for you Princess Bride fans To Blave) No one loves you like an intense, crazy dog. And hey look, there’s a lampshade on my head, so life is a party with Zekie!

Let’s be honest, my life isn’t complete unless I have a crazy dog, or so I’ve been told. I have to agree with that assessment. Anybody can handle life with a calm, normal dog. And I’m always up for a challenge. Normalcy is boring. I prefer a dog smart enough to watch tv and figure out how to open the kitchen doors to counter surf.

Or like my heart dog Duncan. Smart enough to learn how to use the latches on the crates so he can let the foster dogs out and eat all their food.

May you be fortunate enough to have such a dog. And survive it.

Zeke the Wonder Dog

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

This is Zeke the Wonder Dog. As in, I wonder what he is going to get into next. I love him, I really do. But even I must admit he’s a handful.

His biggest problem at this point is the separation anxiety. It causes him to drool excessively. And I mean a lot. Even after being gone for only a couple of hours, we come home to him covered in so much drool in his crate that his greetings leave us with large wet spots and paw prints on our clothing. Not to mention on the floor and a crate that needs to be swabbed out with a towel.

Oh, and did I mention the chewing? The anxiety also causes him to chew. Which lead to him having no remaining fangs.

Below is a picture of what Zeke’s food bowl formerly looked like.

Below is what Zeke’s food bowl looks like now.

And so Zeke has earned his title of The Wonder Dog. And yes, I do wonder what he is going to get into next.

Sheltie Fun

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

Last evening three of my dogs and I did a Meet and Greet with Northeast Ohio Shetland Sheepdog Rescue (NEOSSR) for some Kent State college students. We joined other members of our group and their dogs to visit with students at their apartment complex.

And I am here to tell you two things. It was fun and you can help NEOSSR by saving Acme grocery receipts!

Let me expound on the fun part. I got to hang out with my dogs and talk to lots of people. Mostly about my dogs! And they wanted to hear about them. They didn’t get that glazed look in their eyes and try to make a break for it. It is a good socializing activity for the pups. They get a chance to work around other dogs and people as well. This is a great skill to hone.

Look at Coco Bella. When she first entered rescue, she was very timid and scared around new people and situations, and even known people and situations. She has come a long way with the diligent work and patience of her family.

Now, on to the information about Acme grocery receipts. Acme stores have a program where they give Community Cash Back to eligible nonprofits who submit their receipts. And this is where the college students came in. Our Meet and Greet was a promotional event as well as a thank you, to get them to help us by saving the receipts. It gave them an opportunity to see the dogs they are helping as all dogs there were rescues. And the event was also our way of giving back to the students for what they do for us.

The meeting is fun for the students too. Many of them have dogs at home that they dearly miss so they are happy to spend some time with a furry face. And most people know by now that spending time with dogs can reduce stress and anxiety. So these meetings are a win-win situation.

Other types of dogs are welcome too, not just shelties. Here, Cassius and I are hamming it up during the event. Cassius is a rescue dog too, he just happens to be a greyhound.