UPDATE 9/21/03
Statement by AWCA President Jean Levitt
*Permission to crosspost*
The Montana collies are living their new lives thanks to all of you who helped them. Medically, many still have issues, which are of course being addressed by their new persons. Breed-specific concerns are referred to the collie veterinarians, Drs. Kelso, Bossart, and Vanderlip, who graciously consult with Montana collie veterinarians without charge.
Emotional special-needs collies are making progress. Foster persons have reported some are slowly learning to trust, and one special collie finally took a cookie from his foster person’s hand.
Rescue Equipment
We have moved some of the AWCA rescue equipment to the southern section of the country in order to be effective throughout the country. We will share with local rescue organizations that need help.
Collies-In-Need
During the Montana collie rescue, AWCA continued to assist with medical bills with other collies-in-need from our general rescue fund when local rescue organizations ran out of money. Please note Megan Loe is now the Director of AWCA Collie Rescue. Address your requests for help with collies-in-need to Megan at mkloe@tgi.net.
We know you will enjoy “Adoption Milestones, The Continued Saga of Hope, Mindy, Hallie, and Sailor.”
By a Montana Adopter
Continued Saga: Hope, Mindy, Hallie and Sailor
SAILOR NEEDED A HERNIA REPAIR! We finalized the adoption of our collie, Sailor, two days after her spaying by the Humane Society. I checked her incision and imagine my consternation when I felt a 3x2 inch mass on her tummy. I checked it several times daily. It seemed to be getting larger! My first veterinarian consult about this protrusion resulted in the conclusive statement that it was a fatty tumor. Briefly I was so relieved as I wanted to spare her another surgery and the anesthesia that has risks as well. Sailor’s brown teeth and red irritated gum line was also a concern that was hard to ignore. My worry over the situation couldn’t be squelched and I sought a second opinion. This time I went to Great Falls to Dr. M.L. and on August 5th, just 24 days after diligently building our dogs trust and affection she had to undergo another surgical procedure.
It was an unnerving day. Fortunately good medical attention got Sailor through the needed repairs. Bringing her the many miles to our home was a nightmare. Abdominal and mouth pain, frustration, and a bit of anesthesia hangover thrown in, shot down her hard won security and shaky equilibrium. She howled with head extended, coyote fashion, at 5-minute intervals until we reached home. She was quite intense in expressing her misery, and I felt like shedding a few tears with her.
One week later, all is well. The patient is healing nicely and some perkiness has returned to her gait and her bearing. She did not hold a grudge and seems tremendously relieved to have returned to a yard that she recognized and have our other two dogs gather round and sympathize with those nasty veterinarian office smells that cling to one’s coat! Isn’t it amazing how they know and can relate when one of their own is not feeling up to par?
Incidentally, in the workup that the doctor did for Sailor, she is quite sure that this collie is much younger then others thought and that she had somehow missed the puppy mill production line. If she’s had any puppies, which didn’t seem likely, it would have not have been more then one litter from the physical indications that she presents.
Milestones are marking progress in the rehabilitation of Sailor. July and August in north central Montana have been breaking all records for extreme temperatures and we run fans almost 24 hours a day to cool our pets and ourselves. Three wild fires within a mile had helicopters towing water baskets, bombers with water-filled bellies, loud speakers from mobile units all thundering over our valley. The dogs were a bit nervous with such unusual activity, but not nearly as stressed as their humans! Sailor took the commotion in stride, even, the air laden with smoke, ash and sirens.
More mundane events are noted as she continues to solidify friendship with the terrier and hunting dog, the horses and the cats. The horses continue to be the biggest challenge as she barks and gets pretty uptight when they are near. Schooling in this department has started. Frequent trips to the pond to cool off have become a ritual that was instituted as soon as the incisions on Sailor’s abdomen were safely sealed. She hasn’t the enthusiasm for swimming that Summer and Coady have but prefers to sit in shoulder-deep water and observe the vigorous swimmers. None are in any hurry to leave the water, which is just a comfortable temperature after 100-degree days. The three dogs’ pleasure in this activity is just fun to watch.
Sailor has tried out all three beds, Summer’s, Coady’s and her own. She delights in swapping beds with them. It gets a little confusing at times, but for night she prefers to leave the others and sleep in the garage. She is the one that snores so maybe they have politely let her know she snuffs and whiffs noisily at night.
Another fun observation is when they play together. Our other two dogs are much shorter haired dogs. When they get a mouthful of Sailor’s long fur, they look astonished and their faces indicate their distaste of a mouthful of collie hair! Three dogs of such diverse breeds wrestling or playing follow the leader in a race down the length of the meadow is quite a sight.
We believe that having two dogs in residence has made the changes in Sailor’s life more palatable. She doesn’t feel like all the bonds from the pack of dogs that she was so used to have disappeared. She prefers to socialize with them when she is feeling unnerved by our advances. She, oddly enough, is very friendly to my husband and me most mornings, then later in the day has a reversal of trust and wants us to keep our distance. It seems as if there is a fear that the other shoe of disaster might fall at any time so the wise thing is to keep her guard up. When she is feeling antisocial, we can almost always overcome it by getting out brushes and grooming her coat, which she enjoys, and it seems to restore her ego. We ladies know how that is, and I guess Sailor doesn’t want a bad hair day either.
An area of concern is that when she is off leash she is unpredictable. In wanting to establish her independence she may or may not come when called. Bribery with a treat of cheese usually is the answer to that, but we know that she must learn to respect a command, for her safety and our peace of mind.
Now on to the other dogs in our earlier trilogy:
First, the commonality of behavior in the two collies and two shelties seems to present itself in several areas. All of our dogs have an unhealthy fear of men. Overcoming it is requiring a lot of patience on the fellows’ part. Loud noises, raised voices (even if it’s not with angry overtures) unsettle them. Any changes in the routines that have been established are suspect, and any sudden movement finds them ducking and taking cover, as they seem to feel that a kick or blow is sure to follow. That kind of conditioning will take time to overcome. At all times they seem happiest if an escape route is identified, and they get upset if that route is blocked. Another shared behavior is they hate cars and pickups. Getting them into one for a necessary trip is a backbreaking ordeal as a slithery-coated dog that hangs limp is dead weight and they can seem very heavy at such times! The 20 or 30 feet that they keep from vehicles before sitting down or lying down can be a long distance to carry these uncooperative girls. Once in the vehicle they seem to realize that it is not the tractor-trailer and their fear and worry de-escalates. Each time it is the same unwillingness to load, and we surely hope they will soon connect travel as a fun-time outing. If not, we ladies may end up with permanently dislocated backs!! Lastly, the ages of our dogs seem to indicate levels of resiliency, and the younger ones in all but a few instances are making faster adjustments.
Hope’s adoption had timing issues that provided different tests, as she has had to meet many strangers in a short period of time. The adoption and the arrival of summer visitors happened simultaneously right along with the spaying appointment and subsequent recovery. That’s a pretty big order!
Hope’s new home didn’t have any other pets in residence so she went from a world of 175 dogs to zero four-legged creatures. Not even a cat was around, BUT two little visiting grandsons were eager to make her acquaintance and encourage her. It was a bit overwhelming, and she sought comfort in a secure corner of the sunroom. The quietly determined grandsons, daughters, granddaughter and neighbors all did everything they could to assure Hope that she was loved and welcomed. The attention of so many might or might not have always been appreciated, but it did surely help fill the void of not having another dog in residence. Just off the sunroom a tree-covered hill rises gently, and the deer often come into the cool shade. Hope is not a noisy dog and rarely barks other then just a little throaty chirp. One small woof and her “deer greeting” seemed to establish relief that other four-legged creatures still did exist. She now lies quietly when they come up and they just watch each other in an unconcerned manner. It seems she looks forward to their daily appearances. The developing relationship with the deer seems to provide her with the reassurance that other animals still inhabit her life, not just the two- legged variety. The squirrels as a whole she simply ignores.
Poor little Hopey-girl has supported numerous puppy litters. Her lunch buckets have been stretched and pulled until very little elasticity is left. Her fine, aristocratic, regal features, no doubt, made her desirable as a puppy-producing machine and thankfully now that chapter had ended. Her general health and nervous system need time to heal, and she is most fortunate to be in a quiet country setting with doting adoptive humans.
Hot days were an affliction that Hope solved by sitting in the lawn sprinkler area. She cooled off but looked pretty bedraggled with her wet hair dripping rivulets of water. Another water scene was her first bath. Mother and visiting daughter rounded up a huge plastic container, got the shampoo ready, and with buckets of sun-heated water, Hope’s dignity and body were thoroughly scrubbed. She has a way of looking down that finely chiseled nose as if to say, “This is not acceptable, but I shall bear it but not like it.” This has become known as THE LOOK that is cast whenever she is not in full agreement with the way events are going. Sort of, “I am of royal blood and you don’t seem to have accepted my rules, get it together, PLEASE.” The bath became a priority for each of the dogs, as the kennel odor can get pretty disagreeable on a hot day.
Hope is hopeless when it comes to toys. Her Highness’ attitude conveys that fun is a frivolous waste of time and energy. She probably had never seen a toy, much less been played with. She takes life pretty seriously and is still pretty tightly wound. Food is not a motivator for her either, as responding to bribery would be so unlady-like.
Hopey’s walks in the neighborhood are planned for low traffic times. Hope has no sense of danger from traffic, and even though she is leashed, will sit right down in the roadway, completely oblivious to speeding cars bearing down on them. Her ladie’s tugs are ignored and usually resulted in her being unceremoniously walked off by taking her front legs off the pavement causing her to do a standing hind legs walk after her embarrassed owner and probably to the amusement of the driver.
Hope is filling her owner’s days with many milestones. Each new accomplishment is cheered and each problem overcome is helping her erratic behavior become consistent and natural. She is already becoming the cherished pet she so richly deserves to be.
Each week we friends get together with our dogs for a hike, and for a time for them to romp and socialize together. They greet each other exuberantly and seem to connect with the memories of their former acquaintance. The pleasures of their new life seem to be replacing peculiar behavior, and the tails carried high and proudly like flags of victory are indications that the bad days are losing their hold.
The shelties, Mindy and Hallie, are remembered as those two tiny hunks of fur trembling and fearful often on their backs with feet pointed upward. They have made monumental progress. These tiny bundles personified fear, even terror of all people, all activities. They depended on each other as the only known safe haven. Hour after hour these miniature collies would huddle in despondent heaps. In November and December I believe we wondered if they would even survive. They had retreated into just anxiety-ridden, jumpy, matted and sickly morsels, hardly recognizable as the coveted Shetland sheepdog breed.
If any woman could nurture them back to sanity and emotional stability it was the lady who adopted them. She has the gift to see their potential and the faith and patience to lead them out of the quagmire of doggie fears, which almost crushed them. The steady, calm love she pours into their lives is chasing away the troubles that stymied these delicate animals.
Their adoptive sister dog, Tokkey, is showing them how nice it is to be clean and to just enjoy the rustling leaves, dappled sunlight, vitamins, grooming and the flowers blooming. “Listen up girls, it’s a good life we have here,” seems to be what her unspoken words would convey. Her message is being received as they are thriving.
Hallie’s newfound confidence is amazing. At times she does what our friend calls the “SHOW DOG STRUT.” My friend wishes the whole world could see these performances. One can barely equate this dog as the same Hallie that 9months, 6months or even 3 months ago was pretty much a basket case. These bursts of happiness just surface so unexpectedly and so delightfully. It makes every effort done for these animals a real triumph.
They stick to their lady like glue part of the time, and at other times they choose to explore and see what adventures are around the next corner. This is especially true of Hallie who loves the outdoors so much. Mindy prefers to stay inside, if given her druthers. Hallie has learned to operate the dog port, and the liberty that it gives her is most satisfying. Mindy will poke her head through; take a quick peek and retreat back into the sunroom. She does love to ride in the cloth carrier. She snuggles into the sling affair with head and front feet supported by the fabric, and the superior views are much to her liking as her human goes striding up to close the gate. It seems it’s a bit of superiority coming out as she appears to smirk from this elevated position. Hallie and Tokkey prancing along ahead hardly feel put down.
My friend’s secluded acres are a perfect retreat for the shelties. At first toys or playtime were just too silly or too foreign to them to even understand. Day by day their reluctant interest is being tweaked, and they are coming out of their protective armor. Now and again they will get all involved with a game of tag and just go racing around the yard. What a joy that is to witness!
As each milestone is noted, we quickly phone each other to share our dogs’ progress. What a blessing to see them getting well, physically and emotionally. With rescue dogs there are a lot of unanswered questions. We wonder about health issues, age, how best to build a good relationship and overcome their sorry backgrounds. We like sharing ideas and discard or adapt possibilities to the special needs of each collie. The effort and rewards are a blessing as we see the dogs respond and become happy individuals.
Calmly,
Jean Levitt, President AWCA
and the Officers and Members of AWCA