Rescues come together to save a dog deemed unadoptable
By Lulu Hart
Providing Animals with Support, or PAWS, was asked by Lois Hewitt from INKAS to consider helping a dog she believed was special and would benefit from Rescue.
Sammie is a border collie mix who has the border collie smarts! She’s an adorable girl who can learn a trick or behavior in no time at all. She’s also a Velcro dog. She loves humans. She does fine with other dogs but prefers to sniff, smile, and go on her way. While in a shelter, she would guard her food and kennel, giving cause for what appeared to be aggression. Once, when being tugged by a leash from a truck, she snapped and bit. We don’t know what she was thinking or what was scaring her, but after getting to know her, Team Sammie are all convinced she was in some way frightened and simply reacted no differently then any other dog or human might have.
After meeting Sammie, a team was assembled to work with her as we could see immediately what Lois knew all along: She was a wonderful, loving, gentle dog. We created a special kennel with a doggy door to a good size outdoor yard where she would be kept away from the other dogs, visitors, and strangers and only worked with by her assigned team of volunteers. It only took days for several of us to start scheming in our own minds how could we take Sammie to our homes. Yes, she’s just that grand.
With the guidance of trainer Keith Hightower, we began her training. We’re not sure who was training who, but Sammie and all of us learned a lot. She could be reactive, but more as an alert dog then anything else. She’s very treat motivated but more toy motivated. She started on multiple daily walks, humans sitting and reading aloud to her. She especially loved hearing our emails and often buried her head in our laps and, we are sure, rolled her eyes several times as we read. Some of us would sit with her in her kennel while she ate with no reaction from her. No matter what we tried, she proved herself right: a high-energy Velcro dog but a very nice girl.
When out on free-roam walks with other dogs, she would run and chase but always had a close eye on her handler. While working in the office, she would search for all the toys and treats hidden for her, and she would sit next to the desk. When someone would knock on the door, she would alert bark but showed no aggression. One of the team members took her home several times for extended sleepovers, and she was the perfect guest other then really being a Velcro sleep companion. But she figured out her space and place.
So what do you do with a highly trainable, motivated, love-seeking Velcro dog? You find the right humans for her. We deliberately kept a low profile on her and screened her applications very carefully, and we waited and continued to train.
We are so thrilled with Sammie’s new home and human. She is everything Sammie needs and deserves, allowing her time to settle in, keeping up on her training, working with her to become a therapy dog, and taking her to work so Sammie spends very little time alone. Sammie is now a comfort and emotional support dog in a retirement home where she is paying it forward.
Sammie is living the life she deserves, the life that all pets deserve, with love, respect, and security. Thank you Team Sammie, thank you Lois for being Sammie’s champion, and thank you Sammie for allowing each us to be a part of such a wonderful experience and reminding us why we do what we do. Sammie really was the angel on top of Christmas Tree this year and a wonderful way to end 2018.
Lulu Hart is operations manager for PAWS.
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Great people mentioned in this article. She sure had great support to get her the perfect home. Thanks for the article.