There was an unexpected Christmas present waiting for the employees of the Muskegon County Vector
Control on December 25, 2004. Tied to a
flagpole outside in the cold Michigan weather, was a strange looking dog with a
small puppy running around her. When approached, this dog desperately tried to protect her
puppy from the workers. They had to use "rabies poles" to contain
her. Separated from her puppy, she became more aggressive and growled at everyone who
came near her. She even tried to eat a male assistant at the vet's
office. If it had not been for the PoundBuddies volunteers giving her small pieces
of food to win her trust, she would have been immediately euthanized. They named
this Rhodesian Ridgeback/Rottie mix "Merry Christmas".
In March 2005, one of our
friends; a Julie Lemson of APB
familiar with my previous "success" with Glennie
and Abby called Laurel and asked if I would be interested in a "Special Project"
dog. I immediately agreed.
When I first met
Merry on my next trip home from my OTR Trucking job, she was immediately
apprehensive and growled at me when I called her name. I firmly took her leash,
sat down on the front steps and gently pulled her to me while I was talking to
her in a soothing tone. It took some time to get her close to me and when she
was in arm's length, I put my arm around her and pulled her close. With the
other hand, I pulled several small pieces of dog-cookie from my shirt pocket and
offered them to her, one at a time.
Within a couple
hours, Merry was far less apprehensive of me and even started coming to me when
called. Merry has never been aggressive toward any of our other animals, she
even "tolerates" the cats. I again chose Suzie, my adopted Bouiver Des Flandres
as the "tutor" dog to help me with Merry.
After a
few days, I determined these things about her;
I also
determined that many times, the low rumbling she makes that sounds like a growl,
is just her way of vocalizing. When I ignore her, sometimes the growl will
"morph" into a whine and other times it will morph into sort of a howl. It
is quite funny actually, to hear her "g-r-r-r-r-r-n-n-n-n-n-e"
or "g-r-r-r-r-r-r-o-o-o-o-o" and see her stubby tail wag like
crazy.
Some friends who were unfamilar with the Rhodesian Ridgeback breed, noted
her growling at them and the "ridge" of fur down the middle of her back,
have commented "Boy, your dog really
doesn't like me, look at
her hair stand up".
Since March 2005, Merry has made very good progress, although she may never gain
enough confidence to be fully "normal". She will always need a calm, confident
ALPHA.
In October 2005, I quit my OTR job to come down to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to
work. In January 2006, I purchased a small camper and pulled it down from
Michigan. I brought Merry down here with me. She continues to make progress
in gaining confidence to meet new people without feeling the
overwhelming fear that causes aggression. When meeting "new" people,
even though she is apprehensive, she looks to me for approval and when I praise
her, she will often slowly approach new people to gain their attention.
April 3, 2006; Laurel
received an email from Sara Miller, a writer doing a story about Rescue
and Transport for '
Rally To
Rescue'; a Nestle Purina
PetCare publication. In her
corespondence, Laurel gave Sara my cell-phone number and suggested she call me
as well.
Sara called and
interviewed me sometime in early May. On May 24, we got the
rough copy from the Editor; Barb Fawver. Barb called me soon after and wanted to
arrainge the photo-shoot for the magazine. I told her that I was in the New
Orleans area and she told me she had a photographer in Kenner and we agreed that
the best place for the photos was at the TA Truckstop in Slidell. Barb also
suggested I bring Merry along with me.
If you want to
read the Article (if you haven't already) you can read it here.
Merry may soon be available for adoption,
but the person she chooses will have
to pass MY muster. Merry is a very sweet girl that suffered unknown abuses in
her previous life and deserves to have a loving and patient ALPHA.
To apply for Merry, visit the
Animal Placement Bureau website at www.apbpets.com Click on the Available
Dogs link at the left. At the top of that Available Dogs page is a link that
reads "Click Here for an Online Application" Be sure to note "Merry
Christmas" as the dog you are interested in and "attention Laurel."
Click Here!
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Success Stories |
Ivanicky Goes... |
Project Dogs |
Glennie |
Abby |
Merry Christmas |
From the Gulf Coast ~ Hurricane Katrina |
Our Dogs |