All About Rescue Animals

This one’s Isaac!

This little guy came to us from a family member who was not prepared to take on a mill rescue.

Isaac is a cairn terrier who was rescued from a puppy mill by the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region. He spent the first 8 months of his little life in a teeny kennel and had never been outside or had any positive interactions with humans. At first he was terrified of grass, wind, other dogs, men, a stray leaf. All of it. This little guy was completely overwhelmed. The very first thing he did when he arrived at his original adopter’s home was shred the carpet in the master bedroom. They called me right away and said it was too much and they needed help. I went and picked him up the next day.

Isaac was the most anxious and easily startled boy I’ve ever met. It took us a long time to help him understand that his harness for walks wasn’t trying to kill him, that my husband was a nice man, and that he didn’t need to eat shoes when he got nervous. He was so stressed out that he would lock up anytime someone tried to pet him because he wasn’t expecting a kind touch. It was hard to see a dog so was so afraid.

We have always been ~positive reinforcement~ people when it comes to our animals, but Isaac was in so much trauma when we brought him into our home that we had to redefine what it means to be gentle and patient. It wasn’t enough to interrupt a bad behavior and redirect his attention! We had to be calm and gentle and let him know he wasn’t being physically attacked or threatened or else he would completely panic and freeze up, or launch into a physical attack on our older dog because he just didn’t know what the heck to do. It was a huge challenge for us to overcome the aggression towards our older dog. We had to be constantly vigilant and separate them as soon as it seemed like something was going to set them off. Charlie of course had no idea what was happening or why so we had to be preventative as much as possible when it came to the aggression.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten about living with an animal was from my friend Tanya. I was complaining that Isaac has shredded another pair of my shoes and she said “Then keep your closet closed! He’s showing you the boundaries he needs.” And that was true! I kept the closet door closed, and we continued to work with him on better outlets for his energy and anxiety and after a while he no longer felt the need to find something to tear up when he was stressed out or scared.

Isaac has been in our home for a year and a half and he’s no longer a nervous shoe eater! He loves to spend time in the sunshine with our lhasa Charlie, who is his very best friend. He loves to come snuggle directly with my face first thing in the morning. He’s a champion at walking on the leash and we recently found out that he’s very gentle and friendly with the neighbor’s chickens (thank god).