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SHELTER SUCCESS STORIES
Please check this link regularly as we will be updating it with "Shelter Success Stories" - stories of how adopted animals found a new home.
JACK - Submitted by Greg Fish
Editor, The Bar Harbor Times
Jack came to the SPCA of Hancock County in March, a beautiful and powerful Shar Pei-Lab mix of six months. His previous owners had another dog, and while they cared for Jack, they found him to be too much to handle and turned him over to the shelter. When he arrived he was frightened, nervous and had not learned many basic commands. He had a tendency to present himself as aggressive when he saw people, often barking and rushing his kennel door.
Jack ended up being at the shelter for four months, but that extended stay gave the staff plenty of time to work with him on his issues. They helped teach Jack much needed commands, such as getting him to sit and stay, reinforcing the lessons until he was comfortable with them and much better behaved. As he matured and got more familiar with seeing and greeting people, he really came around. From being one of the loudest shelter dogs, he became one of the best manned and quiet dogs. All those lessons paid their dividends for Jack, who was adopted by a Down East family late in the summer. He is now sharing a home with another Shar Pei-Lab mix and is doing quite well.
KING - Success Story Submitted by Doe Wright
My 17 year old dog didn't want me to bear the burden of what he was so clearly trying to communicate. Day after day he sought solace in the rainy autumn woods only to be collected in my arms and brought back home. The night before our final goodbye, Chance came inside for the first time weeks and lay on his bed. The next morning on our way to the vet's office, he let me carry him to the car and stayed in my arms until his eyes closed for the last time. Eventually, food bowls, collars and beds were put away and mostly forgotten. Not forgotten was my dear hiking buddy, my enthusiastic greeter, and my car and couch companion.
I missed my friend but found great cheer by exercising the dogs at the SPCA. At the onset of winter, the SPCA was alerted to rescue an abandoned black lab who, for weeks, was left tethered to a derelict car receiving little or no food and water. The owner intended to surrender him much sooner, but her ability to communicate was delayed due to complications from a serious illness and eviction from her home. At the shelter, the staff made a full medical and behavioral assessment of King. He arrived as an in-tact, six year old male with advanced periodontal disease and serious ear infections. When approached, King displayed fearful aggression.
At the Lucerne Veterinary Hospital, King received a full dental scaling, extraction of eight loose teeth, treatment for ear infections and was also neutered. During recovery at the shelter, staff addressed King's display of fearful aggression. Progress came swiftly and the "I'm available" sign appeared on his kennel door.
I couldn't complete the application fast enough! Once approved a date was set for our family to meet King. Sitting on the floor of the SPCA office Doug instructed us to let King approach us. Very tentatively, he sniffed our outstretched hands, settled close by on the floor and let us pat him. Clearly a gentle soul but he needed some help staying in that frame of mind.
Apparent over the next few weeks was King's dramatic lack of socialization. On walks he feared trash cans and parked cars. At the bus stop, kids running up the hill would cause him to strain at the leash and bark aggressively. At home, his fear manifested itself in warding off anyone entering our home -- especially kids. Upon reviewing his intake form, his actions all made sense. The majority of his life was spent indoors or tethered outside. He was taken on car rides but never taken on walks nor had any contact with children.
After sharing King's behavior issues with a friend, she recommended I contact her dog trainer. At her home, the dog trainer worked with King for two weeks … then it was time to train me. By continuing to expose King to all the things he feared and using the proper correction techniques, in about six months King was just about bullet proof.
Today, King can be found happily swimming at Somes Pond surrounded by a half a dozen splashing kids or on the trails of Acadia National Park welcoming pats from unfamiliar people. At the end of our road, he calmly saunters among the kids running off the bus. With all of his 100 pounds, he loves snuggling and makes the best comforting "hums." He is a true sweetie-pie. He just needed some help getting there.
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Watch this website for more success stories from the shelter in the near future.
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