Adoptions this week
Everybody thinks their dog is a star, but for Kimber "Corkey" Miller, that is a real possibility. Corkey runs Action Animals, (http://www.actionanimalsusa.com/) in Pigeon Forge, TN. Her animals regularly appear in film and at the Grand Ole Opry. For some time she has been looking for a fuzzy looking dog to train for film and to be her own best friend.
Meanwhile, a fuzzy looking guy found himself in serious trouble in upstate SC. Hit by a car and left for dead, fortunately the dirty golden dog was found by caring people who took him to a vet and then to the local animal shelter for the required holding time. These kind folks stayed in touch and when he was not claimed, contacted CPR to see if we could help.
They named him Benji and brought him to us. He started his life at Dreamweaver Farms by having to creep down a ramp from the van. He was still too sore to walk. It broke my heart. We grouped him with two other new dogs, laid back mid-sized pups and let him rest in an isolation cottage that was all one floor.
It was not the most auspicious of beginnings. Benji liked to bark - a lot. He liked to bark at big dogs. That was a bit of a problem since he was a big dog and expected to eventually integrate with them. He loved Chanel the shih tzu and Winter the cockapoo but not the big dogs he saw playing outside. The better he felt and the more his injuries healed, the louder he got.
Oh my..what to do?
While we were trying to figure out the now feisty little pup, Corkey saw a picture on our website and despite the negatives she saw in our description, knew she had found what she was looking for. She filled out the adoption application.
Debi Raby screens all applications before assigning them to an adoption counselor. She took one look at Corkey's, and sent it to me. Most of the time, I do not feel like our animals are a good fit for those who are looking for working dogs. This application was different. Everything in it said the author put the care and well-being of her animals ahead of any financial goals. Benji would first and foremost be her pet.
That is, if he got along with her 4 cats. While adoption counselor Sherry Wilson was screening the application, caregiver Pat McWilliams and I started the cat test. We have discovered that some dogs act just fine with cats on first meet. It takes several times and getting the cats moving to determine just how tolerant they will be.
It was the getting the cats moving that caused us to develop the Willomenia Cat Test protocols.
Now those of us who have adopted and had their meet and greet in my office have met Willow the cat. Willow, a feline positive domestic long hair who looks like a very tiny Maine Coon cat, was left at the farm as a kitten. Once she tested positive for feline leukemia, we knew she could not go with the other cats and so became my office companion. Problem is, Willow has done this so long she yawns in the face of new dogs now instead of being active. I got a laser light to solve this and now Willow happily pounces and hunts the light as it dances over the walls, and allows us to really observe the dog's reaction to feline frantics.
At this point, Benji has passed the cat test and Corkey has passed the interview and been invited. We set a date and Corkey, her friend and fellow trainer Dawn, Duncan the fox hound mix and Nickydoodle the terrier arrived at Dreamweaver Farms along with a donkey movie star in the horse trailer. The group was on the way to a film shoot for the donkey but did not want to give up an opportunity to adopt Benji as soon as possible.
The meet and greet went well. Nickidoodle is a sweetie and accepted Benji immediately. Then we talked about the cats and I told them I would run Benji through the Willomenia cat test again just to be sure.
I watched two animal trainers come to the edge of their seats, observing me intently. I called "Willomenia catch the light" and started Willow racing across the wall.
And I heard a loud chuckle coming from the couch. It is the rare person who can laugh at themselves and these two could. After receiving my email a few days ago stating that Benji had passed the Willomenia cat test, the pair had scoured the internet seeking the parameters of this new method for testing cats and dogs together. Unable to find it, neither wanted to admit to me that they were clueless. We had a huge laugh over this one.
Benji has gone to start his new life, and will be getting a new name and hopefully a new career. Often times when I see animal film stars, the credit simply says "this is a rescue dog." I asked Corkey to proclaim loud and clear to any who were interested where Benji came from as I have no doubt that one day, he will be a star.
We'll say we knew him when.
New dogs
Twelve new in is a lot for us in one week but it just worked out that way. A family in Greenville lost their health and had to release 4 toy poodles to CPR. A shepadoodle in Tennessee washed out of a training program and had nowhere else to turn. Four from the Greenville shelter are here including a very needy little peke possibly poodle mix that we named Xue Xue. Xue is going to lose at least one eye, possibly another. He is holding his own against some pretty big odds. Wish him well.
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| Betty |
In addition, Betty the standard poodle was flown into Atlanta by the Poodle Club of America's Rescue Foundation. Betty has Addison's. The rescue groups in California had no safe place for this beautiful lady so PCA-RF asked CPR if we could take her in. The answer was yes. More on Betty as we get to know her.
Getting them better
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| Dustin |
Very special thanks to caregiver Brooke Corriveau who stayed up all night with Rambo the puppy on Sunday. She made sure the pup stayed hydrated until we could get him to a vet on Monday. Rambo is on the mend from some sort of intestinal illness.
Caregiver Bradley Ingle has taken over much of the medical work and he's found that means spending half his days driving dogs to the vet. This week, it was Dustin the bichon/poo - checking on his leg, Ranger the yorkie checking on his demodex mange and Peaches, still not fully recovered from her upper respiratory. Getting them well is part of our job - thanks Bradley for taking over this important area.
And teaching them new tricks
We had another great class!
In a nut shell we learned: Name recognition; wait; hand targets; leash walking techniques.
In a nut shell we learned: Name recognition; wait; hand targets; leash walking techniques.
Name recognition is something that's been a recurring topic since day one. It makes sense, in order to train the dog you have to have their attention. During the training process you reward the dog for not only giving you attention when called by their name, but also for something simple such as "checking in" with eye contact that shows they are paying attention to you.
"Wait" was actually really interesting because the trainer was giving me tips on how to apply this in a kennel setting. Since our dogs are so food motivated (almost all of them are) the wait command can be taught at lunch time--by making them wait before getting their food bowls. Say each lead (or every a.m. person or whatever) picked 3 dogs and practiced this command every time we feed them, that would be at least one command that they know, right? Kami actually did VERY well with this tonight, despite her fierce food motivation, ha!
Hand targets. Ok this so far is my absolute favorite and I cannot wait for Kami to master it. Not only does it look really fancy but it can be applied to several different scenarios. It's a simple concept, you hold your hand out (back of the palm facing dog) and the dog pokes/taps the back of your hand with their nose. Once they master it they will do it to the left, to the right, anywhere you signal for them. This can be essential in leash walking, for example if you want the dog to go a certain direction or switch from your left to your right side you hold your hand out a bit further and make them follow it, etc. They learn that if they tap your hand they get rewarded and this gives them motivation to follow your hand. Really cool stuff.
Finally, leash walking. The wait command and hand targets are both used in leash walking. I already explained hand targets but the "wait" is applied when you put the leash/harness on the dog; and also to wait before walking out of your house, or getting out of your vehicle. We did an exercise with cones to help improve leash walking. Kami really, really struggles in this area but we will work on it! She seems to freeze and not want to move. Or she will just constantly "sit" and stare at me wanting a treat, LOL. To motivate her not to "freeze" I was told to walk two or three feet away from her, and put a treat on the ground. When she starts heading towards the treat, reward her more.
We had a nice time tonight, she was very well mannered. It was also a nice surprise to see Joni's foster dog, Radar, in the class! He is doing great.
We look forward to next week.
Amy Pearson, lead caregiver
Stay tuned for weekly updates from Amy as she and Kami learn the basics of obedience and the whys behind the training.
On the road
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| Rocky Top, pre-Atlanta |
Five of our team made their way to Atlanta last weekend to Atlanta Pet Fair. Caregivers Amy Pearson, Bradley Ingle, Olivia Millwood, Amanda Lee and Brooke Corriveau chaperoned 11 dogs who were used as grooming dogs in the Rescue Rode on Sunday am. They had a great time and while we did not bring home a place finish, the team found a more important goal to the trip.
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| Furman, pre-Atlanta |
Plunging our dogs into a totally different environment, each dog showed a sign of their personality that our caregivers had not seen. Look for new descriptions as well as new pictures soon - changes we hope will bring forever homes to these fabulous dogs. Who went? Rocky Top - senior black male toy poodle, Aailayah - brown female miniature poodle vision impaired, Tanya - female golden doodle, Phoenix - white male bichon/poo, April - white senior miniature poodle, Corey - white female miniature poodle, Mercedes - female maltese, Furman - silver schnauzer mix, and more!
Thanks to you, we're fixing them up, keeping them safe and finding them homes.
Can you help us do more?
CPR needs to grow to 1500 regular donors (Never Say No supporters and Patrons) this year. To do so will allow us to help even more dogs. To keep these stories continuing, please consider adding CPR to your monthly donations. To do so, please visit our webpage at
Thank you for your donations and your support. Without it none of this would be possible.
Donna Ezzell
Director
www.carolinapoodlerescue.org
It takes teamwork to make the dream work.
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