So they asked if my rescue dog had impacted my life....

Life with Joey

Once upon a time (don’t all good stories start that way?) I had recently lost my older Cairn and thought I wasn’t ready for another dog – much less a puppy.  My heart was sore with the loss of my buddy and needed time to heal.

Then Cairn Rescue started sending me videos of this cute little 9-month-old Cairn/Yorkie mix who was being fostered in Kentucky (in retrospect by a very brave lady!) He needed his own home, some training and lots of socialization.  Foster mom sent me pictures and videos and all sorts of innocent information about what a great little dog Brucie was until I caved under the pressure and adopted him.  I do not remember the word “whirlwind” ever being mentioned at this stage.

It should have been a message that this was a “different” pup when his delivery system (thank you Bill Schumacher) had to take several planes and a couple of stops to get him to Portland, Maine from Kentucky – and that at 1 am!  Nothing seemed to go all that smoothly but we hung in there. Traveled to Portland, took the handoff and headed back to NH.

It was indeed the beginning of an entirely new chapter in my life.  I had been owned by several dogs though my life but this pup was the wildest ever!  Not a mean bone in his body but you simply could not leave him alone for a second – he would be on the table, running across the window sills or just bouncing from chair to couch back to the chair at warp speed.  At that point his one redeeming grace was that he was crate trained and by 7:30 at night he collapsed in exhaustion (his and mine) and went to sleep for the night.

What to do?  I would walk him up the road every morning early enough so we’d be alone because everything was new.  New meant a good reason to spin around on the leash and howl and yell at the top of his not inconsequential voice.  The flag at the Town Hall – yikes!   Someone jogging – good grief!  Bicycle riders – the end of the world!  I’m sure the neighbors with the new baby really appreciated the wake up call just in case the baby was sleeping in.

Short answer?  Off to obedience training to socialize and help him get used to his new world.  The former owners had tied him and his Yorkie mommy to a tree and moved away – so he knew nothing of regular doggy life.

Long answer?  Not so easy:  first night at basic obedience he was fine until another dog arrived in the waiting room.  That was his cue to start screaming, yelling and barking – not in fear, and not in anger, just letting everyone know something new was going on.

Our classes are in a basketball court and the echoes are incredible – that first class I don’t think anyone could even hear the instructor.  She finally put us behind a visual
barrier (folding screen) hoping that he would calm down – nope – not having any of that.  He still yelled and hollered and just generally raised enough hell for 3 dogs.

Before the next week’s class, I talked to Staci (the instructor) and told her it wasn’t fair to the other students and certainly wasn’t getting Joey (by the way, by then he had told me his name was not Brucie, but Joey) socialized.  That if we couldn’t get this sorted then I would have to drop out. 

Next week when he started in again in the waiting room she walked in and without any fan fair just squirted him in the back of his head from a water bottle!  Well!  Don’t you think that didn’t break the cycle!  It has to be up there with walking on water for a water miracle.  I became the custodian of the water bottle and actually only had to use it a couple of times.  Soon just showing it to him would stop him in his verbal tracks and get him back on earth.

Cut to the chase:  continued walking him every morning and just exposing him to whatever was out there in the world. By the end of that winter nothing phased him – runners?  Ho hum   Flag whipping in the wind?  Same old/same old.  20 bicycles flying by when he was sitting by the side of the road?  Barely interesting!

It was a miracle – nothing short.

And visitors at my house which used to be the occasion for reverting to flying around the room became a reason to just present the ball and wait for someone to throw it for him.

Back to the classes – amazingly he somehow managed to sit still long enough to be awarded his Canine Good Citizen certificate and then we started Rally Obedience.

Rally is a competition with a course of numbered stations where the dog and handler do whatever the sign at that stations says to do – sit or down or come front etc. – and then they progress to the next sign.  All of this at the basic level is performed on leash.  A team (dog and handler) start with 100 points and lose points for every mistake either of them make – you have to get at least a score of 70 to qualify.

One of my fondest memories was the class where we tried him off leash (cause he was doing so well).  Things were going great until he went over the jump, took a hard right across the court and lunged up the instructor’s gear.  He grabbed her big green toy and took off around the room at warp speed – long and low and close to the ground with that ridiculous toy covering most of his face.  And every time he came around, he went over the jump.  Even the instructor was screaming with laughter and then it was up to me to get him to stop and release the toy.  Eventually a piece of Staci’s (she was still our instructor) special treats did the trick and he was back on the leash.  To stay there for a long time!

In order to compete in AKC trials I needed a registered name so Wild Child Joey he became.

Over the next 3 years we progressed from Novice Rally through Intermediate Rally and up to Advanced where we are now.  In the process we went to competitions (they are called trials) around the area and had to get at least three qualifying scores for each title – these were all with Joey on leash.

I met wonderful friends in class and at the trials. Faced up to the scary part where you and the dog are out there on the course with an eagle-eyed judge following you around watching every move you and the dog make and became incredibly proud of my little guy for all he’d accomplished. 

We now compete at the Advanced (off leash) level and I have a faint hope that someday we’ll get a qualifying score.  At our first trial this spring at least the judge had the decency to walk over to me as I was putting the leash back on and whisper “I’m sorry, I can’t qualify you” rather than standing in the middle of the ring shouting “Does this dog have ANY training at all?”  Joey had done the stations pretty well (he can ace them when he so chooses) but in between he was what at the very kindest could be called out of position. 

I suppose it’s indicative of the general attitude that the woman next to me at the crate area said she would NEVER try to train a terrier – that while standing next to her Golden Retriever who was gazing lovingly at her and begging for a command – dog had “I live to serve” written all over its face!  Joey is more like “later, dude, I’ll probably be back if nothing interests me”.

So, yes, my Cairn Rescue dog has impacted my life.  Changed it in some ways and definitely made it richer in many ways. 

Wouldn't change it for a Golden any day of the week - we've got this!