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HAPPY TAILS

Please note: If you have adopted one of our dogs and would like to have his/her info included here, please email HappyTails@gsrne.org.

Also, if you have already sent in a story and pictures and don’t see it appear here within a few days, please ping me again to be sure I got it.

We all LOVE reading these Happy Tails stories. They make all the hard work and expense worthwhile. This is what rescue is all about!

#431 Holly and #432 Mushroom/Wylie

Mushroom_Holly_6681

Holly Adopted: Oct. 21, 2015 at age 7
Mushroom  / Wylie Adopted: Oct. 21, 2015 at 4 yrs (DOB 4/25/11)

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Password: Mushy

Update on 6/24/2016:

Here is Holly’s and Wylie’s update from their mom- Wylie has continued to show improvement (baby steps) with his fear of my being part of the family. He jumps up on the bed each morning, kisses me, lets me rub his ears and pet him. Of course, he still prefers Todd, but at least I’m not getting such a panicked reaction.
We signed them up for Family Dog 1 and they went to their first obedience class last week. I had Wylie, Todd had Holly. Although we sat side-by-side, with the dogs beside us, they really struggled with the two us in-between them. After a short while, Holly settled in and followed the commands easily (clicker, treats) but Wylie wasn’t interested. I tried to take him outside to calm down, but it didn’t work very well. The last 15 minutes of the class, we swapped pups. Surprisingly, Holly had a hard time with me.
The trainers are very good; positive re-enforcement being key. They’re patient, knowledgeable and are very calming with both dogs.
At home, I am working with Wylie and he’s doing great. He’ll sit and stay for me very, very well. As a matter of fact, I clipped my hair on top of my head (it made a sound) and he sat!!! Funny.
They have their second appointment at the vet tomorrow to finish up their round of shots. We tried to get them all in one visit, but they were too stressed and we didn’t want to make the vet visit a traumatic reoccurrence.
All in all, we’re doing well and I fall in love with them more every day. I hope Ava and Scorpio and doing well — would love to hear of their progress.

Holly and Mushroom’s original write-up:

When our Hotline volunteers check the phone lines every day, they never know what GSRNE will be asked to do next.  It’s not unusual to hear that a dog is doing poorly in a shelter or an owner can no longer care for a dog; but hearing that 4 GSDs need to be moved at once is a real challenge.

Holly

We were called by the owner who had Holly, 7 years old (female), Mushroom, 4 years old (male), Scorpio, 8 months old (male) and Baby, 8 months old, (female).  The man had surgery coming up,  and no shelter would take the dogs because they were not socialized and fearful.  The dogs were not altered, and we were concerned that the two females could go into season at any time; thank goodness we found  4 separate foster homes for them.

Mushroom / Wylie

Holly was placed in a new foster home with no current dog, and she had a hard time adjusting.  She went through her spay surgery and recovered well; but she kept having “accidents” in the house, was chewing on herself and did not settle in.

Mushroom bonded quickly to his foster Dad but remained leery and uncomfortable around his foster Mom.  She tried offering treats, sitting patiently, being the one to feed him and tried putting on the leash to take him for walks; but he was not warming up to her.

Holly and Mushroom/Wylie

Holly

We kept the foster homes informed about how the other dogs were doing, and Mushroom’s foster parents expressed an interest in Holly.  We clutched at that straw and moved Holly to their home….and it was the answer to our prayers.  Holly stopped chewing on herself, began to relax and was very affectionate with her new foster Mom.  She and Mushroom were SO excited and happy to see each other that they’re helping each other with this big change in their lives.  They’ve gone from never wearing a collar or being on leash to enjoying going for walks and learning how much more there is to life than the isolation they had before.  In fact, they’re doing so well now that their foster home might become their forever home!