Daycare June 13th

The time has come for a blog about Chase. Chase is the love of my life. He has been living with Tim (anti-aggression trainer you ,may have seen around here on Thursdays and Saturdays) for a while now and has a past that would widen anyones eyes in sympathy. He was originally found on the 405 freeway getting hit by a car and scared out of his mind. After he was rescued and brought home it was clear he had developed pretty severe motion fear and, possibly in a past life, had become terrified of females... female people! That is how this little guy ended up with us. What better way to get over a fear of women than be bathed by one, fed, by one, trained by one, and constantly loved by one for two weeks straight. (Only works if the women are trained to deal with fearsome dogs, ie dont try this at home).

Now, I had met Chase before at Saturday socials but I never really had a chance to get to know him until he came to stay. Since he showed up here, I have not only fallen madly in love, I have become so attached I am trying to adopt him myself (landlord issues...ugh!). He is troubled but in his eyes I can tell he just wants what everyone wants, to feel safe, to be loved, to have some control over this crazy life he is living, to achieve some sanity. Even though my living situation makes it impossible for me to have Chase today, I am thankful for the time we have spent together here. Until Chase, I was convinced I needed a second dog that was mellow, was female, was old, and was basically not gonna have many issues since Fox has enough to go around. Now my mind has been opened to the idea of purposefully adopting a dog with issues. There are so many dogs out there with fears that, if not dealt with, could keep them from ever finding a happy home. If you have the means (access to an excellent trainer) and the know how (experience with troubled dogs) I urge you to take the risk. The bond formed from working with your dog to subdue/reverse fear or aggression issues is exponential and the joy that comes from watching them improve is indescribable. Dont shy away from the hard work, I say, embrace it for the reward will be even more satisfying... and of course the brownie points you will earn by saving a dog from the madness in his own head will keep you on the good side of Karma for years to come.