Dory The One and Only!

Meet Dory. She is a six year old, 35 pound Aussie. Dory is an AKC registered purebred.

Dory was owner-surrendered by Barbara because of herding behavior around children. Dory has never bit, or broken the skin, but she has nipped children.

At first I thought to myself Dory is no different than many dogs that fall under the herding breed umbrella. Without proper stimulation and exercise, some herding dogs will herd running water. I remembered how quirky Big George would get when he would see moving objects, yet once we found him a cat-home, he settled down and the cats gave him the calm stimulation he needed.

After talking with Barbara and her husband at length, Barbara shared with me a horrible experience that she had as a child. She witnessed a dog attacking a playmate, which permanently injured the child’s eye. Later, when Barbara was 18 years old she was personally attacked by a dog.

I appreciated Barbara’s honesty, and asked if she simply could be afraid or nervous around dogs in general, and her answer was yes. I wondered then if Dory could be sensing Barbara’s fear, and misinterpreting that fear. We discussed this theory, and both agreed that it could be possible. I wondered if Dory could be protecting Barbara from the children, confusing why Barbara is fearful. Unfortunately, Dory can’t possibly understand that it’s HER that Barbara is nervous about.

Barbara agreed to foster Dory for us, simply because my rescue was full. Cynthia Harper would’ve been the foster of choice for Dory, but if you recall, Cynthia was fostering the Lucky Seven Puppies!

Shortly after we posted Dory available for adoption I received an email from a gentleman named Joel. He was interested in Dory. He wanted to give Dory a try. We treated this like a foster arrangement, with the intent to adopt. Joel has a young granddaughter, and Dory’s quirks were discussed with Joel in painful detail!

It’s been two weeks since Joel brought Dory home, and she has received raving reviews. He wrote:

Gisele – I got you message on Sunday. I am out of town so am sending this by e-mail.

Dory is a fantastic dog. Smart and obedient. Lets you know when she has to go out to the bathroom. Sleeps beside the bed but never tries to get on the bed. She gets along well with all of our dogs big and small. Eats in the kitchen with them but has never been food aggressive. She will set and wait for her food or a treat. She has been fantastic with our grand kids. Never aggressive in any way. In fact, when our granddaughter spends the night she sleeps on a little mattress on the floor. Dory sleeps with her all night and will not get up until she gets up.

If we were only interested in a fantastic dog, Dory would be the one. However, we were looking for a playmate for ShyAnne. Dory does not like to go outside unless one of us is with her. If she is outside she sits by my wife’s office window and whines. Sometimes she will run with ShyAnne but not for long before she is back whining to get inside. We know it is not her fault, that is the way she was raised.

Dory is a great dog. She needs to got to a home where she does not have to spend time outside and where the primary caregiver is a woman. She is great with other dogs and (at least for us) with kids.

Joel

The news that Dory was great with Joel’s granddaughter made me ecstatic, and since Cynthia’s puppies have all been adopted, I emailed her immediately.

Cynthia (shown left) can’t wait to have Dory as her next Aussie to foster. We will work on addressing Dory’s separation anxiety. Clearly if we can find a way to cut the cord, meaning severe Dory’s need for a human in an overly needy fashion, maybe… just maybe, she can learn to play… learn to be a dog. That alone will help raise Dory’s self-esteem and progress in all areas for this beautiful little girl will be rapid.

In short? Cynthia is going to help Dory experience that Ah Ha moment, where she learns that she’s a loving, intelligent dog, and we don’t need her to cling to us… that’s not her job!

Now THIS is going to be exciting to watch! Joel will be transporting Dory to Cynthia this weekend.

If you are considering Dory your family, please read about our adoption process and then e-mail gisele.thedogliberator@gmail.com

02/14/11 Update from Cynthia: Dory has been here two days now. She is a very sweet and loving dog and extremely well-behaved. She has excellent manners and she loves taking walks. She has far better leash manners than my two girls. She is timid around men. Joel and Tammy helped her with that to a certain extent, in the two weeks that they had her. My husband Tex is not pushing it, just allowing her to have her space. She has taken treats from him, so that is a step forward. We decided that a good start with her would be for him to take daily walks after work without me, initially with all the dogs, then eventually just Dory. Walks are her favorite thing. We have plenty of wonderful men around as friends and neighbors that eventually I will have her meet and interract with.

She is overweight, though not seriously, and she will slim down here in time. We haven’t gone anywhere yet, as I wanted her to begin to feel secure here first. But my dogs get restless for outings, so this week I am sure she will be going to the Doggie Beach with us or the Carlton Preserve for a big hike.

Inside the house she is very velcroe to me, though I am not coddling her, just allowing her to do what she needs to initially to feel secure.

I have gotten her to do the Aussie “wiggle butt” a couple times though, so I know she has some joy in there! Outside she is not the velcroe dog. She wanders and explores and she loves staring up in the trees at all the action there. We have a large Oak canopy. I feel that she is very similar to my dogs. They do not spend alot of time outside if I am not out there. If I am then they are. They are not velcroe dogs (anymore) But, typical Aussies, they generally position themselves near to me.

She is not really interacting with my girls very much. Though she is not intimidated by them. No interested in toys, balls, or frisbees. No problems whatsoever with food aggression or taking a bone away. She allows me to touch her everywhere and to handle her paws, which is a good thing as her nails need trimming.

She is curious about cats, but does not get overly excited about them. And yesterday she got a little too close to one and she swiped Dory, so now she is keeping her distance. She does not jump up on people at all, unlike my girls! She is also not a barker, just a very sweet, quiet and loving dog. The perfect house guest here!

Dory is a large mini Aussie., about 35 lbs. No tail at all. Beautiful!! Her fur is very soft, like a rabbits fur. She is very expressive with her face. She is the perfect dog! She does have one bad habit though. She never jumps on the couch. Terrible huh?