In mid-2001, the word filtered through to Airedale Rescue that there was an
Airedale in the Reno, Nevada, shelter ... turned in by his owner. At the time
there were no Airedale rescue volunteers in Nevada, so the word was put out on
the Airedale lists ... we need help. Reno resident Sallie Moore had recently
lost her practically perfect Airedale, Charity. Sallie didn't think she wanted
a male, but offered to go to the shelter to evaluate the Airedale and perhaps
adopt him. Unfortunately, by the time she got there, he had been adopted. We
asked the shelter director to pass along our contact information to the new
owner just in case.
A few months later, the new owner called Sallie and said he was moving ... did
she want to take the dog? This was not the best time for Sallie to take on a
new Airedale. She had just started a new job, the weather was nasty and the
report was that the dog had never lived inside.
By this time, Rusty LaFrance had taken on the job of Nevada Airedale Rescue
coordinator and she was prepared to make the 18-hour road trip to get Chester,
but it
would take time to make arrangements. Sallie agreed to keep Chester over the
weekend while
plans were made to move him into a permanent foster home.
Sallie tells the rest of the story:
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12/28/2001 --- Is he an Airedale or an Old English Sheepdog?
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I am in the process of reading your wonderful adoption/foster
guides. See attached example of anxious ADT.
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12/29/2001 -- The groomer was very taken w/ him and was brainstorming as she
worked on him on possible adoptive families. There were several aussies and
border collies wandering around loose in the shop. I asked how he got along
w/ the other dogs and they said "no problem!!"
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1/8/2002 -- I slipped on some black ice walking Chester early last Thursday
morning and
went to Saint's in an ambulance. Found out I had broken both tib and fib
very near my ankle.
Was scheduled to have surgery yesterday evening (no fud or water ALL day:-()
and it ended up being cancelled. Won't go into the whole reason. Anyway,
am back on the surgery schedule for Saturday morning and will stay
overnight.
I've had lots of help from wonderfully supportive friends but if you're
wondering why I may not have responded to earlier mail, that's why. I hobble
on crutches from bed to couch, mostly, letting wonderful, boisterous
cheerful Chester out and feeding him when he gets back in.
1/30/2002 -- Chester and I are doing great! Of course, he could run for hours on
end, I'm sure, but has been fairly content w/ occasional walks from dog
loving friends and my throwing toys all over the house for him to fetch
(in a fashion). He discovered that there was a new puppy in the yard
behind us and went to work on the fence--temporarily repaired. He seems
pretty happy about being IN the house--especially these days. This
morning when I left for work it was 7 (!!!) with a predicted high today
of 30!!!! Brrrrrr......
He is so good natured. He's still a little hesitant around men, it
seems, but probably believes now that no one bothers to ring the
doorbell at my house:-) since I generally unlock it in the a.m. and
lock in the p.m. to avoid repeated trips getting up and down w/ the
crutches. He has a very high pitched sort of hoarse bark that makes me
wonder if he had his "barker" removed. He certainly doesn't
"bark/croak" excessively.
Am making a copy of the adoption agreement for myself before returning
the original to Rusty in Vegas. It's GREAT to have an ADT in the house
again.
2/16/2002 -- We're in the 3-month stretch!
Chester was on the top of a list this morning --- but I won't share which
one it was!
Shortly after having been let out early this morning, I heard a large
"CRACKKK!" and determined that he was making headway on destroying the 4th
board of my back fence (the previous 3 had been replaced by the considerate
neighbor) in an effort to reach his new best friend (he thinks-- their
australian shepherd pup named Tahoe (don't know if it's a M or F).
After getting him back inside, I decided that I would take him w/ me to a
meeting since my house was being cleaned and let him stay in the car (which
he has dealt with just dandy in the past). I was inside about 70 minutes
and came out to his latest handiwork. (pic attached). On top of that, he
has started peeing repeeatedly INSIDE! I took your advice and got some
briefs but they're too small--an 8 yr. old's. Guess I have to ask his father
for a couple of pair!:-)
Give me strength!
4/6/2002 -- Well, as soon as I had sent the $46 for the 2 Mark Out "bandages"
along w/ the instruction and then another $7 for disposable nursing pads (I
wandered around the baby area for quite some time), Chester apparently decided
that living here was not so bad. He seemed to be acclimated to the pattern of
my leaving (AND RETURNING) every day and my attempt to let him out SEVERAL
times outside before I leave. Since my last complaint/remark to you, I can't
find any evidence of his marking inside! HOwever, I'm NOT going to return the
aforementioned items--they're insurance!!:-)
My next door neighbors have started thinking that their cocker's reputation is
rising after seeing the results of Chester's "assertiveness". I think I have a
"solution" to the torn up car door. I'm still working on the red pen stain in
the living room. I've replaced 6 boards in the back fence. In spite of all of
this, I still truly enjoy him. He has such a dear soul. Perhaps, in a year or
so, I'd like to start looking for a female rescue. Tomorrow, I'm going to turn
the irrigation system back on. There are numerous sprayers that are "in the
dust" from Chester's continual jumping over/around. It will be interesting to
see what has survived this winter!
BTW, we went to my college roommate's house in Sacramento two weeks ago to
celebrate her 50th birthday. Chester was VERY well mannered altho performed his
characteristic pacing which was accentuated by the click click click of his
nails on the hard wood flooring. He had a ball with their golden retriever (AKA
swamp collie). We visited their lot on the Sacramento River and let the dogs
run free and he came back, remarkably. (HOwever, I think that he might have
found some deer poop during his romping!) P-U on the return trip!
I still maintain that I can see him grinning. He's such a good natured guy.
Although he seems to get along with new dogs and new people very easily, he
just goes ballistic if he sees them walking outside. Spraying him once with a
water bottle has started to subdue that behavior and just placing the sprayer
bottle in the local vicinity has a very calming effect! We're working on the
observation process. Since I can't respond as quickly as I'd like to, I want to
enlist a friend in taking him to one of the local dog parks. It's fenced off
and I think he'd have a ball with all the dogs in the vicinity.
I'm up to using my "ski" boot sans crutches. The first thing in the morning is
hard. By the end of the day, I'm near walking normally all over the house.
4/30/2002 -- I think that Chester can be re-categorized as an Airedale Rescue
success story. He sleeps on either of 2 couches--usually the one in the
living room which allows a better view of the street happenings. I'll have
to send pics of his current home. I don't have a video camera but would
LOVE to rent one just to record his jack-in-the-box activity looking for
something on the top of the kitchen bar area. It's very amusing to see an
ADT head popping up repeatedly.
I am FINALLY without my best friend ski boot after nearly 3.5 mos! I am
getting acclimated to walking again but doing it on uneven terrain (like the
back yard) is difficult. I'm undergoing PT 2X week and have been tracing
the alphabet w/ my left foot this past weekend as part of my homework.
We're set to visit the vet for our "annual" visit this Saturday. I'll have
to ask his opinion about Chester's high pitched "bark" (vs. the laryngectomy
(SP?) Can't see any scars on his throat with his current close shave.
Chester goes ballistic when he sees people and/or dogs outside and gives the
impression that he's going to go thru the window. I have started squirting
him w/ a water bottle when he does this and have tried to calm and encourage
him to watch average activities of daily living without over-reacting by
standing by him behind the window and remarking on the activities. One
would think that he was ready to attack dogs strolling by when, I believe,
he would much rather PLAY with them! He's such a dichotomy!
Several trees in the backyard look as tho I have taken a flamethrower to
them! And, amazingly, the charring is all about Chester's penis level and
below! With Charity, I knew to expect spots in the yard. With Chester, I'm
considering "poodle cuts" for the evergreens:-).
Better close. Chester is both endearing and irritating. He LOVES toys
(unlike Charity) so I'm "treated" to squeaks/honks/meows/etc. with the toys
that I BUY for him! He is also very fond of tearing them apart ASAP and I
am picking up "fluff" frequently.
8/13/2002
The coach observed that Chester had wonderful conformation and today, when we
were talking, Chester rested comfortably and calmly at my feet. He is SO
anxious to please--the coach remarked on that. Whoever owned him before
"trained" him by beating him on the butt and de-barking him (-- NOT the
preferred approach). The coach brought along an article about how many dogs are
destroyed due to behavior problems. Both of us thought that Chester may have
fallen into that category because he is a characteristic ADT--i.e. an
independent thinker. I tried to tell Chester that I may have rescued him from
the "ultimate punishment" but he
wasn't listening!
