BJ's Story
Click here
to read the background on the rescue of 19 Airedales from a puppymill.
BJ was one of five taken in by Jocelyn Slatin, a Wheaton Terrier
breeder in Prescott. Jocelyn was wonderful! She worked with each of
the dogs every day to socialize them, got them spayed or neutered,
microchipped and,
as they could stand it, groomed them with the help of friends.
Jocelyn's initial evaluation of BJ: Three years old, loves his
rawhide bones, clean habits, 70 lbs., good weight. He will do well in a household.
Goes in and out when told, sweet temperament, good eater, ready to be adopted
7/30/03
He walks well on a leash for me now and goes walkies twice a day here. Jocelyn
8/7/03
Jocelyn called last night and spoke at length with my husband Steve about BJ.
I think we are going to go to Prescott on Saturday to meet him. He sounds like
such a wonderful dog. We will keep you posted. Thank you again!
Amy
8/8/03
We are renting an SUV to drive up to Prescott and bringing our current dog Grace
with us as well as our human kid Sara to meet BJ. If all goes as I hope it will,
we'll be bringing him home! Thank you for all of your help!
Amy
8/10/03
I just wanted to thank you for the article you sent about bringing home a rescued dog,
and to let you know that we all made it home safely. It was quite an adventure arriving
back in Tucson from Prescott, but BJ was a pro. We just got in a couple hours ago and
are giving him some space, as he must be tired from the trip. (I know I am!) I will
touch base with you again and let you know how he is doing. He is such a sweet dog!
Amy
8/20/03
BJ is just too funny. (And, I mean funny!) We love him to pieces. During the nights of
BJ's first couple of days with us, he paced around the house, he didn't know where to sleep,
and I think he was just taking it all in. As the article suggested, we gave BJ his space,
and were pretty mellow around the house. As time has passed, I think he's adjusting very
well. In the beginning BJ didn't know what a door was, and he was very unsure of the whole
inside/outside going through a door thing. BJ did not know how to jump up on the bed and
he was afraid of walking on grass. But, BJ is a quick study! I am now happy to report
that BJ walks on the grass with ease, jumps up and down on the bed just to be funny, and
isn't afraid of going through a door anymore. He's a great dog and very sweet.
BJ loves to play and especially tease our 2 year old by taking her much loved stuffed
bunny rabbit. Sara is never happy when he takes her bunny, but I told BJ, "That's Sara's
bunny, you need to give that back to her!" Well, you know what, he walked over to our
daughter and her outstretched hands, and dropped her bunny right there! He is very smart.
My husband and I were just talking last night, and we think that BJ is reliving his
puppy-hood years, maybe perhaps he wasn't allowed to be a puppy when he actually was one.
Every night BJ and Grace tear around the back yard, having so much fun. Last weekend we
took both the dogs out to the park to let BJ run and people did think both dogs were
puppies because they were both just so happy.
BJ loves to eat, and eat he does! BJ is just so sweet. My mother who is not a dog person
AT ALL came by to visit and meet BJ and she is so taken with him. My mother who couldn't
of cared less about our other dogs, loves BJ! He has that effect on people.
All in all I think things are going very well. BJ is happy, Grace is happy, and we are happy.
We keep the dogs in the house in the day time, but I come home at lunch to let them out and
to play a bit before I go back to work in the afternoon. BJ hasn't had accidents in the house
during the day, though he had a few accidents at night last week. Our house has a lot of tile,
so his accidents weren't a big deal. Besides, I don't think he'd ever been in a house before,
and there was so much for him to get used to. Besides Sara's toys, BJ hasn't really gotten in
to very much in the house. We lost a leather couch to our previous dog, so we are prepared for
about anything! BJ is just a very good dog and we love him!
I'm really glad that we got BJ. He has added so much to our lives! I know I told you that we
had been a 1 dog family for a year, but my husband and I were laughing saying it's like BJ has
always been here! BJ reminds us a lot of our dog that passed away last year. We've even slipped
and called him Bud a couple of times! We're sticking with his name of BJ though. It works for
him! You just have to meet him! He just smiles all the time.
Amy
10/7/03
BJ is doing so well. We love him very much. He's been with us for about 2 months now if memory
serves, and he is settled in and I think very happy. We took him and got him groomed about a month
ago. After his day of beauty, he looked and acted like a totally different dog. You could tell
that he felt much better about himself. He pranced around and thought himself to be very cute.
BJ is now growing accustomed to living in the house; he sleeps on our bed every night. Not even
our poodle sleeps in the bed! BJ also just loves our daughter, and he doesn't like to be very
far away from her. Our daughter calls him "BJ Dog", and I've found myself calling him that on
more than a few occasions as well instead of just plain "BJ"
Amy
More about Southwest Airedale Terrier Rescue
