Holly's story: petition to make her leave.

I received a phone call and all I could hear on the other end of the line was a lady almost in tears she said to me "I need your help! They are petitioning for us to get rid of her." I spoke to the lady and was finally able to get her calmed down. I asked her to explain what she was talking about.

Holly, her Portuguese Water Dog, had become a terror to the neighborhood... and her home too. The neighbors finally drew the line and petitioned for Holly to be removed from the neighborhood.

With the urgency of the matter I went that evening to meet Holly. Upon arriving, Holly's owner slipped out of the door and warned me that Holly would probably try to bite me. We discussed the issues she and the neighborhood were having with Holly. She started by telling me that when she walks Holly, Holly will aggressively bite at people, strollers, kids on bikes, cars going by, or anything else then moved.

I then asked her about how Holly is at home, with me now asking questions. Is she allowed on the furniture and does she bite at anyone who tries to sit on it? Does she aggressively bark or growl at you when you pass her in the house? Is she protective of her toys and bed? Along with other questions. The answer to every question asked was yes.

Holly was the "child" in their home. No children, husband gone with work a lot, and just mom and Holly at home. She was "babied". Holly was never taught any obedience, was allowed on the furniture, and in bed with mom. Holly was simply a "spoiled child" and due to no structure of a pack leadership role, Holly stepped in. She was running the house and neighborhood at two years old with dominance aggression.

After speaking with "Mom", the owner, it was time to meet Holly. As I entered the home Mom was a nervous wreck. I explained to her that she needed to relax, "it's okay, Holly won't bite me". Mom chuckled stating, "don't say I didn't warn you". All Holly was doing was reacting from mom's body language. I walk through the home Holly following, sniffing at my pant legs. As I walked past the couch Holly immediately jumped up onto the couch and started barking at me. With proper "trainer" methods I removed her from the couch and sat down. This went on for several minutes before Holly finally gave up and went to her bed.

I tested Holly on different things throughout my visit. At the end of the visit, Mom asked the question that all dog owners dread... "do I need to have her put down?" My answer... "by no means". What came across as a vicious, horrible dog was actually just a dog confused about where her place was in the "pack".

The next day we started basic obedience training with Holly and her mom. Along with some new house rules regarding furniture, moms bed, and Holly's things, most of all, training Mom that it's okay for a dog to have rules and with that your dog will love you even more.

After the first week of training, Holly had greatly improved. We were able to get the neighborhood to extend her stay by one month to see if there would be a change. Holly continued to improve, with Mom learning to be consistent with her.

There was a setback during the month. Dad came home. I received a call that Holly would not let him enter the house. She had also made an honest effort to bite him. When I arrived I was amazed. Holly actually controlled Dad more than Mom. The entire family was being controlled by her. Our lessons then continued with both Mom and Dad at every one of them, as well as both had to "work" with her throughout the weeks ahead.

When the month came to an end, Holly had learned and responded to the basic training. Without me joining (since Holly from day one responded to me.) It was time for Mom and Dad to take Holly for a neighborhood walk. The neighbors were all out that evening, kids, bikes, strollers, elderly with walkers. All to see if Holly would fail.

Mom and Dad were nervous, but stood tall as they left the front yard. Holly had to be corrected one time on her walk. Never chased a child and never lunged at her stroller.

Holly passed the test. A week later I received a call telling me that the neighborhood committee had made the decision that Holly could stay!

Not all stories end up with happy endings...

But Holly's did!

From time to time I help some of the dog rescues by going to the shelters and temperament testing the dogs scheduled to be euthanized when they try to place the "good dogs" with foster families until we can find what we call their "forever home".

I went with a dear friend of mine one day that worked with one of the rescues. We were able to "pull" quite a few dogs from the list that day, but there was one dog that just stood out from the rest.

She was that scrawny little black and rust colored pup around 40 pounds guessing about six months old. She sat at the gate of her kennel, shared by two other more aggressive dogs, with that look of sadness on her face. All of the dogs in the shelter were barking, except her. She just sat there and stared. She was added to our list, even though we were not able to bring her out of the kennel. The only story we were given was that she had been tossed out of a car at about three months old, being a pup, she had chased one of the neighborhood kids, who's mom had decided she was "dangerous" and called Animal Control to pick her up. From what we were told, she was sweet but never put up for adoption. Black dogs are normally hard to find homes for, and I thought this little one may have slipped through the cracks.

There was a foster family willing to take the pup, but sad news came to me. The day before the pup was to be put down, the foster family took in another dog and could no longer take her.

To say the least, even with as much as I had seen through the years and knowing that you can't allow yourself to get attached to all of the dogs, this one pulled on my heart strings. Seeing how upset this one made me, my husband looked at my friend and me and said, "go get her". In shock, we already had taken in another pup at this time, five months old, I asked if he was serious. "Yes".

I agree I had to save the pup and foster her until we could find her a forever home. Finally, after almost pulling our hair out and many phone calls we were able to save her just before she was to be euthanized.

We went to her kennel. They opened the door and I squatted down to pick her up. No need, she had already climbed up my body and wrapped her head around the back of my neck hiding under my hair. At this point I looked at my friend, and told her to get the paperwork that I had to get this little one out of here. I can honestly say I have never, in my entire life being in the dog world, seen a dog as scared of everything as this one was.

I knew from the second she came from the kennel that she would need a special home that would understand her, along with months of necessary rehabilitation.

In order for me to be able to leave the shelter safely for both of us, she was not only buckled in my truck, but harnessed, collard, and leashed. Luckily home wasn't far away. Once home, I let her out to check out her new foster home. She loved having the property to run on. But again was scared of everything. We managed surviving a serious bath and introduction to the other dogs and family members, even the cat.

When it came time to eat, the beast came out! The cute little pup was food aggressive, toy aggressive, an aggressive about anything she felt should be hers. But these were things I had already expected and knew could be corrected. We knew she was also abused, to what extent? We will never know. This was the day for a name, and it wasn't difficult at all to come up with one, she was my "Dynamite Angel".

Dyna fit right in at our house. My husband also fell in love with her. It came time for her to be spayed. We took Dyna to the vet, while there we were asked if we would like to be her permanent home instead of just her fosters. We had already thought about this a lot. Dyna had become so comfortable here.

I adopted Dyna that day. After her spaying we were heading home and she got sick, normal after surgery. I pulled over to make sure she was okay. Growing up in an area with all sorts of people, and normally having my dogs with me, I didn't think. I had pulled off in the worst part of the city possible. Long story short, I was blocked in by two cars of not so nice people. I was outside my truck on the passenger back seat side, and was being approached in a not so good way.

The first thing that came to mind was my dog signs on my truck. I yelled "Can you read? You need to back off!" The main man kept coming while the other stopped. He called me a view choice names and asked me "What are you going to do about it?" At this point I was actually pulling the jack handle out from under the seat, but there was no need.

Dyna picked herself up off the back seat, leaned her head out the door with the back of her head against my shoulder, and showed every tooth in her mouth while making the most vicious sound I had ever heard. The guy put his hands up, said "It's cool" and they all went back to their cars and left.

To say the least, I quickly got back in my truck and started driving, tears now in my eyes. It hit me what had happened, traffic backed up and came to a stop, I looked back and all I could see were those puppy eyes that had stared at me the first day at the shelter. The bond was there, and still is today!

We later discovered that Dyna is a Hovawart. A German security breed which has the intelligence beyond imagination. I could never imagine life without Dyna, and she truly keeps me on my toes!

Since the recent passing of my lead dog Toby, Dyna is now beyond a lot oh her issues from her past and training to take the lead dog position.

What started out as an explosives stick of dynamite has truly become my angel.