Saving Misty
Adopting a dog can be one of the happiest times in your life, or it can be one of the most challenging. On a sunny afternoon, my family attended my son’s soccer game. I don’t remember the game as much as I remember this adorable tiny four-week old black puppy, who comfortably fit in the palm of my hands. A soccer parent brought her to the game in hopes of giving her a home because they couldn’t keep her. My daughter, Lauren was 10 at the time and always wanted a dog but my husband who was highly allergic to animals said no, at first. By the end of the game we were driving home with this little puppy excitedly jumping on Lauren’s lap.
At first my husband and I weren’t sure if we could keep her because of his allergies; however he did great and my son, Ryan named her Misty. The day we brought her home( we said, “Oh no, what are we supposed to do now?’’ )We had no food, no crate, no collar or tags, no leash, no toys, no nothing. She was a cutie though! She let us pick her up and cuddle her, pet her and play with her. I especially enjoyed moments when she fell asleep on my shoulder. She had an abundance of energy and would crawl under a piece of furniture, while we searched for her with flashlights. In our home there’s a long hallway leading to the garage where I threw a small tennis ball and taught her how to play fetch. We knew it would be a good idea to get a dog trainer to help us with this rambunctious furry black cuteness; however, our first trainer was an intimidating tall and stern man who always walked in our home wearing his beat-up cowboy boots. His philosophy was to keep Misty on a leash in the house and tightly tug on it when she misbehaved.
This way of training made Misty become insecure and overly aggressive, as she was now more fearful of that leash, and us. At four months old, the simple kind act of petting or putting a leash on Misty, caused her to growl and bite us. It was a devastating feeling and we were attacked multiple times. When Misty bit my hands, her strong sharp teeth drilled into my bones as if stabbing myself with a knife could have created the same sensation. I remember when she lunged at Lauren, biting her in the stomach, causing her to frantically scream as blood dripped down the puncture wounds Misty made with her sharp teeth.
Our family was tearing apart as we were yelling and arguing at each other everyday about what to do with Misty. We called in another dog trainer who didn’t last but an hour in our home because she was also terrified of Misty. Our next attempt was taking her to specialized dog training classes. During this time in her life, Misty was forced to wear a muzzle, which she hated because it made her more insecure of her world. The dog training classes worked well in some areas but we weren’t able to finish due to Misty’s continued aggressiveness and insecurities. We were all so miserable at this point and many of our friends told us we should put her down. “Put her down?” I thought. Never!
I was desperate to help our little Misty and my friend heard about a man named Cesar Millan. Cesar is a famous dog trainer from Los Angeles who was filming a new television show called Cesar 911, helping dogs and their owners with serious issues. My friend called in to try and get us help, and less than two days later we received a phone call from one of the producers who said Cesar was interested in helping us and Misty. I was in shock, I didn’t know whether to scream in excitement or cry because help was finally on the way.
When Cesar arrived, it never felt like we were filming a television show. My family was in a desperate situation and Misty was out of control. After she growled at Cesar when he tried to pet her, he knew this was going to be a difficult case. During our two weeks working with him at different locations, Misty started gaining some trust in humans and other dogs again but she was still battling her insecurities. Cesar told us the road to recovery was going to be long and we will need to continue working on helping her gain back her confidence. When our family wanted to take a vacation; however, every doggy hotel refused to take Misty when I had to disclose her biting history. It didn’t matter that we already worked extensively with Cesar Millan either. Nobody wanted to take care of a dog (with a history )like that, except one person. My dear friend Rich Mercer, a dog specialist who works for Millan. He said yes with no hesitation and took care of Misty at his home for a whole week while we flew back to East for a nice vacation with friends.
A year ago, Misty unfortunately underwent an intense knee surgery. She was playing ball in the house and popped out her kneecap. It was heartbreaking to see her in so much pain and thinking about the possibility of her never being able to run again. It was a long three month recovery and the vet needed to insert three screws in to hold her kneecap in place.
As we continue working with Misty’s insecurities of barking at strangers, growling when she feels scared, and running away from other dogs who want to play, we habitually try to maintain our calm and assertive skills Cesar has taught us. When I think back on all we’ve been through, I feel blessed she came into our lives because we not only saved a dog’s life, we learned life skills about the behavior of dogs and the behavior of humans when they are around dogs. Her favorite activity is still playing fetch with a tennis ball every morning at the park. Misty is now the perfect dog for our family and we are so grateful she came into our lives!
