Thank you so much for everything you have done for our family. We cannot begin to thank you enough for the help you have given our family. Betty and Elkie are such obedient loving members of the family. We are constantly hearing from different people how well behaved our dogs are. It is a joy to include them in everything our family does. I hope our story is helpful .
September 2008 we lost our beloved pet Cassie. Cassie was a 12 year old husky Doberman mix. Her death was caused by complications from a 5 year battle with diabetes. Several months later the family decided the best way to honor our lost friend’s memory was to rescue another dog. As a result, we began surfing petfinder.com. Several days later, we found an ad for a 2 year old yellow lab named Elkie that was extremely shy and in need of a good home. We were very excited about meeting her.
Upon meeting Elkie, we discovered that she was 4 ½ years old and spent her entire life in a puppy mill as a breeder dog. She had no voice because the mill owner brutally scarred her throat with a hot pipe never allowing her to bark again. She was extremely shy because all of her experience with humans had been abusive. Elkie shook uncontrollably when she saw us. When approached, Elkie would freeze, her pupils would dilate, and her expression became blank. It was as if she were leaving her body preparing herself to endure abuse. We immediately fell in love with Elkie. We were determined to give Elkie the love she needed to have the happy life she deserved.
Two days after bringing Elkie home she slipped out of her collar and took off for a run. She was so afraid of all human contact it took my husband and I 2 hours to catch her. The only reason I was finally able to catch her is that she was exhausted after 2 hours of all out running (luckily I was in training for a marathon). Once caught I carried Elkie a ½ mile home because she was frozen with fear at my touch.
Three weeks after bringing Elkie home she was still using the house as a toilet, and avoiding human contact whenever possible. My husband saw an ad in the community courier for Jerry Mace. We gave him a call because we just did not know what else to try. Jerry visited our home every week for about 3 months. Jerry taught us about dog and pack behavior. We learned how to interact with Elkie in a nonthreatening manner which helped us gain her trust. Obedience training gave Elkie much needed self confidence.
After consulting with Jerry, we adopted a 3 year old black lab named Betty whose owner had passed away. Jerry helped us train Betty and Elkie together. It is now 8 months after adopting Elkie. Both Elkie and Betty are happy well adjusted dogs. Betty is skilled at obeying the following commands: sit, stay, heel, and come. She will obey both verbal commands as well as hand signals. Elkie obeys the following commands: sit, stay, and come. Elkie no longer uses the house as her toilet. Both dogs stay in the yard with us without a leash.
Without the help of Jerry Mace we would still be struggling with toilet training and behavior problems. Elkie is now a rehabilitated, confident dog enjoying her life. She smiles all the time and now craves the love and attention that was so scary just months ago. Because of the confidence and knowledge Jerry has shared we are now fostering another puppy mill survivor.
Sincerely,
Elkie, Betty, Candi, Sunflower, and Mr. Crabs Runkle
