Jixer. When I met her in the shelter she was pressed against the cage door like some mushed pile of dough attempting to ooze through the bars. She was squealing in a tone that would make you want to stab yourself in the ears with a plastic spoon, and every millimeter quivered with excitement. Utterly ridiculous dog. Luckily for her she was the only dog in the weight range I was looking for in the entire shelter, and I am a big sucker…. and so, she got a golden ticket. She licked my face to the point of pain… Non stop, the whole way home. We walked in the door and she beelined to my dining room and lept like a wild reindeer into my table, looked up at me and preceded to take a pee. (Face into Palm).
Jixer had every bad habit you can think of. Counter surfing, jumping, barking incessantly… Sometimes she would do all these things at once. She was a comically naughty dog and did it all with a wag and a smile. But as I came to discover, she was also brilliantly smart and one of the most people pleasing pups I had ever met….And so the learning began. By the time she was adopted (by two marathon runners) she could have kicked the ass of any border collie in a basic obedience trial. Once a discarded teenaged dog on a one way tract to a very sad ending, she was adopted as an energetic, lovable, well behaved youngster who could excel at anything she put her mind to.
Rescue saves lives. Sure, not every dog is as remarkable of a Jeykell and Hyde transformation, but it’s about second chances. It’s about a little patience and understanding. It’s about setting boundaries and caring enough to take the time to teach.
–Laura
