About TILLY-AS - $300

TILLY was saved from a high kill shelter in Texas in May 2018, where dogs generally have just 3 days to be saved before they are killed for space. TILLY is spayed, core vaccines, rabies, de-wormed, heartworm tested negative and micro-chipped. She has an estimated date of birth of 18 April 2010 and weighs around 14.20 pounds. She has been listed as a Cairn Terrier Fox Terrier Mix. We have no way of knowing the exact breed, so it is up to individuals to decide what breed they think is most likely. At the beginning of June 2018, Tilly was adopted and went to start her new life. Unfortunately in the middle of March 2019 I received an email from the family saying that she would need to be returned to the rescue. The problems the family had was that Tilly had started to get protective of her chair, and her home, she would bark and growl at people coming into the home. The family took her to the vet who recommended a training program and then anxiety medications. Tilly's negative behaviour continued and the family again reached out to the vet wanting her taken off the medication as there had been no significant improvement, the vet, even knowing that the rescue would take her back offered euthanasia as an option. Tilly had not bitten anyone and she had not a recent physical exam or blood panel done to rule out any medical issues for her personality change. Thankfully the family brought her back to the rescue. When TILLY first got back to the rescue I noticed how over-weight she was. I put her in the bedroom which is off the main living area where there is a gate installed so she could come out of her crate and get to know the dogs and start to decompress slowly. She was at first growly with me which I tolerated for the first day back, on day two I shouted at her, pointing and telling her 'no, this behaviour was not acceptable'. I sat on the floor and within minutes she came belly-crawling over and turned over next to me to let me scratch her belly. That has been the extent of her aggression. After a few days I let her out into the main living area with the 20 other dogs of all ages and sizes and she was a little over-whelmed, she had places she could go to have her own space which she did do mostly for the first week. She was very needy in that she would want to jump up on my knee and followed me around, which was to be expected since that was what she was used to with her family and also I am sure she wanted to be near me for a bit of security. I didn't allow this as it is important to know that she is not going to dictate the rules, that she is a member of the family, but is not in charge. At the time of writing this Tilly has been back at the rescue for 2 weeks and she has been doing great, she has growled at the other dogs, but only for them to get out of her space, she instigated play with one of the smaller dogs and is definitely coming out of her shell and getting a lot more confidence in walking around. The rescue has had her to the vet to have blood drawn and a full CBC and 27 Chemistry panel including testing for thyroid issues so that we can rule out hypothyroidism, some symptoms are weight gain and sudden aggression. Her extensive blood and chemistry panel came back good with nothing of any concern. She had a vets appointment on 9th April and had an examination that went well and it was agreed from the information and medical assessment that this is more of a behaviour issue and she just needs a family that will not let her get away with things, which will encourage negative behaviour. We think it was more that she was allowed to become 'alpha' of the home and family, which led to her being territorial and consequently aggressive. The good thing is that there are no medical issues that we need to worry about. TILLY is going to need a family that understands that she has exhibited negative behaviour and is confident and comfortable in giving a negative consequence to a negative behaviour, like you would do with children or any human for that matter. Her family said she absolutely loved going for walks and car rides and was a really happy go lucky girl although a little timid at times and they truly was heartbroken how things developed but did the right thing in bringing her back since they was not able to deal with her behaviour.

Piscataquis County
Sebec, Maine 04481