Rescued: 2/22/07
Adopted: 9/24/07

Juliet was brought to a shelter with a male bullmastiff that was so sick that in his shelter photo, he had to be supported on both sides by Animal Control officers.  When I called to check on the pair the next day, I was told that the male had been euthanized, and that a shelter worker would be adopting Juliet.

A few days later the shelter worker surrendered Juliet back to the shelter.  The shelter released her to ABA Rescue.

Debbie Abel fostered Juliet for a while, and then when dogs in need started pouring into Rescue, she asked if I would like to foster her.  I readily agreed, and Debbie brought her to me the next day.  Talk about an easy foster!  She was a mild, incredibly sweet girl.  She was especially affectionate and disarming with my husband, who had grave misgivings about this whole fostering business.  After a relatively brief introduction to our two neutered dogs, Juliet was crated only at mealtimes, when there was nobody home, and at night.  She was a model guest.

After we had fostered Juliet for a couple of weeks, Debbie called me.  She had found a home for her.  I handed her over (somewhat reluctantly,) and Juliet went to her third "home" since being in the shelter.

A few months later, Debbie got a call.  Juliet was chewing up expensive shoes and stealing items from her owner's handbag.  She had broken out of her crate, injuring herself in the process.  She had hidden in a closet for two days after being frightened by a loud noise.  They couldn’t get her to go outside.  She was pooping and/or vomiting on the floor, and could we please come and get her because she was clearly unstable and possibly dangerous.

Debbie and I were shocked.  This didn’t sound like the dog we had fostered.  From what the adopters told us, we gathered that they had bee spoiling Juliet rotten.  Could this be the problem?

I picked her up on the final leg of her journey back to ABA Rescue, and brought her (and her cushy bed, comprehensive collection of toys and big honking tub of treats) home.

She was a different dog.  She was withdrawn, fat and frightened.  She scuttled into her crate in the den and curled up at the back.  Our old Great Dane mix, Cassius, whom I sometimes refer to as our "Rescue Therapy Dog," got off his bed and lay down in front of Juliet’s crate with his back to her.  Juliet immediately, visibly relaxed.  That reinforced my suspicion that Juliet needed to feel like someone else was in charge, and that she could trust that "someone" to protect her.

I gave all of Juliet’s "stuff" to Debbie for other rescue dogs.  I did not baby her or spoil her.  I put her through a couple of weeks of "boot camp."  She was not permitted to eat until she had sat and waited.  She was not allowed to go through doorways ahead of anyone.  When a neighbor’s car backfired and she panicked and hid trembling beside my bed, I lay down on the bed and read, studiously ignoring her.  Within days, she had come out of her shell and was back to her old self.

When Debbie called and told me that several potential adopters had expressed interest in Juliet, my husband, two sons and I sat down for a family meeting.  We unanimously agreed that we could not let Juliet be uprooted again.  We knew that she felt comfortable and secure with us.  We understood her.  She was already in her "forever home."

Foster Family: Debbie Abel & Heather McGowan-Mayrand
Forever Family: Heather McGowan-Mayrand