DRIVING MISS MAXIE

Some of our volunteers, including me, have built relationships with pounds and animal control facilities in our respective areas. We are always so thrilled when a shelter is welcoming of rescues and who have coordinators to work with us when a boston is brought in. This is particularly true when that shelter has no choice but to euthanize due to space and the sheer numbers of dogs.

Such is the case with the animal control facility closest to me. I got back to my desk from a meeting and had an e-mail from their wonderful coordinator with the reference: Boston in Need. The text read that a man had brought Maxie in that day saying that he had moved and that the landlord did not allow dogs. She is spayed, healthy and deaf. Also attached was a picture of this beautiful girl staring out from the cinder block walls.

In this case, since she was surrendered by the owner, there was no hold period which is good for the dog if there is rescue waiting but not good at all if there is not. No hold means no time, and a deaf dog is considered special needs by the pound so without rescue, her future looked bleak.

BTRNC once again came together, coordinated a foster home and transport and I pulled her from the pound 3 days later. Let me say again, foster homes are the life line of any rescue. Without them, we could not save these precious babies.

The pound let me in during off hours on Sunday morning. They couldn't open the gate because others would then think they were open and sad as it is, the dogs and cats would start coming in to be dumped. I parked my car on the outside of the gate and walked up to door to find the coordinator and Miss Maxie standing at the door. She is even more beautiful than the picture I saw. A perfect boston who , although irrelevant and unknown to her, was born with ears that chose not to operate. Her world has always been silent so she knows no sound and has no clue that she is any different that any other dog in the world. She is between 3 and 4, well adjusted, loves other dogs, house broken and sweet.

She does NOT however care for a crate in most instances! She was so ready to be sprung from the pound, she pulled me down the hill to my car, waited for me to open the door and jumped right in. My idea had been to pick her up and put her in the crate I had in the back seat. Her idea was to jump in the back seat and avoid the crate door at all costs. Down she sent on the floor board, Head tucked and making herself a dead weight and staying just out of my reach in the small space between the front and back seat of my SUV, it was clear that short of me crawling in the car, kneeling on the seat, bending over and hauling her up on the seat and through the crate door, (mind you I had just met this dog), she was NOT going in the crate.

What did she do? She rode sitting on the back seat of my car looking out the window, like she had ridden there all her life. She never jumped in the front, never jumped in the hatch, never barked, just watched her old world go by on her way to her new one. Here she is, when we arrived at my hand off point. You will notice that she is NOT in the crate, regarding it as a foreign object to be avoided at all cost.

She jumped out of the car on leash, did her business and happily greeted her next driver and their pint size boston for the next leg of her journey. What did she do this time? Jumped in the back of their SUV and happily entered the wire crate set up in the back. Apparently mine was not too her liking.


She is now settled in with her foster Mom who reports that the one ride in the crate must have been a fluke but she still does NOT like the crate.


Here is Miss Maxie in photos:



May I come up for lap time please?




Catching up on the television she missed while in the pound (closed caption of course)






Snuggle Time with Foster Siblings




Don't be put off because she is deaf. It just means you can stomp, play music, yell, listen to fire works, drop things, survive thunder storms, all without scaring this girl. If you have ever had a dog with thunder storm phobia, you may be thankful for deafness! Check this girl out - we thank you!

UPDATE FROM HER FOSTER MOM: Good news is that she is starting to come around with the crate. Apparently the size that you had is not sufficient for her. She prefers my big crate (made for a 50-75 lb. dog). She used to bark like crazy when I put her in it before work, but she is starting to learn that I WILL come back. I didn't hear her bark once before I went to work today! She will stay in it all day (with a very comfy bed and Nylabone, of course) with no accidents. We are working on hand signals for commands now. She almost has "sit" and "come" down. We are still working on "no" and "yes!". She is NOT a fan of being physically moved if she didn't invite it but we are working with her. Overall she is SUPER sweet and everyone that comes to the house wants to take her home. She seems to take a lot of cues from my dogs and is always trying to play with them...it would be great to see her go to a home with at least one other dog to pal around with.