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02/13/2020: I had a long conversation with Kelly Mizgorski about Zoey. She got Zoey as a pup from a breeder in PA from whom she had already purchased another female Aire-pup, Zena. They’re basically the same age, but different litters. They got along fine for the first year or so. Now Zena & Zoey must be separated when they are in the house. They’re fine outside and do not fight, nor do they bother the 9-lb chihuahua mix. The chi-mix knows her place. Zoey & Zena will fight over water. Kelly takes them outside then calls one in and it knows to go into its crate in the mud room. The other one comes in and has full reign of the house. Then she switches them up – typically every 3 hours or so. (Kelly works part time and is home a lot.) Once when they were fighting, Kelly tried to separate them and Zena bit her hand. They cannot be free in the house together or they will fight. Zena is typically the one who is hurt when they fight. They are the same size, both spayed.
I asked her to explain how her husband was bitten: they had both Zoey & Zena before he was deployed but Zoey became very close to Kelly while he was gone. After he got home, he came in to sit beside her on the couch and Zoey jumped up from her bed and bit him on the lip. Kelly said it was an open-mouth bite. She did not clamp down, and it was over as soon as it started. Husband didn’t have to have med attention. Kelly yelled and told her no and she retreated to her bed. The husband was ready to get rid of her right then, but Kelly insisted they work with her and he started walking Zoey and feeding her and now they are best buds.
Zoey has had training and knows “lots of tricks,” and will walk on leash and will respond to “side” to come back to you if she’s walking in front. Always on leash. Never off leash. But when she sees other dogs, she lunges and barks and scares the other people and dog. The trainer worked with Kelly to recognize the body language of Zoey and turn and go the other way when she saw another dog. Kelly will jerk her back if Zoey lunges. She recently purchased a prong collar (not at trainer’s recommendation), but it does keep her from pulling Kelly down the street. Zoey loves praise and treats. She really responds to that.
Zoey’s been on Prozac about 2 years at the same dosage, 20 mg per day. It does mellow her some, but she’s still not safe with Zena.
I asked about children and how she reacts to them. She says they make her nervous and you can see her demeanor change so Kelly just doesn’t let her be around children. I asked how she thought Zoey would do with an adolescent, say 10-12 years old. She thinks if the child was mature, it might be ok. But she still worries that a child would make Zoey nervous. She sees Zoey doing better with people who are older and know Airedales.
As for cats, they have a cat and sometimes Zoey is free in the house at the same time as the cat but with Kelly supervising. Kelly doesn’t trust her to be free with the cat if she’s not there. The cat will run and Both Zoey and Zena want to chase, but Kelly stops them. When Kelly and her husband both are gone, all the dogs are crated.
We talked about her medical condition – pannus – which causes the eye to cloud over, then turn red, then pink, and it obstructs her vision. They caught it early and she was seen by an ophthalmologist who started her on steroid eye drops. She’s been on them about 6 months and is “weaning her off” of the. She is going to have the ophthalmologist forward her records and her regular vet do the same.
I told Kelly it may be difficult to place Zoey because she has to be an only dog and because she has bitten (though it was provoked in my estimation). Also, her eye condition could be an issue with a new adopter. Kelly thinks that if she’s an only dog, she will not need the Prozac. We’ll have to see.
Zoey has Pannus:
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/pannus-in-dogs02/12/2020: I asked Cathy to describe what she means by Reagan’s unpredictability and aggression. She said it is hard to describe. She just kind of growls for everything. You get used to that after a while. They’re not afraid of her, but putting her in different situations would be worrisome. She would not expose her to children. Reagan loves their daughter Kate, a SR in HS. They love each other. Kate’s not afraid of her at all. Bur for instance, weekend before last, Cathy & Jim were sitting in the sun room with Reagan. That’s where her bowls and bed are. She had already eaten. Kate came downstairs and started to go toward the sunroom and Reagan just jumped up and was growling and snarling and going after Kate. Kate walked back and tried 2 more times to come toward the room, and each time Reagan would just go crazy. Jim hollered at her and got up and told her to go to her bed and she did. There was no cause for her to react that way. She went to her bed still growling, then after a little while, she came to them all (Kate was in the room at this point) and she was fine. She seems to ‘know’ that she needs to apologize so she’ll do a submissive flop, lay on her back and be submissive. Even then, she’s growling. She wants you to pet her, she’ll nudge you if you stop, but the whole time she’s growling. Sometimes she’ll show her teeth.
She will guard her tennis ball, the sofa she’s on, the room she’s in, or a toy. Sometimes for hours! She’ll play with the ball and bring it back to you, but then she’ll decide she doesn’t want you to touch it and she’ll guard it for a long time – literally 2 hours sometimes. They can go upstairs and she’s still downstairs guarding her toy/ball. If they walk out of the bedroom on the first floor, and she hasn’t even seen them, you can hear her growling. They do not approach her, but will call her, she’ll come to them. Her growling lessens and she goes outside.
They practiced resource guarding and sometimes she’s fine. Sometimes she doesn’t care if you take her toy or even her food. So unpredictable. She’s very moody. In a bad mood, leave her alone. When she does her submissive behavior, you can pet her Belly. When she’s compliant and wants to be your friend, you can touch her anywhere. Other times, she’s growling the entire time.
Most of the time she wants to be where you are. She wants to be loved and she’s lovable. Curious about everything. She’s fascinating. Loves being outside. Loves other people and loves Skye, Kate’s friend. Very vocal. May be worse at night. When walking and encounter other people, you have to be very assertive with her – she’s gotten crazy. She’s good with Jim. She tests Cathy and Cathy has to show her she must respect her. She got in a fight with another dog of a friend. Jim had an electronic collar on her they use in the backyard to keep her from going out of the yard. He did not have her on leash and she got in a fight – not bad. Both backed off. She understands command and will behave if you make her behave. You have to keep her attention. She bit their grown son but he put his hand in her mouth to try to get a toy she was chewing on. She has eaten several things — all fabric toys. If she has it and you walk toward her and she thinks you’re going to try to get it, she’ll just swallow it. She’s hypersensitive, almost like an autistic child.
But they love her and do not want to give up on her. She’s had too many changes in her life already. They are committed to her.
02/11/2020: Called Cathy Agee LVM. I want to know more about Reagan’s unpredictable behavior and her “very aggressive” behavior. May get Corinna Murray to consult. Did they talk to Tyson again?
02/10/2020: Hey Jackie, I so sorry I didn’t respond before. I was back in Georgia that week. My parents situation continues to to decline. It’s a mess.
Reagan is doing well. She is healthy and hasn’t had any allergy problems. She is an interesting personality. She is very unpredictable and can be very aggressive. She has settled in and I believe she loves us and we are attached to her. She is a very hard dog to describe. We are getting use to her strange ways, but we haven’t given her a lot of exposure to other people and situations. I’m not sure her issues are things training can change. At the same time she is great as far being house broken and doesn’t get into anything. She’s a good sleeper. When she is in a good mood she is fun, playful and curious about everything. We are committed to giving her a loving stable home though we see the challenges her previous owners faced. I will send you some pictures. She and Kate are big buddies.
Thank you for checking on us. Again I’m so sorry for not responding before.
Cathy Agee02/10/2020
Good morning, Cindy. Pat Hairston may have already informed you, but I just wanted to make it official that you are approved to adopt through Airedale Rescue Group. When your application came to us, Christina first remarked that you are a previous adopter and have helped ARG a lot over the years. Then Pat chimed in and said we should just consider you approved. So, you come to us with street cred!We don’t have any Airedales currently but we never know when that might change. We understand your desire for a youngster; as you said: ” I would prefer a dog that is not a puppy. 2-6 years old. I would prefer a healthy dog only because I spent the last year sleeping on the couch and caring for my dale that had some cognitive issues and I will do anything I can to help them in their senior years but I need some joy right now. I only slept an overage of 5 hours or less the last year of her life.”
That tells us a lot about your love for your Airedale.
You are in our “Approved/waiting” list and we’ll consider you for any Airedale that we get that would work with you and Greg.
Thank you for considering a rescued Airedale.
02/03/2020: On February 3, 2020 at 3:08 PM Pat Hairston < hairstonpat@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Jackie-
Cindy is good people and whatever Airedale becomes her family would be well cared for. I talked to her after she lost Sophie and knew she was not ready just then. I asked her to submit her application as soon as she thought she wanted to be considered. I would just put her in approved and consider her golden.
Do you know she offered Rick and me the rescue kitty when we lost our jobs. She wanted to make sure we have food. We graciously declined. Cindy is just a good person.
Thanks for asking.
PatOn Mon, Feb 3, 2020 at 3:48 PM Jackie Cash < airedalemail@comcast.net> wrote:
Hi, Pat.
Christina says she’s helped us a lot in Wilmington. What do you think? Plus she’s a previous adopter.. Do we need to interview/home visit or just put her in Approved?Jackie Cash | 901-438-5782
http://www.airedalerescuegroup.com
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/airedalerescuegroup/On February 2, 2020 at 7:56 AM Christina Prange < mcprange@aol.com> wrote:
Cindy has helped ARG in Wilmington area in the past. Extremely good person. pat knows her.
Christina Prange
919-605-4563
Sent from my iPad———- Original Message ———-
From: Morry Payne
To: Jackie Cash
Date: February 9, 2020 at 10:20 AM
Subject: Re: Airedale RescueJackie,
We had sort of paused things because we thought my Bella, having “owned” this space for a decade, might not be so willing to share. It breaks my heart that I had to say goodbye to her yesterday. The nerve issue in her right rear leg had gotten to the point that she couldn’t put any weight on it. We tried everything for over a month, but in the end, the Vet said that it was progressive and it might be time. I’ve had the worst 24 hours of my life, and I’m not ready for another yet, but I do want to get the process started so that I can be prepared, should a good fit come along.
Morry
On 3/10/2019 9:47 AM, Jackie Cash wrote:
Hi, Morry. I’m sorry to hear about your back problems, but glad that you have a good neighbor to help you out. I’ll give you a call later this week and we can continue our conversation.Hope you feel better.
Jackie Cash | 901-438-5782
http://www.airedalerescuegroup.com
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/airedalerescuegroupOn March 9, 2019 at 5:39 PM Morry Payne
Hey, Jackie, I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back with you but I’ve been mostly in bed with back issues for the last 10 days. Chief is a good looking guy, but I’m having to get my neighbor to come by and take Bella out for me until I can get in for an epidural this week.
Feel free to give me a call next week when I’m on my feet ( and not loopy from back meds) and we can continue our talk.
Robert (most folks call me Morry)
On Fri, Mar 1, 2019, 3:10 PM Jackie Cash < airedalemail@comcast.net> wrote:
Hi, Robert. I wanted to follow up on our conversation a couple of weeks ago. We were going to continue that conversation later. We do need to continue as there were more sections on the application we needed to talk about. We talked about your Bella, and how devoted she is to you, and you were going to see how she reacts when another dog comes to your house. Have you had an opportunity to do that – have a friend with a dog come over, or go to a friend’s home with Bella?We have a male Airedale, 3 years old, who is not great with other male dogs, but who might just be fine with a female. You may have seen him on our web site — Chief; if not, check out his post under “Spare Dales.” I think he would do well with a single owner and a female dog.
Let me know a good time for us to finish your interview and I’ll give you a call.
Thanks, Robert.Jackie Cash | 901-438-5782
http://www.airedalerescuegroup.com
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/airedalerescuegroup
