Paws for Thought: The Importance of Paying Attention to Your Dog
We are firm believers that there are no bad dogs.🐶 There are, however, dogs that have been placed in situations or homes that are not right for them which may make them act out or behave poorly. For example, today's transport adventure found us in the Lower East Side of NYC picking up Bo, a 6 year old American Staffordshire Terrier whose story is a bit sad, but full of hope.😌 You see, Bo found his forever home back in 2020, but as we all know, life happens and Bo's owner unexpectedly passed away, thus returning Bo back into the care of Second Chance Rescue. Bo found a foster home in the Lower East Side.🏢 Unfortunately, because of Bo's previous life, he has become very reactive to almost everything: other dogs🐕, people🕺, construction 🚧, loud noises🎤 etc... The Lower East Side is a bustling and busy part of the city so this was not the right situation for Bo. Mark and I picked him up to take him to the Rescue Center in Westchester County, NY.
After the first 10 minutes in the car, Bo was well behaved and bonded with Mark almost immediately. He was exhibiting all the tell tale signs of being in an anxious state of mind: yawning💤, whimpering, fidgeting, moving around while staring out the window, and perpetual licking of Mark's face👅 (his favorite part). Knowing that this sweet boy was just anxious, we did everything we could to make him more comfortable and more relaxed. Now, comes the tricky part. We were supposed to pick up a 2nd dog from the transport van to take Poughkeepsie, NY which is about an hour further north than the Rescue Center.
How do you get 2 dogs 🐶🐶 that have never met, one that is very reactive to other dogs, and one that we have no clue how she is going to react, and keep everyone safe and happy? You pay attention! One of the most important things we have learned time and time again during our time transporting is you must pay such close attention to the behaviors and reactions of the dogs. They will tell you everything you need to know, you just have to pay attention.👀
Upon arriving to our meetup location to pickup our 2nd puppy, nature called and I quickly realized, as Mark walked into the building, Bo was not happy he was no longer in the car with us. He tracked him the entire way👀 and then whimpered, barked, growled and stared in that direction until he saw Mark walking back. Then Bo started to happy whimper, wag his tail, and dance in his seat 🕺. Being aware of this, I mentioned this to Mark and we needed to come up with a plan to keep the dogs separated while in the car for everyone's safety. See, once Bo "claimed" Mark as his person for this trip, another dog infiltrating his space (the car) could lead him to react poorly. Remember what I said in the beginning, there are no bad dogs but there are dogs that are placed in situations that make them react or behave poorly.
After trying to stretch a seat cover across the gap in the seats, I remembered that Bo came with a 42" crate that was folded up in the trunk of the car. I did think about just putting the crate up across the foot well of the back seat to keep them separated but thought Mark would not be comfortable with that for the hour ride we had ahead of us. Well, luckily I had a stroke of genius! 💡 (It happens every so often) I remembered that the crate had a pan liner in the bottom that I was able to slide out and use as a barrier between the front and back seats. (Yes, I know you can get a mesh net that stretches across the gap and we had one but the clips on it broke and so a new one is on order).
Now that we are set, out comes our new passenger. An adorable 2 year old French Bulldog named Paprika. We get her in the car and get settled and let me tell you.... she is active! She is wriggling all over the place.... crocodile 🐊 rolling.... standing up.... laying down.... biting my hand 🦷🤚... trying to get in the back.... she was ACTIVE! They both did extremely well once we figured out what they both wanted.... in the beginning, we weren't listening to them as we should have, but once we did, Bo got a stuffed toy 🍕to try and chew the squeaker out of and Paprika got a hard toy to chew on 🥨. Peace falls over the car and we bask in its quiet glory. ☮️
Bo makes it to the Rescue Center and we set off to Poughkeepsie to deliver Paprika. She has moved now to the back seat with Mark and she starts her wriggling and crocodile rolling all over the place again. Mark is trying to keep her engaged and figure out why she is so squirmy and when he started giving her back scratches, she calms down. We then realize that she must have dry skin and is just really really itchy. She was telling us all along and we just weren't connecting the dots. We deliver Paprika to her foster home and we are told the great news that she has a ton of interest and some applications in, so it looks like a forever home is in her very near future. ❤️🐶❤️
What we want you to take from this post is this:
Dogs are inherently good. 🐶✅
People make/train them to be bad. 🕺👎
Listen to your dogs. 👂🏻🐶
Watch their behavior. 👀🐶
They are telling you everything you need to know. 🗣️
You just have to listen. 👂🏻
You need to be their advocate! ❤️
MEET BEBE
Bebe was found on the streets with hind-end paralysis from a suspected hit-and-run. He spent weeks recovering with our veterinary partners and regaining mobility in his hind legs. Now, aside from a little wobble here and there, Bebe happily struts down the streets of NYC, leaving his past far behind him. Bebe is 6 years old and 75 pounds of "pure love and affection," according to his foster family. While he seems excited to meet fellow doggos on the street, we have not seen Bebe around cats. He is housetrained, does well in his crate for the few hours he's been left, and knows all of his basic commands. When asked their favorite quality about Bebe, his foster's replied, "How loving he is. He loves to cuddle, is always excited to see me, wags a lot, and has a cute, dopey smile in the mornings. He is very loyal and just wants to be by my side." Apply today to adopt Bebe!
All dogs will be altered, microchipped, and receive age-appropriate vaccines prior to adoption. Please note that the listed location for this dog may not be accurate due to technical limitations of this database and we have transportation options available within 6 hours of NYC (so don't let location hold you back)!
Interested in fostering or adopting? Need more info on this dog? The first step in the process is filling out an application on our website.
Adoption application: www.nycsecondchancerescue.org/general-application/
Foster application: https://www.nycsecondchancerescue.org/dog-foster-application/
Adoption process & fees: www.nycsecondchancerescue.org/process/
You must be 21 years or older to adopt. States we adopt to: NY, NJ, CT, DE, PA, MD, MA, NH, ME, VT, RI, Northern VA, DC, GA
| Name | Bebe |
|---|---|
| Adoption Fee | $350.00- Dog Adult |
| Age | 6 years, 9 months |
| Gender | Male |
| Size | Large |
| Shots up to date | Yes |
| Hypoallergenic | No |
| Spayed / Neutered | Yes |
If you have questions about Bebe please contact
NYC Second Chance Rescue
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