July 21, 2008

To everyone at the SPCA,

We want to say thank you very much for helping us find the two most wonderful dogs on the planet.

Timber has been with us for ten months, and has grown into an incredible, mature dog with excellent manners. The days of chewing stuff and barking madly at everything that moved seem to be behind us. He is very gentle and loving and we have never seen him growl. He is finally comfortable driving in the car and now trusts us that we will not abandon him. He often travels with us on weekend get-a ways and camping, and befriends everyone he meets – human, canine, and even a llama.

Timber loves his crate (also his toy box) when we go out for a couple of hours and trusts that we will return. His back yard (this photo was taken in early spring) is full of toys and he especially loves going for walks along the lake behind our home.

What you may not know is that Timber has become a reliable service dog. John has occasional seizures and Timber has learned to predict their onset and provide about a two to three minute warning. He frantically whimpers and nudges John until he responds, and then guides him upstairs to where I am. Timber then lies beside him on the floor in front of the couch until he wakes up.

A week ago, we decided it was time to begin the process of adding another dog to our family. We chose one of the wonderful dogs that were available for adoption. Two days later, you phoned and told us we could come in and bring Timber to meet the dog.

Two wonderful gals arranged for Timber to meet his future sister in a large pen where the dogs could play together. Unfortunately, the older dog we had chosen was not too happy with our exuberant and playful Timber. The gals then brought out a second older dog, which also wasn’t keen on Timber. We were ready to give up and wait for another dog to become available when one of the girls said, "What about Katie?"

So, a few minutes later, out came Katie, also young and playful, and a perfect match for Timber!

A special big hug goes out to the two wonderful gals who took the time and had the patience to match us up with the perfect dog. I would like to advise anyone who is adopting a dog to allow the experts to help choose a dog that is right for their family.

Needless to say, they are amazing together. They run around the back yard chasing one another and playing with toys for an hour, then drink a gallon of ice water, go pee and then start all over again!

Inside they also play, but mostly wrestling and playing tug-of-war rather than running a lot. And, then there’s a down time when they are too tired to play, so they just lick one another’s ears and snuggle, usually lying on their backs with all eight legs stuck up in the air!

Katie is doing very well. She peed in the house five times on Thursday evening, so we decided to begin using the house training techniques we have successfully used on puppies. On Friday and Saturday, she peed inside only once. Today, she is doing great; the only thing we need to perfect now is teaching her how to let us know when she wants to go out.

The first two nights we dragged her crate up to our bedroom where Tim sleeps on a soft fluffy bed on the rug. She slept quietly and peacefully both nights. Last night we decided to try her sleeping on her soft fluffy bed (identical to Timber’s) beside him on the floor (No crate). Total Success! She slept all night and no accidents!

We still have two other issues to deal with. Firstly, she’s terrified of the dark. She won’t go down into the yard at night unless we walk down with her. Neither will she walk upstairs to the bedroom unless we turn on a light for her. We’ve put a nightlight in the bedroom and she seems to be comforted by the dim light.

The second issue is food. She is very possessive over her food. We now make her sit before she gets her dish, and we then take the dish away several times as she is eating, making her sit again each time before we return it. She gobbles her food and then intimidates Timber until he backs away from his food – then she gobbles it up also. We now stand guard between her and Timber as he eats, not letting her get by. We have seen a huge improvement in two days!

All in all, we are just thrilled with Katie. She is extremely lovable and gives us a thousand kisses a day. She walks up to me every hour or so when I’m at my computer to get a few pets and hugs. She shares herself with her two people and her brother and we already love her very much. And, I know she loves us too!

Timber also thanks you; not just for the wonderful kindness and love you gave him while he was in your care, but also for taking the time and patience to help Katie overcome her past and become the sweet and lovable girl she is today.

Hugs,
Brenda, John, Timber, and Katie