Military Move

by Ellen Nutter
(Great Falls, MT)

Can I have that treat?

My storys are about a toy and mini poodle, not standards, but they are about poodles being rescued.
About 5 years ago, a 4-H family in our club gave us a 7 - 10 year old male miniature poodle, simply because he didn't fit into their home. They had been given him, but he was to small to fit into their lifestyle. The cats and toddlers beat him up, so when my mom said my dad was raised with poodles, the next thing we know is we're out the door with a dog and dog supplies. that is rescue story #1. 10 months later, I see an ad in the classifieds stating that there is a 1 year old apricot toy poodle that needs a home. The people were PCSing out of town with the military, and couldn't take him with them. The sad thing is that they treated him like a military dog, locking him in his crate for most of the day, and treating him very harshly. We decided to give them the $250 that they were asking for, and knew we were in for a lot of work. It took a year of just loving him, and treating him kindly for him to start settling down and becoming less nerotic. At that point I could finally start a formal obedience course with him, but I had to change the language I used with him, just to keep him from rolling over and peeing on himself out of fear. Even though it was a lot of work rehabing him, it has been worth every second I invested in him. He has become my medical alert dog, picking up that I am having an asthma attack before I even realize it.