Rescue Tails / The Inspiration Behind the Words

Our inspiration for Rescue Tails comes from the animals in need who come in and out of our shelter and the special people who come to their aid. It also comes from the animals we get to know intimately, sometimes the ones we have the good fortune to live with. My dog Jiffy inspires me! Every day this little five pound shelter dog reminds me how lucky I am to have met him all those years ago. He inspires me not only to write, but also to learn, grow, and most of all, respect and appreciate what animals have to teach me.

When Jiffy came to the shelter, he was a scared defensive biter who was off-limits to anyone who approached him. Any hand that reached out to “make friends” was met with a set of tiny but very sharp and committed canine teeth, making him unpopular among shelter staff. For some reason though, I fell for him. His fear broke my heart. I could see how hard he was trying to keep himself feeling safe from all the things that scared him. When confronted with a perceived threat, he would communicate his anxiety in so many ways and probably had been doing it his whole life. Apparently no one knew how to listen to him, even though his signals were clear and direct. He would back away, look away, turn his head to the side, lick his lips, yawn, even growl in an effort to be granted space and relief from social pressure. All these signals are appropriate ways for a dog to communicate “No harm intended”/ I’m no threat to you”, “I need some space; I am not feeling comfortable right now”, “Please don’t hurt me!”. These are signals other dogs understand and respond to in an effort to avoid escalating situations. But these signals often go unnoticed or unheeded in the human world, and dogs are left with no option but to bring out the canine “big guns”, their teeth . This was where Jiffy was when I first met him. Experience had taught him that they only way he could stay safe was to bite.

It’s easy to imagine how Jiffy began his biting career. Small dogs have it especially tough in our world. The Rodney Dangerfield quote “I can’t get no respect” applies to most little dogs. Too often, humans don’t consider what it must be like to live in a world of giants. The other day I observed a small dog walking with her person through the grocery store. She was anxiously looking over her shoulder, on constant alert for shopping carts and human feet moving quickly around her in the busy store. She didn’t look happy but no one was noticing. Often humans take liberties will small dogs they wouldn’t with bigger ones. We do things to them because we can. We swoop down on them from above, pluck them off the ground without warning, and hold them close without their consent, all in the name of love! Often the behavior and body language of  dogs on the receiving end of this intended expression of affection tells us they may not be experiencing it as such. Defensive biting is often the outgrowth of never having a voice in who gets to touch you or how you are handled.

In many ways, Jiffy was a mentor to me. His fear became my motivation to learn. Even though I lived with dogs all my life, he showed me I didn’t know as much as I thought I did about them. He opened my eyes to what he could teach me instead of what I wanted to teach him. While having boundaries was a part of his healing, the word “obedience” was never in our vocabulary.  The more I allowed him to have a voice in his own life, the safer he felt. As a result, the more he became willing to look to me for direction and guidance and the stronger our bond became. When I began to listen to what he needed by understanding his body language, his confidence grew and his personality blossomed. He became one of the most responsive,  communicative, and fun dogs I’ve ever had.

Jiffy and I are together 14 years and counting. As I write this, he’s sleeping on my lap. Later we’ll go for a walk, have dinner, and then he’ll bring me his squeaky hedgehog toy and stare at me until I pick it up to play. Yes, Jiffy inspires me to be a better human and I thank him for that every day!!

A great source of information on this topic is https://www.fearfreehappyhomes.com