found some very old pictures of my very first reactive, dog-aggressive, hw+, completely-hairless-from-mange, proper-through-a-rescue-and-not-just-on-my-own foster. when i contacted the rescue after seeing her, i suggested to them that i had experience, and that i knew what i was doing. i was so incredibly wrong
her intake name was candy, but to me, she is forever The Awful Swan, for no other name will convey her entire being to you as well as that one. i learned many things from The Awful Swan. i learned the difference between a dog fight and a Dog Fight. i learned that with a dog who has never been in a home before, there is not a single thing you can take for granted. (The Awful Swan remains my second most expensive dog, costing a mirror, a dishwasher, and a vacuum cleaner, among other lesser things). i learned to be far, far more vigilant and thorough in my introductions to other dogs, other people, and inanimate objects
it took an entire year to grow her into an adoptable dog -- one that will be “unpredictably” dog aggressive forever, but one that was functional, with a basic understanding of life with people, and cars, and leashes, and dishwashers, and reflections, and not going to the bathroom on own your bed and then lying down in it. if you are wondering how i accomplished this, the answer is “wrong.” think of a thing that you can do wrong and that is the thing that i did. i owe so much of her successful socialization to my own dogs, who unfairly endured this thing they did not ask for. and most of all i owe to gentle, unflappable, but fearless-in-correcting-bullshit-70-pound-Cade. from The Awful Swan i also learned that it was not only important that i was prepared for the commitment of a difficult foster, it was important that my own dogs were, too
every single day with her was emotionally exhausting, even when it was rewarding and successful, and while in all ways it was a terrible decision that i was not ready for, months and months of weekly (!!) adoption events and advertising finally found her a home. the family who chose her received what i can only call a truly intimidating summary of her requirements and capabilities -- and, today, years and years later, she’s still with them. i will never forget that woman quietly saying, “she’s so pretty.”
that is the last thing i learned -- somewhere, eventually, if you can find them, there is the right person for every single awful swan
kaledo-art
romaincrisis
jacobvanloon
janainaart
tangentwithtanner
