Maxi's Story
Maxi was born in the Calgary area on a farm, or at least that's where she was when a student doing a practicum found her. With a poorly healed broken leg at only 4 months old. Maxi had never been seen by a vet to address the broken leg. The kind and empathetic student took her home, even though she already had a puppy the same age and really didn't need another.
Maxi received vet care and lots of love. Still with the student, Maxi moved with them to a rural area near Nanaimo, where I live. Maxi was allowed to run wild with a pair of huskies and ended up chasing wildlife.
Animal Control (AC) eventually caught the dogs when they killed a couple of chickens and refused to allow the owner to have them back. Their plan was to euthanize the three dogs: Maxi, not quite 2, a husky the same age, and a 4 month old husky puppy.
This is where my friends and I entered the picture
The idea of euthanizing a puppy that young, for chasing wildlife and some chickens, really got under my skin.
You can't do that - just keep someone's dogs and kill them. You can fine the owner, designate the dogs as dangerous, all sorts of things, but you can't just keep someone's dogs and euthanize them the first time they end up at AC.
The owner could have just walked away. It would have been super easy to do so, and no one would have known the difference. But she didn't. She reached out to some friends of mine who contacted me.
I went to see the dogs. They looked so sad. I was hooked. We got husky and border collie rescues involved. The plan was to get them out and to place them all in appropriate rescues. We all agreed that the best plan was not to go back to the owner and she just wanted what was best for the dogs, so wholeheartedly agreed. She paid all of the impound fees and after some back and forth and tense moments, AC released the dogs to us.
The huskies went to my friends and eventually to Husky Rescue. Maxi came home with me to be transported to Border Collie Rescue. AC had designated both huskies as dangerous dogs and were working on designating Maxi as well.
Little caveat here - AC is a very tough job. I could never do what they do and we need them. Many AC staff are wonderful people and we count on them to keep us safe from irresponsible people with dangerous animals. Sometimes though, cases like this come up that are not being handled ok at all, and this is why all organizations with power need transparency and accountability.
Maxi was in bed with us when the email came in
Border collie rescue said that if Maxi did get designated as dangerous for chasing wildlife and possibly helping kill chickens, then they would euthanize her.
Maxi was literally in bed getting belly rubs from my husband and I when the email came in. At that moment, Maxi became our dog.
She wasn't even two, and she had already escaped death 3 times. Maxi wasn't going anywhere.
Because Maxi had spent much of her life running free, it turned out that she had pretty serious leash aggression. It was so intense that we weren't sure if it was anxiety, frustration or actual intent to do harm. She broke 3 leashes lunging at dogs... I since learned to buy better quality leashes ;)
My History
Maxi came at a time not long after I had euthanized my own dog for aggression. I adopted Buck at 6yrs old when the SPCA said he wasn't adoptable. They asked me to take him to see if he could be make it once out of the shelter environment. I tried hard. I tried all the things.
Back then, I wasn't a trainer, just a young person who loved dogs and who had a knack with the troubled ones. Buck killed deer, had a history of killing cats, and seriously bit several people and dogs while I learned about owning a truly dangerous dog. I had step kids. I lived in a cabin with old windows that he could push open. We chose to euthanize him and I was traumatized by not being able to help him.
Now Maxi was reactive too and I didn't know what to do. But I knew what I wasn't going to do. The aversive tools I used on Buck allowed me to manage him, but they didn't fix anything. I was going to help Maxi without using any aversive tools. I didn't know how yet, but I promised her that I would only use positive methods to help her. I would never do anything to intentionally hurt or scare her.
Maxi was the first dog I trained positively and I never looked back. My e-collars and prong collars stayed in a drawer for years before I eventually tossed them. I never again rolled or pinned a dog or even used leash corrections.
Maxi's Diagnosis
I took all of the classes, read all of the books. It was difficult to walk Maxi, so I taught her a million tricks! I made mistakes and learned from them. Eventually, she got better. Eventually, Maxi became a polite and social dog.
When Maxi was 3.5, I noticed she was bumping into things at night. She was diagnosed with PRA, a slowly progressing blindness. It didn't affect Maxi's reactivity much at first, but when she was around 5 and could see just a little, Maxi became very anxious again.
Her reactivity came back.
This time, however, I knew what had worked and what didn't. Maxi was now sleeping through the night and had the strong foundation of trick training to help her. We worked through it again and she once again became a social, friendly dog. I knew what to watch for and if she was worried, I always stepped in to help. I picked her friends carefully so she wasn't bullied or picked on.
The good years
We had a lot of great years with Maxi. She became a certified Therapy Dog and volunteered at seniors homes adn the hospital. She did shows at a day centre for adults with developmental disabilities and even performed at the SuperDogs one year! maxi was competing in disc and a highlight for many people to meet and to snuggle with. She helped me with more reactive and scared dogs than I can remember, and was my go to socializer for anxious puppies.
More importantly though, Maxi was my shadow. She was always with me, always in my lap or nearby. We did many hikes and adventures. She was always the first dog to lie down in a puddle or to be in a creek barking for someone to throw a stick. She was the easiest hotel dog I've ever had, the dog you could trust to be safe, happy, and pleasant no matter where I took her.
At 13.5 years old, it was time for her to go. Her body was failing her in multiple ways and she was sore and tired. There's a giant hole left in our home and hearts but we know we were very lucky to have had such a wonderful dog for 11.5 years.
