Permit
me to introduce you to my girl Wiggles. Actually, her name is not really Wiggles and she is not really my girl. Wiggles does not have a real name...YET! You see, she lives at the
Gwinnett County Animal Shelter until she finds her forever home. Wiggles is just the nickname I have given her while I work with her at the shelter. After all, I can't keep calling her Miss Pen #168 or Little Black dog. So I call her Wiggles, because of course, she wiggles in excitement when I come to take her out of her pen.
Wiggles is what is known as a 'neglect case'. She and 12 other dogs were removed from a home where they were living in deplorable conditions. You can imagine what that means; but if you're unsure, let me just say that criminal charges are
pending. When Wiggles first arrived at the shelter, she was
literally skin and bone. She has put on at least 6 pounds and is looking pretty good now. Especially since I gave her a bath this morning. (She didn't like it very much.) In addition to being very skinny she has other issues. She has a grade 5 heart murmur (that's pretty bad), an enlarged heart and does not put weight on one of her front legs. The vets think that she has some sort of a shoulder problem but are unable to see anything on the x-rays. At first we were not sure if she had been spayed or not,but further examination shows that she was indeed spayed. This is very happy news for Wiggles. You see, before an animal can be adopted out from the shelter it must be spayed/neutered. Due to the severity of her heart murmur it was determined that Wiggles would probably not survive the surgery, nor would she survive giving birth to puppies. This would mean that Wiggles would have been declared un-adoptable. But happily, that is no longer the concern. However, she needs a very special home as she will probably have medical issues the rest of her life.
You might wonder how Wiggles and I met. I am part of a group of volunteer trainers who are working to give shelter dogs some C.L.A.S.S. (Canine Life And Social Skills) C.L.A.S.S. is an educational program developed by the
APDT (Association Of Pet Dog Trainers) to promote training focused on the use of positive reinforcement and to strengthen relationships between humans
and their canine companions. In short, CLASS is designed for real people and real dogs. It is not designed for basic obedience or show ring skills, but rather to teach skills for real life situations. For example, in C.L.A.S.S. the dog learns things like; wait politely when a bowl is put down as opposed to knocking the person over to get at the food; wait at the door until given permission to enter or exit a room as opposed to charging out and possibly getting into trouble; to come when called and quietly wait for a leash to be put on; to walk politely at your side as opposed to dragging you on a marathon run; to greet politely when someone enters a room as
opposed to knocking 98 year old Grandma flat on the floor; and more. (For more information on C.L.A.S.S. go to http://www.mydoghasclass.com/about/what-is-class/default.aspx )
We attend the official C.L.A.S.S. classes once a week at the shelter. Most of us also stop in on additional d
ays to work with our dogs individually. Wiggles is my 3rd dog since we started this program on August 15th. My first guy was a black lab mix who was highly excitable and barked at the other dogs pretty much through the entire first session. I spent the class circling around and into the kitchen, calming him down, bringing him back out, circling around and into the kitchen, calming him down, bringing him back out, circling... you get the picture. I went every day to work with him and I'd like to say I made a difference. He learned how good treats are (he wouldn't take them when first we met) and he stopped trying to drag me everywhere. He learned loose leash walking and we were working on "wait at the door". However, my big guy never made it to another class. No, it's not what you think. We started working on a Monday and on Saturday my boy was adopted by a nice family. I happened to stop by while they were doing the paper work and so I was able to meet and talk to them about our boy. I believe they are a good match and will all live happily ever after. I love happy endings.
My second girl was a beautiful little husky. She was quite the puller, as in you coul
d loose your shoulder with this little girl. I mean, she is a husky and pulling is in the genes. Anyway, I had to take a couple of days off and so was only able to work with her a couple of times outside of class. And then, lo and behold she was reclaimed by her owners. I love happy endings.
And now I have little Wiggles. She is sweet and smart, lovable and just a great little dog. And I am sure that we will soon find the very special people who are just the right match. I Love happy endings.
My current name is Lucksey-Wiggles and I'm looking for someone to love me and let me love them. I used to live in a place with a lot of other dogs. The people didn't take very good care of us. (I overheard they went to jail.) It was dirty and there were lots of flies that would bite us all the time. We ate off the ground and had to fight for whatever we could get. I was one of the little guys, so I didn't get very much food and was real skinny. Then the nice people from animal control came and took us away. They found homes for all the other dogs except me. I guess nobody wanted me because I walk funny and have something wrong with my heart. But I can be a very good dog. I can sit and lay down and touch my nose to your hand. I am little and would not take up much space. Finally, a very nice lady from Gwinnett Animal Hospital took me away and I stayed at the clinic for a little while. They took real good care of me. They looked me all over, inside and out and gave me a nice bed and a bubble bath. There was lots of good stuff to eat. But THAT can't be my forever home. So now I am staying at another lady's house. She takes good care of me too, but says that she is NOT my forever home either. It is nice here and there are other dogs to play with. But I need a REAL home with people who are ALL MINE. If you take me home I will love you SOOO MUCH!
