The first time I saw Tony, was that dreadful night all the huskies were brought in so battered and broken, and malnourished it broke all of our hearts. Tony was special from that day on�he never would look anyone in the eye, he only kept his head down, and when even close to another male dog, he would cower even more.
The evaluation days came and went and somehow Tony managed to survive the decision to be put down as too far gone to be salvageable. The next best thing for Tony, was to be sent out to Pt. Mac with the prisoners, that would have time to spend with them each day, and help socialize. So, he left the shelter.
On April 15, 2011, I went out to Pt Mac to see the dogs, and evaluate behaviors in that environment before bringing any of them back to the shelter, where they may regress a bit. As I walked the rows of dogs, many of them had become happy, and very vocal. I searched for Tony, I didn�t see him, so I started looking inside the dog houses, inside the kennels. There was Tony, still sitting up, but nose buried into the floor of his kennel. Had no one bothered to even try get him out?? I was furious, how could they so easily give up on this boy! I told my co-worker, immediately, we are taking Tony back with us today, and I will be responsible for him!
We brought him back, and I told all the volunteers to please help me in socializing Tony, he needs to
be-friended! We began doing �Husky Social Hours� ,and at first volunteers would just sit with Tony in his kennel and read to him. This week we got him out, and literally �dragged� him to the adoption room to sit so he could see people. This was the first time that Tony actually made more progress! He had been making eye contact with the volunteers in his kennel, but it wasn�t enough. Taking him out made a difference.
Tony, will never be like other dogs, and he really is shy of other dogs, especially males. ( I forgot to tell you that he came in very scarred and beat up on his face, his name was Scarface, but that was too harsh, so now his name is Tony) We believe he was the bottom of the pack when it came to males, and so he has only been put with females at the shelter. He even tries to hide behind them !
I hope you will take good care of Tony, and understand, again, he will not be your ordinary dog, I believe he can learn to cope with lots of patience, and he would love to have someone�s full love and attention�of this I am sure!
Please do all possible to keep him safe, never let him run, as he will go and never come back.
I would have loved to take him myself, but we have a dominant male dog in the house, and this would not be fair to Tony.
I would love to follow his progress, if your adopter would allow a visit. I would love to see the one day that Tony wags his tail�.I would give anything to see that!
