What rescue dogs can teach us about vulnerability

December 28, 2019 9:20 PM

Since I got Daisy in May, she’s given me all the things I hoped to find in a dog: love, companionship, a friend to go on long walks with during the day and snuggle with on the couch at night. […] At the same time, as a rescue dog who needs a fair bit of emotional support herself, she’s made me more cognizant of the everyday presence of fear, trauma, and stress—and the importance of accepting the dark and needy parts of ourselves rather than trying to deny them. Which is to say that she’s given me a lesson in how to be vulnerable, and how to see vulnerability in others in a new way.
posted by Johnny Wallflower (8 comments total)

This is a touching story. I'd like to add that a high-strung or fearful pup might not have had a background of abuse. We got one of our dogs from a rescue that had gotten a pregnant dog, and took good care of my dog and her brother from birth until we got her at around 10-ish weeks of age.

Our pupper named Pepper looks a lot like Daisy from the article and I've never met a sweeter dog (to us, her family). And she's afraid... of... everything. She barks madly (and almost unstoppably even after training) when she hears anyone come near the house, has a minor freak out if any of us come out of our bedrooms in the morning at an abnormal time, and on a breezy day when out on a walk, she heard a tree rustle in the wind down the street and dropped spread-eagled onto the ground, and refused to budge. We've learned a lot about being understanding with her fears, but also know that never had any maltreatment, abuse or even just bad experiences in her life. She's just kind of naturally high strung and a huge Scaredy Dog.

She's a bit of a challenge but she's also completely delightful. She's also a musical prodigy, but that bit is probably a story for another thread.
posted by tclark at 10:18 PM on December 28, 2019 [15 favorites]

No it is the story for this thread.
posted by Grandysaur at 11:27 PM on December 28, 2019 [15 favorites]

Musical prodigy story, pretty please!
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:18 AM on December 29, 2019

And photos of the musical prodigy, obviously.
posted by Glinn at 7:09 AM on December 29, 2019

That is a touching story; I am glad they found each other.

I'd like to add that a high-strung or fearful pup might not have had a background of abuse.

Definitely. Friends of ours paid thousands of dollars for a purebred dog from a reputable breeder with good conditions and still ended up with a dog that is quirkier than a bag of string. Some dogs seem to be wired that way regardless of how much love they get or the breed it is.

We have only had rescue dogs, and while you can spot issues from their past occasionally, they have universally been sweet, wonderful dogs; I wouldn't do it any other way.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:14 AM on December 29, 2019

To tell you a bit more about Pepper, and her musical talent: Pepper is what people call a "mouthy" dog. She wants to lick everyone and chew on everything. When she was very little, she went through squeaky toys, chair legs, nylabones, whatever. Usually within minutes. At some point she realized that she wanted to keep those squeaky toys around and then her musical genius took front seat.

She has incredible bite strength and speed control. There was a particular toy that even us humans in the house could not get to reliably squeak. You had to finesse the squeaking so precisely that at best, even with our homo-sapiens hand dexterity, we could only get a couple tiny noises out of it, and the rest just the little sigh of air. Too fast or too slow, you got nothing but a small wheeze.

Pepper taught herself how to "play" that toy, moderating her intensity such that it had a staccato or vibrato sound during the squeeze-phase of the toy, and then able to moderate the speed of the release-phase of the toy to get it to squeak even then. She played that toy and made it sound like caged finches "deet-dee-dee-deet-deet-deet." She has since expanded her repertoire to just about any noise-making toy, playing complex little rhythmic patterns and finessing just the right pressure on even the most finicky squeakers to play little pocket symphonies.

I swear I've never seen a dog do this sort of thing before.
posted by tclark at 7:53 AM on December 29, 2019 [24 favorites]

The world needs to see and hear video of Pepper playing her squeak toys!
posted by twentyfeetof tacos at 8:31 AM on December 29, 2019 [4 favorites]

Hmm. Making your work colleagues deal with a badly socialized dog in the office doesn't entirely seem like the act of someone "raised not to impose on other people." Some things feel awkward for a reason.

I'm glad the dog found a loving home.
posted by eotvos at 1:09 PM on December 30, 2019 [1 favorite]