Roxy’s Story
Roxy came to us in early August, 2019. She was just three at the time, had recently had puppies, and had been surrendered to the rescue group because of a divorce. Any sane person would have said we were crazy to get another dog at this time – we brought her home exactly one week after our 14 year old mixed breed dog (Murphy) had major surgery to remove an 8.5 pound tumor attached to his intestine. We did not expect him to live, and I was trying to cope with my grief by adding another dog to the mix. (As it turned out, Murphy came out of surgery with a decent prognosis and, as of December 2019, is doing great!!!!).
So we are now a three dog household, with Roxy joining Murphy and Porter (our 10 year old Chessie, who came from CBRR&R many years ago). We’ve had several rescue dogs in the past and most have quickly settled in to our household. Not Roxy. She was quite anxious when we first got her – she was desperate to please, had separation anxiety, had quite a few house training accidents, and was frightened by certain strangers. I know it must have been really hard for her to leave her old family and settle in to a new life with us. Early on, my husband and I made quite a few changes to our lives so as to accommodate her quirks. I mention this in order to make the point that not all rescue dogs are easy. Some are difficult, but one needs to remember that they may have been through a really rough time. If you stick with them and give them the support and coping tools (training) they need, their true, shining nature will eventually come through.
And that is what has happened with Roxy. She no longer has accidents in the house, she is much more comfortable with strangers, and no longer has problems being separated from us. She is a sweet, affectionate, charming, goofy, and beautiful dog. She still has lots of energy, but we are able to mostly put it to good use. She is extremely active inside the house and out, and is constantly “urging” the other dogs to play with her. She plays rough but Porter, but is surprisingly gentle with Murphy. It is so heartwarming watching the two of them together. I accuse her of being a Border Collie in Chessie clothing – she is a dog who definitely needs a job. Sadly she is not a great retriever (this is extremely unfortunate) BUT loves obedience and agility training. She is going to be a fabulous agility dog. And she’s learning some pretty darn cute tricks.
I love, love, love this little girl. She makes me smile, she makes me laugh, she brings me joy. She has been a great addition to our family. I am so grateful to all the wonderful volunteers at CBRR&R for making it possible for us to have her.
Thank you.
Jim & Lisa
