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Give to the Max Day is Thursday! Help dogs like puppy mill rescue, Maggie
This Thursday, November 12, is Give to the Max Day! Are you ready?
Never heard of it? The official description is below, but I can tell you that for Minnesota charities, this is the biggest day of the year. In this one event, charities can raise enough funds to keep them going for the next year. It means they can continue to help those in need, animals and humans alike, for a whole year.
| About Give to the Max Day
Give to the Max Day was created in 2009 to launch GiveMN, a collaborative venture led by Minnesota Community Foundation and many other organizations committed to helping make our state a better place. That initial spark touched off a blast of online giving — $14 million in 24 hours. Since then, Give to the Max Day has become an annual tradition. Every year thousands of organizations and individuals generate donations and excitement for Minnesota causes that are working to improve the quality of life for all Minnesotans. Give to the Max Day has become a national model for giving days. |
Give to the Max is a competitive day of massive giving and fundraising. What makes it special is that ON THIS DAY ONLY charities have the chance to earn extra $$’s just by you giving.
- Every hour a random drawing will give $1000 to a charity on each of the categories. This is called the Golden Ticket.
- Two SUPER SIZE GOLDEN TICKETS of $10,000 will also be awarded to two charities.
- In addition to that, top earning charities for each category will have the chance to win extra $$’s just by you keeping them in that top slot. Here is where Minnesota Sheltie Rescue hopes to be (small organization leader board):
Foster Maggie: Then and Now
I always find it funny how we humans can be so close to something (or someone) and not notice the subtle changes that occur.
We usually notice the big changes over time, but when we are too close to the person or animal or event, the subtle ones get missed.
If you have ever had a puppy you have probably experienced this very thing. Someone comes up and exclaims their disbelief at how much your puppy has grown since they last saw him/her and suddenly you see, as if for the first time, that your puppy has indeed grown several inches. How did you miss it? How did you miss seeing those subtle signs?
I would argue that we only notice the big changes because they are concrete packages of time that tell us time has passed The smaller changes are so subtle and so woven with the other moments of our days that they don’t stand out (i.e., we notice when the puppy can no longer crawl under the coffee table, but not when his back starts to touch the bottom of it).
The other night I was texting with a friend and was telling her about bringing Maggie to a friend’s house. I told her how shocked I was by how well she did.
The little dog who would run from my outstretched hand just a few months ago actually approached two people she had never met and touched them, several times. Even more shocking to me was that she chose to do so all on her own. She even stayed for quite some time so she could get some pets and butt scratches. I was seeing Maggie’s small steps of progress all in one moment and in my eyes, it was as if she took a giant leap!
My friend responded back that she had seen the subtle changes in Maggie too. I was so surprised. She told me that I should look at Maggie’s early pictures, from when she first came to stay with us, and compare them with the ones I have taken of her more recently. She said you can see the subtle differences.
And you know what? She was right! I pulled several photos of Maggie from the early days and compared them to ones I have taken in the past few months. She looks different now. Some of the changes are really subtle, but I see:
- A less worried look in her eyes
- She looks like she is less in a “high alert” state now.
- She often laid closer to Daisy than me in the early days. Now she actually chooses to be near me when she sleeps.
- Here eyes and body position seem indicating a curiosity that was not there in the early days.
What do you see?
Maggie then
Maggie now
Maggie then
Maggie now (just a few days ago)
Maggie then
Maggie now
Maggie then
Maggie now
Maggie then
Maggie now
Maggie getting some loving at my friend, Cindy’s, house.
A foster Maggie update
It’s been a while since I provided you with a Maggie update. So how is she doing? Take a look!
Maggie is starting to seek out my touch. She often will approach me in the morning so I can pet her (like the picture below). She also is starting to enjoy belly rubs.
Maggie stops beside me so she can get a pet or two.
She will do almost anything for cheese. Although we started working on hand targeting and “watch me” using cheese, she can now do them on cue (whether there is cheese available or not). She is also learning “sit” which is HUGE for her since she can shut down if she feels too pressured (read more on pressure sensitive dogs). She gets rewarded for sitting every time she does it and I mark it by saying “yes”.
Maggie loves Babybels
Maggie has also learned that she gets “cheese” when she comes inside the house from her potty breaks. I am still leading her in with the long line, but she now does not resist coming in. She also knows the word “wait” (Thanks Debbie Jacobs!) and will come to a complete stop when she hears the word. It makes it easier to grab her long line and lead her inside now.
She is making eye contact more often too. In the past, she would look away, or give me a quick glance and look away, but now she will hold my gaze and seems almost interested in what I am saying to her. Maybe she is thinking I am saying “cheese”?
Maggie waiting for me to bring her cheese as a reward for coming inside the house.
Maggie loves Daisy. She will sleep next to her whenever Daisy is on the couch, and when she is outside, she will run to Daisy with her tail wagging like crazy. It’s really cute.
She loves chewing on small bully sticks or pre-chewed bully sticks. She will wait until Jasper gets up from the one he was chewing and then steals it. Smart girl!
In the evenings, Maggie dozes on the couch or on a dog bed, but when it is time for bed she will put herself to bed(in her kennel). As soon as I turn out the lights, she wakes up, jumps down off the couch and goes to her kennel and opens the door and goes inside. She even waits for me to latch it shut. (I used to leave it open, but she jumps up on my bed and then back down over and over again because she is afraid of the shadows and sounds that come at night.
The one thing I have been waiting for her to do is bark. The only time I hear her bark is when I just arrive home and I am still in the garage. She always stops as soon as I open the door. But on Saturday morning, she heard me playing with Jasper and Cupcake in my bedroom and started barking! That was a first. And today, I swear I heard her bark outside. I suspect her true Sheltie personality is starting to come through. 🙂
Maggie’s furry feet.
Now we just need some extra evening sunlight and warm weather and we can practice walking on a leash!
Foster Dog Maggie’s First Year
It’s hard to believe, but in a few days Maggie will have been with us one whole year. Puppy mill dogs can take a long time to rehab, so I am not surprised that she is still with me, but I am more surprised at how far she has come… and how far she has to go. Seeing her progress through pictures is quite encouraging. I had forgotten how much fear was in her eyes in those early days.
Back then, Maggie spent her time hiding from shadows in the daytime (she often hid in my closet or the quietest spot in my bedroom) and sitting next to me or Daisy at night. She was afraid of every sound, every movement and every reflection that came through the bay window. Doorways were scary, The sound of cars driving past the house was unsettling. Barking from neighbor dogs was terrifying.
But over the past few months, Maggie has discovered that she likes being outside, “cheese” is good, and ice cream is even better. She loves watching my dogs do tricks for treats, and solve doggie puzzles, and she has discovered that she wants to play too. She is learning that life in a home can be good and that a being a dog is much more than just living in a box.
It’s been a lot of fun to celebrate the successes. I hope you will enjoy this short video I put together highlighting her progress.
Merry Christmas!
Maggie: Puppy mill dog progress is measured in small steps
Maggie has made some great progress over the past few weeks and month. She might not be ready for a new home yet, but she is definitely heading in that direction. She eats and drinks comfortably in and outside of her kennel. She no longer needs to be led inside and outside the house most days. She now follows the herd, and sometimes, she even beats them to it and gets to the door first!
One of the things she does well inside the house, but not outside, is coming to me for treats. She will hop up on the couch next to me when called and she will engage in hand-targeting easily, but outside she keeps her distance from me.
Like many shy dogs, Maggie is afraid of someone approaching her while they are facing her. It is scary to have someone looming over you when you are a shy dog (actually many dogs hate looming, not just mill dogs). To have someone come towards you and loom? Terrifying. Maggie will run to the opposite side of the yard to maintain a comfortable distance from me at all times. She trusts me, but only so far. There is safety in distance. 
To help Maggie with this I have been slowly working her up to being more comfortable with looming. This is something I have been looking forward to trying now that we all can be outside without freezing our patooties off. Debbie Jacobs of Fearfuldog’s Blog, first shared this idea with me soon after I started fostering Maggie. She did the same thing with her dog, Nibbles. (Thank goodness for her Nibbles videos!)
I started by tossing cheese to Maggie and my dogs while sitting in a chair on the patio (Maggie loves cheese and the word “cheese”). Then I started asking my dogs for tricks for cheese while Maggie watched and got tossed a few pieces here and there. This drew her nearer to me as she wanted very much to have more cheese (“More cheese, please!”). Over the past few days, she has been steadily getting closer and closer to me in anticipation of getting more cheese.
Yesterday, I decided to switch it up a bit and stand in the yard and toss cheese to all four dogs. Of course, my dogs were ALL over that. Maggie kept her distance, but she would run in to nab a piece the other dogs missed. After doing this intermittently throughout the day, last night I decided to try to see if she would participate in a game of hand-targeting with me looming over her. She watched for a while as the other dogs all touched my had and got a piece of cheese., then started moving closer and closer. From time to time, I would offer her a chance to touch my hand, but always she would back off. Then, just as I was starting to run out of cheese, she did it! She targeted my hand twice while I was standing and looming over her! Yay Maggie! 
I think we’ll keep working on this one for a while, until she feels much more comfortable with looming, but I am hoping we’ll be working up to walking on a leash in the yard soon. Cross your fingers!
Curious about looming and what Debbie Jacobs did to help her dog, Nibbles, become comfortable with it? I’ve attached the video here, but to read the whole story on Nibbles and looming, go to her post titled, “Learning to like looming.”
Maggie takes small steps forward – A puppy mill dog’s journey
If you read my post from last Thursday, then you know about Maggie, our new foster dog.
That post provided you with some general information on Maggie’s background and her fears and shared some videos of her outside.
If you don’t know, Maggie came from a puppy mill and has been staying with us just a little over a week. Dogs like Maggie, are often damaged – emotionally and physically. Building trust with them is difficult. It takes time, patience and dedication. Oh yes, did I mention time?
My Lab Daisy took almost three years to come out of her shell. People who meet her now would never guess how emotionally damaged and scarred she was when she came to me just over 6 years ago. I still see it sometimes, it never goes completely away, but she is miles from where she started. For that, I am grateful.
When Daisy first came to live with me, I made sure to give her a lot of time and space – time to get used to me, Aspen (my dog) and our routine and space to decompress and adjust to this new life she had. I wanted her to have a say in what she felt comfortable doing and I wanted it to be on her timeline. Building trust with her was my goal, but that could’t be done completely on my terms. That had to be done on her terms. If I forced her to do something just because I wanted her to do it, I would have risked her shutting down or regressing, and I most certainly would have destroyed any trust she had with me. So instead we worked together, in tandem, with Daisy telling me when something was too much for her and when she felt she could trust me enough to push past her discomfort. it required me to listen to her and to watch her body language in order to know I needed to stop or move forward.
What I did with Daisy is similar to the approach I am using with Maggie. The only difference between then and now is that I have a little more wisdom and experience this time around, and I have a few more resources at my disposal.
In Maggie’s first few days with us, I tried to give her some space, some time to adjust – to me, to my dogs and to our routine. Now I am focused on building her trust. There are two things I am doing to help build that trust (with more to follow as she progresses). The first is modeled after a video I shared on my blog a year ago showing how you can determine if your own dog likes to be petted by you. I recommend watching it, if you haven’t already, and trying it with your own dog.
Briefly, what I have been doing is petting Maggie for a short period of time and then letting her tell me if she wants me to continue or stop. It’s taken some time for her to figure out that she has a say but she has started to realize that if I pet her and stop, she can tell me if she wants me to continue by simply nudging her nose at my hand or by touching my hand or making a movement with her nose towards my hand.If she does not want to be touched she stops nudging me and I stop petting her.
Here is a video demonstrating that behavior. As you can see, there is one point at which she becomes distracted by a noise and looks around. I let her and wait to see if she chooses to come back to me for more petting. I don’t try to get her attention back, I just wait and let her decide, which she does. This is Maggie choosing on her own what she wants from me. Pretty cool huh?
The second thing I am doing is similar to the first, except I am asking her to do something in return for some cheese. It’s called hand targeting. I don’t have a video of this with Maggie yet, but Debbie Jacobs from FearfulDogs.com was kind enough to direct me to some of her videos on hand targeting that she did with her dog Nibbles, who came from a hoarding situation. I have included one video below, but I would really recommend going to her post titles “Nibbles” so you can see a few of the videos of her work with Nibbles and hand targeting.
If you are working with a dog like Maggie or Nibbles, you should absolutely check out the rest of Debbie’s videos and blog posts about Nibbles. He has made such amazing progress in her expert care. To me, Nibbles is proof that sometimes you can rehabilitate dogs like he and Maggie and give them a good quality life.
I will continue to work with Maggie to help her along her journey, but I know it will be a slow process that will have its ups and downs. It just takes time and patience.
Note: Maggie is one of the lucky ones, she got out of her puppy mill, but there are many more still living a life of hell. Please continue to spread the word about puppy mills and the damage they do to dogs like Maggie. Not every dog can be saved, but every dog should have a chance.
Wordless Wednesday #47
No Dog About It Blog 