Saving Susie-Belle--Rescued from the Horrors of a Puppy Farm, One Dog's Uplifting True Story by Janetta Harvey

Author:Janetta Harvey [Janetta Harvey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782199427
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2014-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

When Susie-Belle and Whisp met in the car park, whether they knew one another or not, we cannot be certain but they did seem to connect, each gently appraising the other in their calm and natural greeting. They were beautifully at ease and to all of us observing, the scene had an unmistaken serenity about it. This would not describe the greetings shared when the rest of the schnauzers started appearing. The rising level of canine excitement was directly matched by an increase in decibels as car after car opened to release yet another schnauzer. It was an overwhelming sight, seeing so many in one place all pleased to see each other and to tell the world for miles around that the schnauzers were in the New Forest that warm and sunny autumn Sunday. After a frenzy of noisy meet and greets, we rapidly decided the best way to deal with the rising excitement and noise was to get the dogs moving and walk. With noses down and bottoms in the air, the dogs set off. As soon as we started to leave the car park, peace descended as the dogs began doing what they do best: checking out the smells of the forest and contributing their own unique aromas.

I had been watching to see Susie-Belle’s reaction to Janet as this was the first time that they had been reunited since she had left her care. It was so touching to see immediate recognition from Susie-Belle and her clumsy, awkward mouthing that she only did to a very few select people, Janet of course being one. This action is one that over time has become a lot gentler, but when she first started doing it to me, she would chew on my hands with her characteristic determination as a delightful but almost painful demonstration of her excitement. The trouble was, that as a puppy learns to inhibit their bite when doing similar in play, Susie-Belle had no bite inhibition, but did have the same natural excitement as that which drives a puppy to play bite. In the early days as it was one of the rare signs of her being excited and playful, it seemed wrong to inhibit it or interfere with her emotional expression. So my hands would get chomped at and I would know that when she did this, she was expressing pleasure, the free display of which more than made up for any discomfort I may have suffered for the joy of knowing what lay behind her excitable hand chewing always made me smile. As she has grown into the happier, more emotionally stable dog that she is today, she can still manage to give my hands quite a mangling if she gets carried away. I see any joyful expression in Susie-Belle as a good reason to celebrate with her and usually give her jaws something else to chew on – dried venison trachea often substitutes for my fingers. Her happy displays always get rewarded without hesitation.

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