Saving Mia

A client brought Mia to me because Mia had been scheduled to be euthanized. Mia had been purchased as a puppy for a 16 year old boy. The family was busy and they didn’t have time for her, so they left her in a cage for two years before finding a new family. The new family brought Mia to their rental home. These people had two other dogs. Within a short time, Mia got into fights with the two other dogs and bit them. The bites were stage three level bites on Dr. Ian Dunbar’s bite scale.

In the final fight that led to the appointment to put her to sleep, the landlord of the property where these people lived had put her arm between Mia and the dog she was fighting. In trying to bite the other dog, Mia bit the landlord, again a stage three level bite.

My client came into the picture when the owners put out a call for help on social media. She just couldn’t let this dog be put down. The appointment was for 5:30 p.m. Just before this, my client picked her up and brought her to Mellow Dogs.

Since Mia came to work with us, her new owner wrote the most amazing review and I share it here in its entirety. It has been a pleasure watching this dog transform from a fearful creature into the happy goofball she is today. She just needed someone who could speak her language.

Dear Mellow Dogs,

In just over a week I watched a dog go from death's door to a happy puppy playing with a new friend. This dog was not dying of an illness, at least not of a on that we would typically think of. She was scheduled for a euthenasia due to a county mandate because she bit a human. It was not her fault, she was raised in a box, locked away and only allowed out infrequently to go potty. At the age of two her paws were barely calloused. She was fortunate to be rescued by a caring family, but they had two dogs of their own and this threw her into a situation she was not socially prepared for. These two larger dogs already had their own behavioral issues together that their people were unaware of.

In a couple of unfortunate instances Mia became scared and thus reactive, people got between her and the other dog when they had a gnarly spat, and a bite ensued. In our society this is the nail in the coffin for a dog such as her. Luckily, if she could find a home willing to work with her on her behavior and rehabilitate her, she could have one last chance. The euthenasia was scheduled for 5:30 on September 2, 2021.

At 4:30 I arrived at their country home to meet sweet Mia for the first time. I was greeted by an overly enthusiastic 2 year old boxer bulldog mix. She shoved me over with her invasiveness, her eyes immediately locking onto mine, I looked down and away as I was taught to do in order to seem less threatening. This seemed to confuse her. I don't believe anyone had ever responded in such a way to her before. I did not hesitate. I signed the responsibility documents, loaded her in my car, and brought her home.

Despite having barely enough space for the three dogs of my own and under the direction of Lara at Mellow Dogs, I made room for Mia to live with us. I gave her the space she needed. We had to split the dogs in our household for several days as Mia was a bite risk. We got a custom muzzle for her safety going forward and muzzled her on walks.

The next day I took her to Lara and had a consultation and session. Lara was able to identify the physical changes in Mia when she was stressed. These weren’t readily apparent so it was helpful to see what they were.

Within a week of applying the techniques given to us by Lara we have gone from a dog who feared the world to a confident and calm canine. The changes have been dramatic. I started with a dog who would hide from cars on walks, cowardly run to me when passing by strangers, and who was incapable of settling in the home to a dog who acts as if she could confidently conquer all of those things. She is not only able to settle in the home and pass by strangers on a walk without pause, but in this one week of work she has gotten to a place I never expected to get with her in a lifetime: she is able to play and exist in our home alongside my two year old labrador mix.

Miss Mia still wears a muzzle sometimes for safety reasons, but she has shown no signs of reactivity with her newfound friend. This dog has come so far. She went from death's door to gentle giant in a week and a half with positive-only training and behavioral specialist techniques, and I could not be more amazed by the results.

Our house is small so it’s our goal to find Mia a new home with someone who will work with her and learn her language. It may very well be though that she’ll end up a foster fail because we simply love her so much.

Thank you, Mellow Dogs.

Milla Rindal