The Power of Sisterly Love

Sadly, not all dogs are well treated. GRRMF has rescued many mistreated pups finding them loving homes where they can heal, both physically and mentally. Puppy mill dogs often pose the biggest challenge.

Bridget was one of those dogs and her new forever family welcomed her home knowing her recovery would take time. What they hadn’t realized was the important role their other dog Abby would play. This is Bridget’s amazing story told in her loving mom’s own words.

The process of adopting Bridget was a family affair. All of us including our other dog Abby drove to meet and pick up Bridget. When we arrived back home Bridget was terrified of thresholds and going in the backyard. Noises and sensations such as the wind, a plane flying overhead, or the sound of our A/C unit cycling on and off were terrifying to her. My husband and I had to “scooch” her along our tile floor to get her out back periodically for pee breaks. We wondered, “Are we going to be able to do this?”

Within a week or so, Bridget was managing to go in the yard on her own. Our dog Abby taught Bridget that going outside was fun. They could play, wrestle, and run around and bark across the fence at our next-door neighbor. It took a while, but Abby also began to show Bridget how fun it is to hunt lizards and squirrels. In fact, Bridget now has far more of the “hunter dog” instinct in her than Abby.  Watch  them  play  together.

Clearly, then, Abby showed Bridget how to be a dog. We don’t think Bridget knew what a dog toy was until she came to our house and saw Abby playing with them. Now, Bridget loves her toys, especially her blue monster toy and long carrot. And for her part, Abby was thrilled to have a companion and accepted Bridget right away.

Despite all of Bridget’s progress, it was much harder to teach her to be comfortable walking on a leash. GRRMF paired us with trainer Tiffany, who was wonderful. When we discovered that Bridget was not treat-motivated, Tiffany suggested we pause our efforts to get Bridget to walk around the block and instead take her to a quiet park with less city noise. This was the beginning of Bridget walking on a leash.

It took 8 months, but Bridget finally walked around the block in our neighborhood! Again, Abby was a big part of the process. My family and I and Bridget and Abby would start out together. We found that, initially, Bridget would go part way down the street and stop. So my husband and son and I started loving on Abby (a kind of jealousy-technique). Well, Bridget wanted the love too, so she kept walking so Abby didn’t get all the praise. Soon enough, she was around the block!  Now, Bridget walks twice a day, every day!

Finally, when Bridget came to us, she hated water and wasn’t too happy about her first bath. Abby, however, is a water dog and can’t get enough. We never thought we’d see the day, but Bridget actually went in the pool and now likes to swim with her fur sister.  Amazing!

This past fall, we took in my father’s two basset hound puppies, and now they are giving Bridget the puppyhood she never had. They wrestle and tug and do zoomies in the backyard, and Bridget seems to be the biggest puppy of them all, despite being the oldest dog in the house.

It has been so heartwarming to see Bridget’s transformation. And while human time, love, and patience are musts when adopting a rescue dog, we say all the time that Bridget would not have been able to come so far without Abby.