Shelter Stories

Nell’s Story

When we adopted “Nell” from the PEI Humane Society in 2001 she was about 7 months old, and had been returned to the shelter by her previous owners because of problems with chewing. We were looking for a smaller dog to be a buddy for our Labrador retriever “Tek”. As soon as we brought her home, we discovered that she was a very worried little dog. She could not cope with being left alone at all, and would whine, yelp, and chew things if you even left the room. We also discovered that she was not yet housetrained. She was cute and very affectionate, but we realized we had some serious work ahead of us if we were going to help her become a happy and well-adjusted family dog.

Nell did take to our family life quickly, excelled at learning tricks, and within months was learning how to really relax and enjoy life. I remember thinking how content she looked when I first saw her stretch out on her side to sleep, instead of curling up in a tight little watchful ball. Today she is great friends with Tek, and she makes us laugh as she roars around the yard, trying to convince him that she is actually in charge. Her special treat is to curl up with the kids for a nice scratch, especially if they find that special spot on her chest!

For the past two years Nell has participated as a clicker training “demo dog” at both the AVC VetCamp and the AVC Open House. She loves the opportunity to meet all those new people and we have a great time. She never stops teaching all of us about what makes a dog happy!

Dr. Norma Guy

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