Happy Endings - Holly and Sallie
Rescued, December 2001
They were rescued on a dark December morning in 2001, these two almost feral,
outdoor only, Corning, New York farm dogs. The elderly farm owners and their
son agreed to surrender the dogs, sisters from the same litter, and help with
catching and crating them as they were terrified of strangers. The rescue
was as traumatic for the rescuers as the rescued. Rescuer Jamie remembers
"there was a huge bale of hay standing on end, and the son went over
and grabbed this dal from inside the hay bale. Of course, the dal reacted
- fighting this hog-tying for all she was worth! It was like what they do
at rodeos - it was horrible. The son kind of forced this squirming/wrestling/whining
dal into the crate. I felt so bad for her. She wanted nothing to do with the
crate, the car, me; she just wanted to be out and run! The same scene occurred
at the shed - with the son hog-tying another dal out to the van. She was just
as scared and quickly plastered herself to the back of the crate. Both of
them were shaking uncontrollably, nary a sound out of their mouths, staring
at me like I was the evil one." Rescuer Marge added, "The scene
I will never forget was the look on either Sallie or Holly's face as the son
was carrying her to the van - she was urinating out of fear and it was just
the most heart wrenching thing to see. We left and part way down the road
we pulled over, covered our faces and cried, we were so shaken. We tried to
convince each other we had done the right thing."
Many hours later Holly and Sallie were in the care of Marc. Marc has worked in many shelters and has handled a lot of dogs. He is an experienced fosterer and will evaluate the girls. He carries the crates into his house and puts the girls in the kitchen. Sallie finally comes out of the crate, eats and drinks. She is the more social one; Marc is able to get a collar on her. Holly continues to stay in the crate, goes most of the day without eating or drinking - she makes attempts to come out of the crate until Marc looks at her - finally gives in at night. Marc is lying on the kitchen floor, pretending to read a book, studying them. He's giving them time. He believes both dogs are of good temperament, not aggressive, just very frightened.
This may have been their first night ever inside a heated house, and their first cooked dinner - boiled chicken. And, most touching of all, the first night they sleep with a human on a warm kitchen floor. Unfortunately, this would also be their last night together. As much as WHDR wants to keep them together, they both need a lot of work and attention with experienced fosterers to get them socialized. So it is decided: Holly stays with Marc in Pennsylvania and Sallie moves on to another experienced fosterer, Tina, in Ohio.
Holly
Holly begins her life as one of Marc's "pack"; he has four dogs of his own, two fosters and a couple of cats. She is an inside dog now, and getting used to the good life. She is listed on the WHDR website as a "special needs sweetie" due to her timid personality. Four months go by, then on March 23, 2002, I come into her life. I lost my beloved 14 year old dal, Marbles, and was emotionally devastated. I was needy, Holly was needy; and we were a match!
I'll never forget the first time I saw her - she was beautiful - her coat bright white with black spots and a big black patch over her eye! She was sitting with Marc on his kitchen floor, watching me come in the kitchen door, her eyes watching my every move as she tried to squeeze closer to Marc than she already was. I went to her slowly, put my hand out for her to sniff - she would have none of it. Marc suggested that I also get on the floor to ease her apprehension, so I did. I kept gently talking to her, and literally crawled on my belly to her, my hand slowly reaching out to touch her. She was watching me crawl ever closer, then she put her head on Marc's shoulder and rolled her eyes back in her head. Then - first contact - I touched her back foot! She looked at and smelled my hand touching her foot, and looked right into my eyes. I was crying by now, but started to talk directly to her and told her she was beautiful and would she like to come home with me and have a wonderful life? I talked to her and Marc on the kitchen floor for quite a while and that settled it - she was mine!
Little did I realize just how needy Holly was! I have never had a dog so timid and afraid. She did not like the car. Toast popping in the toaster made her jump out of her spots. When the furnace went on she would run and hide. We spent many weekend afternoons cuddling under the covers on my bed while I explained to her all about things that make noise in the house. I'd end up falling asleep talking - taking a "snoozer" I'd call it. She'd snooze right with me, cuddling close, give a big contented sigh, and keep me warm. Years later, we continue to enjoy our snoozers!
We worked on her car phobia. Whenever we got a chance, we would crawl into the back seat of my car and watch the neighborhood for hours. I'd just talk to her and give her little treats and explain what the kids or neighbors were doing. After many weeks, she started to relax, and we took our first ride around the block. She has become a much better rider now but, to this day, she still does not enjoy the car.
Holly loves ice cubes. I gave her one on a hot summer day and her eyes lit up and she took it in the grass and licked it and rolled on it and chewed on it and then it disappeared and she was SO funny looking for it. She also loves ice cream bars. If I have an ice cream bar, she sits at attention right in front of me, eyes on the bar, salivating until there is this little ball of ice cream left on the stick - which I then give to her. Holly may love ice cubes, but ice cream makes her eyes sparkle! She is now so spoiled, she goes out to potty but immediately wants to come back inside during weather extremes - inside for the A/C in the hot summer and inside for the warmth in the freezing winter - she's not dumb. She vacations with me and my family - her first trip to the ocean was unbelievable. She ran into the ocean and jumped and bit at the waves, and rolled over in the surf, got up and shook herself and then dove into the waves again - the people on the beach enjoyed watching her being a clown and having fun! She really has brought much love and laughter into my life!
Sallie
Sallie moved on to Cincinnati, Ohio to join Tina's household of three dogs, two fosters, two cats and three kids! She is also an inside dog now and settles into the family dog life with Tina's family for 18 months. I keep in touch with Tina because I want to reunite Holly and Sallie once Sallie gets adopted. Then, on June 21, 2003, it finally happens: Liz adopts Sallie! I was elated to find out Liz lived only about 35 minutes from my house , and called her to introduce myself. We were both so excited about getting the girls reunited, but Liz was in the process of moving, and we decided to hold off until she moved and got a chance to unpack and get her new place together.
About three weeks later, I got a frantic call from Liz. Sallie had bolted out the front door of her new home and was gone; could I come up and help search for her, and bring Holly too - maybe Sallie would come back if she saw or smelled Holly. When Liz opened her door and first met me and Holly, she cried, I cried, we hugged each other and hugged Holly. It was so bittersweet. We were so close to reuniting the girls and now Sallie was gone.
I was not ready for the outpouring of help from friends and the WHDR group - Liz's living room was transformed into operations central. Immediately, a LOST DOG poster was drawn up and 500 copies were made (we would later total almost 2,000 copies). Pairs of Liz's friends and WHDR members were "assigned" certain sectors of the County - to hang posters on telephone poles and visually search. Meanwhile, all local vets, fire and police departments were called to tell them of our lost Sallie and ask for their fax number so we could fax the poster to them. Tina and son Brandon - Sallie's favorite - flew in from Ohio to join the search. Almost every telephone pole in the county had a LOST DOG poster stapled to it, and we searched every night after work until dark and every weekend with no sightings of Sallie.
Finally, one afternoon a woman saw a dalmatian strolling up the road in front of her house. She went and opened the gate to her fenced in yard, and laid out a trial of treats ti her back yard, called the dog, and Sallie walked right into the yard and ate the treats as the woman closed the gate. Sallie was gone on her walkabout from July 11-21, 2003; she was 35 miles and two counties away from Liz's home. She was in amazing shape - just a case of worms!
Exactly one week later, July 28th, the leash unclipped from Sallie's harness while Liz was walking her; Liz almost had a heart attack! Sallie was only gone overnight this time. She was coaxed into a neighbor's garage with a food treat. Liz now secures Sallie's leash and harness with a carabiner and has had no further incidents!
Today, Sallie and Liz are almost inseparable. They attended Obedience School and Sallie learned good manners and some tricks. Sallie sleeps with Liz and every morning before they get up, they share hugs and tummy rubs. Sallie is a love bug and just loves to have her belly rubbed. She is also a therapy dog. She visits Liz's Mom every weekend in the nursing home. The elderly folks brighten up when they see Sallie and love to pet her and give her treats. They also love to see her do her tricks - Sallie enjoys performing and especially for treat rewards. Salle also exhibits a classic Dalmatian trait - counter surfing! Liz once cooked some bacon, set it on a paper toweled plate on her countertop to cool, and went upstairs to get dressed. When she came down, the bacon and paper towel were completely gone and Sallie looked completely innocent. Now Liz is very careful not to leave food too near the countertop edge. Sallie has such a great personality, is so mischievous, that you can't help but laugh and love her with all your heart!
Holly and Sallie Together Again
The highlight of Holly and Sallie's story is their reunion. After Sallie's walkabout and subsequent leash malfunction, we decided to get the girls together at my house since I had a fenced in yard. Nineteen months after their separation, they finally see each other again . . . the initial sniffs, then wild tail wagging into body gyrations . . . crying and whining and licking each other's faces . . . jumping and rubbing against one another . . . dancing and jumping and licking and whining on and on . . . it was like long lost relatives being reunited - they actually REMEMBERED each other! I've never seen Holly react to any other dog like this before or after. Liz and I were overwhelmed with tears of joy.
Since that remarkable reunion, Liz and I and Sallie and Holly have made many more memories. We've rented million dollar beach houses on the Outer Banks of North Carolina - the girls walked in sand for the first time and played in the ocean waves. We've done rescue transports - Holly rides much more comfortably in the van resting her head and snoozing on sister Sallie. We've represented WHDR at fire houses during community open houses, and at a local bookstore for holiday gift wrapping. Everywhere the girls go, they create a stir; people love their opposite black eye patches and the fact that they are reunited sisters. Kids just want to pet them and give them treats. Sallie and Holly are eager to oblige for treats; Sallie rolls over and Holly sits up!
The most poignant memory we have is our trip back to Corning, NY in the fall of 2004 to see the farm where Holly and Sallie lived, and meet their rescuers, Jamie and Marge. They couldn't believe these beautiful dals bounding out of the van were the same dogs they rescued three years ago! Of course, there were many hugs and tears. It was a rainy, damp and cold gray weekend and Marge had an overgrown fenced in cat yard. The girls were restless from the long trip and anxious to play. So, Marge volunteered the cat yard for the girls to run. When Holly and Sallie were let off the leashes, they ran and chased each other through the wet weeds - I swear they were playing tag - their tongues lolling out with big smiles on their faces! "Why look," Marge said, "they're actually laughing with joy!" A little while later, when we all were too cold and wet to stay outside any longer, we retreated to Marge's garage. There she brought us WARM (yes - fresh from the dryer warm) towels to dry us and the girls off. Now, that's spoiled!
Today, Liz and I are so blessed to have our Sallie and Holly. They have brought much joy and adventure - LOL - into our lives, brought us together as best friends, and deepened our ties with the WHDR group. I've read that there will be one special dog that stands out in your lifetime, one you will never forget as long as you live; well, Liz and I have two special dogs in our lifetime! And all thanks to two women who went to that farm on a dark December day in 2001. Robbie Lark of WHDR sums it up like this: "Amazing how two dogs who lived together in NY - one ended up in foster for a year in Ohio - the other fostered a few months in Harrisburg, PA - they end up going to homes in the same PA neighborhood (months apart) and are reunited for the rest of their lives. It doesn't get any better than that."
Jamie and Marge: Did you do the right thing? Oh, absolutely, undeniably YES!
