
Sigi's Tail Antics
There was nothing different about that January day to make any of us think that this long awaited rescue run would finally be a go, after so many other cancellations. Dozens of volunteers would be lined up ready to spirit those guys to freedom only to have everything cancel at the last minute because the worthless human brute "owner" chose to stay home instead and harm some other creature more helpless than himself.
Many, many times we were all on pins and needles wondering if today would be the day, and the poor gals
trying to negotiate the freedom for these boys was excruciatingly painful for them. One day yes, the next day no and so on for
months.....when that day finally came we all breathed a cumulative sigh of relief....and disbelief!
Months of negotiating with the owner who purportedly killed over 100 Rottweilers was agonizingly slow and fraught with frustrations of when or even whether the animals would be released to a rescue group in another state..
That cruel monster toyed with everyone, slobbering over his prize Rottweilers, now that a rescue group has discovered them. After all the owner was a breeder and had to maximize his "investment", but these tiny, pathetic creatures were becoming a burden to him, while court dates for animal cruelty charges were scheduled and cancelled.
In the end it took several months of some tough negotiating with this sadistic moron..
The mother of these 4 brothers had already been shot and killed by the owner, other pups had been shot and killed and our concern focused on the remaining 4 boys and their poor sister. All spent their entire 6 month lives, chained neck to neck with logging chains, in utter conditions of despair, unsocialized, untouched, underfed and without minimal shelter for a Pacific Northwest winter
But early one morning confirmation came that the 4 boys had been released and were hurriedly packed into crates, thrown into cars before anything untold could happen, and hit the road with various guardian angels!
This was truly a team effort and had it not been for those before us there wouldn't have been any of these guys alive First seeing them shocked us, all 4 were frightened, unhandled, filthy, half starved. They had never ridden in a vehicle, didn't know what crates were, obviously didn't know homes existed, and had no idea that humans could be other than neglectful and abusive.
They had been on the road all day by the time they reached us and I'll never forget, how pathetically
orphaned and frail they all appeared....
Sigi was the tiniest of the ChainGang Four, a bedraggled, undersized, filthy fellow, all bones and barely more than a rough, patchy coat with missing fur around his tiny neck.
Huddled and shivering in the back of a pick up that cold winter day. The crate more befitting a cocker than a 6 month old Rottweiler. We'll never forget the instant of bonding eye contact as we extracted him from the crate pulling him into the safety of our arms and a new world and chance at living.
As the smallest and completely without the concept of an appetite or sufficient food, we cared for him for months by hand feeding him ANYTHING edible, 1 kibble at a time, a tiny piece of cottage cheese, anything to activate his little taste buds... Sigi would go to the office with me so he could be encouraged to eat, he enjoyed the socialization of people and other dogs and finally developed an appetite where he would almost finish a half bowl of dog food, WE CHEERED!
And then one day we noticed he would finally eat without us begging and pleading and we knew the battle was finally won!
Of course by now with these intense intimate interaction, we were hooked and so was he. He now has food 24 hours a day, nibbles at his pleasure, plays with other dogs, and has surprisingly grown to normal size and is very handsome, totally loving and sweet
Like most Rotties he is a lick monster and has a stubborn streak. His only flaw is his warped sense of humor he occasionally displays. The horses aren't as alarmed as we are, but those tails took a long time to touch the ground. Sigi, will get a glint in his eye and get a running start to launch himself airborne and attach himself to a horses' tail.
The horse will then take off running and circling, literally catapulting Sigi airborne, as he flies around the horse, you can see him grinning while he's clamped onto the tail, Sigi likes it too!
NO, we don't have any photos, we stop the procedure or try to prevent it, if we catch the glint in his eye in time.


Dan still uncertain with Repo's affection
Repo, formerly Dakota, was with us almost a year, he failed three interviews because he was so fearful of strangers that he would stiffen up, growling and snapping at them if they approached within 50 feet!
As you can imagine, that did little to win anyone's heart. Dakota was terrific with us, but clearly he wasn't ready to accept any more humans into his life, at least until he met Astride.
It was love at first sight with the two of them and he later accepted Dan, her husband. The photo above shows Dan's surprise at Repo's acceptance and joy, but look at that smile!
Repo now has 4 humans in his life and fits in nicely with the limited interaction he has with public. Here's Astride's letter shortly
after taking Repo home, BEFORE he learned to allow other people into his life. He was very protective of Astride, but her note does have an
amusing side, doesn't it? AND more importantly, this beautiful animal had potential that needed work, lots of work and Astride and Dan were ready to provide him
an opportunity to be a valued family member, and it's worked for all concerned!
" I am so sorry I haven't written for a while but I have been laid up
for a bit... a week ago, i went to the lot ( automobile lot ) early to let Repo back into
his pen, but i was being pushed by two of our workers to hurry up, so
i wasnt thinking like i normally do... anyway I got in ok but didnt
completely latch the gate... I went inside the office with Repo, got
him leashd up and started outside...
Well, it was very, very icy that morning, and our lot is laid in gravel
and rocks, we started out but Repo noticed the gate had come open and
he bolted for the gate pulling me behind him really fast...I slipped
on the icy gravel and went down hard!!!
I kept my hold on him because by then the two workers had come to
see what was taking me so long... When they showed up, Repo wanted to go after
them...I was on the ground crying from the excrutiating pain in my
left knee, hip and elbow...thinking I had broken bones...my left hand
was all bloody...I was crying my eyes out holding on to him so he
wouldnt charge at the workers and then finally he quit looking at them
and was all over me on the ground licking my face from the salty tears
and stepping on me where it hurt...he was protecting me!...
After I calmed down in a few more minutes, I decided that I had to crawl back to
the office and get him inside because I didnt want him to alarm the
workers, so in all my pain I held on to him and crawled back into the
office, managed to close the door and laid on the floor for 50 more
minutes until Dan came to the office..
No one could help me because they were all scared of Repo and Repo just laid by my side and licked
my tears...I couldnt get up or do anything but I knew by then that I
didnt have broken bones...finally Dan came and took Repo to his pen,
helped me get up, went to get bandaids, first aid and wrapped my
knee...I was a mess... so for a week I used a cane to help me
walk...now my bruises are better and so are all the abrasions...
I finally was strong enough to go back into Repo's kennel by myself...I
love that boy...he is such a sweetie...I dont blame him one bit for
the accident...it wasnt his falut...I shouldve locked the gate in the
first place and never put him on a leash as he would have followed me to
his pen anyways...
He is doing great, he loves Dan as much as he loves me..we are now
introducing him to a new salesman, who raised Dobermans...he is not
afraid of Repo and feeds him and talks to him...even while Repo is
growling at him from behind the chain link and baring his teeth, he
will still SIT when Roy tells him to even as he growls...it is a sight to see
Yesterday, Roy went in the pen with Dan, and Repo nipped him on
the arm..but Roy was not afraid and told him NO! and Repo backed
down...Roy likes him and it will be a matter of a few more days and
they will be friends..the other two people are so scared of Repo that
we gave up trying..we will keep the circle to me, Dan and Roy. ROY
used to train Dobies and says Rottis are dobermans with
steroids...hahahahaaaa...
I will write more later...how are you doing? I think of you
often...glad you like the jokes... Hugs," Astrida

"Arnold" had been left to die, tied at the bottom of an irrigation ditch with another dog. He was petrified for the first hour with us and took about 15 minutes before he would get
out of the jeep. His new name is MOOSE and he LOVES his new family, as you can tell from these photos! Some shelter workers were afraid of Arnold, he
was very aggitated and acting quite aggressive. Had it not been for the shelter director, who owns Rotties herself, telling
me that she "thought" he would be OK with work and time, we would not have taken a chance with him. Thankfully we took that chance, saved his life and the letter tells how he's integrated into his new family.

" How Moose joined our family: We had two male Rotts and lost one of them in December 2001 to uncorrectable hip dysplasia, joint
deterioration. Our remaining Rott, Cuda who was also adopted our of Deer Lodge Montana, became depressed and lifeless.
We could no longer leave him alone at home as he would claw the doors, windows and screens. Cuda just could not
understand what had hapened to his playmate.
I began looking for another Rott to rescue which took a few months since we had criteria to meet. We had another male dog, a cat
and two very small children.
My search led us to Toni, who had a very special dog named, Arnold. He was given to Toni by the Idaho Humane Society.
A local man had found him tied up to the bottom of an irrigation ditch with another female Rott. They were left there to die with no
food or water. By the description Toni seem to know her dogs very well. She assured us that despite what he had been through he was an incredible dog and all he wanted
was love.
Arnold seemd to be everything we were looking for. Together we all decided he was the one for our family.
Toni was incredible herself! She agreed to bring him all the way to Montana, where we live. We arrived home with him at 11:30 pm on July 7, 2002.
He was fearful of all men, including my husband, but it only took him a day or two to realize he was our new son and he wasn't going to leave. Within the month he was my husband's best friend
and followed him everywhere he went. I still take priority with him because of course I am his mama!
I took him to Obedience Class, not because he needed it but because I thought it would be a good bonding time with him.
He graduated top of his class and was the only one to advance to the next level! What a boy!
He is a rather large dog and has been a great deterent for anyone thinking of entering the yard. Which is
great with our kids playing around outside. I call my boys my " Security alarm ", they sound off if
someone comes near the fence yet they let the kids roll all over them. They can't seem to get them wet
enough with Rottie Kisses.
I tried calling him Arnold, but always referred to him as Moose, because of his size. The deciding factor
for the name change was seeing him run...if you have ever seen a real moose run, that is exactly how he runs. It is a crack up!!
Toni was right, he has been nothing but a super boy and a delight to have in our family. He is
the biggest teddy bear you will ever see. You can truly see how grateful he is every time he looks at you with those big
brown eyes." Tammy in Montana

" Baby Moose " on the left with new family..
Hi Toni,
I wanted to thank you and I'd love to send a thank you to the neighbor
that rescued Moose as well. We adore Moose. We have had
him so little time and already he is becoming a member of the family.
He has a big overstuffed dog bed, right beside my bed and we are both
happy with that arrangement. We were all so tired after our long trip
Saturday that everyone slept well. I wasn't sure what Sunday night would
bring, he was just as good, he laid on his bed and went right to sleep. He
gets up with me each time I get up during the night to go to the bathroom
and he goes right back to his bed. He hasn't needed to go out during the
night and has been a very good boy.
He found the indoor doggie toybox right away and loves his tennis balls.
He hasn't discovered the outdoor toybox but I'm sure it's just a matter of
time. We are already working on " sit "; he really likes to jump up to get treats
and I want to break that habit, it's cute now, but won't be as he gets
bigger and jumps on people. He is responding remarkably fast.
This morning before I left for work, he saw me with a treat and ran over and sat right
in front of me, without me even saying " sit ". I'm confident he will be
very easy to train as he is so eager to please. We have a very active home
with lots of friends, family and other dogs coming by often to visit, he
already met a few friends and is timid right at first but quickly warms
up to them. It is actually cute, he runs to Don and I for reassurance and
once we say they are " okay ", he goes back to sniff and check the new folks
out.
We went to the local ranch store yesterday and bought him a new blue
collar and his own new food and water bowl. He and Sadie ( my female
rottie ) know who's bowls are who's and they make sure the other knows it
too.
We are delighted how well he travels, as I told you, we travel with our
dogs and take short trips to the coast, Whidbey island and the mountains.
We are hoping to introduce him to the beach at the Pacific ocean this
Spring. I can already imagine he and Sadie running together all over the
beach. There is something very rewarding about seeing a dog that's tired
at the end of the day from playing and walking on the beach or along a
mountain trail. We work all week long and our dogs patiently wait for us
at home so when the weekend comes, it's time to do things with them. Of
course we walk them during the week but we like to take them out and do
more on the weekends.
I will send you pictures as we take them and as he grows. Thank you again
and again. He is the dog that I was looking for and had prayed for. I
truly appreciate all you did and all that you do for the good of the dogs.
You are a wonderful person and you will be rewarded over and over for the
goodness you show all these rotties in need.
Sincerely, Ronda O'Brien
Lots more stories to be posted, more to be written, we appreciate updates, photos and news. Eventually, we'll get many more updated.

Reading thoughtful letters from new "parents" makes our efforts
so worthwhile....it's not just saving the dog, but knowing that we've
sent him onto a permanent, home where his arrival contributes so
much to the totality of the family picture and where the thought of his
absence would mean such a huge Rotti shaped hole in the heart!
Thanks for adopting! Toni & Dwight