Milly is an SPCA dog - a border collie cross, who was rescued from a mangrove swamp at the age of one or two days old. Her littermates lay dead all around her. Back then she was ‘Tui’ as her cries caught the attention of her inquisitive rescuer who thought she was hearing a bird crying out. Tui was initially cared for by Kay Vezey and myself. Together we ran a very efficient child share arrangement. Like excited parents with a new baby, we were elated as Tui’s eyes first opened and when tiny teeth appeared. Yet when Tui developed a gastric upset, we realized she could die as she rapidly grew pale, sluggish and lost interest in her bottle. As Kay was very busy with SPCA commitments and I was not working, it made sense for me to become Tui’s full time carer.
Tui required bottle feeding every two hours day and night for the first couple of weeks. There was no ignoring the tiny but piercing cry indicating her empty stomach was ready to receive warm milk. Thankfully that unreasonable timeframe stretched to three hourly and by three and a half weeks of age, Tui was introduced to her first plate of solid food. Paws, fur and carpet were well fed and a little made it to the mouth! Tui still loved her four hourly bottles but these lost their appeal at about five weeks as the sheer delight of more solid food won her favour.
Kaye spoke about Tui’s approaching adoption and I was left struggling with the prospect of losing her. Having put so much into this puppy; feeding, washing, toileting, playing and not to mention the sleepless nights, I wasn’t sure I could part with her. After a week of deep thought, Kay completed the paperwork, Tui became Milly and she was ours.
Life with Milly hasn’t always been easy. With so much human contact and attention in her early days and no mother or siblings to reprimand her, she has become over confident yet fearful at the same time. Now at the age of 18 months, I refer to her as my ADHD dog! At any opportunity she escapes to the beach, chases our six cats, rounds up complete strangers, barks at the neighbour’s dog and guards the kitchen with such ferocity that she becomes totally stressed! Our other two dogs know when she’s ‘on one’ and steer clear until the typhoon settles to a gentle breeze.
At the end of each busy day though, Milly finally relaxes and succumbs to patting and grooming from the family. Sometimes four drops of rescue remedy in milk helps her settle.
Most mornings before her day begins, she jumps in bed between my husband and myself for a snuggle. It’s a time when she doesn’t feel the need to sort out the world. It’s also a time when we can have positive contact with her. Sorry Caesar, Jan Fennel and other dog whisperers/psychologists, we never allowed this initially and although we do now, her behaviour has remained unchanged!
Milly hates to be ignored so this is the most powerful behaviour management strategy when she’s gone too far. We believe that time will improve Milly as will the right balance of love, exercise and correction. It’s not an easy job caring for ‘different’ dogs and I am thankful to the many tolerant and non judgmental people who know Milly.
I believe the ‘dog God’ is caring for millions of unwanted animals like Milly’s brothers and sisters and I know there will be consequences for acts of cruelness towards animals. Everyone knows about spaying and neutering – there are no excuses!
<< Back to main stories page |
