Fab Five - One Year Later - Queenie's Story

Before you read Queenie's story, see the video she made especially for this blog. Don't be sad when you read her blog, she is so very happy now!
An Interview with Miss Queenie

It was a little over a year ago when I first laid eyes on Queenie. At that time, she was a gorgeous but rail-thin, terrified, unsocialized, young GSD, quivering like a mess at the end of her dog run. I was trying to get her out of the kennel so I could wash her - both to cool her off and to make her feel a little more comfortable. Angie had told me that she would be hard to catch, even in the 3 X 10 dog run that she had been confined to since her birth some 3 years prior. As far as we know, she hadn't had any human contact - or if she did, it was fleeting and not enough for her to feel comfortable with people. So, on that unbearably hot Memorial Day, I went into the kennel and into her run, forcing her to flee through the dog door into the outside portion of her dog run. I then closed the dog door and walked around to the back of the kennel and entered her run that way. She had no where to go since I had blocked off the dog door, so as I approached, the only thing she could do was cower on the floor and shake violently. I tried talking quietly to her, trying to minimize the terror she obviously felt towards having a person so close, but nothing helped. I didn't have any other option but to loop the leash around her neck and pretty much drag her out of the run. As it turned out, washing Queenie that day was out of the question. She couldn't be held and just the mere sight of the water hose freaked her out and had her twisting and turning and fighting to get away from us. We tried bringing her kennel mate Tina closer to her and that seemed to calm her a little, but even with Tina present, subjecting Queenie to a bath would have done more harm than good. So we let her be.

It was both heartbreaking and sickening that such a gorgeous creature could be so afraid. I remember watching Queenie and her brother Gunner when they were on the grass outside of their run that day. I remember looking at their confusion and high stepping and wondering if they had ever even been on grass before. I think all of us who worked with the Fab Five figured that, while the older dogs might have been taken to shows and handled by their breeder before he became sick, the two youngsters - Gunner and Queenie - probably had been born at a time when the kennel was already winding down, or essentially non-operational. So, while they were fed and medicated (all seven dogs from this kennel were heartworm negative, proving that the breeder had at least kept up with monthly heartworm preventative), they had never had any human social contact - petting, handling, leash training etc. But it wasn't just people that freaked these dogs out - it was EVERYTHING outside of their 3 X 10 dog runs: grass, cars, roads, noises, other animals. Every dog we liberated from those kennels back then faced a long, up-hill trek in order to be happy, healthy dogs with a true quality of life. Even though Queenie was physically healthy, and faced none of the medical battles the older 5 had, she had PLENTY of scars on the inside, which ended up taking just as long, if not longer, to heal.

When we first brought Queenie home with us we knew we were in for some tough times. We had learned from Gunner's experience (he was sprung from the kennel a week before Queenie was) that Queenie was most likely going to be terrified of being crated. Having 6 other dogs in the home at the time, it was essential that we be able to keep Queenie separate - at least in the beginning - and so we built an inside 10 X 10 kennel for her in our basement. We made sure that the other dogs were always close by when we kenneled her, but even that did little to calm her fears of being confined. When we put water bowls in with her she would up end them and spill the water. If we put a dog bed in with her she would shred it to pieces. The wire frame of the pen was continually bent and distorted by her efforts to get out and the exposed walls of the basement that made up 2 sides of her pen were stripped of all their paint as she scratched and clawed and jumped up and down to try to get out. Interestingly, she would be fine in the pen if you stood right next to it, or even if you sat on the couch in the same room as the pen and watched TV. But as soon as you went to leave the room, she would start to panic. You could hear her breathing start to increase, she would start to pace frantically, she would cry and really, almost wail. She would work herself up so much that the froth would accumulate around her mouth and onto her chest. It was pitiful and heart wrenching. We persisted for some time, but in the end, it was too much for all of us to bare. So, we bought a few more babygates and did some creative corralling and came up with a way that we could keep Queenie safe and separated if need be, without having to confine her to a crate or a pen.


Queenie's Drive-by Loving from the Early Days

Not being able to be confined was just one of the many quirks that we discovered about Queenie. Another one is that she absolutely REFUSES to eat out of a metal bowl. In fact, to begin with, getting her to eat was a real battle. I think it was week three before she started to eat in any appreciable quantity. To this day she is not a highly motivated eater, but, as with the crating issue, we have found ways to work around this issue. We started out by trying different materials for her food bowl. We ruled out: metal, glass, hard plastic and paper plates before landing on plastic picnic plates. We also had to explore different places around the house in order to find somewhere Queenie felt comfortable and safe enough in which to eat. She didn't like the kitchen, the living room, the back deck. The basement was also out as she refuses to go down there at all - no dout traumatized by her experience in the pen (yeah - that's a subject of personal guilt for both of us!!). So then we tried the upstairs hall way. Turns out, if we used a foot stool to raise up her plate, and we put it behind the babygate at the top of the stairs, where she can see everything happening below, that she will eat....most of the time. Often times she needs one of us to sit with her and talk to her as she eats. Oh, and I know, I can hear all of you saying, "wow, I would just leave her be and if she eats she eats and if she doesn't she goes hungry!". Normally I would agree with you all on this, but in Queenie's case, I think she could truly go without eating for a long time - possibly a week or more - and as she is still underweight, that would lead to more issues for her. So, for now, if she needs some prodding, so be it - each morning one of us will sit on the steps in front of her, encouraging her to finish up all of her dinner :)

Queenie and Muuf

Living with Queenie (who we affectionately call Turtle) day in and day out can make you forget the incredible milestones this dog has made in just one year. It can get demoralizing when she still jumps in fright when she hears an ice-cube drop out of the ice machine in the fridge, or when she freaks out when separated from her canine siblings. But in reality, she really HAS come a long way. Just last month she finished a 6 week obedience course! She didn't learn to sit, or to stay like the other dogs in the class, but by the end of the 6 weeks she DID have her tail out at all times (not tucked up underneath her) and she did finally relax in front of strangers enough to let people approach and pat her. This was a HUGE accomplishment for her. We took her on a pack walk with our trainer and about 20 other people and dogs a couple of weeks ago and she was visibly happy to be out and about. The old Queenie would have been panicking the entire mile and a half that we walked - tail tucked underneath her, ears flattened to her head, pulling on the leash to try to get back to the car. The new Queenie however, was happy walking amongst the people and the dogs and even did her fair share of sniffing and tail wagging! She has also learned that riding in the car is FUN!! She likes to "surf" with her front legs on the center console - staring out the front window and occasionally giving us kisses. The BIGGEST change though that we have seen in her is that she now knows what it means to PLAY!!

Queenie and Floyd Playing

Queenie has the most carefree, crazy, happy and funny spirit when she forgets to be worried about stuff. We will often find her out in the yard, pouncing at sticks or blades of grass. She will try to engage one of the other dogs in play, but if they aren't interested, she will make up her own games :) We like to say that Queenie has a very rich inner life :) Each of our other dogs have taken to her and seem to understand that she is a little "special". Gus, the leader of the canine pack, is her mentor and protector. He gets a little exasperated with her at times - like when he is running full tilt to catch a squirrel and Queenie thinks it is a game of chase and nips him in the butt - still, he is mostly patient :) Muuf, our senior chow who is known to be pretty choosey about her friends also shows a great deal of understanding and tolerance for Queenie. Queenie is definitely missing some safety instincts when it comes to how far you should push Muuf - it's nothing for Queenie to run up and try to body slam Muuf. Normally, a dog who tried that would get the sharp end of a chow-chow reprimand. But Muuf just braces herself and looks at us as if to say, "is she serious???".

Queenie and her Papa

Then there is Floyd, Queenie's constant playmate and punching bag. Floyd is a roly-poly pit bull who taught Queenie how to wrestle. Hence, she now does it "pit bull style", up on her back legs, grabbing hold with her front legs and using her jaws to grab hold of Floyd's neck. Her objective - pin Floyd to the ground. Her success rate - about 75%...100% when Floyd is feeling lazy and finds it easier to just submit and get slobbered on :)

So now we are heading into year 2 of our life with Queenie. We both have high hopes for our little Turtle! We are going to continue with her socialization, maybe take in another class or 2 to see if she can master some commands, and really work on her self-confidence. We think the sky is the limit for this girl and we want to give her every opportunity to live life to the fullest. Our trainer has a great philosophy with dogs like Queenie. He says, the past is the past and today is the start of everything that is possible. He says we shouldn't pity dogs like Queenie, or lament at what a horrible start they had in life. He says that we should just keep moving forward, focusing on the good, working around the bad and just live in the moment. I'm pretty sure that Queenie would agree with that philosophy :)