Molly's Story Part 7- Mellowing out....a little.

Hello Folks!

Sorry for the lapse in posting! I have been dealing with so much these days! Here goes!


Over the next several months...it was constant training in the house. Life was not just changed for my husband and I  but it was for Rufus and Amber as well. They had to deal with a lot of changes such as they could no longer have their woobies ( stuffed toys) laying around the house. Molly was the toy destroyer. She would go one by one and destroy the poor helpless woobies or eat Ambers tennis balls. Sometimes Molly would somehow "find" them even after I put them away. Molly and Rufus continued to bond, like siblings. It was nice to see that she had a companion. Amber on the other hand, was never really into mingling with other dogs. She was only concerned about tennis balls and having us throw them to her. I tried to get Molly to retrieve but it was not happening. She took to this big red ball that she would roll around the yard and bark at. It was entertaining and I felt she was blowing off some steam at times! :)

After some time, it began to feel like I was getting somewhere with her. I realized that as long as I was finding ways to keep her stimulated, that she would mellow out. Her food aggression was getting much better because I tried to keep any opportunity for her to steal something..although, she always seemed to be one step ahead of me and a few random times she stole food right under my nose...such a a fresh batch of brownies and an entire lb of bacon. She must have an iron stomach as she never even got sick. I always said..this dog will be the death of me and will live forever. 

That winter seemed to go pretty well. I got to spend more time with her since my schedule wasnt so crazy. I taught her all sorts of tricks and commands. She was coming around. I felt like she was learning to Trust us. Dont get me wrong, it was a daily effort to assure that things went smooth but I didnt feel so stressed anymore.

We were hoping that once Spring came again, that her fear of thunder storms would decrease. The vet said Only time would tell.......and so we waited. 

Here are a few pics of Molly and the gang being happy together that winter.

Molly's story Part 6- Grooming Wars

Hello fellow dog lovers!

Its been a long day, just getting a chance to unwind here!


Once fall arrived, we had some breathing room with the storms being behind us for the time being. Molly was a wild child- She spend the next few months reaking havoc on our lives! We agreed to keep her on the meds since she was still anxious and with the compulsive behaviors, we were hoping she would mellow out a bit. She was constantly wrestling the other 2 dogs, especially at night when we were all just sitting around watching TV and she was busy stealing whatever she could sink her teeth into behind our backs. She learned how to get into the trashcan one day and she had trash all over the kitchen and all the training I had done with her, its like she forgot everything. She growled at me and bared her teeth like some kind of savage wolf. I just didnt understand......she would go from being a sweet dog to the devil. I was able to get her to calm down by trading off for something better. She was like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I was lucky to be involved with a network of Golden retriever owners along with some very knowledgeable trainer and veterinarians. I had a few trainers tell me that Molly had a bad temperament and that even though we can learn to live together, that you can never really make it go away. It would always be there in her. Someone once told me that she was going to turn on us one day.  That being said, it just made me even more willing to work with her. In my mind.....there was going to be success! I was going to do this! I was determined, regardless of what anyone said!

Mollys coat started to get fuller and thicker and it was time for her to get groomed! At the time, I had a groomer friend come to my house and groom my dogs in the basement. Molly was having no part in any of it and we had to muzzle her to even do anything with her. It was awful! We managed to get her on the table and I would stand there and talk to her and pet her and re assure her that it was not the end of the world. I remember the vibration of her growling, her entire body trembling....drool was coming out of the edges of the muzzle. My groomer was exhausted when it was all over. I was too. I could only imagine what she was thinking, but hey, at least she didnt get bit, right?

We were in for the long haul with her...cause her coat was thicker then Rufus and Amber and she was going to need more frequent grooming. I invested in getting my own grooming table and started to learn to groom them myself. There was no sense in putting her through added stress of someone else trying to manipulate her. I began to get her on the table weekly and just acclimate her to the whole process. She did calm down tremendously after a few weeks. I knew it was always going to be a negative thing for her but trying to get it as tolerable and positive was my main goal! There had to be some kind of agreement between her and I.

here is Molly right after a groom! 

Molly's story Part 5 - Thunder and Lightning Oh MY!

Hello Everyone! Sorry it is so late today! Its been a busy day!


Once Molly started to react with thunder storms, our other 2 dogs, who were never even phased with storms were now worried! I am not sure if they were out of sorts because Molly was, and then it caused us to react. I can tell ya, there was a lot of anxiety flying around the house. After about the 3rd storm that season I talked to a few of the vets at my work and we decided to try some meds. She was prescribed Clomipramine ( Clomi-calm). Its commonly used for separation anxiety but also used seasonally for thunder-phobic pups. She was also given acepramazine which isnt really ideal to give an anxiety-ridden dog as it just sedates the dog and offers nothing to help then with the anxiety but it came in handy on nights that storms would rip through in the middle of the night. I remember that year being so bad it was almost every night it seemed and she would freak out so bad...by clawing my legs and jumping on me and I would have bruises the next day all over my legs. If I timed the storms just right, and gave her an ace about 2 hours before..it would kick in and keep her quiet for the night. I felt horrible all the time if I had to give that but It was either the dog slept or I didn't and believe me there was countless nights where I had no sleep at all trying to calm her.

I remember thinking to myself on rides to work after I was up all night and had no sleep that I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do and thinking of what was the right thing in this situation. Everything I ever learned about owning a dog at the point has gone out the window. 


My husband started to get concerned of the entire change in dynamics in the household. It seemed now that our lives revolved around a dog and we had 3 dogs and at times it did feel like we were running a circus! We were not getting super results with the meds and before you know it Fall had arrived and I am usually not fond of the warm weather leaving, but this particular year I was dancing with joy that at least for the time being, the evil storms have gone and maybe our lives would go back to normal, at least until the next storm season...although, I forgot what "NORMAL" was.

For the next few months I talked to trainers and behaviorist and read so many books and literature on what I can do differently next year and hoping that this was not going to be our life for the next 10 plus years and there had to be some way to deal with this without going insane.

Molly was obviously brought into our lives for a reason but at that time....I had no idea why. I just knew that with the way her first 8 months went and being tossed around that I was the person that was supposed to help her.

Mollys Story Part 4- Learning to Understand

Hello and Happy Saturday!

Im excited that so many are following this story! It is indeed one to never forget!

Lets See.....

So, after the incident with Molly trying to bite Elvie, we re-evaluated everything we were doing and started over with her training. We kept trying to get her adjusted to being crated. We gave her special chews and bones that she only got in the crate. She was always reluctant to go in, she would go but then bark after I left the room. I was told by my brother who lives in the apt upstairs that she would bark a lot when we were not home. I noticed one day that she was missing one of her front bottom teeth and wondered if she had done that trying to bite the bars in the crate. After a few months of this, we decided to try not crating her....and put her in the kitchen/dining area where she would have more space but not able to have full access to the house. This went ok for a short time...until she realized she could manipulate the gate and use her nose to knock lose the clip and then she would be able to get through. She seemed to have a problem with any type of confinement. So now we had to figure out what to do next........

During that time, I took her into work to be spayed. The spay went great, and we decided to do X-Rays of her hips and elbows while she was still sedated. The vet looked at them and said that her left hip looked perfect but her right one...not so perfect. It was mild, but her hip was very lose in the socket and it could cause her to get arthritis as she got older but that surgery was not necessary, for us to just keep her in good shape and just see how it played out. What a bummer? We now have just hurdles of issues with this dog, but at least she didnt need surgery. She didnt even seem like it hurt or even bothered her so we didnt worry too much. She recovered well from the spay and by this time she had fully bonded with my other 2 dogs. Rufus and Amber seemed to have an understanding of her better then we did. 

It was very interesting to see the 3 of them interact. Molly and Rufus became extremely close and they all ate in the same room together. Molly never once growled at them if they came too close but she always gave us a dead stare and her body would get so tense if we came near her. She did get better over time with that..I just kept up with the hand feeding and all things positive. I had Elvie hand feed too, cause she seemed to have less of a relationship with him then she did me. I think she was finally starting to understand what she was supposed to do. It was not easy, and she tested me ( and still does) all the time. 

Rufus ( left) and Molly ( right) 

As spring time approached.......so did Thunder Storms and we were about to see another issue emerge. it seemed to be a pattern in this journey, get one thing at bay and yet another one begins.  Rufus and Amber never got too upset over storms...actually, none of my previous dogs did either. I remember we had a storm come through in the middle of the night and she started to scratch on the bedroom door. We ended up giving her the chance to have full access to the house after her spay and at night she close to sleep either on the couch or in the hallway outside the bedroom door. So, when she started to practically claw the door down at 3am...I slowly awoke in a panic trying to figure out what was wrong. I open the door to her looking at me in a panic. Oh boy.....so, NOW she has a case of Thunder Storm Phobia. Great......whats one more problem, right?  

Mollys Story Part 3- back tracking a bit!

Hello Everyone! 

I wanted to back track just briefly as I realized I left some key point out. The day we picked Molly up from that church parking lot, that alone should have sparked Red Flags, Bells, Whistles.. into my mind but I think because I was still in that grieving stage I was not thinking clearly.

Now, before I continue with the saga, I must tell you some things that will help a little with understanding why I even started this blog and why I think this story deserves to be shared. It will eventually explain compassion, patience, and understanding to a whole other level! A level that most are too scared to go. There are too many pets given up and taken to shelters who are viewed as unadoptable and euthanized without being given a chance.



When we pulled into that church parking lot, there was a silver van..it was a Sat morning so the church was closed. As we pull in, the van door opens and out comes this woman and she goes around and opens the van and I see 2 children in there a boy and a girl...they were holding the leash. The kids were little probably 7 and 10 I am guessing. They looked scared, sad, emotional. I immediately felt like this was those childrens best friend that mommy is giving away. There was Molly..this cute little girl who looked petrified. She was scared to get out of the van. The woman got her out and began to hand me Mollys belonging which was a half trash bag full of dry food and a bag of assorted toys which were not dog toys at all, but childrens toys and some with battery compartments and her vet records. She tells me at the church that Molly had been in 3 other homes ( RED FLAG) and that they sent her back but it was because she was in heat and they didn't want to deal with it. 

I look at this dog and say to myself.....poor baby, in 3 homes already and now going with us. How scared she must be. ..I grab her leash and tell the woman I will keep in touch and we drag her into our car. She was not willing to go, she kept turning around looking at them. It was very sad. I petted her and coaxed her in and we drove away.......and that was it.

This is just the very beginning of Mollys new life. I had NO idea what was in store for us, never in a million years would I think that a 55 lb, 8 month old Golden Retriever was going to change our lives in many ways.


Over the next few days after getting Molly, the owner was emailing me almost daily asking how everything was. I was reluctant to respond, but I did, telling her she was fine. I figured that they must love her enough to care. The breeder called me a few days later and seemed a bit unhappy that they just gave her away. She was nice though and sent me all the AKC papers and helped me get it set up. I was glad to have her history at least and her parents information. She seemed genuinely concerned about Molly being tossed around and was not informed that there were even issues with her.


So...thats a brief history on her past. 


After getting Molly acclimated to her surroundings, we began crating her. She was scared of the crate in the beginning and would not reliably go inside. I emailed the previous owner and asked if they had crated and they said no, that they would just block her off in the kitchen area if they were not home and at night she slept in there and they put paper down for her to pee on. 

UGH....Paper? Who even still does that? THat was not happening here. My dogs learn to pee and poop in the yard. She did pretty well considering. I worked with her everyday and she caught on pretty quickly. She was a bit of a chewer and had chewed some things in the house so I was not about to NOT crate her until she was trustworthy.

As the weeks went on, the crate training got harder and worse. She was stressed about the crate. We moved her into the big one that was Bucks in the bedroom. It was plenty of space for her. She barked and bit on the wires and I should have stopped and reassessed the situation at that point, and realized that maybe she was just one of those dogs that just cannot be crated. The day that Elvie called me frantic on the phone, I thought about the fact that this situation probably could have been avoided. I started to beat my self up and get upset...Damn, she was giving me all the signs in the world and I didnt see them. What now? 

So...I picked up the phone and called my friend Robin who is a professional dog trainer. I figured that at this point, I needed professional help and I will admit I was in no way an expert at this. I just knew that a dog that has tendencies to jump and attempt to bite you in the face is not a laughing matter!

Well......thats all I am going to say for today! I just felt that I needed to add these things in cause they are important things to know!

Woof Woof! This is Molly the day we brought her home after playing in the yard.

Molly's Story...Part 2 ( of many)

Good Morning!

I hope you all are sitting on the edge of your chairs waiting for this blog entry!

So......to continue on Mollys Story

After getting Molly home, she was very shy which was understandable as she was the only dog for 8 months and now she has 2 strange dogs sniffing her. She was in heat as well which was causing Rufus to go nuts. He is neutered but he doesnt know that! ;) She seemed to fit in pretty well. Rufus and Amber accepted her into the "pack" and she seemed happy.

As the days went on....she started to come out of her shell in not such good ways. She stole something off the table one day, a high value item, I think if I recall it was half of my cheese steak sub. I went over to try to grab it and all of a sudden this vicious lion, or so it seemed came at me and nearly bit my hand. I stood back for a second, in shock and realized that we may have a problem. Now, this could have been a freak 1 time event...she is not trusting of me, I am not sure of her....so, lets see if this happens again. I began hand feeding her kibble from that day on...to get her used to the fact that my hand is not evil, and it gives her good things. It went well for weeks. I began to sit on the floor and put the kibble in the bowl and hold the bowl and she would eat it fine with no aggression at all. I felt we may be getting somewhere. So, it was a good few weeks and all seemed to be coming along, at least with the food. She was never aggressive to the other dogs, even from day 1. She would let them come right up to her while eating and they all seemed to understand each other. 

This was the first "group" picture I took of the 3 Dogeteers! From left: Amber, Molly, and Rufus 

There came a day, another random out of the blue incident occurred where she stole another item of value and this time she took it onto the couch and started to just tear into it like a hyena. As I approached her, I could hear her growling at me and she was doing the dead stare into my eyes. She meant business. This time however, I was prepared.....I figured that instead of yelling or causing more stress to the situation...I ignored her for the moment and went into the fridge and got a piece of lunch meat which was WAY more exciting then what she had. She jumped off the couch, leaving the stolen item and came tail wagging into the kitchen to get this much better piece of HAM! So we did this...over and over and over......the TRADE GAME is what we called it. You give me your item and I will give you mine. Once she walked away from what she originally had it was no longer the "hot" item. This worked..and still to this day....she will randomly steal things but NOW, she will wag her tail and show me the item as if it was a game in her head now too...Look MOM, Look what I just stole! Along with this resource guarding training, I also taught her the commands "drop it" and "leave it" which honestly are two of the most important commands to ever teach a dog ;)

So.....we move on to crating her. She was not 100% house trained when she got to us, so as a rule...pup is crated when we are not home to avoid accidents in the house. She never liked it, and would really get frustrated with going inside. We were giving her special treats which worked ok but she was so tense and upset and I could tell she was not in any way happy about it.

I remember one day....as I was walking into work I get a call from Elvie. He is yelling and I could barely understand what he was saying...but then it was clear. He said.......I tried getting Molly into the crate and she jumped up and tried to bite me in the face and I swear to GOD, if she ever tries that again she is OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!! 

Oh shit........

It seems when I think one problem is over, another one is about to begin and NOW I am thinking...What did I get myself into??? 

To be continued........

Molly's Story Part 1

Hello Everyone!

So...I have really never blogged before and I am still learning to do it so be patient! I am going to blog about my dog Molly for the next few week/months. She is a 6 year old Golden Retriever who we got at 8 months old FREE on craigslist. Now....WHY did I get her you wonder? Well..this is going to be my blog of our journey! Before Molly came along, we had 2 other Goldens Rufus and Amber and we had a big rottie/lab mix named Buck. Buck was the oldest and in what we thought was pretty good health! He was 9 yrs old and on a Sunday in January he got sick, just out of nowhere. He could not stand up, he refused to get out of his crate.....I was freaking out! I took him into work and they did ultrasound and other test to tell me he was bleeding internally and likely from the spleen...I then put him in the car and drove him to the Pet ER. This eerie feeling came about me, that I cannot explain but I know now that It was that feeling that I knew that he was not going to live through the rest of the day. 

When we got to the ER, they took him back and pretty much told me that it was Hemangiosarcoma and that he was going to need a blood transfusion and that it wasnt even a 20% chance he would make it through the night and then to face surgery to remove the spleen. At that moment, as he lay on the table unable to do anything...he gave me a kiss and I knew, at that moment that he was asking me to let him go.

I went through horrible grief for the next few weeks following.  I am glad I had Amber and Rufus to come home too and see their cute fuzzy faces.

So.....as the weeks went on, I though that since its always been a 3 dog household that maybe I would look to adopt a 3rd dog! I looked around and I came across this ad on craigslist that said  8 month old female Golden Retriever FREE to good home. I looked at it and thought...now, Why would someone want to give away a young dog like this. I was obviously NOT thinking clearly and you will find out soon enough!

I then emailed the person and asked if the dog was still available and was there something "wrong" with her that you want to just give her away and this is the response I get.

here is nothing wrong with her.
She is a female named Miley, she is not fixed.
She is alittle behind on her shots.
She has not had obedience training, but I'm sure with the right
discipline she would be wonderful.
The only reason I am giving her away to a good family is because, I can no longer care & give her the attention she
needs.  My mother used to care for her during the day, but she became ill
andpassed away in December.  I have tried to keep and care for her, but with
two kids and working full time I am not able to give her the attention she
needs.
She is a sweet girl but due to my present circumstances I must let
her go.
She would love to be around other dogs, however she is in heat right now, do you have males?  It looks as though it is tapering off.

After seeing this I tell Elvie that there is this GR that I want to get and she is FREE! I do still remember the look Elvie gave me and why didnt I take that as a "warning" ?

So we get into the car and met this woman in a church parking lot! YIKES!!!!

There is how we got Molly...her former name was Miley Cyrus and well, that wasnt happening so we went with the next closest thing! Here she is at 6 months old! They sent me a few pics and I just melted when I saw those floppy ears!