Meet Jeremy Todd!

Some of you may already have met Jeremy Todd over on Facebook and Twitter. But I just had to blog about the newest addition to our family!

Jeremy has had a rough road so far. This is what I know of his story. About a year ago, he was hit by a car and his family took him to the vet but wouldn't pay his vet bill or take him back. He was injured in his shoulder and you can still feel a bony protrusion there. He ended up at the Bergen County Animal Shelter where I believe he stayed for six months. They were ready to put him down because no one had adopted him and because he was getting so hyper and was growling from being cooped up so long. I don't even want to think about how close he came to being put down. To his rescue came the wonderful people at Rescue Ridge. They paid the shelter to release him and took him to their farm in Howell. That was in October, 2009.



I first saw Jeremy (then called Cassidy) on Rescue Ridge's Petfinder website. Since I'm working at home now and have more time, I had been looking online at shelter dogs and was thinking of giving one a home. I've always had a soft spot for cocker spaniels. I went out to Rescue Ridge's farm and met Jeremy. He was very hyper, running in circles, leaping on the kennel door, leaping on people, grabbing at clothing and nipping. I have very little experience with dogs, not having had one since I was a child. I kept telling myself that this dog had too many issues to deal with and was too hyper for my quiet life. He may not have had a good, stable upbringing or maybe it was just all that had happened to him the last year - he definitely needed some behavior modifications. But something about him kept me coming back. I went to the farm several times that first week to walk Jeremy with the other volunteers who loyally come to the farm to walk the dogs.



I did some online research on dog training and started watching the Dog Whisperer on TV and began to think that I just might be able to train Jeremy and help him to calm down. The people at Rescue Ridge were encouraging and told me that if I adopted Jeremy, they would always be available to help. They checked me out carefully, as they do all those who wish to adopt their animals and I was told that I could adopt Jeremy if I wanted to. During the second week I spent at the farm, I began to seriously think of adopting him. But the biggest test was how he would get along with my two cats, Dickon and Belle!

One of the gentlemen from Rescue Ridge, Paul, brought Jeremy to my home to meet Dickon and Belle. While it wasn't the best of meetings, Paul felt that Jeremy would not be aggressive with the cats and that it would work out in time. So Jeremy stayed in my home and has now been with us three weeks today.



It's hard to believe this is the same dog I first saw at the Rescue Ridge farm! He's calmed down a lot and is lying at my feet right now, chewing on his stuffed monkey. When I had tried to brush him at the farm, he growled and snarled at me and wouldn't let me do it. I imagine he just didn't know what I was doing. But now he lets me brush him, comb him and even dry him with a hair dryer! He's being a real doll with the cats though he wants to play with them and doesn't realize how much bigger he is than them! As you can see, he's taken over the cat bed!



He's walking much better on a leash now though we have a way to go to teach him to walk with a loose leash. He stays at the door when I go outside to feed the birds or get the mail and no longer leaps at the door. He's not barking at every little sound like he did when he first came here. He still needs to calm down when people come to the house. He really loses it and reverts back to some of his old behavior because of the excitement. But we'll be working more on that.

Please don't think I'm saying anything against the people at Rescue Ridge because of the way Jeremy behaved there. They are truly wonderful people and do their very best for the animals in their care. But of course the animals do need to be penned up and there is a lot of barking and it's very hard for the dogs there to be as calm as they would be in a quiet home. To anyone who is thinking of adopting a shelter dog - please don't judge a dog by the way he behaves at a shelter. They so often are completely different in a home environment. They just need some quiet, structure and discipline and lots of love and most re-adapt to home life very quickly, just as Jeremy Todd has. Please check out their website at Petfinder and follow them on Facebook and Twitter. I actually set up the Twitter account on their behalf and will be updating information about Rescue Ridge and their rescued animals there. Please send a donation to this wonderful rescue group through their website and help them help these needy animals.



Thank you, folks at Rescue Ridge, for bringing this delightful, affectionate dog into my life!