When I think back ten years to
when the pups were small, my 7 little Newfie babies, I remember how hard it was
for me to let them go to their new homes. After setting up appointments for the
new owners to swing by and pick up their new pup, I sometimes had to hide in the
bedroom and let Peter take over because I could not handle letting them go.
Things have not changed much
in ten years. I still have a hard time letting go, especially when letting go
means forever.
Steeler was the first pup at six weeks to be picked out by a new owner so he was named weeks before he ever
left my basement by the family who wanted him. His name prior to that was Blue
because of the color hair scrunchie that sported his neck until he could fit
into a collar.
Three years after living with
his new family, I got a call that he was headed for the dog pound
for his bad behaviors. Thankfully, one of the owners loved him enough
to bring him back to me, and for that I am
very thankful. Although I must admit that at times the
thanks were also mixed with hair pulling dilemmas!
When Steeler was dropped off to me by his owner, I had three of my Newfs, Steeler’s mom Abby, dad Bentley, and sister
Emma in their pen for safety sake to introduce them. They went nuts barking at
him as I held his lead. Then
suddenly, Abby took a whiff of the air and let out two distinctive barks which
stopped the other two immediately from barking at him. It was as if Abby recognized Steeler as one of
her own. Within minutes Bentley and Emma started barking again with any
movement that Steeler made, and once more Abby quieted them with those two
distinctive barks. I was amazed and
wondered what she was telling everyone and I thought that maybe, just maybe, everything
would work out just fine.
I was wrong!
Steeler fought or tried to fight with every dog in the house. The only ones who held their own or frightened
him off before he had a chance to do harm, were his siblings, Emma and Chance.
Casey, Bentley and Abby avoided Steeler like the plague during those first
few weeks, but it all changed one summer day when Steeler had again lashed out at Abby and she
let out a wail. Unknown to Steeler, Chance was lying on the
deck by my side, and Chance was a mama’s boy! This attack on Abby was the straw that broke
the camel's back for Chance. He had seen enough, and so, he ran to Abby’s side, gave
her a good sniffing over, then proceeded to run after Steeler, jump onto his back
and ride him like a cowboy on a bucking bronco! All four of Chance’s feet were
off the ground and his full body weight lay upon Steeler’s back as he gripped
Steeler by the neck. Steeler though, was not giving in. As this horrible fight ensued before my eyes, I thought, this
will be the day that Steeler dies!
Suddenly Steeler collapsed to the ground
with Chance still on his back, still clutching his neck strongly within his
mouth.
When such a dog fight ensues, it is human
nature to want to break it apart, scream at the dogs, or start hitting the
aggressor. But in fact when we do this, the fight lasts longer and is more
severe, so I quietly waited for its end.
Steeler lay motionless and I
did indeed think he was dead or dying. Chance finally got off of him and came to my side, where I quickly ushered him onto the deck and locked the gate so I could go
check on Steeler. Amazingly both Steeler
and Chance had not one bite mark on them, although Steeler was missing a bit of
hair from the neck, so it was all bravado and challenge.
Chance was not out for a kill, though if he
wanted to I suspect he could have. Chance’s intent was to knock Steeler down a few notches. This was certainly accomplished as Steeler would not go near any of the dogs in that manner ever again. In fact
for the rest of their time together in this home, Steeler would not go near anyone, dog or human, when
Chance was in the vicinity as seen in my video here. Observations of a Newfoundland family.
From that point there was peace in the household, but Steeler's obedience training was still severely lacking, as trying to get Steeler to walk on a
lead from the back door to the garage was a nightmare that yielded my body
scrapped and black and blue around the wrists, shins, knees and hands. He would start off walking fine and then just bolt pulling me to the ground. It took six months of
continuous daily training, and thousands of
hot dog slivers just to get him to heel!
Over time I was able to teach
Steeler many manners, and he taught me something that I had never had to deal
with in my home before which was unruly dog behavior, but even more than that
he taught me not to give up. If I had given up on him and just sent him to one
of the many people who called wanting to buy him upon his return, I would have
passed along a problem that may have had him headed once again to the dog pound. That would not have been fair to him. It was not his fault he was this
way.
Steeler and I did not give up
on each other and by not giving up he was able to finally succeed at becoming a fine
therapy dog, a county mascot alongside Chance in animal response, and he helped to raise money for breast cancer
awareness. The bumps along the road only made me more determined not to let him
down.
Not all of his silly behaviors
were eliminated, but I learned how to keep him safe from himself and I prepared
for these little things. Like knowing to
check all widow locks before leaving the house as one of his tricks was to
open a window and jump out. He did check every window in the house to see if
the safety locks were on because every window would be opened an inch when I got
home!
The more that I took him out on therapy
visits the better behaved and more serene he became at home. The more challenges we met and conquered, the
more trusting and attached we became. The more times he went out with Chance on
non scheduled Therapy Dog visits, the more they both learned from each other. These visits included taking them Christmas shopping with us and making sure to have them stand for a few minutes alongside the Salvation Bell ringers to aide the general public in seeing their own good qualities which got a little more cash dropped in SALVO donation pot, as well, we visited schools to bring about awareness of preparing one's pets for
disasters.
Steeler, like all dogs had
his own personality and antics. He loved
people, especially children, he liked games such as: let me hide mom’s socks in my slobbery wet jowls
and she’ll give me a cookie to drop them. He loved the vacuum and came running when we
turned it on, and when he was ready to go out in the morning, he would stick
his big head under the bed covers lifting them off of me and then proceeded to poke me with his
big nose. If you met Steeler, you would not easily forget him, he would lean
into you until your bodies melted together and then raise his head high to get a neck
rub. If you could get past the drool
you were sure to encounter, he would be your friend for life just for a neck rub.
I am human; therefore I am
flawed, so I am thankful that God’s creatures teach me on a daily basis how to
be just a little less flawed and a lot more understanding with a twist of patience.
Like Chance’s passing and
those before and after him, this will take much time for me to get over. On the morning of Steeler’s death I went to my
mom’s apartment to prepare her meds and get things ready for her day and I told
her what had happened in the early morning hours as she slept right down the hall from
where Steeler took his last breath. She
gasped, as Steeler was a daily part of her life, but her gasp was not for
Steeler, it was for me, as she said, “Steeler is fine, it is you who is
not.” And I could not agree more. I know Steeler is fine, but I am human and
therefore I am flawed so my agony comes not from the fact he has gone to a
better place, but from my heart that aches and still wants him here with me.
Rest in peace Ste-Ste, you
came so far and you accomplished much!
Video memory here 
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