Meadow's "Gotcha" Day

March 22, 2011 00:04 by Donna

In lieu of celebrating their dog’s birthdays, many rescuers now celebrate their dog’s “Gotcha” day – the date they first adopted their dogs. March 22nd is Meadow’s “Gotcha” day, but not in the above sense of the word.

Exactly one year ago today, a woman named Carol Rock bravely snuck up behind the unsuspecting Vizsla, then named Brownie-Baby, threw her arms around the dog, and said, “Gotcha!”

The successful capture came after Carol and another kind soul, Lex Murphy, spent many months feeding and attempting to befriend the runaway dog, rumored to have been roaming the forests of Colonie, NY for nearly three years. Like a semi-tame wolf, the flighty canine slipped in and out of people’s yards, played with their dogs, accepted morsels of food – and then melted back into the trees before anyone could snare her.

Until she fell asleep on a comfy bed in Carol Rock’s yard on March 22nd of 2010.

From Carol’s arms, the flighty dog found herself at the Shaker Veterinary Hospital, where all of her health needs were addressed, while the Vizsla Club of Central New England was planning her future. Named Meadow by her foster Mom, Lesli Hyland, because she was “wild, yet peaceful,” it is incomprehensible to us how this dog survived for so long on her own. A true house dog, Meadow feels more secure inside our home than she will ever be outdoors, she would rather ‘hold it’ than brave the rain to use the backyard as a bathroom, and she is never far from either her dog bed or our baseboard heater – two of her very favorite human inventions.

Meadow has been with us since June and although certain fears will probably remain a permanent part of her nature, she has made much faster progress than we initially anticipated, and her true personality emerges more and more with each passing day. During her time here with us, Nick has been enjoying video-taping her, and he has been creating mini-movies to highlight her successes as his schedule allows.

If you haven’t already seen Meadow’s earlier videos, you can find her Intro video and Month’s Two thru Four in the sidebar located to the right at our You Tube channel.

This newest video, Months Five and Six, is from October and November of 2010. In it you will see Meadow first learning to retrieve toys, walking alongside Nick while dragging a long line, and learning to come and sit in front of him. You will also get to see jealous Toby distracting her and being rewarded for his efforts by having to do a few doggie push-ups. Toby and Meadow’s relationship is not quite perfect, but they do often play well together, and the rest of it is a work in progress. I’m happy to say that Leah and Meadow co-exist quite peacefully together; in fact, Meadow is Leah’s little protégé and has picked up all of her habits – both good and bad. We think Leah is priming Meadow so that she can retire from such activities as bullying Toby, barking at cars, and chasing squirrels and cats – because more and more, Leah sits back and watches while her understudy takes over the reins. As with any group of multiple animals, supervision is the key to peaceful cohabitation in our home, and we are happy that

Meadow is finally comfortable enough to start acting like a normal dog, even if it means she too gets “in trouble” from time to time. :) I hope you enjoy Nick’s video productions and check back again for future updates about Meadow and her four legged friends, Leah and Toby.