Emma Grace's Story
August 31, 2008
We are long past due for an update on Emma Grace “Gracie” who we first met 18 months ago (as Ivy) in Arkansas where she was fostering with an amazing family after having been rescued from mean people and almost certain death at an auction in Missouri. Since then, she’s celebrated Halloween with a costume, a national championship football season (Go Mountaineers!), and her first Christmas with a fresh tree and her very own stocking. Along the way, her story has been an inspiration to many people here in the Carolinas and she has come light years, as she’s learned (with the help of her sister Hadley) to be a dog!!
People told me I was crazy - beyond crazy – for getting on a plane bound for Arkansas, spending the night in the home of complete strangers, spending an exorbitant amount for a plane ticket – all to get a dog that was almost 9 years old, not house broken and scared of people. After all, there are plenty of dogs in South Carolina, many of whom are in need of good homes. They were right – this sounded nutty – but somehow I just knew that Gracie was supposed to be right here with us in Columbia. After all, most people can learn to be good doggie families, but we had enough love (and enough squirrels) to take on this special challenge and boy, have the rewards been multiplied!!
Gracie was a breeder dog at a puppy mill in Missouri. She had fourteen litters in seven years and her feet probably didn’t touch grass until she was eight years old. When she was eight, Westie Rescue volunteers bought her at the end of an auction for $50, where they probably saved her from being whacked with a shovel and thrown in a landfill. I can’t tell you how blessed we have been as a result of their “bargain buy” that day!!!
When she was rescued, Gracie had a mammary tumor and was filthy. She had outlived her “breedability” and needed to be spayed, groomed and introduced to people. Mill dogs are tough survivors, but completely unsocialized, and like many, Gracie had clearly been severely mistreated as evidenced by her ongoing fear of men. She was scared of doors, loud noises and unfamiliar with regular household sounds like the dishwasher, washing machine, ice maker and hair dryer. Until she moved in with the Copes – her wonderful foster family – she had never been given a reason to trust people at all!
On the flight from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Charlotte, NC, Gracie did a Westie Rescue first – earning her flight wings from the attendant who I’d met on the flight into Arkansas the night before. She was a champ on the plane and grew braver and braver in the car as we “chatted” on the drive south to her new home in Columbia. What she didn’t know was that her doggie sister, Miss Hadley (my then five-year-old Scottie rescue) was a little less than convinced that she really needed to share her house, and yard (and couch, and squirrels and cookies) with another dog. It was an adjustment for all of, as we adjusted to having both a princess and a princess in training in one palace!
In the past eighteen months, Hadley has learned to be a sister, while Gracie has learned to be a dog – and a beautiful, strong-willed and sassy one at that! She has become quite an expert at chasing squirrels, digging holes, barking at the mailman, dancing for cookies and sleeping on the bed. She loves running in the back yard, sunning on the deck, playing in the leaves and walking on a leash around our neighborhood. We have found a groomer who also has a Puppy Mill Rescue Westie (baby Olivia) and the great staff at Groomingdale’s have helped me understand just how amazing Gracie’s progress really is. We have also found an incredible pet sitter – Miss Elaine – who is nothing short of a dog whisperer. She and Gracie have hit it off famously – shockingly so, in fact. And as Elaine has been here to take care of the girls from time to time, Gracie’s courage and sass have begun to shine through brighter and brighter. That part of her transformation has been truly remarkable!!
While we have still not embarked on a canine “Girls Trip” to the beach, Gracie and Hadley have gone to “Camp Grandma” in the North Carolina Mountains twice now, while I’ve gone on vacation. Both times Hadley was welcome to head back to Columbia, but I had to drive a hard bargain to get Miss Gracie back from “her other Mom”!! She has made fast friends with her “cousins” in the mountains and at her Auntie Annie’s in Greensboro, has learned to play with toys, chew bones and has even learned to give Hadley a run for her money when we play ball in the yard!
At home, we still have a combination of great days and scary days. As hard as I try to make sure repair people, the bug man and others who come in the house are pet friendly, Gracie is still very much afraid of people in general and men in particular. Much to my frustration - and as a sign of both her fear and determination - she spent a good deal of time under the deck this spring and summer, refusing to come inside, even during a couple of hail and lightning storms. As a survivor, she found a “safe place” that is easily accessible, beyond the reach of people and thankfully shady and cool. That being the case, right now she's worn out after an full attack on the backyard squirrels, sacked out on the couch, in front of the television, dreaming about rabbits and waiting for the next doggie with a jogger run past her window.
From time to time, we continue to have challenges with “inside potty,” particularly since a dog who has been severely mistreated doesn’t respond at all to the appropriately negative reaction that compels most dogs to behave. My second dining room rug is now in need of replacement, but it stands to reason that fussing appropriately at a dog who has been badly beaten is like telling a starving child staring a full plate that he can’t leave the table until he eats all of his dinner. It amounts to disciplinary pocket change when you need big dollars to make improvement. We’ve learned to adjust pretty well, working hard to go heavy on the praise (and cookies!!) for good behavior. Along the way, disappointing “Mommy” has become a disincentive – hopefully enough of one that my next dining room rug will be a long term purchase!
On the whole, this little child has been such an amazing blessing and joy – to me, my family, neighbors, friends and people like Miss Elaine and our groomers – and I think even to Hadley some days. Her resilience, sass, kisses, baby snores, cookie dances and charming little barks out the window have stolen my heart and warmed so many others. Her story has helped raise awareness about the horror of puppy mills and the way pet stores perpetuate that cruelty. It is safe to say, that didn’t help me win friends with a Missouri State Senator and his wife, with whom I was seated at a conference dinner last month. But I’m 100% confident they now understand that their state’s laws are among the worst in the nation and the new puppy they just bought at a pet store is part of the reason my Gracie – and so many of your pets – didn’t touch grass until they were eight years old. And as another friend seated at the table pointed out, that is not because there’s no grass in St. Louis...
Thanks to the amazing people at Westie Rescue for all you do to help save dogs like Gracie who are such amazing blessings, but also for your work to educate pet lovers about the horror of puppy mills and the need for real reform. We look forward to some great adventures ahead, and promise to keep you posted with pictures and stories as we make plans to visit the beach, the mountains and maybe even the doggie park!