Antonio (“Tony”)

Antonio (“Tony”) is a 6 1/2 year old black Cocker Spaniel. Nice looking little dog. He weighs just under 30 pounds and has been neutered. Tony has been with us for almost a week. His story isn’t a happy one.

Tony’s owners died when he was three years old. The person who took him in decided to keep him outside. He lived outside in the yard for three years with no maintenance, no interaction with the family, and little food. Finally, in early August, he was relinquished to the Shelter. The owner said she didn’t have time for him. No kidding. She just figured that out. I want you to look at the pictures below. Look closely. The pictures were taken within a few minutes after his arrival at CCHS. You can click on the pictures to see a larger size.

Tony was one huge, filthy, infested blob of matted fur. Check out that photo on the right. The matted hair had completely blocked the vision of his left eye. Compare the size of his front leg in the photo on the left with the picture at the top of this post. The Shelter shaved seven pound, that’s right, seven pounds, of matted hair from his body. Matted hair interfered with every bodily function, from movement to elimination. His life must have been a living hell. The Shelter staff told me you could smell him from 25 feet away. He was that filthy. How could anyone allow an animal to get to this condition? What kind of person can look at this for over three years and not be bothered by it? How can someone let their kids grow up seeing this? It’s outrageous. It should be some kind of crime, but sadly, it isn’t. I sincerely hope that karma will ultimately even the score.

Mary '”Tief” Tiefenbrunn, CCHS Executive Director, often says that the day a dog comes to CCHS is sometimes the best day of its life. That was certainly true for Tony.

So why did Tony wind up in foster care with us?

CCHS, like many, if not most, shelters, gives each dog a temperament test before putting it up for adoption. At one extreme, these tests are used to flag animals that are potentially dangerous before they get put into a home with, say, small children. Most of the time they’re used to find areas that potential adopters may need to work on with extra training. In Tony’s case, he failed his first test for “resource guarding” by being extremely protective of whatever was near him. Food, toys, a TV remote control, you name it, he wasn’t about to give it up. Resource guarding can be very dangerous. You could get very seriously bitten trying to take something away from a dog that shows that behavior. Children and new pet owners are especially at risk. Tony also had issues with other dogs, men, and cats.

CCHS behaviorist, Laura Davis, as well as a few volunteers worked with Tony for weeks to get him over his resource guarding issues. Although he was much improved, he failed his second try at the test. The staff had a big emotional investment in Tony, yet he couldn’t go up for adoption after failing the test twice. That’s when we became involved.

Laura and Shelter Manager Michelle McKnight asked if we would take Tony for a few days to see how he would act in a home environment. Sometimes dogs are very stressed at the Shelter and behave in a different way than in a home. We were to see if the test results held up away from the Shelter. So last Saturday I stopped by the Shelter, picked up Tony, and brought him home.

Within ten minutes of coming in the door he jumped into my lap and licked my face. So much for being aggressive toward men. Next we did introductions with the Base Pack. We have this part down pat. Bella was first to meet him. We haven’t had a foster dog yet that she hasn’t gotten along with. Next was Sidney, then Austin, and finally Russell. Tony was a bit intimidated by their size, but there were no problems. That answered the part about aggression toward other dogs—there isn’t any.

When it came time for dinner Harriett hand fed him his entire ration of kibble. No issues whatsoever. The next day for breakfast, same thing. That evening’s dinner—no problem. Then she tried moving his bowl while he was eating. No problem. Finally, after three days, Tony started showing interest in toys. He picked up a tennis ball and I reached down and took it out of his mouth. He gave it to me without any problems. We’ve tried playing fetch (he loves it!) and using other toys to play with and have not had any problems getting things away from him.

Michelle stopped by yesterday and checked him out herself. He’s a completely different dog here than he was at the Shelter. He’s a friendly, playful little guy. Michelle gave us the go-ahead to post about him so CCHS can start looking for a suitable home. He probably won’t be able to go to a home with small children, and he may not be the best choice for the first-time dog owner, but for someone who’s willing to put some time and training into him he’s going to make a great companion. He deserves it after the life he’s had so far.

If you’re interested in adopting Tony, call the Champaign County Humane Society and speak to a member of the adoption staff.