Happy Gotcha Day, Knox!
One year ago today, we went to the shelter (for the second time) and took home our sweet Knox. What we’ve learned since taking Knox home - getting to know him, love him, work with him - is so much more than either of us could’ve imagined. If you’ve rescued an animal - especially a shelter pet - you know it’s a mystery for the most part and there will be lots of “new” and “firsts” to come. Today, in celebration of Knox, we wanted to share some of his story + our story since our favorite day in February.
Before we adopted Knox, we had gone to the shelter “just to look”. While we definitely wanted to take home every pup, our one bedroom high rise apartment was limiting (back to that dream another time). As the shelter was close to closing for the day, we were able to have a meet and greet with one dog - named at the time, Puffy. The staff member brought us out this happy-to-be-out-of-the-cage pup and he immediately gave us a sniff then went to a corner to hang out (hide). We were told about him - a pointer and border collie mix, six years old and needing to be in a single dog home. On that first meeting with who would come to be our Knox, we thought he was sweet but we weren’t particularly sure he was “the one”. When you go to a shelter, it can be hard to allow yourself to connect too much. Some times they won’t be there next time and as Cara has adopted or been a part of many dog rescues, she especially wasn’t too open - just in case.
Despite that, in the week or so to come, Cara would check every day to see if he was still there. She even had a dream about him being in our lives. After that - lots of tears and swearing we were ready to make it work, and going over many dog name lists - we returned to AAWL to take Puffy home.
When we picked him up, we knew we wanted to change his name to Knox (we both like K names and wanted to play on the “Nox” charm from Harry Potter that extinguishes light, perfect for a black dog). Once we checked in, pretty nervous but really excited, we sat down to do our paper work and we got to learn even more about him. On December 31st - Cody’s birthday and nearly two months prior - (at the time) Peanut was surrendered to the shelter. His owners were moving and just couldn’t take him with them. They bought him as a puppy but for some reason, he just couldn’t stay with them. The staff member we worked with let us know the family seemed a little too excited to get rid of him with a story that felt weird and didn’t totally add up. Sensing this family was willing to simply abandon him, AAWL took him into their shelter. While this news was new to us and made us a little worried there was more to him than we knew, we went ahead. We knew we would be moving in the year and we knew Knox would be with us - no matter what.
When Knox was finally released to us, we saw his first Dog-Reactive Aggression (something we’ll share about later on). It was scary - Cody wasn’t sure what to do after Knox snapped at him and Cara was worried but thankful Knox ran right into her arms. Our first car ride home was easy, though Knox didn’t like the car right away, but overall getting into the apartment was pretty easy. While things seemed good at first, Knox ended up spending that first night under our bed, huddled in the dark middle refusing to come out. Thankfully treats were enough to coax him out the next day, he wouldn’t eat or drink for the first two days. He was truly terrified - he didn’t let us pet him, touch him and hid at every chance he got.
Within the first few months, Knox had huge milestones and we began to learn more about him. It became very clear to us early on his previous owners were at best neglectful but more likely than not, abusive. He was terrified of Cody (and most men), constantly growling at him whenever he came in the room. This thankfully subsided with training but there were other parts of Knox that to this day we still are working on. While Knox certainly doesn’t love meeting new people - he still barks at just about any human that comes in or near our home - he was most reactive to dogs. Seeing a dog - big, small, senior or puppy - he would go off barking aggressively, lunging and trying to defend himself. With the help of a local trainer, we were able to identify this and start practicing training techniques to make things easier and correct this behavior.
With both of us having had well behaved an non-reactive dogs, except Cara’s sweet Humphrey (another rescue), it was a huge challenge to adapt. When it came time for potty breaks or walks, we would carry him down stairs and to the elevator to avoid the (annoyingly + illegally) off leash dogs in our building. We would avoid other dogs at all costs - randomly switching directions on a walk, keeping treats on hand always, and a million more things we truly weren’t prepared for. That’s the thing about Knox - we weren’t prepared for a reactive dog. We’d be lying if we said we were. At the end of it though, that’s what love for your dog - your family - does. You work hard, do the extra things and learn (and keep learning) to do what you need to.
Since adopting Knox, he’s come so much out of his shell and we still are seeing, hearing, experiencing and learning new things about and for him. Some of those big milestones (good and bad) include: going on a walk with a nearby dog and not reacting, letting Cara’s mom and grandma pet him and take him potty, wagging his tail when he sees Cody, snuggling with us on the couch, eating and drinking normally, sharing his love of runs with us, learning sit, lay down and stay and so much more. Most recently, he’s gone to a dog beach with over a dozen other dogs only reacting once at the very end and finally (finally!) playing with us - zoomies, fetch, tug of war, with toys and all.
It’s been a wild ride with our sweet boy this last year. We’ve learned more than we ever thought we would. We’ve been tested, frustrated - felt hopeless and hopeful all in the same training session, walk and day. Rescuing a pup who isn’t quick to trust- and for good reason - we feel lucky that Knox chose us too. To trust, to be vulnerable with, to let himself be loved. All in all, we wouldn’t change any of it. We love our Knox and are so thankful we get to celebrate his gotcha day 365 days later.
