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REMEMBERING
CASEY
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Some Stories
About Casey
by Helen and
Martin
Rosenhaft
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Casey was a Yellow Lab. He was rescued in May of 1998. He was about a year old then.
He was taken to the Montgomery County, MD Animal Shelter and that’s where we fell in Love with him and adopted him in June 1998 when he was 13 months old.
Casey was very smart, very sweet, very claustrophobic, and afraid of many things like loud noises (terrified of Thunder), Gun shots (we could hear during hunting season - and he would refuse to go to the bathroom after hearing shots and he would run home and not go out for awhile until shots were over.
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The Vet thought that
was smart except for
the fact that Labs
were supposed to
retrieve the ducks
after they were
shot), smoke
detectors going off,
smoke detectors -
when the battery
begins to beep to
let you know you
need to change it,
enclosed spaces,
Cats, bees and wasps
(the Vet thought
that was also smart
of him), cardboard
boxes and a variety
of other little
things.
Oddly enough he did
not like the water,
except for one spot
at the Little
Assawoman Bay where,
if there were just a
few other dogs and
the water was very
calm, he would go in
to swim a little
especially if it was
a hot day. The
beach he liked but
not the water and he
hated a BATH.
Odd for a Lab.
Anyway, when we
adopted Casey, the
humane society told
us that we needed to
find a place in the
house to confine
Casey until he got
used to his new
surroundings. They
never mentioned that
he was
claustrophobic.
We purchased a baby
gate to keep Casey
in the kitchen. In
just a moment, he
managed to jump over
it with great pride
and ease. We then
purchased another
baby gate and
stacked the two
leaving about a foot
in between. Casey
looked, gauged his
distance, moved back
and cleared both
gates knocking them
down with his back
feet as he jumped
over.
For the next
morning, the next
option was a small
sitting room outside
of our bedroom.
The rooms were
adjoining via a
solid double French
door. We left him
there and went to
work. When I
returned, after a
few hours, Casey was
in our bedroom and a
bit nervous. I
called the humane
society and they
said it was
imperative that we
confine Casey for a
few days.
For the next day, we
had another
brilliant idea.
Back in the sitting
room, we had a
dresser full of
stuff. In the
morning, once again,
we placed Casey in
the sitting room and
pushed the heavy
dresser in front of
the double doors
(the room had
another door to the
hallway). Once
again, I returned
after a few hours to
find Casey in such a
state ... the room
was in shambles.
Casey was in our
bedroom, the dresser
was lying on the
floor. In the
sitting room, there
was a hole in the
door where he had
eaten through and he
had removed and
shredded the
carpeting, padding
and wood floor
underneath the
French doors so he
could escape his
prison. So
much for confining a
claustrophobic
animal.
To add insult to
injury, his entire
abdomen looked dark
to me and I was sure
he had a hernia. In
a terrified state, I
immediately grabbed
Casey and ran to the
Vet; thank heavens
he was just up the
street. Dr. Giebel
examined Casey and
said he was fine and
asked why was his
abdomen covered in
something green?
The
Hernia that I had
suspected turned out
to be Green paint
that fell out of the
dresser as he
toppled it and it
splattered on our
escape artist. We
had a laugh and Dr.
Giebel said ,”always
do what your
instinct tells you
is best for your
dog” and ,”by the
way, this seems to
be a claustrophobic
animal and he
shouldn’t be
confined”. From then
on, Casey and I had
a good understanding
of each other and he
was fine being left
home with the run of
the house. |
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As with
everything, it seems
like many of the
rules we followed
with our dogs years
ago have changed. Our Vet told us that
we could NOT give
Casey bones (they
may splinter) or raw
hide since it didn’t
digest well and
often could become
lodged in the
intestines and would
need to be removed
surgically.
Shortly
after we adopted
him, Casey had other
ideas. Where we
lived, no one had
fenced yards. Casey
was very good about
staying with us in
our yard and we
never let him out
alone. One day,
Casey discovered
that there was a dog
living three
backyards down the
hill. I opened the
back door and he
took off running. I
called and called to
him but then I
noticed he was in
the yard that
belonged to the
other dog.
Knowing
that Casey was very
attached to us and
would never go far,
I decided to wait
awhile. Sure enough,
he came running back
after digging in
their back yard.
Casey had a prize … a
large bone. As he
slowed his pace
coming up the deck
steps, He stared at
me. I said his name,
walked close to him
and lowered my hand
to retrieve the ill
gotten gains. OOPS ... with a bone in
his mouth Casey
bared his teeth and
growled at me.
I
couldn’t believe
what I was hearing
so I tried it
again ... I backed up
in fear. Casey kept
inching closer to
the door. I yelled
at him and demanded
the bone, he stared,
growled and pinned
his ears back not
sure what to do
next. He inched
closer to the door
so I opened the door
feeling that in the
house was MY turf
and I could control
things better. Casey
ran into the Living
room and lay on the
floor with his bone
firmly clenched in
his teeth.
I tried
one more time, no
luck. Then I became
scared so I sat on
the floor across the
room from Casey and
began to cry because
suddenly and
surprisingly I felt
afraid of this
animal that I barely
knew. Immediately,
my darling Casey
dropped his bone,
came over to me,
crawled onto my lap
(all 76 pounds of
him) and went to
sleep. That was the
end of that.
After
that we seem to have
worked things out. He still ran down to
retrieve his Prizes, now and again, but
when he brought them
home, I put out my
hand, commanded
“Drop it” ( which he
did with a bit of
hesitancy) and I
traded it for a
Large Milk bone dog
biscuit. The saying
about leaving a
dog’s bones alone
really is true.
Casey disliked
the scale at the
Dr’s Office. Casey
had a weight problem
for most of his life
and the Vet always
told him that he was
too fat. The Vet had
to lift Casey onto
the scale for all of
his life. He would
let the Vet and his
staff take blood
(from his leg or
neck) but NO scale.
Staff could easily
cut his nails (Casey
loved getting his
nails cut-he
actually began to
chew them when they
needed cutting) but
NO scale. Anything
they needed to do
was fine but NO
scale.
The first time we
brought Casey to the
Vet, he walked into
the large waiting
room and slowly
walked across the
room. He stopped
about 8 feet from
the far wall and
began to growl and
shake. It was a
poster of a Cat. That’s how we
determined that
Casey had a problem
with cats.
The Vet always
said that Dogs were
like sharks ... they
eat and poop. Well
Casey reached about
86 pounds and his
highest weight. He
also used to get
very excited when we
left him and
subsequently
returned home. He
was so excited that
he would jump up and
I was always afraid
that he would knock
me down since he was
so strong.
So, we
needed to devise a
way that he wouldn’t
get so excited when
we returned. The
Tech said we should
try to ignore him. That did not work. It actually made it
worse. He jumped
around like crazy
and if we turned
around he turned to
be in our face
anyway. So we
finally tried
something that
worked for his
entire life.
Amazingly enough, we
could leave Casey a
Large Milk bone dog
biscuit , in the
dining room when we
left. We would say
wait and he would
leave it until we
returned-whether it
was an hour or 8
hours. Sometimes he
would move it around
the house wherever
he was, but never
ate it until we
returned and told
him he was a “good
boy”. When we
returned, he ran to
see us, turned and
immediately went to
his treat.
Sometimes
he dragged it
outside to pee and
then ate it,
sometimes he just
came out to pee and
went back and waited
until we said he
could eat it. This
actually went on the
rest of his life.
Amazing.
In his last
few years, very
occasionally he did
eat the treat before
we got home and then
looked around as if
we had forgotten to
leave it. Sometimes
he forgot where he
had moved it, ate
the new one that we
provided and later
found his hidden
one.
What a Marvelous
friend. We will
miss Casey every
day. Casey had
lots of Canine
friends in our
neighborhood and we
made sure that he
was able to visit
with each of them
the last weekend
that we had Casey.
He was A Good Boy! |
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