My Time With Nellie

Although I have always thought of myself as someone who can be cool as a cucumber under pressure, the experience of fostering a dog proved to me just how much that can change when another life is under your care.

The dog that brought me to this realization is Nellie, a 1-year-old rat terrier mix.  Nellie has some separation anxiety issues and is also part of  the Center for Shelter Dogs’ fear of people pilot study here at the Animal Rescue League of Boston.  I had her in my home for about a week and it became apparent to me after the first night that everything I’ve learned thus far working at the ARL has impacted me in ways I couldn’t have expected.

The most definitive proof of this came the second day I was fostering Nellie.  She was lying on the couch in the living room next to me when one of my roommates entered the apartment.  She growled at him and I saw that her ears were back.  He tried to approach but I got very anxious about her body language and loudly asked him to move away.  He was confused by my haste and didn’t move very promptly to give her space.  It didn’t occur to me for a few minutes after, but during the whole encounter, I was perceiving the situation very differently than my roommate was.  Given my training in body language and behavior of animals, I could clearly see that Nellie was uncomfortable having him in her space.  He, on the other hand, has only known his family dogs- none of which had anxiety of any kind- so he never had to think about how his presence affects them emotionally.    Before gaining so much experience working with dogs, I can confidently say that I would have had the same reaction as him – telling me to “Chill out.”

My training proved itself to me once again that very same day.  A few hours later, the same roommate starting approaching Nellie while she was on the couch by herself with a rawhide.  I was about 20 feet away in the kitchen but I saw that when he was moving towards her, her ears went back and her posture stiffened.  She was watching him very nervously, so I told him to be cautious.  Nellie greeted him and seemed okay when he sat down on the couch next to her, so I turned my back and continued what I was doing in the kitchen.  The next thing I knew, I heard him say, “Whoa, Nellie!”  She had snapped at him when he went to pick up a jacket that was in between them.  He was still sitting very close to her after I had turned, so I hurried to get him off the couch.  To my roommate, I was freaking out and going over the top; but to Nellie, I may have been removing a great stress and that was my only concern.  What he also didn’t understand was that Nellie was not trying to actually bite or harm him, she was just looking out for the rawhide that she had in her possession at the time, and keep him away from it.

Fortunately, these were some of the only negative experiences I had with Nellie while she spent time in my apartment.  She loved being around the people there and got more at home every day.  Not only did she make me realize just how much I’ve learned working at the ARL but she also reminded me how great it is to have a dog in your home.

– Kelsey Holbeck, Northeastern University Coop student at The Center for Shelter Dogs