CHARLIE (@RB), TOGGLE NELL (@RB), HARRIET & STARR GIESE
The gang, lounging around the yard.
Mary Giese writes: My three ADTs are Charlie (@RB), Nell & Toggle. I got Nell first following a call from Carol Domeracki that there was a female waiting in Iowa who had been rescued from a Minnesota collector farm with 400 dogs in pens on it. We negotiated with the Cedar Bend Humane Society who wanted an owner closer to home, but finally decided to let me take her when they had no other offers.
She was completely unsocialized and terrified of humans. She weighed 37 pounds and her undocked tail was bald. The Humane Society staff named her after the Jodie Foster movie of the same name. I brought her home in the car and that night when I took her out before bed, she slipped her collar and disappeared. I searched for her over the course of months. I got calls on sightings but no luck recapturing her. She avoided humans at all costs, but person after person kept telling me that she was making friends with their dogs, who would then let her eat out of their bowls.	12/24/97 - One of the few times Charlie is willing to take a back seat to Nell.
12/18/97 - Nell & Charlie after their first year here.
Meanwhile, Charlie, a 75-pound handful, had landed in a boarding kennel when they could find no one to take him. He had been rescued from a pet shop when he was extremely ill by a woman who threatened to call the ASPCA if the store did not let her take the dog to the vet. He was completely dehydrated and on an IV for a week. They did not expect him to live, but you know Airedales. His owner obviously adored him, but he kept ruthlessly attacking their other dog and threatened humans at times, so the couple decided he had to go.
12/24/97 - Nell lecturing Charlie, who grew up in a pet store, on the fine art of being a Terrier.	He was adopted by a family who returned him after he went after their housekeeper and threatened the teen-aged daughter's boyfriend. He may have gone to a second home which did not work out either.
He was passed up by another rescue person because of his temperament and was languishing away at a boarding facility. Carol and I discussed him in the course of our many discussions over the missing Nell. I said I'd take him and after talking it over with the other ATRA folks, they agreed because there were no other options for him.
Charlie, all ready to greet passers-by.	He came into a home with an aging, infirm Shepherd/Collie mix and a c*t. He adored me almost instantly and did OK with the cat (some mild chasing but no real threat). He only attacked my old dog once and after that he was nice to her, even when she growled at him. He was trouble with other people, especially men, and strange dogs, who magically appeared, unattended, each time we would go for a walk.
Charlie discusses plans for a raid on the dogfood container with Nell.	He thinks he's pretty clever.
I also discovered he had a thyroid problem, based on symptoms that were similar to my first Airedale's. So I had to put him on daily medication (You should have seen the look on my face when I asked the vet what effects the medication would have and he said, 'Oh, he'll be more active.'.)

Continue with the saga of the Giese Pack HERE