BLACK RUSSIAN TERRIER RESCUE ASSOCIATION
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My experience with Tao began with my friend Cathy Kozak.  It was Cathy who made it her mission to find me the perfect dog after I bought my first home several years ago.  I enjoyed her Mini Schnauzers, but felt their energy was not quite the right fit. After some research, she was convinced what I was looking for was a Giant Schnauzer.  We found some Giant enthusiasts that met near a local dog friendly cafe, and had the opportunity to meet several Giants and their owners.  I was hooked, but had some reservations about whether a Giant could coexist with my parrot, as most have a significant prey drive.  While I was away on vacation, Cathy happened to meet Karalyn Eckerle of the newly developed Southern California Giant Schnauzer Rescue at an event in Arizona.   She was fostering a female giant, Bonnie, with a very low prey drive that had  mostly ignored her own birds.  Cathy convinced them to hold the dog for me until I had a chance to talk with them.  I returned from vacation and Cathy proudly  announced that she had found me the perfect dog!  I submitted an application and  talked extensively with Karalyn about my situation and what she knew about  Bonnie's background.  We decided to give it a chance.  The local Valley of the Sun Giant
Schnauzer Rescue came by for a courtesy site visit at my house to make sure it was suitable, and Karalyn and I split the distance between Phoenix  and San Diego,  meeting in Yuma for me to adopt Bonnie.  It didn't seem right to call her Bonnie since she no
longer  lived with her brother Clyde, so I changed her name to Kona for this new chapter  in life.   It was life changing for me, and  for Cathy, who added a Giant to her family as well.  When Kona suddenly passed last September at age 9 1/2, I was  beyond heartbroken.

After about a month had passed, Cathy mentioned that when if/when I was ready to consider another dog, Chis Maduri was the national coordinator for BRT rescue.  I had watched Cathy's BRT Zaja grow up from a pup over the last year, and had grown to like this big goofy bear of a dog.  He  reminded me quite a bit of the Giant personality, and I had to agree with  Cathy's assessment that while physically bigger than most Giants, he had a  milder temperament. She had also observed much less prey drive than her Giant. I had just met Chris a few weeks before Kona passed, when I took Kona to her for  grooming on Cathy's recommendation.  I must say Kona had never looked better! 

I had talked to Karalyn Eckerle after Kona passed, and her kind words  did so much to help my transition.  A couple things she said
truly resonated  with me.  The first was that having another one does not in any way disrespect  the memory of the one you lost.  The second was that she had come to recognize  that her new ones often seem hand-picked by the one who left --- they often  exhibit similar traits.  She would tell herself,  "the one who passed knew it  was a good home and when he saw another in need and thought it a good match, he  mushed us together!"  Since she knew my situation, I asked her to look into any  Giants with SCGSR that might be a good fit.  At the time, none were quite right  for my situation.  I decided to submit an application with BRT rescue, and let  Kona pick for me.  Just a week later, Chris called me up to discuss a dog that  had come into rescue.  She explained his background and the incredible journey  he had already taken to Alabama.  Given his history of food and  toy guarding, she did not want to place him into a family with small children.   Since I had listed Cathy as a reference, she had talked with her extensively  to  see if I would be a good fit for his needs.   While she preferred to avoid more  travel, she was willing to consider having him come out to Arizona if I would  commit to giving him a home.  I thought it over carefully, and decided to open  up my heart and home to Tao. I became more excited in anticipation as I received  updates and pictures on progress with his fosters.  After a few delays, the big  day arrived for his flight from Atlanta to Phoenix, which also required  a long drive to Atlanta to catch the flight.   I  remember when the cargo worker announced that his crate had arrived, with eyes  like saucers  "that is one big dog!"  I grinned, knowing Tao was actually  rather  small for the breed.

He was such a sweet boy!  We all took turns giving Tao a big hug to welcome him home, relieved to finally see him.  I took him on a  leash across the lot to let him stretch, and just marveled at him.  Chris thoughtfully brought some shampoo to clean him up from his trip.  We took him by  the office where Cathy and I work, and he met several people readily, tail   ever-wagging.  I took him home to rest after the long day, and began working  with him by hand feeding and allowing limited exposure to toys.  The next day,  Chris generously donated her time to give Tao a proper bath and trim down his  coat, which was so extensively matted that it simply came off like a blanket.   He seemed so much more comfortable afterward!

I took him to  the vet a  couple days later to begin heartworm prevention and for microchipping, and he  was very calm waiting in the office and a perfect patient!  That weekend was  Halloween, and he demonstrated his formidable guarding abilities on some  unsuspecting trick-or-treaters.  I left the front door open so that air could  come through the security door.  A group of a dozen or so young  trick-or-treaters rang the doorbell, and Tao immediately rushed the door with a  ferocious bark.  From the back of the house, I could hear a cascade of screams  as they saw his approach to the security door, and by the time I arrived there  was a mass of children running to the driveway.  A friend ran outside to  reassure them and offer them each some candy.  I suppose word got around, since  we didn't have any more visitors the rest of the night!

After a few days,  my girlfriend Jen brought her two smaller dogs (a cocker spaniel and cavalier  king charles spaniel) over for introductions.  Everyone got along fine, and we  were very hopeful for a smooth transition.  Unfortunately, a few days later,  there was an incident in which Tao flipped over her little female cocker.  We  did not see any trigger, and decided to keep them separate and allow more time  for his transition to a new home.  A few days after that, Tao found a toy we had  inadvertantly left out, and he become  possesive.  When my girlfriend sat on the  couch next to where he was laying on the floor and demanded he drop it, then  attempted to pick it up, he charged right at her.  She threw her hands up over  her head, and he fortunately only nicked a finger before I grabbed him back and  sent him out of the room.  It shook us both up quite a bit, and after this and a  couple other incidents we realized that our collective understanding of  his issues was inadequate.  To my surprise, when I questioned whether I was  able to give Tao the home he needed an ensure everyone's safety, it was Jen that  insisted that we would do whatever it took to make things work.  We would not  give up on Tao.

I called Chris, and she agreed that we needed a  behaviorist.  We each made inquiries, and both came up with the same  ecommendation: Gary Wilkes.  He had worked with several large breeds with  similar issues, and both Giant Schnauzer rescue groups I contacted, recommended  him urgently for my situation.  I called Gary and found him extremely  knowledgeable and thought his approach made sense.   We scheduled an  appointment.  Gary is the founder of  clicker training, and immediately began  working on positive reinforcement with click and treats to encourage correct  behaviors, then also began techniques to establish boundaries and teach  inhibitions.   I came away from our first session with a real sense of relief  and hope that we could help Tao reach all his potential.  Gary  made some real  progress with Tao in that first session.  In particular, he made sure that Tao  listened to Jen.   He gave us homework assignments, and in  the days that  followed, Tao clearly began to recognize Jen as an authority in the home.  In  subsequent sessions, Gary taught us much about how to interact with Tao and dogs  in general, and showed us how to teach inhibitions and encourage behaviors with  Tao.  It was an amazing transformation.  He seemed a completely different dog by  the 4th weekly session, and we continued to build from there.  During our last  training session, Tao obeyed commands from new people in the home from across  the room. His 'vocabulary' of commands has drastically increased with Gary's  guidance.

Today, Tao is an absolute joy.  He has been getting along fine  with Jen's dogs, and now readily drops toys and other items when asked without  any guarding issues.  I have not had any issues with food, although I continue  to feed him separately to avoid triggering any problems.  He plays fetch with  abandon, and will bring the ball directly to my hand and drop it. Gary  introduced me to the Gentle Leader collar, which has made me much more confident  in public.  He invited me to take Tao to the local Giant Schnauzer fun day,  where Tao met over 20 Giant Schnauzers, most of them off leash and often several  at once, and he behaved beautifully!  He was happy to meet people of all ages,  and seemed very comfortable in a rather chaotic situation full of people, food  and many dogs off leash in an enclosed park.  A friend of mine from out of town  came to stay at my house for several days, and he and Tao became fast friends.   Not known for being much of a 'dog person', he commented before he left that  Tao was the most well-behaved dog he had ever met!

I am so glad that  Cathy introduced me to BRTs and thankful for all of the sleepless nights Chris  put into Tao's rescue to allow him to be a part of our lives.  He is now just another member of  the family.  Well, the only one with a big wet beard!  :)

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  • Welcome
  • Surrender
  • Adoption
    • After the Adoption
  • Adoption Application
  • Success Stories
  • Volunteers
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
  • BRTCA