Tillie's Story

Tillie came to me through VicDog Rescue in August 2007. I fostered her with the intention of keeping her but had to ensure that Tillie would be okay with my two Siamese cats who were both 8 years of age. From the outset Tillie proved to be very friendly but she was terribly subservient and showed signs of being abused. She was terrified when I tried to take her for a walk and I had to carry her away from the house and then put her down to walk back which she did quite happily. Tillie was also very timid about coming inside and had to be encouraged to enter the house through the back door and it was some time until she was comfortable with the idea of being allowed to sleep and live inside. The really sad thing for me was coming to the realisation that she did not have any concept of play and left all her toys, would not engage in tug of war and had no idea what to do with a bone. On my first day at work I returned home to find Tillie on her couch in the family room surrounded by feathers and I thought she must have caught a bird but then realised that she had pulled all the feathers off my cat Vashti’s toy feather duster. As there were a few feathers remaining on the stick, I picked it up with a view to play with her and waved it in front of her but her reaction shocked me as she rushed into a corner of the room, curled in foetal position, shaking uncontrollably. It was a sickening realisation to understand that this tiny, friendly and totally non-threatening little girl had been beaten with a stick. It took quite a bit of coaxing to get her to come out of that corner and even now, four years later if she sees me with a stick in my hand, she will move well out of reach.

In her first week with me I took her to Williamstown off-leash area and after a run, I went to the ladies toilet before the drive home. This concrete cubicle obviously reminded Tillie of the pound (see picture of Tillie on the Vic Dog Rescue website home page on what looks like a concrete floor) and she again started trembling and showing terrible signs of stress.

After a few weeks and once she was more settled, it became obvious that while the cats tolerated her presence, she would not become a play mate and Tillie would give me a huge sigh when I left for work each morning so I decided to get her a playmate and took Tillie to choose her new sister and so entered Pandora (initially called Stella for a few weeks but she refused to answer to that name). Pandy was a ten week old puppy and so had no bad history and is by nature a very confident, strong-willed little dog who taught Tillie how to play with toys, wrestle, play tug of war and, very importantly, what one does with a bone! Pandora is quite a wonderful, happy girl but definitely the pack leader and took all the dog toys for herself. When I returned from work one day, I found Tillie’s toys outside and imagined that Pandora had learned how to use the doggy door, however, it turned out that Tillie was taking her toys outside to protect them from Pandy’s very strong and destructive jaws.

While Pandora was still very young, another little dog came into our lives. The abuse suffered by this little man was so shocking and his little body so appallingly scarred and this treatment left him deeply terrified and distrustful of humans – quite obviously the opposite of his original nature. So deep was his fear that initially I did not interfere with him at all but allowed him to choose his own place in the back yard and simply took him food and water each day and talked to him each evening. He was comfortable with the girls and Tillie would go to him and try to encourage him out of his corner. He had been with me well over a week and there was no progress in his coming to me so one evening I shut the girls inside and simply sat in the back yard talking to Benson. It took about five minutes but he eventually walked over to within 3 feet of where I was sitting so I picked him for a cuddle, talked to him, put him down and just walked inside to show him that nothing bad was going to happen to him and everything would be on his terms. From that point on he made good progress, sleeping with the girls inside and coming to me when called.

It has taken a long time for Benson to regain a reasonable level of trust but he eventually came to complete our canine pack. From Benson, Tillie gets cuddled, groomed and licked clean which most definitely soothes her as I frequently see her pushing her face under his tongue when he is cleaning himself, so that he starts licking Tillie’s face and, as he is the oldest and most subservient, Tillie can roast Benson. From Pandora, Tillie gets all the playing, wrestling and chasing around the yard. All three play, snuggle, explore together and make a very well balanced little pack. Benson is very protective of the girls when we are out and if Pandy gets a little anxious when really big dogs are around, he will chase them off or growl a warning for them to calm down. The girls have helped Benson come to trust humans once again, something that has taken several years but he is improving each and every day.

Tillie has helped me to make friends with certain neighbours as she is so friendly and outgoing. The young children of a Sudanese family have gone from being terrified of dogs to helping me walk, wash and care for my dogs. I even hear Sunday telling other children how to know when dogs are happy or fearful and how to care for dogs properly. Tillie is generally the favourite of children to the point that they always want to cuddle and carry her when we are out on walks. I have to remind them that this outing is not about them but to exercise the dogs and keep them healthy so you can imagine how happy I was to hear Sunday tell her older sister Elizabeth when out on one of our walks “Elizabeth, this is not about you, this is about Tillie - now put her down and let her walk!”

There is something so very special about rescue dogs. They have such a depth of love and appreciation because they know they have been saved and it is so very rewarding to have achieved bringing a dog back to their real personality and giving them happiness and enough confidence and strength to even be a little disobedient at times. We all come together in the evening to read or watch TV but the doggies all get tucked in at the end of the day on their couch, now torn and tattered, in the family room. It is without fail that Pandora – the naughty puppy – jumps down from my lounge and goes straight into the family room while Benson jumps down and as soon as possible, turns and runs back to my lounge while dear, darling Tillie does not even pretend to obey but has to be carried to bed each evening! My life is complete. Thank you Victorian Dog Rescue.

(Alana Strang)