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Bentley (formerly Bob) came free with a horse that a woman bought at a horse auction.
He refused to ride in her car on the way home, preferring to ride in the horse trailer with his buddy who had just been sold.
The woman who bought the horse wasn't looking for a dog, but she was told that if she wanted the horse, she had to take him as well. She decided to take him and look for a home for him by advertising him on Craigslist, which is how we found out about him. As soon as I saw it, I called her and told her that I would be on my way to get him immediately.
She took him home and tied him out to a tree with an old plastic dog house for shelter.
He was so horribly matted that he actually had pieces of straw and other objects wound into his mats.
His eyes even had mats covering them, so she decided to get her horse clippers out and give him a hair cut, surely the first he had ever had, but when she got to his head, for some reason, she stopped and only removed the mats around his eyes. At least he could now see, but I honestly do not know if I've ever seen a more pitiful looking Airedale.
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| Bentley relaxing |
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| Bentley - formerly Bob |
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| I followed the directions she gave me to her home — in a very desolate place. The roads were unpaved for miles, the trees were overgrowing the road in places, and there was no guardrail on the other side of this mountain road. This was the first time I ever thought that maybe I should have brought someone along with me for safety. When I got to her house, I saw Bob tied to the tree up at the top of a very long muddy driveway, and there were horses and Rottweilers and kids everywhere.
As I parked the van, Bob just stood there. He didn't bark or wag his tail, or even move. He was covered in mud, and I couldn't tell if the awful smell was from the horses and other dogs not being cleaned up after or if it was him. I talked to him and petted him and he showed no response. His skin didn't even move from my touch! I thought maybe he was blind, because when I looked in his eyes, they looked "dead." He just didn't seem to care about what was going on around him.
I got all the papers signed and started to get out of there as quickly as I could, but not without the mud sucking off one of my clogs, and sliding and falling on the remaining ice and landing in the mud/horse/dog poop mixture that the ground was covered in. I untied Bob, and walked him to my van. The people had gone back inside and when I tried to get him in my van, he would not budge. He didn't try to get away, but just stood there like a cement statue. He wanted nothing to do with getting in. So I sloshed my way back over to their back door and asked for help. The woman's husband came out and lifted him into the van. He rode the entire way back to Altoona standing up beside me between the seats.
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| Bentley |
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After a quick stop at the Vet for vaccines, and help getting him back in the van from the very large woman who works at the desk, I took him to the kennel because there is no way that I could handle an unneutered male here with the rest of my 7 dogs.
Over the next couple of weeks, when I pulled into the kennel to give him his medicine and visit him, I noticed that he was starting to recognize my van, and he was even starting to wag his tail! At first, he wouldn't try to come out of his run, so I just went in and brought him out, but after about a week he began to walk out the door when I opened it. He didn't run, he just walked out very slowly. Days later I would pull up, and I saw him stand up and jump at his door! I was so happy to finally be seeing him act like a dog. He had been so withdrawn and unsocialized. It was fascinating to see him absorbing everything around him, and see him beginning to enjoy the feeling of being petted and coming back for more when I stopped.
We still had one issue with Bob, besides being neutered, that needed taken care of before he ever would find a home. He was extremely unclean about himself and would walk and lay in his own excrement without thinking a thing of it, and then he would come over and put his paws on me, or whomever was taking care of him, and he would pee on anything he could, including my leg, and the dogs on either side of him at the kennel. We needed to get him out of the kennel, and into a situation where he was able to be taught to be clean, and learn how to be around people more often than he was at the kennel. We are very fortunate that one of our volunteers, Nicole Drummond, is the Director of a wonderful shelter in NJ.
As soon as she had room, Nicole took him in as her special project. He spent much of his time in her office during the day, but when he was in the kennel, he had the the staff wrapped around his paws. He played with kids and gave out kisses freely. He got obedience lessons from the trainers and went on walks. He got to go to Petsmart everyday - and everyone there knew him, greeting him enthusiastically. He always went up to the register to collect his cookie, with no doubt about getting it. Soon he even learned to be clean in his quarters and finally to keep his outside area tidy and began to learn to play with toys. He was becoming a real Airedale!
When he went to his new home in mid-June, his name was changed to Bentley, far more fitting. His adoring parents are proud as peacocks of him.
Just this morning they wrote, "Bentley adjusted beautifully to our family life. Within the first week with us he was sleeping contentedly by our bed — each morning waking us with lots of kisses. He still is very quiet, fearful of unexpected noises, but is interacting wonderfully with everyone he comes in contact with. We couldn't have asked for a lovelier addition to our family."
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Bentley's story is not that different from many other Airedales.... but he is one of the lucky ones.
The Ladies in the Bee work year 'round to make sure that ATCA's Rescue Committee has funds to help Joey and others in rescue make the difference for as many Airedales as possible.
Please bookmark these pages and come back every day to read about Airedales who have found homes or Airedales who need a home.
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Click on the PayPal button to "donate" to this year's fundraising campaign and your will qualify for one of our door prizes.
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