Elly is listed as a Border Collie/Lab cross but I think she might have some Schnauzer in her on account of her beard. She was found wandering around Allen Gardens in Toronto and she's been at Toronto Animal Services South for almost two months now. She's had several meet and greets but failed each one either because of her reactivity with other dogs or her behaviour when on leash. When I take her out - it's my second time with her - I don't find her leash skills too terrible initially. She pulls a bit but it's nothing a little training won't fix. She seems like a smart dog after all.

I try the strategy of stopping in my tracks whenever she pulls. So, it's stop and go for about ten minutes but even after such a short time, her pulling is already improved. I decide to challenge her a bit more. Now when she pulls I stop and start walking in the opposite direction. I can tell this annoys her.

I should have stopped at this point but I blame my lack of attention on the flu which was still malingering in me. I should have stopped the training but I didn't and so Elly gets more annoyed and she starts to bite the leash. Her excitement level quickly mounts and she bites and pulls on the leash with more insistence. I stop. I turn away from her and freeze, hoping my inaction and detachment from her will calm her down but she actually gets even more excited and her pulling on the leash escalates. I turn back around to face her and now she is seriously chomping on the leash and pulling and shaking and there is a challenging edge to her behaviour.

Elly is a medium large dog, maybe sixty pounds is my guess. I'm not concerned for my safety or anything like that but I can see why this behaviour would be worrisome for many prospective adopters. I don't want to do this but I don't have anything else to distract her with so I pull the leash out of her mouth. Elly takes this as a further challenge and starts jumping and snapping at the leash working her way closer to my hand. I pull the leash up and away from me. I can feel the weight of her in her collar as her front feet come off the ground just enough so she can't push up off them to snap at the leash. She calms down so I immediately release the tension in the leash. She starts to snap at the leash again. I pull up again. She calms down again. We stare at each other for a moment then I walk her back to the TAS building without incident.

Inside, I sit down with her in the main hallway. We just sit there and I talk to the people at the front desk and say hello to the other volunteers walking by. Elly is a little bit on edge. She's fine with all the people but sometimes when a dog walks by, Elly gives it a hard stare. Sometimes she barks at them and whines because she can't get closer to them.

It takes about half an hour, but Elly eventually settles down. She sits beside me, leans against me. She lies down, her leg against my boot. I rub her ears and pat her wide back. She responds to my attentions. She relaxes. Pretty soon she is more focused on getting pets from me than on her surroundings.

Elly is not an easy dog. She is a dog with some attitude - not a pushover. But neither is she a disinterested dog. She will bond with someone who is willing to put time and energy into her to gain her trust and who will not abandon her. In return, I believe she will give that person a fierce loyalty. I can respect that - a dog who knows the difference between friends and strangers. She reminds me a bit of my own Stella. She may not make for a happy-go-lucky dog park dog but she will make someone feel uniquely special.


For adoption information on these and other dogs (and cats and other animals), please visit Toronto Animal Services.